S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 100

Toothless Murderer 23 – Mysterious Person

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Zhao Hu and others brought the remaining two "pawns " back to the SCI office.

In the interrogation room, Wang Chao and Zhang Long interrogated the two men. Because the evidence was conclusive, the two men gave an honest account of the crime.

It turned out that these two people are also in Chang Yan's fan club, but in fact, Chang Yan's fan club is just a front.

Only then did everyone learn that it was Xue Tiancheng who valued these people at the very beginning, and he happened to find out that Li Rui was a fan of Chang Yan, and that Wang Yue had a certain split personality and had interviewed Chang Yan, so... he had everyone join the fan club to facilitate the transmission of information, which was hidden in the advertisements that imitated the emails sent out by Chang Yan's fan club group.

One of these two arrested people is precisely who those villagers saw, the man with the birthmark.

At first, Wang Yue did not join this revenge plan, rather it was that Xu Qiang who used a false identity. Unfortunately, Xu Qiang died in an accident, and Xie Tiancheng asked Wang Yue to take his place.

Xie Tiancheng's plan this time had actually been implemented for a long time, and during this process, not only was he getting sicker and sicker himself, but he had changed his batch of pawns several times.

The reason why there were so many messy fingerprints on those materials and the walls of the basement was because the materials were collected by many people, and that basement was a scam used to divert the SCI's attention.

The crowd's previous reasoning was correct: originally Xie Tiancheng didn't want to make a move so soon, according to the hints he left for the crowd earlier, the first one to be found shouldn't have been Wang Yi, but the man with the birthmark.

It's just that he didn't expect that Zhao Jue would appear halfway, causing Xie Tianlang's death to happen earlier. Thus, Xie Tiancheng had to temporarily change his plan and take the lead in employing Wang Yi as a pawn, but of course... ultimately, he was still recognised.

As for how Zhao Jue found these two pawns before Zhan Zhao, no one knows except for Zhao Jue.

After Ma Han and Zhao Hu returned, the crowd was helpless when they heard that Zhao Jue had suddenly left on an urgent matter.

After listening to the review of the case that no longer made much sense, Zhan Zhao frowned and propped his chin up as he looked at the two people in the room.

Bai Yutang was familiar with Zhan Zhao's expression and was a little puzzled, "What's wrong?"

"Well..." Zhan Zhao tilted his head, stroking his chin, "it feels like something's not right."

"Something is indeed not right." Bai Yutang said, "I can't figure out how Zhao Jue found the clues to find these two, unless..."

Zhan Zhao looked at him.

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow slightly, "He knew where these two pawns were early on."

"What clues were missed during this period?" Zhan Zhao frowned and felt that he was probably going to lose sleep for a long time.

Just then, they suddenly heard Zhang Long and Wang Chao's shouts from the interrogation room, "Hey, what's going on?"

When they looked again, they saw that the two people inside suddenly started rolling their eyes, and then their bodies stiffened.

Gongsun went in and checked, shaking his head at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang – dead.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang couldn't help but frown – both are dead...

At this time, Bai Yutang's phone rang. After he answered it, he looked at Zhan Zhao, "Cat, Li Rui and Wang Yi are both dead."

Zhan Zhao frowned slightly, "Both dead..."

Bai Yutang nodded.

"Did Xie Tiancheng hypnotise them or something?" Bai Chi asked curiously.

Zhan Zhao gently shook his head, "Xie Tiancheng is a half–assed person, he doesn't have this skill."

At this time, Bao Zheng walked in, "How's it going?"

The crowd looked at him.

Bao Zheng sighed, "It was still a step too late."

Bai Yutang looked at Bao Zheng, "You knew they would die?"

Bao Zheng spread his hands, "Guessed."

"They were fine when they were arrested." Ma Han and Zhao Hu were puzzled and asked, "Did Zhao Jue do something?"

"Do you have any evidence?" Bao Zheng did not deny it.

Zhan Zhao frowned at Bao Zheng and didn't say anything.

Bai Yutang frowned, "Since they've all been arrested, why abuse lynching? Zhao Jue doesn't seem like such an idle person, right?"

Bao Zheng scratched his head, "If you cut the grass without removing the root, there will be a lot of trouble in the future, right?"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao glanced at each other, "Future trouble?"

Bao Zheng was helpless, "It's still the same thing, there's no evidence." Saying this, Bao Zheng turned his face to ask Ma Han and Zhao Hu, "Did Zhao Jue say anything before he left?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged another look – Bao Sir clearly wanted to beat around the bush.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han shook their heads in tacit understanding when they heard Bao Zheng's question.

