S.C.I. (Volume I) - Case 5: Chapter 1

The Doppelganger Killer 01 - The Midnight Punisher

A dog lay dead in the alley.

An older brother pulled his younger brother's hand as they passed by.

They saw the dog torn to pieces.

The younger brother squatted down and cried for the dog.

The older brother asked a flying Eurasian tree sparrow, "Who killed the dog?"

The sparrow said, "I don't know."

The older brother asked a passing hamster, "Who killed the dog?"

The hamster said, "I don't know."

The older brother asked a crawling ant, "Who killed the dog?"

The ant said, "You can ask the moon."

The older brother raised his head and asked the moon, "Did you see who killed the dog?"

The moon nodded, "I saw. It was your younger brother."

The older brother lowered his head to look at the younger brother.

The younger brother squatted beside the dog's corpse.

His shoulders were shaking, but he wasn't crying—he was laughing.

The younger brother raised his head to look at the older brother.

Grinning, he said, "The dog itself killed itself."

In March, the breath of spring grew stronger. Having just cracked a major case, the members of the SI welcomed a rare three-day holiday.

"Cat? What are you doing?" Bai Yutang asked in puzzlement as he watched Zhan Zhao spread a mess of documents, newspapers, and books all over the bedroom.

Zhan Zhao looked up at him. "Gathering materials."

"What materials?" Bai Yutang nudged the books aside and walked in. "Are you writing another book?"

"Mm～～" Zhan Zhao flipped through the stack and finally pulled out a file, handing it over. "Bai, was this the last case you took before leaving the criminal police squad?"

Bai Yutang reached out, took it, and looked it over. "That's right. It crossed my hands for a moment before I transferred to SI, and the case was handed over to Aihu." Flipping through the documents as he spoke... "A cold case?" Bai Yutang was surprised. "This case has been going on for half a year and still hasn't been solved?!"

Zhan Zhao nodded. "The media calls the killer the 'Midnight Punisher'."

"What kind of 'punisher' is that..." Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow in displeasure. "Those punks he killed only stole things or picked fights occasionally. None of them deserved death."

"This case is very strange," Zhan Zhao said. "There's no motive, and the victims share no common traits. In the end, this Midnight Punisher simply vanished for no reason."

Bai Yutang sat down beside Zhan Zhao and pinched his nose. "You cat, it's a rare holiday, can't we stop talking about killers and dead people for once?"

Zhan Zhao slapped his hand away. "Right, what were you busy doing outside just now?"

"I washed all your clothes!" Bai Yutang smiled brightly. "Am I diligent or what?"

"What?" Zhan Zhao bolted out, pulled open his wardrobe, and found it completely empty. A glance at the balcony revealed a neat row of clothes hanging out to dry. "White Rat, why on earth did you wash my clothes?!"

"You actually dared to put things from a corpse's pockets into your own last time!" Bai Yutang reasoned with absolute confidence. "Who knows what else you might have left in there? The weather's nice today, so I washed them all for you."

"You dead rat, your germophobia is acting up again!" Zhan Zhao raged. "Then what am I supposed to wear tonight? We're still going to Qile's concert!"

………………

When night fell at the entrance of the S City Stadium, Bai Yutang in a white outfit and Zhan Zhao in a matching white outfit stepped out of the car together.

Seeing the sea of fans before him, Bai Yutang's jaw dropped in shock. "How are there so many people? Has this girl really become famous?"

Zhan Zhao glanced sideways at him. "This is a ten-thousand-person concert held in a stadium. Qile and her band are very popular among young people right now." As he spoke, he tugged at the collar of the white sweater he was wearing. Damn it! The clothes Bai Yutang used to wear when he was a student actually fit him now—it was infuriating!

"Isn't that girl Qile dating Huzi?" As soon as the words left Bai Yutang's mouth, Zhan Zhao clapped a hand over his, muffling him. "There are reporters everywhere. If someone hears you, we're done for." With that, he dragged Bai Yutang and barged straight inside.

"Cat, you're getting more and more violent..." Being hauled inside by the arm, Bai Yutang felt that Zhan Zhao cutting through the crowd with a murderous aura was actually quite adorable. Just as they were walking, they saw a man up ahead walking quickly toward them with his head down. Everyone else was heading inward, but he was the only one heading out, making him look rather abrupt.

