S.C.I. (Volume I) - Case 4: Chapter 23

The Non-Human Killer 23 - The Oriole Behind (Case Closed)  

When the members of the SCI returned to the office after a period of rest, they truly understood the meaning of the phrase "situations change in the blink of an eye." Just yesterday, the case had still been shrouded in dense mystery; twenty-four hours later, solving it was suddenly right within their grasp.

The moment everyone took their seats in the conference room, Lu Fang brought the latest news: "Xiao Zhan, you really guessed it."

"How are things progressing?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Just as you said. Lü Yan, Qu Yanming, Zhou Lu, and Qiu Yu have all filed petitions stating they acted under the direction and bewilderment of Shang Luo. Furthermore, although these individuals were involved in the case, their offenses amounted to attempted crimes. Consequently, aside from Qu Yanming—who injured Xiao Zhan—the others have all been released on bail."

Zhan Zhao nodded. "What about the two in the hospital?"

"They still don't know Shang Luo is dead. Following your instructions, they've been kept in isolated treatment over the past few days," Lu Fang continued. "Also, Akasha had no knowledge of the plot to fabricate the Tusi civilization, but she has been formally charged with fraud."

"Surveillance on Feng Jie can be called off as well," Bai Yutang added. "Now that the truth has come to light, there is no longer any reason to maintain special protection."

Zhao Hu looked confused, glancing back and forth between Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. "Chief, if everyone's been released, then where is the insider threat?"

"Don't worry, the truth will be clear once night falls," Zhan Zhao smiled faintly.

Afterward, Bai Yutang issued specific deployment orders, and the team members dispersed to carry out their respective assignments.

At 9:30 PM, S City Hospital.

A dark figure slipped into the specialized ward located at the back of the inpatient building.

Inside the duty room of the specialized ward, Ma Xin put down her newspaper and stood up. She stepped out, walked into an office down the hall, and closed the door behind her.

"Is this really going to work?" Ma Xin asked Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, who were waiting inside the office.

"It'll work," Zhan Zhao replied, staring at the computer monitor resting on the desk. This office had been temporarily converted into a surveillance room, and Jiang Ping had already installed hidden cameras inside the duty room.

"Are the medicines prepared?" Bai Yutang asked Ma Xin.

"Ready," Ma Xin pointed at the metal tray holding various medications on the duty room desk displayed on the monitor. "Just like you asked me to do, I come to this duty room every day at this exact time and stay for half an hour. Once the half hour is up and I head back, I take the medicine straight to the two patients' rooms and pretend to feed it to them."

Zhan Zhao nodded. "That's all we need."

Bai Chi listened in confusion from the side. "Brother, why do we need to do this?"

Zhan Zhao gently tapped his chin with his finger, turning the question back on him: "After Shang Luo's death, the others can all manage to clear their names, but these two in particular—it is nearly impossible for them to escape conviction. Even if it's proven they suffered from mental instability, they still killed several police officers. If you were in their shoes and still had accomplices left on the outside, what would you do?"

Bai Chi paused for a moment. "...I'd rat out all my accomplices to lighten my own sentence."

Zhan Zhao nodded. "Precisely. Therefore, those accomplices will undoubtedly find a way to silence them."

"Silence them?" Bai Chi thought it over. "Oh, I understand! Those two prisoners have dedicated police guards watching them around the clock, making it hard to kill them directly. So the culprit must come to observe the situation first, which is why we deliberately let them discover Ma Xin's habit of walking away for a bit at this exact time every day, right before she returns to deliver the medicine to the prisoners."

"Right. That's why tampering with the medicine at this exact moment is their best opportunity," Bai Yutang pointed at the screen and said, "They're here."

Everyone crowded around the monitor as it clearly displayed a figure slipping into the duty room. The person swiftly swapped out several pills among the medications before hurrying back out.

"How could it be him?" Bai Chi gasped in shock.

"Heh..." Bai Yutang let out a cold laugh. He checked his watch and said to Ma Xin, "Time's up."

Ma Xin made a swift exit, returning to the duty room just as usual, humming a cheerful little tune as she picked up the metal tray and set off to deliver the medication.

The figure lurking in the stairwell to spy on the room let out a faint smirk at the corner of their mouth and turned to leave.

"The target has emerged," Bai Yutang spoke into his walkie-talkie, addressing the team members stationed at the hospital entrance. "From this moment on, take turns tailing him. I want you to track down his hideout."

After Ma Xin delivered the medicine into the prisoner's cell, the person waiting inside wasn't a criminal at all, but a forensics officer. The officer collected the medication, secured it for evidence, and rushed back to the SCI headquarters. Moments later, a call came through from Gongsun: the analyzed medication components contained a dangerously high concentration of methylmercury. Methylmercury targets brain cells, severely damages the nervous system, and can induce mental disorders or even drive a person insane until it proves fatal.

