S.C.I. (Volume II) - Case 6: Chapter 22

The Innocent Killer 22 - The Suspect

When Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang, and Luo returned to the Special Investigation Unit, the first thing they saw was Zhao Zhen and Lisbon occupying an entire sofa, Zhao Zhen holding a plate of cantaloupe and yawning as he ate.

"Why are you here?" Bai Yutang asked, somewhat surprised.

Zhao Zhen pointed not far away to Bai Chi, who was busy working, and said, "Chi-chi is going to keep tabs on me twenty-four hours a day from now on. But I also notice that he's thinking about the Special Investigation Unit's cases from morning till night, so whenever we aren't practicing, I just come over here."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanged glances—this guy was actually quite considerate.

"Chief!" On the desk in front of Jiang Ping, two display screens had appeared at some point. He called out to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, "Come take a look."

Carrying Zhan Zhao—who was already used to being carried—Bai Yutang walked over behind Jiang Ping, and Bai Chi thoughtfully brought over a stool for Zhan Zhao to sit on.

"What's so interesting?" Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping.

"These are the footages taken at the entertainment club that night, the footage from the downstairs parking lot, and the footage from the police station." As Jiang Ping spoke, he pointed to three video windows playing on one of the screens. In each frame, there was a person keeping their head down and skillfully dodging the camera's lens. In the banquet footage from the entertainment club, the person was holding a glass of wine and wearing a black suit; in the parking garage, a person opened a car door and got into a vehicle parked in a spot that cleverly avoided the security camera, wearing a white shirt and a very slim build, though it was clear they were male; in the police station footage, it was just a back view, but the person was wearing a patrol officer's uniform... Jiang Ping specially cropped in on the shoulder number—it was the police uniform number of the deceased Wang Liyong.

"These three people..." Zhan Zhao suddenly furrowed his brows slightly.

"What is it?" Bai Yutang asked him.

Jiang Ping smiled. "None of us noticed this at first; it was thanks to Bai Chi's instantaneous memory that we spotted the problem. Dr. Zhan must have noticed it too, right?"

Zhan Zhao nodded and said, "Although these three people are dressed differently in clothing and style, they are indeed the exact same person."

"The same person?" Bai Yutang leaned in and stared at the screen for a long time. "How can you tell?"

Jiang Ping said, "At first, none of us thought it looked right either." With that, he pulled up a comparison of the three-dimensional wireframe models of these three figures. "However, once we selected local features and compared them, it really is the same person. And once you mentally strip away the clothing, their movements are truly identical."

Bai Yutang nodded and said, "That police uniform being on him means he is the person who killed Wang Liyong on the top floor, and the one who delivered the package is also very likely him... Though it could also be Yan Jiajia."

"Still, his suspicion is greater." Zhan Zhao asked Jiang Ping, "Is there anything else?"

Jiang Ping smiled slightly and said, "These still aren't the main point. The real highlight is right here!" As he spoke, he brought up the footage captured by the camera outside the room where An Lingli was murdered, featuring the man wearing a Doraemon mask. "Captain, take a look!" With that, he ran a three-dimensional model comparison between the man in the Doraemon mask and black hoodie and those three men.

"The same person?!" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were both greatly shocked.

"He's the killer who murdered An Lingli and Pang Xiaoqin... Plus, he has repeatedly shown up at all the crucial locations." Zhan Zhao leaned back against the backrest of his chair. "He's our biggest suspect so far!"

"Then that 'Replacement of the Dao' note on my car was also placed there by him?" Bai Yutang asked Jiang Ping.

Jiang Ping smiled slightly and said, "This part gets even weirder!" As he spoke, he pulled up another video clip and said, "Take a look!"

Everyone stared at the video. In the frame was Bai Yutang's sports car, and a figure appeared in the view, placed a slip of paper on the car window, and then left.

Yet when they looked at the footage of this person, everyone was dumbfounded—this person was wearing a black hoodie and a Doraemon mask.

"It's him?" Bai Yutang frowned slightly, then shook his head. "And yet it feels like it isn't..."

