S.C.I. (Volume II) - Case 6: Chapter 25

The Innocent Killer 25 - The Secret

At five in the morning, Bai Yutang was jolted awake. That's right, Bai was woken up by a series of rustling sounds and the creak, creak of someone tossing and turning.

Bleary-eyed, Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao, who was currently "busy" beside him. "Cat, what are you doing?"

Zhan Zhao's current state was rather astonishing. His eyes were tightly shut—of this Bai Yutang had no doubt, as he had never even dreamed that Zhan Zhao would voluntarily open his eyes before seven in the morning. However, Zhan Zhao's head was buried deep into the fluffy pillow as if he were deeply agitated, constantly flipping back and forth while his hands unconsciously scratched against his own legs.

Finding it amusing, Bai Yutang's sleep vanished completely, so he simply rolled over to watch him intently.

Zhan Zhao remained entirely oblivious, continuing to toss and turn restlessly.

Could this cat be dreaming? Bai Yutang wondered, reaching out to give him a gentle nudge. "Cat, what's wrong?"

Zhan Zhao rolled over again, muttering sleepily, "It itches..."

"Itches?" Bai Yutang was slightly taken aback and pulled Zhan Zhao closer to check. "Where does it itch? Were you bitten by a mosquito or something?"

Even after being pulled in close by Bai Yutang, Zhan Zhao still wouldn't settle down. Observing closely for a moment, Bai Yutang finally realized... Zhan Zhao was trying to scratch his own leg. In other words, the itchy spot was his leg? After watching a bit longer, Bai Yutang understood—the wounds on Zhan Zhao's injured leg were starting to scab over and grow new flesh, which was why the cat was itching. Shaking his head with a helpless smile, Bai Yutang got out of bed, retrieved an ice pack from the refrigerator, and carefully applied it around the area of Zhan Zhao's leg injury...

Sure enough, Zhan Zhao immediately quieted down. Bai Yutang lay back down, placed the ice pack into a cup on the bedside table, and reached out to pull Zhan Zhao into his arms, keeping him from scratching his leg any further.

Thus, whenever Zhan Zhao stirred, Bai Yutang would apply the ice pack to soothe him, continuing this routine until dawn gradually broke and Zhan Zhao finally woke up.

"Awake?" Bai Yutang reached out to poke Zhan Zhao's cheek. "What do you want for breakfast?"

Zhan Zhao looked up at Bai Yutang, remained dazed for a brief moment, and then suddenly snapped his eyes wide open, bolting upright. "Hurry! What time is it?!"

"Whoa... Cat, if you were always this enthusiastic about getting up, that'd be something." Bai Yutang narrowly dodged to avoid colliding with Zhan Zhao.

"Let's go! We're driving to Uncle An's hometown." Zhan Zhao swiftly started getting dressed to head out.

"It's only seven in the morning," Bai Yutang said, puzzled. "What are we investigating at the crack of dawn?"

"Uncle An's hometown is in the countryside," Zhan Zhao said as he dressed. "That's where we're heading."

"Didn't his parents pass away a long time ago?" Bai Yutang asked.

"We're not going to see his parents," Zhan Zhao smiled. "We're going to see his wife's parents!"

...

An hour later, Bai Yutang was driving with Zhan Zhao, having arrived at Uncle An's hometown—a county located in the suburbs of City S.

"Uncle An's wife had the surname Chang, named Chang Xiaoyan. Her mother has already passed away, leaving only an elderly father who lives in the southern part of the county," Bai Yutang said, reviewing the background check provided by Jiang Ping to supplement Zhan Zhao's information. "The old man is already seventy-seven years old this year. Cat, let's make sure we don't upset him later; he might not even know that An Lingli is dead."

"I understand." Zhan Zhao nodded. "I only want to ask him about something else."

Meanwhile, in the police forensic lab.

Gongsun was reviewing the files of all previous dismemberment and ripper cases when a knock sounded at the door and Zhao Hu and Ma Han slipped inside.

The two were just about to speak when they caught sight of two cups sitting before Gongsun, filled with some white, milky substance... Trembling with trepidation, the two asked, "Gongsun..."

"What is it?" Gongsun picked up one of the cups, scooped a spoonful into his mouth, chewed thoughtfully, and swallowed.

The two felt their stomachs churn violently. Staring at the two cups, they asked Gongsun, "What... what is this?"

Gongsun glanced at them sideways. "Brains."

"Brains..." The two swallowed hard. "Whose...?"

Gongsun couldn't help laughing or crying. "Tofu."

"Phew..." The two let out a sigh of relief.

"What brings you two here? Acting all sneaky." Gongsun adjusted his glasses and asked.

"Oh... We just went to Uncle An's locker room and found a hat he used to wear and forgot to take back," Zhao Hu said, bringing a hand out from behind his back to reveal a hat—the kind elderly men wear when sleeping. "He probably wore it when he was working overtime on night shifts."

