Case Files Chapter 100: Horror at the Studio (9)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

After hearing Guan Jin’s report, Wen JingHan gathered everyone for another small meeting.

“According to everyone’s investigations, in the two murder cases, the only alibis people have are with each other through work relations. Moreover, no one seems to have any connections to Guo ZiZhen and Zhao Qi outside of work, nor any serious issues with him. Currently, we haven’t found any connection between the two victims, either. Their murders were definitely premeditated, which means there was a reason for choosing them. Since we can’t find a connection, the only thing we can do is to look further into the methodology.” Wen JingHan paused.

Ding Ding turned on the projector. “Zhao Qi died in the same way as how the Guilt script described a death; Guo ZiZhen’s death was the exact same as a scene in The Supernatural Darkroom. There must be a reason why the killer is so specific about this.”

“So then did this killer watch too many horror movies and in their psychosis, insert themself into the movie and started to murder people indscriminately, or are they deliberately trying to mislead police using this specific M.O. to cover their true motive?” mused Chen QiaoYu.

“There’s also that prank with the flower. What does Yan Qing have to do with all this?” asked Gu Xiang.

“Gu Xiang, Zheng Fei, keep looking into relations between the people involved in this case. Ding Ding, QiaoYu, Lin Bai, use your connections and the internet to look into the connections between the three movies. Look into actors, investors, and producers. Someone at JingTian Entertainment is willing to help us, so just ask Mo Wei for anything you might need,” instructed Wen JingHan.

“Mo Wei? He’s cooperating this actively?” This didn’t seem to match up with Chen QiaoYu’s previous impression of him.

“This investigation doesn’t do any harm to them. On the contrary, it’s better for them if we clear this up as soon as possible, especially since their star might be in danger. This time, a well-known actor died. With the addition of the previous case, the media is already having a field day. Although we haven’t given them any information, their imaginations can run wild. JingTian is in the middle of this storm, so it’s a wise move for them to cooperate with us.”

“They don’t think Yan Qing has something to do with this?” Ding Ding was suspicious.

Wen JingHan smiled. “They don’t think, they know.”

“What do they know? Why do they know?”

“If they’re not talking, we’ll just look into it.”

Guan Jin pointed at himself. “What about me?”

“As for you,” Wen JingHan patted the pile of papers, “look through these and use your superpower.”

Guan Jin wasn’t too happy. The only reason Mo Wei is cooperating is because of my little chat with Min Yan. Guan Jin would also bet that Wen JingHan had to know something about Yan Qing, and was only pretending to be clueless. How could he have been so blind before and had a good impression of this insidious person?

“Hey, do you really not know anything about Yan Qing?” Guan Jin asked in a low voice after everyone had dispersed.

“What are you talking about?” Wen JingHan asked innocently.

Fine, keep on pretending.

“Alright, even though we’re the police, we don’t need to know everything. Knowing who the criminal is as well as the facts and motives of the crime is enough.” Wen JingHan grinned and patted Guan Jin on the shoulder.

You fox!

*****

Guan Jin spent the morning flipping through the files. Even though he was basically a scanner, the scanning process was still very demanding.

Le Fan strolled up to him. “Guan Jin, want to grab lunch together? There’s braised pork today.”

Braised pork instantly trumped work.

As they ate, Guan Jin casually asked, “How’s your sex life recently?”

“…Can you have some tact?!”

“What, it’s just a question.” His expression was solemn.

“You really were good at hiding it before, but your true self was revealed after you hit your head.”

“Are you disappointed?”

“I never had much expectations in the first place, so how could I be disappointed?” Le Fan looked at Guan Jin. “Though the current you seems to be more reassuring.”

“Anyway, you and Mr. Jin reconciled just like that?” Guan Jin shifted the topic.

Le Fan shrugged. “Since we’re already going to be together, there’s no point in being so patronizing all the time. It’s fun to poke fun at him occasionally, but not having any limits would just be hurting his feelings. To have someone love you unconditionally and be willing to change themselves for you means that the future can only be even better and even more perfect. His heart’s in the right place, so I’m willing to make an effort as well.”

“Tsk, you’re more sentimental than I expected,” Guan Jin couldn’t help but remark.

