S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 124

Screen Murderer 20 – Elusive

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After Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang left the flower market, they didn't return to the SCI office but instead went to Zhao Jue's villa.

It wasn't that Bai Yutang was particularly eager to see the three-coloured koi, rather, Zhao Jue had contacted them earlier to say that Eugene and Anna had moved directly into their villa.

Zhao Jue surprisingly didn't object, probably thinking it would be easier to gossip up close.

Parking the car in front of the villa, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao walked in and saw Bai Ye, Issel, Eleven, and Eugene all dressed in overalls, holding spades and digging.

Eugene was clearly displeased, "Why did I have to come all this way just to do farm work?!"

On the veranda by the entrance, Anna and Zhao Jue were sitting together drinking tea.

Anna seemed to be in good spirits.

As Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang walked along the path, they noticed Bai Ye and Issel digging a pond, while Eleven and Eugene were setting up a grape trellis.

The tortoise and rabbit had already been settled into their hutches and were now munching on leaves.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other in disbelief – Was it really okay to keep a tortoise and a rabbit together?

In the pond they already had, the koi were swimming around.

Bai Yutang asked Bai Ye why they needed another pond if they already had one.

Bai Ye seemed to dislike the round pond and planned to dig a longer one.

Zhao Jue introduced Anna to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang.

Anna greeted the two and they all sat down to talk.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's biggest regret from their last case was not being able to save Dong Yuan. Now, facing his widow, they were both concerned about her situation.

Zhan Zhao asked about Anna's family, especially the child.

Anna replied that the child was being taken care of by his grandparents and was safe.

From their conversation, it was evident that Anna was strong-willed and intelligent.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both felt that she could hold her own against Wang Meiyun.

Of course, as police officers, what they were most concerned about was whether Dong Yuan had left any evidence for Anna that could prove that his murder was related to Wang Meiyun.

Anna took out her phone, opened her email, and indeed, she had other evidence.

In addition to the recording, Dong Yuan had also sent her a video.

In the video, Dong Yuan was holding a rather exquisite USB flash drive and said to Anna, "Darling, if anything happens to me, it's because I was harmed by Wang Meiyun and her people behind the scenes. The evidence to bring them down is on this USB drive. I'll hide the drive in..."

Before Dong Yuan could finish his sentence, there was a click.

Dong Yuan looked up and then said to the camera, "I'll continue later."

......

The video then abruptly ended.

Anna said that after that, she had heard nothing more from Dong Yuan, and the next day she received news of his death.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance and checked the timestamp on the email.

Based on the time difference, it seemed that Dong Yuan had sent the email before calling them.

In other words, Dong Yuan had called them after sending the email to Anna... and the clothes Dong Yuan wore in the video were the same as those he was wearing when he was killed.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both recalled the situation.

According to the surveillance footage, after Sun Xi killed Dong Yuan, he left without taking anything from him. They also checked Dong Yuan's personal belongings and didn't find the USB drive.

Moreover, Dong Yuan sent this video to Anna after filming it, but it was clearly an unfinished piece. Why didn't he finish recording before sending it? Even if he had completed the latter part... could it be that he was in such a hurry that he sent an incomplete recording?

Bai Yutang replayed the video... The interruption in Dong Yuan's recording seemed to be caused by a sound he heard. It sounded like the noise of a door opening or something falling to the ground.

At that time, logically, Dong Yuan should have been alone... Could there have been someone else there?

Could it be that Dong Yuan was interrupted by that person, so he hurriedly sent the unfinished video to Anna, then called SCI and quickly went downstairs... only to unexpectedly encounter Sun Xi in the parking lot?

Both of them frowned – Was he really that unfortunate? Was there someone trying to harm him both upstairs and downstairs?

So now the question arose – Where was that USB drive?

"Has it been taken by someone, or did Dong Yuan hide it somewhere?" Zhan Zhao asked, "It should still be in the Dong Group's building, right?"

Bai Yutang also felt that it must be in the building, but the Dong Group's building was so big. Looking at the video, that USB drive was tiny, if it was hidden in some obscure corner, it would be hard to find.

Of course... it could also have been taken by someone already.

Anna sighed and said that Dong Yuan rarely discussed work matters with her privately, but she was certain he hadn't had an affair with Wang Meiyun.

Both Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao nodded, assuring her that they would continue their investigation.

Anna was quite tired from her long flight and decided to rest first.

Bai Ye finished digging the hole, washed his hands, and asked Bai Yutang if he wanted to see the fish.

Bai Yutang naturally agreed and followed Bai Ye to see the fish.

Eugene was squatting on the grass, feeding carrots to the rabbit. Eleven and Issel were shopping online for the lamps needed to raise the tortoise and the feed for the rabbit.

Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue sat on the veranda drinking tea.

Zhao Jue reminded Zhan Zhao, "Don't just focus on investigating Wang Meiyun. With her high profile, she must have a purpose. Don't let her divert all your attention, Qian Yu is the key."

Zhan Zhao naturally knew what Zhao Jue was referring to and asked, "What have you been investigating recently?"

Seeing Zhan Zhao's curiosity, Zhao Jue replied, "Checking the archives."

