S.C.I. MYSTERY CASES BOOK 1 English Translation

Chapter 8 The Numbers Killer - Doctor

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!!"

......