S.C.I. (Volume II) - Case 6: Chapter 19

The Innocent Killer 19 - Secret

"Mhm... I know." Zhan Qi held the steering wheel with one hand while holding his phone with the other. "I've checked everywhere I should, but there are no leads... Should I let Zhaoyu and the others know?"

The car slowly pulled into the parking lot. Unbuckling his seatbelt, Zhan Qi listened to the person on the other end of the line for a moment, then let out a soft sigh. "I'm just afraid the kids won't understand the full picture and might stumble into danger."

"Alright... I understand." Closing the car door, Zhan Qi hung up, reached out to massage his brow, and walked toward the elevator.

Pressing the button for the 11th floor, he reached out to unbutton his collar and loosen his tie. His mind was entirely filled with the conversation he had just finished, leaving him feeling inexplicably irritable.

The elevator doors slowly slid open. The moment he stepped out into the lobby, a hand shot out from the side, grabbed him fiercely, and dragged him into the stairwell.

Inside the dimly lit stairwell, Zhan Qi stared wide-eyed at the person holding him.

That person stared back at him for a long time before slowly releasing his grip, stepping back a pace, and saying, "Long time no see."

Zhan Qi didn't reply, turning around as if to leave, only to be blocked by the person. "Wait... has Jue come to look for you?"

Zhan Qi stopped in his tracks, frowned, turned his head to glare at him, and sneered, "Who is Jue? Never heard of him."

The man looked somewhat helpless. "Qi, at a time like this, it's very dangerous for him to be running around everywhere."

Zhan Qi reached out to adjust his slightly rumpled clothes and said in a low voice, "Before Yunwen gets back, you should leave." With that, he pushed the man's hand aside and walked back.

The man stood in place with a helpless expression for a moment before saying, "If you see him, tell him not to run around." Having said that, he turned and left.

Zhan Qi walked up to his front door, glanced back to make sure the man had already gone downstairs, and finally let out a sigh of relief as he muttered quietly, "Come out, Zhao Jue."

A moment later, Zhao Jue poked his head out from the corridor on the other side of the hallway, smiling brightly at him. "I knew you wouldn't give me away."

Opening the door, Zhan Qi walked inside, and Zhao Jue hurried in right behind him, closing the door and looking around. "Do you want me to change my shoes?"

Giving him a weary look, Zhan Qi walked into the living room, sat down on the sofa, and asked, "Why are you running away?"

"I have some important things to do." Zhao Jue smiled brightly as he sidled up and sat down beside him. "Is Madame not home?"

"Gone on a long trip," Zhan Qi replied. "What are you here for?"

"Put me up for a couple of days," Zhao Jue said. "I'll be out of here in two days."

"Heh..." Zhan Qi sneered. "You have plenty of places you could hide."

"He'll find me anywhere else," Zhao Jue said with a cunning expression. "Only here—even if he knows I'm hiding out with you, he wouldn't dare come looking for people!"

"I don't want to get involved in your business," Zhan Qi stood up. "You should leave."

Sitting on the sofa, Zhao Jue said slowly, "The little cat got shot... Did you know?"

Zhan Qi froze, turning back to look at Zhao Jue.

Smiling faintly, Zhao Jue continued in a low voice, "Someone even went to SI to deliver a bomb a couple of days ago... If those things aren't recovered, even more people are going to die."

Zhan Qi fell silent for a moment, picked up his keys, and turned to head out the door. Just before closing it, he tossed back a cold parting remark: "You're out of here in two days!" With that, he shut the door and left.

Once he was gone, Zhao Jue paced around the room a few times, then on tiptoe, softly pushed open a bedroom door. The room was decorated in a warm and clean manner, looking very much like a high schooler's bedroom. The walls were lined with bookshelves holding numerous books, toys were scattered across the bed and floor, a large bear tumbler stood in the corner, and the desk was neatly arranged with stationery. Two photo frames sat on the table... One was a family portrait where Zhan Zhao was probably only five or six years old, a little kid held tightly in his parents' arms, flanked by a handsome father and a beautiful mother, the whole family smiling happily. The other was a photo of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang from their high school days, one looking arrogant, the other well-behaved, their faces also bearing happy smiles.

