S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 167

Special Files – Witches 14 – Triangle and Dandelion

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As soon as Hou Yingqi arrived, she made a big splash, presenting a photo full of supernatural vibes and instantly turning the Shen family murder case into a ghost story.

However, being suspicious of the supernatural was never SCI's style. Rather than thinking about whether this case was mysterious or not, it was better to think about its feasibility.

Upon seeing the photo, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's first thought was – how was it done?

If the photo was taken before the incident, then who used invisible ink to draw these patterns?

The most crucial point was that the bodies had been submerged in the fish pond for almost three years. How did the artist know which bone was missing? The feasibility was quite low.

The artist knew which bone was missing! How did they know? The simplest explanation was that they saw it or were accurately informed.

This indicated that the missing bones in the bodies in the car were caused artificially.

How difficult was it to do it artificially? Combining the circumstances of the case, some feasible scenarios could be constructed.

Scenario one, the bones were removed after death.

Scenario two, the bones were removed before death.

Let's analyse scenario one first.

The bodies were in the car sinking into the water, so it was not realistic to remove the bones underwater.

Therefore, it must have been done before the bodies and the car sank underwater.

This indicates that the people in the car were already dead before the car entered the water. This hypothesis also explains why the car was in the fish pond.

Someone killed the four people in the car, removed their bones, and then pushed the car into the fish pond. The broken guardrail on Sanbo Bridge was just a deception to mislead the police investigation.

Now, let's analyse scenario two.

The four victims of the Shen family underwent surgery while still alive, and some bones were removed before the accident occurred.

However, this possibility is unlikely and cannot explain the circumstances of the crash.

If this family had crashed through the guardrail of Sanbo Bridge, it would require the use of lifting equipment to hoist the car from the river under Sanbo Bridge and then transfer it to the fish pond. This would be a significant operation, and in such a small village, it would be impossible not to be seen.

Furthermore, the fish pond is not very close to the Shen family's house, and driving there would require taking a detour. However, the visibility on the small road at night is very low, and there is a possibility of an accident. But the question remains, why would the Shen family be driving on such a remote road late at night? Where were they going?

Considering various speculations, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were more inclined to the idea that the Shen family was murdered, and then the culprit removed a bone from the deceased before pushing the bodies, along with the car, into the fish pond.

Of course, there were still many suspicious points, and the details were not fully complete.

As they continued to examine the photo, after shining the UV light on the front, Zhao Jue also used it to illuminate the back.

The result... was that in the corner of the back, a dandelion appeared.

At the sight of the dandelion, everyone was shocked yet excited – it was a connection to the seventh generation.

With the appearance of the dandelion, everyone's spirits were lifted.

Zhan Zhao kept looking at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang knew that Zhan Zhao's imagination was running wild, so he reached out and gently pressed the back of his neck, signalling him to calm down and let Hou Yingqi finish speaking.

Hou Yingqi continued, "I investigated the Shen family and discovered some things. It's clear that this family is not just ordinary farmers."

While speaking, she opened her notebook, took out a few photos clipped inside, and handed them to everyone to see.

Everyone had mentally prepared themselves, thinking it might be another set of eerie photos.

But the result was surprising.

Hou Yingqi presented four photos in total, all interior shots, seemingly of a room.

This was a very girly-themed room, with a bright colour scheme, pastel tones, light pink, and off-white. It was very cosy.

Everyone stared at the photo for a long time. Bai Yutang instinctively looked at Zhan Zhao, as if asking – Cat, where is the horror in these photos?

Zhan Zhao didn't find anything amiss either and looked at Hou Yingqi, glancing at Zhao Jue to see if he had any comments.

But Zhao Jue just frowned and stared at the photos.

Hou Yingqi asked mysteriously, "Do you think there's something missing in these photos?"

Zhao Jue arranged the four photos together and asked, "Are these the four walls of the room?"

Hou Yingqi nodded.

Once the photos were laid out together, everyone instantly noticed the problem – four walls, if it's a room, why are there no windows?

Zhan Zhao thought momentarily and suddenly asked, "Could it be a basement?"

"Bingo!" Hou Yingqi snapped her fingers, "This is the Shen family's basement!"

At these words, everyone was a bit stunned.

This room would be too much as an adult's room, it was basically only suitable for girls under sixteen. Judging by the size of the bed, the child should be quite small.

The Shen family has two children. Shen Mingming is only six years old and a boy, which doesn't seem suitable.

In that case, the only one who might fit living here is Shen Yan...

"Does Shen Yan have her own room?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Yes," Hou Yingqi took out an album, "these are the photos I took of the various rooms in the Shen family home. Both Shen Yan and Shen Mingming have their own rooms, and there are also two unoccupied guest rooms in the villa. Additionally, based on my investigation, Shen Yan is about one metre six, which makes this room feel a bit small for her, especially the bed!"

"And why would she live in the basement?" Zhao Hu found it illogical.

"Could it be something like a secret base, a room she used to play in as a child?" Ma Han asked.

Ma Han and Luo Tian had previously helped Luo Yang and Xiao Yi set up a treehouse, which served as a secret base for the two children.

Everyone considered this possibility; perhaps Shen Yan used to stay in this room when she was younger, like a little princess's room.

"Heh heh heh." Hou Yingqi shook her head, "You all are thinking too optimistically."