"Nothing?" Bao Zheng asked the two men suspiciously.

The two proceeded to nod their heads, both nodding with the same frequency and expression.

Bao Zheng scratched his head, "Strange." After saying that, he went out the door, not forgetting to say to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao on his way out, "The case is closed. After the report is written and handed over to me, you guys can take advantage of the opportunity to take a holiday and rest."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang nodded.

After Bao Zheng left.

Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang, "Do you find it strange?"

Bai Yutang nodded, "If Zhao Jue really killed these people, there's no reason for Bao Sir to be so calm."

Zhan Zhao raised his eyebrows, "He's merely beating around the bush, the one who did it definitely wasn't Zhao Jue."

"So sure?" Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Zhao nodded, "This is not Zhao Jue's usual method."

"You can even discern this?" Gongsun was a little curious. The crowd went back to their office, leaving the scene for Luo Tian and Qin Ou to deal with.

"Because there is no sense of beauty at all!" Zhan Zhao said seriously.

"Beauty?" The crowd was puzzled.

"Zhao Jue's hypnosis can be said to be the most sophisticated in the world today, his techniques are extremely natural and untraceable." Zhan Zhao said, "Anyway, as far as I know, there is no one on this planet whose hypnosis can beat his."

Everyone looked at him, meaning – does this count as you admitting defeat?

Zhan Zhao touched his nose, "That's not the main direction of my research!"

Everyone understood, Zhan Zhao has indeed accomplished a lot in psychology, but he is not madly obsessed with or constantly exploring that kind of very high–end psychology, such as the dangerous abilities of controlling people's hearts and minds, controlling people's lives, etc. He is more interested in the practical application of psychology, such as the treatment of some difficult diseases, quitting gambling, treating depression and youth problems, etc. Of course, he is most interested in the practical application of psychology in criminal investigation. 

However, Zhao Jue seems as if he is exploring where the limits of psychology lie, with that almost sorcery–like ability that makes people shudder. But just as Zhan Zhao said, in all the cases Zhao Jue had come into contact with so far, the hypnosis related to him carried a very natural and gentle beauty.

"This time, the behaviour of the hypnosis seems like it was made by an inferior robot, tedious and crude." Zhan Zhao stroked his chin and walked a few steps, "Who did it?"

"Could it be someone from that organisation?" Bai Yutang asked, "Is it related to Xie Tiancheng?"

"Not sure, there's too little information." Zhan Zhao muttered to himself, "Why did Zhao Jue suddenly leave?"

As Zhan Zhao was frowning and pondering, Ma Han suddenly took out a newspaper and gave it to him.

Zhan Zhao looked at the newspaper in confusion.

Ma Han said, "Zhao Jue originally wanted to come back, but he left after Bai Ye showed him this newspaper, telling us to deliver the message that he will laugh at you next time."

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang raised their eyebrows and looked at Zhao Hu and Ma Han, meaning – just now, Bao Sir asked you two but you didn't say anything?

Ma Han and Zhao Hu silently coughed in tacit understanding.

Zhan Zhao smiled and complimented, "You have a promising future!"

Bai Yutang was helpless. It was obvious that Ma Han and Zhao Hu lacked trust in Bao Zheng when it came to Zhao Jue and chose to stand on Zhan Zhao's side.

Zhan Zhao took the newspaper. His hands were not too comfortable, so Bai Chi sat to his side and helped him flip through it... But Zhan Zhao read the entire newspaper, and didn't find any noteworthy matters.

Zhan Zhao blinked and asked Bai Chi, "Chi Chi, do you see anything?"

Bai Chi was even more confused, "It's just an ordinary newspaper."

Zhan Zhao asked Ma Han, "Do you know which page he read?"

Ma Han shook his head.

Zhan Zhao narrowed his eyes, "Aren't you a sniper? How many metres away were you? You should have even seen the words!"

Ma Han was helpless, "I just glanced at it, I was afraid that he would notice."

Zhan Zhao looked at Zhao Hu.

Zhao Hu hurriedly waved his hands, "I didn't even see it."

Zhan Zhao had probably never read a newspaper so seriously in his life, and again and again, he read it from beginning to end, word by word.

Bai Yutang was speechless, "Cat, if you read it again, you'll be able to memorise it."

Zhan Zhao squinted his eyes, which meant – I already memorised it, but haven't discovered it yet!

