Title: SCI Mystery Files Book 1
Raw title: SCI谜案集（第一部）
Author: Er Ya (耳雅)
Chapters: 128
Translator: lilies
Warning ⚠️ : This is a BL (Boys Love) Novel. Please click off now if you are not interested in this genre!!
S.C.I.: short for the Special Crime Investigation Team. It was set up by the Headquarters for Criminal Investigation under the proposal of the Police Commissioner. A specialised team composed of the elites from various police departments to investigate special cases.
The police statement is as follows:
All actions taken by the S.C.I. are completely independent. All actions shall be reported directly to the Police Commissioner by the team leader and deputy team leader. The department shall not be restricted by other departments when they are handling cases. Should the S.C.I. require the help of other departments, they are to offer their full assistance with no objections.
A statement released by: Police Commissioner of the Criminal Investigation Headquarters, Bao Zheng
Issued on: 7 November 2006.
The list of S.C.I. members are as follows:
Team Leader (main): Bai Yutang
Born: 27 September 1980
Resume:
1998: Graduated from X Military Academy. Champion of the Intercollegiate Chinese Kickboxing competition for three consecutive years.
1999-2002: Pilot of the Air Force. Rank - Flight Lieutenant
2002-2005: After retiring from the Air Force, he joined S City as the Captain of the Criminal Investigation Team and solved countless cases.
Team Leader (deputy): Zhan Zhao
Born: 26 September 1980
Resume:
1998: Admitted to the Master of Criminal Psychology of X Military Academy on a full score,
2002: Completed PhD in Criminal Psychology
2002-2004: Worked in the Abnormal Psychology Research Lab in New York.
Returned to China in 2005, as an official criminal psychology consultant. Currently working in the Criminal Psychology Research Office of the Main Police Office of S City
Team Members (field):
Wang Chao: Criminal Investigator (Member of Bai Yutang's old team)
Ma Han: Criminal Investigator (Former Sniper)
Zhang Long: Criminal Investigator (Member of Bai Yutang's old team)
Zhao Hu: Criminal Investigator (Has 5 years of undercover experience)
Xu Qing: Criminal Investigator (Former military mechanic)
Team Members (office):
Gongsun Ce: Medical Examiner (PhD in Anthropology)
Jiang Ping: Computer expert (one of the best hackers in the country)
Others (non-police personnel):
Lu Fang: Media Contact (Public Relations)
Han Zhang: Intelligence Officer (relevant information is confidential)
At 13 00, on 8 November 2006, all personnel listed above are to report to the SCI office located on the 17th floor of the Main Police Office of S City.
The S.C.I. (Special Crime Investigation Team) was formally established.
Reminder for the lost souls that are here but may not wish to be here. This is a BL Novel. Kindly take your leave if this is not within your area of interest or comfort zone.
"Black and white are born, can't change." The smile on the face is more intense, but the eyes are cold. "There are white places, can't be black; there are black places, can't be white - everyone Longing for white, abandoning black, this world is so unfair!"
Case 1 Case 1 - The Numbers KillerIt was still early in the morning, but the Main Police Office in S City was already in a buzz. People gathered in small groups, whispering to each other. The moment Wang Chao and Zhang Long entered the building, they could sense that something was amiss.
What's up with everyone?
The two of them were sporting panda-eyes. They were obviously sleep-deprived from closing a big case last night. When they came to the elevator, there was a note stuck on the wall. Zhang Long ripped it off the wall and cursed, "Which bold idiot had the guts to post flyers in a police station? "
Wang Chao, who was by his side, scooted over to take a look and said, "It doesn't look like an advert... Oh, it's signed by the Police Commissioner?"
The two took a closer look at the piece of paper as they entered the elevator.
Ten seconds later, two loud cries could be heard coming from the elevator. Which gave the people waiting outside a big scare, causing them to retreat away from the elevator.
"Ding!" The lift doors opened on the 7th floor.
And the next moment, Zhang Long and Wang Chao sprang out violently like a pack of wolves, shouting, "Holy crap!!" As they rushed straight for the office for Criminal Investigation, drawing the attention of the other officers around them.
The door to the office was forcefully kicked open with a bang by the two men. Giving the officers the shock of their lives as they scurried under their tables for cover. Some even whipped out their guns.
But the two people didn't even so much as spare them a glance and headed straight for the Captain's office.
The door opened the second before they could barge through it. They couldn't stop in time and crashed forward from the momentum. They both fell flat in the middle of the room.
Thud.
Then, they heard someone yelling through the window from the floor below, "Can't you people from the Criminal Police Force give it a rest, even just for a day?? At this rate, no one in the entire building will even know how to react in case of an earthquake!"
Zhang Long and Wang Chao got on back on their feet to see Bai Yutang leaning against his desk with a cup of coffee in hand, looking at them amusedly.
"Captain! Is it true??!!", Zhang Long asked, holding up the paper in his hand.
"What do you think?", Bai Yutang replied, unconcerned, as he took a sip of his coffee.
"T-then... It's true?", Wang Chao carefully confirmed.
Bai Yutang nodded his head and continued drinking his coffee.
After a moment of silence, thunderous cries rumbled throughout the entire office.
"Captain, you can't leave us."
"Captian, you can't just go like that."
"Wang Chao, Zhang Long, you guys can't leave." (Bai)
"What are the remaining brothers in arms going to do if you guys leave as well......" (Bai)
The commotion caused the other departments to poke their heads out in curiosity to see what was going on.
Vice division: "What's up with the Criminal Investigation Team? Did their Captain Bai die in action?"
Economic crimes division: "I don't think so? I just saw him this morning, well alive and kicking."
Narcotics division: "Yeah, right. As if Lord Yama would dare to take him."
Then, they heard an enraged roar, "All of you shut up! I'm not dead yet!!"
Silence.
"Look..." the Vice, Economic crimes and Narcotics divisions said as they exchanged looks, before shrinking their heads back and closing the door.
Bai Yutang finished his last sip of coffee and said, "Zhang Long, Wang Chao, pack your things and come with me to the 17th floor in the afternoon. "
Then, he pulled over one of the member that was crying a river and warned in a threatening tone, "You better take good care of the team once I'm gone. Don't disgrace me!"
"Yes... wuuuu..." he replied and continued crying.
About 10 minutes to 1 pm in the afternoon, amidst the cries of the Criminal Investigation Team and celebratory cheers of the other officers on the 7th floor. Bai Yutang, along with Zhang Long and Wang Chao got on the elevator and pressed the button for the 17th floor.
The moment the elevator doors opened, they were greeted with a brand new office with the words "S.C.I." on the glass door. It actually felt a little like the F.B.I. As they got out, they heard the sound of another elevator opening. Turning to the sound, they saw a man, in a suit with one hand in his pant pocket and a folder in the other, walk out elegantly.
Zhang Long and Wang Chao immediately got nervous as they carefully looked at Bai Yutang. As expected...
As Gongsun Ce walked over, he saw Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glaring at each other outside the elevators from afar. A glint flashed across his rimless glasses as he laughed to himself, "This again."
"Xiao Bai, Xiao Zhan... Aren't you going in?"
Both Wang Chao and Zhang Long gulped, " Here comes another one..."
The men standing before them were no ordinary men, they were commonly known in the police industry as the three wizards of their respective fields. They are also known as the three treasures of S City's Police station.