Zhao Jue stared at the photos for a long time, walked over to the bed, climbed up, and lay down. At that moment, a chubby cat suddenly leaped onto the bed, padded over to Zhao Jue, licked his fingers twice, curled up beside him, and began grooming its fur.

Zhao Jue chuckled as he stroked the cat's ears, muttering to himself, "Good people get rewarded, evil people get punished, right? That's the truth!"

The SI office was cleaned up very quickly. Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang, and the rest returned to the office to resume their work.

"How did it go with that girl?" Bai Yutang asked Luofang, who had just arrived.

"She's too young, and there's a lack of evidence, so we had no choice but to let her go," Luofang replied, pausing for a moment before adding, "The strange thing is, the person who came to pick her up was a lawyer, not her mother, Yan Li."

Zhan Zhao nodded. At that moment, Ma Han and Zhao Hu returned, storming into the room with an aggressive aura. Finding it rather amusing, Zhan Zhao asked, "What happened?"

"Yeah," Bai Yutang chimed in. " Weren't you going to interrogate the Pang father and son? Any results?"

"Faking amnesia," Zhao Hu sneered. "Though pretending to have amnesia won't work this time—even pretending to be dead is useless. We caught them red-handed, do you think they could possibly get away?!"

"How are they faking amnesia?" Zhan Zhao asked curiously.

"I brought the video back." Ma Han handed the USB drive to Jiang Ping. "That old man Pang looks completely out of his mind, acting like he's mentally deranged; as for his son, he's badly injured and still pretending to have amnesia, claiming he doesn't remember a thing."

Jiang Ping played the two interrogation video clips for Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. After watching them quietly, Bai Yutang frowned and looked at Zhan Zhao. "Cat, is Pang Ji's raving madness fake?"

"Mhm..." Zhan Zhao scratched his head, muttering to himself, "Where on earth did they learn these tricks from?"

"Huh?" The others looked at Zhan Zhao in utter confusion.

"And another thing... why kill Wang Liyong?" Zhan Zhao stroked his chin, tilting his head up to look at Bai Yutang. "Bai, let's take a trip to the nursing home!"

Bai Yutang looked surprised. "To the nursing home?"

"Mhm." Zhan Zhao nodded. "I want to go see that Zou Mo fellow who's reaping what he sowed. Luo, come with us," Zhan Zhao said to Luo. "Also, after we come back from the nursing home, we'll drop by to pick up Yangyang."

"Alright..." Luo nodded, looking slightly puzzled.

Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, "You want to go see Zhao Jing after finishing at the nursing home?"

"Mhm." Zhan Zhao nodded, holding his hand out to Bai Yutang. "Support me."

Everyone was left speechless. Bai Yutang obediently reached out to support Zhan Zhao, whispering in an extremely low voice right beside his ear: "Yes... Lord Buddha Zhan!"

Zhan Zhao blushed.

"Then what about me?" Bai Chi asked anxiously. He had always been paired up with Luo, so why was Luo being brought along while he was left behind?

"You go keep a 24-hour watch on Zhao Zhen," Bai Yutang smiled.

"I... how can I put personal matters before official duty?" Bai Chi hesitated.

"You've been fidgety and unsettled ever since we got back from the nursing home," Zhan Zhao smiled. "Besides, this isn't just a personal matter. Based on my deduction, there are very important clues tied to Zhao Zhen this time."

"Clues?" Bai Chi looked at Zhan Zhao in astonishment.

"To be precise, it's probably the motive," Zhan Zhao smiled faintly. "Keep a close eye on him!" With those words, he was hoisted onto Bai Yutang's back, and Luo hurried along after them.

The trio arrived at the nursing home.