Jiang Ping pulled up the comparison chart and said, "No, this person's build is smaller. And as far as men go, that guy's figure was already considered slim, but this one is even thinner... I think it should be a woman."

Zhan Zhao nodded. "Indeed... a woman..."

Sensing that Zhan Zhao seemed to be wrestling with something he couldn't quite figure out, Bai Yutang asked, "Cat, did you notice something?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head. "Mm... I have an inkling, but I can't quite put it into words."

"Chief, there's more..." Jiang Ping said, causing Bai Yutang to blurt out in surprise, "There's more?" He patted Jiang Ping a couple of times. "Not bad, kid, pulling so many clues out of just a few video clips!"

"With just these few clips, we couldn't help but have a whole bunch of us staring at them." Jiang Ping clicked on those video clips again and said, "This footage from the banquet and the footage of An Lingli's murder... they've been tampered with!"

"The timing is wrong?" Zhan Zhao asked. "Is it shorter?"

"Right," Jiang Ping nodded. "The banquet video had a black screen, and the footage of An Lingli being murdered... was shortened! Nearly half an hour is missing."

"What?" Bai Yutang was startled. "Half an hour is more than enough time to commit murder!"

"Whoever could tamper with these things must be someone from the hotel." Zhan Zhao muttered to himself.

"Cat, that hotel belongs to Big Brother, right?" Bai Yutang thought for a moment. "That's not right... Didn't Old Man Pang's daughter claim to be half-owner? That means the Pang family still holds shares."

"Big Brother only bought that hotel not long ago," Zhan Zhao said. "So the personnel setup should still be Pang Ji's... Yan Li also owns a stake in it."

"No matter how perverted Old Man Pang is, he wouldn't go so far as to murder his own daughter, would he?" Bai Yutang pondered. "Does that mean the person capable of tampering with it is Yan Li?"

"That's right," Zhan Zhao suddenly said. "Jiang Ping, did you compare the builds of Yan Li, Fang Wozhi, and others against this person?"

Jiang Ping smiled faintly. "Doctor, do you even need to ask? I've already checked... none of them match. I checked the Pang family members too!"

Zhan Zhao frowned and asked, "Did you... compare the person who left the 'Replacement of the Dao' pictures with Yan Jiajia?"

After a brief pause of confusion among the group, Jiang Ping immediately brought up the footage of Yan Jiajia taken during the banquet and ran a comparison... "That's not it either, Doctor!"

"Big bro," Bai Chi asked, "Do you suspect that Yan Li is the one who tampered with it?"

Without saying much more, Zhan Zhao gave a slight nod.

Seeming to recall something, Bai Yutang said to Jiang Ping, "Look into Yan Li's background... how she built her wealth, what her history is like... And also, she and Fang Wozhi were in a second marriage, right? What about her ex-husband?"

"Oh... Let me check." Jiang Ping searched through Yan Li's data. "Though this woman is quite mysterious; I've never heard her mention her ex-husband or anything like that."

At this moment, Zhao Zhen suddenly chimed in, "Didn't her husband die about ten years ago?"

Everyone turned back to look at him. "You know?"

Zhao Zhen shoved a piece of cantaloupe into his mouth and nodded. "She paid me such a huge sum to perform, so naturally I had to look into her background to see if she had any other motives."

"Then how much did you find out?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Her husband died ten years ago, and it seemed to be an unnatural death, too," Zhao Zhen said. "But that had nothing to do with me, because I was abroad at the time, and none of her other connections overlapped with mine."

"Still, it's very strange," Bai Chi suddenly interrupted. "For a store anniversary, is it really necessary to spend a fortune to hire you to perform?"

Zhao Zhen shrugged. "Probably because she's a fan of mine, wanted to meet me, and has money... That kind of situation is very common."

"Is it common?" Bai Chi looked at Zhao Zhen somewhat nervously. "Then you knew she had ill intentions and you still agreed?"