"Let's go, let's shift your thoughts, it's time for you to change your dressing." Bai Yutang forcefully dragged Zhan Zhao away. Before leaving, he didn't forget to instruct Zhao Hu and Ma Han with a few words, and both of them nodded... Bai Yutang then escorted Zhan Zhao to the hospital.

In the hospital, at this moment, it was as if a tea party was being held. Ma Xin and the girls had already recovered, and the several girls were all chatting in Mother Zhan's room, Zhan Qitian and Bai Yunwen had work and were not there, and the several bodyguards arranged by the twins at the doorway were guarding the area.

Bai Yutang dragged Zhan Zhao to the door of the room and frowned… There were a bunch of women in the room and Grandpa Chen was chatting away.

It seemed that the crowd was quite concerned about the marriage of the four girls, and Grandpa Chen remarked that Chen Yu had Lan Xi, but Chen Mi was still single!

Lan Xi and Chen Mi walked over from the end of the corridor at this moment, holding washed fruits in their hands, and greeted Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang when they saw them.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang greeted everyone and followed He Ying to change the dressing.

He Ying changed Zhan Zhao's dressing while asking about how the case was going.

Bai Yutang told her that the case had been solved.

He Ying was relieved and shook her head, "Aiya, you SCI have come across so many bad guys, and all of them have such high IQs."

Bai Yutang nodded, then saw that Zhan Zhao was still staring at the newspaper, and was somewhat speechless.

"You're reading the newspaper so seriously?" He Ying teased Zhan Zhao, "Reading a newspaper that's two days old? It's true that people with high IQs are all so strange, and so is that tech guy from your SCI, strange and weird."

He Ying had just finished speaking when she saw Zhan Zhao suddenly look up at her.

He Ying was startled by him and asked, "Does it hurt?"

"What did you just say?" Zhan Zhao asked.

He Ying blinked and twisted her face to the side in some embarrassment, "That... that tech guy from your SCI, he asked me to watch a movie or something."

Bai Yutang slightly raised an eyebrow, no wonder Jiang Ping was in a good mood these days.

"Not this." Zhan Zhao was excited, holding up the newspaper, "This newspaper is from two days ago?"

He Ying stared at him for a moment, thinking isn't it? The date was clearly two days ago.

So the young doctor asked Bai Yutang in a low voice, "Is he having an allergic reaction to the medication or are all geniuses like this?"

Bai Yutang was also helpless and asked Zhan Zhao, "Cat, the newspaper was from two days ago, so what?"

"I saw it today." Zhan Zhao said to Bai Yutang, "That long-haired one also saw it today! Reading a two day old newspaper today?"

Bai Yutang understood, "So two days is the key, is it a password?"

Zhan Zhao laughed and held the newspaper, "The key is two! Two!"

He Ying looked at Bai Yutang uncertainly, which meant – what's the situation with this one?

Bai Yutang thought for a moment and asked He Ying, "Jiang Ping invited you to the movies?"

"Yeah." He Ying smiled.

Bai Yutang raised his eyebrows slightly, "Jiang Ping is a nice guy, consider it."

He Ying smiled beautifully and collected the gauze cotton metal tray, wobbling out, "That's why it's important for me to observe."

Waiting for He Ying to leave, Bai Yutang raised his hand and slapped the back of Zhan Zhao's head, who was mumbling "two two two..."

Zhan Zhao rubbed his head and looked at Bai Yutang, "What if you slap me silly?"

"Don't be silly." Bai Yutang moved to his side, "Hey, how should we spend the three week holiday?"

"Tw..." Zhan Zhao didn't have time to say, as Bai Yutang glared at him, "Don't you dare say two again!"

"I mean twenty–one days!" Zhan Zhao was speechless, "We're going on holiday?"

Bai Yutang nodded and pointed to his hand, "Just in time for you to recuperate."

Zhan Zhao was satisfied, "Where's a good place to go..."

"Head?"

At this time, Ma Han and Zhao Hu lifted the curtain at the door to look in.

Bai Yutang nodded.

Zhao Hu stood guard at the door, and Ma Han went in and took out a photo for Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang took it and saw that it was a man wearing a beige trench coat and a pair of sunglasses, with short grey hair. The photo was taken from above and looking down, and it was in black and white. It seemed to be a screenshot of an image taken by a surveillance camera, it was not very clear, but you could roughly make out the man's appearance.

"What is it?" Zhan Zhao was a little puzzled.

