S.C.I. Mystery Vol. 1, Ch. 57

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Magic Murderer 12: Numerologist

Ma Han went to the security monitoring room of the Entertainment City. After showing his ID, he drove the security guard away and watched the surveillance videos alone.

According to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, in the hall within the last ten minutes there would be—Zhao Jue.

The name was undoubtedly a bombshell for the entire S.C.I. team. He really hoped that Bai Yutang was just joking.

The meticulous Ma Han pulled up the entirety of the ten-minutes of footage and looked at it frame by frame. A figure clearly appeared in the frame of view... his hair was longer, and the silencer was gone~~ But it was Zhao Jue. He even deliberately glanced at the surveillance camera~~ With a sneering smile on his face, as if he was laughing at someone. He was not afraid of being discovered.

Ma Han's psychological qualities were good, but he still felt his heartbeat speed up. What did it mean? He pulled over the security guard’s chair from behind him to sit down and stabilize his emotions a little. At that moment, there was suddenly a slight footstep that sounded from outside the door... It was extremely quiet, like a person walking barefoot~~

Quickly flashing to the door, Ma Han listened to the movement outside. Soon, he heard the footsteps from just behind the door, and after a while, the door was pushed open a little bit...

Ma Han took a step back, grabbed the doorknob, and pulled hard. He reached out to grab the person who fell in and threw them towards the floor in the middle of the room. He heard a scream—a woman.

As soon as he looked, he saw a woman in a luxurious evening dress with long hair sitting on the floor, rubbing her ankles and staring angrily at Ma Han.

"Why is it you?" Ma Han looked at Chen Jiayi on the ground, very puzzled.

"Why is it me? You know I'm still trying so hard!" Chen Jiayi stood up next to the stool. The heels of her stilettos had broken, so she sat on the stool and rubbed her feet.

"What are you doing?" Ma Han asked with a frown.

"I wanted to see what you are doing in the surveillance room..." Chen Jiayi said carefully, "Are you a spy?"

Ma Han shook his head, then walked to the computer and started exporting the video. He asked her casually, "Are you all right?"

"My feet hurt a bit." Chen Jiayi looked at the busy Ma Han. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Ma Han burned the video onto a disk, ready to take back to the S.C.I. Afterwards, he opened other videos and took a quick look, scanning for the presence of Zhao Jue.

"Huh? Isn't that Master Zhao?" Chen Jiayi suddenly pointed to Zhao Jue in a video.

"What?" Mahan looked back at her in surprise, "Do you know him?"

"En." Jiayi nodded. "He is my numerologist (1)."

"Numerologist?!" Ma Han adjusted his emotions and tried to calm down. "You just called him Master Zhao. What's his name?"

"It seemed to be... Zhao Jue." Chen Jiayi thought for a while, "My friend introduced me to him. He’s very amazing (2)."

Ma Han sat on the other chair and said to himself, "My God..."



Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao followed Shen Qian to an event room where Shen Ling was chatting with a few friends.

"Ling Ling, these two police officers want to talk to you." Shen Qian pushed open the door and walked in.

Shen Ling was slightly stunned and nodded. Her friends all stood up and left tactfully. Kong Cheng stood up and walked up to Shen Qian, "Boss, do I need to stay?"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao gave Kong Cheng a curious look.

Shen Qian introduced him, "He is my lawyer." After that, he nodded to Kong Cheng.

Kong Cheng smiled at Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, "Is this a formal police inquiry?"

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other: to deal with the lawyer—Tactic C.
Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang embarrassedly, "Xiao Bai, we don't have the relevant permissions."

"Hmm~~" Bai Yutang touched his chin. "It’s true that if it’s informal, she has the right to refuse to answer questions."

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Well, you go back and apply for an arrest warrant."

"Arrest warrant?" Bai Yutang wondered. "Arrest her for a retrail?"

"Nn~~ According to the relevant evidence, Miss Shen is suspected of committing murder ten years ago, and Boss Shen is suspected of covering it up..." Zhan Zhao looked at the lawyer, "Does Attorney Kong think that we should just talk like this, or should we go back for official procedures? "

Bai Yutang nodded twice, "Yes, ah, today is the opening of the Entertainment City. The Boss hasn’t even made a speech, and both the brother and sister were invited to the police station. Shen Group's stock may fall very badly tomorrow."

Kong Cheng smiled a little awkwardly, "Are you two police officers intimidating us?"

Bai Yutang also smiled innocently, "I didn't show a police officer identification~~ Isn't this a private meeting? Moreover, it’s the question-and-answer type."

