S.C.I. (Volume I) - Case 3: Chapter 10

The Magic Killer 10 - Reunion  

The lights of the hospital operating room remained illuminated. Chen Yu had already been pushed inside nearly three hours ago.

Qi Le stood blankly at the entrance, her face devoid of any discernible expression as her eyes remained locked onto the heavy doors of the operating room.

Yet, if one looked closely, it was still possible to notice her body trembling ever so slightly.

Her clothes were somewhat damp from hiding in the corner earlier. Standing behind her, Zhao Hu watched, wondering if she was shivering from the cold or from fear.

"Qi Le." He couldn't help calling out to her.

Qi Le remained dazed for a moment before turning her head to look at him, her eyes filled entirely with a blank disorientation.

Zhao Hu took off his own jacket and handed it to her. "Go put on something dry."

Taking the jacket, Qi Le slowly turned around and walked toward the restroom... A short while later, she emerged wearing the coat, only to return to her original spot and resume staring into space.

Zhao Hu was quite familiar with Qi Le. During the previous case, he had been personally assigned to ensure her safety, which gave him a keen sense of the profound anxiety she was experiencing right now.

Scratching his head, Zhao Hu wondered if he should offer her some comfort. What on earth was the right thing to say~~~

"Um..." Organizing his thoughts, he offered, "Don't worry too much. Chen Yu is going to be fine."

Qi Le didn't dignify that with a response.

Inwardly, Zhao Hu sighed. It was all his fault for being so clumsy with words~~~ Even his attempts at comforting people lacked any semblance of skill.

"If Xiao Yu dies too, then I truly won't have a single family member left in this world." Qi Le suddenly spoke up.

Zhao Hu paused slightly, his mouth opening, but no words came out.

Yet Qi Le didn't seem to expect him to comfort her anyway, continuing to mutter to herself: "Xiao Yu and I have known each other since we were very little. She's much more straightforward than I am, and very extroverted. She might seem immature on the surface... but the truth is, she's always the one taking care of me."

Zhao Hu watched her quietly, waiting for her to continue.

"Ever since the incident with my brother, she moved in with me... Even though her family is local, she just did it because she was afraid I'd be lonely by myself... Just now, if she hadn't grabbed that man and told us to run, we definitely would have died. I'm so useless."

Zhao Hu suddenly burst into a grin, reaching out to pat her on the shoulder. "Alright, kiddo, snap out of it! It's not nearly as bad as you're making it sound!"

Qi Le looked up at him with a puzzled expression.

Zhao Hu scratched his head again. "Think about it—if you hadn't run back then, the three of you would have been absolute dead meat! Not only did you manage to escape, but you brought the injured Li Xu with you, and you even called our captain over~ In reality, you're the one who saved all three of your lives. How can you possibly say you're useless?"

Qi Le blinked at Zhao Hu with wide, troubled eyes. "But I feel like I'm just terribly unlucky, and anyone who gets close to me ends up cursed with bad luck!"

"Don't worry!" Zhao Hu patted his own chest and asked, "Have you met the people from S.C.I.?"

"Mm~~" The abrupt shift in topic left Qi Le momentarily bewildered.

"Let me tell you, S.C.I. is full of absolute elites. Our head and Dr. Zhan, along with Gongsun, go without saying; and take Ma Han, for instance—he's the absolute best sharpshooter in the Flying Tigers. Xu Qing is the military's designated master mechanic. Jiang Ping can hack into the Pentagon if you just hand him a laptop. Liu Long and Wang Chao are seasoned veteran detectives through and through~~~ Now look at me. Does anything about me scream elite?"

Qi Le shook her head very honestly, thinking to herself that this Zhao Hu fellow looked delightfully boorish and lacked even a fraction of the solemn dignity expected of a criminal investigator.

Amused by her reaction, Zhao Hu chuckled. "Let me tell you, Captain Bai chose me because I spent five years working deep undercover without ever getting a single scratch on my skin~~~ He picked me specifically for my sheer luck!!"

Noticing a glimmer of hope returning to Qi Le's eyes, Zhao Hu declared with considerable confidence, "I can't guarantee much else, but when it comes to luck, I've got plenty to spare... Chen Yu is definitely going to be fine!"