Le Fan merely went back to finishing his plate.

Guan Jin didn’t say anything else, but he was lost in thought as he poked at the pork on his plate until it was merely slivers.

*****

In the afternoon, Guan Jin continued to bury his head into the mountain of papers, all the way until nightfall. As he read through weekly entertainment industry gossip columns, high-end fashion magazines, and more, Guan Jin couldn’t help but disdain Wen JingHan for throwing so much unfiltered nonsense at him. Now, his brain was filled with things about how Woman A was suspected of having sexual relations with a wealthy businessman, how Woman B actually used to be a pole dancer, and how Actor C and Actress D were suspected of cheating on their spouses with each other… Who even cared about these things? Guan Jin began to lose faith in humanity.

He rubbed his temples as he ate his takeout dinner; it looked like overusing his superpower would also result in having full storage. As he scanned the headlines for an entertainment newspaper, he suddenly stopped. He looked carefully again; it was from a little-known tabloid gossip magazine, and it said that they had caught a picture of the famous actress, Yu ManTing, staying the night at a real estate tycoon’s house. There was even a blurry picture of an impossible-to-discern person attached to it. A piece of news this unreliable was probably very short-lived, since no one would actually believe it. Why did it feel so familiar? Where had he seen it before?

*****

“I have a question, is Yu ManTing dating a real estate developer?” Guan Jin asked right away after he dialed a number, ignoring the other person’s greeting. 

“…You actually have a lot of potential to become an entertainment reporter,” joked Min Yan before he became serious. “I didn’t hide this from you on purpose, it’s just that I’m sure Yu ManTing has nothing to do with the murder case.”

“It’s up to the police to decide whether it’s relevant or not.”

“Ha, okay, looks like I can only be a good citizen. I’m friends with the CEO of HuaYuan Real Estate, and Guo ZiZhen became his new lover recently. The CEO is actually planning on getting married and having children, but he hasn’t been able to settle down yet. As for who he’s going to marry, it’s most likely going to be that Yu ManTing.”

Guan Jin humphed. “I understand, goodbye.”

“It looks like we’ll have to have a chat with Miss Yu?” The roomful of people had all been listening keenly.

As they were discussing who should talk to Yu ManTing, Wen JingHan came out of his office and glanced at Guan Jin before saying, “Half an hour ago, Zhang Xin was assaulted. He’s being treated at the hospital right now, but we still don’t know if it’s life-threatening or not.”

*****

When Guan Jin, Wen JingHan, and Chen QiaoYu arrived at the mansion, they were stopped outside.

“I’m sorry, but my guest needs his privacy, so we can’t let anyone disturb him,” a person guarding the door said indifferently.

Guan Jin frowned. “Privacy? Even regarding the police?”

Wen JingHan said lightly, “QiaoYu, notify the local police. Tell them someone here is obstructing law enforcement and to come arrest him.”

The guard’s face paled, but he still remained there, unmoving.

“I wonder how loyal your boss is. Would he be willing to go against the police just to side with a mere guard like you?” Wen JingHan continued to wonder out loud.

The guard became restless at this. He was very aware that in the case he really was arrested, his boss would only try to push the blame on him in order to maintain a good relationship with the police.

“That’s enough officers, stop scaring him.” Yan Qing appeared at the door. “Even though you’re the police, you can’t just randomly trespass into private property without a search warrant. However, I’ll invite you all inside to sit down and look around, okay?”

The corner of Guan Jin’s lip twitched; Yan Qing really did take after the Lu family in that he wasn’t easy to deal with.

“This is such a nice house.” Chen QiaoYu looked around at the simple, elegant, and antique furnishings in the room. There was a small patch of bamboo outside the window, and they were still fresh and green despite the winter season.

Yan Qing filled up a few small teacups. “Mn, I like to come and stay here for a while when I’m in a bad mood. You guys are quite well-informed, worthy of being the elite of the police.”

“How did you find out about Zhang Xin’s assault?” Guan Jin directly asked.

Yan Qing sighed. “Last night, I was also at Qinghe 11. When I went outside, I heard a commotion from the second floor and heard that there was an accident. Soon afterwards, I saw emergency medical personnel carry someone out on a stretcher and saw that it was Zhang Xin. At the time, I was stunned.”