Zhao Zhen looked at Bai Chi with amusement, and the others couldn't help laughing either. The smell of jealousy was radiating off Bai Chi, causing Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao to exchange glances—there's potential here.

"Right," Zhan Zhao asked Zhao Hu, "Huzi, you seem to know Uncle An's daughter?"

Zhao Hu blinked. "I wouldn't call it knowing her. I used to see her come to the police station to bring food for Uncle An. She was a very well-behaved girl, so I remembered her."

"Then, are you close with Uncle An?" Zhan Zhao asked.

Zhao Hu shook his head. "Not close at all."

"Doctor, do you suspect there's something wrong with Uncle An?" Ma Han asked.

Bai Yutang nodded and said, "We want to find out some information about Uncle An's wife."

"That's easy." Zhao Hu pulled on Ma Han's sleeve. "Come on, the two of us will go downstairs and sound out his colleagues." With that, he made to leave.

"Hold on!" Bai Yutang called out to stop them. "Don't run off yet. What about the task we assigned you to check on?"

Ma Han and Zhao Hu both looked a bit awkward, and Zhao Hu said helplessly, "It's all just gossip about Yan Li and Fang Wozhi."

"Let's hear it." Bai Yutang pulled up a stool and sat down. "Gossip is exactly what I want to hear."

"Well... I heard that Yan Li and Fang Wozhi fell in love at first sight," Zhao Hu said.

"Their social standings were vastly different, with hardly any common ground," Bai Yutang noted. "How did they end up together?"

"Word is that Fang Wozhi saved Yan Li's life once," Ma Han said. "I heard Yan Li's driver had colluded with someone else to kidnap her. Later, by sheer coincidence, Fang Wozhi overheard the driver on the phone and felt something was off, so he followed them and ended up rescuing Yan Li just in time. Fang Wozhi even got injured in the process."

"Hah..." Zhao Zhen lounged against Lisbon's thick, soft fur and let out a cold laugh. "So dramatic? Even more melodramatic than an eight o'clock soap opera."

Bai Yutang also remarked, "It certainly looks like it was staged."

"Later on, Fang Wozhi took a part-time job as Yan Li's driver," Ma Han continued. "I heard the two of them hit it off really well and ended up getting together."

Zhao Hu added, "Lele, because of Fang Wozhi's case, Yan Li even went to beg her for help."

"Why would she beg Qi Le for anything?" everyone asked in surprise.

"Doesn't Lele always talk to people about... having a boyfriend who's a police officer? She went around spreading all those stories about her and the Special Investigation Unit, so everyone thought she was super close with us... And in fact, she really is quite close. That's why she went to beg Lele to ask Dr. Zhan to help Fang Wozhi out."

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow. "Since the Cat refused to let Fang Wozhi undergo a lie detector test, shouldn't she hate the Cat to the core?"

Everyone fell silent. Right at that moment, the phone on Jiang Ping's desk rang. Jiang Ping picked it up, listened, and turned to look at Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao. "Chief, Old Man Pang is causing a scene at the hospital. He's claiming he was hypnotized and had no idea what he was doing. His lawyer says his illness is too severe and that he needs to go abroad for surgery, and has already filed an application with the court."

"Trying to run?!" Bai Yutang sneered. "Does he think he's acting in a TV drama? Hypnotized, my foot!"

"Bai, let's go check on him!" Zhan Zhao reached out for Bai Yutang to help him up, but didn't forget to turn back to Ma Han and Zhao Hu. "You two go downstairs and investigate Uncle An's situation..."

Before he could finish speaking, he noticed everyone staring with bizarre expressions toward the main entrance, as if they had seen something unbelievable.

Suspiciously turning his head to look at the entrance, Zhan Zhao's face turned pale in an instant—Zhan Qi was standing right at the entrance of the Special Investigation Unit, gazing at him.

After half a minute of silence, Luo at the door hurriedly opened it to invite Zhan Qi inside. The others went back to whatever work they had, and anyone who could run away did.

