S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 126

Screen Murderer 22 – Closed Loop

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Zhan Zhao and his team set up a plan and captured Secretary Zhang, taking him back to the police station.

As soon as they entered the office, they heard two popping sounds.

Ma Xin and Bai Chi each took a side and opened two small party poppers in front of Ma Han. The crowd applauded Ma Han and congratulated him.

Ma Xin had just gossiped with her girlfriends about her brother's proposal process and was so excited that she patted her older brother on the back, "Well done, Brother!"

Ma Han was a bit embarrassed and took the evidence to the forensic department. As soon as he entered, he was surrounded by a group of people congratulating him.

Zhao Hu escorted Secretary Zhang to the interrogation room.

Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping, "How did the press conference for those two go?"

Jiang Ping replied, "It's all done. Didn't you two watch the second half?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance and asked, "Was there anything exciting in the second half?"

Jiang Ping clicked his tongue twice and played the video for the two of them.

"Anna, being a lawyer, only announced that she would represent the Dong Group at the film festival." Jiang Ping said. "Wang Meiyun's part was thrilling, it could practically be a corporate drama."

Zhan Zhao found the segment they had just watched and continued playing.

Shortly after Wang Meiyun proposed having Chen Jiayi as the host, a reporter asked, "Just now, Chen Jiayi posted a message saying she's getting married."

Wang Meiyun was a bit surprised but then smiled and said, "Oh? Then congratulations to her."

"Any other suggestions for a host?" The reporters always wanted more drama, so they continued to ask.

"Hmm... how about getting someone more authoritative?" Wang Meiyun suggested. "What about inviting Dr. Zhan from SCI to host?"

The reporters immediately got excited, "Dr. Zhan is an authority in psychology. Are you implying that Anna has psychological issues?"

Wang Meiyun smiled faintly, "You're so capable, you've already done your research. I'm just making a suggestion, and Dr. Zhan might not even agree to participate..."

Just as she was speaking, there was suddenly a commotion at the door, and several people stormed into the press conference.

The intruders were relatives of Dong Yuan and some executives from the Dong Group. They were there to cause trouble, saying Wang Meiyun was not qualified to represent the Dong Group and that she couldn't be the boss until the police verified the authenticity of the will.

The scene immediately descended into chaos, and the live broadcast signal was cut off.

Bai Yutang frowned – What a waste not to turn this into a reality show.

Zhan Zhao was also deep in thought, stroking his chin.

Ma Xin approached him and asked if Wang Meiyun had invited him to participate. 

Zhan Zhao responded, "We're going to attend your brother's wedding!"

Ma Xin covered her mouth and laughed, asking if Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang knew how her brother proposed. Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang asked, "How did he propose?"

Ma Xin showed them the WeChat screenshots from Jiayi that Qi Le had sent her.

After seeing them, both squinted their eyes – You couldn't tell, but Ma Han surely has his ways!

"Unbelievable!" Ma Xin shook her phone back and forth, "My brother is really mysterious."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at Luo Tian and Zhao Hu – Ma Han set the bar really high, what are you two going to do?

Luo Tian and Zhao Hu looked visibly anxious, the pressure was high! They can't lose!

Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping to play the video again.

After watching it again, Zhan Zhao was puzzled, "What did Wang Meiyun mean? Asking reporters to investigate on their own, does she know something about Anna?"

Jiang Ping smirked, "I found it strange too, so I checked it out earlier. It's one thing not to check, but once you do, it's quite shocking."

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at him – What's the situation?

Jiang Ping showed them screenshots of news articles from foreign newspapers, "This Anna... her backstory is quite something."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned, looking at the alarming headlines, "Devil Girl... Deadly Black Widow..."

Jiang Ping nodded, "Anna comes from a wealthy family with a prominent background. She has been outstanding since childhood. However, when she was sixteen, she brutally killed a maid in her family. The details of how brutal it was are not described in the news, but according to the police, it was described as 'horrifyingly cruel and despicable'. But later, Anna was diagnosed with severe delusional disorder, and since she was a minor when she committed the crime, she wasn't sentenced to death. Her family hired an excellent lawyer for her and compensated the maid's family with a large sum of money to settle the matter. Anna spent two years in a mental hospital for treatment and was discharged at eighteen. Dong Yuan wasn't Anna's first husband, she was previously married. But less than ten days after getting married, her first husband died... Her first husband was even wealthier than Dong Yuan and left her a massive inheritance."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were both taken aback – Her life story was indeed something else.

"How did her first husband die?" Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping.

Jiang Ping said, "He was also murdered, and the killer hasn't been found to this day. There are rumours that Anna hired someone to kill him."

"Is there any evidence?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Jiang Ping shrugged, "Anna comes from a powerful family, and there's very little news about her, most of it has been deleted."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were unsure whether to sympathise with Dong Yuan or admire him... the women around him were quite something.

Bai Yutang was a bit concerned and whispered to Zhan Zhao, "Does Leonard know about her background?"