Let's start with Bai Yutang. People who know him call him Bai the fifth (Laowu). It wasn't because he was fifth in line in his family, but because he's the fifth Captian of the Criminal Investigation Team from the Bai family. The Bai family was well-known for producing great detectives. From his grandfather to his father and uncles, they were all famous criminal investigators. Even now, they were high-ranking officers in both the police and the army.
And Bai Yutang himself, was blessed with the superior genes from his father's side of the family. When he graduated from military school, he first joined the air force. After he got to the rank of a Lieutenant, he went back to become a police officer. In the few years in his post, he cracked countless major cases. Moreover, Bai Yutang was incredibly courageous and skilled at fighting; he had an eccentric personality and stood out from the rest. Under his leadership, the Criminal Investigation Team was extremely deadly. There was no one, in the entire police station, who dared to mess with them. When people pass by the team's office, they don't even dare to take a breath. This was also the reason why the members cried so hard when they heard that Bai Yutang was leaving because their pillar of support was gone!!
When talking about Bai Yutang, one would also have to talk about Zhan Zhao.
Which was the cultured-looking one who walked out from the elevator just now. The was another, more important reason behind their fame, other than their outstanding talents. It was their impeccable good looks. Which causes other officers to grit their teeth in hate. This was especially so for Zhan Zhao.
If one were to describe Bai Yutang as handsome, then Zhan Zhao would be described as beautiful. His elegant and delicate features with his slender figure, topped off with a fitted indigo suit. With a folder in his hand, it's a sight that makes all female creatures on the streets, from the age of 8-80 years old drool over. If he were to smile gently, in Mama Bai's words, all the women who bore witness to that would drop dead on the spot! Additionally, Zhan Zhao was a world-renowned Doctor in Criminal Psychology. He got his PhD before he even turned thirty!! Plus, have you ever seen a psychologist with a gun?! Zhan Zhao is one!!
Speaking of which, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang go way back. In Mama Zhan's words, the two of them can't stand each other from the moment they came out of the womb.
Why is Mama Zhan and Mama Bai always mentioned? It's because the two families lived opposite each other. The two mothers have been great friends since primary school. It was just so coincidental that they happened to give at the same time. Just that Zhan Zhao was born one hour before Bai Yutang. As such, Bai Yutang was forced to call Zhan Zhao, "Brother Xiao Zhan" for eight years. Ah, that hatred...
The two were basically childhood friends, but why do they act like each other's worst enemy? This goes all the way back to when they were in kindergarten. Ever since they were young, they would compete over everything. When it was time to eat, they would steal each other's foods, when it was time to sleep, they would snatch each other's pillows. As it progressed, they would compete for first place in exams, for who could skip grades faster. If Xiao Bai was crowned champion in the Chinese kickboxing competition, Xiao Zhan would take the scholarship for all-around excellence. And so the two fought and fought until one of them went to the army while the other went overseas. But in the end, after going one big round, they still ended up in the same police station. This is known as, fate, enemies will be fated to meet...
(lilies: "冤家" can mean enemy, but it can also be a term to call the annoying lover that you can't bear to part with. I see what you did there Master Er Ya.)
In Bai Yu Tang's opinion, Zhan Zhao was far from the cultured and graceful man people pegged him to be. He was ten out of ten a sly and cunning cat!
In Zhan Zhao's opinion, Bai Yutang was not as smart and capable as he looks on the surface. He was a hateful white mouse!
As for the one in the white coat and rimless glasses, with a refined and cultured vibe. The one with the face of an elite was Gongsun Ce.
Gongsun was something of a legendary Medical Examiner. A famous anthropologist who's closed numerous cases. When he was still teaching in X Military, he taught Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. But to them, he was a strange man who went everywhere with his scalpal. A man with the face of a perverted killer...
And so, these three men, whose beauty couldn't be put to words, just stood outside the S.C.I. office, staring at each other. Until Police Commissioner Bao, who was sitting inside, couldn't take it anymore and he roared, "What are you all standing around for?! Come in for the meeting!!"The meeting went pretty well. It was just basically an introduction of the members and an explanation of the responsibilities.
After that, Commissioner Bao handed Bai Yutang a thick stack of files, saying, "These are the major cases that haven't been cracked in the last ten years. Put these bad guys in prison before they kick the bucket." Once he was done, he turned to take his leave. But just before he went out the door, he gave Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang a meaningful look and said, "The two of you... better not fight and work with each other properly!" He said his piece and left.
His words sent a chill down their spine.
Once Bao Zheng left, the originally serious atmosphere in the office lightened up immediately. Since they already knew each other from when they were in different departments. They were bound to chatter and catch-up amongst themselves now that they had to work together.
Bai Yutang waved his hand and said, "You guys sort out yourselves first, then we'll meet in half an hour for a meeting!" Then, he gave Zhan Zhao a look that meant, "Let's have a talk in the office." And the both of them went into the office.
The general make-up of the S.C.I. was not complicated. There was a lobby, two offices and a relatively modern-looking meeting room. Inside the lobby were standard work desks meant for every member. But since most of the members were out-field investigators, they didn't have many belongings with them.
As for the two offices, one belonged to Bai Yutang, while Zhan Zhao took the other.
Bai Yutang's office was relatively simple. It was elegantly furnished based on his preferences. Zhan Zhao, on the other hand, was probably the one with the most possessions. Due to his occupation, his office had several bookshelves, packed full of books. The file holders were also filled with various documents.
Lu Fang just came to briefly show his face before running off elsewhere, while Han Zhang who was in charge of intelligence was nowhere to be seen.
Gongsun had a few subordinates and his own separate Medical Examiner's office, located just beside the S.C.I., equipped with state of the art equipment.
In fact, the entirety of the 17th floor was a Medical Examiner's office. In the past, it was a forbidden ground that no one dared to step foot in. The first thing Zhao Hu did when he arrived was to offer incense to Bodhisattva, to dispel the bad vibes from the place. His actions resulted in Gongsun pulling him to the side, to offer some unwanted explanations about the place. Such as the reason for the Medical Examiner's office being on the 17th floor and the top ten paranormal activities that have taken place on the 17th floor. His words scared Zhao Hu out of his wits as he covered his ears and cried, "Please have mercy, Brother!"
In the leader's office.
Zhan Zhao sat down on the chair in front of the desk and crossed his leg elegantly. He lifted his head to look at Bai Yutang who was across from him with an unimpressed smile.
"You damn cat, what are you looking at?" From his many years of fighting with Zhan Zhao, he knew there was something up when Zhan Zhao had that expression.
"Nothing much," Zhan Zhao shrugged, "I'm just listening to Leader Bai's instructions."
Bai Yutang had his displeasure plastered all over his face, "You stop that. And as usual, show me respect and don't humiliate me when we're in front of the team."
"That's no problem, but I'm coming with you when you go out on the field! And you have to listen to me for all problems pertaining to my area of expertise!" Zhan Zhao listed his conditions.
"Huu... Fine, deal," Bai Yutang nodded his head with a sigh. Then he pushed the whole bulk of documents to Zhan Zhao, saying, "This is all yours now, Expert!"
"What! Why!?" Zhan Zhao retorted angrily and pushed half the documents back to Bai Yutang, "We'll take half each!"
Bai Yutang glared at him and spoke through gritted teeth, "You know I can't stand looking at these things."
Zhan Zhao returned the glare, "This is the Leader's responsibility!! You should look for a few easier cases and solve one or two first. Otherwise, the S.C.I. would be an embarrassment, Great Detective Bai!"