Just as his voice trailed off, the light above the operating room door went out. Moments later, a doctor dressed in scrubs walked out.

"Doctor... Is she..." Qi Le's voice trembled uncontrollably.

"Phew~~" The doctor let out a long breath. "She's truly fortunate. After walking through the gates of hell a few times, we managed to pull her back."

"Then she... she's going to be okay?" Qi Le's eyes overflowed with surprise and joy.

"She'll be fine." The doctor took off his surgical gloves. "The anesthesia hasn't worn off yet, but she should wake up by tonight."

Watching the medical staff depart, Zhao Hu smiled triumphantly. "See~~ Car—huh?"

He gasped in astonishment as Qi Le suddenly lunged forward, threw her arms around him, and burst into loud, unrestrained tears~~~

When Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao hurried into the hospital, this was precisely the scene that greeted them—Zhao Hu standing frozen in place like a wooden post, with Qi Le buried against his chest, crying with absolute abandon...

After Qi Le managed to calm her emotions somewhat, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang asked her to recount the events from the beginning.

According to Qi Le, Li Xu's emotional state had been extremely abnormal these past few days~~~ Although she occasionally drank and talked nonsense in the past, she had never been as heavily intoxicated every single day as she had been recently. This morning, after receiving a phone call, Li Xu had rushed outside with a panicked expression. Seeing that she couldn't even stand steadily and fearing something might happen to her, Qi Le and Chen Yu gave chase. Just as they caught up, they saw a man in black wielding a knife, preparing to strike Li Xu. The two of them immediately stepped forward to help. Li Xu was shoved aside, hitting the wall and losing consciousness, while Chen Yu grabbed the assailant and told Qi Le to take Li Xu and run. Afterward, Qi Le escaped with Li Xu, hid her safely, and sent a text message to Bai Yutang.

"Do you have any idea why he wanted to kill Li Xu?" Bai Yutang asked.

Qi Le shook her head. "We've known Sister Li for quite a while, but she rarely talks about her past. The only things she usually says when she's drunk are rambling nonsense about 'good men' and 'paying for a life with a life'."

"Qi Le, do you guys know anything about the Magic Array Serial Murders?" Zhan Zhao suddenly asked.

"Ah~~ I know about that. We saw the news that day. They said a teacher was killed, and later a child... Oh, wait!" Qi Le suddenly cried out. "Sister Li started acting completely abnormal right after watching that news report."

"In what way was she abnormal?" Zhan Zhao asked urgently.

"When we were watching the news that day, we were eating breakfast. Sister Li looked like she had been struck by something; she was so startled she dropped her bowl, and then she locked herself in her room. She wouldn't open the door even when we knocked, and it sounded like she was on the phone with someone inside, shouting at the top of her lungs. We didn't pay close attention to what she was saying... After that, she started drinking heavily, turning into the state she's in now."

As soon as she finished speaking, Qi Le rushed off anxiously to check on Chen Yu. Bai Yutang instructed Zhao Hu to look after Qi Le for the time being, and then accompanied Zhan Zhao to Li Xu's hospital room.

Outside the ward, Wang Chao was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed. Seeing Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao approach, he hurried over.

"How is she?" Bai Yutang asked.

"She's fine. She was quite agitated earlier, but once she heard that Chen Yu was going to be alright, her mood stabilized."

Nodding, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Li Xu sat alone on the hospital bed, her eyes fixed blankly out the window, looking somewhat lost.

"Li Xu," Bai Yutang called out to her.

Li Xu did not respond, as if she hadn't heard him at all.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanged glances.

"Xu Jiali," Zhan Zhao suddenly said in a soft voice.

...!.. Li Xu gave a violent shudder, hurriedly turning her head back. "Ji... Jiali is here? Where is she?"

Noticing her reaction, Bai Yutang said coldly, "Xu Jiali is already dead. As for how she died... you should know better than anyone."

"I... I don't know," Li Xu stammered, shaking her head frantically. "I have no idea."

"Do you know Kong Liping?" Zhan Zhao asked her. "She's dead too."

"What..." Li Xu appeared genuinely shocked. "Liping... is dead too... Retribution... Pure retribution!"

Watching Li Xu's somewhat morbid reaction, Zhan Zhao frowned slightly. "You, Zhang Zhenzhen, Kong Liping, as well as An Qingyao and Shen Ling... Why did you guys kill Xu Jiali?"

