Chapter 32 It's Too Late

"Holy crap! Someone jumped off a building!"

A scream suddenly came from outside the hotel entrance.

This shout caused an uproar at the dinner party.

"What's going on? Why would someone suddenly jump off a building?"

"Call the police and an ambulance immediately!"

A crowd gathered at the hotel entrance, and the scene was chaotic.

The body was very close to Yu Qing, only a step away.

The strong smell of blood wafted in with the wind, washing over Yu Qing's face.

Yu Qing stood there, stunned.

My mind went completely blank.

He was stunned for a long time.

The corpse was a middle-aged man, his head tilted to the side, his eyes wide open, staring intently at him, empty and somewhat frightening, devoid of emotion and warmth.

He used to see similar scenes on TV, but now he saw a corpse fall to its death right in front of him, and he was so close to the body that it gave him goosebumps all over.

Yu Qing took a step back abruptly, but almost fell to the ground because her legs felt weak.

Zhou Xiaoming was also stunned.

He just stared blankly at it.

...

"Excuse me, could you please move aside?"

When Bai Xiao arrived at the scene, it was already twenty minutes later. Surrounded by several police officers, Bai Xiao pushed through the tightly packed crowd and went straight to the body in the crowd.

The body lay in a pool of blood, entering his view in a dramatic manner; the deceased's eyes were wide open, lifeless, and a deep, bone-revealing wound had been smashed into his head.

Bai Xiao was slightly surprised.

What surprised him was not the strange manner of the deceased's death, but that he recognized the deceased.

To be precise, they had seen each other two hours earlier.

"Who reported the case?" Bai Xiao asked in a deep voice.

"The person who filed the report was the hotel lobby manager."

A young police officer said, "According to his account, the deceased was named Zhao Qiangdong, 32 years old, and was a chef at this hotel. He was usually very cunning, gossipy, and loved to show off. He was a typical slick old fox, and he didn't get along well with the other chefs. The head chef had a lot of complaints about him..."

"The two had a verbal altercation before leaving get off work today. Zhao Qiangdong was cursing and swearing in the kitchen. After he went to the bathroom, he never came back."

After listening to the police officer's account, Bai Xiao looked up at the rooftop.

Then his gaze shifted to the corpse.

The hotel is fifteen stories high; jumping from there would virtually guarantee no survival.

The strange thing is...

Why would someone choose to jump off a building at this particular time?

Bai Xiao took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and said to the person in charge, "Take me to see the surveillance footage."

"Okay."

The young police officer didn't dare to delay and quickly led Bai Xiao towards the monitoring room, while the other police officers stayed behind to set up a cordon and maintain order at the scene.

We entered the monitoring room.

Bai Xiao stared intently at the monitor.

The time period shown in the surveillance video is around 8 o'clock.

The deceased came out of the kitchen and entered the elevator.

There were no abnormalities throughout the entire process.

Just then, the door to the room was pushed open, and Xu Zhi walked in carrying several packing boxes: "Master, what's going on? I went out to buy something and there's already a case?"

Bai Xiao glanced down at his watch and said indifferently, "Ten minutes late."

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhi scratched his head sheepishly: "It's just that there was a traffic jam on the road. Besides, with Master here to keep things in order, I'm just an accessory at best, hehe!"

Bai Xiao glanced at him but didn't say anything.

Xu Zhi leaned closer to look at the screen: "Master, when I came up just now, I heard people say that the person who died was a chef."

"Yes, it's an old acquaintance of ours."

"An old acquaintance?" Xu Zhi looked puzzled, then stared at the monitor screen, his eyes widening as he pointed at the person on the screen: "This... isn't this so-and-so?"

"Zhao Qiangdong".

"Yes, yes, I was the one who took his statement this afternoon. Could it be that he's the one who died?" Xu Zhi asked, his face full of surprise.

"Um."

Bai Xiao nodded and continued watching the surveillance footage.

Xu Zhi snapped out of his shock, quickly put the bag he was holding on the table next to him, and leaned over to whisper, "Master, I think there's something fishy about this."

Bai Xiao stared intently at the screen: "What do you mean?"

"I can't quite put my finger on it, it just feels so surreal. He was perfectly fine this morning, and then he was gone by nightfall. Moreover, he seemed perfectly normal when we were taking his statement. How could he possibly jump off a building for no reason?" Xu Zhi analyzed.

"I also find it strange, so could you please not stand so close next time you speak? I can smell the stench of poop from far away, it's nauseating."

Xu Zhi quickly took two steps back and said awkwardly with a smile, "Sorry, Master, I just had snail rice noodles for dinner."

Bai Xiao glanced at him: "Be careful next time."

"Yes, Master."

Bai Xiao closed the monitoring page, turned around, and left the monitoring room.

Xu Zhi quickly followed: "Master, where are we going?"

"Top floor."

"Aren't you going to check the surveillance footage anymore?"

"I've finished reading it."

...

A "ding-dong" sound.

The elevator stopped on the fifteenth floor.

Bai Xiao went out first, followed closely by Xu Zhi.

The wind was strong in the sky tower, and it was pitch black all around.