When Gongsun finished his report, Zhan Zhao switched off the phone's speakerphone mode and looked up at a profoundly shocked Xu Yadong. "Well? Do you still intend to keep quiet?"

Xu Yadong had already witnessed the surveillance footage of the poisoning in the duty room and overheard Gongsun's findings over the phone. He let out a long, heavy sigh and muttered, "I'll talk..."

Zhan Zhao stepped out of the interrogation room as an officer escorted Xu Yadong away. At the same time, Bai Yutang emerged from an adjacent room. The two men compared notes on what they had just extracted, confirming that the statements given by Xu Yadong and Wu Kai matched completely—neither of them had lied.

Bai Yutang massaged the bridge of his nose. "Even though we mentally prepared ourselves beforehand, hearing it confirmed with our own ears is still hard to fathom."

"As the saying goes: once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains—no matter how improbable—must be the truth," Zhan Zhao said, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Your favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes."

Bai Yutang wore a look of utter disagreement. "Cat, you've got it wrong. Sherlock Holmes isn't my favorite."

Zhan Zhao blinked. "Didn't you love Sherlock Holmes ever since you were a kid? When did your favorite change?"

"Cat, your memory is truly terrible," Bai Yutang leaned in close to his ear and murmured, "My favorite has always been you."

...Zhan Zhao blushed, completely at a loss for words. He shot Bai Yutang a glare and said, "Let's go, it's time to reel in the net."

Bai Yutang followed closely behind. Just as the two of them reached the doorway, they were intercepted by Ma Xin, who grabbed them by the arms in a rush. "Don't you two forget the promise you made me!"

"Rest assured!" Bai Yutang promised. "Give it a week—once the case is officially wrapped up tomorrow, I'll send Ma Han straight over to you."

"Thanks~~" Ma Xin beamed brightly and scampered off.

Once outside, the two received a call from Zhao Hu confirming that they had successfully locked onto the target's location. Bai Yutang asked for the address, got into the car with Zhan Zhao, and drove off toward the final sweep.

Inside Apartment 212 of an apartment complex in S City, several people were gathered in celebration, clinking wine glasses and exchanging pleasantries as if marking some joyous occasion.

Right at that moment, a knock sounded at the door. One of them went to answer it, only to freeze the instant they saw the group standing outside.

"What's going on, everyone?" Bai Yutang took the lead, stepping inside to ask the group in the living room, "What has everyone so happy?"

Zhan Zhao and the rest of the SCI officers streamed in right behind him.

Champagne and food were laid out across the table, the floor was in disarray, and the walls were plastered with posters and promotional materials concerning the Tusi civilization, bearing the hallmarks of some religious gathering.

There were six people in total inside the room: Feng Jie, Lü Yan, Qiu Yu, Zhou Lu, and the two students of Mo Ning.

Seeing the large contingent of police officers burst in, the color drained from their faces, though they quickly composed themselves. Lü Yan stepped forward to challenge them. "What brings the officers here? Surely throwing a party isn't a crime?!"

Zhan Zhao shook his head. "Throwing a party isn't a crime, but it is rather strange that all of you happen to know each other."

"We met through work. Is there something wrong with that?" Qiu Yu retorted.

"Are you perhaps celebrating the fact that everyone who knew the truth is now dead?" Bai Yutang offered a faint smile. "Don't break out the champagne just yet. Let's introduce you to a couple of acquaintances." With a wave toward the doorway, two officers escorted Xu Yadong and Wu Kai into the room.

The moment the six of them caught sight of the two men, they froze instantly, their complexions turning deathly pale.

"Let's lay out the truth, shall we?" Zhan Zhao smiled gently. "To begin with, the one who murdered Carlos was Feng Jie."

"You're talking nonsense!" Feng Jie blurted out agitatedly. Zhao Hu, standing nearby, shot him a fierce glare. "What are you shouting for?"

"The patrol sector assigned to Xu Yadong and Wu Kai happened to encompass the area near the abandoned vehicle scrapyard," Bai Yutang picked up where Zhan Zhao left off. "They must have happened to catch you in the act of committing murder and used it to shake you down... We checked their financial records; large sums of money had been transferred into both of their bank accounts directly from your personal account. What's even more interesting is that the two of them later funneled a portion of that cash to their superior, Luo Peng, after he apparently discovered their corruption... and ended up extorting him in turn."

