S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 105

The Culinary Murderer 57 – Things That Were Missed

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The hardest part of waiting for Saturday wasn't Friday, but Thursday.

After sending Guan Mei and the others off, the SCI members were still stuck in Thursday afternoon, their legs fidgeting with nervous twitches.

Guan Mei had provided some clues, but it was clear that they didn't know the whole story. What surprised everyone most was that the cause of the incident this time was not Tan Wen seeking revenge. Originally, both Tan Wen and Su Hai had been investigating leads related to the Dutchmen. In other words, it wasn't them who pushed the case to the forefront for SCI to investigate.

The two boxes of skeletal remains that had been discovered were indeed those of the two girls who tried to replace Guan Xiaohong and Tan Wen, but at the time, Su Hai hadn't dealt with the bodies.

After fighting back, Guan Xiaohong and Tan Wen fled downstairs in terror, running into Su Hai, who was carrying Guan Xiaoyue and coming to find them. When they went back upstairs, they only saw Guan Mei in the room, the bodies were already gone.

As for the impostor Tan Wen finished off in the cave, she hadn't bothered with the body when she left. Yet the people who entered the cave later also did not find a corpse, which meant it had been taken care of by someone, but this wasn't Shu Hai's doing either.

Initially, they all thought it might have been that group who retrieved the failed impostors' bodies, but now it seemed as though that was not the case...

Because Zhu Yi had a special status, Guan Xiaohong always kept an eye on her channel and would regularly make sure she was safe.

The man who picked up the drunkards earlier had indeed been Su Hai, but at that time, he had not been going there to look for Zhu Yi with the address in hand. He had been investigating the smuggling operation connected to Shi Yanshuo's family and had accidentally stumbled across a lead on the "Dutchman" who had worked for them for years, the landlord's address.

But Su Hai hadn't expected to coincidentally run into three drunk men that day. After saving the dog, he surveyed the area and left immediately. Later, because the video went viral and he unintentionally became an internet celebrity, Su Hai went into hiding to avoid alerting the enemy.

Later, while watching Zhu Yi's videos, Guan Xiaohong noticed the landlord appearing in the background, who turned out to be one of the Dutchmen Su Hai was investigating.

The attack on the landlord and his wife had not been carried out by Su Hai either. He had been lying low all this time, feeding pigeons in the park to keep out of sight.

Tan Wen desperately wanted revenge, but revenge required a target. The enemies shared by Su Hai and Tan Wen were actually the same group, but these people had hidden themselves well by swapping identities, making them virtually untraceable. Moreover, Guan Mei had firmly forbidden repaying violence with violence. She believed that the best approach was to investigate everything thoroughly and then approach SCI. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were people she trusted, if they made the truth of those years clear, then the children could still have a future.

Guan Mei and the others also didn't know why matters that had long been sealed away had suddenly begun to stir up waves... The few Dutchmen Su Hai had been investigating had also been killed one after another.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang walked out of the office and crossed the corridor, analysing as they went. The one who asked them to attend the wedding was the fake Yu Hui. Why would she take the initiative to invite the two of them to the wedding?

Luring them to the wedding itself was already an extremely dangerous act. What benefit could she possibly gain from doing so?

Zhan Zhao couldn't quite figure it out and asked Bai Yutang for his thoughts.

Bai Yutang said that Yu Hui's identity itself was false, and judging from the way she had obtained it, she should have at least one life on her hands, the life of the real Yu Hui.

Zhan Zhao nodded. "As a murderer, shouldn't she be avoiding us? Why would she deliberately take the risk of inviting us?"

"If we don't think about it too complicatedly and put it more simply..." Bai Yutang asked, "Under what circumstances would someone seek out the police?"

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang. "When they feel their life is in danger?"

"Would Yu Hui be afraid of Shi Yanshuo?" Bai Yutang continued.

"Hmm..." Zhan Zhao recalled the encounter with Yu Hui at the shopping mall. "Logically, I should have noticed something."

"Notice what?"

"That Yu Hui is fake." Zhan Zhao still found it astonishing. "If she had shown even the slightest unnatural sign, it should have aroused my suspicion. But she looked healthy and cheerful, perfectly embodying every aspect of how Yu Hui should be!"