With his head down, the man didn't see Bai Yutang and was walking at a particularly fast pace. By the time he abruptly realized someone was in front of him, his field of vision was already filled with white.

The man raised his head and locked eyes with Bai Yutang. "Watch out!" Zhan Zhao called out when he saw it, giving Bai Yutang a yank.

They nimbly sidestepped, but their shoulders still brushed against each other. Seeing that the man had a face full of beard and looked quite old, Bai Yutang hurriedly smiled and muttered an "Sorry～～", then turned and followed the flow of people into the stadium.

The man stopped in his tracks, turning his head to stare at the retreating white figures. He looked like he had been nailed to the spot, completely motionless.

The people who passed by him afterward all thought he was a lunatic—because his mouth kept repeating, muttering over and over again: "White... looks good. White really looks better than black..."

The concert lasted for nearly four hours. When they came out, Bai Yutang felt dizzy and suffered from tinnitus. Good grief, this was even more exhausting than catching thieves, though Zhan Zhao by his side was still full of excitement.

To quote the Ding family twins, a person's appearance can be somewhat deceptive. Take Bai Yutang, for example: the first time you see him, you might think he is a playboy. But truthfully, due to a strict family upbringing, drinking, dyeing his hair, getting piercings, chasing girls... forget about actually doing them, he had never even thought about them. On top of that, he had mild germophobia and preferred a quiet environment. If Bai Yutang suffered countless losses because of his somewhat romantic appearance, then Zhan Zhao used his one-hundred-percent pure and virtuous look to make others suffer countless losses.

Sitting in the car, Bai Yutang rubbed his temples. "So loud～～"

"Bai, was that the person who bumped into you earlier?" Zhan Zhao suddenly reached out and pointed toward the exit.

"Huh?" Bai Yutang looked in the direction Zhan Zhao was pointing. Sure enough, that same man who had bumped into him earlier was still standing in his original spot. Because they had used a different exit when leaving the stadium, they hadn't noticed him.

"Could he have been standing there this whole time?" Bai Yutang reached for the car door handle, but Zhan Zhao pulled him back. "What are you doing?"

"I'll go take a look." Seeing that the man was still standing there unmoving, Bai Yutang felt somewhat suspicious.

"I'm going too. That guy doesn't look quite right!" Zhan Zhao was a bit worried and prepared to get out of the car as well.

Just at that moment, a large group of excited young people poured out of the stadium. They were setting off sparklers, holding glow sticks, singing, and dancing. The surging crowd instantly swallowed the man up, and once the human tide dissipated, looking back...

That man had vanished without a trace.

Incredulous, Bai Yutang rubbed his eyes and turned to look at Zhan Zhao, finding the same expression of shock on his face. The two of them walked over to that exit, stood in the exact spot, and looked around in all directions, but found no sign of the man... It was as if he had evaporated into thin air.

"That's damn eerie!" Back in the car, Bai Yutang fastened his seatbelt. "Cat, did you get a clear look at that guy's appearance earlier?"

Zhan Zhao shrugged. "No, I just saw a silhouette. Didn't you cross paths with him? You don't remember his face?"

"...He was a guy, but his face was covered in a beard... I thought he was an old man at first..." Bai Yutang started the engine. "Still, judging by the posture he was standing in, he didn't look old."

"Maybe it's a case of lookalikes and we were mistaken..." Zhan Zhao blinked. "Or maybe he was just a super fan who couldn't buy a ticket and had to listen from outside since he couldn't get in."

Finding it quite amusing, Bai Yutang didn't dwell on it further. Halfway home, as they passed through the East District, they noticed quite a few police cars parked by the roadside. A line of people squatted against the wall with their heads in their hands, while water pipes and machetes littered the ground.

Driving closer, Bai Yutang rolled down the car window and called out to an officer, "What happened?"

Upon seeing the badge Bai Yutang flashed, the policeman grew nervous and stuttered, "Uh... Captain Bai, well, the punks from the West District and East District are having a turf war."

Bai Yutang furrowed his brow slightly. "Hasn't the relationship between the East and West Districts always been pretty peaceful? Why did they start fighting?"

The officer lowered his head and said in a low voice, "A few days ago, Black Fish, the boss of the West District, died. The West District folks claim the East District did it and want revenge. Yesterday, Old Hong, the second-in-command of the East District, died too. Their causes of death were almost identical, so the East District people claim the West District did it. That's why they're out here hacking at each other today."