"We didn't... We didn't kill her! We only..."

"Only falsified the crime scene?" Bai Yutang cut her off. "Why? Who were you trying to protect?"

"We... we thought it was a game... Jiali was usually quite arrogant anyway..." Li Xu's words lacked even enough conviction to convince herself.

"Don't kid yourself!" Zhan Zhao shook his head. "Let me guess... Was it because of a certain man?"

"..." Li Xu stared at Zhan Zhao with terrified eyes. "How... how do you know?"

"Who is he?" Bai Yutang pressed. "Tell us the truth, or else you'll end up getting even more people killed, and you'll do a grave injustice to Qi Le and Chen Yu, who risked their lives to save you."

Sighing softly, Li Xu's gaze began to soften. "His... his last name is Tong... His name is Tong Ming. He was our dance instructor."

"He killed Xu Jiali?"

"...Yes."

"Did you see it with your own eyes?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"No," Li Xu shook her head. "Shen Ling... Shen Ling and Zhenzhen saw it... Besides, Liping saw it too."

"Why did Tong Ming want to kill Xu Jiali, and why did you all help cover for him?"

"Tong Ming... he, he liked much younger girls..."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

"Xu Jiali was only thirteen years old. That's hardly considered 'older', so was he a pedophile?" Bai Yutang said coldly. "And when she rejected his advances, he resorted to murder?"

"It... it was just an accident. At the time, both Qingyao and I were very infatuated with him... so we thought about helping him get away with it," Li Xu whispered. "After that incident, I felt terribly guilty and went abroad for a while. When I came back, Tong Ming was already Qingyao's boyfriend."

"Whose phone call was it that you received this morning?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"It was from Liping. She told me she had something important to tell me."

……………………

When Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stepped out of the hospital, it was exactly six o'clock in the evening.

"So, Cat, are we heading over to Shen Qian's casino?"

"Mm," Zhan Zhao nodded silently.

After calling Liu Long to instruct him to investigate the current whereabouts of An Qingyao and Tong Ming and bring Tong Ming into the police station, Bai Yutang turned to look at Zhan Zhao. "What's wrong, Cat? You seem miles away. What are you thinking about?"

"Mm~~ Li Xu's story bears a lot of analyzing," Zhan Zhao said thoughtfully. "Think about it. Back then, there were only three direct eyewitnesses. Kong Liping and Zhang Zhenzhen are both dead, leaving only Shen Ling. That means if Shen Ling stubbornly insists that Tong Ming killed Xu Jiali, there are no other witnesses left to contradict her."

"Indeed," Bai Yutang nodded as he started the engine. "This case is tangled in a thousand threads, but at least we're getting somewhere... What Kong Liping wanted to tell Li Xu was likely the truth about what happened back then."

"Do you think the killer wasn't Tong Ming?" Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang.

"Heh~~" Bai Yutang chuckled. "Cat, are you testing me? Don't you also believe the real killer is someone else?"

"I suspect that back then, Li Xu and An Qingyao were very likely manipulated and deceived by Shen Ling," Zhan Zhao stated.

"I think so too. Murder isn't child's play, after all. It makes sense that An Qingyao and Li Xu were blinded by romance and covered up a crime for Tong Ming... But the other three had absolutely no reason to do so..."

"And the strangest part of all..." Zhan Zhao continued, picking up his train of thought, "is that the ones who died were Zhang Zhenzhen and Kong Liping, not Li Xu and An Qingyao~~~ and certainly not Shen Ling."

"We'll understand once we go meet that pair of siblings," Bai Yutang said before pressing down on the accelerator to speed up.

Shen Qian stood before the monitor wall in the surveillance room, frowning as he watched the twins and Bai Chi by the gaming tables on screen.

"How much has he won so far?" Shen Qian asked his subordinate.

"Added together, it's roughly three million now," the subordinate replied.

"Heh~~" Shen Qian sneered. "Well, if it isn't Bai Jingtang. The very first day my business opens, he sends someone to make a fool of me out of spite~~~ Did he cheat?"

"No," the subordinate shook his head. "All his wins are from the roulette wheel and blackjack..."

