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

The Doppelganger Killer 05 - Unexpected

When Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang returned to the Special Investigation Unit, everyone sent out on investigation missions had already returned.

"Why are you back so soon?" Bai Yutang asked, looking dejectedly at his team members.

Ma Han shrugged. "Aside from Chen Jie in the East District being somewhat cooperative, all the other districts are too busy fighting for the top boss's seat; not a single one of them was willing to cooperate with the investigation. After busting our tails all this time, we didn't turn up anything at all."

Bai Yutang nodded, took the underground passage blueprint handed over by Jiang Ping, spread it out on the meeting room table, and began to study it.

"The drainage system in that area is quite complex." Zhan Zhao also leaned in to take a look.

"There are underground tunnels surrounding the locations where those gang bosses were murdered," Bai Yutang said after a long period of scrutiny, using a red pen to mark the crime scenes.

"Bai, do you think the two cases are connected?" Zhan Zhao asked. "Could it just be a coincidence?"

At that moment, Gongsun walked in. "I checked that fingerprint; there's no record of it in the system. As for those guns, they're all old toy plastic pistols, looking like they were purchased a long time ago."

Bai Yutang reached out and handed the tissue-wrapped gun to Gongsun. "Take a look at this one."

Gongsun pulled out the gun, took a glance at it, and said in amazement, "It looks very similar."

"Could they be from the same place?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Gongsun lowered his head, staring intently at the gun for a long while before nodding. "There should be no mistake; they're from the same place."

"Really? How can you tell?" Bai Yutang immediately perked up upon hearing this.

"I found traces of varnish on that gun... and this one has it too." Gongsun raised his head to look at Bai Yutang. "Where did you get this?"

"Reportedly, it was picked up from a garbage dump." Bai Yutang searched the map for the district he and Zhan Zhao had visited earlier, and sure enough, he found a garbage dump located there.

"I'll go back and do a detailed comparison." Gongsun took the gun and left.

Bai Yutang instructed Zhang Long and Wang Chao to investigate the garbage dump and ask people around the area if anyone recognized a man with a big beard.

"A big beard?" Zhao Hu looked a bit perplexed. "Chief, do you have a lead?"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanged glances and roughly recounted everything: their visit to Kile's concert that night, the Midnight Punisher, and the events that had just transpired, even pulling out the photograph.

Everyone was momentarily stunned. After a long pause, Ma Han asked, "Based on that, was that guy actually attending Kile's concert that night?"

"Probably not..." Zhan Zhao shook his head. "When we entered the venue, he was just coming out. So he must have been inside before the concert even started."

"A staff member?" Everyone thought of the same possibility.

Shortly after, Ma Han and Zhao Hu went to question the concert organizers and stadium management to see if anyone recognized such a person. Once everyone else had cleared out, Bai Yutang turned around and saw Zhan Zhao staring blankly at the photograph.

"What is it, Cat?"

"Hmm..." Zhan Zhao furrowed his brow slightly, grabbing a pen and paper from the desk to trace the characters written on the back of the photograph.

After bustling about for a good while, he raised his head. "Bai, the person who wrote this is a child."

"What?" Bai Yutang's face was full of disbelief. "Are you certain?"

Zhan Zhao nodded. "The writer's hand is very small, and their arm is also short... At this scale, it should be a child, and the handwriting is indeed very immature."

Right at that moment, the office door was pushed open, and two people walked in. Leading the way was Bao Zheng, and right behind him was the head of the Anti-Gang Unit—Lan Chenglin.

Zhan Zhao blinked at Bai Yutang—looks like this case is getting transferred.

Bai Yutang frowned in silence.

Bao Zheng walked right up to the two of them and said, "You don't need to investigate the murders of those gang bosses anymore. Hand the case over to the Anti-Gang Unit."

Bai Yutang shrugged. "This falls under serial homicide, not a gang turf war."

Lan Chenglin smiled faintly. "Captain Bai, my apologies. According to the evidence in our possession, this case isn't that simple... Of course, the details of the evidence must remain confidential. I am here to collect the case files, so please transfer them over as soon as possible."

This Lan Chenglin was under thirty years of age and had led the Anti-Gang Unit for many years. He was considered a quite prominent police officer and possessed extreme arrogance. Bai Yutang was younger than him, but his reputation and abilities surpassed his own, leaving Lan Chenglin deeply unconvinced and rather discourteous in his speech.