Bai Xiao turned on his phone to illuminate the scene and walked along the wall, surveying the site. The ground was covered with rusty pipes, four surveillance cameras were hanging in the four corners, and the wires were covered with dust and cobwebs.

Bai Xiao first looked up at the location of the surveillance camera, and then went straight to the edge of the rooftop.

Look down.

Zhao Qiangdong's body is still lying there.

He was like a tragic protagonist in a play, lying quietly on the stage under the spotlight, displaying his final miserable state.

Looking at the corpse, Bai Xiao had a strong premonition that the murderer was still nearby, perhaps hiding in some corner, silently enjoying everything.

His gaze swept around again, but he suddenly noticed a faint mark on the railing.

He stepped forward and examined it closely, discovering it was a fresh bloodstain.

Just as he was carefully examining the bloodstains on the railing by the light of his phone,

A scream suddenly came from behind.

It's Xu Zhi's voice.

“Xu Zhi…”

Bai Xiao was startled and immediately turned around to run towards Xu Zhi. He saw that Xu Zhi had fallen to the ground, clutching his thighs and groaning in pain.

What happened?

Bai Xiao asked anxiously, while shining his flashlight around, but he didn't see anyone.

Xu Zhi slowly got up from the ground, cursing and saying, "Damn it, who threw that bottle on the ground? That's really despicable."

Bai Xiao's tense nerves immediately relaxed: "How are you? Can you still walk?"

Xu Zhi shook his head and said, "It's nothing, just a cut on my foot, it's not a big deal."

Bai Xiao nodded, his gaze sweeping across the ground.

He squatted down, picked up the wine bottle from the ground, and examined it for a moment.

Then I looked at Xu Zhi's feet.

Because the light was too dim, the injury was not clearly visible; only a faint mark on the trouser leg could be seen.

Bai Xiao threw the bottle on the ground, stood up, and dusted off his hands: "The wound still needs to be treated to prevent infection."

Xu Zhi asked with a long face, "Master, does this count as a work injury?"

"At most, it would be considered assaulting a police officer."

"Uh..." Xu Zhi was speechless for a moment, but then he thought about it and it seemed to make some sense. After all, if the other party threw it on purpose, then it would be a criminal act.

He couldn't help but agree, saying, "I'll have to check the surveillance footage later. This kid dared to assault a police officer; he needs to be reprimanded and taught a lesson. It's outrageous."

Bai Xiao said, "Stop messing around. The angle of the surveillance camera has been adjusted in advance. Even if you pull up the footage, you can only see what's happening outside the rooftop."

Xu Zhi was clearly skeptical. He limped to the nearest surveillance camera and looked up at the dust-covered equipment.

As Bai Xiao said, the surveillance angles avoided key areas, indicating that someone had indeed tampered with the system.

Xu Zhi stroked his chin: "Indeed, even the surveillance footage has been tampered with. In that case, Zhao Qiangdong didn't commit suicide by jumping off the building, but was murdered."

Bai Xiao crouched down and carefully examined the marks on the ground: "It's not just the surveillance cameras; there's something wrong with the ground here too."

Xu Zhi limped over: "What? Master, have you discovered something?"

Bai Xiao lightly ran his finger across the ground: "Look at these scratches, they're new. And they're unevenly distributed, like someone dragged something heavy here. I suspect he was dragged down here."

Xu Zhi narrowed his eyes: "You mean, there was a fight here?"

Bai Xiao stood up and nodded: "Mm."

Xu Zhi seemed to be deep in thought, then asked, "Master, what should we do next?"

"Go downstairs."

"Oh, are they not checking here anymore?"

Just then, a cold wind swept across the rooftop, stirring up the papers and other small debris scattered on the ground.

Bai Xiao's gaze followed the direction of the drift, and he said in a deep voice, "It's too late."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Xu Zhi looked bewildered: "What? Too late?"

He looked around and felt a chill run down his spine. He shuddered and quickly followed.

Not long after the two left, a crackling sound suddenly came from the rooftop.

...

This rain came at a very inopportune time.

When the two arrived downstairs, the scene was a complete mess.

A male colleague jogged over with a raincoat, opened it, and draped it over Bai Xiao, saying, "Captain Bai, I just questioned them. The first two to discover the body were two students. One of them was emotionally unstable due to excessive shock, and the doctor gave him a sedative. The other child is in the banquet hall. Do you want to go and ask him about it?"

"No."

Bai Xiao took the raincoat and put it on, then asked, "Has Weiwei arrived yet?"

The male colleague checked the time and said, "It should be almost time."

As they were talking, they saw an incredibly beautiful woman carrying a suitcase walking towards them from afar.

Xu Zhi's eyes lit up, and he immediately ran forward eagerly: "Weiwei."

Qin Ruowei ignored him and went straight to Bai Xiao, asking, "What's the situation at the scene?"

"The deceased was named Zhao Qiangdong, 32 years old, and was a chef at this hotel. He was summoned by us this afternoon and jumped off the building after returning. I suspect this case is not a suicide."

Bai Xiao pushed aside the police tape and led Qin Ruowei to the corpse, giving a brief explanation of the situation.