S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 7

The Card Murderer 07 – Alibi

---

Liu Jing suddenly appeared at the doorway.

Everyone stared at her.

Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, and her entire demeanour was unnaturally calm, so calm it was almost eerie.

Just as Auntie Liu was about to stand up, Liu Jing suddenly bolted.

Everyone was stunned.

Liu Jing dashed into a nearby room, and the sound of objects being rummaged through could be heard.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao both walked over to have a look, with the others following closely behind. They saw that Liu Jing had entered a study. The bookshelves lining the walls were filled with books, while the desk was cluttered with documents, a laptop, and various other items.

Liu Jing was rummaging through the desk. Several folders had fallen to the floor, and when she didn't find what she was looking for on the desktop, she started pulling open drawers.

Zhan Zhao glanced at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang gave him a slight signal, pointing towards his nose.

Zhan Zhao focused on Liu Jing as she rifled through the drawers and noticed something red beneath her nose – Was she having a nosebleed?

Before he could ponder further, Liu Jing suddenly yanked a book out of a drawer and lifted her head... 

When she raised her head, everyone was startled, Liu Jing was indeed having a nosebleed, and her eyes were bloodshot.

"Something's not right..." Zhan Zhao quickly stepped forward, but at that moment, Liu Jing had already rushed out.

Bai Yutang instinctually reached out and pulled Zhan Zhao to his side.

At the same time, Liu Jing reached the doorway and abruptly thrust the book in her hands towards Zhan Zhao.

As soon as Zhan Zhao took it, Liu Jing suddenly collapsed backwards.

Bai Yutang swiftly caught her, but Liu Jing had already lost consciousness.

"Yutang, her head might be injured!" Zhan Zhao pointed to Liu Jing's ear.

Bai Yutang noticed traces of blood near Liu Jing's left ear.

"Aiya!" Auntie Liu panicked.

Gao Min picked up her phone to call an ambulance.

Bai Yutang, realising there was no time to wait for an ambulance, lifted Liu Jing into his arms and gestured to Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao rushed to the door and opened it. Everyone hurried downstairs, piled into the car, and drove Liu Jing to the hospital.

In the car, Zhan Zhao examined Liu Jing's head and found a large swelling on the back of her head, clearly the result of an external injury.

Staring at the wound, Zhan Zhao fell into deep thought. The location was towards the upper part of the back of her head. Could Liu Jing have hit it while escaping? No, that didn't make sense... How could she have hit that spot by accident?

Zhan Zhao checked Liu Jing's hands and arms. Her clothes were indeed stained with dirt, but her hands were unscathed. The slope from the wooded area behind the villa to the main road was a relatively gentle incline. Whether Liu Jing had fallen forwards or backwards, it was impossible for her to hit that particular spot, let alone this severely...

"She was probably struck with a blunt object." Bai Yutang said.

Zhan Zhao thought it was possible, and everything made sense. When Liu Jing returned to the villa and saw Zhang Yuancheng's corpse, she screamed in terror.

At that moment, the murderer was still been inside. They had approached her from behind and struck her on the head with a hard object.

Liu Jing had not died from the blow. Instead, she had been startled and fled.

Since the murderer had attacked her from behind, she had no choice but to run forward. If the back door was ahead, she would have dashed through it and into the woods... before running all the way down the mountain?

At first, Zhan Zhao had thought Liu Jing's behaviour was completely irrational, but now it all made sense, because her head had been injured! That single blow to the head could have caused internal bleeding, a concussion, or other adverse consequences that impaired her cognitive functions and resulted in her strange behaviour.

......

With his police lights flashing, Bai Yutang sped to the hospital in record time. Earlier, Zhan Zhao had Jiang Ping contact the hospital, and as it happened, Yang Fan was on duty tonight. He was already waiting at the entrance with the emergency team.

As soon as Bai Yutang parked, Liu Jing was placed on a stretcher and rushed to the emergency room. Zhan Zhao pointed at Yang Fan's head.

Yang Fan examined Liu Jing's head, then checked her pupils and heartbeat. He called out "This isn't good!" before hurrying inside.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao followed him to the emergency room but were stopped at the door. They had no choice but to wait outside.

More doctors arrived from upstairs, nurses pushed in medical equipment, and the atmosphere grew tense in an instant.

Just then, Lao Chen pulled up with Auntie Liu and Gao Min. Both Lao Chen and Gao Min were trying to comfort Auntie Liu, who was on the verge of an emotional breakdown.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stood on the side, Zhan Zhao lowered his head and looked at the book in his hands.

