S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 21

The Card Murderer 21 – Kidnapping

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Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had received a vast amount of information early that morning, and the clues to several murders had not yet been summarised... so they still couldn't make any sense of it.

While investigating the Pei family, the two decided to focus on testing first.  

Additionally, neither Pei Tian nor Pei Xiu seemed opposed to the police looking into their family background, they even appeared to welcome it...  

Bai Yutang suggested visiting the theatre troupe to have a look around and bring back some of the cards.  

Pei Xiu said it was no problem and he could take them there right away.

"We'll also take these threatening letters back for investigation," Bai Yutang placed the letters into an evidence bag. He also added, "We'll need to check the building's surveillance footage."  

Pei Tian had no issues with that and stated that the police could access whatever they needed.  

Just then, the secretary knocked on the door and handed a folder to Pei Yun.  

Pei Yun opened the folder, glanced through it, and then passed it to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.  

It was a personnel file for the receptionist.  

The receptionist suspected of having an affair with Zhang Yuancheng was named Zhou Li.  

Zhan Zhao skimmed through her résumé and didn't see any problems, but Zhou Li's attendance records showed that she had taken a considerable number of days off.  

"She took that many days off?" Zhan Zhao found it odd.  

Pei Yun explained that the receptionist role in their company was a very easy job, and relatively speaking, the salary was not very high.

"Although Zhou Li frequently takes leave, she is actually very competent in her work. Whenever she takes time off, she coordinates well with the other receptionists, so there are no major disruptions. There was one time when an elderly reader came to the publishing house, claiming that an article we published had damaged her family's reputation... Anyway, it caused quite a commotion, and she even threatened to sue us. That day, I happened to be on a business trip, and Wen Wen, who lacks experience, failed to handle the situation properly, nearly escalating it into an argument. Zhou Li was the one who mediated and resolved the issue. Afterwards, both Wen Wen and the HR department recommended Zhou Li to me, saying she was wasted as a receptionist and would be much better suited to the public relations department. So, I asked HR to check if she was interested. But she wasn't interested in a promotion or a pay rise. She said she chose to work as a receptionist because the job was flexible and gave her the freedom to pursue her hobbies..."  

"Hobbies?" Zhan Zhao asked. "What hobbies?"

Pei Yun gestured towards Pei Xiu. "Something like stage performances. Zhou Li is quite dramatic, apparently, she's obsessed with theatre and is involved in three different troupes at the same time."  

"Three troupes?" Zhan Zhao started to doubt the possibility of Zhang Yuancheng having an affair with Zhou Li... With three theatre groups and a full-time job, let alone dating, she probably didn't even have time to sleep!  

After that, Pei Tian headed back to his office. As he walked, he was on the phone with Pei Wen, whining to his daughter, "You promised to have lunch with me!"  

Pei Yun went off to a meeting with the secretary, while Pei Xiu took Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang downstairs.  

Earlier, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had heard Mingdi's description of Pei Xiu, but after interacting with him, they realised that the Pei Xiu in front of them didn't quite match Mingdi's description. So, was Mingdi lying, or had he simply made a wrong judgment?  

If Mingdi truly had the super empathy that Lin Ruo had mentioned, then he shouldn't have misjudged...  

As they walked downstairs, Zhan Zhao wanted to test Pei Xiu, so he asked, "You don't approve of Pei Wen dating Mingdi?"  

Pei Xiu looked back at Zhan Zhao and smiled. "Mingdi isn't right for Wen Wen."  

Zhan Zhao asked, "Why?"  

Pei Xiu once again said something unexpected. "I think Mingdi is too dangerous."  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances – What did he mean by Mingdi being too dangerous?  

Seeing that the two didn't understand, Pei Xiu explained, "The first time I met Mingdi was at a publishing house reception. At the time, Pei Lin was complaining to me, saying that our little sister was smitten with some handsome guy, but that the guy didn't care about her at all... My first thought was, who had the audacity to go after my little sister? Then I thought, who was so blind as to ignore my little sister... I wanted to kill him!"  

"But the moment I saw him, Mingdi seemed to sense exactly what I was thinking and immediately avoided me." Pei Xiu said mysteriously. "That guy avoids me whenever he can, so I started wondering, is he hiding something, or is he up to no good? Moreover, Wen Wen chases after him so openly, yet he acts all high and mighty and ignores her, which of course pisses me off! We even ran into each other twice at the gym. If he hadn't kept avoiding me, I really would have punched him flat!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were instantly speechless – So, in the gym, Mingdi must have realised that Pei Xiu wasn't working out for aesthetics or health. Indeed, the man wasn't there to exercise, he was genuinely preparing to punch him to death... To a certain extent, Mingdi really did have a kind of superpower, he grasped Pei Xiu's emotions quite accurately.

"That guy is weird," Pei Xiu clicked his tongue and shook his head. "He always gives me the impression that he knows a lot of secrets. And he looks kind of familiar."  

"Familiar?"  

"I don't know where I've seen him before, can't quite place it," Pei Xiu muttered to himself. "My little sister is way too obsessed with him... In any case, he'd better not end up as my brother-in-law."  

Pei Xiu said it offhandedly, but Zhan Zhao took note of it.  

It was common to feel like someone looked familiar but not remember where from. Usually, this happened with people whose features weren't very distinctive, so-called 'generic faces' that looked like half the people on the street.  

But Mingdi was the complete opposite. His features were unique, the kind of face you wouldn't find a second time, even if you searched all day. If you've seen him, you should be able to remember him easily.

When they reached the ground floor, a different young woman was at the reception desk, and Zhou Li wasn't there.  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang mentioned that they wanted to speak with Zhou Li, so Pei Xiu asked the receptionist, "Where's Zhou Li?"  

