S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 5

The Card Murderer 05 – Rebellious Reaction

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Gongsun examined Zhang Yuancheng's body. His head and right hand had been severed, and upon lifting his clothes, it was evident that his chest had been violently torn open, with his heart removed.

However, this was still not the crime scene, as there was very little blood in the vicinity. Although this was a construction site, it was not far from the campground. Vehicles would occasionally pass through, making it difficult for the murderer to commit the crime here without being seen.

"Could the murder have taken place inside a vehicle?" Gongsun looked toward the RVs parked in the campground's parking lot, suspecting that the murderer might have used one of these large vehicles. Luo Tian and Qin Ou headed to the parking lot to investigate while contacting Jiang Ping to check surveillance footage for any signs of such vehicles nearby.

Meanwhile, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were already driving Gao Min to Liu Jing's home.

Earlier, Zhan Zhao had called Liu Jing, while Gao Min phoned Auntie Liu... but Auntie Liu said she hadn't heard any ringing.

Gao Min urged Auntie Liu to unlock Liu Jing's bedroom door to ensure she hadn't done anything rash.

Hearing this, Auntie Liu panicked, could her daughter have done something stupid because of the divorce?

She hurriedly used the spare key to unlock the door and whispered to Gao Min that Liu Jing was lying in bed, seemingly asleep.

Auntie Liu even cautiously checked her daughter's breathing. Finding that she was still breathing, she patted her chest in relief and sat beside the bed, refusing to leave as she watched her daughter sleep.

After hanging up, Gao Min was still full of doubt – Liu Jing's behaviour is too unusual. Why did she go home alone? Why didn't she even call the police?

Bai Yutang drove while observing both sides of the highway.

The area was quite desolate at night, unless someone had specifically called for a taxi, it was unlikely a taxi would have just happened to pass through.

In the passenger seat, Zhan Zhao was looking at Zhang Yuancheng's phone. The heart symbol on the screen stood out starkly...

On the victim's clothes and the ground... there were many of these red hearts.

Zhan Zhao frowned – It’s obvious that the crime scene had been deliberately staged by the murderer. What message are they trying to convey?

In another car, Ma Han was driving behind Bai Yutang's vehicle. In the passenger seat, Zhao Hu was holding a tablet, analysing a string of numerical codes.

Earlier, when Zhan Zhao saw the numbers, he immediately associated them with an "arrow" symbol, and Zhao Hu asked him how he had deciphered it.

Zhan Zhao explained that it was actually a simple two-layer encryption, where numbers corresponded to English letters.

51241946 translated to the letters EAXSDF.

The letters didn't follow any obvious pattern, so it was necessary to consider encryption conditions.

Both Liu Jing and Gao Min were editors, and the thing editors interacted with most that involved English letters was a computer keyboard... so the encryption condition might be the computer keyboard.

Mapping the letters onto a keyboard formed a shape resembling an arrow, with EAX being the head, and SDF the tail. This led Zhan Zhao to look for landmarks associated with arrows.

"Oh," Hu Zi connected the positions of the letters on the keyboard, and sure enough, they formed an arrow.

At that moment, news came from Jiang Ping, he had tracked down the two taxis that had transported Gao Min to the SCI office and Liu Jing home.

Both were standard taxis, with valid licence plates and driver IDs.

The drivers had received the bookings through the same ride-hailing platform, with passengers calling in the usual way to make reservations. According to the records, Gao Min's taxi had been booked using her phone number, whereas Liu Jing's taxi had been booked under Zhang Yuancheng's number, but the contact information left was Liu Jing's phone number. Jiang Ping had contacted the ride-hailing platform and obtained the call recordings for both bookings, along with the in-car surveillance footage, all of which he sent to Zhan Zhao's tablet.

Zhan Zhao played the two recordings, both featuring a male voice.

In the first recording, the caller requested a taxi to stop at the entrance of a barbecue restaurant to take a passenger to the police station. He described Gao Min's appearance and mentioned that she was drunk and that someone would be there to meet her when she got out of the car.

In the second recording, the caller requested a pickup at seven p.m. from behind the tunnel at the Sparrow Campground to drop a woman off at Building No. 5 of the Garden Residential Complex.

Judging by the voice, the male speaker in both recordings sounded very similar, likely the same person. His tone was steady, unhurried, and even carried a hint of gentleness.

