Chapter 17: The duo’s moment of tacit understanding

Translator: Abo Dammen

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Case One: The Phantom Sniper

The second floor was empty. The convenience store door was wide open. Compared to when they had left, there were some empty plastic cigarette packs near the entrance, likely from hoodlums who had come up to help themselves to cigarettes without paying. The store was mid-sized. It didn’t sell fruits, vegetables, or seafood, but daily necessities were fully stocked. The shelves opposite the checkout counter were filled with colorful boxes, all seemingly of the same category. Xu Pei had never seen such things before. He picked up a colorful box labeled “Extra Large Size” and asked He Yixun, “What’s this?”

He Yixun glanced at it. “Condoms.”

“What are condoms?” Professor Xu asked sincerely. 

Faced with this complete lack of common knowledge, He Yixun was silent for a moment.

“They’re used to prevent pregnancy.”

“So that’s what they are.” Xu Pei had an epiphany and put the box back. “We never use birth control over there.”

For omegas, pregnancy requires marking and knotting. Ordinary intercourse doesn’t lead to pregnancy. As for betas, due to lower hormone levels, pregnancy is extremely difficult and usually doesn’t require deliberate contraception. 

No demand means no business, so such products didn’t exist in Xu Pei’s world.

He Yixun: “Barbarians indeed.”

Xu Pei: ….

Looking at the dazzling array of goods on the shelves, Xu Pei found it hard to connect them to firearms. He picked up a toothbrush at random. Besides cleaning the scene, he couldn’t think of another use. 

His gaze swept over the chewing gum. It seemed somewhat useful. Xu Pei looked back at He Yixun, who was several aisles away, and asked on a whim, “Could the killer have used chewing gum to stick a Bluetooth speaker under the bar counter?”

“There’s tape over here,” He Yixun said.

Alright, using chewing gum to stick something when tape is available would be rather stupid.

Moreover, a Bluetooth speaker appearing on the cruise ship wasn’t very logical either. 

This voyage of the Lucky Number was a one-day, one-night trip. Everyone traveled light. Due to the firearms issue, the security check was very strict. If someone was found carrying a Bluetooth speaker, it would be very hard to explain. Walking further, Xu Pei turned a corner and arrived at the fishing gear section. He Yixun from the other side also walked over. The two met here and simultaneously stopped.

Under a row of brand-new fishing rods were piled various baits, and… unignorable spools of fishing line.

A staple in mystery fiction. Even Xu Pei, who had never investigated a case, knew this.

He squatted in front of the shelf, picked up a spool of fishing line, and said, “That device might not automatically pull the trigger.” 

“If that’s the case, one could fire the shot from upstairs too,” He Yixun said.

Xu Pei nodded. Just as he was about to stand up, he noticed something odd about He Yixun’s trousers. “Why is your right trouser leg so much more wrinkled than the left?”

The bedroom in He Yixun’s house had no walls. Xu Pei had seen that the shirts and trousers in the wardrobe were all impeccably ironed. Seeing the trouser leg of this obsessive-compulsive officer so wrinkled felt incongruous.

He Yixun looked down and didn’t find it strange. “I just retrieved a dagger.” 

When the elevator was stuck, he had rolled up his trouser leg to get the knife strapped to his calf, leaving a few creases. A similar image suddenly flashed in Xu Pei’s mind, but it was blurry. He searched his memory but couldn’t pinpoint it, so he gave up.

He said somewhat discouraged, “Even if we figure out the delayed activation device, we still can’t narrow down the suspect pool.”

He Yixun walked to another shelf and asked, “Want some coffee?”

Self-service is great. 

He Yixun took two cans of coffee. Xu Pei took a few packs of snacks he’d never seen before. They found a clean chair in the restaurant and sat down.

Cucumber-flavored potato chips? Unheard of, unseen, but surprisingly refreshing and tasty.

Xu Pei couldn’t help but start considering that if he could find a way back, he might make a fortune.

Seeing Xu Pei thinking so seriously, He Yixun asked, “Do you have an idea?” 

“Huh?” Professor Xu, like a student caught daydreaming in a meeting, guiltily put down the chips. “I have some leads, but they’re messy.”

“We can sort them out together.” After saying this, He Yixun crossed his legs, leaned back in the chair, and assumed a posture of waiting for Xu Pei to speak.

Having no leads whatsoever, Professor Xu could only brace himself and speak, “So far, there have been three incidents in total: one sniper attack, one poisoning, and one shooting. The first incident was simple and crude, while the latter two were meticulously planned. They don’t seem like the work of the same perpetrator.”

“Mhm,” He Yixun nodded. “Agree.” 