"I see." Shen Qian nodded. "That cute little kid who looks like he hasn't even reached adulthood yet must be the legendary numerical genius, right?"

"Boss, should we go stop him?"

"No need." Shen Qian waved his hand with a smile. "What's a little money like this? I'm actually much more interested in that young fellow."

………………

Inside the casino, the twins were having the time of their lives counting chips until their hands went soft! Not simply because they won money, but because they won Shen Qian's money!! Just think about it—his name literally meant "Save Money," so losing this much cash to them in one go must have broken his heart completely?? Talk about deeply satisfying~~~~

Unable to watch any longer, Zhao Zhen squeezed through the crowd and pulled little Bai Chi away. "Alright, that's enough for today."

Dazed and befuddled, Bai Chi had no idea how much he had actually won. He had no real concept of gambling; he had simply applied his brainpower, calculating odds and keeping track of cards~~~

Once pulled away by Zhao Zhen, he finally snapped back to reality. Spotting Zhao Zhen—whom he considered his greatest "arch-nemesis" in life—he put on a grumpy little face, jerked his hand out of his grip, and snapped, "What are you doing?!... Mind your own business~~~"

That stirred up quite a bit of irritation in Zhao Zhen: "Kid! I'm doing this for your own good!" Without realizing it, his tone carried a harsher edge.

Scolded like that, Bai Chi glared at him with a look of pure aggrieved grievance.

Instantly softening, Zhao Zhen thought to himself—Oh, my little ancestor~~~ Why was I so blind when I was younger that I just had to go and offend someone who holds grudges like this~~~~

The Elder and Younger Ding brothers trotted over. Seeing Zhao Zhen's ominous expression, they flanked Bai Chi, throwing their arms around him while casting a cold glare at Zhao Zhen. "What's this? You think you can bully someone from the Bai family? Have you grown tired of living??"

Not recognizing the twins, Zhao Zhen thought to himself—Haven't I bullied him plenty of times when we were kids?! With a sigh, he said, "Draw the line where it is, it's getting too conspicuous."

The twins exchanged glances. This Zhao Zhen wasn't intimidated by their presence at all~~~ and the air of authority he carried showed he was someone of substance. Thinking it over, they realized they really had gone a bit too far today. If anything actually happened to Bai Chi, it would be equivalent to offending S.C.I. That in itself wasn't terrifying—they could always just trade blows with Bai Yutang—but now that there was a "Sister-in-Law" in the picture~~~ the consequence of ticking off S.C.I. would likely be getting thrown into the Pacific Ocean by Bai Jingtang to feed sharks. Better quit while they were ahead.

"Little Chi-chi~~~ Let's wrap it up for today~~~" With that, they shoved Bai Chi right into Zhao Zhen's arms and waved. "We'll buy you a present tomorrow~~~" Then they turned tail and slipped away.

Zhao Zhen instinctively caught the kid shoved into his arms, feeling a mild shock. "This little guy is so tiny."

Feeling as though he had been embraced by a prickly hedgehog, Bai Chi hastily pushed Zhao Zhen away, turned on his heel, and walked off toward his intended destination—the restroom. Anywhere touched by that annoying ghost needed to be thoroughly disinfected~~~

Leaving the noisy main hall behind, he crossed the corridor toward the washrooms.

Out of nowhere, a figure suddenly stepped out from a blind spot, and before Bai Chi could react, he crashed right into them.

Rubbing his nose and looking up, he discovered that the person standing right in front of him... was none other than Shen Qian.

"Are you alright?" Shen Qian smiled as he reached out to help rub Bai Chi's forehead. "It's my fault for walking too fast."

"N—no problem." Bai Chi felt a bit nervous, thinking to himself... He had finally managed to cross paths with Shen Qian.

"You're quite formidable," Shen Qian remarked. "You're qualified to be promoted to a VIP member now."

"VIP?" Bai Chi looked perplexed.

"Mm~~ Generally, downstairs in the main hall are just regular patrons, while the professional high-rollers are all in the VIP rooms... Would you like me to take you up for a look?" Shen Qian smiled. "I was just heading there myself."

Hesitating for a second, Bai Chi nodded and said, "Okay."

