S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 99

Toothless Murderer 22 – Scam

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Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang took a good look at the young police officer in the interrogation room from behind the one–way mirror.

Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, "Does he look like he's been hypnotised?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head, "No, he's a bit nervous, but he shouldn't have been hypnotised."

Bai Yutang nodded, "That means he committed the crime spontaneously?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Mhmm, spontaneously, a loser's comeback."

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao speechlessly, and Zhan Zhao stroked his chin, "This kid looks pretty smart, maybe we can swindle him a bit."

At this time, there was already an unknown number of onlookers who were watching at the doorway. Everyone was curious – what kind of person would actually plant a bomb and almost blow up Bao Sir, was he dissatisfied with his salary or time off? Or was he punished by Bao Sir to clean toilets, so he retaliated?

Bai Yutang looked at the sky. Obviously, a hole had been blown into the police station, but this group of people still gathered around and watched so joyfully, what was the situation?

At this time, Jiang Ping opened the door and came in, handing over a piece of information to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "This police officer's information."

Bai Yutang picked it up and looked at it. This young police officer's surname was Wang, and his name was Wang Yi. Originally, he was a member of the criminal investigation team, but then something happened and he was injured, so he took the initiative to specialise in clerical work and was transferred to the evidence department. He snatched his gun by knocking out one of his original colleagues, and the bomb was hidden quietly when he was handling evidence previously. Originally, the bomb disposal team had already separated the bombs, but this new type of bomb is not too powerful and is difficult to disassemble, so there was a delay in processing it... In that opening, he stole one and carried out his plan.

Zhan Zhao thought for a while, then smiled wickedly.

Seeing him grinning like a cat, Bai Yutang knew that he had probably thought of a way to deal with the person inside, "Cat, how are you going to trick him?"

Zhan Zhao beckoned to Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang moved over, and Zhan Zhao leaned into his ear, whispering.

Bai Yutang froze and looked at Zhan Zhao, "Is it feasible?"

Zhan Zhao stretched out two fingers – Of course!

Bai Yutang nodded, took out his phone and called the control room, said a couple of words, then nodded to Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao pushed open the door and walked into the interrogation room.

That police officer was handcuffed to a chair. He looked at Zhan Zhao, his eyes stayed fixed and his expression was subtle.

Seeing that Zhan Zhao had walked across from him, Wang Yi had a look of adoration, "How did you know about my plan?"

Zhan Zhao sat down and replied indifferently, "I'm the one who is going to ask you questions, not you asking me, let's save time." After saying that, he reached out...

With a snap, Zhan Zhao snapped his fingers at him.

The man froze slightly, and at the same time, the surroundings went dark.

The darkness probably lasted less than two seconds, and then it lit up again.

While the man frowned as he adjusted to the change in light, he saw Zhan Zhao in front of him, snapping his fingers again, before tidying up the scattered papers on his desk and standing up contentedly.

"Wait a minute." The man shouted.

Zhan Zhao walked to the door, stood still and looked back at him, which meant – what?

"What are you doing?" The man looked a little bewildered at this moment.

Zhan Zhao froze, then seemed to understand how he felt and smiled, "Thank you for your cooperation."

After saying that, he was about to open the door and go out.

"You hypnotised me?" The man asked Zhan Zhao with his mouth open, "What did I say?"

Zhan Zhao shrugged, "You told me everything I wanted to know."

The man's eyes widened as he looked at Zhan Zhao uncertainly, "But I don't feel anything at all..."

Zhan Zhao smiled, "Thanks for the compliment. "

"Wait."

The man called out to Zhan Zhao once more, asking, "What did I tell you?"

Zhan Zhao seemed to be somewhat tired of him, "I've said that you've told me everything that should be said. In a moment, there will be a police officer that will formally arrest you. Anyway, you've worked as a police officer, and the process after that should be clearer to you than to me, so there's no need for me to repeat myself, right?"

"Wait!" Wang Yi seemed a little anxious, "It's over just like that?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, already impatient, "Yes." After saying that, he opened the door and was about to go out.

