S.C.I. (Volume II) - Case 6: Chapter 10

The Innocent Killer 10 - Purpose

"Take Pang Qing back!" Bai Yutang instructed the police officer nearby. "Detain him for forty-eight hours on the grounds of obstructing official duties, and make sure he doesn't slip away!"

"Understood!" The police officer hurried off. Bai Yutang turned back around. "There are two corpses, which means there are two victims!"

"Right, our next task is to figure out the identity of that other corpse and find out where Pang Xiaoqin's body went," Zhan Zhao shook his head. "Who would go to such redundant lengths to commit murder, and what on earth is their purpose?"

Zhao Zhen was still somewhat drowsy, hugging Bai Chi and nodding off. Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang indicated they had no further questions and told Bai Chi to take him aside to rest.

"Where is the person who delivered the cake?" Bai Yutang asked the nearby police officer. "Bring him over."

"Right away!" The officer left for a quarter of an hour before running back. "Captain Bai, we found the guy, but he's acting a bit strange."

"Strange?" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanged glances and asked, "Strange how?"

"The supervisor told us the person he sent to deliver the cake was named Chen Li. We tracked him down, and while he did deliver the other orders, this Chen Li himself claims he never delivered any cake!"

"Now that's a novelty!" Bai Yutang chuckled, asking the officer, "Did you bring him here?"

"He's here!" The officer called Chen Li over from the doorway.

Zhan Zhao had an exceptional memory and practically never forgot a face; he instantly recognized the man before him as the waiter who had brought the cake in just moments earlier.

"Your name is Chen Li?" Bai Yutang asked. "Were you the one who delivered the cake just now?"

Chen Li blinked, scratching his head in bewilderment as he asked, "What cake?"

Bai Yutang smiled. "Plenty of people saw you just now, it's no use playing dumb!"

Chen Li grew even more anxious, shaking his head as he asked, "What cake? I've never even seen a cake!"

Zhan Zhao stopped the slightly irritated Bai Yutang, stepped closer to inspect Chen Li's eyes, and turned back to tell Bai Yutang, "Something's wrong with his condition!"

"What do you mean?" Bai Yutang didn't understand.

Zhan Zhao called over a nearby officer to give a few instructions, and the officer nodded and left. Zhan Zhao turned back and continued questioning Chen Li, "Then about half an hour ago, what were you doing?"

Chen Li thought for a moment and said, "I was delivering room service."

"Delivering what?" Zhan Zhao asked. "And where to?"

"Delivering it to the top floor," Chen Li replied. "A steak and a bottle of red wine."

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao. "The top floor only has this single hall."

"Who received it?" Zhan Zhao asked next.

"I don't know, I just put the items down and left, nobody took them," Chen Li answered. "They were probably taking a shower."

At that moment, the police officer returned carrying a cake, and said to Zhan Zhao, "Dr. Zhan, will this work?"

Zhan Zhao took one look and nodded. "That'll do!" With that, he took it, carried the cake over to Chen Li, and asked, "What is this?"

Chen Li glanced at it. "A steak and red wine."

Bai Yutang and the others were dumbfounded.

"What room is this room?" Zhan Zhao asked Chen Li.

Chen Li looked around and said, "The banquet hall."

Zhan Zhao called out to the officer at the door, "Turn off the lights!"

The lights were clicked off, plunging the surroundings into instant darkness except for the faint glow from the hallway.

"Where is this place?" Zhan Zhao continued asking.

Chen Li frowned. "The banquet hall. What are you playing at?"

Zhan Zhao thought for a moment and told someone to play the music from earlier.

As the music started playing, Chen Li suddenly froze.

Seeing this, Zhan Zhao understood immediately and asked in a low voice, "Where is this place?"

After a long silence, Chen Li answered hesitantly, "It's... a guest room."

"Which guest room?"

"The guest room I just delivered room service to..." Chen Li seemed somewhat confused. Zhan Zhao instructed them to turn off the music and turn the lights back on. As the surroundings brightened, Chen Li gasped in shock, "How... how did I get back here..."

