S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 65

The Culinary Murderer 17 – Unexpected Discovery

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Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang felt that Lin Ruo, Xu Lie, and now Mingdi, these three tall, rich, and handsome types, all carried a bit of bad luck. They had a feeling that if you put them together, their combined effect might even surpass Big Brother.

According to the address given by Bao Sir, Bai Yutang parked the car near the safe house.

The group got out of the car and walked into the residential compound.

The police safe house was located in a decent neighbourhood with strict access control and plenty of surveillance installed all around.

There were quite a few amenities in the compound, cafés, a gym, and such.

The four of them easily found the small apartment where Zhu Yi was temporarily staying. The officer in charge of the safe house had already contacted her.

When Zhu Yi heard that SCI was coming to see her, she was a little excited. After all, she had seen quite a few SCI videos, and everyone loves handsome men.

The doorbell rang, and Bai Yutang pressed the bell in the pattern the contact officer had taught him.

Before long, the door opened.

A young girl appeared at the entrance. Compared to her photo, she looked a little haggard, with dark circles under her eyes, she probably hadn't been resting well. But it was obvious she hadn't lost her mind, and her emotions were still manageable.

Zhan Zhao made a quick assessment and felt that this girl probably had decent psychological resilience.

Zhu Yi saw three men and one woman at the door, and the four of them all looked friendly.

Having Ma Xin along was definitely helpful, as she was a natural extrovert. She introduced herself and helped introduce the other three as well.

Zhu Yi nodded. She had seen Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao in videos before, so they probably weren't impostors.

From the look in her eyes, Zhan Zhao guessed that she had likely been left with some psychological trauma and might find it hard to trust people from now on.

Zhu Yi invited the four of them inside.

The police safe house had certain requirements for its layout. The interior design followed advice from several psychologists, which Zhan Zhao had also provided.

The unit Zhu Yi was staying in was very cosy, with bright colours.

The room wasn't large. There was a suitcase by the wall, a laptop and some equipment on the desk, and a few sets of professional coffee-making tools on the coffee table.

Zhu Yi said the café downstairs offered part-time work, but she hadn't adjusted her mindset yet and didn't dare go out.

The police told her she could ask a family member to stay with her, but she hadn't dared tell her parents, afraid they'd worry.

Zhan Zhao and Gongsun sat down on the sofa, while Bai Yutang went over to the window to observe the surroundings. Ma Xin, on the other hand, was curiously examining a set of coffee pots.

Zhu Yi glanced at Ma Xin and asked, "Are you preparing for marriage?"

Ma Xin widened her eyes and looked at her – You can tell?

Zhu Yi smiled and said that the set of coffee pots Ma Xin had just been looking at was a couple's set, very suitable for a newlywed home.

Ma Xin grew a little embarrassed, scratched her head, and looked over at Zhan Zhao and Gongsun – Am I really that easy to read?

Neither Gongsun nor Zhan Zhao teased her, it wasn't often that she got shy.

But it was true, at different stages in life, some thoughts could indeed be seen in a person's expression and eyes.

"You've got a good eye," Zhan Zhao praised Zhu Yi.

Zhu Yi sighed and pointed at her laptop.

Bai Yutang walked over from the window and happened to glance at her screen. She seemed to be watching a video.

"I don't have anything else to do, so I've been going back through all the footage I recorded before," Zhu Yi said with a frown. "I turned the volume all the way up, and guess what... I think I'm starting to hear things."

Both Bai Yutang and Gongsun looked at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao, intrigued, asked, "You turned the volume up all the way, what were you trying to hear?"

"To see if I'd accidentally caught the sound of those two people killing someone," Zhu Yi said, slightly agitated. "Back when I was filming, I didn't have enough space in my own kitchen, so I borrowed Auntie Landlord's... Now that I think about it..."

As she spoke, Zhu Yi began to feel nauseous and quickly shut her mouth to take a deep breath.

Zhan Zhao gestured for Bai Yutang to comfort her.

Bai Yutang didn't quite understand why it had to be him, but he followed Zhan Zhao's lead and said, "Everything's under investigation now, it might not be as bad as you think."

Zhu Yi looked at Bai Yutang and asked, "Really?"

Bai Yutang nodded.

Zhu Yi immediately felt more at ease.

Gongsun and Ma Xin thought about it and agreed. Bai Yutang was SCI's captain, and there were loads of classic videos online of him taking down criminals. Hearing it from him really did make people feel safe.

Bai Yutang also sat down.

Seeing that Zhu Yi had calmed down a little, Zhan Zhao began to question her.

Zhan Zhao didn't ask her to recall things in chronological order, but rather in a more scattered manner. First, he asked about the Instant Noodle Alien.

Zhan Zhao had her take a pen and sketch on a notepad what the alien headpiece she had seen that night looked like.

Zhu Yi thought for a moment, then roughly drew the outline. Zhan Zhao then asked about the colour.

Zhu Yi carefully recalled and marked the approximate colours of the headpiece.

Zhan Zhao went on to ask what the person wearing the headpiece had been dressed in.

Zhu Yi continued to recall, she said it was a yellow short-sleeved shirt, possibly with white stripes, and pants that were either grey or a light army green, resembling overalls. As for the shoes... she couldn't remember clearly, perhaps sandals, or maybe trainers.

Zhan Zhao asked, "From the moment you heard the phone ring to seeing that person run out the door, roughly how long did it take?"

Zhu Yi thought for a moment, and Zhan Zhao told her she could demonstrate it.