Qinghe 11 had a lot of high-end restaurants, bars, hotels, and clubs. Zhang Xin was found, unconscious, on the staircase between the fourth and fifth floors, and his head seemed to have been hit. At the time, Yan Qing happened to be in a hotel on the nineteenth floor. When he saw Zhang Xin being carried out on a stretcher on the second floor, someone had been taking pictures of everything, and Yan Qing was in them. Thus, news and gossip had already been flying around everywhere, and there were various speculations.

“With Min Yan’s power, JingTian can easily cover up this news.” Guan Jin was puzzled.

Yan Qing shook his head. “The big media companies that JingTian has connections with didn’t receive the footage or news at all. On the contrary, it was a lot of smaller tabloids that received them early this morning. Moreover, the photos started circulating around on Weibo, and it’s too late to delete them now.”

“If you can’t provide a reasonable alibi now, it’ll be even more troublesome for you, especially considering the previous case,” said Wen JingHan.

Yan Qing bit his lip lightly. “I have a private room in the hotel, and I just went there yesterday to think about the script by myself. I stayed in the room the entire time until I came out at around eleven.”

“The hotel floor you were on was a VIP suite, so there weren’t any security cameras. If you used the escape stairs to go down and assaulted Zhang Xin before returning, no one would know,” Wen JingHan said straightforwardly.

Zhang Xin smiled bitterly. “If you’re going to speculate like that, I can’t do anything about it, but those are just conjectures. You don’t have proof.”

Chen QiaoYu wanted to say something, but Wen JingHan stopped her. “Then we won’t disturb you any longer, goodbye.”

Chen QiaoYu looked back and stomped in frustration before following him out of the room. Before Guan Jin closed the door, he said, “The police will keep your secrets.”

Yan Qing’s eyes flashed, but he still didn’t say anything.

Guan Jin closed the door. Yan Qing clearly hadn’t been alone at the hotel; he had definitely been with the oldest Lu brother. Hmph, the Special Cases Unit only had a few people, yet he wasn’t even willing to let them know about it? What was the point of pretending…

*****

Meanwhile, in the United States.

Tony continued to gossip about “Little Guan”. “He was really arrogant when he was young, ordering me around all the time. There’s this sandwich he really likes, and I would have to go buy it for him all the time.”

The image of Guan Jin as a child appeared in Lu YunYang’s mind; he must have been very cute… However, according to records he had searched for a long time ago, Guan Jin had never gone abroad when he was younger. Did that mean Tony had gone to Country C when he was younger?

“How did you two meet?” Lu YunYang asked his most pressing question.

“…Haha, we started chatting online, hahaha…”

Chatting online? This was the most unreliable answer he had ever heard. However, Lu YunYang didn’t want to look into Tony, since he was Guan Jin’s most important friend (even though Guan Jin was always bad-mouthing Golden Retriever). Lu YunYang was willing to wait until Guan Jin opened up, and even though that day might never come, he didn’t want to overstep his boundaries again.

*****

After dealing with some tricky matters in the next few days, Lu YunYang was chatting with an unexpected person: the second-in-command of the assassination organization before Hei Xiao died, Felix Chen.

“As the ancestors said, no discord, no concord.” Felix raised a glass of wine.

Lu YunYang clinked glasses with him.

When he was slightly drunk, Lu YunYang still ended up asking, “Are you familiar with Hei Xiao?”

Felix raised an eyebrow. “Oh, Lu, do you still feel guilty about that? Don’t worry, that won’t be an obstacle in our cooperation.”

“I didn’t actually want to have him killed.” Lu YunYang’s expression darkened.

“Hei Xiao was quite the character. He was professional, indifferent, and never missed. It’s a pity he fell to you. However, he wasn’t heartless. He was especially close to his partner, and they were extremely good friends. I even remember, when he was younger and had just joined us, he would often order his partner to go buy a sandwich he liked from a place a few blocks down, and that guy would really go and do it. Yet this type of person…”

 

Lu YunYang was taken aback. “Wait, what did you say?”