Bai Yutang frowned as he watched him, turning to ask Zhan Zhao, "Cat, what game is he playing?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head gently. "Nothing, he's been hypnotized!"

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow, and the other officers also found it miraculous.

"To be able to hypnotize someone to this degree... is quite extraordinary," Zhan Zhao had someone isolate Chen Li first, because since they didn't know what other post-hypnotic commands he might have been given, letting him wander around like that could be dangerous.

"Cat, there shouldn't be many people capable of pulling this off, right?" Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao.

"Probably not many," Zhan Zhao nodded. "Though it could also be a self-taught amateur."

"Why do you say that?" Bai Yutang wondered.

"Using a steak and wine to substitute for a cake, using a guest room to substitute for a banquet hall... the cognitive leap isn't all that massive," Zhan Zhao rubbed his chin, saying, "It could be a coincidence, but it could also mean his abilities aren't quite refined enough yet."

"Cat... I've got a thought," Bai Yutang said suddenly.

"What?"

"Who do you suppose that 'ahe' was aimed at?" Bai Yutang asked with keen interest.

Zhan Zhao was startled and shook his head.

"Throughout the entire hall, the only person capable of recognizing that magic trick was indeed Zhao Zhen, but the killer used a trick to knock Zhao Zhen out... meaning his target wasn't Zhao Zhen. So then, who else in the entire hall is capable of hypnosis?" Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Zhao stared at him for a moment before pointing a finger at his own chest. "You mean me?"

"And that ILVEYU person from last time," Bai Yutang added.

"We still can't confirm whether it was the work of the same person," Zhan Zhao frowned.

"I think it is," Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow, poking a finger toward Zhan Zhao's heart. "Don't you think so?"

Zhan Zhao was left speechless.

"Something feels very strange!" Just as the two were locking eyes, Gongsun spoke up abruptly. "This corpse is very young!"

"Young?" Bai Yutang stepped forward a few paces and asked, "How young?"

"At most around twenty," Gongsun looked at the body. "Maybe even younger."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances and shook their heads.

The subsequent evidence-collection process proceeded methodically. Once the scene was fully processed, Gongsun and the officers transported the corpse back for further examination.

"Chief," Zhang Long returned and reported, "all the personnel have been registered."

Bai Yutang nodded. "Did you find anyone suspicious?"

Zhang Long shook his head. "Didn't find anyone suspicious, but we did discover some strange things."

"What?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang asked with interest.

"The people from the cake shop just arrived to deliver their cake," Zhang Long said.

"What?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances as Zhang Long waved a hand toward the door, and a bakery worker holding an order sheet ran inside.

"Why are you only just now bringing the cake?" Bai Yutang looked at the order form and asked him.

"It was originally scheduled for seven o'clock, but later someone claiming to be the hotel manager called and asked to push the time back by an hour!" the delivery worker replied.

"Where is the cake?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Outside!" The delivery worker went out to the doorway and pushed the cake cart in.

Upon closer inspection, everyone saw that it was indeed identical to the original cake that had concealed the corpse. Bai Yutang shot a glance at Zhan Zhao, picked up a plate of cake scraps collected from the floor earlier, and asked the clerk, "Are these two the same?"

The clerk looked at the smashed-to-pieces cake, dipped a finger into some fresh cream to taste it, smacked his lips over the flavor, and shook his head. "No, the quality here is terrible, what we produce is much better than this!"

"Oh..." Bai Yutang nodded. The others nearby shuddered to think that a corpse had once been hidden inside that cake, and since this clueless clerk had just tasted a bit of it, he would probably feel thoroughly disgusted once he found out later.

"Is this design exclusive to your shop, or do other places have it too?" Bai Yutang continued.

"Um..." The clerk thought for a moment and said, "This cake is quite difficult to make, and it's also a classic wedding cake design. It probably takes a senior pastry chef to pull it off, and... making a cake like this requires booking at least a month in advance!"

Bai Yutang nodded, dismissed him, and turned back to look at Zhan Zhao. "Cat, should we slice into it?"