Bai Yutang understood that point, though he didn't grasp its implication, so he asked, "So?"

"It means she has no sense of right and wrong, nor any capacity for empathy, cold and ruthless," Zhan Zhao summed it up. "An antisocial personality, someone like that shouldn't be easily frightened."

"So she and Shi Yanshuo are both psychopaths?" Bai Yutang suddenly found it rather fitting. "Could it be true love?"

Zhan Zhao was amused by him. "Although they're both psychopaths, they seem to be of different breeds. Besides, it wasn't only Yu Hui who came to us, Shi Yanshuo also went to find Big Brother!"

Bai Yutang halted in his tracks. "So both sides are afraid?"

Zhan Zhao nodded.

"Afraid of whom? Of each other?"

"If they are afraid of each other, then why are they getting married?"

Bai Yutang stood there and thought for a while, frowning, "Unless... they have a common object of fear?"

"Logically speaking, they should be afraid of Su Hai and Guan Mei, right?" Zhan Zhao said, shaking his head. "I also thought that it might be because of Su Hai, but looking at it now, Su Hai and Guan Mei aren't seeking revenge against them at this moment!"

"Could it be..."

"A fourth party?"

The two exchanged glances. "Who could it be?"

They both sighed again. Earlier, they asked Guan Mei if they could meet Su Hai, but Guan Mei helplessly said that it had always been Su Hai who came to find them, not the other way around.

In any case, there was nothing they could do right now. The wisest course was to wait for Saturday's wedding.

Zhan Zhao scratched his head as he and Bai Yutang stared at the interrogation room door.

There was still one thing they could do – interrogate Fang Beibei.

Fang Beibei was a peculiar existence, seemingly unconnected to either side, yet somehow entangled in this case. Moreover, according to what Tan Wen had said earlier, her decision to go down the mountain early had indeed been related to something Fang Beibei had said.

But the detail about Fang Beibei and Zhang Wei mocking her for being timid, which supposedly drove her to the cave, had not existed at all. In other words, Fang Beibei had made it up. Why had she deliberately gone to find Wen Xiaorou at that time and fabricated such a story?

When they opened the interrogation room door, the two men froze for a moment.

Fang Beibei was sitting at the table, lying on it fast asleep, and she really did seem to be asleep.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a look. They had seen bold people before, but never anyone this bold. Was this just giving up altogether?

"Ahem." Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang approached the table and cleared their throats.

Fang Beibei still didn't stir.

If it had not been for the normal colour in her face and the obvious sign of her breathing, they might have suspected she was dead.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao pulled out their chairs and sat down, then knocked on the table.

Fang Beibei finally woke up. Lifting her head, she saw Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang sitting opposite her, yawned, sat up, and stretched.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both nodded silently. Somehow, they even felt a trace of admiration. She really was utterly carefree...

Fang Beibei clicked her tongue, propped her chin on her hand, and asked them, "Got anything to eat? I'm starving."

Zhan Zhao said that the cafeteria would only have sandwiches or steamed buns at this hour.

Fang Beibei must have been genuinely hungry, as she said she wanted a sandwich.

So Bai Yutang sent Zhao Hu from the monitoring room to go and buy some.

Not long after, Fang Beibei was tucking into her sandwich.

Zhan Zhao observed her for a moment. He and Bai Yutang had interrogated countless suspects before, most of them the cunning sort... With their experience, looking at Fang Beibei's attitude, she must have known some crucial clue, otherwise she wouldn't be so brazen.

After finishing the sandwich, Fang Beibei sipped her drink, nodded, and looked at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. "What do you two want to ask?"

"Why did you go to find Wen Xiaorou that day?"

Zhan Zhao's question was rather sudden, and it caught Fang Beibei off guard.

"Heh." Fang Beibei gave a laugh and said, "To ask her to save my life, of course. Too bad she refused to help."

"Who's after your life?" Zhan Zhao was a little curious.

"I told her, but she didn't believe me." Fang Beibei was unhappy.

Zhan Zhao had already heard the recording Wen Xiaorou had sent, in which Fang Beibei claimed that what was after her wasn't human.

"It was you who poisoned Zhang Wei and Guan Xiaohong," Zhan Zhao reminded her – Don't blame the ghost!