Ever since the day he got injured, Zhan Zhao had been living his life entirely on Bai Yutang's back. Because Bai Yutang felt responsible for failing to protect him properly and letting him get hurt in the first place, he complied with every single wish, carrying him wherever he pointed—so thoroughly spoiling the feline that he was practically sitting on the mouse's head building a nest. To their surprise, after arriving at the nursing home, Luo "considerably" borrowed a wheelchair from the volunteers. Bai Yutang shoved the struggling Zhan Zhao into the wheelchair and pushed him inside, drawing looks of pity from everyone they passed—such a handsome young man, why was he in a wheelchair at such a young age?

Seeing the thwarted expression on Zhan Zhao's face, Bai Yutang felt thoroughly satisfied!

"He has no capability to cooperate with your work!" The nursing home doctor was somewhat irritated by the second police visit of the day, speaking to Bai Yutang and the others after they presented their badges. "He can't even speak; he has zero awareness!"

Paying the doctor no mind, Bai Yutang pushed Zhan Zhao into the room. Zhan Zhao stared at the old man for a moment, then turned back to tell Luo, "Have everyone step outside. No one is allowed within a ten-meter radius of this ward! You stand guard."

"Understood." Luo immediately escorted the protesting doctor out and had police officers cordon off the ward so no one could approach.

Once everyone had cleared out, Bai Yutang walked over to lean against the window frame, quietly waiting for Zhan Zhao. Even though the old man in front of them looked completely devoid of any consciousness, he trusted Zhan Zhao's judgment.

Sitting in the wheelchair with his hands crossed before him and his elbows resting lightly on the armrests, Zhan Zhao looked over Zou Mo on the hospital bed as if appraising him.

After about ten minutes of quiet, Zhan Zhao suddenly spoke slowly: "That police officer... the one and only person in this world who cared about you unconditionally to the very end, is dead."

The instant Zhan Zhao's voice trailed off, Bai Yutang clearly saw the old man's originally vacant and dull eyes suddenly sink... Even though it was an infinitesimal fraction of a second, it still couldn't escape his gaze—who said he had no consciousness? This old man was wide awake!

Following that, the old man's gaze returned to normal once more, but Zhan Zhao just smiled faintly. "Stop pretending... We saw it."

The old man's expression remained completely unchanged.

Bai Yutang leaned against the window frame and said coldly, "There's no one around."

"You put on an act like this simply to avoid being discovered... I cleared everyone out." Zhan Zhao smiled slightly. "Besides, that police officer is dead; you should understand what that implies, shouldn't you?"

After another long pause, a soft sigh drifted over, followed by an aged voice speaking slowly: "It implies I can't keep pretending anymore, and my only way out is to cooperate with you and accept protection."

Bai Yutang checked his watch and shook his head as he looked at Zhan Zhao—this old man had fooled professional doctors for over a dozen years, yet this cat made him obediently speak up in under twenty minutes... It was precisely because of tricks like this that this cat attracted outsiders and provoked jealousy from his peers, yet he remained completely oblivious to it himself. How could anyone not worry about him!

"What did you give him?" Zhan Zhao continued, asking a question that left Bai Yutang baffled, but caused the old man to burst into loud laughter.

After laughing for a good while, the old man shook his head. "I always thought there was only one Zhao Jue in this world, but I never expected there to be a second... Haha, the world really is wondrous."

Zhan Zhao's face turned cold. "I am nothing like him."

The old man nodded. "Indeed... By the way, what's his name?"

"That police officer of yours?" Bai Yutang asked.

The old man nodded. "I only knew everyone called him Wang."

"His name is Wang Liyong," Bai Yutang replied, making a slicing gesture across his own neck. "His throat was cut, and he died on the roof of the police station."

"..." After a long silence, the old man let out an "Oh..."

"What did you give him?" Zhan Zhao pressed on.