"Wait a minute."

Zhan Zhao looked back at him somewhat unable to laugh or cry, "You really are troublesome, ah."

"I still have things I haven't said!" Wang Yi said.

Zhan Zhao stood and looked at him, "No, you've told me everything." Saying this, he flipped open the folder of information and said as he looked at it, "How you contacted Xie Tiancheng, how you stole the bomb, how you installed it, and how you detonated it, it's enough to sentence you to twenty to thirty years. Add to that the fact that you assaulted a police officer and stole a gun, you'll spend the rest of your life in jail anyway."

"There are two other people!" Wang Yi hurriedly spoke, "There are two more of Xie Tiancheng's men! Just like me, receiving orders and then acting."

Zhan Zhao looked at him and shook his head, "You don't know who the two of them are, I just asked."

"That's right..."

Wang Yi saw that Zhan Zhao looked to the sky, rolled his eyes and was about to leave again, so he hastily called out to him, "I don't know the specific people, but I know how to find them."

Zhan Zhao finally dispelled the idea of leaving, leaned against the door and looked at Wang Yi, "You want to cooperate with us?"

"I want to make a deal with you!" Wang Yi said.

Zhan Zhao shrugged, "If you want to reduce your sentence... it might be a bit difficult."

"It's not a matter of reducing the sentence." Wang Yi seriously said, "I want you to hypnotise me once more!"

Zhan Zhao didn't seem to have heard clearly, "Huh?"

"Make it so that I know that I've been hypnotised, so that I can understand the whole process!" Wang Yi seemed to be obsessed with this.

Zhan Zhao looked at him for a while, then walked back to the table, placed the information on the table, and leaned against the table himself, "That depends on the clues you can give me, whether they are valuable or not."

Wang Yi said, "It can definitely help you catch those two."

"Tell me about it." Zhan Zhao propped up his chin.

"So you agree?" Wang Yi asked, "Will you show me the process of questioning just now?"

Zhan Zhao nodded.

"You promise!" Wang Yi said, "I'll say it and you'll demonstrate it again for me to see!"

Zhan Zhao nodded helplessly and stretched out three fingers, "Alright, I promise."

Wang Yi sighed and said. "Xie Tiancheng is a very careful person, he allowed us to participate in the operation but we didn't know or recognise each other. But at the same time, Xie Tiancheng is also a very suspicious person, his cooperation with us is partly because we all have demands, and partly because he has something on us."

Zhan Zhao slightly raised his eyebrows, "A handle..."

"I purposely injured myself in order to transfer to the police station's evidence and data office, wanting to get a first–hand look at the confidential files, as well as some information about Zhao Jue's hypnosis back then and some of your cases." Wang Yi said, "When Xie Tiancheng contacted me back then, he first showed me the evidence he had about my crime, which was sent to me via email...The content of the email was encrypted, and on the surface, it was just an advertisement email. Although I don't know who he contacted after that, I reckon the method was the same, so if there are computer experts within your department who can search through emails encrypted in this way, you might be able to find other people. Xie Tiancheng's encrypted message uses a special code..."

Outside in the surveillance room, Bai Yutang took his phone and told Jiang Ping about the information Wang Yi had revealed about the emails and the encryption methods.

Jiang Ping said that this would be easy, so he began a search, and soon...

"Found it, Head!" Jiang Ping opened the door and ran in, handing over two pages of information to Bai Yutang, "Including Wang Yi, Wang Yue and Li Rui from before, all of them have received similar emails, in addition, there are two others who have also received it. The content of the information has been cracked, the IP addresses of the two of them who most often logged into the mailboxes have been found, and their identities have been determined."

Bai Yutang looked at the two pages, which contained the exact identity information, occupation, and residential address of the relevant people.

Bai Yutang smiled faintly and nodded, "It seems that the fourth and fifth pawns have also been found, this cat did a great job."

"Yeah, godly speed." Jiang Ping nodded, crossing his arms and looking at Zhan Zhao and Wang Yi inside, a little puzzled, "I thought Wang Yi would be very tight–lipped, how come he's so cooperative?"

