S.C.I.谜案集 Mystery Special Criminal Investigation Novel [𝕮𝖔𝖒𝖕𝖑𝖊𝖙𝖊𝖉✔]

Murderer 15 Killer 135

After exiting the postgrad dorm, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao decide to go back to the crime scene for a second look and start to walk back towards the psychology departmental building.
"Xiao Zhan!"
Hearing someone calls out to him from behind, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang turn their head around at the same time.
The man who called out to them is a fortyish middle-aged man wearing glasses and a white coat. He manages to catch up with them after a few steps.
"Dr Xu?" Zhan Zhao recognises him as the university doctor Xu Ting.
Catching up, Xu Ting studies Bai Yutang beside Zhan Zhao first, he grins, "Is that him?"
Zhan Zhao smiles awkwardly. He knows that Dr Xu is the gossipy type, but right now he is not really in the mood to deal with those.
Xu Ting didn't notice the sombre expression on Zhan Zhao, he continues enthusiastically, "Just now Dr Zhang brought old man Xu over to the infirmary. He was so mad, Jesus, breathless and shaking all over. We all thought he wasn't going to make it."
"Is prof Xu alright?" Zhan Zhao asks urgently.
"He's alright. He got over it. He has sweated so much. I have never seen him so mad in the whole 20 years I have been working here."
Hearing this, Bai Yutang winks at Zhan Zhao gleefully, meaning 'He is still alive, lucky him!'
Zhan Zhao scowls at him.
Xu Ting wanted to continue his gossip, but the two listenings have lost their patience. They excuse themselves by saying that they have other matters to attend to and walk away hurriedly.
They arrive under the psychology departmental building in no time.
Zhan Zhao tries to look up at the rooftop, but the sunlight is too strong and he can barely see the fences outside.
"Xiao Bai, this is outrageous. You can see under this kind of condition?"
Bai Yutang says, proud, "This is nothing. My ability to see moving objects is the best in the air force. I can see it just as clearly even if it's an airborne missile, much less some fences."
Zhan Zhao glances over at him, this white mouse is so proud of himself, he can almost see his tail shooting up.
Zhan Zhao borrows the binoculars from another police officer and looks up at the rooftop carefully.
After a while, he puts down the binoculars and frowns, "Something is off."
"What? What did you find?" Bai Yutang picks up the binoculars and starts to look for himself as well.
"The fence doesn't seem to be tilted in the right way?" Zhan Zhao asks Bai Yutang.
Bai Yutang puts down the binoculars and looks at Zhan Zhao, "Now that you mentioned it, you're right. If Li Feifan fell because he was leaning against the broken fence, then the fence should be flipped outwards. Even if Li Feifan manages to grab onto the fence before he fell, the fence should be flipped outwards then bent downwards. But over here..."
"Indeed." Zhan Zhao continues, "The fence is almost fully vertical and does not flip outwards at all."
"Cat, I have an idea." Bai Yutang announces suddenly.
Zhan Zhao answers, "That's coincidental. I have an idea as well."
The two of them smile at each other in understanding and walks into the building.
This time they didn't go up to the rooftop but instead went to one level below the rooftop, the top floor of the building, level 13.
University C's psychology departmental building is newly built, so not all floors have been fully renovated. The top levels, level 12 and 13 have been sitting idle as a storage space for raw materials and other stuff and doesn't even have doors.
The two of them follow the corridor, checking every room. When they reach the fifth room, they notice the hanging fence outside the window.
Zhan Zhao pulls Bai Yutang who is stepping in back and points at the unit number on the door – 13-5.
Bai Yutang is surprised, "135?"
Zhan Zhao nods. It seems that they are in the right place.
The two walks into the room carefully, sticking to a path against the wall. The ground is messy and covered with thick layers of dust. It seems that the ground has been deliberately wiped, though there are no footprints, it is obvious someone has been here.
The two of them walks to the window and realises that the fence is less than a meter away from the windowsill. Bai Yutang removes his coat, hands it over to Zhan Zhao and turns to walk out. Zhan Zhao grabs hold of him, "What are you planning to do? This is level 13. It's no joke!"
Bai Yutang taps on Zhan Zhao's nose lightly, grinning, "Silly cat. I'm not afraid of the heights."
Zhan Zhao is conflicted, "Or let's get more people in here and do some safety measures first."
Bai Yutang has already loosened his collar and sleeve buttons and taps on Zhan Zhao's jaw with his fingers, "Don't worry." And dashes out of the door towards the rooftop immediately after that. Zhan Zhao only has the time to shout after him, "Be careful!" before he disappears. Zhan Zhao can only hold his coat by the window anxiously.
It's just been a couple of minutes before Bai Yutang is hanging off the fence just outside the window. Terrified, Zhan Zhao wants to go and pull Bai Yutang in, but Bai Yutang yells, "Cat, move aside."
Zhan Zhao backs away reflexively. Bai Yutang swings himself in the air a couple of times before leaping into the window nimbly and landing on the ground steadily. He shakes off the dust in his hand.
Zhan Zhao is pissed, "Can you not always be up to something to make yourself look cool?"
Bai Yutang shrugs, "I am already cool."