From a distance, Ma Han noticed Bai Chi looking like he was about to leave with Shen Qian, and felt a surge of concern. The twins had pushed their game a bit too far earlier, and while Bai Chi had an exceptionally high IQ, he was terribly naive in interpersonal matters~~~ He shouldn't be allowed to get taken advantage of... Just as he started forward, his arm was grabbed. Turning around, he saw Zhao Zhen shaking his head at him and pointing at himself, signaling that he would handle it.

Ma Han nodded, and Zhao Zhen strode quickly in their direction.

Further away, Chen Jiayi had been quietly keeping an eye on Ma Han all this time~~~ and right now, she was grinding her teeth in frustration—Why did all the good men nowadays prefer staring at other guys?? Was she really that unappealing???

Then she reconsidered—No way, she was far too fond of this one; even if he turned out to be gay, she was going to bend him straight back around!!!

Ma Han felt an itch in his nose, sneezed, and suddenly felt a chilling draft blowing down his spine~~~

Familiarly slinging an arm around Bai Chi's shoulder, Shen Qian guided him deeper down the hallway. Bai Chi felt somewhat awkward but didn't know how to voice his discomfort, sensing vaguely that Shen Qian harbored ill intentions. Just as he was growing completely flustered, he heard someone call out from behind: "Little thing! The restroom isn't that way."

The moment the words fell, Zhao Zhen had already closed the distance to the two of them, reaching out to yank Bai Chi away. With a look of feigned surprise, he greeted Shen Qian: "Boss Shen?! What a coincidence."

"...Ah, the great illusionist Zhao~~" After a brief moment of surprise, Shen Qian quickly recovered his composure, greeting him with a radiant smile. "I'm looking forward to your performance later."

"Thanks." Zhao Zhen smiled, draping an arm over Bai Chi's shoulder. "This is my assistant for tonight's show."

"Oh~~ is that so~~" Shen Qian nodded with a smile, and just as he was about to speak, Zhao Zhen cut him off. "We've got business to attend to, see you at showtime." With that, he wrapped an arm around Bai Chi and began walking back.

Shen Qian stared meaningfully at their retreating backs for a moment, let out a cold smirk, and walked away.

Guiding Bai Chi out of the corridor and right up to the restroom doors, Zhao Zhen saw that Shen Qian had departed, let out a sigh of relief, and looked down at Bai Chi. "Are you alright?"

Bai Chi possessed a crystal-clear sense of class allegiance and very distinct boundaries of love and hate. Consequently, he reached out and pinched Zhao Zhen's sleeve with two fingers, casting it aside as if he were flicking away a dead cockroach. After brushing the dust off his shoulder, he turned, pushed open the restroom door behind him, stepped inside while humming "Disinfection!!", and slammed the door shut.

Standing outside, Zhao Zhen stamped his feet in furious exasperation—Stupid kid! So petty!! Not cute at all, zero points!!!

Walking over to the sink inside the washroom, Bai Chi turned on the faucet, cupped some cold water in his hands, and splashed his face... Letting out a long breath.

To be honest, if it weren't for Zhao Zhen stepping in just now, he truly wouldn't have known what to do. Right as those thoughts crossed his mind, he suddenly felt as though someone was standing right beside him. Startled, he whipped his head up, only to find a towering figure reflected alongside him in the massive mirror...

Once he recognized the person's features, Bai Chi froze... A pale complexion, long dark hair, slightly upturned phoenix eyes, and faint laugh lines...

"It's you?" He turned his head with a pleasant surprise. "What are you doing here? Thanks to you last time..."

Before Bai Chi could finish his sentence, the man tilted his head with an incomparably innocent smile, leaned down, and gently kissed Bai Chi on the forehead.

For a split second, Bai Chi's brain short-circuited. He stood there blankly, gazing up at him.

Lifting his head, the man licked his lips with the tip of his tongue, smiled radiantly once more, leaned close to Bai Chi's ear, and whispered softly: "You mustn't let your brilliance shine too brightly, you know~~~ It will bring you trouble... Smart people need to learn how to play dumb." Gently smoothing down Bai Chi's hair, he asked in a tender tone, "Understand?"

"Mm..." Bai Chi nodded blankly.

"Good boy~~" The man leaned down again, brushed a light kiss across Bai Chi's soft hair, and turned to leave.

Recovering from his dazed state, Bai Chi realized the man was already gone. Cursing himself internally for being useless, he hurried outside, only to run head-first into Zhao Zhen, who was just about to push the door open and walk in.