"Killing Luo Peng alone might have raised too many suspicions," Zhan Zhao continued, "so you simply decided to fake a mental breakdown for him, while leading him to believe you'd eventually help him slip away... In reality, your group intended to eliminate the two of them from the very beginning."

Seeing Feng Jie lower his head in silence, Bai Yutang said coldly, "Our investigation revealed that you were never just a simple security guard in Shang Luo's company. On the contrary, Shang Luo placed immense trust in you. Following his death, leaving the company aside for a moment, all of Shang Luo's underground criminal enterprises were slated to be taken over by you."

"As for the rest of you..." Zhan Zhao swept his gaze across the room. "Lü Yan, you weren't merely Carlos's secretary; you were also his mistress, helping him manage a vast portfolio of overseas assets. The moment he died, those assets would belong entirely to you. You conspired with Feng Jie to murder him, staging the locked-room crime scene with the trunk corpses~~ And it was precisely this case that inspired Shang Luo to exploit the mysticism of a fabricated Tusi civilization to artificially skyrocket the market value of the fake corpses... an idea that was likely planted in his head by you, Feng Jie."

"Your situation is quite similar," Bai Yutang pointed at Qiu Yu. "Originally, your goal was to eliminate Fu Yishan and swallow up his assets, but our intervention disrupted your plans. Later on, you tried to assassinate Shang Luo because your greed knew no bounds—you wanted to seize control of the lucrative trunk corpse business he and his associates had been running."

"And Mo Ning's two students... you've been under Mo Ning's thumb for ages, forced to paint for her while having her sign her name to your artwork. As for Zhou Lu... the seemingly most unremarkable person in the group, you are actually a freelance writer... and the ghostwriter originally employed by the deceased author Xiao Lu. The novels you created were published under his name simply because he was more famous than you." After detailing this, Zhan Zhao shook his head. "You all served bosses whose greed and cruelty were bottomless. Yet what they never anticipated was that the pawns they cultivated and oppressed would prove to be even greedier and far more ruthless. They orchestrated a play to manufacture the Tusi civilization, while you directed your own performance to invent a Tusi entity capable of manipulating them."

"Morris happened to kill Tanaka for reasons remarkably similar to your own, and fearing he would disrupt your grand scheme, you attempted to murder him while simultaneously destroying Tanaka's studio," Bai Yutang surveyed the room. "In truth, you were the real Tusi all along. A cloak, a mask, and a voice changer were all it took to take turns impersonating Tusi, hoodwinking Shang Luo and the others into launching a scheme to profit off the fake Tusi civilization. Once they succeeded, your plan was to eliminate them and reap the rewards—seizing the fruits of their labor while letting someone else do the heavy lifting. Truly brilliant strategy!"

"Unfortunately, human calculations cannot outmatch fate," Zhan Zhao smiled. "The sudden appearance of those two rookie cops and Morris utterly wrecked your timeline."

The group kept their heads lowered in silence, stripped of anything left to say. Their grand illusions had evaporated, leaving only the grim prospect of a prison cell awaiting them.

Bai Yutang issued a crisp command: "Take them all in." The officers slapped handcuffs on the six individuals and escorted them out toward the police cars.

With the murders of Carlos, Mo Ning, and Xiao Lu solved in one fell swoop, the entire case had finally reached its true conclusion.

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. Once Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao stepped back outside, they called the SCI members over and instructed, "Everyone head back and wrap up the remaining paperwork. Ma Han, you stay behind. The rest of you, pack up and return to headquarters!"

"Chief, what's this about?" Ma Han asked, bewildered.

"Well..." Bai Yutang glanced over at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao handed Ma Han a boarding pass. "This flight ticket is for W Island at 8:00 AM tomorrow morning. Once you board the plane, your job is to protect the VIP sitting right next to you. Her itinerary lasts approximately one week. You are to protect her every step of the way, leaving her side for not even a single second."

Ma Han took the ticket, looking utterly dazed. "What VIP?"

"Ahem..." Bai Yutang cleared his throat, adopting a stern tone as he instructed Ma Han, "Remember, you are to faithfully accompany her throughout this one-week trip. No returning early. If I find out you abandoned your post halfway through or failed in your duty, I'm throwing you off the team!"

Ma Han swallowed hard and nodded. "Understood~~"

"Alright, head home and pack your things," Bai Yutang waved his hand dismissively.

With the rest of the team evacuated, only Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang remained. The smiles slowly faded from their faces as Bai Yutang turned back to Zhan Zhao. "Cat, are we heading over there now?"

Zhan Zhao nodded. "There are a few things I'd like to verify."

Driving through the city, Bai Yutang brought Zhan Zhao to the S City penitentiary, where the two of them once again entered the restricted cell block.