Bai Yutang got a shock, "Hello? Do you even know what cold cases are?? You think it'll be cracked just because you say so?? Wait a minute, something is not right..." Bai Yutang scanned Zhan Zhao up and down, then he said with a smile, "I say, Kitty, something is off about you. Oh, I get it, it's because I'm the leader while you're the deputy and you can't figure out why ain't it? Doctor. Zhan."
Zhan Zhao also started to clench his teeth and he threw his half of the documents back to Bai Yutang, "Hmph! You're just a lowly man who got lucky! You can look through all of these by yourself!"
"You... Fine!" Bai Yutang huffed, "I'll just take a random pick. We'll start with whichever one I pick, since they're all cases to be solved anyway." As he said that, he randomly reached for a file from the mountain, "This'll do..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a few crisp knocks on the door. When he looked up, he saw Gongsun leaning against the door with a folder in his hand, "Those old cases can wait, I have a fresh one here."
Bai Yutang lifted his palm, saying, "Wait a moment... Let's call everyone over. We'll talk about it in the meeting room."
Gongsun looked slightly surprised by his reaction, "Don't you want to hear what this is about first?
Bai Yutang beamed, "No need, if it was a case of little importance, would you, Gongsun, even bring it up?"
Gongsun nodded his head and headed to the meeting room with satisfaction. While Zhan Zhao mumbled to himself in the back, "What a suck-up! Sneaky mouse!"
Bai Yutang sneezed loudly as he walked.In the meeting room, once everyone had settled down, Bai Yutang got Gongsun to introduce the case details.
Gongsun went straight to the point, "Do you guys still remember the case about a series of hit-and-runs with a stolen taxi that happened last month?"
"Are you talking about the one with 5 dead and 3 injured?" Zhang Long recalled, "Wasn't the perpetrator already arrested?"
"Isn't it an old guy in his fifties that didn't seem to be in his right mind?" Wang Chao added.
"That's right," Gongsun nodded and continued, "That case was handed to the Traffic division who solved it immediately. So it didn't go through you guys, am I right?"
"Yep,", Bai Yutang nodded his head, "What's the matter? Is there something wrong with this case?"
"Take a look at these photos..." Gongsun said as he took out the photos and for all to see. He continued, "These are photos of the bodies of the 5 victims that were killed."
All the members present, picked up the photos to take a closer look. Upon closer inspection, they realised these were all photos of the back of the ear of the victims. And they all had a tiny but very clear blue number on them. The numbers on each of the bodies respectively were, 7, 12, 19, 30 and 42.
"They were numbered?" Bai Yutang frowned.
But that was not all, Gongsun took out even more photos and said, "I have a friend who works as a make-up artist in a funeral home. And he recently observed a strange phenomenon— many of those who died from car accidents were numbered just like that, behind their ears, with no repeats. He's quite a meticulous person, so he found it strange. He recorded them down and took pictures before bringing them to me a few days ago. And the latest record was three days ago."
"Three days ago?" Everyone was stunned.
"Wasn't that psycho driver sent into prison a month ago?" Zhao Hu exclaimed.
"He probably isn't the one who numbered them," Zhan Zhao muttered to himself.
"I agree!" Gongsun nodded, "The victims were sent straight to the Medical Examiner's office from the hospitals. There were two that didn't even go through a hospital. Plus, I've checked. They were marked with these numbers using a technique similar to tattoos and they were not done recently."
Bai Yutang lined up the photos and said, "If these numbers are connected, not counting those we haven't discovered, we have at least 20 victims on our hands."
Gongsun picked up one of the photos and said, "Look at this person!"
Everyone huddled around him. That was a photo of one of the ten over numbered victims at the funeral home. The number was 23.
Gongsun opened a folder and said, "This is Chen Siliang. He died a week ago, but this is his second car accident."
Jiang Ping looked at the folder incredulously and said, "He's one of the injured from the psycho driver's case?"
"That taxi driver didn't manage to kill him, yet he still died from another car accident? And he still got numbered..." Ma Han scratched his head in confusion, with disbelief painted all over his face.
Bai Yutang kept silent for awhile, then he asked Zhan Zhao who was equally silent, "What do you think?"
Zhan Zhao gently tapped his knee with his slender fingers, which was a habit of his when he's deep in thought, "It's either an announcement for the next murder or a record of the murders."
Bai Yutang nodded at his words. He thought to himself for a bit before saying, "Gongsun, get Lu Fang to contact the families of the victims. Dig up all the bodies and conduct another autopsy! Wang Chao, Ma Han, go investigate where the deadly car accidents took place and the last hospital they received treatment from. Who their doctors were, how did they die, the more details the better! Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, run a detailed check on all of the victims' social circles, enemies, occupations, etc. See if there are any similarities. Jiang Ping, get me a copy of all the information related to the cars involved in the accidents, maps of where the accidents took place, as well as a detailed report on every single victim! Xu Qing, head down to tattoo parlours to find any clues about the numbers. Do it discreetly. Then find Han Zhang to see if he knows anything about the situation. I'll go meet with that helpful person at the funeral parlour, followed by that crazy driver. Alright everyone, split up and let's get to work!"
"Yes!!" And they all disappeared within minutes, went their separate ways to work on their tasks. Bai Yutang gathered all the photos and stood up...
"Ahem," Zhan Zhao, who was still seated at the table, coughed while giving him the side-eye.
...After he was done packing up the files, Bai Yutang grabbed his jacket and respectfully gestured, "After you," to Zhan Zhao, saying, "Let's go... Expert!"
(lilies: ayee why so cute（≧∇≦）
Please with this, Zhan Zhao got to his feet and snatched the car keys from Bai Yutang. "I'll drive," he said and went out immediately.
"Hey!" Bai Yutang chased after him while putting on his jacket, "Cat! Don't you dare touch my car! You're a hazardous driver!!"A silver Spyker C8 sports car was parked just outside a funeral home in S City. Although there were little people in the area, this outstanding sports car still garnered a great deal of attention.
When Bai Yutang got out of the car in a silvery-grey Armani trench coat and a pair of Gucci sunglasses, one might think that he was a celebrity, or a model, etc... Basically, you'd never be able to guess that he was actually a police officer.
Zhan Zhao got out of the car as well, reluctantly and a little miffed, "Has no one lodged a complaint against you yet?"
"Complain about what?" Bai Yutang asked, as he took off his sunglasses and entered the building.
"You're driving in and out of the police station in a 400,000 USD sports car. I highly doubt that no one has complained about you."
"This car was bought with clean money and gifted to me by my brother!!" Bai Yutang said as he shrugged, "Besides, I like this car. It can reach the speed of sound, perfect for catching criminals.
(lilies: (ｰ ｰ;) a car that can travel at the speed of sound??)
"Ah yes, a policeman who drives a 400,000 USD Spyker C8 to catch criminals. This shows that you don't fit in well in society!"
"Yeah yeah, kitty, you've been trying to prove that I'm not normal since we were born," Bai Yutang said while surveying the lobby of the funeral home. He then added nonchalantly, "However, all those great psychological theories of yours don't work on me.
Slotting his hand into his pocket, Zhan Zhao responded, "Ha! It doesn't matter if you don't want to admit. Regardless, I've managed to prove that you have paranoid, antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic, and many more abnormal personality disorders in these 20 years that I've known you!!"