Bai Yutang also found it amusing, and reached out to gently tap the one–way mirror with his finger.

Zhan Zhao heard the sound and stood up.

Wang Yi saw Zhan Zhao heading out the door and was puzzled, "Hey, our deal..."

"Oh, I almost forgot." Zhan Zhao walked back and said, "The process I used to hypnotise you just now, was like this."

Saying that, Zhan Zhao put the information on the table, then snapped his fingers and said to the one–way mirror, "Xiao Bai, turn off the lights."

Bai Yutang picked up his phone and called his colleagues in the control room, telling them to do the same as they did just now, pulling the electric switch for the interrogation room and reactivating it two seconds later.

The staff in the control room wondered to themselves, what is SCI playing at this time, but they were still very cooperative.

By the time the two seconds of darkness ended, Zhan Zhao had already taken advantage of the darkness to open the folder of information.

When the lights came on, Wang Yi looked at Zhan Zhao, who reached out again and snapped his fingers in front of his eyes, "Mmm–hmm, it's over."

Wang Yi froze for a long time, then his eyes widened, "You tricked me?!"

Zhan Zhao shrugged, "You can sue me when you go to trial."

"Zhan Zhao!" Wang Yi shouted at Zhan Zhao as he walked to the door, "Don't you want to know how I committed the crime, how I contacted Xie Tiancheng, and how..."

Zhan Zhao spread his hands, "Unfortunately, these are really not of interest to me, and as for what I'm interested in, you've already said it."

After saying that, Zhan Zhao waved his hand at him, "Thank you for your cooperation." After saying that, he went out the door and closed it.

At the door, Jiang Ping clapped his hands, "Wow, Dr. Zhan, what a cheap method! Simply another case of great classic interrogation."

Zhan Zhao smiled.

Bai Yutang stroked his head as a compliment.

Zhan Zhao took those two pieces of information to look at the people on them, and frowned slightly, stroking his chin, "Huh? They both look very familiar."

"I also think I've seen them somewhere." Jiang Ping nodded.

The crowd returned to the SCI office.

Jiang Ping gave the crowd a colourful account of Zhan Zhao's interrogation process, and Bai Chi held the two pieces of information and looked at them, "Huh? These two are both from Chang Yan's fan club!"

"Another one from Chang Yan's fan club?" Zhan Zhao was a bit puzzled, "How come all the people this Xie Tiancheng uses are from Chang Yan's fan club?"

Bai Yutang was ready to arrange for the police to make arrests, but after looking around, he was a bit puzzled, "Where are Zhao Hu and Ma Han?"

"Oh, they were just taken away by Zhao Jue." Bai Chi replied. Zhan Zhao stroked his chin and came over, "What did Zhao Jue take them for?"

Bai Chi shook his head, indicating that he wasn't too sure.

Just then, Bai Yutang's phone rang.

Bai Yutang pulled out his phone, saw that the caller was Zhao Hu, and picked it up to listen.

A moment later, Bai Yutang held the phone and looked at Zhan Zhao, then lowered his head, "Cough cough."

Zhan Zhao narrowed his eyes at him, "What?"

"Er..." Bai Yutang put away his phone, his expression slightly embarrassed.

"Say it." Zhan Zhao came over to his side, "What happened?"

"Err... Cat." Bai Yutang looked at the time, "It's time to go to the hospital to see our mothers, and also, you need to change your dressing."

Zhan Zhao blinked and tilted his head, "Change what dressing ah, let's go grab those two pawns first."

"They've already been captured." Bai Yutang said this in a voice so quiet that it was almost inaudible to the crowd.

Zhan Zhao plucked out his ears, "What?"

"Cough cough, they have been captured already." Bai Yutang pushed Zhan Zhao, "Let's go, go to the hospital to change your dressing, and then, are you hungry? It's time to eat."

"Wait!" Zhan Zhao dragged Bai Yutang, who wanted to escape, and looked at him with slanted eyes, "When did you catch them? Who went and caught them?"

