S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 190

Special Files – Witches 37 – Gap

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Bai Yutang followed the security chief to the hotel's surveillance room.

The Bai Group's hotel was quite large, with the surveillance room occupying two floors. Different floors had different monitoring systems, arranged quite professionally.

The security chief introduced Bai Yutang to the layout. There were only two elevators that could reach the main banquet hall: one from the lobby and one from the west area of the underground parking lot. There were surveillance cameras in the escape elevators, the journalists' work area, the waiting room, and the VIP lounge. The staff had a separate area, using a common elevator and staircase, all requiring work credentials and covered by surveillance.

Bai Yutang handed a USB drive to the technician.

The technical director in charge of security for the Bai Group was quite familiar with Jiang Ping. After plugging in the USB drive, Jiang Ping activated a security surveillance system from the police station. This system could perform facial recognition on people entering and exiting. If any recorded criminals appeared in the monitored area, the system would lock onto them and sound an alarm.

After leaving the surveillance room, Bai Yutang, knowing it was still early, decided to wander around the hotel.

He walked from upstairs to the lobby but found nothing suspicious. Bai Yutang then went to the large fish tank at the lobby entrance to look at the two stingrays inside.

The Bai Group's hotel had a total of three lobbies, distinguished by the giant fish tanks at their entrances.

The lobby with the stingray tank led to the large banquet hall; the one with the lionfish led to the small banquet hall; and the one with the jellyfish tank was for guests checking into the hotel. The three areas were independent of each other.

Bai Yutang walked to the fish tank and looked around... There weren't many people in the lobby, but a few were obviously journalists.

While observing the position of the surveillance cameras, Bai Yutang's phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was Luo Tian.

Luo Tian and Qin Ou had gone to the prison early in the morning for an investigation. Calling back so soon meant they had found a clue.

"Captain," Luo Tian was in the prison warden's office, with Qin Ou communicating with a few prison guards beside him.

"How did it go?" Bai Yutang asked. "Did any prisoners see the Leapfrog Killer?"

"Yes, more than one, there are three in total," Luo Tian replied. "The situation is similar to Fang Dongshun's. They all saw a disguised Leapfrog Killer, got inspiration and hints from him by chance, and then committed crimes."

Bai Yutang asked him and Qin Ou to conduct detailed interviews with the prisoners and send all the information to Jiang Ping.

"There's another thing," Luo Tian continued. "During questioning, more than a dozen prisoners claimed they were incited and guided, but aside from the three, none had seen the Leapfrog Killer or any other similar person."

Bai Yutang frowned. What kind of situation was this? Were the criminals defending themselves?

"Then Qin Ou asked them to describe the person who influenced them, and it turned out that every three or four prisoners seemed to describe the same person."

Bai Yutang was stunned for a moment, processing Luo Tian's words, then quickly understood. "So, there are others similar to the Leapfrog Killer?"

"Exactly, and according to the descriptions, two of them seem to be wanted fugitives," Luo Tian said. "As Qin Ou explained, it seems like a pyramid scheme. People like Fang Dongshun and Wang Zhengyu are just the lower levels, while people like the Leapfrog Killer are the higher levels, continuously developing new members..."

Bai Yutang frowned deeply as he listened – Criminals are still operating like a pyramid scheme these days?

"Have them create a composite sketch and compare it with the wanted list, then send it to Jiang Ping."

"Got it," Luo Tian said before hanging up and returning to work with Qin Ou.

Holding the phone, Bai Yutang frowned – Surprisingly, there was more than one Leapfrog Killer... If the Leapfrog Killer was a disciple of Che Dongming... then were the others as well? Che Dongming, who died five years ago after being bedridden for a long time, how did he become a pyramid scheme leader?

......

Meanwhile, at the hospital.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han first went to the ward to check on Xiao Yumi and Zhou Hao, who were under strict protection.

In Xiao Yumi's ward, Chen Mi was sitting and taking care of the child. Xiao Yumi was quietly sleeping, and there was a milk bottle in the warmer beside the bed.

In the next ward, Zhou Hao was having breakfast, with Guan Yi and Zhou Hao's mother at his bedside. Mother Zhou was feeding Zhou Hao, while Guan Yi was flipping through a magazine.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han checked the security situation, ensuring everything was in order, and then went to the hospital's surveillance room.

In the surveillance room, several criminal police officers assisting SCI had already reviewed all the surveillance footage. They had compiled the videos of the man in black who came to the hospital to administer drugs yesterday and the three "zombies" causing trouble in the basement. They also found several eyewitnesses among the medical staff and patients.

Watching the video of the three zombies being beaten up, Zhao Hu couldn't help but praise, "Wow! Uncle Ye is really handsome!"

Ma Han, on the other hand, was watching the surveillance footage of the man in black.

"Is this the Leapfrog Killer?" Ma Han asked Zhao Hu.

"We didn't capture his face the entire time... The clothes do look similar..." Zhao Hu observed the back view of the man in black leaving the hospital. "But the way he walks doesn't quite match, his legs aren't the same. That Leapfrog Killer, from hopping too much, has slightly bent legs. This one seems stronger than the Leapfrog Killer, maybe shorter, with straight legs."

Ma Han agreed, thinking it didn't look quite like the Leapfrog Killer upon closer inspection.

At that moment, a few officers who had guarded the three "zombies" yesterday came over.

After a thorough stomach pump, the three had regained consciousness. Bai Ye had shown mercy, causing only dislocations without fractures, but they still needed some time to recover.

The officers from the criminal police team had stayed behind yesterday to question the three once they woke up.

These three were small-time thugs with criminal records, often in and out of jail for fights and extortion.

Their last memory is playing mahjong in a parlour. Because they were one player short, a guy joined them, and they were happy because they had won some money.