(lilies: wells someone's been watching ◉‿◉)
"If all these claims that you've made actually stand, then..." Bai Yutang pointed to the morgue, "I would be the one putting those numbers on the dead and not the one investigating over here."
Suddenly, someone came out of the morgue and joined in the conversation, "As an Investigator, you are quite a special one."
Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang turned to the man who just spoke — it was a lean man who looked to be about 30 years old. Under the dim lighting of the funeral home, the man's originally pale face looked even gloomier.
"I'm Chen Jing, and you two are the police?" The man offered his hand to greet them.
"Ah... Hello," Bai Yutang returned the handshake while taking out his ID with his other hand, "I'm Bai Yutang and this is Zhan Zhao."
"I believe Gongsun has given you a heads up on the purpose of our visit."
After shaking hands with Zhan Zhao, Chen Jing turned around and led the two of them to the morgue, saying, "I think you should take a look at this first."
Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged looks and followed Chen Jing into the morgue. There were several bodies were laid out in the morgue with a white cloth over them. Only one was partially uncovered. Clearly, Chen Jing was putting make-up on that corpse.
"This one was sent over this morning. Look here," Chen Jing said as he tilted the head to the side to reveal the number "39", clearly imprinted behind the ear.
"Ah! Another one," Bai Yutang looked up at Zhan Zhao.
Zhan Zhao carefully observed the number and commented, "Doesn't look like it was done by hand."
"Hnn?" After hearing Zhan Zhao's words, Bai Yutang lowered his head to have a look. Only to see that the number was unusually neat in a standard SimSun font.
"It's not a tattoo?" Bai Yutang rubbed his chin in thought and turned his gaze to Zhan Zhao again. "Then what is it?"
"Erhm... I can't tell for sure until we've sent it for tests. It doesn't feel like a tattoo, it's more like a seal of some sort," Zhan Zhao replied with his head still lowered. With a serious expression on his face, "From the looks of the numbers, the person who did this has a severe case of perfectionism."
(lilies: if i'm not wrong, perfectionism falls under OCD)
"Perfectionism??" Bai Yutang took another look at the numbers, "I can't see how it's pretty to mark the ear of a corpse with a number."
"I said perfect!! Not pretty!" Zhan Zhao emphasised before continuing, "When we were looking through the photos, I had already noticed. Almost all the numbers are placed in the same exact spot." As he spoke, he put on some gloves and flipped the ear over for Bai Yutang to see, "The numbers are all placed perfectly at the back of the cavum conchæ. Do you know what this means?"
"That this person is a psycho?" Bai Yutang replied without even thinking. Only to see Zhan Zhao roll his eyes at him and hold his hand out in defeat, "That is without a doubt."
Zhan Zhao continued, "It's this position. It's the "only" position."
Bai Yutang picked at his ear and uttered, "Human language, please!"
(lilies: this is the raws '说中文，拜托' which means 'Chinese, please' but I interpreted as like what he doesn't understand=alien so I don't have to deal with what language I should put it as)
Zhan Zhao rolled his eyes again.
"...The location of the numbers. You would never notice it unless you flipped the ear over!" he said as he released the ear to let it return to its original state to prove his point to Bai Yutang. Sure enough, the number was completely hidden by the auricle and couldn't be seen from any angle.
"So?? What does this mean, Expert?" Bai Yutang asked, still puzzled,
While removing his gloves, Zhan Zhao replied, "This means that the person who marked the bodies more or less has professional medical knowledge, as well as an extreme tendency for perfection. They definitely have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and has great attention to detail. They are probably engaged in work that requires them to be meticulous and are timid and overly-cautious is day-to-day life..."
"Human language!" Bai Yutang couldn't help but interrupted.
"He is a psycho," Zhan Zhao summarised.After leaving the funeral parlour, Bai Yutang gave Gongsun a call to inform of the new victim. And then he got on the car with Zhan Zhao.
"Where to next?" Zhan Zhao asked while flipping through the folder with all the records regarding the taxi hit-and-run case.
"To the prison," Bai Yutang responded, adjusting the rear mirror, "To have a chat with that crazy uncle."
"Wu Hao, 47, has been a taxi driver for over 20 years. He's married and has a 19-year-old daughter studying in college," Zhan Zhao closed the file, "It definitely doesn't look like the life of a crazy person with a vendetta against society."
"Apparently, that uncle staged an act of having a split personality in court and was sent to a mental hospital."
"A lunatic, having a split personality and mental illness are three completely different concepts!"
Zhan Zhao pointed to the dashboard, "You're speeding!"
"In your eyes, people can be categorised into n types. But to me, it all sounds the same. In my eyes, there are only two kinds of people — good people and bad people."
Bai Yutang took a peek in the rear mirror and asked, "Do you think there's a car that keeps following behind us?"
Just as Zhan Zhao was about to turn his head to have a look, Bai Yutang stopped him, "Don't turn around! Look here." As he did, he adjusted the rearview mirror. Through the mirror, Zhan Zhao saw a black Honda about three or four metres behind them and said, "I don't see anything off... Is it your instinct again?"
"I've had professional training, Cat!" Bai Yutang retorted as he took a quick glance at Zhan Zhao's seatbelt.
"What are you trying to do?" Zhan Zhao narrowed his eyes at Bai Yutang and grabbed onto his seatbelt warily.
"Do you know the key difference between you and me?" Bai Yutang smirked and adjusted the mirror back to its original position. "You're a theorist, while I... am a hands-on person," he said and stepped on the gas.
The superb performance of the Spyker C8 was immediately visible. Bai Yutang passed a few cars with ease before slowing back down to the initial speed. Soon after, that black Honda appeared behind them again.
"Hmph," Bai Yutang smugly raised his brows at Zhan Zhao.
"That was indeed some animal-like sixth sense," Zhan Zhao commented. He then readjusted the rearview mirror for a better view, "I've jotted down the license plate and model of the car. Should we get someone to check it out?"
"It's definitely forged," Bai Yutang replied while putting his sunglasses on, "Sit tight, Cat!"
"What are you trying to do?" Zhan Zhao grasped the roof handle and said, "Maybe they just really like your car and want to be in the same frame as you."
"I generally ignore such random meaningless tailing."
"You say that as if you're frequently being stalked," Zhan Zhao pursed his lips and tightened his seatbelt.
"Of course! I'm very popular!" Bai Yutang exclaimed, "But they all lack basic common sense!"
"What do you mean??"
"You should know that even on the road, no one can keep up with a fighter jet pilot," with that, Bai Yutang slams his foot on the gas pedal once more. His crazy car racing continued all the way until they reached the prison. When the two of them got off the car, there was nothing behind them anymore.
"How was it?" Bai Yutang asked with an expression like he hadn't had enough, "This is how driving should be!"
Zhan Zhao looked at him disapprovingly, "I suggest you get some more insurance. Your behaviour shows that you still thrill and superiority from when you were a pilot! This fully proves my point that your social position is severely incorrect!"
Bai Yutang heaved a sigh and snapped his fingers to redirect Zhan Zhao's line of sight, "Look there Cat!! Look there!"
Pointing at the imposing prison gates which stood tall in front of them, Bai Yutang continued, "The person you're supposed to study is over there! Go there and unleash your excessive desire to analyse. Quit treating me as your lab rat!!"
"In actual fact, you are a lab rat!" Zhan Zhao rushed forward to catch up to Bai Yutang. "That is your fate!!" he said as he entered the prison with Bai Yutang.The feeling a prison gives you is never good, whether you're a prisoner or an occasional visitor.
Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao waited in the special visitation room for Wu Hao, who finally arrived, restrained in a straitjacket, like a rice dumpling1.
Wu Hao did not look like a taxi driver nearing his fifties, in dire straits. And he most definitely did not look like someone with mental illness. His short-sighted, and in his glasses, he looked like a well-mannered and quiet man. If it weren't for the special restraints he was wearing, one might mistaken him for a teacher or a scholar.
He slowly made his way into the visitation room, surveying the area as he did. Before taking a seat on the chair in front of the table. Then, he raised his head to scan Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang who were seated across him.
His line of sight first fell on Bai Yutang and lingered for awhile before speaking extremely slowly, "...You are a pretty good cop."
Bai Yutang locked eyes with him momentarily and said, "And you're not a very good driver."
Wu Hao chuckled slightly and turned his attention to Zhan Zhao. His gaze lingered on Zhan Zhao for a very long time. Finally, he shook his head and exclaimed in awe, "...What a perfect piece of art. You are the most perfect being that I've ever laid my eyes on in my entire life."
Just as Wu Hao was observing him, Zhan Zhao was also carefully examining him. Upon hearing his words, Zhan Zhao smiled a little and replied, "Thank you for the compliment. I'd appreciate it more if you could view as a person."
Wu Hao leaned forward slightly to get a closer look of Zhan Zhao's eyes as he commented, "They're just like two high-grade opals, the colour of amber..."
"Hey!" Bai Yutang who was one the side cut him short, snapping his fingers at Wu Hao, "Sit properly!"
Wu Hao did not move his body as told, but turned to look at Bai Yutang and remarked, "You have the scent of a carnivore."
Bai Yutang pointed to the seat behind Wu Hao, stating, "You had best sit back down immediately and stay there! Or I'll show you what a real carnivore is like!"
Wu Hao's mouth twitched a little, but he still did as he was told in the end.
Bai Yutang opened a file on the table and placed the photos in front of Wu Hao, "Take a look at these."
Wu Hao kept his upright sitting position and looked down at the pictures. After taking a quick scan of the images, he smiled meaningfully.
"You don't seem surprised at all!" Zhan Zhao said suddenly.
"Surprised? Aren't these just... normal tattoos?" Wu Hao responded casually, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Who told you that these are tattoos?" Bai Yutang asked amusedly, "Why didn't you say it was painted on?"
The smile on Wu Hao's face stiffened for a second, but his expression quickly changed to one of confusion as he asked, "Is there a difference?"
"Of course there is," Zhan Zhao lightly tapped on the table with his finger and continued, "Tattoos can't be washed off but paint can. These numbers have the exact same style and are placed in an unusual location. People seeing this for the first time would never think that these were tattoos."
Wu Hao fell silent for a moment, but still replied slowly, "My apologies. In my mind, all blue coloured patterns drawn on the body are tattoos."
"Patterns??" Bai Yutang asked as he stared intently into Wu Hao's eyes, "Why do you say that these are patterns and not numbers?"
The brief flash of panic in Wu Hao's eyes did not escape Bai Yutang's eyes. He turned to look at Zhan Zhao, as did Zhan Zhao, and the two of them exchanged a quick look.
Bai Yutang turned his vision back onto Wu Hao as he stared at the latter sternly, "I heard that you've been receiving treatment for your split personality condition. In two days, the judge will ask for the psychiatrist's evaluation. Should they determine that you are mentally ill, you won't have to be locked up in jail for the rest of your life. But instead, sent to a mental institution for treatment."
Wu Hao didn't seem to understand the sudden change of topic and was stunned for a moment.
"It seems like you are very afraid of being sent to prison?" Zhan Zhao asked, before he could respond.
"Ha... Who wouldn't be afraid of lifetime imprisonment?" Wu Hao seemed to find this amusing.
"But you're not just anyone!" Zhan Zhao replied with a smile and continued, "Putting someone with OCD2 in prison is as good as asking them to die, am I right?"
In an instant, Wu Hao lost all colour in his face.
Zhan Zhao leaned back on his seat and added, "You are a very meticulous person. Rules and order are extremely important to you. However, none of these exists in prison! All there is is a cramped space! Filled with polluted air! Germs everywhere! And surveillance cameras. You'd have to live with a lot of people..."
Zhan Zhao's words made Wu Hao suddenly restless. He trembled slightly as he shook his head profusely, "They can't... I can't stay in prison for life! I'm sick! I need treatment..."
"You are indeed ill!" Zhan Zhao proceeded to press him, "You have severe OCD which results in Mysophobia, anxiety and panic... You can always hear a voice whispering in your ear, telling you that someone is monitoring you at every corner. You can even see the germs in the around you, eroding your health away..."
"No... no... I can't go to jail... I'm sick!" Wu Hao screamed hysterically and struggled to get up.
Bai Yutang stopped the prison guards who rushed in with their stun batons. He kicked the table in front of him, causing it to hit Wu Hao square in the chest. Wu Hao fell back down onto the chair, bending over and coughing violently from the pain in his chest.
"Talk!" Bai Yutang ordered coldly.
"Cough cough... about what?" Even at this point, Wu Hao was still trying to manoeuvre his way out of this situation.
"Did you know," Zhan Zhao leaned in and asked, "that I am one of the best psychologists in the country? If I were to submit a medical assessment, declaring that you are not mentally ill at all. Wanna have a bet if the judge will be affected by me?"
Wu Hao looked at Zhan Zhao in horror. As Bai Yutang pushed the pictures in front of Wu Hao once more, "You have two options. You either come clean to us and tell us the truth, or spend the rest of your life in prison."
Wu Hao painfully shook his head like he had lost all hope, "I can't... I can't betray... I'll be punished for betraying..."The rest of the interrogation went on pretty smoothly. According to Wu Hao, he worked for their 'God'. And everything he did was under the orders of 'God'.
Wu Hao's words threw Bai Yutang into a state of confusion. He couldn't help but give Zhan Zhao a look, " Are you sure he's sane?"
Zhan Zhao's brows knitted together as he asked Wu Hao, "Regarding this 'God' you mentioned. Who else works for this 'God' other than you?"
"There's also a Priest... Angels... and Disciples like myself, "Wu Hao said, dazed with reverence.
Bai Yutang couldn't contain his laughter, "You mean to tell me you work for Jesus?"
"No!" Wu Hao shook his head, "I do not believe in Christ!"
Zhan Zhao contemplated for abit before asking, "You guys seem to have a strict hierarchy. How is exactly the work assigned?"
After hesitating for a moment, Wu Hao replied "God gives the orders, the Priest is in charge of giving rewards and punishments, Angels are in charge of communication while the Disciples carry out the orders."
"And the tasked you with running people over with a car?" Bai Yutang couldn't help but ask.
Wu Hao nodded his head.
"I'm going to need the names of all the other members, including that of your 'God'," Bai Yutang said, as he took out a pen and paper, ready to jot it down.
"We don't have names, only numbers."
"Numbers??" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other. Bai Yutang immediately got up and walked behind Wu Hao, flipping his ear over. Bai Yutang then shook his head at Zhan Zhao there were—— no numbers behind Wu Hao's ear.
"What channels do you use to get your instructions?" Zhan Zhao continued to ask.
"An angel will find me to hand me the mission as well as the relevant details."