"Why bring this here?" Gongsun was baffled.

Ma Han extended his other hand from behind his back to show Gongsun, revealing a strand of hair. "We found some of his hairs inside the hat... And we have An Lingli's body, right?"

Gongsun frowned slightly, asking, "You two want me to compare the DNA of An Youdao and An Lingli?"

Zhao Hu and Ma Han nodded.

"Why?" Gongsun was somewhat puzzled. "Do you suspect they aren't father and daughter?"

"Doctor Zhan seems particularly fixated on Uncle An," Zhao Hu said in a low voice. "Though doing this doesn't strictly follow protocol..."

Gongsun coldly glared at the two, reached out to take the hair, and pushed up his glasses. "Protocol? What protocol? In the forensic lab, I am the protocol!" With that, he turned around and went to extract the DNA for comparison.

Just as the two turned around and prepared to leave, Ma Han suddenly stopped, pointed to a newly added glass cabinet by the door, and asked, "Tiger, look at that!"

Zhao Hu stepped closer to take a look and saw that the glass cabinet was exquisitely crafted. Inside, files were neatly arranged, interspersed with various "art pieces"—a heart-shaped ashtray with a finger-shaped lighter stabbed straight through the aorta; a skull-shaped flowerpot from whose two hollow eye sockets grew a pair of curly water bamboo shoots; a fruit bowl made from a pelvis holding four oranges, each drawn with a richly expressive skull face in black permanent marker; and a long row of diverse voodoo dolls, with a poster of The Grudge plastered on the cabinet wall behind the documents.

With tacit understanding, Ma Han and Zhao Hu began rebooting their memories, shielding away the scene before them as they turned around and walked out of the room... silently marveling that Gongsun's tastes were truly beyond the comprehension of ordinary human beings.

Zhan Zhao's injury was healing very quickly, and he could already walk on flat ground by himself. After all, no bones had been broken; once the wounds scabbed over and new flesh grew, he was practically recovered, save for an occasional slight ache when weight distribution was uneven.

The two walked along the road for quite a while before finally locating Old Man Chang's residence—an old, dilapidated three-story apartment building, with the old man living in Unit 101.

The gloomy stairwell was cluttered with sundries and bicycles. Zhan Zhao noticed an old, battered soccer ball among the debris and furrowed his brows slightly.

When they rang the doorbell, it took a long time before an elderly voice answered from within, "Who is it?"

Along the way, the two had bought some fruit. Bai Yutang called out toward the door, "Grandpa, Uncle An sent us to bring you some fruit."

D

The sound of a lock clicking echoed from inside, and soon the door swung open. A white-haired old man poked his head out to look them over and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Bai Yutang repeated, "Uncle An sent us to check on you."

"Oh..." The old man nodded blankly, letting Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang inside before shutting the door. "You're Youdao's friends?"

"That's right," Bai Yutang said, placing the fruit on the table. "He's been busy lately, so we dropped by to see you while passing through."

The old man nodded. Though his movements were slow, he didn't seem senile at all. Bai Yutang breathed a sigh of relief, but when he turned his head, he saw Zhan Zhao staring intently at a glass photo frame on the wall, an uncertain expression on his face.

Bai Yutang walked over and saw an old black-and-white photograph showing the old man posing with a young girl. The girl was holding a soccer ball, her face covered in sweat yet beaming with happiness... The contours of the girl's facial features bore a striking resemblance to An Lingli.

Zhan Zhao searched through a few more photographs tucked beneath the glass tabletop, and his expression grew even more perplexed.

"Cat, what is it?" Bai Yutang asked.

Just as Zhan Zhao was about to speak, the old man emerged carrying two cups of water. The two exchanged a quick glance and hurriedly stepped forward to take the cups.

"Nobody from outside has visited this place in a long time," the old man said as he sat down, looking Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang up and down. "I didn't know Youdao had such young friends. If you hadn't said anything, I would have thought you were Lingling's friends."

Hearing the old man's words, Zhan Zhao smiled. "Grandpa, we know Lingling too. We often play soccer together."

"Is that so?" The old man chuckled heartily. "Then you really picked a bad time to visit—she was just here yesterday."

"Cough, cough..." Bai Yutang choked on a gulp of tea. Scalding hot and coughing violently, he hacked away while wiping his mouth, staring sideways at Zhan Zhao—could it get any more bizarre than this?

Zhan Zhao, however, paid it no mind, continuing to converse smoothly with the old man. "Lingling often talks about you; all her soccer skills were learned from you."

"Haha..." The old man laughed out loud. "Lingling loved practicing ball games ever since she was a kid. She used to say that if she were picked for the national team, the Chinese men's national football team would have made it past the preliminaries long ago."

