S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 192

Special Files – Witches 39 – Broken Spine

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Six serial killers suddenly flooded into the Bai Group's hotel.

The sight of such extremely dangerous criminals collectively throwing themselves into a net is something that the police might only encounter a few times in their lives. The SCI team suddenly understood what it felt like to have a pie fall from the sky, and it couldn't get any better!

In the conference room on the top floor, Bai Jintang had been reviewing the annual financial report. When Gongsun appeared, Bai Jintang lost interest in work.

Having Gongsun sit on the table, wasn't that more interesting than looking at account books?

They were chatting about where to go for the New Year holidays when the twins called. 

Bai Jintang answered, listened for a few moments, and then silently hung up.

Gongsun asked him, "Is something wrong?"

Bai Jintang smiled and asked Gongsun, "Can you guess?"

Gongsun guessed, considering the usual incidents at the Bai Group's events...

"Did they find a body?" Gongsun asked.

Bai Jintang calmly shook his head, "This time, they played a new trick, something we've never seen before."

Gongsun's curiosity was piqued, and he said he wanted to go down and take a look.

Bai Jintang held him back, "Don't, it's not safe down there. I heard that five or six serial killers have come in..."

Gongsun's eyes widened in shock – Really?!

Bai Jintang was quite satisfied with Gongsun's reaction and nodded – Cute!

......

Downstairs was nothing like the warmth upstairs. The cast and crew celebrating the wrap party in the banquet hall were unaware of anything, and the guests attending the event and the reporters on duty were all busy with their own tasks... However, the hotel security personnel were extremely tense.

In the surveillance room, several police technical team members had arrived and connected with Jiang Ping, who was remotely controlling from the police station. Each staff member monitored one criminal, and the system had locked down these dangerous individuals who had infiltrated.

Bai Yutang used real-time images from the surveillance room and his cell phone to locate the killers.

From the current situation, it seemed that they were preparing and observing.

Bai Yutang wanted to ensure that everything inside Bai Group's building was normal to avoid alerting the criminals, while outside, a perimeter was already being established.

Zhao Hu and Ma Han parked their car in the opposite building's parking garage and also used surveillance footage to track the killers' locations.

The criminal police team and SWAT had quietly arrived at their designated ambush points. Criminal police captain Ai Hu and SWAT captain Xiao Fei went to meet Zhao Hu and Ma Han, preparing to send plainclothes officers into the banquet hall to lie in wait.

While Zhao Hu and Ma Han were arranging things, Bao Sir also arrived. Such a large-scale arrest operation was unprecedented, not to mention for SCI, even Bao Sir had never encountered one.

Holding the phone, Bao Zheng asked Bai Yutang why there were so many serial killers.

Bai Yutang answered simply, "I don't know!"

Bao Sir was speechless. Just as he was about to ask more questions, Zhao Jue took Bai Yutang's phone.

"Xiao Hei, did you look into what I asked you last time?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were both curious – Look into what?

Bao Zheng said, "I did. It's all old data, why are you looking into such old cases?"

"Send me all the information!" Zhao Jue urged.

Bao Sir was helpless, "Got it, I'll have Jiang Ping send it to you shortly."

After the call ended, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both asked Zhao Jue what he had secretly asked Bao Sir to look into.

The information Jiang Ping sent over consisted of scanned files from old archives.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances.

Zhao Jue said, "Your era isn't the only one with escaped serial killers."

As Zhao Jue spoke, he forwarded all the information to Guan Yi.

Soon, Guan Yi called back, puzzled, and asked Zhao Jue what he had sent her. It looked like a horror movie script.

Zhao Jue smiled, put the call on speaker, and asked her, "You mentioned before that Che Dongming died of illness in the hospital, right? Surgery couldn't save him?"

"That's right." Guan Yi recalled the situation at the time and nodded. However, as Che Dongming's psychiatrist, she wasn't his guardian. Ding Ying handled the funeral and other arrangements. She just helped out.

She had also attended Che Dongming's cremation, and the entire process had seemed normal...

"Could he have faked his death? Was Ding Ying involved?" Guan Yi couldn't understand why Ding Ying would help him fake his death.

"He died in the hospital. It wouldn't be possible for Ding Ying to help him fake his death alone." Zhao Jue smiled.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang asked together, "Was it the doctor?"

"The hanged man in Che Dongming and the Leapfrog Killer's paintings, as well as the hanged man found in the cornfield, all had a similar pose, but there was a difference." Zhao Jue said, "We also found it before..."

Zhan Zhao thought for a moment and asked, "Broken spine?"

Zhao Jue nodded, "In the painting, the hanged man's body bent from the back, not the waist. On the other hand, the corpse in the cornfield, hanging from the tapered corn stalks, bent naturally... Simply put, the spine of the corpse in the painting was broken, but the cornfield corpse wasn't."

Bai Yutang looked at the information Jiang Ping had just sent Zhao Jue.

It was a very old file, from a time when the police station only kept paper records and had no electronic versions, hence it wasn't archived.

The information included several autopsy reports by Zhao Jue and a case investigated by Bao Sir.

"Years ago, in S City, a series of murders occurred. The killer's targets were chosen randomly, but the one thing in common was that the victims' spines were all broken. The bodies were usually dumped in places like ditches or beside walls to make it look like accidental deaths from falling. Although the poses weren't as specific, the bodies were generally upside down." Zhao Jue explained. "When three such cases happened in a row, we realised it was the work of a serial killer... so we created a file and named him the 'Broken Spine Murderer'."