"And where of this information?" Bai Yutang probed.
"They are to be destroyed after reading through..."
"However, based on your personality, you probably kept them as a souvenir," Zhan Zhao observed as he noticed Wu Hao's hesitation.
"Huu..." Wu Hao sighed dejectedly, "I've... hidden them in the bookshelf at home."
"One last question, what is your number?" Zhan Zhao asked.
"...114..."
The interrogation was finally over.
By the time the two of them exited the prison, the sun had gone down. Bai Yutang gave Bao Zheng a call to briefly update him on the case. Bao Zheng immediately issued a search warrant and Wang Chao went down to Wu Hao's place with a team. As per Bai Yutang's request, they brought all the paper items back to S.C.I.
"Kitty, shall we go get food?" Bai Yutang asked as he got on the car and shut the door.
"Un..." Zhan Zhao replied, somewhat absent-mindedly.
"Hey!" Bai Yutang waved his hand in front of Zhan Zhao, "Earth to Zhan Zhao! What's on your mind?"
Zhan Zhao frowned, "That Wu Hao's behaviour seems to be heavily driven by religious faith. This case is not as simple as it looks.
"In my opinion, he's not in his right mind at all. That organisation or whatever, may very well be a community of lunatics." Bai Yutang started the car and inquired, "So, what do you want to eat?"
"Hmm... I want to eat curry. Made by you!" Zhan Zhao emphasised.
"...Don't you have a weak stomach1?" Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao slightly surprised, "You better not end up in the hospital after eating that! Greedy cat!"
"Then, macaroni with cardamom2, " Zhan Zhao said, after some thought.
"Made by you," He emphasised again.
"You damn cat... You're getting the groceries!" Bai Yutang grumbled.
"No problem! Chef Bai!" Zhan Zhao exclaimed contentedly, before adjusting his position to take a quick nap.
Both Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao lived in the dormitory, quality studio apartments provided by the Police Headquarters. These two men had something in common, they were both geniuses at work. The difference was that Bai Yutang was a genius even in outside of work while Zhan Zhao was 100%, an idiot.
In Bai Yutang's words, Zhan Zhao was the kind of person who would bang into walls while walking, hit a tree while driving, burn the pot while cooking and burn the whole house down when cooking rice...
Hence, other than canteen food and food delivery, the issue of his meals were mainly taken care of by Bai Yutang.
What to do? Bai Yutang inherited Mama Bai's excellent genes and was able to cook as well as a five-star Michelin chef.
When they eventually arrived at the supermarket below their dorm, Zhan Zhao went to pick up the groceries spiritedly. Bai Yutang's phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and hung up after 30 seconds. Then he took the ingredients from Zhan Zhao's hands and place them back, saying, "Change of plans!"
After that, Bai Yutang got some bread and drinks, and stuffed a visibly upset Zhan Zhao into the car. As they rushed to the prison at full speed.
(lilies: awhh someone feed the meowmeow)
Once they arrived at the prison gates, they met with Gongsun Ce who just got out of the car with his toolbox. The three of them entered the prison, to see Wu Hao laying flat on the floor of the special ward that sealed, blood flowing out from several orifices. He was long gone. However, there wasn't even a hint of pain on his face. With both arms crossed on his chest, he looked like a Martyr that died peacefully.
Gongsun went up to check on the wounds while Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao went out to question the prison guards about the situation. But just as they were about to do so, they heard Gongsun calling for them from the cell.
When they rushed in, they saw Gongsun holding the head of the deceased, turning the ear over to reveal a clear blue '114', behind the ear.
1. Written as '胃病' in the raws. I think he just has a weak stomach. ↩
2. Written as '豆蔻通心粉' in the raws. I have no idea wtf that is. ↩Gongsun carried out a brief autopsy and walked out of the cell to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang.
"How is it?" Bai Yutang asked.
"He's poisoned to death," Gongsun said while removing his gloves.
"Poisoned??" Bai Yutang glanced at the guard standing next to him and asked, "How did he even get the poison?"
The guard looked all flustered as he replied, "That's not possible. He's restrained whenever he leaves his cell. And there wasn't anyone that approached him..."
It's alright, calm down..." Zhan Zhao tried to comfort him while he got someone to bring the rattled prison guard away. Then, he turned to Bai Yutang and inquired, "What next?"
Bai Yutang quickly scanned the area and commented, "This is a special cell that's completely closed off. But after taking a quick look at the layout, although the cells are isolated from each other, the corridor is connected. To get to Wu Hao's room, one must pass through the two cells before his. However, the problem is that..."
He paused for a moment before directing his words to Zhan Zhao, "All our friends here are pretty special. It's up to you and your expertise now."
Wu Hao stayed in Cell Number 3. And there's only one staircase on this floor, so he would have had to pass by Cells 1 and 2 to get to his room.
Cell Number 1 houses an extremely dangerous felon called Liu Chen, aged 39. He suffers from severe Schizophrenia, mania and delusional disorder. If you classify the one is Cell 1 as a brawns-type lunatic, then the one in Cell 2 would be a brainy lunatic. He's called Qin Jiaqi who's a medical student that's only 19 years of age. He was convicted of assaulting his roommate in their sleep...
While they waited in the same special visitation room, Bai Yutang was reading the information on the two prisoners. And he was dumbstruck, to say the least.
"Tsk tsk... Kitty, I'd say good on you for staying sane while dealing with these people all the time."
Zhan Zhao rolled his eyes at Bai Yutang and said, "Most people have some prejudice against people suffering from mental illnesses. But I'll have you know that once they are cured, they are the same healthy individuals, just like people who recover from a cold!"
During their little exchange, the doors to the visitation room opened. And a burly, bald-headed, middle-aged man walked in. The shackles around his body gave a good indication of how dangerous this man was. He slowly made his way to the seat in front of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang with his hefty chains. He raised those murky eyes of his to look at them and chuckled, "You two look much better than those stinky and dirty policemen I've met in the past. "
Bai Yutang thought that this guy was a little more normal compared to Wu Hao as he asked, "You're Liu Chen?"
Liu Chen nodded and interjected before Bai Yutang could continue, "You guys are here about the guy that died in Cell Number 3 right?"
Surprise briefly flashed across the faces of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang when they heard his words. Seeing their reaction, Liu Chen chuckled once more and continued, "I saw a doctor walk past."
Bai Yutang perked up immediately, "Doctor? How do they look like? Have you seen them before?"
"Nope!" Liu Chen shook his head as he leaned forward and said mysteriously in a hushed voice, "I can tell that he's not a doctor at all. I know all the doctors here! I've been in here for 8 years and I'll be here for many more. This is my territory."
"How are you so sure that he's not just someone new?" Zhan Zhao asked abruptly.
Liu Chen laughed again and pointed at his nose, "It's different! The smell is different!"
"Smell?" Bai Yutang repeated, intrigued by his response.
"That's right!" Liu Chen nodded his head in satisfaction and said, "Everyone has a different smell!"
As he did, he pointed to Bai Yutang and said, "Cop." Then to Zhan Zhao, "Specialist."
Zhan Zhao nodded his head as he asked, "What about that doctor? What did they smell of?"
Liu Chen smiled as he sat back down properly and pointing to himself, "The same as me——the smell of blood."
After Liu Chen left, Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao and asked in all seriousness, "Are you sure he has a problem? He seems even more normal than I am."