"I didn't give him anything; he found it on his own," the old man said slowly. "I had told quite a few people before that I had a woman I used to love. She passed away and was buried in the cemetery, surnamed Zhou—I don't remember her full name. My only wish was to be able to go sweep her grave and have someone take a couple of photos to show me."

Bai Yutang chuckled. "You mentioned that before. That would have been around a dozen years ago, right?"

"Mhm." The old man nodded. "Only my old friends in prison knew about it... He probably went out of his way to dig it up."

Zhan Zhao pondered briefly and nodded. "So that police officer went to sweep the grave for you?"

"Heh heh..." The old man chuckled. "That grave was an empty plot I bought myself. Absolutely no one would ever go there to pay respects, let alone burn joss paper."

"And then? You hid the item in a place he was guaranteed to touch while sweeping it?" Zhan Zhao had a sudden realization and asked, "There's a movable stone slab right where the candles are inserted, which is normally kept closed and only pushed open when placing candles and incense... Furthermore, with so many people surnamed Zhou, he had to search through them one by one to possibly find the right one. In other words, without genuine sincerity and heartfelt dedication, nobody could ever find it."

"Clever, far too clever..." The old man praised repeatedly.

Bai Yutang frowned. "He really swept every single grave with the surname Zhou?"

"He had a good heart," the old man smiled. "He used to go every single weekend and came back with a whole stack of photos to show me one by one."

"Too bad not a single one of them was the right one," Zhan Zhao said. "Yet after he went this past weekend, he never came back to show you the photos, did he?"

The old man smiled. "What is your name? What relation are you to Zhao Jue?"

Zhan Zhao remained silent, asking instead, "What was that item?"

"Since you're so smart, you should have guessed it long ago. Why bother asking." The old man slowly said, "Help me burn a stick of incense for Wang. Once you catch the killer who murdered him, be sure to let me know."

Zhan Zhao stared at him for a moment, then turned back to give Bai Yutang a look indicating—we're done here.

Bai Yutang walked over and told the old man, "I'll have people arrange protection for you." With that, he wheeled Zhan Zhao out. Just before stepping out the door, the old man suddenly called out, "Kid, do you want to know what kind of connection you have with Zhao Jue? Do you want to ask me? I might just know..."

Zhan Zhao froze. Bai Yutang stopped in his tracks, frowning as he looked at the old man, but Zhan Zhao kept his head facing forward.

"Haha..." The old man laughed. "Are you scared? Afraid of knowing the truth... That's why smart people are forever more troubled than fools."

Bai Yutang didn't stay any longer. He pushed Zhan Zhao out the door and pulled it shut behind him, sealing the old man inside.

Walking around to face Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang bent over with his back to him, looking back over his shoulder as he murmured, "Come on."

Zhan Zhao blinked. "Isn't there a wheelchair?"

Bai Yutang smiled. "I want to carry you."

Zhan Zhao lowered his head, the corners of his mouth curving upward slightly. Raising his face again, the worry in his eyes had vanished as he reached out to clasp Bai Yutang's shoulders, draping over his back to be hoisted up. Resting his chin on Bai Yutang's shoulder, he couldn't help teasing, "Cat, your chin is so pointy, it's poking my shoulder!"

Zhan Zhao deliberately canted his face, jabbing it against Bai Yutang's neck, causing the latter to shrink his neck back repeatedly with a chuckle.

What Luo saw was Bai Yutang carrying Zhan Zhao on his back, the two of them laughing and bickering as they walked over from the far end of the long corridor, leaving him wondering... What on earth did they interrogate out of him to make them so happy?

After arranging personnel to protect the old man, the three of them got into the car and drove off to pick up Luoyang. On the way, Bai Yutang asked, "Cat, what exactly was that item? I still don't quite get it."

Luo also looked at Zhan Zhao with a curious gaze.

Zhan Zhao smiled faintly and said slowly, "It's the murder weapon."

"The murder weapon?!" Bai Yutang and Luo were even more baffled than before.