The guards brought out Qu Yanming. Unlike his previous demeanor of clamped lips and utter dejection, he now appeared remarkably calm. Seeing Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang approach, Qu Yanming offered a slight, knowing smile, remaining silent as he waited for them to speak.

"You knew the truth of this case all along, yet you kept your mouth shut. You went so far as to attack Akasha, deliberately ensuring it failed, purely to muddy the waters and feed us clues so we would let that group continue down their path," Zhan Zhao questioned him. "Why did you do it?!"

Qu Yanming arched a brow slightly and spoke in a soft voice, "Everyone must face their own life, and everything that life brings them."

Zhan Zhao stared at him for a moment. "Is that your personal philosophy, your life motto, or something else?"

"It's a natural law~~" Qu Yanming smiled faintly, raising his index finger to press it against his lips as he whispered, "A law that humanity must always follow."

"Cat, hold on a second!" Outside the prison gates, Bai Yutang caught up and grabbed Zhan Zhao as he strode toward the car. "We still haven't confirmed whether this has anything to do with Zhaojue."

"This has nothing to do with him!" Zhan Zhao fought to keep his emotions in check. "But Qu Yanming is one of Zhaojue's disciples! He's using those exact theories to manufacture more lunatics!"

"I'll drive you, stop rushing in blindly," Bai Yutang pulled Zhan Zhao into the car, started the engine, and headed toward Zhaojue's art gallery in the city center. After driving for a while, Zhan Zhao gradually grew calmer. Bai Yutang smiled gently and asked, "Cat, are you angry because Zhaojue's theories are harming people, or because he's provoking you yet again?"

Zhan Zhao remained silent, a faint flush on his cheeks. Bai Yutang chuckled. "Is this what you call a duel between geniuses~~"

Arriving at the gallery, the two stepped inside only to be taken aback: the interior decor had been completely overhauled, yet the attendant running the gallery was still the same young Italian fellow named Andy.

"Where is Zhaojue?" Bai Yutang asked him.

"Who is Zhaojue?" Andy asked, looking blank.

The two exchanged glances, a sinking sense of foreboding washing over them.

Bai Yutang headed up to the second floor to check, and sure enough, the upper level had been cleaned out entirely, as if Zhaojue had never existed in the first place.

Zhan Zhao stood alone in the center of the gallery, his eyes sweeping across the artwork on the walls. Suddenly, Andy fixed a steady gaze on him. Noticing the look, Zhan Zhao asked, "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

Andy looked slightly perplexed. "I've never seen you before in my life, but the moment I laid eyes on you, I suddenly felt an urge to say something... an overwhelming urge..."

Zhan Zhao nodded. "Go ahead."

Andy's expression abruptly shifted into something strange. A faint smile touched his lips as he looked at Zhan Zhao and said, "Did you know? Once the most precious thing is snatched away from someone, no matter how brilliant they are, they will lose their minds..." With that, he glanced up briefly toward Bai Yutang standing on the upper landing.

"...Huh?" The moment the words left his mouth, Andy reached up to rub the back of his head, looking completely bewildered as he asked Zhan Zhao, "What did I just say?"

Zhan Zhao gently patted Andy's shoulder and whispered a short sentence into his ear. Andy's gaze slowly drifted into a daze. Staring fixedly into his eyes, Zhan Zhao said in a cold voice, "Tell him: if he dares to touch the most precious thing in my world, he should be prepared to face the consequences. He and I are fundamentally the same kind of monster; the only reason he's managed to survive this long is because he, too, has something he holds most precious."

With that, Zhan Zhao turned away, caught up with Bai Yutang as he walked down from the second floor, and strode out of the gallery.

Standing in the bustling downtown district at midnight, they looked out over the surging crowds, the flashing neon lights of the commercial street nearby, and the towering skyscrapers in the distance, where warning beacons atop the roofs pulsed with a blood-red glow against a star-studded night sky, carrying a faint sense of unyielding defiance... Zhan Zhao subconsciously tightened his grip on Bai Yutang's hand, absorbing the warmth radiating from his palm... That person seemed to sense his lingering unease, gently stroking the back of Zhan Zhao's hand with his fingers in a soothing gesture ~~ Finally, inner peace returned to his heart. Zhan Zhao drew a deep breath, looked back, and saw Bai Yutang smiling warmly down at him. Leaning in closer, Bai Yutang murmured, "Cat, it's over. Let's go home; tomorrow is a brand new start."

………………………………

At noon the following day, the transport vehicle carrying Taber vanished under bizarre circumstances, and his current whereabouts remained completely unknown.

At S.C.I., the mystery continued...