Zhan Zhao didn't respond right away, but stared at Bai Yutang for a while before finally saying, "So you finally realised that you're not normal?"
Anger!!
Just when the two of them were about to start another round of bickering, the door opened and in came Qin Jiaqi from Cell Number 2. His treatment was way better than Liu Chen. There were no chains on his body, he wasn't even wearing a straitjacket. He was just in a simple white and blue striped, patient clothing1. He looked very timid. Cautiously walking in and taking a seat. He nervously lifted his head to look at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. When he met eyes with the latter, he seemed startled and lowered his head immediately. After a while, he raised his head again to look at Zhan Zhao. This time he didn't get scared, but instead smiled at shyly at Zhan Zhao. To which Zhan Zhao returned with a friendly smile. That appeared to calm his nerves a bit and he relaxed a little.
Bai Yutang was about to question Qin Jiaqi when Zhan Zhao gave him a look. He nodded his head, closed his mouth and walked out of Qin Jiaqi's line of sight.
"Qin Jiaqi?" Zhan Zhao started a conversation with him alone.
Bai Yutang's departure seemed to allow Qin Jiaqi to be completely at ease. As he nodded his head lightly and carefully took a peek at Bai Yutang, who stood by the door with his back to them. Then he whispered to Zhan Zhao, "W-Will he be angry?"
Zhan Zhao responded with a smile," It's alright, Jiaqi. I have a few questions for you and you'll have to answer them honestly. Is that ok?"
"Un." Qin Jiaqi nodded his head earnestly.
"Did you see anyone special walk pass your room this afternoon?"
Qin Jiaqi nodded.
"What kind of person were they?"
Qin Jiaqi suddenly started to get restless as he muttered, "S-Satan..."
"Satan!?" Bai Yutang, who was standing by the door, turned around and exclaimed in surprise. His sudden reaction caused Qin Jiaqi to cower away in fear. Zhan Zhao glared daggers at Bai Yutang and the latter immediately raised both his hands to express his apologies before swiftly turning back.
"Jiaqi, could you describe to me how Satan looked like?" Zhan Zhao softened the tone of his voice.
"Un..." Qin Jiaqi nodded his head as he said, "H-He was dressed in white, with a n-needle in hand... He walked by and then came back really quickly... H-He even gestured at me."
"What gesture did he make?"
Following Zhan Zhao's question, Qin Jiaqi placed his index finger on his lips and whispered, "Shh..."
Before Qin Jiaqi left, he pointed at Zhan Zhao and said, "Angel," followed by Bai Yutang and mumbled, "Exorcist." And then he went on his way, muttering to himself as he did.
Zhan Zhao was stunned for a moment, til Bai Yutang turned around and pointed at the door, "Well, this one's not normal at all!!"
1. Written as "蓝白相间的病号服" ↩It was 10.20pm at night, when Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang finally walked out the prison gates.
Bai Yutang exhaled deeply and said, "I say, Cat, are their words credible?"
Zhan Zhao shrugged in response, "These two have pretty severe delusion disorder, but they didn't have a chance to collude with each other. So what they said should be credible."
"That means that the murderer is some guy dressed up like a doctor?" Bai Yutang suddenly raged, "This is some broken prison! It doesn't even have a single surveillance camera along the corridors!! We wouldn't have to go through so much effort if there were!"
"This murderer is very cunning. There were so many prison guards around, yet not a single one of them noticed him..." Zhan Zhao rubbed between his brows and continued, "Let's discuss this after we see Gongsun's autopsy report tomorrow."
The two of them chatted as they walked, down a flight of stairs to the car parked on the side of the road. When they reached the main street, Bai Yutang suddenly saw a glimmer of light from his peripheral. Something seemed to be charging out from the darkness...
"Cat!!"
By the time Bai Yutang realised that it was a car speeding towards them at top speed, he had already pounced at Zhan Zhao. Pushing Zhan Zhao out of the way, rolling forward as he did so. When he lifted his head again, that car that came out of nowhere, almost crashing into the both of them, was gone. Although everything happened very quickly, Bai Yutang still managed to see that it was the black Honda that had been tailing them in the afternoon.
"Are you alright, Cat?" Before he could think deeper into it, he hurriedly checked if Zhan Zhao, who was in his embrace, was hurt.
"I'm fine," Zhan Zhao said as Bai Yutang helped him onto his feet. He noticed that there were only some light abrasions on his hands.
"What about you?" He asked, shifting his gaze to Bai Yutang.
Bai Yutang patted the dust off of his body and held out his arms to show that he was fine. Then, he grabbed Zhan Zhao's hands and pulled them over to have a closer look. Seeing that a large part of Zhan Zhao's palm had been badly scraped, Bai Yutang frowned, "Let's go to the hospital first."
"There's no need. It's just a small injury..." Zhan Zhao wrinkled his nose in refusal and shook his head.
"That's not up for discussion!!" Bai Yutang declared, dragging him away.
After some simple bandaging at the hospital, it was almost 12 am by the time they returned to their dorm. Zhan Zhao sat on the couch in his living room.
Silence... silence... He finally couldn't take in anymore and blurted, "Why are you in my apartment?"
Standing in front of him, Bai Yutang was munching on an apple while casually flipping through the newspaper, "To protect you."
Harh??
Zhan Zhao got up and snatch away the apple in his hands while trying to drag Bai Yutang out the door, "Who needs your protection!! Go back to your own place, I want to sleep!!"
Bai Yutang grabbed onto the sofa, refusing to leave. "Hey!! I'm doing this for your own good!! What if some pervert chases you all the way here? A bookworm like you will be dead before you can even scream for help!! Your death is not even the biggest problem. The issue is that our mothers will skin me alive!!"
"You!!" Zhan Zhao wrinkled his nose in anger, "How do you know that they're coming after me?? You act so cockily most of the time. Who knows if you've offended some mob boss on the streets and they want to get rid of you?? You get out of my house!! Don't drag me into your mess!!"
One was pulling with all his might while the other refused to let go...
The tug of war lasted till half-past 12 before Zhan Zhao finally surrendered. After all, he was an academic, while Bai Yutang was a soldier. He couldn't get his words through to a soldier1...
Round 1, defeat!
"Kitty, lend me some pajamas. I want the Doraemon one, not the Hello Kitty one."
(lilies: why the heck does Zhan Zhao even have hello kitty pjs aaaah secute!!)
Tolerate it
"Kitty, I'm so hungry, do you have instant noodles?"
Tolerate some more
"Is your refrigerator used to store dead bodies? Why is it so clean?"
Patience is golden
"Kitty, do you have any CDs? Let's watch some horror movies..."
He snapped!!
Zhan Zhao who was trying to prepare for his lessons had exploded. He grabbed a pillow and smashed it at Bai Yutang, "Go the hell back to your apartment!! Watching a horror movie in the middle of the night, you're the only pervert here!!!"
Yet another half an hour had passed by the time the pillow fight finally ended. Zhan Zhao huffed and grabbed the Doraemon pajamas on his way to the bathroom. He took a look at Bai Yutang, who was buried under the pillows, and said, "I going to shower first!! The next person to shower has to clean the bathroom!!"
Round 2, victory!
When Bai Yutang was done with his shower and cleaning the bathroom, it was already 2 am in the morning. He walked out of the bathroom in the Hello Kitty pajamas to find that the lights in the living room were still on.
Zhan Zhao lolled in the sofa with a document in his hand, fast asleep. Bai Yutang walked over with light steps and removed the document from his hand.
