Chapter 5: Sorting Out the Clues

As soon as these words came out, the audience in the live stream chat became even more convinced that this was all part of the script.

But none of Fang Si Ting and his team disagreed with her viewpoint.

From the scene, the culprit had been far too at ease.

However, if it really was the criminal, how could they possibly come participate in a variety show? That was completely impossible.

Ou Yu had already calmed his emotions by then, and the Pursuit Team members began questioning him.

“You say you knew nothing?”

Ou Yu nodded with a bitter smile.

“I received a text message telling me to come to this room. But as soon as I walked in, I felt a pain in the back of my head and got knocked out. When I woke up, I found myself in that state.”

“What text message?”

Ou Yu handed over his phone.

Fang Si Ting opened the message and saw that Lu Jin had sent him one from his phone.

“Come to Room 1903. Let’s cooperate.”

The text was very short.

“Why did you come here after getting this message?” Fang Si Ting asked, puzzled. “Did you know each other before?”

“Sort of, but not well.” In a situation like this, there was no point in hiding it. “Lu Jin is the heir to the Lu Corporation.”

【Lu Corporation? You mean that Lu Family I know?】

【Exactly. This show was produced by a station under the Lu Corporation. Lu Jin is the son of their big boss.】

【It’s over. Fen Treasure offended a big shot right away. How’s he going to survive in the industry now?】

【It’s not just that. The entertainment company Fen Treasure signed with is also under the Lu Corporation.】

【The pretty boy played himself, haha, serves him right. Seal him off already. The entertainment industry has been ruined by people like him who only have looks to rely on.】

Both insiders and outsiders knew more or less about the Lu Corporation and the Fang Clan, the two conglomerates that dominated half of the entertainment world.

Unlike the Lu Corporation, however, the Fang Clan also had tech groups and renowned high-end luxury jewelry and fashion industries. Plenty of family members served in the military or government, always keeping a low profile and staying out of the public eye, let alone accessible to outsiders.

The head of an entertainment conglomerate wanted to team up with him on the show to complete the task—an excellent networking opportunity. Naturally, Ou Yu wouldn’t pass it up.

Who would have thought that the moment he stepped through the door, someone would ambush him.

“After I woke up, I kept calling for help. A waiter heard the noise, and then you all arrived.” Ou Yu explained. He had already draped a bathrobe over himself, clutching the edge of the collar with his fingertips. His eyes were slightly red, his expression listless and somewhat pitiful, but he remained relatively calm.

Any ordinary person would have exploded in curses by now. To boost the show’s ratings, the Program Crew had begged and flattered him endlessly before he finally agreed to participate. Yet the esteemed Film Emperor had been subjected to such treatment.

Tang Shen handed Lu Jin’s phone over. Through the evidence bag, Fang Si Ting confirmed there was indeed an outgoing text matching the one Ou Yu had shown them.

Fang Si Ting casually passed the phone to Xu An. Xu An fiddled with it for a moment before suddenly looking up at Ou Yu.

“What’s wrong?” Ou Yu’s heart thudded.

Xu An was about to speak when Bai Zhu returned from taking statements outside. “The waiter who discovered the crime scene said that at 1:30, the guest in this room asked the hotel to prepare two sets of clothes, which were delivered at 2:30. When he arrived at 2:30, the door was just closed but not locked. He heard cries for help from inside, so he saw Lu Jin and Ou Yu lying on the floor. He immediately called the front desk to contact us.”

The group examined the clothes the waiter had prepared per the request—one set in Lu Jin’s size, the other in Ou Yu’s. The caller had specified the sizes perfectly.

“Did he confirm the caller was Lu Jin?” Fang Si Ting asked.

“I compared Lu Jin’s online speech videos with the voice for him. The waiter was certain it was Lu Jin,” Bai Zhu said confidently.

Xu An came over with his laptop. “Today, it wasn’t just Ou Yu who entered this room.”

With a light tap of his finger, the screen displayed the evening’s surveillance footage.

The hotel corridor had several cameras providing three-hundred-sixty-degree coverage with no blind spots. It was impossible to avoid them entirely.

“At 1:18, a cleaner pushing a cart came by. Lu Jin opened the door and let him in. Shortly after, at 1:25, Ou Yu knocked. Soon after he entered, at 1:31, this cleaner came out and left with the cart.”

Xu An pulled up the elevator footage. “Interestingly, this cleaner came up from the first floor with the cart and only went to Lu Jin’s room. After finishing, he didn’t go anywhere else and headed straight back downstairs. Of course, since the footage shows Lu Jin letting him in, it doesn’t rule out that Lu Jin called for room service himself.”

“This cleaner is highly suspicious. He wore a hat and mask covering almost his entire face, plus thick black-rimmed glasses. You couldn’t make out what he looked like at all. Plenty of motive to commit the crime,” Tang Shen said.

“Send me the screenshot.” Peng Xiaoxiao cracked her knuckles and took out paper and pen. “This guy’s height matches my deduction pretty closely. He’s very likely the culprit.”

【No way. His face is completely blocked. How could she possibly sketch him?】

【Time to witness superpowers, brothers. I’m off to supervise the beauty sketching. Catch you later.】

【If she can reconstruct the face from this surveillance screenshot, I’ll stand on my head, spin around, and shit.】

“Phone records,” Fang Si Ting said.