"Ai!" Fang Beibei shook her head. "First of all, if Guan Xiaohong was poisoned, it's entirely possible that Zhang Wei poisoned her, and then Zhang Wei committed suicide. What does it have to do with me?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both looked at her speechlessly – You're planning to play dumb? You admitted everything during the livestream!

"Tsk." Fang Beibei waved her hand dismissively. "Zhang Wei was dragged down and killed by Guan Xiaohong, and Guan Xiaohong was poisoned by Zhang Wei. What does that have to do with me? At most, I'm guilty of attempted murder!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both looked up at the ceiling. She sure has a mouth on her!

"Haven't you seen those videos online?" Fang Beibei suddenly asked.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were puzzled. "What videos?"

"There are tons of videos showing Zhang Wei before he fell. Watch them carefully!" Fang Beibei's expression was serious.

Zhan Zhao pulled out his phone and searched for a few clips of Zhang Wei before he fell.... Although most of the online videos were filmed from poor angles, it was obvious Zhang Wei had been distracted before being pulled down... He seemed to have looked up at something, then been startled...

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao both noticed Zhang Wei's expression and turned to look at Fang Beibei.

Fang Beibei pointed at Zhang Wei in the video and said, "That Zhang Wei was a fake, you two know that, right?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang did not react, just kept watching her – Go on!

"I know what he saw, what frightened him!" Fang Beibei said mysteriously.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both nodded – This is exactly what we want to hear, hurry up and say it!

"If I tell you, will there be any leniency?" Fang Beibei asked.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang sighed helplessly. "That depends on your cooperation!"

"A yellow raincoat!" Fang Beibei lowered her voice.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance – A yellow raincoat?

"I was so scared when I saw the yellow raincoat that day that I went to Wen Xiaorou for help," Fang Beibei sighed. "Truly a restless spirit."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned. Why did that yellow raincoat feel so hauntingly present? Back in those missing person cases, the girls who had disappeared had all been wearing yellow raincoats. When Tan Wen had gone missing, she had been wearing a yellow raincoat as well. But it had seemed like hers was just because it had happened to rain that day...

At that thought, the two of them suddenly realised at the same time. Wait! There was someone else who died when a yellow raincoat had appeared – the vice principal!

"A yellow raincoat, is it really worth freaking out over?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both asked.

At this moment, Fang Beibei also looked rather helpless. She sighed deeply and said, "Of course I'm not scared when the one wearing the raincoat is human!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were even more baffled. They both stared at her – What else could it be? If the one in the raincoat isn't a person, then what is it?

Fang Beibei cast a ghostly glance at the two of them.

They both frowned.

"You two..." Fang Beibei pointed at them, "didn't you ever hear the legend of the yellow raincoat back in school?"

They genuinely hadn't. "Legend?"

"The first person taken by the yellow raincoat wasn't the vice principal, and it wasn't Tan Wen!" Fang Beibei said solemnly.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned. Tan Wen and the vice principal were the same sort of case, weren't they? Still, after Tan Wen disappeared and the vice principal died, the school had indeed gone through a period when all sorts of terrifying legends were spread. At that time, no one in the school dared wear a yellow raincoat, people didn't even dare carry a yellow umbrella.

"Even before we enrolled, there had already been an incident with the yellow raincoat!" Fang Beibei said in a sinister tone. "It wasn't only the yellow raincoat, you also had to hear the sound of dripping water! That day, I got a phone call, and all there was on the line was the sound of dripping water. When I went outside, I saw a yellow raincoat drift across the street, and I was so terrified I ran straight to the police station to find Wen Xiaorou! Before Zhang Wei's accident, he also received a phone call with the sound of dripping water!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a look – What a coincidence, we have received it too. Not only us, even Wen Xiaorou has received it.

They had previously suspected that Shu Hai might be behind it, but clearly it wasn't, and besides, Su Hai couldn't possibly have called Bai Chi and Wen Xiaorou. So who was doing this?

As Zhan Zhao scratched his head, he suddenly felt that Bai Yutang had reached out and tapped his leg under the table.

Zhan Zhao looked at him.

Bai Yutang shot him a knowing look – Cat, I just remembered someone! We might have overlooked something important!

‿︵‿︵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: September 6, 2025 by Angel

Edited: November 2, 2025 by Soojin