S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 71

Countdown from the Murderer 01 – Ordinary Murder

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After signing the last document on his desk, Bai Jintang let out a long breath, put down his pen and looked at the time.

"There's nothing else to do today, right?" Bai Jintang asked Xiao Ding, who was reading a document at the side.

Xiao Ding picked up his cell phone and flipped through the calendar, nodding, "You can rest for the afternoon, there's a meeting at nine-thirty tomorrow morning."

Bai Jintang nodded with satisfaction and took out his cell phone, ready to find Gongsun for dinner.

However, the phone had just been connected, and before Bai Jintang had time to speak, he heard Gongsun yell over there, "It's too late! There are still fourteen days left, we'll have dinner in fourteen days! Mua~~"

After saying that, the call was disconnected.

Bai Jintang held the phone, in a frozen state.

Xiao Ding beside him also heard the commotion on the phone and looked at his JPG-mode boss suspiciously.

After roughly a few seconds of pause, Bai Jintang decisively dialled Bai Yutang's number instead.

Soon, the call was connected.

"Brother?"

Bai Yutang was probably beside Gongsun when he answered the phone just now, so he explained to Bai Jintang, "We've come across a case that needs to be solved within fourteen days."

Bai Jintang actually expected it, he reckoned that they had come across another pervert who had driven Gongsun crazy.

"Where are you guys?" Bai Jintang asked.

"At the scene, Gongsun will return to the SCI office in a moment."

"Mhmm." Bai Jintang hung up the phone, ready to go to the SCI office to have a look.

As soon as the phone was hung up, it rang again.

Bai Jintang looked down and the caller was Zhao Jue.

"Come down!"

As soon as Bai Jintang picked up the phone, he heard Zhao Jue on the other end angrily say two words.

Xiao Ding was at the window and saw Zhao Jue's car downstairs, so he pointed down to Bai Jintang, signalling – Zhao Jue was at the door.

Bai Jintang was a little puzzled and asked Zhao Jue, who was silent on the other end of the phone, "Where are we going?"

"To the grave!"

Holding the phone, Bai Jintang was once again in a frozen state.

After a long time, Bai Jintang asked Xiao Ding, "Zhan Zhao talked about that time-space dislocation, parallel universe or something that day, did it happen?"

"Huh?" Xiao Ding sounded confused.

Bai Jintang looked at his cell phone again in some confusion and muttered, "Why is everything weird?"

There was no Gongsun to eat with anyway, so Brother Bai got up, picked up his suit jacket, put it on, and went downstairs.

......

When he got downstairs, Zhao Jue told him to get in the car.

The one driving was Bai Ye.

When Bai Jintang sat in the backseat, he felt that the atmosphere in the car wasn't quite right.

Bai Ye was quite normal, but Zhao Jue was acting as if someone owed him a few hundred million, with "I'm not happy" written all over his face.

"What happened?" Bai Jintang asked Bai Ye.

Bai Ye briefly explained the matter.

Zhao Jue rubbed his hands together and muttered, "I can't believe that all of them died before I made my move! It's too easy for them!"

Bai Jintang also froze for a moment, seemingly digesting the news.

After a while, Bai Jintang took out his phone again and called Bai Yutang.

"Brother?"

Bai Yutang was checking Mark Fan's clinic with Zhan Zhao when he heard Bai Jintang on the other end of the phone say, "Let's have a meal to celebrate."

Bai Yutang was stunned on his side, and so was Zhao Jue.

"Celebrate?" Bai Yutang on this end of the phone and Zhao Jue in the car on the other end asked almost simultaneously.

Bai Jintang seemed quite happy and said, "It's also considered a conclusion, it should be celebrated. Let’s do it tonight, I'll have the twins settle the location."

After saying that, the older brother hung up the phone.

This time, it was the turn of Bai Yutang, who was holding the cell phone, and Zhao Jue, who was looking in the rearview mirror of the car, to be in a frozen state.

Zhan Zhao stood up and asked Bai Yutang, "What's wrong?"

Bai Yutang shrugged and put away his phone, "Brother said we should celebrate..."

Zhan Zhao thought about it and replied with a question, "Isn't Zhao Jue in a rage, why did he go to Brother at this time?"

"Zhao Jue went to find Brother?" Bai Yutang thought about it, but it was true, if Zhao Jue hadn't told him, how would his brother have known about it in the first place...

But the most important thing at the moment was to investigate Mark Fan's murder.

Gongsun just conducted a preliminary examination of the body, and the cause of death was still the presumed drug-induced asphyxiation... There was an empty medicine bottle on the table.

The crowd had never seen this kind of medicine, so they asked Gongsun what it was used for.