Xu An looked down at his computer and replied, “At 1:29, there was indeed a call from this room’s landline to the front desk.”

“The 1:29 call doesn’t rule out the cleaner making it after killing him,” Tang Shen said gravely. “This cleaner was in the room for 13 minutes. If he knew his target and was an experienced offender who struck immediately upon entering, it’s entirely possible he pulled it all off in that time.”

“Professor Peng’s sketch will take at least three or four hours. In the meantime, Deputy Team Leader Tang, take the collected evidence for testing. Captain Bai, have the hotel track down this cleaner for questioning first. Expert Xu, go through all the hotel surveillance and trace this cleaner’s movements before and after. Coordinate with the others as needed.”

“Already on it,” Xu An said listlessly.

Before the Pursuit Team members left the room one by one, Xiao Fen had already slipped out ahead of time with some of the gawking guests and returned to the restaurant downstairs.

His lunch had long since been cleared away.

He glanced at his phone: 2:53 now. An hour and a half had passed since Lu Jin’s time of death, and the Pursuit Team had spent less time investigating the scene than he had anticipated.

It was still early. Apart from the people involved in the recording, few in the hotel knew what had happened. Even those who had inadvertently witnessed the crime scene were only whispering about it in small groups.

Less than ten minutes later, three men in black suits appeared in the restaurant, closing in from three directions to prevent anyone from escaping.

Xiao Fen wore a mask, his messy bangs covering his forehead and hanging over his eyes. His brandy-colored irises were hidden behind bulky black glasses as he watched them approach.

He was the only one in the banquet hall wearing a mask.

One of the black-suited men quickly spotted him.

Xiao Fen held a rag and pretended to wipe the glass in the corner of the banquet hall.

【Caught a slacking Little Fen Bao red-handed.】

【Look at him. Bet he rarely does chores at home.】

【Thought he was so capable. Took this long and he’s already about to get nabbed.】

【A third-rate little celebrity. Only that face is decent. Completely useless otherwise, all show. Fans aren’t embarrassed?】

“Why are you wearing a mask?” the man in black asked suspiciously.

“Hotel policy. Cleaners have to wear masks.” Xiao Fen calmly removed his mask.

The man in black checked with his colleague via earpiece and confirmed the policy.

He eyed Xiao Fen up and down suspiciously. “So young, and you’re doing cleaning work?”

“College student part-timing. Jobs are hard to find these days.” Xiao Fen adjusted his glasses and asked furtively, “I heard a Program Crew is filming here. Are you with them? What do you think of my look?”

The man in black paused, then said stiffly, “No idea.”

These weren’t real variety show folks or actors. Having spent too long in the military, they spoke straightforwardly.

Xiao Fen pouted.

So boring.

Just as boring as his team leader.

Satisfied that Xiao Fen seemed innocuous, the man in black moved on to check others.

【What’s going on? How unreliable can they be? This guy obviously matches the one from the surveillance. Can’t they tell?】

【You’re saying that because you already know the truth and linked the surveillance guy to Brother Fen ahead of time. He took off the mask voluntarily, acted totally natural. How’s that suspicious? What more do you want him to do?】

【Plus, the Pursuit Team figured it’s been over an hour since the crime. The perp would’ve changed out of the cleaner uniform long ago. Who’d guess Brother Fen went into the changing room once and came out in the exact same outfit?】

Not long after this chat popped up, Xiao Fen overheard guests gossiping that the logistics department had caught a suspicious character.

When Fang Si Ting arrived, he saw a man in his mid-twenties pinned to the ground, screaming in terror.

He took one look and had them release him.

Bai Zhu said, “He couldn’t be anyone but the cleaner from the surveillance. Xu An and I saw it clearly. This guy went to the changing room, swapped the cleaner uniform for casual clothes, and then lurked suspiciously in the kitchen corner. If he were regular staff, why not go home after changing post-shift?”

Fang Si Ting nodded toward the man’s locker. Have it opened.

A strong spicy vegetable aroma wafted out.

Bai Zhu was baffled.

Fang Si Ting grabbed the man’s hand—there were still drops of soup on his fingers. “Packaging leftovers.”

The man finally recovered from the ordeal and pleaded his case. “Spare me, sir! I just wanted to sneak some kitchen leftovers home to eat. That’s a prison sentence now?”

Bai Zhu: “……You watch too many dramas.” Still calling him “sir” and begging for mercy.

He irritably told his subordinate to let the man go.

Fang Si Ting checked his watch: 3:17. Still early. He had Xu An send over the surveillance from the 19th floor to the changing room doorway.

“Boss, see? I wasn’t wrong,” Bai Zhu insisted. Grabbing the wrong guy wasn’t his fault. “The culprit didn’t go to the changing room and just changed somewhere else, right?”

“He did go—and came back out.” The suspect descending from the 19th floor hadn’t avoided cameras. He entered the changing room, then exited.

Only, three people had gone in. The first two came out early, and the leftover-stealer was the last—now in different clothes—which led Bai Zhu to assume he was the suspect.

“Did those two guys you went in with act suspicious?” he asked the leftover thief.

“Sort of……” The man thought back. “One didn’t talk. I figured he was new, kinda aloof and effeminate. Smelled kinda perfumey too.”

“A woman?!” Bai Zhu was stunned. “Did Peng Xiaoxiao get it wrong for once?”