S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 131

Screen Murderer 27 – Three of Five

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Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had only just gotten off duty, and in this short time, their moods had already fluctuated several times.

From happily deciding to take a break and go on a date, to suddenly receiving a clue, gossiping while enjoying their meal, and then witnessing Dong Fei drop dead right in front of them.

In the restaurant, someone eating a meal suddenly collapsed at their table, clearly showing signs of poisoning, what would happen next?

Naturally, it caused panic among the diners.

Customers started to flee in droves.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had been sitting right behind Dong Fei and the others the whole time. From Dong Fei's symptoms, it seemed to be acute poisoning, meaning the poison he ingested was likely in the food on the table. Besides the two older men dining with him, there was also the waiter and the kitchen staff.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Bai Yutang made a call, thinking they were probably still on their date.

He called Gongsun first, then got in touch with the forensic department to collect evidence.

As luck would have it, Gongsun arrived in less than ten minutes, followed by the resigned-looking Bai Jintang.

It turned out the two had been dining on the rooftop...

Gongsun rushed over, looking bewildered, thinking that Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had stumbled upon a murder even during a simple dinner. What was going on? Had Conan possessed them?

Zhan Zhao whispered to Gongsun that the deceased was Dong Fei.

At this point, the two older men opposite them snapped out of their panicked state. They noticed Bai Jintang and exchanged glances, then sized up Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.

They probably realised that their private conversation had been overheard by someone important.

So, the lesson here is not to gossip behind people's backs, as the two older men looked particularly embarrassed.

Gongsun examined the body and frowned, "Arsenic poisoning."

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned as well – It was as they suspected.

Gongsun looked around and said, "Based on his condition, he likely ingested a lethal dose of arsenic or cyanide within the last ten minutes. There's a metallic aroma in his mouth." As he spoke, Gongsun glanced at a cup beside him.

When Dong Fei collapsed, he grabbed the tablecloth, causing the plates and cups on the table to fall.

The cup didn't break, and there was some leftover drink inside.

Gongsun leaned down to smell it, frowned, and seemed uncertain.

The restaurant manager stood on the side, his face pale – He could imagine tomorrow's headlines: "Popular restaurant kills with arsenic"... That would be the end of his business.

The group of chefs standing with the manager also looked shocked – How could this happen? At most, it might be an allergic reaction or food poisoning, how could a drink contain deadly poison?!

At this moment, the forensic team arrived. Several young forensic experts looked at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang with confusion – Their SCI was too good, can’t they let people live? How many times were they planning on being on site today?!

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang politely stepped aside to let them gather evidence.

Zhan Zhao pointed to something that had fallen out of Dong Fei's pocket earlier, instructing the forensic team to collect it first.

Bai Yutang took a glance and frowned again – What had fallen out of Dong Fei's pocket was, surprisingly, another USB drive.

Zhan Zhao looked at his own table, recalling the very sweet passion fruit drink he had earlier, and asked the manager, "Who made this drink?"

The manager pointed to a particularly young chef. This chef, surnamed Zhang, specialised in making drinks and cocktails. He looked puzzled as Zhan Zhao brought the drink over to him.

Zhan Zhao asked, "Can you taste it?"

Chef Zhang glanced at the body on the floor.

Zhan Zhao quickly added, "I had some just now, it's not poisonous."

Although still puzzled, Chef Zhang took the drink and tasted it.

After taking a sip, he furrowed his brow slightly, "Eh?"

"Doesn't taste right?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Chef Zhang nodded, "Why is it so sweet?"

The restaurant manager also took a sip and frowned – The taste was indeed off.

"How did you add the sugar?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Chef Zhang led everyone to the bar.

In one corner of the restaurant was the bar where all drinks were prepared and served. This meant that all mixing and bartending activities were done in the open.

All the tools he had used earlier had already been taken away by the forensic team.

Chef Zhang took out a measuring cup, similar to a small hourglass used for mixing cocktails, and said he used this container for syrup. Normally, a passion fruit drink would have one cup of syrup added, but the taste of Zhan Zhao's drink felt like it had two cups.

Zhan Zhao asked if Dong Fei's drink had been the same as his.

Chef Zhang nodded, saying he had mixed the two cups together, Zhan Zhao's drink was made first, followed by Dong Fei's.

At this point, Chef Zhang furrowed his brow, staring at the small measuring cup on the table as if he had remembered something.

Zhan Zhao smiled and asked, "Let me guess, you usually pour out as many cups of syrup as you need at once, right? To avoid mistakes in dosage when there are more cups?"

Chef Zhang nodded, "I usually pour the syrup into the cups first, then turn around to deal with the passion fruit and use the blender..."

"But after you finished making my drink and turned around, you found both measuring cups on the table were full, right?"

Chef Zhang nodded, "Yes, because many of my actions are habitual, so I thought I had forgotten to add sugar at first, and added it again."

Zhan Zhao smiled faintly and glanced at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang instantly understood the situation. It meant that when Chef Zhang turned around to deal with the passion fruit, one measuring cup should have been empty while the other was full. Someone had taken away the empty cup and replaced it with a measuring cup containing a lethal dose of arsenic. So, when Chef Zhang turned back and saw both cups were full, he assumed he had forgotten to add sugar... and he added it again, resulting in Zhan Zhao's drink being overly sweet.