Zhan Zhao smiled faintly, casting a meaningful glance at Bai Yutang. From their conversation, Bai Yutang sensed a subtle anomaly.

...

For the past few days, Bai Chi had been tagging along with Zhao Zhen, an experience that could only be described as heart-stopping, as he witnessed firsthand the grueling training process of magic. Bai Chi still had no idea what kind of ultimate magic trick Zhao Zhen was planning to perform, because he broke the routine down into component drills, with underwater holding taking up the vast majority, and escapology taking up a huge portion as well.

Bai Chi watched with his own eyes as Zhao Zhen tied himself up like a zongzi, yet managed to successfully escape from a locked box within a single minute.

But when Bai Chi stepped closer to take a look, he discovered that Zhao Zhen's body was covered in minor cuts and bruises. Sometimes, unable to wrap his head around it, Bai Chi would ask Zhao Zhen, "Your family is already so wealthy, and you're so talented—why insist on doing magic... To take a step back, even if you have to do magic, wouldn't pulling coins or newspapers out of thin air be enough? Why subject yourself to something so dangerous?"

Zhao Zhen smiled and pinched Bai Chi's chin. "Chichi, do you want to go to the Sahara?"

Bai Chi looked up at the ceiling in resignation. "What is that supposed to mean? You're changing the subject again!"

Zhao Zhen said earnestly, "I'm serious. Do you want to go?"

"Why on earth would we go there? It's a barren wasteland where even birds refuse to lay eggs." Bai Chi raised an eyebrow.

Zhao Zhen smiled without answering and resumed his training. At that moment, three people walked into the enclosed training room.

Bai Chi turned his head and recognized the three magicians he had seen at the banquet previously. Zhao Zhen's manager hurried forward to intercept them, saying, "Pardon me, everyone, we are in a closed training session."

"What's the harm?" From outside the doorway, another person walked in—it was none other than Yan Jiajia.

Bai Chi held an exceptionally poor impression of Yan Jiajia, and given that she remained the police's primary suspect, he tensely stood up to watch from the sidelines, his mind replaying the words Zhao Jue had told him: "Tell Zhen to be a little more careful when performing magic."

"I'm sorry, Miss Yan," Zhao Zhen's assistant, manager, and aides all stepped forward to block her path. "Visitors are not allowed during training!"

Yan Jiajia seemed rather impatient. "Why are you being so uptight? Isn't magic meant for people to watch anyway?"

"This..." the assistant stammered, looking troubled. Not far away, in the indoor pool, Zhao Zhen surfaced, pulled off his swimming goggles, tossed his wet hair back, and told his manager nonchalantly, "It's fine. Let them watch."

Yan Jiajia paused to size Zhao Zhen up for a moment before offering a faint smile. "Master Magician Zhao, please continue."

Catching a flash of intrigue in Yan Jiajia's eyes, Bai Chi immediately grew vigilant. He walked over to sit near the edge of the pool so he could keep Zhao Zhen in sight the entire time.

Zhao Zhen hadn't fully submerged yet. Looking up from the water's surface, he caught sight of Bai Chi's slightly tense profile... Zhao Zhen smiled... The water's surface was shattered by rising bubbles... fracturing into petal-like shapes that slowly drifted apart.

...

Zhan Zhao spent most of his time making small talk with Old Man Chang, rambling back and forth in circles without any specific destination. It left Bai Yutang feeling increasingly unsettled without being able to pinpoint an obvious clue, as though something was lingering right at the tip of his tongue, dying to burst out.

Finally, Zhan Zhao stood up to take his leave.

Dragging a thoroughly bewildered Bai Yutang out the door, right before leaving, Zhan Zhao turned to the old man and asked, "Grandpa, did you know Lingling has a romantic partner?"

"Really?" The old man was startled, quickly grabbing Zhan Zhao's sleeve to keep him from leaving. "What kind of girl is she? Is she pretty? Is she well-behaved? That brat, why didn't she bring her back for me to see?!"

"You can ask him yourself next time he comes back." Zhan Zhao said goodbye to the old man, helped him shut the door, and turned around to find Bai Yutang standing there with his jaw hanging open.

"What is it?" Zhan Zhao asked with a smile.

"Cat... what did you just call him...?" Bai Yutang took a good while to gather his wits enough to speak. "The old man asked about... a girl? Was An Lingli a lesbian, or...?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head slightly, walking as he explained, "The old man always called An Lingli 'Lingling,' never 'Lili' or 'Lingli.'"

Bai Yutang frowned deeply. "Maybe he was saying 'Linlin'..."

Zhan Zhao nodded. "And what An Youdao's wife cried out for was a child, not a daughter!"

"An Youdao had a son?" Bai Yutang was utterly shocked. "Then..."

Zhan Zhao sneered. "That unidentified suspect... everything finally lines up!"