Zhan Zhao frowned. "Stop messing around!"

"Let's check, who knows, maybe the other half is right in here," Bai Yutang smiled as he picked up the stray cake knife.

"Such a nice cake," Zhan Zhao reached out to block him. "What a waste to carve it up!"

Bai Yutang insisted on cutting, while Zhan Zhao refused to let him. The two of them gripped the cake knife in a tug-of-war, neither willing to yield. Since Zhan Zhao's strength was no match for Bai Yutang's, the knife plunged straight into the cake.

Right at that moment, a "click" sounded as a camera flash went off.

The two of them turned their heads to see the twins holding a camera, grinning broadly. "Haha! A harmonious union for a hundred years!"

Both froze, but instantly realized how it looked—they were both dressed in formal attire, and they were holding a knife together to cut an engagement cake...

"We're going to go print these out!" Big Ding spun around and bolted.

"Don't run!" Zhan Zhao tried to pursue, but was grabbed by Bai Yutang, who shouted back toward the door, "Print a few extra copies! I want some too!"

"White Rat!" Zhan Zhao snapped angrily, "You..." In the middle of their bickering, a cough sounded from outside. Both turned their heads simultaneously to see someone standing at the entrance—it was Uncle An (Anyou Dao), the veteran officer previously in charge of investigating Fang Wo's case.

"Uncle An, what's wrong?" Bai Yutang asked, walking back over.

"Uh... I heard that the body and the head don't belong to the same person?" Uncle An asked in a low voice.

"Mm," Bai Yutang nodded, exchanging a glance with Zhan Zhao, guessing that the news had likely slipped out through the officers who went outside earlier.

"Then... that body, do you have any idea whose it is?" Uncle An asked.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao suddenly noticed that Uncle An's condition was very strange. He looked significantly older than before, with sunken eye sockets, heavy dark circles, and lips covered in chapped skin.

"Uncle An, do you have some information to provide?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Uncle An shook his head, remained silent for a moment, and said, "Can you... let me take a look at that corpse?"

Bai Yutang was stunned. "The body has already been taken back to the police station for examination."

"Oh... is that so?" Uncle An nodded, walking away in a daze!

Finding this deeply suspicious, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao hurried after him, calling out, "Uncle An, wait!"

"What happened?" Bai Yutang asked.

"..." Uncle An sighed and shook his head.

"If you don't tell us, how can we help you?" Zhan Zhao pondered before asking softly, "Could it be... that you recognize that body?"

"I... I'm not sure..." Uncle An suddenly grew agitated, his eye rims turning red.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were utterly shocked. No way, why this kind of reaction?

"What on earth is going on?" Bai Yutang brought over a chair, helped the old man sit down, and urged, "Tell us!"

Uncle An took a deep breath before speaking. "Last night... my daughter didn't come home after school."

Hearing this, Zhan Zhao frowned. "How old is your daughter?"

"She's... nineteen, a college freshman. She comes home every weekend... She was supposed to come back last night, but we waited until the middle of the night and she never showed up. When we called her dorm... her roommate said she left carrying big bags in the afternoon, saying she was heading home!"

"Uncle An... are you suspecting?" Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao and quickly added, "Maybe the girl went out to hang out, or went to a friend's place. Have you checked thoroughly?"

"No..." Uncle An shook his head. "My daughter is very obedient, she wouldn't run off without saying a word... and... and."

"And what?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"When my daughter was little, she didn't run fast enough when firecrackers were going off, and her back got burned..." As Uncle An spoke, tears welled up in his eyes. "And that scar on the back of the corpse..."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were both struck dumb with shock. While trying to comfort Uncle An with words like "people can look alike," deep down they both knew—how could there possibly be such a coincidence?

Arranging for an officer to escort Uncle An back to Gongsun to identify the body, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao sat in heavy silence. Uncle An had devoted himself entirely to his work, serving as a cop his entire life, and that was his only precious daughter... surely the heavens wouldn't be that cruel.