"..." Zhao Zhen rubbed his chest. "What's wrong with you?! Is there a ghost chasing you?!"

Hearing the word "ghost," Bai Chi was instantly reminded of how that person always appeared and vanished like a wraith, feeling precisely like a phantom...

"Hey!" Zhao Zhen waved a hand right in front of Bai Chi's eyes. "Are you alright? What happened? Did you actually see a ghost??"

Coming back to his senses, Bai Chi looked into the distance—there was no trace of the man left anywhere~~~ And Zhao Zhen was still waving his hand in front of him as if looking at an absolute idiot...

Thinking that if Zhao Zhen hadn't blocked his path, he might have actually caught up to that person... Little Bai Chi fumed inwardly... What a jinx star!!

With anger rising in his heart and malice surging toward the edge of his courage—Bai Chi lifted his foot and stomped down hard right onto the top of Zhao Zhen's shoe—

"Ouch~~!"

Watching Bai Chi storm away in a huff while Zhao Zhen stood there wincing and nursing his aching foot, the illusionist wanted to tear his hair out in frustration—Good grief, who on earth did I offend?!

As Bai Yutang's car pulled up to the front entrance of the casino, Zhan Zhao stepped out first, raised his head to survey the surroundings, and his gaze landed on the main entrance... He paused for a fraction of a second, then broke into a sprint.

"Cat?" Bai Yutang was in the middle of parking the car into a stall when he abruptly saw Zhan Zhao sprinting away like a bolt of lightning. Panicking, he finished parking, yanked off his seatbelt, and jumped out of the vehicle.

Zhan Zhao dashed straight through the front doors, scanning the entire lobby... He had caught a glimpse of a figure just now... Though it lasted only a split second, he was entirely certain his eyes hadn't deceived him... That person's presence was far too overwhelming to be mistaken.

"Dr. Zhan?" Someone approached from nearby, greeting him with a pleasant look of surprise.

Zhan Zhao turned his head to find it was Shen Qian.

"Hello~~" Lacking the time or inclination to deal with him, Zhan Zhao offered a perfunctory greeting and immediately resumed scanning the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Shen Qian took a few steps closer, observing Zhan Zhao from a short distance and thinking to himself that if one were talking about beauty, this one was undoubtedly the most exquisite; looking at him up close, he was truly flawless...

"You don't look very well. Is there anything I can help you with?" As he spoke, Shen Qian reached out, intending to lightly stroke Zhan Zhao's cheek. Before his fingertips could even brush that fair, translucent skin, a white blur rushed past—followed by a dull crackle of pain. With a cold expression on his face, Bai Yutang batted his hand away.

Shen Qian frowned. Bai Yutang was clearly trained in martial arts; he hadn't struck the back of his hand, nor his arm, but had targeted his wrist directly... A wave of sharp pain shot through it! He bit his teeth hard to keep from crying out, wondering if his wrist was broken.

Turning to glare at Bai Yutang, he found him wearing an expression carved from solid ice... Thinking to himself—As expected of brothers; they absolutely refuse to let anyone else touch what belongs to them. I'd say the younger one is even more terrifying than the older one~~~

Shrugging his shoulders, Shen Qian offered a polite nod and wisely turned away.

"Cat, what's wrong? What did you see?" Bai Yutang asked, staring at Zhan Zhao with a worried look.

"Yutang, I just saw someone..." Zhan Zhao grabbed the lapel of Bai Yutang's unbuttoned windbreaker, his face tense with urgency.

Bai Yutang chuckled. "Really? That impressive? Impressive enough to make you see things?!"

"I'm not joking with you!" Zhan Zhao snapped, annoyed.

"Alright, alright. Who did you see?" Bai Yutang asked with a smile.

"…………" Zhan Zhao raised his head, locked eyes with him, and said slowly, "Zhao Jue~~~"

……………………

Outside the grand lobby, a figure walked slowly past the glass doors, gazing back with a look of profound affection at the two people inside. Reaching out, the figure lightly pressed two fingers against their own lips, touched those fingertips to the crystal-clear glass door, and turned to walk away~~~~~~

An ethereal voice whispered softly into the air: "Until we meet again, my angels…”