S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 66

The Culinary Murderer 18 – Stuffing

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Investigating a case is sometimes like this: when you think about it, it already seems very complicated, but once you start investigating, you find it far more complicated than you imagined.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had previously read the entire case report and assumed it was a case of black eating black.

The landlord couple were a pair of killers. They had killed the original landlords and taken their place, using the landlord identity as a cover while engaging in illegal activities.

The ones Zhu Yi encountered that night were another pair of killers. They had killed the fake landlord couple, and while trying to dispose of the bodies, they discovered someone was upstairs... Without knowing the tenant's identity, they chose to flee.

However, after Zhu Yi recalled more details, things began to seem rather strange.

First of all, what came to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang's minds was that viral video of the uncle who saved a dog. That uncle had initially been looking for a certain address nearby, and after the incident, he had simply disappeared.

The video didn't seem important at first glance, yet it was oddly compelling.

Because in that video, Zhu Yi had accidentally captured the landlord uncle on camera... and after that, this bizarre case occurred.

It was very likely that Zhu Yi's video had exposed the landlord uncle. Had that couple really been silenced? Or had they not died at all? The day the police called, the landlord aunt's voice, Zhu Yi definitely hadn't misheard...

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both felt it was too early to jump to conclusions, they needed to visit the scene and... conduct a thorough investigation.

Zhan Zhao asked Zhu Yi a few more questions. They didn't seem to have much to do with the case, and in fact, felt more like he was trying to divert her attention.

After asking enough, Zhan Zhao told Zhu Yi to get some rest for the time being. They would return in a few days.

Zhu Yi nodded in agreement. Although Zhan Zhao had spent the entire time asking questions, she felt much better after the conversation.

......

After leaving the safe house, the group drove to the crime scene.

On the way, Zhan Zhao called Jiang Ping, asking him to look into the identity of the uncle in white who had rescued the dog in that viral video.

After hanging up, Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang, "What do you think?"

Bai Yutang shook his head. He'd felt fairly certain before going in, but after asking questions, it now seemed there were too few leads, and he couldn't say for sure.

Zhan Zhao turned to Gongsun. "Is it normal for there to be large traces of blood in the family's bathroom and kitchen? And with so many people's DNA present, does that prove it was the scene of a serial killer's crime?"

Gongsun said that wasn't necessarily the case. "We first need to confirm whether it's human blood. DNA could also have been brought from somewhere else. For example, someone might have gone to a party, stayed in a crowded place for a long time, and come into contact with many people. After going home, they threw their clothes into the bathroom... In that case, the bathroom might end up with DNA from multiple people."

"What about the flesh and brain matter on the roof?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"We need to distinguish whether it's human or pig meat. Chopping up a pig's head could also result in something like that," Gongsun asked, "Has the forensics report come out yet?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head and said there had been too much evidence to collect, they had been busy for several days.

"Then it's probably human flesh and brain tissue," Gongsun said. "The forensics team would have confirmed right away whether it was human tissue. Only if it was confirmed to be human would they proceed with a detailed evidence search."

"By the way," Bai Yutang said, "get in touch with the sub-bureau and ask those two patrol officers who were the first to respond that night to come over as well."

Zhan Zhao made the call.

Soon, the car arrived at the entrance of the alley.

They parked at the spot where Zhu Yi had previously clocked in and got out to inspect the area.

Ma Xin had brought her camera and started taking photos.

Although the area looked quite rundown, it was actually cleaned up quite well.

After walking a few steps forward, everyone noticed the same issue. Although the houses seemed to be all pressed up against each other, every household had an alleyway in front of its door. In other words, on a single road, it was nearly impossible to find two front doors side by side.

The place was practically a maze. A single home would usually be enclosed on all sides; if one family's front door faced east, then the next-door neighbour's definitely wouldn't. You had to walk into an alleyway, or pass through a narrow passage, or even go around another home through a different alley to find the next front door.

Everyone now understood why the man with the address that day had seemed lost. Even if he found the right house number, he'd still need to walk around in circles to find the next one.

What's more, some of the alleys sloped uphill, others downhill, and certain spots even had steps.

Bai Yutang walked a few steps and noticed many symbols drawn on the walls. Some looked like a basket of buns, some like dumplings...

Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao if he knew what those symbols were.

Zhan Zhao shook his head, and Gongsun was even more clueless. Ma Xin raised her hand. "I know this, it's a family workshop."

"Family workshops?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had never heard of it before. They both looked at Ma Xin. "What does that mean?"

"There are probably quite a few tenants living here, and many of them don't cook at home. The hardest meal to sort out is usually breakfast. These symbols indicate that the residents on this street sell things like buns and dumplings from their homes. If you want breakfast, you can just walk past and buy some."

"So... hearing the sound of meat being chopped in this area would be perfectly normal, right?" Bai Yutang asked.

Ma Xin thought for a moment and nodded. "That does make sense..."

Zhan Zhao frowned slightly, as if something had occurred to him. Gongsun, meanwhile, stroked his chin, turned his head slowly, and asked in a quiet voice, "Is it what I think it is?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance and both showed a trace of disgust on their faces.

Still clueless, Ma Xin asked Gongsun cheerfully, "What are you thinking, Wise Monarch?"

Gongsun said, "They've found a large amount of blood and DNA, flesh and brain matter... but no corpse, right?"

Ma Xin blinked.

Gongsun shook his head helplessly. "Weren't you watching that documentary about the Eight Immortals Restaurant a couple of days ago?"

Ma Xin froze for a second, then gasped sharply. "No way!"

Bai Yutang said that even yesterday's dinner was about to come back up, luckily, he'd only eaten seafood over the past few days.

