CH2 - Movie-02

{{The Possiblity of the a 'Scapegoat'}}

As he walked out of the cinema, Ye Huairui couldn't help but mull over the plot of the movie he had just seen.

The ending of the movie was intriguing, so much so that it seemed like it could only have been conceived by someone with insider knowledge of the case.

It proposed a new possibility for the unsolved case: that the suspect back then was not actually Yin Jiaming, but someone else who had stolen his identity to pin the robbery and murder on him.

Of course, from the perspective of the average viewers l, The Great Heist of Jin City was entertaining, but it seemed more like the screenwriter concocted a seemingly plausible yet sensational original plot, using it as a vehicle to retroactively exonerate the criminal from thirty-nine years ago.

But as a forensic pathologist who carefully studied the case files of that year, Ye Huairui couldn't help but insert the actual case into the movie's  plot and ponder its plausibility after watching the film.

With no rush to vet home, Ye Huairui decided to stop by at a Cha chaan teng. He ordered a pork chop and egg rice with a cold Yuanyang tea planning to settle his dinner there.

While waiting for his meal, he began to contemplate the possiblity of 'scapegoat' scenario.

As a top student who received full scholarships throughout university, Ye Huairui was not only extremely intelligent but also had an excellent memory. Although he didn't have a photographic memory he could recall over ninety percent of the details from documents he had carefully reviewed.

He tore a page from his small notebook, took out a pen, and began to recall and outline the case details on the paper.

Jin City's entertainment industry was booming with casinos everywhere.

Yin Jiaming was one of the many illegitimate children of the casino owner, He Weitang.

His mother, surnamed Yin was once a bar singer, beautiful and well-known as a social butterfly.

After meeting Mr. He, she became his mistress and bore him an extremely handsome son.

Unfortunately, beauty was often accompanied by a short life, Yin's mother passed away due to illness when her son was thirteen, leaving the underage Yin Jiaming no choice but to seek refuge with his father.

Fortunately, although Mr. He was a womanizer and often indifferent to his lovers, he was relatively decent to this illegitimate son.

He raised his son outside, never letting him lack for anything. When Yin Jiaming grew up, he made him yhe manager of one of his hotels.

Thinking of this, Ye Huairui wrote the word 'Motive' on the paper and marked it with a question mark.

From the perspective of 'why' regarding the great heist of that year, even the Jin City police admitted that Yin Jiaming seemed to lack a clear motive.

Before the incident, as an illegitimate child, Yin Jiaming's standard of living in financial situation were quite good, apart from not being officially recognized by his father. He had never been in a situation where he needed to flee with a large sum of money, so there seemed to be no necessity for him to rob a bank vault.

However, judging a person's motive for commiting a crime solely based on financial gain was indeed too simplisti.

After all, human greed was endless.

4.5million US dollars was a substantial amount at the time, far more than what Yin Jiaming could earn from managing his father's hotel.

If Yin Jiaming couldn't resist the tempation of money, or even harbored thoughts of establishing his own empire, then despite not lacking money, he indeed might have been motivated to act.

Moreover, there were many motives for crime beyond greed, such as revenge, jealousy, pride, and more.

Some people were even driven purely by the thrill and curiosity, taking risks to flaunt their 'talents'.

Since Yi Jiaming never truly fell into the hands of the law, the Jin City police could only speculate about his possible motives after the fact.

At this moment, the Cha chaan teng's waiter brought Ye Huairui his dinner.

Looking down, Ye Huairui saw a large porcelain plate on the tray, with a bowl of rice inverted on it accompanied by two pieces of green vegetables on it. On top of rice was a golden, fluffy scrambled eggs, and an obviously doubled portion of char siu.

Ye Huairui raised an eyebrow and looked up at The waitress was a young a young girl, and when she met Ye Huairui's gaze, her face involuntary turned red.

The reason was simple: Ye Huairui's appearance was exceptionally deceptive.

His features were handsome, with delicate facial structures, and his skin was exceptionally fair due to years of indoor work. Coupled with the elegant demeanor of a cultured individual, even just sitting in a Cha chaan teng, he looked more like a billionaire nobleman than most of the idol drama heartthrobs.

With such attributes, if it were anyone else, they would be likely have had a beautiful and intelligent campus queen as a girlfriend during their university days.

Unfortunately, Ye Huairui was a gay man who wasn't interested in the opposite sex. He was also aloof and not fond of socializing. Moreover, being a forensic pathologist profession notoriously known as 'destined to have a solitary life', made finding a partner extremely difficult. Thus, despite being a handsome and well-educated returnee from a prestigious university, he remained a confirmed bachelor.

However this didn't prevent Ye Huairui from easily attracting the attention of the younger opposite sex--like now, for instance, getting an extra portion of char siu just for ordering a pork chop and egg rice.

Ye Huairui smiled and politely thanked the waitress. Then, holding a spoon in his left hand, he scooped up a mouthful of rice and put it into his mouth, his thoughts returning to the case of The Great Heist of Jin City.

Setting aside the motive for the crime, the main reason the Jin City police considered Yin Jiaming the mastermind was that, aside from the driver, he was the only one among the four robbers whose identity could be confirmed.

At the time, the driver encountered his creditor at the dock and was stopped by the creditor and his henchmen. In desperation, he revealed Yin Jiaming's identity, which led the robbers to open fire in an attempt to silence them.

And they were very successful.

