S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 137

Screen Murderer 33 – On-Site Restoration

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Even though Ma Xin had given her "precautions", Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang couldn't help feeling somewhat disappointed after questioning Wang Meiyun.

Wang Meiyun had absolutely no memory of the entire incident.

Zhan Zhao asked her to recall in detail and describe everything she could remember.

Wang Meiyun said that at the time, she was in a meeting with several elders... and after that, she didn't remember anything.

Seeing Wang Meiyun's blank expression, Bai Yutang felt the resentment surrounding Zhan Zhao intensifying.

Bai Yutang felt the need to ease the tension, so he coughed.

Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang gestured – Shall we talk outside?

Zhan Zhao sulkily got up and walked to the door with Bai Yutang.

In the observation room, the two looked at Wang Meiyun behind the one-way mirror and saw that she looked tired, even yawning.

Zhan Zhao observed her actions and couldn’t help but frown.

"Cat?" Bai Yutang called him.

Zhan Zhao turned back, whispering, "If she witnessed the whole process, why doesn't she remember?"

"Was she hypnotised? Influenced? Memories erased?" Bai Yutang didn't know why he was thinking this way, but after so many cases before, nothing seemed impossible anymore.

Zhan Zhao frowned, "Short-term memory loss doesn't necessarily require psychological intervention... and, I always feel like there's something a little strange about Wang Meiyun!"

"Are you sure it's just a little strange?" Bai Yutang couldn't resist teasing.

Zhan Zhao sighed too, stood still for a moment, then suddenly turned and ran out.

Bai Yutang followed him out of the door.

Zhan Zhao rushed straight to the forensic room after leaving the interrogation room.

Upon entering, Zhan Zhao asked Ma Xin, "Where are the photos just taken for evidence?"

Ma Xin opened his computer and gestured for Zhan Zhao to look at the big screen.

Zhan Zhao scrolled through the photos on the touch screen.

Gongsun, curious, leaned over and asked, "What's going on?"

Zhan Zhao asked Gongsun, "From these photos, can you tell if Wang Meiyun's eyes were open or closed at the time?"

Gongsun rubbed his chin, analysing, "There's blood splattered on her eyelids, but it's hard to tell if her eyes were closed or if it was just splattered when she blinked... but..."

Ma Xin seemed to notice something too, "Right, it seems a bit unnatural. Why aren't there any blood splatters on her arms? Normally, if someone sees blood coming towards their face, they would instinctively raise their hands to shield themselves... And Wang Meiyun was sitting sideways in the pool of blood, so why was the distribution of blood on her face and body so evenly balanced?"

Ma Xin muttered her analysis, while Gongsun smiled and suggested, "Why don't we try it out ourselves?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both looked at Gongsun – Try?

A bright smile spread across Gongsun's face.

They went to the empty room next door that the forensic department used for experiments.

Using makeshift partitions, Xiatian and Ma Xin created a space similar in size to the secret room in Dong Yuan's office and laid plastic sheets on the floor.

Watching Ma Xin, who was skilled with a nail gun and bit nails in her mouth, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang thought that Ma Han and Jiayi's marital home might be a perfect project for her...

After setting up the "scene", Gongsun went to the storage room and wheeled in a cart of mannequins.

These mannequins for experiments were customised by Gongsun to closely resemble real humans, with soft resin skin, main blood vessels and organs, and they were even infused with red ink in their veins.

Since Gongsun designed these mannequins, they had become quite popular, with forensic laboratories and medical schools clamouring to order them.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang watched with complicated expressions as Gongsun and Xiatian dressed the mannequin in clothes and positioned it according to the deceased's posture in the photos.

At that moment, Ma Xin, now changed into different clothes, walked in.

Ma Xin was wearing a white cotton T-shirt and white trousers, with a wig similar to Wang Meiyun's hairstyle placed on her head.

Following the previous deductions, Ma Xin sat sideways next to the dummy, and Xiatian put on gloves and gripped the antique knife.

Gongsun set up the camera, took out a timer, and gestured for Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang to step back.

The two retreated to the door, holding plastic sheets to shield themselves.

Gongsun shouted start and started the timer.

Xiatian viciously stabbed at the chest of the dummy and red ink splattered continuously, creating a horrifying scene.

According to the speculated position, Ma Xin sat beside the dummy, then placed her hands on the ground. The red ink quickly spread all over the floor, Ma Xin's clothes, trousers, and hands... were all covered in blood.

After stabbing a dozen times, Xiatian felt his hand getting sore, but he continued to stab until Gongsun, who was counting, told him to stop, after which Xiatian collapsed exhaustedly to the side.

Gongsun reminded him, "Don't forget to stab the knife into the eye!"

"Oh..." Xiatian picked up the knife and stabbed it into the dummy's eyes.

After the entire experiment was completed, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at the messy scene and noticed a problem.

Ma Xin, who was imitating Wang Meiyun, also realised that the distribution of blood on her body was completely different from Wang Meiyun's.

Firstly, whether it was because Xiatian lacked strength or some other issue, Ma Xin's body indeed had blood splatters, but far fewer than Wang Meiyun's, with most of the blood ending up on Xiatian himself.

After Xiatian completed the procedure, he was basically covered in blood, and his protective suit turned red.

Secondly, Ma Xin noticed that sitting sideways with her hands on the ground made her body very close to the ground, making it difficult to support her upper body, and this posture didn't feel natural no matter how she sat. Ma Xin even thought it resembled a yoga pose.