Bai Yutang didn't argue. He glanced at Bao Zheng, and seeing him give a slight nod, he told Jiang Ping to bring all the case files and hand them over to Lan Chenglin.

After acquiring the files, Lan Chenglin took his leave.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao stared at Bao Zheng, raising their eyebrows in silent protest.

"The two of you glaring at me won't do any good!" Bao Zheng shook his head with a sigh and said, "Taber managed to slip away last time, but reliable intelligence indicates he hasn't left the country. Furthermore, Leonard is said to have dispatched people here as well, and all factions want to seize this golden opportunity to redraw their spheres of influence..."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances without a word.

"Catch!" Bao Zheng reached out, pulled out a check, and handed it to Bai Yutang.

"Whoa!" Bai Yutang was startled, staring at the string of zeros. "Chief Bao? What's this? Severance pay?"

"Cut the crap, it's not for you!" Bao Zheng glared at him, then turned his gaze to Zhan Zhao. "Lu Fang helped raise donations for your orphanage. Take this money and give it to them. Deliver it right now, and as for this case, stay out of it."

With that, he turned around, but before stepping out the door, he turned back to warn the two of them: "This time, the Anti-Gang Unit is conducting a joint investigation with Interpol, so don't you dare cause any trouble for me, especially you!" He shot a fiercely menacing glare at Bai Yutang. "Keep your people in check!"

Seeing that Bao Zheng had departed, Bai Yutang looked back at Zhan Zhao, both of them feeling somewhat deflated.

"So... does that mean we aren't investigating anymore?" Bai Chi, who had been observing the map off to the side, couldn't help asking.

"We're investigating!" Zhan Zhao smiled. "Why wouldn't we?!"

"But the Bureau Chief just..." Bai Chi struggled to process this.

"The old man said we aren't allowed to investigate gang cases." Bai Yutang patted Bai Chi's head. "And indeed, we aren't investigating those. What we're investigating is the Midnight Punisher." With that, he handed the check over to Zhan Zhao and grabbed the car keys from the desk. "Let's go, Cat. First, we drop off the money at the orphanage... and by the way, we'll cruise around to see if we spot any clues."

Understanding instantly, Zhan Zhao took the photograph and tucked it away into his pocket. Before walking out the door, he turned back to tell Bai Chi, "Bai Chi, memorize all these distribution maps in your head! They might come in handy later."

As they watched the two leave, Jiang Ping opened his mouth wide and looked at Bai Chi with profound sympathy. "You have to memorize all of them? How on earth are you supposed to remember this much?"

"Is it hard?" Bai Chi asked with complete innocence. "I've already memorized it."

Driving toward the orphanage, Zhan Zhao suddenly asked, "Bai, do you think we might actually know this Midnight Punisher?"

"Why do you say that?" Bai Yutang asked casually, keeping his eyes on the rearview mirror.

"It's suspiciously coincidental," Zhan Zhao tapped his chin lightly. "I always feel like there's some sort of connection at play here, not to mention this photograph..."

Halfway through his sentence, Zhan Zhao stopped because he noticed Bai Yutang keeping his eyes fixed on the rearview mirror. "Bai, what is it?"

"A car behind us is tailing us." As he spoke, Bai Yutang adjusted the rearview mirror so Zhan Zhao could see. "There are two of them, taking turns shadowing us. Their surveillance technique looks a bit like police work."

"Are you going to fly your airplane again?" Zhan Zhao quickly grabbed his seatbelt.

"Ha..." Bai Yutang couldn't help laughing. "No flying this time. Let them follow; I want to see what game they're playing."

The car drove at a moderate, unhurried pace all the way to the entrance of the orphanage. The two stepped out of the vehicle and walked through the main gates.

Moments later, a car pulled up right beside Bai Yutang's vehicle, and two men stepped out.

"Did you see that? A Spyker C8, market price forty thousand dollars, a global limited edition. Which cop could possibly afford that?!" One of them sneered at the car, curling his lip toward his companion.

"Hmph... Rumor has it he even owns an airplane. Who knows if that's true or false."

"It's true, though it's a civil aircraft, not a fighter jet," a voice suddenly chimed in from right behind them.

Startled, the two men spun around to find Bai Yutang standing directly behind them, while Zhan Zhao had also appeared at the orphanage entrance.

"Is there something you gentlemen need?" Bai Yutang asked, gazing at their embarrassed expressions.

"Nothing at all... We just thought the car looked nice, so we came over to take a look," one of them hastily stammered. "Sorry, sorry." With that, he tried to drag his companion away.