Shen Qian patted Kong Cheng, "You go out. We can talk in private."

The lawyer was sent away, and everyone else sat in the room.

Shen Ling kept her head down and seemed nervous.

"Whatever you want to ask, just ask," Shen Qian smiled and lit a cigarette, leaning his legs against the sofa.

Bai Yutang looked at Shen Ling and asked, "Miss Shen, can you recall the case of Xu Jiali ten years ago for us?"

"..." Shen Ling was silent for a while. "It’s been a long time. I can't remember it clearly."

"We have already asked Kong Liping and Li Xu in advance and have a certain understanding of the events at that time." Zhan Zhao said seriously, "I don't think your experience at that time was of the kind that could be forgotten casually."

Taking a deep breath, Shen Ling said, "Jiali was killed by Tong Ming. I saw it."

"What was the specific situation?" Bai Yutang asked.

"At the time, Zhenzhen, Liping and I had finished dancing, and we went to the dressing room when we ran into Tong Ming coming out. He was covered with blood and stumbled off. We went in and saw Jiali lying there." Shen Ling took a sip of water, then continued, "We were going to call the police, but then Li Xu and Qingyao came in. They decided to help Tong Ming cover up the crime... Then, we forged the scene."

"Why did you three help?" Bai Yutang asked.

"We had to keep Tong Ming. He was our coach, and we had an important show coming up. It was an opportunity for each of us."

Zhan Zhao stared at Bai Yutang and asked Shen Qian instead, "Why did you help Kong Liping last night?"

"She said she had very important things to do and asked me to help her look after the child." Shen Qian answered readily.

"She asked you to take care of the child, so you went?" Bai Yutang expressed doubt, "You didn't seem to be on such close terms."

Shen Qian laughed helplessly, "I am the boss of the Shen family. She is just a housewife, but she could tell the media that my sister once forged the last case of a famous serial murder case... so generally, I have to do what she asks. "

"This is the reason why you have been so interested in this case since the beginning?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Yes." Shen Qian nodded. "Recently, the serial killer started to commit crimes again, and the victim was so coincidentally that Zhang Zhenzhen. I have to be vigilant."

Nodding, Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao, meaning—How is it?

Zhan Zhao winked at him—We’re almost at the breaking point.
So, the two got up and said goodbye.

Going out the door and walking into the elevator, Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang, "Do you think that what he said is true?"

Bai Yutang thought for a while, "It's half true and half fake."

Going downstairs, they saw Ma Han in the distance, standing next to his car and waiting. There was a beautiful woman beside him~~ someone familiar.

When Zhan Zhao saw Ma Han, he suddenly remembered Zhao Jue's affairs and rushed over. He grabbed Ma Han and asked, "How was it? Was there anything?"

Ma Han nodded and took out the disc, "Clearly."

Although Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao had made certain mental preparations, they briefly lost their abilities to speak—Zhao Jue was really not dead.

Coming back to reality first, Bai Yutang looked at Chen Jiayi next to Ma Han in bewilderment.

Ma Han said, "There are more unusual things. She knows Zhao Jue."

"What?" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were surprised.

"Is there anything strange? He’s my numerologist." Chen Jiayi said, "A lot of people have consulted with him."

"Numerologist?" Zhan Zhao almost cried in shock, "Like fortune telling?"

"En." Chen Jiayi nodded, "Redeeming sins, guiding the way of life."

"Do you know where he lives?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"I know where his studio is, if he lives there..."

"Take us!" Without saying another word, Bai Yutang opened the door and stuffed Chen Jiayi in. Everyone got in the car and drove as fast as Chen Jiayi could speak.

The car entered the city center of S City. As Chen Jiayi said that the location was a pedestrian street, everyone got out of the car since it couldn’t enter.

The street was one of S City’s shopping malls and had a large number of fashion brand stores, large shopping centers, and high-end restaurants.

Under the guidance of Chen Jiayi, the four came to the door of a quaintly decorated gallery.

When they entered the gallery, there was a young man with fine clothes and braids, full of artistic style.

"Jiayi?" The young man said in not-so-fluent Chinese, "I don’t remember you making an appointment today."

As they got closer, they realized that the person who spoke was not Asian. He somewhat resembled an Italian.

"Andy, is Master Zhao here?" Chen Jiayi asked, "I have a few friends who said they would like to meet him."

"Oh... wow!" Andy glanced at everyone. Just as he was about to speak more, his eyes fell on Zhan Zhao's face, and he suddenly cried, "Are you the model of that painting?!"

"What model?" Bai Yutang was puzzled.

