Chapter 102: Let’s Smoke Together

“But before dinner, Xue Chengge said with his own mouth that they didn’t know each other.”

“Outsiders wouldn’t know that clearly.” Zhong Jinghuan stated matter-of-factly. “Just check the phone. I remember that kid from the Pursuit Team took Director Xu’s phone earlier. Wonder what they found.”

“No records.” Tang Shen said. “The phone was very clean.” It was even bought just the day before coming to Crescent Moon Manor.

“Can’t they recover deleted records?” Xiao Fen asked.

“In theory, even if records are deleted, Xu An could find them. But since it’s unrelated to the show, some privacy-involved stuff would need the person’s authorization, right?” Tang Shen said.

Xiao Fen came to a realization.

“Everyone, rest assured. Most of what Xu An shows on camera is normal information gathering, no different from an ordinary network investigator. He just uses his Little Sparrow to boost the efficiency thousands of times over.”

“So that’s how it is.” Zhong Jinghuan said. “I should delete mine now, or I’ll socially die if I end up as a corpse.”

The guests all laughed. “If you open the page now, the live stream viewers will see it right away.”

Zhong Jinghuan quickly turned off his phone.

“So Director Xu and Assistant Yan called or messaged, then deleted it?” Li Fei asked doubtfully.

“It’s also possible they met offline to set a time, but either way, they seemed to know each other before.” Zhong Jinghuan said excitedly. “Well damn, backstabbing a friend. Looks like my risk level is pretty low, hahahaha…”

【So the hot search saying you have bad relationships isn’t fake.】

【First time seeing someone brag about it. Can only say this guy’s thought process is unique.】

【He found the right show for him, but being so hateable, he should get knifed easily too.】

“Assistant Yan deleting records with Director Xu to knife someone makes sense, but why did Director Xu delete them too?” Ou Yu added. “He’s the victim. No reason for him to delete records.”

“He deleted them after knifing the guy, afraid the records would lead back to him.” Lu Jin said.

“I still think it’s weird they pretended not to know each other.” Li Fei murmured. “Isn’t it normal for everyone to know each other here?”

Just like her—she’d never hidden that she knew most people here.

“Don’t overthink it. Back to the case.” Lin Xiu said. “Director Xu’s door was locked from the inside, key in the room. The bathroom door was barricaded with his foot, forming a double-sealed room. The priority is cracking the locked room puzzle so we can catch the real culprit.”

“We saw him at lunch today, last sighting around 1:30 PM. By the time we went to the third floor based on Matthew’s testimony and the lipstick tissue in the stairwell trash—around 4 PM—most people were checking the two crime scenes. Did anyone see someone slip away from the group?”

Everyone looked at each other. With so many guests mixed together, unless you were watching someone specific, everyone’s attention was on the investigation—who’d notice that?

This was tricky.

“You all are focused on Yan Feng and Director Xu, but someone else got knifed too.”

The speaker was the stand-up comedian who came with Wang Heng. Seeing everyone more concerned about those two, he couldn’t help reminding them.

“Mainly because there are too few clues, and random crimes are hard to pin down. Not like those other two cases with strong connections and tons of clues.” Tang Shen said. Though those clues were useless—classic Xiao Fen-style crime.

This guy didn’t even draw double butterflies anymore, but they could tell it was him. Too bad no evidence pointed to him, or they’d send him out first. Professor Tang grumbled inwardly.

But it was a variety show. No need to take it too seriously. Chase whatever clues there were. From the afternoon’s developments, there might even be a surprise.

“What kind of fiber was it exactly?” the stand-up comedian asked. For such a hot show, with a rare chance to participate, everyone wanted to stay as long as possible to boost their fame.

Now they could only hope to find the culprit.

“Camel-colored wool.” Tang Shen looked around and saw two or three people wearing that color.

He pointed out a few who wore camel-colored hoodies and jackets yesterday, even those who went out for a stroll in loungewear after dinner.

“Please bring down the clothes you wore yesterday. I need to check them.” he said.

No one objected. They all went upstairs to fetch them.