"Which one?" Zhan Zhao immediately became interested.

Zhao Jue mentioned that children should investigate murder cases while leaving the more complex cases to the adults.

When Bai Yutang returned after seeing the koi, Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue were arguing again.

Bai Yutang sighed and pulled Zhan Zhao away, reminding everyone to contact them if Anna needed anything.

......

After the two left, Bai Ye asked Zhao Ju, "Wasn't he obediently asking you about the archives?"

"Exactly," Issel chimed in, "can't you just talk properly?"

Eleven nodded in agreement, "After all, they spent so much money today."

Zhao Jue glared at them and, having rested enough, went back inside to continue organising the archives.

In Anna's room upstairs in the villa...

The window was slightly ajar. Anna, who should have been asleep, was not resting. She sat by the window, peeking through the gap in the curtains, watching Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang leave the villa.

......

On the drive back, Zhan Zhao kept grumbling, complaining that Zhao Jue was investigating the archives without him.

Bai Yutang said, "He's probably worried that you two will get distracted. I asked Bao Sir before, and Bao Sir said that Zhao Jue is mainly organising the archives now, so we should let him handle it for now."

"Organising?" Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang, even more disgruntled, "Look, when you ask Bao Sir, he tells you everything, but when I ask, he ignores me."

Bai Yutang chuckled, "That's because you're always eager to check the archives... Bao Sir said that these files are fragmented, some in disorder, some with questionable authenticity... some that are valuable and some that are worthless. They need to be carefully sorted, which is why Zhao Jue is handling it. Moreover, the test subjects are ultimately victims of the organisation, like Luo Tian. If some of them are now leading normal lives, even if they have special abilities, as long as they're not harming anyone, there's no need to disturb them. How should that be judged? We have to leave it to Zhao Jue. Maybe he'll destroy some of the files he doesn't want us to see."

Zhan Zhao continued grumbling, "Of course I know, it's not like I don't understand. They all treat us like children."

Bai Yutang asked, "Do you see Luo Tian and Qin Ou telling Yang Yang and Xiao Yi about their troublesome matters?"

Zhan Zhao squinted at Bai Yutang – You've been quite close to them recently...

Bai Yutang smiled, "To be honest, they're in a pretty good state right now."

Zhan Zhao put aside the matter of the archives for now and took out his tablet to read the news.

There were many news articles related to Wang Meiyun published by the Dong Group today, along with photos of her within the building.

As Zhan Zhao was scrolling, he suddenly seemed to realise something. He stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "Perhaps..."

"Hmm?" Bai Yutang asked what was wrong, and through the car window, he saw a massive advertisement on the mall building not far away... The promotion for the Bai Film Festival was officially out.

On the large advertising screen, various celebrities were introducing the film festival, and many movie trailers were playing.

"Wow, looks good." Zhan Zhao also noticed, seeing numerous posters on the street and even buses branded for the film festival.

"What did you say 'perhaps' about?" Bai Yutang brought the conversation back to the case.

"Oh, right!" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang, "When we went to the Dong Group, to Dong Yuan's office, do you remember the potted plants in the corridor?"

Bai Yutang nodded – He had mentioned it before. They were all maple bonsai trees, probably sold by Boss Wang's store...

Thinking of this, Bai Yutang furrowed his brows slightly and immediately understood what Zhan Zhao meant. "Cat, do you think Dong Yuan might have hastily hidden that USB drive in one of the plant pots? And then Boss Wang found it while tending to the bonsai, took it home, and viewed its contents?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, "That's why Boss Wang's house was rummaged through and all his computer equipment was taken... Maybe they were looking for that USB drive? Xiao Liu and her ex-boyfriend might have also been targeted because of the contents..."

"From these signs, Wang Meiyun and her group probably haven't found that USB drive, right?" Bai Yutang nodded, "That's a good sign."

"Mhmm!" Zhan Zhao asked him, "Where do you think that USB drive might be?"

Bai Yutang smiled, "Could it be with Chen Gui?"

"I think so too, and the content on that USB drive must be extraordinary. Perhaps Wang Meiyun inherited the Dong Group just to find it." Zhan Zhao smirked.

"What do you mean?" Bai Yutang's car stopped in the police station garage.

Zhan Zhao showed Bai Yutang his tablet.

On the tablet were today's news photos, all taken inside the Dong Group, showing Wang Meiyun's office.

Bai Yutang also noticed something – The maple bonsais from the Dong Group's hallway were missing!

"What happened to those bonsai?" Bai Yutang was puzzled.

"With reporters surrounding the Dong Group today, moving a large number of bonsai would surely be noticed. If they weren't moved out and yet they're missing from the hallway, where could they have gone?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"They might have been gathered and put somewhere..." Bai Yutang pondered, "Could Wang Meiyun have hidden all the bonsai, intending to sift through the soil to find the USB drive?"

"It's very possible." Zhan Zhao nodded, "This further indicates – they haven't obtained the USB drive yet."

As the two entered the elevator and returned to the office, the phone rang. It was Zhao Hu, who was currently acting as bait in the hospital.

"Boss! There's a situation!"

‿︵‿︵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: April 21, 2024 by Angel

Edited: October 3, 2024 by Angel