So Zhu Yi lay back on the sofa, then suddenly sprang up, ran to the door, pretended to pull a table over to block it, and then moved to the window...

Ma Xin timed it, the whole process took no more than thirty seconds.

"How long does it take to run down the stairs from your front door?" Zhan Zhao continued.

"Just one floor..." Zhu Yi did some mental calculations. "That person must have run down from my apartment, then doubled back into the room downstairs, grabbed the suitcase and ran out again..."

Zhan Zhao then asked, "When the Instant Noodle Alien ran out, were they dragging the suitcase or carrying it?"

"Dragging it. I heard the wheels, even through the window I could hear it... and there's a horizontal bar at the bottom of the little metal gate, the suitcase hit it and made a noise, a very distinct sound..."

At this point, Zhu Yi frowned and tilted her head. "I might have heard it twice."

"Something heavy hitting the gate twice?"

"Mhm! And the sound of wheels. The first time was while I was still half asleep, the second time I must have woken up more because of the noise, that's when I remembered to call..."

Bai Yutang and Gongsun thought it over – It was possible there had been two people at the time. The first dragged a suitcase out, and the second went upstairs to check. After hearing the phone ring, that one came back down, grabbed the suitcase and ran off.

Zhan Zhao nodded, then changed the subject. "What time did you get home?"

"Around ten, I went to a workout class after work."

"When you came in, did you notice anything unusual, that is, anything different from usual?"

"Mm, normally there shouldn't have been anyone in the apartment, but that night someone was there, even chopping stuffing... It did feel a bit strange, and the door wasn't locked either... Ah, right!" Zhu Yi suddenly said, "The outside light wasn't on."

"The outside light?"

"Yes, I usually get back quite late, so the landlord leaves the courtyard light on. The light's right by the stairway... Also, now that I think about it, the car in the courtyard wasn't there. That car's sometimes around, sometimes not, there doesn't seem to be any pattern."

"What kind of car?"

"Just a little two-door hatchback, a really old model, battered and worn." Zhu Yi seemed to grow more uneasy as she spoke about the car. "That car is actually quite strange. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I'd hear the engine start downstairs and doors opening and closing... I never paid it much mind before, but thinking about it now, it doesn't seem like the landlord couple were the ones using it, it was taken away by someone else in the middle of the night, and I have no idea when it was brought back."

Zhan Zhao asked if she could remember the licence plate.

Zhu Yi made an effort to recall it, and Zhan Zhao guided her, trying to remember just one number or letter to start with.

After thinking for a while, Zhu Yi managed to piece together a possible plate number.

Bai Yutang, Gongsun, and Ma Xin didn't interrupt as they watched Zhan Zhao question Zhu Yi. They noticed that throughout, Zhan Zhao never once asked, "Are you sure? Really sure?" or other questions, and Zhu Yi's recollection grew clearer the more she spoke.

"You have got a vlog channel, right?" Zhan Zhao changed the subject again.

"I do!" Zhu Yi nodded. She had just finished organising all her old videos, over a hundred of them, and she'd been posting for several years.

"Have all the recent ones, say, in the past year, been filmed at this house?" Zhan Zhao was curious. "Or are there videos from other locations as well?"

"Occasionally, I will take other shots. I take videos of my commute to and from work, like when I encounter cats and dogs on the way, or the weather, or the flowers and plants nearby. I do take a few shots here and there, but mainly, I make videos of cooking at home, and sometimes I promote products and do advertisements."

"Have you filmed anything of the outside of where you live, like the exterior of the landlord's house?"

"Well..." Zhu Yi thought for a moment. "Oh, right. I did film the entrance to the alleyway once, it was to ride a trending topic."

"Ride a trending topic?" Ma Xin was curious. "What topic?"

"You know that video that went viral, the one where some uncle saved a little white dog and beat up three drunk guys?" Zhu Yi said. "The spot where that uncle fought them off was right at the entrance of the alley where I live. I've even seen that little white dog before, I've got a selfie with it from the street."

"Could you show us that video?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Oh!" Zhu Yi immediately pulled up the video on her laptop and clicked play for everyone to watch.

It was just a short section from one of her commute videos. Zhu Yi's videos generally didn't show her face, even when her full body appeared, it was only from the neck down, or her face would be pixelated. Seemed to be a popular filming style.

In the video, Zhu Yi was walking along the road and arrived at the entrance of the alley. She said this was where the dog rescue had happened the other night. The video included a selfie of her with the little dog, with her face blurred out, of course, and captions saying she'd seen that dog before.

Suddenly, Zhan Zhao paused the video and pointed to a spot behind Zhu Yi, signalling Bai Yutang to have a look.

Zhu Yi had been standing at the alley entrance, filming it behind her using the selfie camera.

This scene not only captured the alley but also a figure, the landlord walking out of the courtyard and heading in another direction.

The moment was very brief, but the landlord's face was visible. The strange thing was, he vanished from view almost instantly.

Zhu Yi rubbed her chin. "I must've caught that by accident. Usually if I catch other people in my videos, I cut them out. I probably missed a few frames here."

Bai Yutang frowned and looked at Zhan Zhao – Things seemed to be veering off in an unexpected direction.

Zhan Zhao couldn't quite put it into words either. In short, while they were looking for one thing, they made a significant, unexpected discovery. This case might not be anything like what they'd originally imagined.

‿︵‿︵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: May 23, 2025 by Angel

Edited: August 18, 2025 by Soojin