Zhan Zhao asked Gao Min if she had ever heard the voice before.

Gao Min looked completely baffled. First, she hadn't realised that someone else had booked the taxi she had taken. Second, she couldn't recall anyone she knew who spoke in that tone or with that voice.

"Uh..." Gao Min frowned and continued tapping her head, but the missing fragments of her memory remained elusive.

"Is this Zhang Yuancheng's voice?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Gao Min immediately shook her head. "No! Zhang Yuancheng doesn't speak in that way."

Zhan Zhao then played the surveillance footage.

The ride-hailing platform's footage only captured the inside of the taxis, and both Gao Min and Liu Jing had gotten into their respective taxis on their own.

Gao Min, intoxicated, had leaned against the car window and fallen asleep as soon as she got in.

Gao Min covered her mouth as she watched – My image is ruined! I will never drink again!

Liu Jing's footage, however, was far more bizarre.

As soon as Liu Jing got into the taxi, she immediately reached out and pounded on the back of the driver's seat, looking extremely agitated.

Zhan Zhao pressed pause and focused on Liu Jing's hand hitting the seat... She was holding a phone.

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin – When Liu Jing got into the car, she still had her phone in her hand.

As the taxi started moving, Liu Jing kept looking anxiously out of the window and behind her.

Zhan Zhao couldn't help but frown – Isn't this the behaviour of someone being chased?

After the car drove for a short while, Liu Jing received a phone call, after which she suddenly calmed down... When the car arrived at its destination, she got out, and the footage ended.

Zhan Zhao replayed both videos multiple times. Although both Gao Min and Liu Jing had entered and exited the taxis on their own, in Gao Min's footage, just before she got in, a hand outside the car had pushed her in, and when she arrived at the police station, someone outside had also opened the door for her. Similarly, in Liu Jing's footage, when she got out of the car, a hand outside the vehicle supported her.

Zhan Zhao told Bai Yutang. "It seems like there was someone outside the car the whole time, but the footage isn't clear, and their face isn't visible."

"The camera might not have captured them, but the drivers must have seen something." Bai Yutang instructed Zhao Hu and Ma Han to visit the taxi company and question the two drivers while asking Jiang Ping to continue checking surveillance footage from the areas where they got in and out of the cars. If nowhere else, the area near the police station is full of surveillance, they should be able to capture something.

"This campground," Zhan Zhao asked Gao Min, "do you know anything about it? Why did they go there?"

Gao Min explained that Liu Jing had a programme reviewing trendy online shops. She had previously featured this campground and had mentioned wanting to visit.

"Was this their first time there?"

"It should be. Some of these trendy places are advertisements, while others are reader submissions. The editors are the ones who compile and publish them." Gao Min frowned, still unable to understand why the two of them had rented a villa just to get divorced, it was far too strange.

"Do they have any connection to the heart symbol?" Zhan Zhao continued.

Gao Min frowned and shook her head. What heart symbol... It made no sense at all.

"Then when you hear heart symbol, what comes to mind? Or playing cards?" Zhan Zhao asked. "Does either of them enjoy playing cards?"

"Playing cards?" Gao Min shook her head helplessly. "I suppose they've played Fight the Landlord online occasionally, and back in university, we used to play in the dorms quite often..."

Zhan Zhao nodded but said nothing, continuing to ponder.

"Heart suit playing cards..."

At that moment, Gao Min muttered to herself, as if something had just occurred to her. "Playing cards... Liu Jing did mention something about playing card designs recently."

"Playing card designs?" Zhan Zhao prompted Gao Min to elaborate.

"Before Mingdi's novel was adapted into a stage play, they had to run a promotional campaign. Since playing cards were a key element in Mingdi's novel, Liu Jing suggested designing the promotional brochure in the style of a deck of cards. Apparently, Mingdi's team really liked the idea and even wanted to create a set of themed playing cards as merchandise. When the stage play opened, every ticket-holder would receive a deck as part of the novel's promotion and to generate some buzz for the film adaptation...."

"Mingdi..." Bai Yutang, though not particularly interested in celebrities, had heard of the name before. "That bestselling author? Before coming to the police station, you got drunk at Mingdi's celebration banquet?"