Zhan Qi walked in slowly, first glancing at Zhao Zhen, who was leaning against Lisbon and eating cantaloupe on the sofa, and said, "Regarding last time, I still haven't formally thanked you."

"Don't mention it, don't mention it." Zhao Zhen's skin was indeed thick, but Zhan Qi's aura still made him feel uneasy. He stood up, waved to Bai Chi, and said, "Chi-chi, I'm going to go practice."

Bai Chi put down his work, said goodbye to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, and hurried off with Zhao Zhen and Lisbon in tow.

The office was quickly left with just Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang, and Zhan Qi.

"Dad, Uncle..." The two of them called out in instinctive unison, then exchanged glances afterward—we're dead, why did he suddenly show up here?

Zhan Qi looked at the two of them in silence, his eyes fixed on Zhan Zhao's injured leg as he asked, "Since you were injured, why aren't you staying in the hospital?"

"Well... the injury isn't serious," Zhan Zhao muttered softly.

"Weren't your martial arts unbeatable?" Zhan Qi suddenly shot a look at Bai Yutang. "How is it that you're completely unharmed, while my son ends up with a broken leg?"

Bai Yutang was choked up with embarrassment, his face turning beet red. Unable to say a single word in defense, he could only stand there and honestly take the scolding.

"Dad..." Zhan Zhao said softly, "You're being unreasonable..."

Zhan Qi raised an eyebrow. "You dare talk back!"

Zhan Zhao pouted and shot a sidelong glance at Bai Yutang—who leaked the news?

Bai Yutang shook his head helplessly—at least it's your dad who found out, so you're just getting chewed out. If my old man found out, he'd use his fists instead of words.

Zhan Zhao frowned—when I find out who let it slip, I won't spare them!

Far away in Zhan Qi's residence, Zhao Jue sneezed fiercely.

Looking somewhat weary as he watched the two kids exchanging subtle glances back and forth, Zhan Qi shook his head and asked, "How much longer do you plan to stay here?"

Thinking that the father and son wanted to have a private conversation, Bai Yutang hurriedly nodded. "Right, I'll step outside so you guys can talk."

"Stay put," Zhan Qi blocked him. "Do you think I'll let him keep working?"

Bai Yutang was startled, and Zhan Zhao was equally shocked.

"You're staying in the countryside family home until your leg heals!" Zhan Qi coldly dropped this verdict.

Hearing this, Zhan Zhao's face turned bitter—the family home was a villa out in the suburbs, which was scenic with mountains and rivers, birds and flowers... but it was miles from anywhere. How was he supposed to handle the case?

Zhan Zhao hurriedly signaled to Bai Yutang with his eyes—Bai, save me!

Just as Bai Yutang opened his mouth to speak, he saw Zhan Qi shoot him a cold, scathing look and ask, "If not the countryside home, then you want him staying at his own place to recover?" Without waiting for an answer, Zhan Qi added a kicker, "Directly opposite your house!"

Y

Bai Yutang immediately shut his mouth and offered Zhan Zhao a helpless grimace—Cat, I can't help you this time.

Zhan Zhao glared at him—you lack loyalty!

Before the two could finish their silent exchange, Zhan Qi walked over, scooped Zhan Zhao up into his arms, and turned to walk out.

Even though Zhan Zhao remembered falling asleep reading books as a child and being carried to bed by Zhan Qi, being carried around by his dad now that he was all grown up was still a bit embarrassing. He raised his face and looked pitifully at Bai Yutang—Bai, save me!

Bai Yutang pulled out a napkin, picked up a marker, and seemed to be writing something on it, completely ignoring Zhan Zhao.

Furious, Zhan Zhao struggled slightly, only to hear Zhan Qi lower his voice in his ear, "Don't move, I have something to tell you."

Zhan Zhao froze and obediently stopped moving as Zhan Qi carried him away. Right before stepping out the front door, he caught sight of Bai Yutang holding up the napkin he had been writing on. Scrawled across it were the words: "He might have something to tell you!"

Zhan Zhao wrinkled his nose—Damn rat.