Zhan Zhao wasn't sure either, "He shouldn't be unaware, right? Aren't their families acquainted?"

"If he's having Eugene accompany her the entire time, it must mean they have a good relationship, right?" Bai Yutang furrowed his brow, "Staying with Zhao Jue and the others, nothing bad should happen, right?"

Zhan Zhao snorted, "If she does have psychological issues, wouldn't it be professionally appropriate to leave her with Zhao Jue?"

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, "Are you still upset?"

Zhan Zhao whispered, "Don't you think Zhao Jue always does this? When he's happy, he makes us unhappy! I think he's doing it on purpose!"

Bai Yutang gently patted Zhan Zhao, "He needs some time to adapt."

"Bai Ye and Eleven adapted quite well, I don't know what his problem is. We should hypnotise him sometime." Zhan Zhao looked quite determined.

Bai Yutang cautioned him, "Are you sure you can handle it? Don't end up getting hypnotised by him!"

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang – It's quite obvious that you've been favouring them lately!

Bai Yutang chuckled and asked, "Are we going to interrogate Secretary Zhang?"

Zhan Zhao nodded.

They started walking out.

As they were leaving, they saw Gongsun standing by the window, talking on the phone, seemingly discussing Iceland's polar night or something like that.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance – Was their brother going out to play again? Envious! They wanted a break too!

Before they could enter the interrogation room, the elevator door opened, and Ma Han rushed out holding a report. Spotting them, he waved.

They immediately approached him.

Ma Han handed the report from the forensic department to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "There are fingerprints from Secretary Zhang on Liu's neck. The skin tissue under her nails matches Secretary Zhang's DNA. Also, the key belongs to Xiao Liu, and footprints belonging to Secretary Zhang were found in both Wang's flower shop and warehouse."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged another look. The evidence was simply ironclad, Secretary Zhang was undoubtedly the murderer of Liu.

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned... Now, they faced a rather "unique" issue.

So far, almost all the cases seemed to be closed loops.

Like Tang Xing killing Jin He, Secretary Zhang killed Xiao Liu... Although these cases weren't coincidental and all had intricate ties to Wang Meiyun or Qian Yu, the perpetrators acted cleanly, and each case had a single murderer neatly tied to it. Unless they spoke up to admit that someone behind the scenes was pulling the strings, it was challenging to link the cases to Wang Meiyun, let alone Qian Yu, who had disappeared without a trace.

Moreover, Qian Fu and Zhou Ping, who were associated with Qian Yu, hadn't appeared either. In previous cases, they were clearly significant participants, just like Wang Meiyun, and could even be considered disciples of Qian Yu.

If Secretary Zhang, like Tang Xing, refused to speak, the case would remain stagnant. It felt like peeling an onion; if the cut wasn't deep enough, only one layer would come off, leaving several more beneath.

As expected by Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, Secretary Zhang remained tight-lipped.

Even when presented with all the evidence and warned that his life would be at stake if he didn't cooperate, and that providing information could reduce his sentence, he remained unmoved.

With no other options, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang sought out Bao Zheng.

Upon seeing them, Bao Zheng quipped, "When is Ma Han getting married? Need some time off? Take a few extra days for a honeymoon!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances – Maybe they should consider getting married too!

While Bao Zheng snacked on chocolates, he asked, "How's the case going?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang briefed him about Secretary Zhang's case. Zhan Zhao reached out to grab a piece of chocolate, but as he did, Bao Zheng swatted his paw away.

Bao Zheng hid the chocolate, opened a drawer, and took out another jar of chocolates to offer Zhan Zhao.

At first, Zhan Zhao was puzzled – Was there a difference between the chocolates?

Upon closer inspection, he realised that Bao Zheng's chocolates were homemade.

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were curious – Was Jiang Nan such a good cook?!

"Tsk." Bao Zheng frowned after reviewing the documents. "We're still dealing with the case of Tang Xing killing Jin He. If this gets out, it'll be front-page news again, and public opinion will keep pressing us. If we don't produce results soon, people might suspect we're protecting celebrities or something."

"But if we close the case and they're just small fry, like Secretary Zhang randomly targeting a flower shop owner, there's no motive at all!"

"I can help you delay it for a few more days." Bao Zheng shook his head. "You guys need to quickly find that Chen Gui who's on the run, that would give you a lead! If the USB drive is with him, finding it might even allow us to close the case before the film festival! If we take down this case, everyone can take a break to attend the wedding!"

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at Bao Zheng, "Really?"

Bao Zheng nodded, ushering them out, "Hurry up!"

After leaving Bao Zheng's office, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang discussed where to find Chen Gui. Jiang Ping had previously discovered that Chen Gui had been working at a moving company. Maybe they should start there...

Just as they returned to their office, they saw a group of people gathered around the TV, watching the news.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances – What now? Why did all the clues seem to come from the news recently?

Bai Chi spotted them and waved, "Brother! Come look! Something's happened again!"

‿︵‿︵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 10, 2024 by Angel