S.C.I.谜案集 (Special Criminal Investigation) Book 2

Case 3. Password Killer: Chapter 26. Clue

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang arrived outside Yanhe Tea Restaurant. The restaurant was not large, and the decoration was relatively simple. It looked to have been there a long time. As it was not mealtime yet, there were not many customers in the restaurant. The waiter was currently cleaning the place, while a middle-aged man was lying behind the counter, calculating the bills.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang walked in. The waiter in the shop instinctively looked up and said, "Welcome. How many people?"

Bai Yutang motioned for two people. The waiter took them to a seat near the window and brought a menu for them to order.

Instead of looking at the menu, Bai Yutang just asked the waiter, "I heard that the Rice with Stewed Chicken Leg here is very famous?"

"Um... Rice with Stewed Chicken Leg? The waiter seemed a little confused and said, "Sir, we have different dishes here, but there's no Rice with Stewed Chicken Leg."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other. Right then, the boss behind the counter looked up and said with a smile, "Rice with Stewed Chicken Leg has been around for years. I stopped selling it four to five years ago."

"That's a pity." Bai Yutang looked through the menu helplessly. "Our friend is still thinking about it, saying that he came to eat when he was with his girlfriend."

"Oh, he must have been a regular customer." The boss packed up, then walked out and said, "We can still make it now. It's just that it will be fried rice with minced chicken and our chicken leg." As he spoke, he told the waiter, "If you go in and ask the old man Liu for two Rice with Stewed Chicken Leg, he will know what to do."

"Okay." When the waiter went in, the boss looked at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang with a smile. "I've been running this restaurant for many years, and no one has mentioned the Rice with Stewed Chicken Leg for a long time. I really do miss it."

"Boss, why do you not sell it anymore?" Zhan Zhao asked curiously. "Everyone says it's delicious."

The boss smiled and said, "it's not part of our menu. Several years ago, a group of students always came here to eat and liked to order fried rice with minced chicken and a chicken leg. I just turned it into Rice with Stewed Chicken Leg and sold it directly to them. I could even wash less dishes this way. However, those students graduated later and one day never came back. That's why I no longer serve the Rice with Stewed Chicken Leg."

"Do you still remember the students?" Bai Yutang asked the boss.

"Um..." The boss frowned, thought for a moment and then said, "I don't know their names. I think I remember what they look like, but it's been a long time. I don't know how they have changed now."

"Can you see if they are in these photos?" Bai Yutang took out a bunch of photos and spread them on the table for the boss to check.

The boss looked down, hesitated, then looked up and asked Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, "Gentlemen... Why are you guys asking?"

Bai Yutang took out his badge and showed it to him. "There's something we want to ask you."

The boss nodded as soon as he saw that they were policemen. "Officers, are you guys investigating a case?" As he spoke, he moved a stool and sat down. After looking at the photos carefully, he first singled out Hao Mo and Ye Ling and said, "these two are lovers who often came here. The woman is very chatty and lively, and the man is pretty silent. I remember them quite clearly."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, nodded then let the boss continue.

"These people have been here as well." The boss also grabbed the photos of Hao Mo's four roommates, pointed at Zhang Hua and said, "this man quarrelled with that girl in my restaurant."