Unfortunately, the situation was too chaotic at the time, and the criminals were too eager to flee the scene, so they did not confirm whether everyone was indeed dead.

One of the creditor's henchman was only shot in the shoulder, although severely injured, and survived after being sent to the hospital. He told the police what happened at the dock that night, and also revealed the names of the driver and Yin Jiaming.

Ye Huairui didn't think the henchman had any reason to lie.

The Jin City police at the time likely thought the same way.

However, according to the henchman's testimony, the robbers were wearing masks, so he didn't actually see their faces. He could only identify Yin Jiaming based on the driver's shout, the culprit's height and build, and the Guanyin holding a lotus tattoo on his arm.

Additionally, aside from the henchman's testimony, the Jin City police also discovered that the robbers dug a tunnel leading to the sewer system beneath an empty storefront, which was actually a property owned by Yin Jiaming himself.

To the public accustomed to modern high-tech investigative methods, it might seem somewhat hasty for the Jin City police to have identified Yin Jiaming as the main suspect based solely on these two pieces of evidence.

However, in that era, when forensic technology was relatively undeveloped and solving cases relied heavily on police legwork, witness statements, testimonies, and some indirect physical evidence often were the key to cracking cases.

With all the crucial testimonies and indirect evidence pointing towads Yin Jiaming, it was only natural for the Jin City police to list him as the prime suspect.

Yr Huairui swallowed a mouthful of his meal and wrote six characters on the paper.

[Masked]

[Name]

[Tattoo]

These three words were key to the surviving creditor's henchman's identification of Yin Jiaming's identity back then.

For the small-time thugs in the underworld, the name "Yin Jiaming" carried a certain level of notoriety.

After all, Yin Jiaming was the illegitimate son of Mr. He, managing a sizeable hotel within his father's sphere of influence. Additionally, his tall and handsome appearance made him the type to attract attention whenever he went.

Even if they hadn't met him in person, the small-time thugs weren't unfamiliar with the name.

Ye Huairui didn't think there was a possibility that the creditor's henchman got the name wrong.

Moreover, the fact that the person had a Guanyin holding a lotus tattoo on his left arm further proved that the henchman didn't 'mishear'.

So, could it be that the driver deliberately mislead the creditor by naming Yin Jiaming, using his name to bolster their own credibility?

Ye Huairui tapped his pen on the paper and then wrote down the words 'silence witnesses'.

Indeed, this also seemed unlikely.

If the person was not Yin Jiaming, then there would be no need for the robbers to try to kill all the witnesses at the scene.

Furthermore, from the perspective of Ye Huairui's professional expertise, the location of the creditor's henchman's gunshot wound was extremely dangerous, potentially fatal if not handled properly, and did not appear to be a 'staged injury'.

This also meant that the possiblity of the creditor's henchman being an accomplice to the robbers, with them covering for each other, was very low...

...

Ye Huairui was so engrossed in his thoughts that he eben stopped eating.

Just then, his phone, which was placed beside his plate, suddenly rang.

Ye Huairui picked up the phone and frowned when he saw the caller's name.

The call was from a real estate agent.

Ye Huairui's father was a wealthy businessman in Jin City, very rich, and always wanted to make amends to his son, from whom he had been separated for nearly twenty years.

When he found out that Ye Huairui was still living in a rental room of just over ten square meters, he had been persistently trying to give him a new apartment.

Ye Huairui was already twenty-nine years old, well past the age of dwelling on why his parents divorced. He harbored no resentment towards his father, who had been absent during his adolescence, but he simply did not want to accept such an overly generous gift.

However, Ye Huairui's father was very insistent on giving him a house, andbthe real estate agent he contacted was the persistent type. With no way out, Ye Huairui could only agree to 'take a look' and 'make a decision when something suitable comes up'.

"Hello"

Ye Huairui answered the phone "What's up?"

"Mr. Ye!"

The real estate manager on the other end didn't bother with small talk and started pitching properties in a heavily accented Mandarin, "I've found a few more apartments for you, with good layouts and locations. When do you have time to come and take a look?"

"Let's talk about it later, I'm a bit busy right now."

Ye Huairui resisted the urge to hang up, "Send the property information to my email, and I'll see if there's anything suitable."

The real estate agent manager on the other end, sensing an opportunity, became even more enthusiastic:

"Alright, alright. I'll send it to you right away. You must take a look!"

Half a minute later, Ye Huairui indeed received an email from the real estate agent.

The phone call had completely interrupted Ye Huairui's train of thought regarding the case, and he no longer felt like continuing. He put away his paper and pen, and while eating, he began to browse through the email from the real estate agent.

Since Ye Huairui hadn't specified any particular requirements, the agent cast a wide net, sending him thirty property listings in one go, ranging from high-rise apartments in bustling areas to hillside villas.

Of course, even the cheapest of these properties started at a sky-high price of thirty million.

Ye Huairui had no intention of accepting such an expensive gift, so he merely skimmed through the property listings.

Until the last one.

The most prominent part of the listing featured a seaside villa.

The villa was evidently old Even with the beautification and retouching of Photoshop, the walls stile bore the marks of weathering and erosion.

Ye Huairui recognized this villa.

It was the very one he had seen in the police archives, the one Yin Jiaming had fled into after being shot.

—This is too much of a coincidence!

Ye Huairui couldn't help but laugh out loud.

—It seems I really have a connection with this case.

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