S.C.I. (Volume II) - Case 6: Chapter 18

The Innocent Killer 18 - Reminder

Bai Chi and Luo received their orders to investigate the nursing home. The two of them asked the volunteers who frequently helped out inside whether a police officer named Wang Liyong often came by.

The volunteers nodded one after another. He frequently came to take care of an elderly resident named Zou Mo.

"Zou Mo?" Bai Chi asked. "We want to ask him some questions. Can you take us to see him?"

Several volunteers chuckled. "Ask him questions? It's impossible to get anything out of him."

"Why?" Luo asked, puzzled.

"The old man is deaf, mute, and paralyzed," one volunteer said. "No matter what you ask him, he won't be able to tell you anything."

"What?" Bai Chi was astonished. "How could..."

"Hhmp... karma, I suppose," a volunteer said helplessly. "He did too many bad deeds when he was young, so retribution naturally catches up in old age. Even if he doesn't get his own comeuppance, his descendants will be dragged down into it."

"What bad deeds did he do when he was young?" Luo asked.

"Murder, what else?" Several volunteers chimed in all at once. "Word has it he was a heinous murderer who caused the deaths of quite a few people. Later he was sentenced to life imprisonment, and it wasn't until he became paralyzed that he was released and placed here to wait for death. Aside from that police officer and his girlfriend, nobody else is willing to spare him a second glance."

"There's a girlfriend too?" Bai Chi was surprised. "Do you still remember what his girlfriend looked like?"

The volunteers looked at each other and nodded. "Remember, she wore heavy makeup, but she was quite pretty."

Bai Chi immediately arranged for a police officer to take them back to the station to produce a composite sketch, while he and Luo went to see the old man—Zou Mo—in person.

Zou Mo was already extremely old. All his teeth had fallen out, and he was completely paralyzed from the neck down, lying on the bed with his eyes wide open, staring blankly upward with hollow gazes.

Bai Chi consulted the doctors there, confirming that the old man truly had zero capability to cooperate with police work, before leaving the ward with a sense of helplessness.

As the two walked out of the ward, Bai Chi noticed Luo's desolate expression. His mood seemed quite poor, and thinking he was worried about Zhan Zhao, Bai Chi said, "Don't worry, Big Brother is fine. Didn't we just check on him earlier?"

"Uh... I know," Luo forced a dry laugh, speaking in a lingering tone.

"Then... why are you so unhappy?" Bai Chi tilted his head up to look at Luo.

"That old man just now... his ending really wasn't good. What he did was definitely deserving of punishment, but I wonder if the retribution will really fall on his descendants." Luo spoke with a heavy sense of dejection.

Bai Chi finally understood. It turned out Luo was worried that because he had killed people in the past, Yangyang would face retribution in the future. He shook his head helplessly—Big Ding was right on the money; Luo was truly a super dad of the new century.

Lifting a hand to pat Luo's shoulder, Bai Chi smiled and said, "Then tell me, can saving someone's life bring blessings to your descendants?"

Luo was slightly startled, nodding blankly as he said, "It should..."

"Look at how many people you've saved in just these past few days?" Bai Chi asked him. "The ones you saved aren't ordinary people! What are you still worrying about? Look at how impressive Yangyang is!"

Hearing this, Luo let out a sigh of relief and nodded. "You're right..."

"Why don't we stroll around the nursing home?" Bai Chi suggested. "We might stumble upon some clues."

"Mhm." Luo nodded, and the two separated to act on their own—one heading east and the other west—to begin touring the nursing home facility.

Along the way, Bai Chi encountered several volunteers and asked them about Zou Mo, Wang Liyong, and his girlfriend. The responses he received were all more or less the same, yielding nothing of use. Feeling rather discouraged, Bai Chi started heading back. As he passed a corner, someone suddenly yanked him fiercely inward.

"Ah..." Bai Chi started in fright. Turning his head, he saw a long-familiar figure appear right before his eyes. A hand pressed against his mouth, lowering the voice into a hush: "Don't make a sound!"

"Zhao... Zhao..." Bai Chi's mouth dropped open in astonishment as he stared at the person before him... His hair had grown a bit longer, cascading down to his chest. His complexion was rather pale, and he was very thin. Despite an ageless youthfulness and striking handsomeness—it was Zhao Jue.

Bai Chi gradually calmed down, noticing that Zhao Jue's attire was rather strange. He wore only a white shirt and a pair of white casual trousers, looking very much like home loungewear, and was barefoot in a pair of slippers. Around the wrist of the hand covering his mouth was a delicately decorated platinum bracelet, from which a long chain dangled, as though it had already been snapped.

"You..." Bai Chi looked in shock at the bracelet on Zhao Jue's wrist... or rather, calling it a pair of handcuffs with a chain attached was far more accurate.

Seeing that Bai Chi had finally quieted down, Zhao Jue released his hand, lunged forward to hug Bai Chi, rubbed against him, and spoke in a low, aggrieved voice, "Chichi, I'm so starving. Is there anything to eat?"