Gongsun said that it was a kind of antidote, for example, if you accidentally ingested an overdose of hallucinogenic drugs, you can use this medicine to detoxify. However, if an ordinary person overdoses, it can cause a heart attack and respiratory failure, which is very dangerous.

Zhan Zhao took the medicine bottle and studied it for a bit, then walked out and found Mark Fan's nurse at the door.

This nurse, surnamed Jin, was thirty-five years old and had been working at the clinic for ten years. She was the only nurse at Mark Fan's clinic.

Nurse Jin stated that she knew nothing about Mark Fan's horrific basement.

"Half a month ago, the doctor gave me a holiday, saying he wanted to renovate the clinic and clear out some useless materials." Nurse Jin said helplessly, "He also bought me plane tickets to send me and my family on a holiday, saying that he was rewarding me for my hard work over the years... I just returned three days ago, and the door to the basement room has been locked for the past two days. I've only noticed that there are a lot more filing cabinets in the hallway, and haven't looked deeper into the specifics. "

Bai Chi, who asked her a lot of questions, took a few pages of notes and didn't find any signs of concealment from this nurse so far.

Zhan Zhao took the medicine bottle and showed it to her, asking, "Does Mark Fan have a drug addiction?"

Nurse Jin hurriedly shook her head, "Of course not! How is that possible!"

"Then does he take this medication?" Zhan Zhao then asked.

Nurse Jin looked at the medicine bottle and shook her head, "I haven't seen him take it."

"Are you sure?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Nurse Jin nodded, "The doctor's life management ability is very poor, he usually asks me to prepare medicine for him if he has any headache or fever. The medication that he takes is all in a cabinet, I haven't seen this bottle."

Zhao Hu listened and took Ma Xin to check the medicine cabinet. Gongsun asked Ma Xin to bring back all the medicine in the cabinet.

Zhan Zhao held the medicine bottle and contemplated.

Bai Yutang continued to ask Nurse Jin, "Does Mark Fan have any enemies?"

Nurse Jin thought for a moment and shook her head, "No, the doctor treats others quite kindly, but many of the people who come in and out of the clinic are strange, so there's no guarantee."

"What about his private life?" Bai Chi continued to take notes, "Has he ever been married?"

"No, the doctor used to have a fiancée, but she passed away four years ago." Nurse Jin hesitated slightly as she spoke.

"Tell me any clues that come to mind." Xiao Bai Chi reminded her, "You can say anything you have suspicions about."

Nurse Jin whispered, "I think the doctor may have recently taken a lover!"

Zhan Zhao's attention instantly shifted from the pill bottle and he asked, "A lover?"

"Mhmm!" Nurse Jin waved to the crowd, signalling for them to follow her into her office.

Nurse Jin's office was outside of Mark Fan's room, which was a small, semi-open room.

Picking up a notepad, Nurse Jin showed it to the crowd, "For about a month before I went on holiday, the doctor was coming in to work half an hour late, and every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from three to four, he asked me not to schedule patients, as he was going to be out."

"Was he going out for a consultation?" Zhan Zhao asked.

The nurse shook her head, "No way! The doctor always brings his briefcase when he goes out for consultations. These few times he went out, he didn't bring a bag, but instead, he brought flowers with him!"

"Flowers?"

"Mhmm!" The nurse nodded, "He would ask me to go to the florist to buy flowers for him at noon, a bouquet of roses each time, and then he would take the flowers out with him."

Everyone thought for a moment, this was indeed a rather obvious trip to meet a lover.

"Only going out for an hour?" Zhan Zhao asked, "Did he walk or drive?"

“He walked."

Yesterday was Tuesday, so did he go yesterday as well?

The nurse nodded.

At this time, the people from the forensics department had finished collecting evidence.

Gongsun also brought the corpse back for autopsy.

Ma Han walked out and told Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "We didn't find the deceased's cell phone in the room, and Jiang Ping analysed the computer and said that it shouldn't belong to the deceased."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang asked Nurse Jin again.

The nurse said that the doctor had a black cell phone, and as for this laptop, she had indeed never seen it, but the doctor normally used his desktop computer.

Jiang Ping had already opened the desktop computer and began to check Mark Fan's normal internet records and some of his work documents.

"During this recent period, has Mark Fan ever asked you to book a hotel for him?" Zhan Zhao suddenly asked.

The nurse thought for a moment and nodded, "Yes! I've booked a room at the Four Seasons Hotel."

The nurse flipped the notepad forward a few pages and handed it to Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao found that besides being a nurse, Nurse Jin was more like Mark Fan's secretary. Moreover, she was very organised and her notepad records were very detailed, so he simply asked her for the notepad.

Zhan Zhao took out his cell phone to check the location of this Four Seasons Hotel and found that it wasn't far from the clinic, only a ten-minute walk away.

Leaving the others to continue asking questions, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang left the clinic together and walked to the Four Seasons Hotel.