At this point, Zhao Jue smiled and asked, "Can you guess what happened next?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both asked, "Could there have been a survivor?"

Zhao Jue nodded, "Mm-hmm, there was a survivor who provided the police with a sketch, leading to a wanted notice... and then the Broken Spine Murderer disappeared."

"Che Dongming painted that first image of the hanged man more than twenty years ago, around the same time as the Broken Spine Murderers crimes," Zhan Zhao asked Zhao Jue, "Do you think there's a connection between the two?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Zhao Jue spread his hands, "However, at that time, the murderer would always break the same vertebra to create the broken spine effect."

Everyone frowned – That was no easy feat.

"So we suspected that this person might have a medical background," Zhao Jue continued, "Think about it, Che Dongming often stayed in the hospital, and... while he was usually monitored by Ding Ying and Guan Yi, in the hospital, there were likely blind spots in the surveillance."

"You suspect that Che Dongming had early contact with the Broken Spine Murderer and that the Broken Spine Murderer, who was a medical staff member, helped him fake his death?" Zhan Zhao followed Zhao Jue's line of reasoning, "So Che Dongming got the inspiration for the hanged man from the Broken Spine Murderer?"

"There's another possibility," Zhao Jue smiled.

Zhan Zhao frowned.

Bai Yutang also asked, "Could it be that the Broken Spine Murderer saw a drawing by a young Che Dongming and was inspired to commit the crimes?"

"The painting doesn't only feature the hanged man," Zhao Jue waggled his finger, "The complete image is a fairy tale about a battle between a witch and a princess, with the hanged man hidden in a crystal ball."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were suddenly enlightened, "Just like the Leapfrog Killer's subsequent criminal methods, the real malice is hidden behind the case, with the direct killer becoming the witch manipulating others to commit the crimes while staying hidden behind the scenes."

"So, did Che Dongming paint this to remind the Broken Spine Murderer?" Zhan Zhao thought about it and felt that it made sense, "Was the Broken Spine Murderer Che Dongming's first follower?"

"It's just a speculation," Zhao Jue shrugged, "Guan Yi and Ding Ying were very close. Guan Yi had two major interests, handsome men and tarot cards. She always gave tarot cards as gifts on holidays, likely giving some to Ding Ying as well. Che Dongming's inspiration for the hanged man might have come from tarot cards he encountered as a child. And didn't Guan Yi's nephew join a university club called the Hanged Man Club? The Leapfrog Killer might have approached him because of this connection. He ran into Zhou Hao by chance, so he didn't even have time to put on makeup, suggesting that he wasn't targeting Zhou Hao but rather aiming for the hanged man and happened to encounter Zhou Hao. After all, even if all the university clubs were listed, there probably aren't many weird clubs like the Hanged Man Research Society. The nature of that group of killers is similar to the Leapfrog Killer's, so their goal might also be the same. Suddenly appearing together, they might have come to find someone. The person they are looking for is likely connected to the hanged man... Given that the Leapfrog Killer used information about the hanged man case to mislead Fang Dongshun, it might have been the Broken Spine Murderer's data, which means they might be looking for the Broken Spine Murderer."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang listened silently until he finished, then looked at each other – They had come full circle!

Logical reasoning is like drawing a circle. A complete logical chain forms a circle; if the circle is drawn correctly, all evidence fits within it. More complex cases might involve two or even three circles, nested within each other... but drawing the circle correctly is crucial. Once it's done, missing clues can be found based on the gaps in the circle.

The complex clues of the case and the inexplicable actions of the killers... While they were still puzzling over why these serial killers had appeared en masse, Zhao Jue had already connected all the clues.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang felt a bit defeated...

Zhao Jue asked Guan Yi to carefully review the investigation records of the Broken Spine Murderer, especially the sketch provided by the survivor, and recall whether anyone similar had appeared around Che Dongming during his hospital stays, likely someone from the medical staff.

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Jue turned back to see Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang staring at him.

Seeing their somewhat complex expressions, Zhao Jue raised an eyebrow and smirked with a hint of provocation – Silly x2!

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at Bai Ye, feeling rather aggrieved.

"After all, we've eaten twenty more years' worth of meals," Bai Ye offered a simple comfort to the two youngsters.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang felt a bit comforted and looked back at Zhao Jue – You've eaten a lot of meals!

Zhao Jue became angry – You two are being a bit too obvious with your double standards! Was I the only one eating? Xiao Hei ate much more than me!

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both looked up at the sky – Others gain weight by eating, but you only grow older.

Zhao Jue pointed at Bai Ye – He doesn't live on dew, he eats too!

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang moved closer to Bai Ye – Uncle Ye doesn't just age, he gains wisdom, charisma, and looks!

Zhao Jue glared at Bai Ye, his resentment clear!

Bai Ye helplessly diverted the topic, pulling Zhao Jue, who was about to hit the boys, and asked Bai Yutang, "Where are those people now?"

Just then, Zhao Hu called and told Bai Yutang that everything was in place and they were ready to make the arrests at any time.

Bai Yutang asked the surveillance room how the wanted criminals were doing.

The surveillance room transmitted the surveillance footage, showing that the Leapfrog Killer and his group were moving toward the banquet hall.

"Is their target in the banquet hall?" The four looked toward the crew members in the banquet hall, chatting and laughing – Who exactly was the target?

‿︵‿︵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 24, 2024 by Soojin