After understanding the poisoning process, Bai Yutang broke out in a cold sweat. He asked Chef Zhang, "Do you have any pattern when you pour sugar? Like, do you always start from the left or the right, or is it random?"

"Oh, I always start from the left, because it's systematic." Chef Zhang replied.

Bai Yutang felt slightly relieved. If that was the case, the person who poisoned the drink wasn't targeting Zhan Zhao but Dong Fei...

However, this didn't completely reassure Bai Yutang either Because the drinks were identical, if Chef Zhang had casually grabbed any measuring cup to pour sugar earlier, Zhan Zhao could have been the one poisoned now.

The more he thought about it, the more afraid Bai Yutang became. He felt his anger rising and decided he would never dine out again. If he wanted to eat something, he would cook it at home himself...

Sensing Bai Yutang's anxiety, Zhan Zhao quickly reached out and gently patted him on the back.

Bai Jintang, who was also present, did the same. After all, he was Bai Yutang's older brother and could feel his anger.

So, the question now was, who had tampered with the measuring cup while Chef Zhang was turned away?

Zhan Zhao asked Chef Zhang how many measuring cups they had in total.

Chef Zhang said they had three commonly used ones placed outside and four spare ones in the cabinet.

The cabinet Chef Zhang referred to was the overhead hanging cabinet above him. Opening it revealed only three measuring cups left, there were also three outside, in other words... one was missing.

Chef Zhang would remain at the bar until the restaurant closed. While he was there, it would be difficult for anyone else to approach and take a measuring cup from the hanging cabinet without being noticed. This meant the measuring cup was taken in advance, and the original empty cup used for Zhan Zhao's drink was likely still with the person who poisoned it.

Zhan Zhao glanced up. To protect customers' privacy, the restaurant didn't have surveillance inside. There was one in the kitchen, but none at the bar since it was inside the restaurant...

The only people who could approach the bar were the wait staff and the customers. The most likely suspect seemed to be the waiter who had just served Dong Fei's drink...

Zhan Zhao remembered the waiter's appearance because he had ordered another drink from him, however... the waiter was no longer in the restaurant.

Bai Yutang went to the kitchen and found a back door leading to a staircase and a freight elevator.

There was surveillance in the elevator.

Upon checking the surveillance footage, sure enough, they saw the waiter discreetly leaving the kitchen during the time Dong Fei was poisoned and taking the elevator downstairs.

Bai Yutang asked the manager and the chefs if they knew who this person was.

After struggling for a while, the manager couldn't recognise him.

Chef Zhang said he had never seen him before. He recalled that while he was mixing drinks, the man was indeed waiting at the bar, he even asked if he was new, and the man confirmed he was.

Bai Yutang reviewed the footage of the waiter's escape. He was calm and swift throughout, avoiding all the cameras. Considering he had likely observed Chef Zhang's habits before executing the plan, it was basically certain that he was a professional.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang consulted the two elders from the Dong Group.

They both said Dong Fei loved this restaurant and frequented it often. Dong Fei couldn't drink alcohol and particularly loved their passion fruit drink. They insisted it must be Wang Meiyun who had ordered this, claiming no one else would have a reason to do so!

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang asked if they had any evidence.

The elders said that with Dong Yuan gone, and unless there was a will stating otherwise, the company's management would likely pass to Dong Fei. The biggest threat to Wang Meiyun was Dong Fei. With Dong Fei gone, there would be no one capable enough to compete with Wang Meiyun.

"It's most beneficial for her, she must have hired someone to do it!"

"Just like when she killed Dong Yuan! That woman is a venomous snake..."

The more Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang heard, the more exaggerated the claims became. They stopped the elders from speaking further and took them to the police station.

However, the elders didn't provide any crucial evidence. Despite their animated accusations against Wang Meiyun for Dong Fei's death, when asked for specific details or help finding evidence, they feigned ignorance.

Not getting anywhere with them, Zhan Zhao decided to focus on what Dong Fei had said just before his death. "Dong Fei mentioned Anna had three lives on her conscience, do you know which three?"

After thinking for a moment, the two older men said they had heard Dong Fei mention that Anna had caused the deaths of three girls who bullied her at school.

Upon hearing this, both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were stunned. They exchanged a glance – Neither had heard of this before... If you added the maid, her ex-husband, and now these three girls, that would be five lives?!

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang couldn't care less about those two older men, they ran out and called Jiang Ping.

Jiang Ping and Fei Mu were enjoying some takeout, eating crayfish and watching a game. When he received the call, he was startled, "Boss! What's going on? Home come people seem to drop dead everywhere you go?"

Bai Yutang told him to stop talking nonsense and hurry back to the police station.

Holding a half-empty can of cola, Jiang Ping rushed back to the SCI office.

Zhan Zhao asked him to check the school Anna attended to see if three girls had died there.

Jiang Ping quickly found the information, "There really were!"

‿︵‿︵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 25, 2024 by Angel

Edited: October 21, 2024 by Angel