Ma Han said, "We went to the prison to check just now, and sure enough Zhao Jue didn't visit Li Rui or Wang Yi at all, but rather this person visited Li Rui."

"You have to leave your identity information when visiting a prison." Zhan Zhao asked, "Who is he?"

Ma Han spread his hands, "Can't be found."

"Can't be found?" Zhan Zhao was surprised.

Bai Yutang frowned, "Erased, I guess."

"Who did this?" Zhan Zhao was dissatisfied.

"This segment was saved accidentally." Ma Han said, "Jiang Ping said that Bao Sir had previously asked him to modify the recording equipment at the police station, as well as the prison, and that all of the surveillance was stored and backed up on a mainframe computer at SCI. Jiang Ping got a bunch of coding, and when we checked the prison video surveillance, we found a section missing. Jiang Ping checked it out and said it had been hacked, but he had a back-up copy saved there, so he helped us find this guy."

Bai Yutang frowned, Bao Sir was still prescient.

"Additionally, Jiang Ping also said," Ma Han said, "that Bao Sir has just seen this section."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other – the old fox really did know!

As they were talking, they saw Zhao Hu at the door suddenly turn his face in and gently cough.

Bai Yutang smoothly stuffed the photo into his pocket, and hid the newspaper in Zhan Zhao's hand in his trench coat.

At that moment, the sound of Zhao Hu calling out to someone could be heard at the door.

The curtain was then lifted, and Bai Yunwen and Zhan Qitian arrived.

"How is your hand recovering?" Zhan Qitian asked Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao showed him, "It's almost healed, it doesn't hurt anymore."

Zhan Qitian nodded, "Just in time, combined with the spring break, you have a three week long holiday, go out and relax."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang nodded.

"There's a three week holiday?" Zhao Hu was shocked.

Ma Han was also surprised.

"Oh? Three weeks ah..."

Bai Jintang, who happened to pass by the door at an unknown time, had a smile on his face as he walked away in a good mood.

After that, everyone went back to the ward and discussed the holiday.

After receiving a phone call, Zhan Qitian and Bai Yunwen left the ward and made their way to a corner next to the elevator.

Zhan Zhao frowned and wanted to follow, but Bai Yutang pulled him back and pulled out his phone, sending a text message to someone.

......

Bao Zheng was waiting at that corner, and when he saw Zhan Qitian and Bai Yunwen coming over, he took out a photo and showed it to the two of them.

Bai Yunwen took it and looked at it, and saw a man wearing a beige trench coat and sunglasses with short grey hair.

Bai Yunwen frowned, "After looking for him for so many years, he finally showed up."

"Come to kill a few irrelevant pawns?" Bao Zheng frowned, "Don't you think it's strange?"

"Xie Tiancheng probably hid something in the heads of those few chess pieces." Zhan Qitian let out a soft tsk, "A step too late, has it been recycled?"

"Not necessarily." Bai Yunwen raised his eyebrows slightly, "How did Zhao Jue know where the last two pawns were?"

Bao Zheng froze, "He already knew?"

"It was the perfect time to lure him out." Bai Yunwen shook the picture.

"Anyway, keep a close eye on him." Zhan Qitian sighed, "There might be some action."

Bao Zheng and Bai Yunwen both nodded.

The three of them finished chatting, turned around the corner, and waited for the elevator to return...

Coincidentally, the elevator door opened with a ding.

Everyone looked up, and the person in the elevator who was looking down at his cell phone also looked up, and both sides froze.

In the elevator, Zhao Zhen was looking at his phone. When he saw the three standing in the doorway, he tilted his head in a somewhat puzzled manner, "Leaving so early?"

"Er..." Bao Zheng opened his mouth.

Zhao Zhen asked Bao Zheng, "Chi Chi has a three week holiday?"

Bao Zheng nodded.

Zhan Qitian and Bai Yunwen glanced over and saw a text message on Zhao Zhen's phone – I've got three weeks of holiday! ^–^ Where should we go to play?

All three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Bao Zheng smiled and patted Zhao Zhen's shoulder, "Yeah, quickly go out and relax." After saying that, the three of them entered the elevator together.

Zhao Zhen walked forward… When the elevator doors closed, he turned off the hidden recorder, slightly raised the corner of his mouth, and quickly stepped into the ward, shoving his phone to Bai Yutang without anyone noticing.

Bai Yutang held the cell phone and raised an eyebrow at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao smiled wickedly.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: October 11, 2023 by Angel

Edited: November 2, 2023 by Angel