"They couldn't be that twisted, could they?" Ma Xin struggled to accept it. As a foodie, she had loved wandering through alleys and old streets to buy breakfast since she was little, and she was especially fond of meat-filled dumplings!

"Ah!" Even someone as thick-skinned as Ma Xin was shaken by the thought. She clutched her head and cried that she was going crazy!

Zhan Zhao waved at her, telling her not to let her imagination run wild. There were probably lots of different vendors doing business here, it was unlikely everyone was involved. Besides, these days, human meat costs far more than pork. Killing someone was more trouble, and there was less meat on a person than on a pig.

Ma Xin stared wide-eyed at Zhan Zhao – How could a psychologist try to comfort someone like that?!

"But it is quite a good lead..." Bai Yutang said as he noticed a police car slowly pulling up ahead.

Two officers got out of the car.

The four of them walked over to the small building where Zhu Yi had rented the apartment.

A cordon has been set up at the entrance of the courtyard, with police officers on duty. The ground inside the courtyard had been dug up, and forensics staff in overalls were combing through the soil inch by inch.

Nearby, several other workers were holding plastic evidence collection boxes and sifting through the dirt.

Gongsun greeted the officers from the forensics team and took Ma Xin with him to put on protective clothing and enter the site.

Ma Xin noticed that Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao hadn't come in and glanced back. Gongsun waved his hand at her, telling her not to worry about those two.

The two patrol officers were a little excited when they saw Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.

As soon as Bai Yutang saw them, he asked, "Is there a meat processing plant or slaughterhouse nearby?"

The two officers were momentarily taken aback, then nodded in unison. "Yes, there's a slaughterhouse not far from here, just behind this area. It supplies meat to the entire district's market."

Bai Yutang nodded and gestured for them to wait a moment. He then pulled out his phone and called Ma Han, Zhao Hu, Luo Tian, and Qin Ou, asking them to come over. He also contacted the SWAT team to send a heavy-duty vehicle to support the operation.

Zhan Zhao, meanwhile, casually chatted with the two officers and asked, "Are there a lot of pastry shops in this neighbourhood?"

Both of them nodded, saying that when they were rushing to or from work and didn't have time to cook, they often grabbed something from those shops.

Zhan Zhao continued with a pleasant smile, "Do those shops all buy their meat from that slaughterhouse?"

The two officers nodded again.

"Do they buy their minced meat from there as well?" For some reason, Zhan Zhao seemed quite interested in the pastry fillings.

The officers nodded enthusiastically, saying everything tasted good because it was so fresh.

Zhan Zhao let out an "Oh," and glanced over at Bai Yutang, who had just ended his call.

After thinking for a moment, Zhan Zhao asked the two officers again, "Have you two eaten any in the past few days?"

The officers exchanged a look and said that they weren't on patrol every day, they worked in shifts. When on the morning shift, they'd eat breakfast here, and when on the night shift, they often had a late-night snack.

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang again.

Bai Yutang started by praising the two officers, saying they were very sharp and had done well the other night.

The two officers immediately forgot about the meat – Being praised by Captain Bai, so exciting!

"Have you two always patrolled this area?" Zhan Zhao thought the pair seemed quite experienced.

"About a year now," answered the slightly older one.

"We weren't in this area before." The younger one looked rather clever too.

"Do you know the local residents well?" Bai Yutang asked.

They replied that they knew some of them but not all. There were many tenants here and a high turnover rate. Most of the properties were rented out short-term. The landlords were mostly elderly or didn't live here themselves. Some were outgoing and would chat or greet them, while others kept to themselves and didn't engage much.

But they were at least familiar with the landlords' faces, and if the tenants saw a stranger, they would usually take note of it.

Bai Yutang pointed at the house where Zhu Yi lived and asked, "What about this one?"

Both officers replied, "We've spoken with them before, but we're not familiar. The landlord isn't a very outgoing person. As for the girl renting the place, we sometimes see her in the mornings."

The area under their patrol covered this entire neighbourhood, but their main focus was usually the back area where there were more businesses, as the security situation there was worse. They came to this side less frequently, especially in the second half of the night. The roads here were narrow, and driving through late at night could disturb the residents' sleep, sometimes they even received complaints.

"You've been complained about for patrolling here?" Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were puzzled. It was unusual for residents to complain about patrol cars, wasn't having police around supposed to make the place safer?

The two officers both nodded and said they'd been complained about several times. Perhaps it was because many of the residents here were older and were easily awakened at night.

"You called the female landlord that night, didn't you?" Zhan Zhao asked about their impressions at the time, what had made them suspicious?

One of them pointed at his chest, they'd been wearing bodycams, so both video and audio had been recorded.

Zhan Zhao said they'd look at that later, but for now, he wanted to ask what the atmosphere had been like and what exactly had raised their suspicion.

The slightly older officer said, "First of all, it was three in the morning, but she picked up the phone almost immediately. And when she answered, her tone wasn't confused or sleepy at all. In short, it was strange."

The younger one added, "And when she heard the tenant say the two of them had gone missing, she didn't ask about the details. Instead, she hinted that the young girl renting the place often got drunk."

"If she was pretending, her acting was really quite poor." Both of them said they'd felt something was off right away.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance, they had a rough idea in their hearts.

At that moment, two vehicles pulled up at the entrance to the alley. Zhao Hu and the others had arrived, along with a SWAT team vehicle. As the door opened, it turned out that Wen Xiaorou was leading the team today. Dressed in full SWAT gear, she looked even more striking.

Wen Xiaorou waved at them.

Bai Yutang nodded.

The two patrol officers looked at Bai Yutang in confusion – Is something about to happen?

Bai Yutang signalled to them, "Lead the way to the slaughterhouse!"

‿︵‿︵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 24, 2025 by Angel

Edited: August 20, 2025 by Angel