While they were furrowing their brows in distress, Luoyang rushed in and lowered his voice to report, "Captain, something's happened!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged glances and followed Luoyang outside, weaving through the long corridor until they reached the top-floor viewing platform, where they found a crowd gathered.

"What are you all doing?!" Bai Yutang frowned, just as an aged shout echoed from ahead: "You murdered my daughter and dragged my son away! You corrupt officials and merchants colluded to destroy my entire family, I'm not going to live anymore today, but even as a ghost I won't let you off!"

Hearing that voice, everyone frowned. Sitting astride the railing outside the viewing platform was a white-haired old man—it was Pang Ji.

"Wasn't he sent to the hospital?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"No... he just woke up, and as soon as he heard his son had been taken away, he threw a massive tantrum like a madman before running all the way up here," Luoyang spoke in a low voice. "He's been crying and shouting the whole time, threatening to jump, and demanding that Boss Bai and Yan Li pay with their lives."

"Where's my brother?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Boss drove all day and is resting," the twins said nonchalantly. "That old crab isn't a good guy anyway, if he dies he dies, good riddance to bad rubbish."

Bai Yutang glared at him. "Enough people have died already. If another one goes, Big Brother's building really will have to be renamed a haunted house." With that, he took off his suit jacket, motioned to Luoyang, and the two of them stepped outside the crowd. Bending low, they slowly crept along the railing to approach Pang Ji from behind.

Fearing he might trigger the old man, Zhan Zhao didn't dare get close, watching Bai Yutang and Luoyang with taut nerves.

"Make Bai Jingtang come out! Call Yan Li out, I'm going to drag them down to hell with me!" Pang Ji continued screaming like a madman. Seeing that Bai Yutang and Luoyang were already very close to him—just an arm's reach away from grabbing him... a sudden gust of high-altitude wind swept across the roof.

The old man was already extremely weak, coupled with the agonizing grief of losing his daughter. Hit by that blast of wind, before he could even react, he let out a shriek and plunged over the edge.

"Dangerous!" Bai Yutang lunged forward and grabbed the old man's collar, but by then half of his own body was already outside the railing. Pang Ji was heavy-set and bulky; yanked down by his sudden drop, Bai Yutang was dragged right over the edge along with him!

"Captain!" Luoyang rushed forward and threw his hand out...

Everyone's eyes widened in horror as they saw Luoyang clinging to the railing with one hand dangling down, his gaze locked tightly below... At that split second, nobody knew whether he had managed to grab Bai Yutang or missed.

Zhan Zhao stood outside the crowd, his ears buzzing loudly, his mind nearly blank, a chilling cold surging from the top of his head all the way to his feet... Bai.

For that single moment, everyone stopped breathing until Luoyang suddenly gritted his teeth and barked, "Hold on tight!"

The crowd snapped back to their senses. Zhan Zhao was the first to run over and look down, seeing Bai Yutang's hand locked onto Luoyang's wrist mid-air, while Bai Yutang's other hand was gripping Pang Ji.

Pang Ji's bulky frame had considerable weight to it. Fortunately, Luoyang possessed freakish strength today; otherwise, both Bai Yutang and Pang Ji would have inevitably plummeted from that twenty-something-story high-rise.

The crowd swarmed forward, helping Luoyang haul Bai Yutang back up. Bai Yutang scrambled over the railing and tossed Pang Ji onto the ground; the old man had already fainted from sheer terror.

"Hah... that old man is heavy as a brick!" Bai Yutang let out a long breath, shook his hands, and looked at Luoyang. "Not bad, thanks to..." Before he could finish, he was pulled into a tight embrace.

Bai Yutang was slightly startled, then smiled, gently patting the back and shoulders of the person in his arms as a soothing gesture. "Cat, I'm fine, I'm not going to die. Even if I fell it'd be fine, can't I fly? A flying white rat!"

"You're still making jokes!" Zhan Zhao buried his face into Bai Yutang's shoulder, refusing to lift it. Bai Yutang held him for a moment before leaning in close to his ear to murmur, "Cat, I know where the other half of the corpse is!"