Zhan Zhao seemed to be in deep sleep. He was unusually quiet as he took steady breaths. Bai Yutang sighed softly. This was the only time that the cat was slightly more docile.
Bai Yutang reached out to Zhan Zhao, placing one hand on his shoulders and the other under his knees, and gently lifted the latter. He then carried Zhan Zhao to the bedroom with great effort as Bai Yutang scolded Zhan Zhao in his heart, "This damn cat. Is he actually made up of weights? He looks so skinny, but he's so darn heavy..." Despite so, his steps were as steady as ever as made his way into the bedroom.
He placed Zhan Zhao onto the bed, turned off the lights and it was time for bed.
5 minutes later.
Thud.
Bai Yutang had gloriously fallen off the bed from Zhan Zhao's kick.
Anger!!
Bai Yutang jumped to his feet. Just as he was about to turn on the bedside lamp and start Round 300 with that cat...
Zhan Zhao was still sound asleep, hugging his pillow in his arms. This man usually looked very graceful, but he had such a terrible sleeping posture. He even muttered, "Damn mouse... hmm... Round 3, victory..."
Hugging his pillow, Bai Yutang felt like crying a little.
Just why is this happening?!
1. Written as '秀才遇到兵' This is only part of the phrase, "秀才遇到兵，有理說不清' which generally means that it's difficult for a scholar to reason with a soldier who's more brawns than brains. ↩The next morning, an energised Zhan Zhao and a yawning Bai Yutang entered the police station together.
"By the way, why were you sleeping on the floor last night?" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang in puzzlement.
Oh, the anger in Bai Yutang's heart...
As soon as they walked through the entrance, they ran into Zhang Long, Wang Chao and Ma Han who were carrying a mountain of documents.
"Head!" Zhang Long called out when he saw Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.
"How is it?" The two of them took some of the load from them and they all headed for the elevator.
Zhang Long shook his head with a sigh, "There's a lot of information to go through. All the victims are different and we couldn't find anything noteworthy. So we brought all the files over to look through over the next two days."
"Wang Chao, did you find those documents at Wu Hao's place?" Zhan Zhao asked.
Wang Chao replied with a wry smile, "It's like we were cursed1. When we got there, we ran into some firefighters putting out a fire!"
"What?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exclaimed in shock at the same time, "Wu Hao's place caught on fire?"
"That's right, it took about half an hour to extinguish the fire. When we went in to take a look, all the papers were burned to crisps."
"You're saying that only the papers were burned?" Bai Yutang asked.
"After inspecting the scene, the experts from the Arson Department said that this fire was obviously done deliberately! With bookshelves, cabinets, and desks, all the places where papers are kept as the main targets," Wang Chao shrugged.
"After that, we searched the place one more time and we found some pieces of paper... paper ashes..." Wang Chao said while showing the paper box in his hand to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "This is a present for Jiang Ping."
Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other and laughed, "Well that's enough for Jiang Ping fiddle with and piece together all afternoon."
They exited the elevator and briskly walked into the S.C.I. office.
"Where's Zhao Hu?" Bai Yutang scanned the office but didn't find him anywhere, "Anything on the black Honda I asked him to look into?"
"We already found out that it's a stolen car," Jiang Ping who was engrossed in the computer in front of him looked up and said, "Just now, our colleagues from the Traffic Department called, so he went down to get the files..."
Then, the office doors opened and in came a gloomy-faced Gongsun.
One look at his complexion and Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang knew that he must have been up all night in the autopsy room.
"How is it?" Bai Yutang asked while handing Gongsun the coffee he didn't hadn't gotten the chance to drink.
Gongsun took the coffee and sneered, "The person who did it is a complete psycho!!" As he said that, Gongsun handed the thick stack of autopsy report to Bai Yutang.
"Guys!! It's time for a meeting," Bai Yutang called everyone to the meeting room.
Gongsun explained the cause of Wu Hao's death, "During the preliminary investigation at the prison yesterday, I found that he was poisoned. As his heart had stopped under abnormal conditions. However, I didn't find any poison in his stomach or bloodstream. But I did find something else."
Gongsun paused for a bit before saying, "Pethidine hydrochloride2."
?
Bai Yutang and crew were stupefied momentarily. What is that?
"Demerol3," Zhan Zhao suddenly frowned and looked at Gongsun, "Its function and effect on the human body is the same as Morphine. But its analgesic4 and anaesthetic effects are weaker and only about 1/10 and 1/8 of Morphine respectively. This is a heavily regulated anaesthetic drug."
Gongsun nodded his head.
"Drugs?" Bai Yutang glanced at Gongsun, "But Wu Hao has no history of drug abuse. Plus if the effects of Demerol are weaker, how did it kill him?"
Gongsun nodded and continued, "That's why I said this guy is a psycho." Then he pulled out another photo and placed it in front of everyone, "This is the victim's left chest. Look at the area nearthe heart!!"
Everyone gathered together to get a closer look, only to see that there's an extremely tiny red dot in the region right on top of the victim's heart.
"What's this?" Zhang Long asked, confused.
"A hole made by injection," Gongsun answered.
"Oh, I get it..." Bai Yutang looked to Zhan Zhao and said, "Cat, do you remember that lunatic number 2 said that the was holding a needle?"
Zhan Zhao nodded. Then, Bai Yutang asked Gongsun, "The murderer inserted the needle directly into Wu Hao's heart and injected the Demerol in there, right?"
Gongsun pushed up his glasses with his index finger and replied, "That's right! With just one needle, the person will die from heart failure within 5 minutes."
Exchanging looks, everyone saw that shock was plastered all over their faces.
Zhan Zhao picked up the photo and commented, "This man might actually be a doctor."
"I think so too," Gongsun concurred, "Even if he isn't a doctor, his occupation should be one that grants him access to such controlled anaesthetic. And based on the position and technique of injection, he must have been professionally trained."
At this moment, the door to the conference room opened and Zhao Hu hurried in.
"Head, the report is here," He said as he handed it to Bai Yutang.
Opening the document, Bai Yutang saw this was just a registration record for lost cars. After looking through it for a bit, his face suddenly turned grim.
"What's the matter? Is there something wrong with the car?" Seeing Bai Yutang's expression turn for the worse, Zhan Zhao asked hurriedly.
"There's nothing wrong with the car," Bai Yutang responded while shaking his head, "It's just that the location where it was taken from is a little odd."
?
"Odd? What's that supposed to mean?" Zhan Zhao looked at him with a puzzled expression on his face.
Bai Yutang turned to stare at Zhan Zhao's face intently and said, "It was stolen near the north gate of C University."
!
"Cat, if I recall, you go down to C University once a week to give lectures to the psychology students, don't you?"
"..."
Zhan Zhao nodded his head, "The building for the Psychology Department is directly facing the north gate..."
Bai Yutang closed the report, looking a little worried, "A car that was lost near where you teach, kept stalking you yesterday and even tried to run you over last night..."
Zhan Zhao smiled bitterly in resignation, "Seems like... it's really coming after me..."
1. Written as '邪了门了'↩
2. A synthetic compound used as a painkilling drug, especially for women in labour (taken from google)↩
3. The brand name for pethidine, also known as meperidine (taken from Wikipedia)↩
4. Painkilling effect↩
Check the novel "SCI Mystery Files Book 1" For more...
Credits goes to original author and translator