The book Liu Jing had pulled out and stuffed into his hands earlier had a cover featuring a pair of hands dealing cards. The title was The Devil's Game, and the author was Mingdi Yang.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances – It was Mingdi Yang again. He hadn't even appeared in person yet, but his presence in this case was growing increasingly strong...

At that moment, Bai Yutang's phone rang. It was Hu Zi calling.

Bai Yutang answered.

"Boss, we found the first driver who dropped Gao Min off, but something happened to the driver who took Liu Jing," Hu Zi reported, sounding anxious.

At that moment, he was standing on a desolate roadside with Ma Han and a few traffic officers. Behind them, on the hillside, was an overturned taxi. Its doors were open, but the vehicle was completely empty.

"We found the car, it's overturned on the side of the road, but the driver is missing!" Hu Zi said, glancing towards Ma Han.

Ma Han, hands behind his back, was looking around. The section of road ahead had been closed for bridge construction. There were no surveillance cameras nearby, and the area was completely deserted.

The traffic police had arrived after receiving a report from several night-shift workers at a nearby construction site. When they contacted the taxi company, they found out that the police were already looking for this particular vehicle.

Hu Zi and Ma Han questioned the workers.

The workers had been resting in their shed when they heard a loud bang, as if a crash had occurred, so they stepped out to check. They had seen a large RV driving away and then noticed the overturned taxi on the hillside. However, they hadn't seen anyone throughout the entire process, nor had they caught the licence plate of the RV. All they could confirm was that it was a very large vehicle.

Hu Zi reported the findings to Bai Yutang, who immediately realised the situation was serious, the taxi driver was in danger.

Bai Yutang instructed Hu Zi to contact the traffic police and the criminal investigation team for support and to find that RV as soon as possible.

After ending the call, Bai Yutang turned around. Zhan Zhao was still sitting there, reading the book. He was already halfway through and was flipping through the pages at light speed.

Bai Yutang made another call, contacting Qin Ou and Luo Tian.

The two had been investigating at the campground and had indeed found that a suspicious RV had appeared there. Based on witness descriptions, it closely resembled the one seen near the construction site.

By the time Bai Yutang finished his calls and turned back, Zhan Zhao had already finished reading the novel.

Closing the book, Zhan Zhao expressionlessly reflected on it for a moment before giving his verdict: "It's terribly written..."

"But it's quite interesting." Zhan Zhao admitted that although it was a very bad detective story, the romance elements were indeed engaging, no wonder it was a bestseller.

"Does it have anything to do with this case?" Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Zhao rubbed his chin. "There are plenty of card-drawing scenes in the novel, each card supposedly determines the fate of the person who draws it. But there's one problem..."

Zhan Zhao pulled up the photo of the corpse at the crime scene. "Look at the playing cards on the corpse and scattered on the ground. They have patterns, but no numbers, did you notice that?"

Bai Yutang nodded. Normally, playing cards would have numbers along with the suits; hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds. However, the cards scattered at Zhang Yuancheng's feet were all adorned with heart symbols, yet none had numbers. They seemed to be a special type of card.

As the two were discussing, Hu Zi called again. "Captain, we found the RV."

"Where is it?"

"At the campground at White Sand Beach."

"Another campground?"

"Yes!"

Bai Yutang signalled to Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao nodded, indicating that he should go ahead while he stayed back to wait for Liu Jing to wake up.

Bai Yutang rushed out of the hospital, heading for his car, when he noticed Lao Chen sitting by the flowerbeds near the hospital entrance, smoking.

Lao Chen sat there holding his glasses in one hand, his face devoid of expression. Several cigarette butts lay at his feet, it seemed he had been sitting there for quite some time.

The flowerbeds outside the hospital were a rather magical place. There were always people smoking there, and their expressions were strikingly similar. A hospital was a place where one could witness all kinds of things in the world, and those smoking at its entrance wore expressions that spoke more of helplessness than despair.

Bai Yutang got into his car and drove towards the address Hu Zi had just given him. At the same time, he contacted Jiang Ping, asking him to investigate the backgrounds of the magazine's editors, Gao Min, Liu Jing, Zhang Yuancheng, Chen Xu, and Mingdi Yang, the more detail the better.

Jiang Ping noted it down and informed Bai Yutang that he had found three surveillance recordings, which he had already sent to Zhan Zhao.

Bai Yutang nodded and continued driving towards the campground where the RV had been located.

......

Meanwhile, Zhan Zhao was watching the three surveillance clips that Jiang Ping had sent over.

The first video showed Gao Min getting into a taxi outside the barbecue restaurant.

Gao Min looked intoxicated and staggered out. A tall, handsome mixed-race man followed her. It should be Mingdi Yang.