"You..." Zhan Zhao glares at Bai Yutang, as he couldn't find a retort in his annoyance. He knows that Bai Yutang is doing this dangerous stunt because he is afraid that he would compromise the pieces of evidence on the windowsill otherwise. Though he has always known that Bai Yutang has little concern for his own personal safety when on a case, but to see it for himself is still utterly terrifying.
Bai Yutang finishes dusting himself off, "So, we've solved the mystery of the locked rooftop door. But there is one more thing I don't get."
He puts his coat back on and straightens the collar, "If the killer first pushed Li Feifan down, then climbed down using the fence. He couldn't have had the time to do it without anyone seeing him."
Zhan Zhao nods, "Yes, we ran out the moment we saw Li Feifan fall but didn't see anyone. Plus it's in front of so many people, it would be too risky. Unless..."
"Unless what?" Bai Yutang looks at Zhan Zhao, puzzled.
Zhan Zhao stares at the fence outside the window, "Unless Li Feifan didn't fall from the rooftop."
Bai Yutang is stunned for a second before immediately realises, "Yeah! We got misled by the fence. Li Feifan was thrown out from here. The killer probably has arranged the fence that way last night to make it seems like Li Feifan has locked himself in."
Zhan Zhao nods, "Normal people would not look up for no reason. Even if they did, they wouldn't be able to see it clearly anyway."
Bai Yutang examines the surroundings again, "This means that this is the actual crime scene. But the killer is really bold. After he has thrown Li Feifan down and exited this room, he could easily have been spotted or suspected... And why go through all these troubles?"
Zhan Zhao considers for a while and starts to look conflicted.
"Cat, what is it?"  From his expression, Bai Yutang knows that Zhan Zhao has thought of something already.
"From the perspective of the perp, there must be a reason why he is doing this. However, he might have overdone it."
"How so?" Bai Yutang listens to Zhan Zhao's professional analysis with interest.
"The killer spent all these efforts to cover up the fact that this is the true crime scene. And the purpose of covering up the true crime scene, is always, to create an alibi for himself."
"Correct." Bai Yutang nods in agreement.
"The so-called alibi is in fact just removing oneself from the crime scene during the duration of crime." Zhan Zhao continues, "So following the killer's logic and dividing the timeline of the crime into stages, then the whole case can be divided into four stages. Li Feifan enters the building, gets murdered, discovered upon falling off the building, the killer leaves."
"Indeed." Bai Yutang considers thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.
"The sequence of the first two-stage, Li Feifan enters a building and gets murdered, cannot be changed." Zhan Zhao continues patiently, "But the sequences of the latter two stages, falling off the building and killer leaves, can be changed."
Zhan Zhao stops for a minute at this point to let Bai Yutang absorb this information. Bai Yutang's superior comprehension skills allowed him to understand Zhan Zhao almost immediately, "I got it. It means that the killer actually left the crime scene before Li Feifan fell. Since everyone would think that murder and fall off the building happened in the same instant, while in reality, it might not have. The killer just had to leave this place before Li Feifan fell and be seen somewhere else, then cause the fall. He would then have a perfect alibi in hand."
Zhan Zhao nods his head in satisfaction, Bai Yutang is indeed smart. He did not just understand where Zhan Zhao is going but is also able to continue the deduction.
"Therefore 135, this set of number becomes the key," Zhan Zhao continues, "This set of numbers directly points to the true crime scene and exposes the intent of the killer. This means that this set of number is indeed written by Li Feifan himself."
Bai Yutang is deep in thoughts for a moment, "This means that after the killer has left, Li Feifan was not actually dead yet, but he couldn't help himself anymore. So, all he could do was to leave this message."
Zhan Zhao gazes out at the windowsill and the fence outside the window, and says suddenly, "When you leapt in just now, I thought of something."
Bai Yutang follows Zhan Zhao's line of sight, "You mean... The distance between the windowsill and the fence is the perfect length to leverage a person on?"
Zhan Zhao says bitterly, "Perhaps... Li Feifan was only unconscious for a short while, during which he was set up there."
Bai Yutang pats Zhan Zhao's shoulder in comfort and sighs, "Once he has woken and moved his body, he would certainly fall. And the seconds while falling, he left us this message."
"This is too cruel. He was just a kid. Who would do this to him?"
Seeing the pain on Zhan Zhao's face, Bai Yutang pulls him in, letting him lean against his shoulder and says softly, "Cat, this is not a one-man job."
Zhan Zhao shudders, "Two men?"
Bai Yutang strokes his hair gently, "You have already come to the same conclusion, didn't you? Between Li Feifan entering the building and his fall, the two people who has left the building are..."
"Professor Xu and Dr Zhang..." Zhan Zhao answers in confusion, "In theory it's true... But only in theory."
"Cat." Bai Yutang cups Zhan Zhao's face and gazes seriously into his eyes, "Do you remember what Dr Xu said just now?"
Zhan Zhao widens his eyes in shock and says in despair, "He said, professor Xu was sweating so much..."
Bai Yutang nods, "Heart attack wouldn't induce sweating, right? That amount of exercise, for an old man like him, would be too much. That's why he was breathless and shaking all over... And the person who faked the crime scene should be Dr Zhang. The two of them killed Li Feifan!"