As she spoke, she showed another photo to everyone.

It was a photo of an open door on the floor.

Just looking at the door, the steel plate looked like armour plating, estimated to be thirty centimetres thick.

Everyone thought of bank vault doors... or submarine doors, or something like that...

Hou Yingqi explained the structure of the Shen family's villa, "There's a basement under the villa, which is like a workshop filled with tools like hammers, wrenches, axes, and saws hanging all over the walls. The floor is covered with vinyl flooring and a large iron plate. When you lift the iron plate and the vinyl flooring, there's this door! You have to open this door to enter the underground room."

Everyone was silent for a while, equally puzzled – it's still the same question: why?

"Does this door have a manual lock or a combination lock?"

At this moment, Eleven, who happened to pass by, leaned on the back of the sofa, poking his head out between Zhao Jue and Bai Ye, with the curious Mia and Issel following behind.

Hou Yingqi said, "It's a manual lock. It can be opened from both inside and outside but requires a hex wrench, which is hanging among the many tools on the basement wall."

"Hmm..." Eleven rubbed his chin and picked up the basement photos to examine them.

Mia gestured a couple of times, as if expressing an opinion.

Both Eleven and Issel rubbed their chins, indicating they found it reasonable.

Hou Yingqi didn't understand what they meant and looked around.

Eleven translated for her, "There are no electrical appliances or even a socket in this room."

Hou Yingqi recalled, "Indeed."

"A door that can only be opened from the outside, hidden in the basement's basement, and no means of communication with the outside world."

Bai Yutang also frowned, "Is this room meant to imprison someone?"

Zhao Hu and Ma Han were both a bit disgusted – The scenario was turning unpleasant.

"Not necessarily." Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue almost spoke at the same time.

Everyone looked at the two of them.

"This room shows no signs of disorder or damage, and it doesn't look like someone lived here for a long time. Additionally, the setup is too perfect, like something out of a magazine, too much like a model room." Zhan Zhao offered a different perspective, "Could it be something like a hotel room or a bed-and-breakfast, used for rental or temporarily accommodating guests?"

Zhao Jue had a similar idea. "If the hex wrench is the key to opening the door, then it can be opened from both inside and outside. The key is casually hung on the rack instead of being carried around, which is akin to hotel practice, isn't it?"

Everyone thought about it – it seemed plausible.

"So is this underground room within the basement meant to entertain guests?" Zhao Hu was puzzled. "Why not openly set up a room? Why place it in the basement? Do the guests have some peculiar preference for staying underground?"

Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue exchanged glances and then simultaneously turned their heads towards Zhao Hu.

Meanwhile, Hou Yingqi had been slightly squinting, observing everyone's reactions, and seemed quite satisfied with the direction of the discussion.

Bai Yutang then asked her, "So, what exactly is this room used for?"

Hou Yingqi took out another notebook, "This is Shen Yan's diary."

The SCI members frowned – She stole an important piece of evidence?

"Shen Yan's mother gave it to us when she hired us to investigate." Hou Yingqi explained. Being an experienced professional, she would never cross the line in such matters.

Zhan Zhao took the diary and, upon seeing the cover, frowned slightly.

By coincidence or not... the cover of this diary had a gold-stamped dandelion.

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang also found it perplexing. Why was this happening? The seventh generation was one of the more successful ones in the organisation's experiments back then. Even if they turned to crime... why would they keep revolving around a small village?

"This is a map of the village where the Shen family lives." While Zhan Zhao was browsing through the diary, Hou Yingqi took out a map and a thick investigation notebook she had compiled.

Several circles were drawn on the map.

Hou Yingqi pointed at the map and said, "The area where the Shen family lives is like a Bermuda Triangle, with numerous bizarre murders happening over the years!"

"This area?" Bai Yutang examined the map closely.

The map had various circles of different sizes and colours, each briefly marked with the date and specifics of the incidents. According to Hou Yingqi's statistics, there have been more than ten strange murders in this area from the 1980s until now, nearly forty years.

Bai Yutang stared at the map, lost in thought. Can such patterns be found? It would need to be cross-referenced with actual circumstances.

For instance, if a place experiences frequent population changes, with minor shifts every five years and major ones every ten years, then such statistics would be less significant.

However, the location of these incidents is in a suburban village. Historically, it has always been a small village, with most of the villagers having lived there for generations. So, this statistical data does hold some value... but frequent events in a single location don't necessarily mean each incident is connected; individual samples need to be examined.

But so far, it seems that the case in the cornfield and the Shen family disappearance from a few years ago are clearly linked, both pointing to the seventh generation.

But Hou Yingqi was unaware of the cornfield murder, as it wasn't marked among her recorded locations and events.

All marked incidents had occurred within a triangular area.

Zhao Jue took a pen and marked a point where the cornfield was... and indeed, it was within the "triangle".

Everyone looked at the triangle on the map, "outlined" by the various incidents – this suggested that the events might indeed be connected!

While everyone was examining the mysterious triangular area, Zhan Zhao had already flipped through the diary at lightning speed.

After reading, Zhan Zhao fell into a brief contemplation. Soon, he raised his head and, to everyone's surprise, said, "I might have seen Shen Yan."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Merry Christmas! 🎅🎄

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: June 3, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 16, 2024 by Soojin