Why did Wang Meiyun choose to sit in a pool of blood in this particular posture? And... why didn't she try to shield herself or run away?

Even though Ma Xin was quite bold, she felt that if faced with a similar situation, she would probably try to move aside, maybe hiding in a corner.

Gongsun seemed quite pleased, meticulously recording data and taking various photos.

Bai Yutang asked, "After the power cut, was there electricity in that secret room?"

Xiatian nodded, "Yes, this secret room has an independent power system, separate circuit breakers and a backup generator, it’s insulated from the building's power system."

"What's going on then? Why is there such a big difference between the scene and this?" Ma Xin couldn't understand.

"Should we continue to try?" Gongsun suggested.

Ma Xin ran to take a shower, changed into a white T-shirt and wig, and came back to try again.

Xiatian said his hands were too sore to lift, so Gongsun called Ma Han and Zhao Hu over.

Zhao Hu put on protective gear and gloves and picked up the knife.

After Gongsun shouted start, Hu Zi performed with vigour. His stabbing posture was more professional than Xiatian's, with a completely different level of strength.

Gongsun nodded in satisfaction; the whole process was faster than Xiatian's.

On the other side, Ma Xin, as requested by Zhan Zhao, faced the situation from a normal person's perspective.

Ma Xin was initially stunned, and then tried to scream, but unfortunately, she wasn't skilled at screaming, it sounded more like she was shouting.

Ma Han watched helplessly from the side, shaking his head, while Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang thought that the girl's lung capacity was impressive! Regular exercise really pays off.

After shouting, Ma Xin instinctively shielded herself from the splattered blood, then retreated a few steps and stood up, running to the wall to take cover... and then she collapsed in fear. Of course, she wasn't really paralysed, she just sat on the ground, hitting her tailbone and wincing in pain.

"Stop."

Gongsun stopped the stopwatch, and Zhao Hu swiftly inserted the antique knife into the dummy's eye socket.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang evaluated the state of the "corpse" and found it closely resembled the body in the photos.

Gongsun suggested, "The real perpetrator might have a physique similar to Zhao Hu's, but their destructive power should be slightly less."

However, looking at the scene and the bloodstains on Ma Xin, the difference from the bloodstains on Wang Meiyun was too great.

There were three major differences.

Firstly, the scene itself was much "messier" than in the photos, with a large number of Ma Xin's fingerprints and footprints present.

Speaking of fingerprints and footprints, this was also a confusing point for everyone.

On the floor of the secret room, there were essentially only footprints from when Wang Meiyun left. Although there were plenty of bloodstains on the ground, there were no footprints from anyone else.

But when Zhao Hu left after "killing" the dummy, there were bloody footprints... That's right, whether it was Xiatian just now or Zhao Hu now, they were both covered in blood, unless...

Gongsun gestured to Ma Han, "You also try it!"

Ma Han went to put on a full-body protective suit, wore gloves, and picked up the knife.

Ma Xin took another shower and changed into another white T-shirt to continue.

But this time, Gongsun also asked Zhao Hu to change into a protective suit and participate in the experiment together.

Hu Zi asked in confusion, "What am I supposed to do?"

Gongsun said to Ma Xin, "You’re going to be in a state of unconsciousness."

Ma Xin nodded and lay down on the ground, pretending to be unconscious.

Gongsun instructed Zhao Hu to grab Ma Xin's arms and help her sit up in a sideways position next to the dummy.

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin, "Interesting."

Bai Yutang leaned against the wall, watching thoughtfully.

Zhao Hu did as he was told, and Gongsun said to Ma Han, "Can you use just one hand instead of two to stab the dummy?"

Ma Han nodded, indicating he could try.

Gongsun started the stopwatch again and said start. Ma Han used one hand to stab the dummy's chest.

Zhao Hu, on the other hand, maintained Ma Xin’s position sitting next to the dummy.

Ma Han used his right hand. When he stabbed with his right hand, his body involuntarily turned sideways, causing more blood to splash onto Ma Xin and less onto Ma Han.

When enough stabs were done, Gongsun shouted stop.

Ma Han raised his hand, and the knife was thrown into the dummy's eye socket.

Then Gongsun said, "Nobody move!"

Ma Xin still pretended to be unconscious, Zhao Hu supported her, and Ma Han leaned sideways, half kneeling next to the dummy.

Gongsun gestured, "Take off the protective suits."

Ma Han began to take off his protective suit, and Zhao Hu looked back – What about Ma Xin?

Gongsun told him to put Ma Xin down.

Zhao Hu set Ma Xin down. At this moment, one side of Ma Xin's pants was heavily stained with blood, while the other side was relatively clean. Her upper body lay mostly outside the pool of blood, while her hands were in the blood... Combined with the bloodstains on Ma Xin's face... this was the closest to the real bloodstains on Wang Meiyun among the three experiments.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao now had a rough idea. There were actually four people in the secret room at that time! One person was supporting the unconscious Wang Meiyun, and another one killed the attacker, creating a false impression.

Under Gongsun's command, Ma Han and Zhao Hu carefully took off their protective suits, stepped out onto the blood-free area, and then folded the suits inside out like plastic bags before storing them away.

Finally, they left the scene.

Xiatian compared the experimental site with the photos from the secret room, then made an "okay" gesture, indicating – Perfect!

‿︵‿︵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: May 3, 2024 by Angel

Edited: November 1, 2024 by Soojin