Bai Yutang nodded. "Black Fish and Old Hong are both dead? How did they die?"

"Word is they both died at home." The officer raised a hand to mimic a gun gesture. "Both took bullets to the head, and rumor has it their guns were even nailed to the wall. Looks like a case of thieves falling out."

"Guns nailed to the wall?" Zhan Zhao asked, puzzled. "Nailed with actual nails?"

"I'm not too clear on the details," the officer rubbed his head. "I just heard it from others."

Even as they spoke, an officer shouted, "Don't move!"

Following the sound, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked over and saw a punk—likely taking advantage of the police's distraction—slip away and vanish into an alleyway.

After thanking the officer, Bai Yutang drove away.

"Nailing a gun to the wall?" Zhan Zhao wondered. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Bai Yutang frowned and shrugged as well. "Those two deaths are suspicious... Black Fish and Old Hong must have had at least dozens of brothers guarding their homes. How could they be taken out without anyone noticing? Sounds like the work of a professional hitman."

"Huh?" Zhan Zhao pointed outside the car window. "That punk who ran away just now."

Bai Yutang slowed the vehicle and turned his head. Standing at the mouth of the alley across the street was a young punk with dyed yellow hair, looking around while holding a cigarette between his lips.

"Ha..." Bai Yutang turned the steering wheel, and the car made a turn.

"Aren't you going to arrest him?" Zhan Zhao asked with a smile.

"The kid is only in his teens. He started running with the wrong crowd at a young age, but he's not entirely a bad egg; he earns money to put his younger sister through school," Bai Yutang sighed. "Can't be helped—his parents died early, and he can't bear to give his sister away to others."

"You know him?" Zhan Zhao was slightly curious.

"Saw him in a case before," Bai Yutang said casually. "I reckon the cop just now probably let him slip away on purpose. The patrolmen around here don't give him too hard a time..."

"Bang..." Just as Bai Yutang's voice trailed off, a muffled explosion echoed from behind. It sounded like a blown tire, or perhaps a firecracker, but their professional instincts told them both—it was a gunshot!

"It came from behind us." Zhan Zhao got out of the car and pointed down the street they had just turned out of.

Then, they heard screaming.

The two of them sprinted past the corner to see pedestrians standing at a safe distance, peering into the alley. A body lay at the alley entrance, and a sense of foreboding instantly welled up in both their hearts.

Crossing the street, Bai Yutang stepped forward to take a look and saw that the yellow-haired punk from earlier was lying on the ground, staring straight ahead with wide eyes, already dead. A bloody hole in his forehead was still oozing blood.

"Where did the shot come from?" Bai Yutang asked the pedestrian standing closest.

"Inside the alley... it should be..." The pedestrian was also frightened out of their wits and tremblingly pointed toward the alley. Without another word, Bai Yutang sprinted inside.

Zhan Zhao called the police to report the incident, then knelt down to examine the corpse... He noticed the victim was truly very young, looking no more than sixteen or seventeen upon close inspection. The chest pocket of his jacket was bulging. Zhan Zhao opened the pocket and pulled out a plastic bag containing a brand-new, cute-looking silk scarf... It must have been meant for his younger sister...

Letting out a soft sigh, Zhan Zhao stood up, feeling a deep sense of sorrow. At that moment, Bai Yutang came running back out of the alley.

"How is it?"

Bai Yutang shook his head. "Didn't see anyone." Lowering his gaze to the rigid corpse, he too sighed speechlessly.

Police cars soon arrived. After briefing the officers on the situation, the two of them left.

Once back in the car, Zhan Zhao suddenly said, "Bai... it's very similar."

"Similar?" Bai Yutang didn't react at first, then was suddenly struck by realization. "You mean, the Midnight Punisher?"

Zhan Zhao nodded. "Midnight, a single shot to the head, no clear motive, targeting only punks, coming and going like a ghost..."

"We'll head to the precinct tomorrow to pull the files. If it really fits, we'll take over the case," Bai Yutang started the engine. "It's high-profile enough."

The car drove slowly away. Yellow police tape was strung up at the scene of the crime, and many residents in the surrounding buildings opened their windows to peer outside. One window stood wide open as well, though no light was on inside. A person stood before the window, panting heavily with their mouth wide open, panting and laughing as if filled with wild excitement. "Look... isn't white good-looking? White really looks much better than black... Look at that."