“I’m not clear about the first incident, so let’s talk about the two that happened on the ship.” Feeling validated by He Yixun’s agreement, Xu Pei found his footing. “The first group of suspects: Ling Feng and Cindy. Ling Feng has a reason to kill Lin Mei due to election policies, and Cindy has a reason to kill He Jun because of sexual harassment. Looked at separately, both motives hold up. But if combined…”

“Killing He Jun would be somewhat unnecessary,” He Yixun took over. “If Ling Feng planned to kill Lin Mei before boarding the ship, then finishing off Lin Mei is his primary objective before the plan is complete. Cindy isn’t his lover, he doesn’t need to complicate matters because of her.”

“Could it be Cindy acting alone?” Xu Pei hypothesized. “Ling Feng is just providing a false alibi, but didn’t actually participate.”

“There’s one point Ling Feng wasn’t wrong about. If he wanted to kill He Jun, he had plenty of opportunities after disembarking. The same goes for Cindy. She didn’t need to act specifically on the ship unless an emergency arose, but the crime scene clearly doesn’t fit that.” 

“So their suspicion is completely ruled out?” Xu Pei asked.

“No,” He Yixun said. “Their suspicion level for me is 4%.”

Xu Pei was puzzled. “How did you arrive at that number?”

“The probability of Ling Feng targeting Lin Mei is 50%. The probability of Cindy targeting He Jun is less than 10%, roughly 8%. If they are working as a team, the probabilities multiply, giving 4%.” He Yixun paused, then added, “Of course, this assumes they are responsible for both incidents.” 

… That was indeed meticulous.

“Let’s talk about Zhou Ye and Ma Jing next,” Xu Pei followed.

“I’m thinking, why didn’t the killer return the gun, silencer, and remote to their original places?” He Yixun tilted his head, elbow resting on the armrest, fingertips supporting his cheek. “Any thoughts?”

Xu Pei pondered and said, “What’s different about a cruise ship is that anything the killer wants to hide can be thrown into the sea, where it will absolutely never be found. But if you truly don’t want something discovered, you should return it to its original place.” 

“Yes,” He Yixun agreed. “What’s your take?”

Xu Pei unconsciously picked up a potato chip and took a crisp bite. “They probably didn’t have time.

“After the murder, the interval between retracting the umbrella and the gunshot couldn’t be too long. So the killer would run to the maximum effective distance of the remote, press the button, and then rush upstairs to activate the delayed device. There’s no time to put the remote back, so they could only discard it. Of course, they could keep it in their pocket and wait for a chance to return it to the bar, but if someone suggested a search, it would be over.

“As for the gun, it was needed to set up the delayed device and could only be retrieved after the incident. It’s normal they didn’t have a chance to return it to the armory.” 

“But why the silencer?”

Before retracting the sun umbrella, the killer could have returned the silencer. Moreover, it’s a very important item. Why didn’t the killer return it?

Xu Pei couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

“My thought is,” He Yixun began after Xu Pei had finished speaking, “time was very important for the killer.” 

“So that’s it.” Xu Pei’s train of thought suddenly became clear. “There’s no perfect crime in this world. Not returning the silencer makes it easier to see through the murder method. But staying downstairs too long increases the risk of being discovered. After weighing the options, the killer still felt the latter risk was greater, so they messed up the armory to cover up the silencer issue.”

“If this line of reasoning is correct, then Zhou Ye and Ma Jing are the most suspicious, because He Maohu and Lin Mei might look for them at any time,” He Yixun added. “But Lin Mei’s suspicion cannot be ruled out either, because she knew He Maohu would come to her to explain the Li Menglan situation.”

Xu Pei nodded, then suddenly thought of something else. “One possibility you mentioned earlier can be directly ruled out.”

“Which one?” He Yixun asked. 

“The killer inviting He Jun for a drink,” Xu Pei answered. “If time was so important, the killer wouldn’t have had the leisure for that. Because if it’s exposed that they were the one who invited He Jun, it’s tantamount to exposing themselves as the killer.”

This was a point He Yixun hadn’t considered yet.

He had never had a case discussion with such high efficiency before. His interest in the discussion seemed to grow even stronger.

Xu Pei didn’t notice the change in He Yixun’s eyes and continued speaking, “It’s also unlikely that He Jun lost consciousness. If that were the case, the killer could have just used his gun directly, with no need to go to the armory to get one. So…”

“The killer must have approached He Jun from behind,” He Yixun finished the thought.

Xu Pei shared the same idea. It seemed the only reasonable explanation.

His brain was running at high speed while also fighting drowsiness. Feeling utterly exhausted, Xu Pei reached for the canned drink beside him, wanting to take a sip of coffee, but noticed the pull-tab was different from the ones in his world. Just as he was studying which way to pull the tab, an arm suddenly reached over, took the coffee from his hand, opened it, and handed it back. 