"Food..." Bai Chi was still immersed in the shock of Zhao Jue's sudden appearance, and blankly reached into his bag, fished out a pack of bear cookies, and handed them to Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue took them, fumbled with the wrapper for a moment, sat down by the wall, and looked at Bai Chi. "Can't tear it open."

Bai Chi took them back, tore open the packaging, handed them over, squatted down to sit beside him, and asked, "How did you end up like this?"

"I escaped, of course!" Zhao Jue said with a wronged expression while munching on a cookie. "I've been waiting here for a whole day, why did you guys take so long to get here? Any later and I would have starved to death. Though I thought that cat would be the one to come, how come it's you?"

"It was supposed to be..." Bai Chi pulled out a bottle of cola that was already half-empty, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to Zhao Jue. "Thirsty?"

Zhao Jue took the cola and took a couple of sips. "What do you mean it was supposed to be? Where's that cat? I haven't seen him in a long time, and neither that Bai family tiger."

"Big Brother got hurt." Bai Chi cupped his chin with both hands, looking rather dejected as he spoke. "He was shot and wounded down at the foot of the mountain."

...Hearing this, Zhao Jue froze. Holding the cola bottle, he stared at Bai Chi for a long time before asking, "Which big brother? Where was he hurt?"

"Zhan..." The moment the syllable "Zhan" left Bai Chi's lips, Zhao Jue smashed the cola bottle onto the ground and snapped fiercely, "I knew you couldn't trust anyone surnamed Bai!"

"Uh... the injury isn't severe, the attacker has already been caught by Big Brother." Bai Chi quickly explained, muttering inwardly—My surname is Bai too.

Zhao Jue angrily continued munching on his cookies, seemingly deep in thought about something.

"Why... why did you escape?" Bai Chi asked Zhao Jue in a low voice. "And why were you waiting for us here?"

"I can't exactly go looking for you guys, so I could only wait here." Zhao Jue puckered his lips. "If I get caught and dragged back, I won't be able to run."

"Who... who caught you?" Bai Chi noticed that beneath Zhao Jue's unbuttoned collar, there were pale pink marks on his fair skin. Those should be... After thinking about it for a second, his face turned red.

Seeing the change in Bai Chi's expression, Zhao Jue suddenly chuckled. "Oh... you've grown up, little fellow."

"Don't talk nonsense." Bai Chi glared. "You haven't answered my question yet!"

"Heh..." Zhao Jue handed the remaining bear cookies back to Bai Chi. "I have something I need you to pass along for me."

"What message?" Bai Chi asked.

"Help me tell Zhao Zhen to pay attention to safety when performing magic tricks." With that, Zhao Jue stood up. "I should be going."

"You... that's it?" Bai Chi was taken aback.

"Mhm." Zhao Jue nodded, clapped his hands together preparing to leave, only to be grabbed by Bai Chi. "Wait a minute, why are you passing along a message like that? Is Zhao Zhen in danger?"

Zhao Jue looked at Bai Chi with slight astonishment, shook his head helplessly, and said, "If you're that worried, keep a close eye on him then." Having said that, he lowered his head, planted a kiss on Bai Chi's forehead, murmured a "Thanks," and turned to walk away.

"Wait..." Bai Chi hurried forward a few steps and asked, "Can I tell Big Brother that I saw you?"

Zhao Jue paused his steps slightly, turned back to nod at Bai Chi, and then turned to slip behind a building. By the time Bai Chi chased after him, there was no trace of him left.

The more he thought about it, the less he understood. Bai Chi rubbed his head, reaching out to put the bear cookies back into his bag. Huh? Why was the zipper open? He clearly remembered zipping it up just now.

Bai Chi opened his bag... The wallet that had been placed in the inner compartment was missing its whereabouts.

Bai Chi had a bad premonition. He pulled out the wallet and flipped it open... The money was gone! Putting the empty wallet back into his bag, Bai Chi gritted his teeth in anger. "I'm making Zhao Zhen pay me back when I get home! That's a total of seven hundred and fifty-three yuan!"

Pulling out his phone, Bai Chi called Zhan Zhao and relayed everything about running into Zhao Jue and the message Zhao Jue had left behind.

And Zhan Zhao, on the other end of the line, was completely dumbfounded.

"Cat... what is it?" Bai Yutang asked. "Zhao Jue's words sounded like someone's plotting against Zhao Zhen."

Zhan Zhao gently shook his head. "More than that... If the goal was to warn Zhao Zhen, he could have just told Zhao Zhen directly. Why specifically show up and wait for us there?"

"What is he trying to tell us?" Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Zhao stroked his chin, speaking in a lingering tone: "He's trying to tell us... to start investigating from Yan Li."

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"What he said was, 'Tell Zhao Zhen to pay attention to safety when performing magic tricks.'" Zhan Zhao said slowly. "He specifically said 'when performing magic tricks', rather than just a plain 'pay attention to safety'."

"Zhao Zhen's most recent magic performance is connected to Yan Li. Come to think of it... Yan Li holding this so-called magic week out of nowhere..." Bai Yutang stroked his chin. "That's definitely suspicious enough."