“Uh…” Matthew, who hadn’t spoken, suddenly piped up. “When we searched the third-floor guest rooms at dusk, I saw Miss Wang’s pajamas in the bedroom were that color too.”

At these words, Wang Xue’s face paled. She seemed to imagine a bad scenario, but confusion flashed in her eyes too.

“Right. A-Xue, your pajamas are camel-colored too.” Lin Xiu realized. “Bring them down to check.”

Wang Xue hesitated as she stood up.

“I…”

Seeing her dawdle, everyone’s gazes focused on her.

“Where’s your injectant?” Tang Shen asked.

“It’s empty.” Wang Xue tried to defend herself. “But I don’t know… Last night… I did go to the fourth floor and opened the balcony door…”

Her words tumbled out incoherently, clearly laced with the tension, guilt, and evasion of a first-time offender.

“Check the clothes first.”

Wang Xue took Tang Shen upstairs.

The servants refilled everyone’s teacups with coffee and tea. The fireplace burned hot, so a few opened the floor-to-ceiling windows and stepped out for air.

Xiao Fen stood outside in the corridor, leaning against a Roman column, watching the snow flutter down. The cigarette between his fingers glowed and dimmed.

A black shadow crept up from behind, blocking the light on him.

Closer than the person was the fresh, crisp scent from Fang Si Ting.

Xiao Fen didn’t need to turn to know who it was.

His frozen red hand was enveloped, and the cigarette was snatched from it too.

“Can’t you light your own?” Xiao Fen grumbled. “Even stealing my smoke.”

Fang Si Ting took a hard drag. The ember flared bright, then dimmed, scattering gray-white ash around.

He exhaled slowly. Through the bluish-gray smoke, he said, “What are you thinking?”

“You’re overthinking.” Xiao Fen snatched the cigarette back, took a drag, tossed it to the ground, and stamped it out.

“Not saying anything just makes people think more.”

“The problem is, saying it doesn’t help.” Xiao Fen laughed. “Why waste breath? We’d just accuse each other of slander, get into a catfight for everyone to gawk at like monkeys, and end up with nothing.”

Fang Si Ting pulled a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket. Only two were missing, along with a silver-cased lighter.

“You smoke?” Xiao Fen said disdainfully.

“You can, but I can’t?” Fang Si Ting put one in his mouth and lit it with the lighter. “Only occasionally, when there’s a big tough case.”

His colleagues all had some nicotine habit—he was better off, no addiction, just one when really stressed.

“It’s just a variety show. Which case here is a big deal?” Xiao Fen said amusedly, snatching the cigarette from his mouth domineeringly. “No smoking. Bad for you.”

“Whatever you say.” Fang Si Ting licked his lips, still tasting faint tobacco.

【When did Fang Yama get so obedient?】

【No idea. Feels like their relationship got weird starting this episode.】

【What did they go do behind our backs?】

Telling others not to smoke, yet the cigarette passed hands and went into Xiao Fen’s mouth.

“I had Xu An investigate Hu Juan.”

Xiao Fen looked at him. “Why investigate him?”

“He’s a gambling addict. I suspect Assistant Yan used him against you for joining the show.”

After a pause, he said, “You deliberately went to the casino back then to find him.”

“Mr. Black Cat.” Faint bluish smoke exhaled from his mouth, blurring the faint smile on his face. “Right now, your understanding of me is about ten percent.”

Fang Si Ting raised a brow.

The corridor was quiet. Fresh snow on the ground reflected the vintage yellow light from the arched ceiling. The ambiguous warm yellow seeped into the deep night, along with their profiles and nose tips.

Shadows hid Xiao Fen’s forehead and eyes. The half of his lips eroded by night revealed a roguish smirk. He reached out, hooking Fang Si Ting’s bent neck.

Their bodies pressed close. The faint burnt aroma of tobacco spread between lips and teeth, wafting to Fang Si Ting’s ear.

“Mr. Black Cat, I now formally authorize you. Please barge into the past twenty-three years of my life without restraint.”