Mingdi supported Gao Min, but Gao Min looked at him with a bit of disgust and walked straight towards a taxi parked ahead.

Gao Min looked like she couldn't walk steadily. Despite being disliked, Mingdi still followed and tried to support her. As a result, Gao Min suddenly turned her head and vomited all over him.

As she opened the taxi door to get in, Gao Min nearly hit her head on the doorframe. Mingdi reacted quickly, pressing her head down slightly to help Gao Min in smoothly.

From the taxi's interior perspective, it almost looked as though someone had pushed Gao Min into the car.

"Hmm..." Zhan Zhao stroked his chin, sensing something subtle in the interaction, but continued watching.

As soon as the taxi drove away, Mingdi took off his vomit-stained suit jacket while watching the direction the car had gone. At that moment, Lao Chen ran out, holding a phone in his hand. He gestured to Mingdi, and the two of them hurried back to their car, seemingly chasing after the taxi.

This first video aligned with Lao Chen's description of events.

He moved on to the second video.

The second video was taken outside the police station. It was a high-definition, multi-angle recording, and Jiang Ping had even compiled a multi-window version.

The taxi stopped in front of the station. Gao Min drunkenly pushed open the door, trying to step out but failing multiple times.

Just then, Mingdi appeared again, with Lao Chen following behind him.

Mingdi helped Gao Min out of the car, but Gao Min still seemed irritated by him. Even in her drunken state, she didn't want to deal with him.

Mingdi followed her for a few steps, but she refused to take the phone he gave her, so he had no choice but to slip it into her bag.

Seeing Mingdi rummaging through her bag, Gao Min reacted by swinging it at him, forcing Mingdi to dodge repeatedly. Lao Chen quickly stepped in to mediate.

Watching the scene, Zhan Zhao shook his head. His editor's drinking habits... It would be best if she drank less in the future.

After Gao Min finished hitting Mingdi, she slung her bag over her shoulder, pointed towards the police station, and stormed inside. Mingdi and Lao Chen hurried after her.

Many people at the station recognised Gao Min, and they probably knew that she was here to pressure Zhan Zhao about his manuscript.

The video then switched to footage from inside the police station's ground-floor lobby.

A female officer at the reception desk who knew Gao Min helped her to a lounge near the elevators. Mingdi went to buy Gao Min a bottle of water but was recognised by a few passing officers at the vending machine, who immediately gathered around him asking for autographs.

Quite a few people in the lobby were drawn to Mingdi.

The female officer looking after Gao Min walked over to the water dispenser to fill a cup, all the while watching the commotion.

However, when she left the lounge, Gao Min staggered out, and just as the elevator doors opened and people stepped out, she walked in... and pressed a button.

The elevator ascended and stopped on the floor just below the SCI office. That was likely where Gao Min had exited.

Below SCI's floor was the economic crime division. At this time on the weekend, the doors were closed, the lights were off, and there wasn't a single person around.

The surveillance footage clearly captured Gao Min's movements. She exited the elevator, swinging her bag drunkenly towards the stairwell. The bag fell, and then she staggered up one flight, crashing headfirst into the safety door of the stairwell.

At that moment, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were in SCI's office. They had heard the noise and gone to check.

In fact, when the two had arrived, Mingdi and Lao Chen had been in the lobby downstairs. However, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had come up from the underground garage and hadn't passed through the lobby.

Later, after Lao Chen pulled Mingdi away, the crowd downstairs dispersed. The female officer, having seen enough of the spectacle, returned to the lounge with the cup of water, only to find that Gao Min had vanished, so she went out to look for her. After searching around and not finding her, she likely assumed that Gao Min had left with Mingdi and Lao Chen and didn't bother any more.

Zhan Zhao checked the timestamp, it had been just past seven p.m.

This footage provided a solid alibi. Gao Min, Mingdi, and Lao Chen all appeared in the video and could not have been at the villa in the campground during this time.

Of course, based on the current clues, Liu Jing had discovered the body around seven p.m., but the exact time of Zhang Yuancheng's death was still uncertain, they would have to wait for the autopsy results.

But the magazine staff had gone to a barbecue gathering after the banquet, and Mingdi and Lao Chen had been the main figures of the event... Including Gao Min, they all have alibis for the afternoon period.

Frowning, Zhan Zhao clicked on the third video, which was footage of Liu Jing getting out of the taxi in the Garden Residential Complex. Compared to the previous two high-definition clips, this one was particularly blurry. And the contents of this footage were also somewhat unusual...

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

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 10, 2025 by Angel

Edited: May 5, 2025 by Soojin