Bai Yutang scratched his head and said, "Uh, Zhao Hu and Ma Han went to catch them, just now. "

Zhan Zhao froze.

To the side, Bai Chi wasn't quite sure of the situation, "Didn't the two of them go out on an errand with Zhao Jue... Ah? Could it be that Zhao Jue already knows who the murderer is… mmph."

Bai Chi didn't finish his sentence, as Zhao Zhen hurriedly covered his mouth, which meant – Xiao White Eyes ah, can't you see that your brother's cat fur is standing up, please don't say anything more. (Angel: White eyes is a term used to describe those who speak carelessly and often tell the truth and hurt their friends.)

Everyone looked at each other.

Luo Tian asked Bai Yutang in a low voice, "Did they catch only one or both?"

Bai Yutang whispered, "Both are caught. Zhao Hu said that Zhao Jue took them there, and the two escaped as soon as they encountered them. He and Ma Han caught them one by one, and once they searched their homes, they found a large number of toothless capsules and some relevant evidence. Zhao Hu reported the identities of the two, and these two are the same people as the ones identified through Wang Yi's lead." Bai Yutang shook the two sheets of paper in his hand.

Everyone blinked and looked at Zhan Zhao together...

At this time, Zhan Zhao was leaning against the wall, rubbing his head against it...

Bai Yutang walked over and pulled him away from the wall, saying, "Forget it, we found out at almost the same time, it's just that he did it faster."

Zhan Zhao gave Bai Yutang a resentful look that meant – you can even say such words ah.

Bai Yutang didn't know whether to laugh and cry, so he had to drag Zhan Zhao, who wanted to go back and continue rubbing against the wall, to the hospital.

At this time, Zhao Hu and Ma Han were directing the police officers to bring back the prisoners they had just arrested, and the scene was busy.

Zhao Hu whispered to Ma Han, "Xiao Ma Ge, look at the expression on Zhao Jue's face."

Ma Han turned around and looked, and sure enough, he saw Zhao Jue holding a cell phone, with his hand behind his back, smirking and grinning smugly...

The two of them looked at each other helplessly – Dr. Zhan was probably scratching the wall at this moment, and there was an immediate feeling of a big cat bullying a kitten.

"But speaking of which," Zhao Hu looked at the two apprehended suspects, who were not related to each other in any way, "how did Zhao Jue know that these two were the other two pawns?"

Naturally, Ma Han was not sure, but the focus of his attention at the moment was not here, but in the distance. Bai Ye walked over with a newspaper and handed it over to Zhao Jue, who was secretly pleased with himself, to look at.

Zhao Jue picked it up and glanced at it, then sneered and handed the newspaper back to Bai Ye.

The two seemed to have a whispered conversation, after which Bai Ye went to his car and, in passing, stuffed the newspaper into the garbage bin on the side.

Afterwards, Zhao Jue turned back.

Ma Han looked down and smoked, pretending not to notice.

"Hey." Zhao Jue called out to the two, "We have something to do first, we'll laugh at that cat next time, we'll let him go this time." After saying that, he waved at the two and walked away.

Zhao Hu waved his hand at Zhao Jue, saying – bye bye~.

When Zhao Jue's car left and the police wrapped up on their side, Zhao Hu slapped Ma Han, "Let's go back."

Ma Han, however, walked towards the garbage bin not far away, reached out and fished out the newspaper that Zhao Jue and Bai Ye had just thrown away. Ma Han then returned to Zhao Hu's car and flipped through it.

Zhao Hu drove the car and looked at him in confusion, "Why did you grab the newspaper?"

"Just now, Zhao Jue read this newspaper before he left." Ma Han said.

"Oh? Are there any suspicious clues on it?" Zhao Hu was curious.

Ma Han flipped through it and shook his head, "There's nothing wrong with it, it's just an ordinary newspaper."

"Let's go back and show it to Dr. Zhan." Zhao Hu said, "Zhao Jue even gave up the chance to laugh at him face to face, so I guess something big has happened."

‿︵‿︵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 2, 2023 by Angel

Edited: November 2, 2023 by Angel