"Up to this point, everything has been murky and confusing, but they all ultimately trace back to a few individuals." Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang, "Are those composite sketches all finished?"

"They're all done." Jiang Ping said as he brought up three newly transmitted composite sketches. "These three are respectively Zhang Yankai, the police officer who delivered the package, and the final one made from the nursing home volunteer that was just sent over." Jiang Ping printed all of them out and handed them to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.

The two stared at them for a long time before exchanging a smile.

"If Zhao Jue hadn't reminded us, we really wouldn't have spotted it!" Bai Yutang sneered.

"Do they look like someone?" Jiang Ping crowded over curiously to take a look. "These three don't seem to be the same person at all."

"These three indeed aren't the same person," Bai Yutang sneered. "However, if you take one specific feature from each of these three, you can piece them together into a single person."

"What?" Jiang Ping was stunned, and the others crowded over to look as well.

Zhan Zhao grabbed a pair of scissors, cut apart the three composite sketches, took the eyes from the first, the nose from the second, and the mouth from the third, piecing them together before asking the group, "Look familiar?"

The others crowded in for a closer look. Large eyes, that exact same facial structure... It was Yan Li's daughter, Yan Jiajia.

"Why would she..." Bai Yutang frowned in bewilderment. "Actually, a woman's composite sketch is very difficult to make. Generally, with proper makeup, other people won't recognize them at all... Yet, she..."

"She consciously maintained a specific part of her features in each!" Zhan Zhao said indifferently. "This ensures we recognize her, while leaving us without direct evidence to pin her down."

"This girl..." Jiang Ping shook his head in astonishment. "I can't fathom what motive she could possibly have..."

As they were speaking, Luoguang walked in with a few cleaning workers, saying, "Bai, you guys step outside for a moment. I had some people come in to clean up. The important documents have all been organized and put away, right?"

"Mhm." Bai Yutang nodded. The rest of the SI crew had already packed up all the important items and locked them in cabinets. Next, they had to wait for the cleaning crew to sweep away the shattered glass and install new windows before work could resume.

As the cleaning staff entered, Bai Yutang moved to scoop Zhan Zhao up and carry him outside, but saw Zhan Zhao give a slight shake of his head, saying to the others, "Want to know the reason?"

The others looked at Zhan Zhao in astonishment, not knowing what he meant.

"The reason is right here!" Zhan Zhao said, suddenly reaching out to grab a cleaning worker who had walked up beside him to clean a desk. Yanking her hand, a small black plastic square dropped onto the floor. Bai Yutang picked it up and saw it was a wiretap.

"You?" Grabbing the person—who didn't even resist despite being caught by Zhan Zhao—he stripped off her cleaning cap and mask... and heard that person burst out into a hearty laugh. The voice was exceptionally crisp and extraordinarily youthful.

The young woman disguised as a cleaning worker right before them was none other than Yan Jiajia. She looked at Zhan Zhao with an expression of excitement, "My, how did you figure it out? You really are the best! It's such a waste for you to be a police officer!"

"Was it you who delivered the bomb?" Bai Yutang asked her with a frown.

Yan Jiajia raised an eyebrow, asking with a look of utter innocence, "What? What bomb? I don't know anything about that! I heard SI got blown up, and because I was worried about my idol Dr. Zhan, I disguised myself as a cleaner to come in and check! Even if I was a bit mischievous, it's not breaking the law! I paid that cleaner to swap shifts with me!"

"Then what about this?" Bai Yutang held the wiretap up before her eyes. "How do you explain this?"

"Oh... I just found it under the table a moment ago. I didn't bring it in!" Yan Jiajia asked with a smile, "What is this thing anyway? I've never seen one before."

The members of SI were given the creeps by this girl's innocent smile. Jiang Ping said, "I'll go bring Zhang Yankai and the others over to identify her..."

"It's no use." Zhan Zhao spoke up suddenly, "They won't be able to identify her." He looked at Yan Jiajia as he spoke. "You placed suggestions on them, didn't you?"

"Hehe." Yan Jiajia blinked mischievously, smiled without answering, and simply gazed at Zhan Zhao with a look of pure adoration. "You look even better up close! You're so pretty..."

There was little expression on Zhan Zhao's face as he simply asked her indifferently, "Where did you learn these tricks? It couldn't possibly be from my books."

"I know what I know, anyway," Yan Jiajia said with a hint of mystery. "You're the best!"

Bai Yutang looked at the police officers around him and said, "Take her down, and notify her parents."

Before being led away, Yan Jiajia turned back to look at Zhan Zhao one last time. "You should hypnotize me! Maybe you'd be able to get some answers out of me!"

Zhan Zhao paid her no mind, simply watching as she was taken away.

"Damn it!" Jiang Ping wore an expression of intense displeasure. "Getting played around like a fiddle by a little girl."

Bai Yutang patted his shoulder and said, "We should be thanking her instead."

Zhan Zhao also nodded. "Thanks to her, we have a lead."