Bai Yutang took a step forward to block their path and said to Zhan Zhao, "Cat, what do you think?"

A crisp "click" sounded, and the two men turned back to see Zhan Zhao snapping their photos with his phone.

"Let's take a group photo as a souvenir first," Zhan Zhao smiled faintly. "Interpol must be visiting S City for the very first time, right? Do you need us to act as tour guides and show you around?"

Hearing Zhan Zhao's words, the two men turned pale and clamped their mouths shut.

"It's just that Interpol likes to stick its nose into matters that are none of its business," Bai Yutang laughed coldly. "Or perhaps... am I considered a suspect of yours?"

"I'd like to know who authorized your operation," Zhan Zhao took over from Bai Yutang. "To put it another way, I want to meet your boss!"

The two men exchanged glances and reluctantly gestured toward the distance.

At the same time, a black sedan parked not far away slowly drove over. The door swung open, and a rather burly middle-aged man stepped out. He nodded to the two police officers, who quickly departed, leaving him standing face-to-face with Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.

After a brief mutual appraisal, the man smiled and spoke: "Pleasure to meet you. I am Ouyang Chun, the overall commander of this joint Interpol operation." As he spoke, he pulled out his credentials.

Bai Yutang glanced at the identification and said indifferently, "You're collaborating with the Anti-Gang Unit, so why do you have so much free time to tail us?"

"Please don't misunderstand... Because of this case, you are a person of interest, so we are simply responsible for ensuring your safety," Ouyang Chun explained with a smile.

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow and looked at Zhan Zhao, who let out a dry chuckle. "Could you be a bit more specific? Who's trying to harm us?"

Ouyang Chun nodded, looking directly at Bai Yutang. "As far as I know... your older brother, Bai Jintang, has deep ties to this case and is very likely to get caught in the crossfire. Therefore, we've deployed personnel to protect him and individuals associated with him."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" As a police officer himself, Bai Yutang fully grasped Ouyang Chun's implication; this so-called protection was nothing more than surveillance.

Noticing Bai Yutang's hostile expression, Ouyang Chun chuckled to himself, thinking: Truly brothers, their tempers are identical. "The details involve classified intelligence and cannot be disclosed for now..."

Before he could finish, Bai Yutang's cell phone suddenly rang. Pulling it out, he saw it was a call from Bai Jintang.

Answering with some confusion, he heard Bai Jintang's light chuckle: "Yutang, is anyone bothering you?"

Bai Yutang glanced at Ouyang Chun and answered, "Yes."

"Ha..." Bai Jintang smiled faintly, lowering his head to ask the two police officers who had been disarmed and pinned against the car by the twins, "Your boss is Ouyang Chun, right?"

The two officers remained silent and nodded.

"Yutang, put Ouyang Chun on the phone."

Bai Yutang handed the phone over, and Ouyang Chun took it.

There was a brief moment of silence on the line before Bai Jintang's voice came through: "I have nothing to do with this matter. You are welcome to help out if you want, but remember not to disturb my family."

...After listening, Ouyang Chun fell silent for a short while as well before replying, "I understand." He hung up, handed the phone back to Bai Yutang, and said, "Apologies for the inconvenience caused. It appears there has been a misunderstanding on our part." With that, he prepared to lead his men away.

"Why do you look like you just breathed a sigh of relief?" Zhan Zhao suddenly asked him.

Ouyang Chun's footsteps stuttered to a halt. He looked back with a smile and said, "Not having to make enemies with you two is naturally something to be glad about." Without another word, he got into his car and sped off into the distance.

"Let's go." Zhan Zhao patted Bai Yutang, whose expression remained stern. "It seems Big Brother really has nothing to do with this affair; we can rest easy now."

Bai Yutang nodded and followed Zhan Zhao into the orphanage. After transferring the funds to the director, the director enthusiastically offered to give the two a tour. Bai Yutang eagerly walked along with the director, while Zhan Zhao trailed behind them. At that moment, his phone vibrated—a text message.

Pulling it out, he saw an unfamiliar number. Opening it, a single line of text appeared: "I have an urgent matter to discuss. At six o'clock this evening, at the cafe across from your house. Come alone." Zhan Zhao felt utterly perplexed and scrolled down to the next line, hoping to find a signature... Sure enough, in the blank line below, a name leaped into view, shocking Zhan Zhao so much that he was left speechless. The sender signed off as—Zhao Jue.