The guy who joined them invited them to a meal, and after eating, they vaguely remembered getting into his car. What happened next was a blur.

Tests showed they had ingested a highly hallucinogenic toxic mushroom. They were lucky not to die.

Another mystery was how they ended up in the morgue.

The hospital's emergency room had no record of admitting them, and a review of extensive surveillance footage revealed someone dressed as a hospital morgue staff member delivering three bodies to the morgue.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han retrieved the surveillance footage from the morgue entrance, capturing the impersonator.

Previously, they hadn't been able to find footage of the man in black entering the hospital. Ma Han speculated that the impostor might be the man in black, as the body shape and gait were very similar.

"This one captured his face!" Zhao Hu extracted a facial photo of the person and asked the officers to show it to the three "zombies" to see if it was the person who invited them for a meal. Meanwhile, he also sent the photo to Jiang Ping.

Not long after, the officers returned. All three individuals identified the person in the photo as the one who had invited them to dinner and played cards with them.

Jiang Ping also responded, confirming that the person in the photo was a wanted criminal.

Looking at the police-issued wanted notice, Zhao Hu was puzzled, "Another fugitive on the run for over five years..."

"It feels similar to the Leapfrog Killer, could they be working together?" Ma Han looked through the interview records. The officers had asked the three about the numerical tattoos behind their ears, but oddly, they all seemed bewildered and said they didn't have any tattoos behind their ears...

"Did they get the tattoos after being drugged? Or did they have them for a long time?" Zhao Hu asked the officers if the three had mentioned any pain in their ears.

The criminal police officers laughed, "Their whole bodies hurt."

Zhao Hu and Ma Han thought about it and realised it made sense, Uncle Ye had dislocated their limbs, of course they were in pain...

Ma Han called Bai Yutang to relay the information they had found.

After taking the call, Bai Yutang walked to the entrance of the banquet hall.

At this time, there were a few more people in the banquet hall.

Bai Yutang looked around and found Zhan Zhao, Zhao Jue and Tony eating and chatting at a table, with Bai Ye sitting bored at the entrance.

Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue had been keeping an eye on Tony since early morning, engaging him in "idle chat".

They had a clear division of labour: Zhao Jue chatted with Tony, while Zhan Zhao observed the surroundings, focusing on the few co-stars in the crew...

Zhan Zhao noticed that Su Feifei and Lin Tian occasionally glanced in their direction, seemingly concerned about what they were discussing with Tony.

As a top psychologist, Zhan Zhao could easily distinguish between gossip and genuine concern... Su Feifei and Lin Tian's looks at Tony were more of concern than gossip, while Xu Lie's glances were merely curious, without any worry or concern.

From a behavioural analysis perspective, Zhan Zhao felt that the relationship between Su Feifei, Lin Tian and Tony wasn't as simple as just being colleagues... even though they only displayed a professional relationship and didn't seem very familiar with each other.

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin – Xu Lie's co-stars seemed to have a subtle dynamic...

Turning his head, Zhan Zhao noticed Bai Yutang standing at the entrance of the banquet hall.

Their eyes met, and Bai Yutang slightly tilted his head, signalling him to come over for a chat.

Zhan Zhao walked over.

Zhao Jue also followed while Tony wandered off with his wine glass to chat with Xu Lie and Su Feifei.

"What did you find?" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang shared the clues from the prison and hospital with the two of them.

Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue exchanged glances.

Zhao Jue, intrigued, asked, "That is to say, there are two or three other bad guys similar to the Leapfrog Killer? Using the same criminal methods?"

Bai Yutang nodded.

As they spoke, Jiang Ping sent over several wanted notices and some case files.

Zhao Jue and Zhan Zhao crowded around to look at the information on Bai Yutang's phone since Zhan Zhao had left his tablet in the car.

Zhao Jue grumbled about the small phone screen and said their devices were outdated and should be upgraded to foldable screens.

Feeling unjustly blamed, Bai Yutang looked at Bai Ye.

Bai Ye asked for the car keys, which meant – he had nothing to do and could help fetch the tablet.

Bai Yutang felt that Uncle Bai really was the best, so he handed Bai Ye the car keys.

Bai Ye took the elevator to the underground garage.

Bai Yutang asked Zhao Jue and Zhan Zhao, who seemed to have had an epiphany, "What does it mean?"

"Motive!"

Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue answered in unison, but it seemed somewhat off-topic to Bai Yutang. "What motive?"

"The missing piece of the puzzle has been found!" Zhao Jue said with a smug smile. "That's why the Leapfrog Killer's behaviour is so unusual, this is the motive!"

Bai Yutang frowned and looked at Zhan Zhao – indicating he didn't understand.

Zhan Zhao explained, "Let me give you a simple example. When young couples date, what's the most common cause of fatal incidents?"

Zhao Jue nodded repeatedly, indicating it was a good analogy.

Bai Yutang thought momentarily, "Cheating and infidelity, I guess."

"Or take a mentor with a few students, what's the biggest cause of conflict among the students?"

Bai Yutang gradually understood, "The mentor's favouritism?"

Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue nodded in agreement. "The Leapfrog Killer is a disciple of Che Dongming, right? But from the current situation, Che Dongming's disciples might not be limited to just the Leapfrog Killer."

"So... is it a struggle between disciples?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Investigating in that direction should be correct..."

As Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue were analysing the shift in mentality among the disciples from being unique inheritors to mass-produced tools, Bai Yutang's phone vibrated.

The three of them looked down at the phone. Instead of showing a caller ID, a flashing red dot appeared on the screen.

Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue handed the phone back to Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang frowned as he took the phone – The surveillance system's alarm had been triggered... Someone had infiltrated the hotel?!

‿︵‿︵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: June 26, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 23, 2024 by Soojin