"I didn't get drunk at the banquet, I got drunk at the magazine's team gathering afterwards, while eating barbecue," Gao Min still felt a bit annoyed when talking about this. She glared at Zhan Zhao. "Who told you not to write a new book?!"

Zhan Zhao looked innocent – How am I responsible for this?

"Is his new book related to playing cards?" Zhan Zhao was curious and thought about finding a copy to read. Strangely, both Gao Min and Liu Jing seemed to be somewhat connected to Mingdi Yang.

"I haven't read it," Gao Min scoffed.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were both surprised – Aren't you an editor? You haven't read it?

"It's not like I'm his editor, and editors don't read everyone's books!" Gao Min grumbled.

Observing her expression in the rearview mirror, Zhan Zhao asked, "You don't like him?"

Gao Min let out a huff. "It's just a rebellious reaction!"

"Rebellious reaction?" Zhan Zhao, the psychologist, became interested and asked her, "What exactly are you rebelling against? What did he do to provoke you?"

"His entire publicity gimmick is 'the most handsome writer in the industry'!" Gao Min said, clearly unconvinced. "There are plenty of writers who are both better-looking and more professional than him! He's just a romance writer masquerading as a detective novelist!"

After venting, Gao Min turned to glare at Zhan Zhao again. "It's all your fault for not writing a new book! Go write a new book, hold a book signing, and do interviews, I'll plaster your photos all over their promotional campaign! Let them see what a real handsome guy looks like!"

Zhan Zhao helplessly looked at Bai Yutang – The ways of pushing me to submit the manuscript have really become more and more creative lately.

Bai Yutang, however, found her reasoning quite convincing. As he drove, he nodded in agreement – Cat, hurry back and start writing!

"Did Liu Jing work with Mingdi?" Zhan Zhao continued asking while searching for Mingdi's novels.

"Jing Jing and Zhang Yuancheng are both fans of that guy's books," Gao Min sighed. "Zhang Yuancheng wasn't just into dramas, he was also a Mingdi fan. When Jing Jing was working as an art editor, she designed book covers for Mingdi's new releases, so they had occasional contact. She even helped Zhang Yuancheng get an autograph. Zhang Yuancheng was part of Mingdi's official fan club. They apparently ran into each other at meals a few times, and Mingdi invited them to dinner or something. That guy really knows how to buy people's hearts..."

After saying this, Gao Min once again glared at Zhan Zhao – Who told you not to write a new book!

"When you had your team gathering earlier, was Mingdi there too?" Zhan Zhao tried his best to steer the conversation away from the topic of writing a new book.

"Yeah, he was the one treating us," Gao Min nodded. "Mingdi is very good at this, he often treats people to meals and even sends gifts to editors during holidays. You see, every time he wins an award, he thanks the editors in various ways."

"Doesn't that mean he's a nice person?" Zhan Zhao asked Gao Min. "Why do you dislike him so much? Just because of this rebellious reaction?"

"I don't know," Gao Min muttered in the back seat. "I just think he has a treacherous look!"

"How is it a treacherous look?"

"If someone is too nice to you for no reason, he is either a traitor or a thief!!" Gao Min said darkly.

Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang – Where is the logic in that?

Bai Yutang simply shook his head – I guess it's just a matter of personal dislike.

By now, they had arrived at the Garden Residential Complex.

The parking spaces in this complex were all above ground, with no underground parking. The buildings were spaced far apart, with plenty of greenery and a well-maintained environment.

Bai Yutang parked the car, and they all got out.

Gao Min took a deep breath to mentally prepare herself. Her best friend's husband was dead, her best friend was acting strangely, and she herself was completely muddled about the situation. How was she supposed to deal with this...

For now, Zhan Zhao had not told Gao Min that both her and Zhang Yuancheng's phone passwords might have been changed by the suspected murderer. If he did, she would probably be even more scared.

The three of them entered the apartment building and stepped into the elevator. Just as the doors were about to close, they heard someone call out from outside, "Wait a minute!"

Bai Yutang reacted quickly and pressed the door-open button.

The doors, which had already begun to close, slid open again.

"Thanks..."

A person ran to the elevator door and thanked him before entering, appearing very polite.

As he spoke, he looked up and saw the three people in the elevator.

Gao Min froze, staring at the person who walked into the elevator in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

‿︵‿︵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: March 7, 2025 by Angel

Edited: April 30, 2025 by Soojin