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

Case 3. Password Killer: Chapter 18. Interlude 2

Translator's Note:

Where it's marked with '*', there will be a short note at the end of the chapter.

...........................................................................................................

Everyone was in a good mood after dinner. Gong Sun had suddenly become Mrs. Bai's favourite son, as she kept calling him Ce Ce every couple of sentences.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao ate dessert on the sofa after dinner. Lu Ban, who had not seen them for a long time, lay down beside Zhan Zhao licking its fur. Bai Jintang and Zhan Qitian were talking about something related to business. Bai Yunwen walked to Bai Yutang and asked, "What kind of case have you been working on recently?"

"Oh, it's still the same haunted dormitory case." Bai Yutang shook his head. Zhan Zhao suddenly remembered and asked Bai Yunwen, "By the way, uncle, do you know about the fire at Normal University 14 years ago?"

Bai Yunwen was stunned. He lit a cigar Gong Sun had just gifted him, then nodded with satisfaction and said, "I remember a bit about it... Did a student get seriously injured?"

"Yes," Bai Yutang said. "Dad, you know about it?"

Bai Yunwen thought for a moment and asked Zhan Qitian, "Qitian, do you remember about the case of the fire at Normal University?"

Zhan Qitian thought about it and said, "I remember that case. It was a mess at that time."

"How messy?" Zhan Zhao asked curiously, hugging a pillow.

Zhan Qitian recalled for a moment and then said, "The school told the builder that there was something wrong with the building structure. The student who got burned sued the school for negligence of their duties, and he also sued their classmates. This incident had created a lot of issues and was even in the newspapers... However, the day before the trial, he suddenly said he wanted to settle outside of court."

"Huh?" Both Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao looked at each other in surprise. Then, they looked at Zhan Qitian. "Seriously? After causing such a huge mess, he wanted to settle outside of court?"

Zhan Qitian nodded and said, "At that time, the media had paid a lot of attention because people thought that the burned student was innocent. They were also worried that the school had put pressure on him to give up suing them. I was a prosecutor back then and went to see the student. He was badly burned. I asked him if he wanted to file a lawsuit and told him he can ask me anything he didn't understand. However, he said he didn't want to because the illegal appliance that caught fire belonged to him... If the school and other students sued him in return, he may become even more miserable. At the very least, the school has already promised to protect his life."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other. Curious, Zhan Zhao leaned over and asked, "Dad, do you remember that person's name?"

Zhan Qitian thought for a moment and said, "His surname is Chen, but I don't remember his first name."

"Uncle, are you sure he could speak back then?" Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Qitian was stunned for a moment and nodded, "Yes."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other as thoughts ran through their head.

"What's the matter?" Zhan Qitian asked curiously.

"Chen Jianxian is deaf and mute right now. If it's not caused by the fire, then something else must have happened later, or he is faking it." Bai Yutang wondered, "but what good can it do for him to pretend to be deaf and mute?"

"Why are you guys talking about the case right now? Eat first." Bai Yunwen shook his head and asked Bai Yutang, "Bao Sir should know about this case. Why don't you ask him?"