“Do you have a suspect in mind?” He Yixun asked.

His expression was natural, as if helping Xu Pei open the can was part of his duties. But Xu Pei distinctly remembered that earlier, when eating in the restaurant, He Yixun couldn’t even be bothered to get chopsticks for him.

“My thoughts are still quite vague,” Xu Pei took a small sip of the coffee. “But you think Lin Mei is also a suspect? Wasn’t she the one targeted by the poisoner in the restaurant?”

“These two incidents might not be the work of the same killer either,” He Yixun said. “Don’t forget, Ling Feng still has a 50% probability of wanting to kill Lin Mei.” 

The possibilities were simply too many. Xu Pei decided to focus on the shooting case, which had more progress. “To kill He Jun, one needed to get a gun from the armory. Zhou Ye knows the Lucky Number best, so he seems the most suspicious.”

“His suspicion level for me is 40%,” He Yixun quipped.

“What about Ma Jing and Lin Mei?” Xu Pei asked.

“Ma Jing is a bit higher than Cindy, 15%. Lin Mei also knows the Lucky Number well, 25%.” 

Xu Pei did a quick mental calculation and immediately found a flaw in Officer He’s logic. “Those three add up to 80%, plus Ling Feng and Cindy’s 4%, that’s not 100%. Your percentages are off.”

“We still don’t know the killer’s motive clearly. It’s very likely we’ve missed some clues, so we need to leave some margin,” He Yixun explained.

Alright, that was indeed meticulous.

So after all this deduction, they couldn’t even cover all possibilities. Xu Pei couldn’t help but feel a bit discouraged again. He listlessly bit the edge of the can and said gloomily, “This killer is really causing a lot of trouble.” 

Thanks to this killer, he had already pulled an all-nighter at the police station the previous night, and it looked like he wouldn’t get a peaceful sleep tonight either.

He Yixun’s gaze suddenly sharpened. He put down his coffee with a snap. “What did you say?”

Xu Pei looked baffled. “I said the killer is causing trouble.”

He Yixun frowned, focusing intently as he muttered to himself, “Why are they causing trouble?”

“If you ask why…” Xu Pei also started thinking along. “Right! They could have just killed He Jun and been done with it. Why go to such complex lengths? Every extra step just adds risk for themselves. Unless they had to do it this way…”

They both looked at each other simultaneously and said in unison, “They had to create an alibi!”

Xu Pei snapped his fingers and pointed at He Yixun. “Without an alibi, the killer would be exposed immediately. With an alibi, even if it’s dismantled, they can make everyone else’s alibi invalid too.” 

That was the purpose of the killer creating an alibi. First, to clear themselves of suspicion. If that failed, then drag everyone else down with them, thoroughly muddying the waters.

“In that case,” He Yixun’s eyes darkened, “the killer can only be one of those two.”

He Yixun didn’t need to spell it out. Xu Pei knew who he meant. “I agree.”

“But without substantial evidence, we still can’t identify the killer,” He Yixun released the can and began tapping the table with his index finger. “Right now, no one has a solid alibi. The killer can simply deny all accusations.” 

“Mm… true.” Xu Pei let out a breath, fell silent for a moment, looked at the tail ring on his left hand, and said, “I’ll handle the rest.”

“Are you sure you can still do it?” He Yixun raised an eyebrow. “I don’t want to have to lick your prostate gland again.”

Xu Pei: “……”

“You just need to shut up.”

Translator’s Feed:

Okay, I know this is a bit of a brain fart for some (like me). He Jun was killed earlier with a silenced gun. His body was hidden under an umbrella. Later, a machine on the deck fired a gun by itself to make a fake gunshot sound, tricking everyone into thinking that was the moment he died.

Now the question they’re trying to solve here is: Why didn’t the killer put the gun, silencer, and remote back where they belonged? 

I’m gonna try to keep it simple as much as I can. But like normally, if you want no one to know you used something, the best way is to return it to its original spot. Now for Professor Xu, he said for the remote, the killer needed to run to the limit of the remote’s range, press it, then rush upstairs to set up the delayed gunshot device and that sequence was tight on time, so they didn’t have time to sneak the remote back. If they kept it in their pocket and someone ordered a search, they’d be exposed. As for the gun, because it was used, obviously the killer couldn’t take it back to the armory.

But for the silencer, since they’ve already committed the murder before the purposeful loud gunshot, the killer should’ve had enough time to return it to the armory, but they didn’t.

My personal hypothesis is: none, because I’m dumb lmao. But as to how the delayed device was set up, a fishing line or something of the sorts was probably used to tap the trigger. The gun was set up somewhere. IDK I’M TRYING TO MAKE MY BRAIN WORK TOO.

So who do you guys think is the killer? Based on your intuition.