"Ah! You too!" Andy pointed to Bai Yutang excitedly.

He was confusing everyone.

"Let's go see." Andy walked up the second floor with the four others. The old wooden stairs made a creaking noise. The upper floor was like a studio, piled with a lot of oil paintings. The two most prominent ones in the middle were placed on easels. They were portraits of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang. They were so beautiful that they were almost like real people. No wonder Andy was so shocked.

"Andy, do we have guests?" A man slowly walked down alone from the third floor... He had a white sweater and long black hair...

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked up at him, feeling like it was a little unreal~~

"Zhao Jue!" Bai Yutang frowned, reaching for the handcuffs on his waist and walking over.

"Ya~~" Zhao Jue escaped with some panic, hiding behind Zhan Zhao. He showed a terrified look and grasped Zhan Zhao's shoulders with both hands. Seeing that Bai Yutang's face was pale, he blinked slightly mischievously and rubbed Zhan Zhao’s shoulders.

Bai Yutang said coldly, "You are suspected of multiple murders. I want to take you back to the police station."

Zhao Jue blinked innocently and leaned into Zhan Zhao's ear to say, "He is so fierce."

Zhan Zhao had recovered from his shocked state. He slowly turned around, looked at Zhao Jue, and laughed, "You were not afraid that we would find you. That is to say, you are fully prepared. Isn't that it?"

Zhao Jue nodded proudly, then walked to Andy and asked, "Andy, how long have you been working here for me?"

"Ah? ... three years." Andy was a little confused.

"Three years?" Ma Han looked at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang incredulously. Zhao Jue escaped only a few months ago. How could it have been three years?

"Jiayi, how long have I been consulting for you?" Zhao Jue continued to ask.

Chen Jiayi thought for a while, "It's been almost a year," After she spoke, she looked at Bai Yutang and the others, "So you wanted me to bring you here because you wanted to catch him? You must be wrong. Master Zhao is a good person!"

Zhan Zhao said nothing, but stared at Zhao Jue's eyes, "Implanting memories with hypnotism?"

Zhao Jue smiled innocently, then shook his head again. He stretched out his hands to show Zhan Zhao.

Everyone was surprised to find that his palm was flat, without fingerprints, palm prints, or anything.

"The game has started again, hasn't it?" Zhan Zhao asked Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue stretched out his hand and gently touched Zhan Zhao's jaw. He noticed Bai Yutang's cold face and quickly withdrew his hand, laughing, "Because there are good playmates, there are many more toys."

After Zhan Zhao listened to him quietly, he looked around slowly, ignoring Zhao Jue. Instead, he turned to look at Chen Jiayi. He gently reached out and snapped his fingers in her ear.

Chen Jiayi froze for a moment, and suddenly became a little dazed. Zhan Zhao patted her shoulder gently, leaned into her ear and whispered for nearly three minutes. Then, he patted her shoulder again.

After doing all this, Zhan Zhao asked, "Miss Chen, when was your first time here?"

"Uh..." Chen Jiayi rubbed her temples and looked around, "Well... yes, three days ago~~ I have a headache..."

After she finished speaking, Zhan Zhao reached out again and snapped a finger in her ear.

Chen Jiayi's eyes returned to their original state, and she looked around in a puzzled manner. Why was everyone looking at her like that?

"Hah~~" Zhan Zhao shook his head. "You painted those two paintings for instruction. For the purpose of today. Anyone who has seen us will automatically enter the hypnotic state you specified, and their memory will be confused."

Zhao Jue happily clapped and laughed. Finally, he put away his smile and said with great distress, "So, will you arrest me?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head. "No. No, we have no evidence."

Bai Yutang put away the handcuffs and pulled Zhan Zhao, "Kitty, let's go."

Zhan Zhao turned and went downstairs, and Zhao Jue reluctantly kept up with them for the first few steps, just like a child whose playmates were leaving.

Bai Yutang turned around at the last moment, preparing to go downstairs. Zhao Jue suddenly said, "Life is like a game~~ Isn't it?"

Looking back, Bai Yutang stared at Zhao Jue for a long time and nodded, "Yes, but games are not life."

Zhao Jue tilted his head, somewhat puzzled.

"A person who thinks of a game as life is destined to play in it... isn't that right?" After that, Bai Yutang turned around and walked away without looking back.

Zhao Jue watched them leave and became quieter. He went over to the two paintings and reached out to gently stroke the faces of the people in the paintings... In his eyes there was faint sadness.




Translation Notes:

(1) A type of fortune teller

(2) The word used for amazing (slang) literally translates to deity.

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