"Sister Li stepped out to take a phone call..." The receptionist seemed puzzled as well. "She's been gone for over half an hour now and hasn't come back. I tried calling her, but she's not picking up."  

Pei Xiu told her, "Try calling again."  

The young woman took out her phone, dialled the number, listened for a while, then shook her head – still no answer.  

"Where did she go to take the call?" Bai Yutang glanced behind the reception area.  

The receptionist pointed towards the corridor outside the security door behind the desk.  

Pei Xiu explained, "There's a small park out the back."  

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exited through the back door... Between the two publishing house buildings, there was an indoor garden-like space. Shops lined both sides, and in the centre, there were green belts and benches, where several employees were making calls or taking breaks. The environment was quite pleasant.  

However, the area wasn't particularly large, and with a quick glance, they didn't see any sign of Zhou Li.  

Pei Xiu also found it odd. "She just left without telling anyone?"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao immediately felt alarm bells ringing in their minds – The receptionist had just said Zhou Li left about half an hour ago, which meant she had left right around the time they arrived.  

Had Zhou Li left because she knew the police had come?  

Bai Yutang noticed that the area was covered by surveillance cameras and gestured towards them for Pei Xiu to see.  

Pei Xiu led them to the security room, which was located on the ground floor.  

Walking into the office, Bai Yutang asked them to pull up the CCTV footage from half an hour ago.  

Soon, Zhou Li appeared on the screen.  

Zhou Li was indeed in the small garden outside the corridor, making a phone call, and she looked rather agitated.  

Bai Yutang noticed that not far from Zhou Li, a publishing house employee was smoking. He pointed at the man and asked the security staff if they could locate him.  

One of the security guards recognised him as someone from the tech department and made a call to contact him.  

Zhou Li's phone call lasted about five minutes. Afterwards, she retraced her steps back through the corridor.  

But she clearly hadn't returned to the reception desk. Instead, she had gone somewhere else.  

Aside from leading to the garden, that corridor also connected to the underground parking lot.  

When the security guards pulled up the internal surveillance footage, they found that after ending her call, Zhou Li had indeed hurried back to the corridor. She even paused by the doorway, discreetly peeking in the direction of the lobby before quickly making her way towards the stairwell. She rushed downstairs, heading straight to level -2 of the underground parking lot.  

The security guards were baffled – What was this woman sneaking around for?  

Bai Yutang, on the other hand, felt as though she was deliberately avoiding someone.  

The surveillance footage showed Zhou Li running up to a red SUV in the underground parking lot. However, Zhou Li didn't get into the car. Instead, she opened the front passenger door, bent over, and started searching for something inside. Judging by the angle, she seemed to be rummaging through the glove compartment.  

At that moment, a man appeared behind her, wrapped tightly in a grey hoodie and a face mask.  

The man silently approached the vehicle, behind Zhou Li... The girl was completely unaware, still looking for something.  

"Oh my god!" Pei Xiu and the security guards exclaimed in shock. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang also frowned – This was exactly why, whether in a parking lot or an isolated area, you should always get inside the car, lock the doors, and then take your time searching. Never look for it with your back to the outside of the car...it's very dangerous.

Sure enough, the man suddenly shoved Zhou Li from behind, forcing her into the car before climbing in himself...

Judging by the way their feet were sticking out of the car door, Zhou Li had struggled for a while before finally going still.  

Afterwards, the man backed out, stuffed Zhou Li's legs inside, shut the door, got into the driver's seat, and drove away.  

"This is bad, really bad!" Pei Xiu waved his hands urgently. "Hurry up and call the police, she's been kidnapped!"  

Bai Yutang had already called Jiang Ping, reporting the car's licence plate and vehicle details, instructing him to track it immediately.  

Zhan Zhao checked the timestamp on the surveillance footage, the incident had happened twenty minutes ago. He couldn't help but feel concerned... They had discovered it too late.  

Pei Xiu was equally angry and asked the security guard in charge of monitoring, "You... didn't you notice that such a big living person was kidnapped? Why did you install surveillance cameras?"  

The security guard hurriedly explained, "There was a minor collision in the level -1 parking lot just now, so we were dealing with that..."  

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned – This was clearly a coordinated distraction.  

At that moment, the finance department employee who had been smoking near Zhou Li earlier was found.  

Bai Yutang asked if he had overheard anything Zhou Li had said.  

Unfortunately, the employee had been listening to music through his Bluetooth earphones at the time. He recalled that Zhou Li had sounded quite agitated, but he hadn't caught what she was saying.  

"Other than the elevators and the corridor, are there any other ways to access the basement?" Bai Yutang asked the security guards.  

"The underground parking lot is connected to both buildings," the security guard explained. Level -1 is a public parking area with hourly charges, so anyone can enter. Level -2 is reserved for employees, and only employees can enter."  

"Can you walk from level -1 to level -2?" Bai Yutang asked.  

The security guards all nodded – You can use the stairs, take the ramp down, or use the elevator.  

Pei Xiu rubbed his forehead... Did it really have to be that convenient?  

Just then, Jiang Ping called back, saying he had found the car.  

"Where is it?" Bai Yutang hurriedly asked.  

Jiang Ping reported the address and said that a nearby patrol unit had already been dispatched to check it out.  

Bai Yutang quickly instructed Zhao Hu and Ma Han to head over first, then left the security office with Zhan Zhao.  

Behind them, Pei Xiu followed as well.  

Zhan Zhao said they would visit the theatre troupe later, rescuing Zhou Li came first.  

But Pei Xiu shook his head vigorously. "The address you're heading to! That is the theatre troupe's address!"

‿︵‿︵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 28, 2025 by Angel

Edited: May 19, 2025 by Soojin