Bai Yutang walked with him and asked Zhan Zhao, "Do you think Mark Fan's lover is staying at the Four Seasons Hotel?"

"That's not necessarily the case. Mark Fan doesn't have a family, and at this age, even if he has a lover, it's normal, so why does it feel sneaky?" Zhan Zhao asked. "And if a normal couple is going on a date, would they stay in the hotel for an hour two days a week? They also had to spend twenty minutes walking back and forth, they are simply masters of time management."

Bai Yutang chuckled, "Sounds less like a date and more like a secret agent meeting."

Zhan Zhao nodded.

The two walked while looking around at the surroundings.

Although the clinic was located on the outskirts of the city and was relatively remote, there were quite a few residential houses in the vicinity, and most of them were single-family villas, so it wasn't too desolate.

After walking for about five minutes, a very steep slope appeared in front of them. This slope had no steps and was in the shape of a Y, just like a Y lying diagonally, with a big road on the left and a small road on the right. And in the middle of the Y was the Four Seasons Hotel.

The hotel was very tall, with a visual estimate of thirty floors.

Zhan Zhao couldn't help but say, "This hotel was really built without any inhibitions. According to feng shui, this place is considered a place of great evil, right?"

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao with some amusement, "You actually know how to use the words 'feng shui'."

Zhan Zhao smiled and waved his hand, "It's good to study a little bit of everything..."

The two smiled at each other, inexplicably feeling a sense of total relief.

Bai Yutang walked uphill while saying, "Brother is right, it's time to celebrate, it's indeed considered an end..."

After saying that, he didn't hear Zhan Zhao reply.

Bai Yutang turned around and stood there somewhat helplessly.

He saw that Zhan Zhao was struggling to climb the slope, complaining as he did so, "This slope was built too outrageously! Why not just build it on a mountain!"

Bai Yutang was looking back at Zhan Zhao when he heard a ding behind him. Zhan Zhao also looked up and shouted, "Watch out Yutang!"

Bai Yutang turned around and saw a bicycle rushing out from the narrower path to the right of the Y shape.

They were going uphill, and that bike was going downhill.

Bai Yutang was standing in the middle of the slope at the moment. The downward slope was too steep and the bike was going very fast.

On the bike was a young man in a white chef's outfit, with a metal delivery box hanging from the handlebars.

Bai Yutang hurriedly dodged to the side.

But that cyclist had also already squeezed the brakes...

Still, the slope was just too steep, and as the man braked hard, the back seat of the bike raised.

"Wa!"

The man let out a cry of surprise. Luckily, Bai Yutang grabbed his handlebars with one hand and grabbed his shoulder with the other, pressing the man back down.

With a clang, the food box fell.

Zhan Zhao went to help pick it up, and the food in the food box probably spilt, as there was hot spatter all over the place.

Bai Yutang felt quite sorry and hurriedly apologised to the man, saying that it was all his fault for standing in the middle of the road and that he would pay for the food.

The young man looked to be in his twenties and should be a kitchen apprentice. He also apologised to Bai Yutang, saying that he had only learnt to ride a bicycle a short time ago and that every time he went down this slope, he was scared, but luckily he didn't hit him.

Zhan Zhao helped carry the box back and saw that both sides were quite polite.

At the same time, Zhan Zhao saw that on the chest of the chef's robe the man was wearing, there was the logo of the Four Seasons Hotel, so he asked, "Are you from that hotel up there?"

"Yes." The man nodded, "I'm an errand boy in the kitchen, and I came out to deliver the food."

Bai Yutang helped him carry his box and sent him back to the hotel with Zhan Zhao.

The young man was quite chatty, saying that many of the residents of the neighbourhoods down the slope ordered food from their hotel, and he had to make several deliveries every day. This slope was particularly difficult to walk, and it was easy to bump into people, he had already fallen several times.

The young apprentice parked the bike and carried the box to the back kitchen to replace the food.

Bai Yutang wanted to pay for it, but he refused, saying that it was just a bowl of noodle soup and that it would be easy for the kitchen to make a new one.

After they left, Bai Yutang was about to go to the front hotel lobby, while Zhan Zhao was looking back at the downhill slope as he walked.

Bai Yutang looked back and asked, "Cat, what's wrong? "

Zhan Zhao pointed at the downhill slope and said, "This slope, going down feels even harder than coming up!"

Bai Yutang glanced at it and nodded, "The one who designed this road was too thoughtless."

Zhan Zhao saw that there was a sign on the side of the road prohibiting motorised vehicles, and also saw a few bicycles parked in front of the hotel... He gently stroked his chin.

Afterwards, the two walked into the hotel's lobby together.

‿︵‿︵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: March 5, 2024 by Angel

Edited: June 13, 2024 by Angel