Chapter 25

"Usually between 11:30 am and 2 pm."

Lin Sheng glanced at the time record on the surveillance video. The time displayed was 11:30 am, while the clock hanging on the wall showed the time was 1:00 pm.

Suddenly something came to mind, and Lin Sheng suddenly moved closer to the electronic screen, pointing at the blurry figure in the corner of the screen and said,

"Can you zoom in on this figure alone?"

Xu Guannan noticed something was wrong and moved closer to the screen, his body unconsciously getting closer to Lin Sheng.

Lin Sheng was thinking in his mind, pointed to a corner of the screen, and said to Xu Guannan,

"Look here. Although it's far away and the image isn't very clear, this person is holding something that looks like a stick, right? What do you think it is?"

Xu Guannan was instantly awakened, and his frown relaxed for a moment.

"So this figure is the cleaner!"

"right!"

Lin Sheng's lips curled up into a triumphant smile. As he spoke, he turned around and was unexpectedly bumped into Xu Guannan's arms. The tip of his nose brushed against Xu Guannan's chest, causing a sharp pain. A layer of mist instantly covered his eyes.

Xu Guannan lowered his head slightly, and saw the slightly long eyelashes flickering, as if sweeping across Xu Guannan's heart, causing a slight itch in his heart. A pair of eyes filled with mist looked at him innocently and aggrievedly. The atmosphere around him was charming, and Xu Guannan suddenly felt dazed for a moment.

Seeing his stupid look, Lin Sheng frowned slightly, then a cunning arc appeared at the corner of his mouth. He quietly had an idea. He put one hand on Xu Guannan's shoulder and half leaned on Xu Guannan's chest.

Her fingertips moved gently over Xu Guannan's three-dimensional facial features. Lin Sheng's eyes suddenly changed to another color. She looked at Xu Guannan tenderly, stroking his chin with her fingertips, moving down and gently caressing his slightly moving Adam's apple.

In an extremely lazy and ambiguous tone, Lin Sheng said slowly,

"What's going on, Captain Xu? Are you obsessed with beauties?"

The security guard sitting next to him felt half of his bones go numb and got goose bumps just by hearing the sound, and he moved to the side very tactfully.

Xu Guannan heard the sound of the office chair moving, and then he came back to his senses awkwardly. The tip of his ear was instantly dyed with a layer of bright color. He took a step back with forced composure, his throat moved slightly, and he spoke in a seemingly calm tone,

"I'm sorry, I overstepped my bounds."

"Why don't you just investigate the case quickly? You're just standing there like a stick. How long will it take? You're even interrupting my meal!"

Lin Sheng's attitude changed 180 degrees. He spoke to Xu Guannan bluntly, with a lot of resentment in his words.

After saying that, Lin Sheng touched his already deflated stomach and walked out of the monitoring room.

Seeing this, Xu Guannan thanked the security guard and hurried to catch up.

The security guard was left alone, dumbfounded as he recalled the scene, his scalp tingling, and he mumbled,

"Man is iron and rice is steel. If you don't eat, you will be hungry. A woman who doesn't eat is like a tigress."

He immediately turned around and ordered a big meal for his wife.

*

Xu Guannan found the hotel manager and gathered all the cleaning staff of the Phantom Hotel in the lobby, asking them one by one about the scene of the crime.

But after asking around, I still couldn't find the cleaning lady who appeared in the surveillance footage.

The clue seems to be broken again.

Xu Guannan's face turned serious, his brows and eyes turned colder, he looked at the hotel manager unhappily, his eyes fixed on the manager's face,

"Are you sure all the cleaning staff are here? Has anyone asked for leave today?"

The hotel manager's brows showed a trace of panic, and his expression clearly revealed that something was wrong, but deep down he didn't want to cause more trouble at all. He forced himself to keep a straight face and just said,

"It's all here. Why would I lie to you? Hurry and close the case. Otherwise, if it gets out, I'll be out of business. It'll be unlucky for everyone who hears about it."

As he spoke, a hint of disgust flashed in the hotel manager's eyes, and he showed no intention of cooperating at all.

When Xu Guannan heard this, his eyes turned cold and he immediately felt angry. His face darkened and a chill filled his whole body.

In a blink of an eye, Lin Sheng stood out from the side, showing a fake smile on his face, speaking frivolously, and throwing out a sentence very straightforwardly,

"Okay, case closed immediately. There was something foul in the suite on the seventh floor of the Mirage Hotel. A woman was fine a moment ago, but after entering room 715, she suddenly died. Her body fell from the seventh floor. The exact cause is still unknown, and the hotel manager is refusing to cooperate with the investigation."

As soon as the words came out, the hotel manager was immediately unhappy and yelled at Lin Sheng,

"You said it was closed, so you closed it? Who do you think you are? When did I ever refuse to cooperate? Don't spit blood at me! If you close the case so hastily, I won't be able to open my hotel. Isn't this destroying my reputation?"

Seeing the hotel manager's furious expression, Lin Sheng raised his eyebrows, and suddenly realized something, and added to himself,

"Oh, I forgot. The deceased fell right in front of me. This is the hotel's responsibility. Officer Xu happened to be there. The hotel has to compensate me for mental damages! Otherwise, I can't control my mouth."

Hearing Lin Sheng's words, the hotel manager's face became even uglier and his face flushed red, but he couldn't come up with a legitimate rebuttal. The words came to his lips but he couldn't say them, so he could only look at Xu Guannan for help.

But Xu Guannan's face was cold and his aura was gloomy. He spoke in a seemingly fair manner.

"This person is a non-staff member of the police force. In that case, let's close the case!"

"No! Who said the case is closed? Who wants to close it? Captain Xu, Officer Xu, we can't close this case. We have to let the deceased rest in peace and clear our hotel's name. Oh! I remember, Sister Zhou, it's Sister Zhou. The person on duty on the seventh floor today was Zhou Yan, but she left work early. I'll call her right now and ask her to come over!"

The hotel manager suddenly panicked, quickly grabbed Xu Guannan, stopped his decision, and quickly called Zhou Yan.

“Beep—beep—beep—”

The phone rang three times in a row, but no one answered.

The hotel manager then realized something was wrong. His scalp tightened and he looked up at Xu Guannan in panic.

Lin Sheng immediately sensed something was wrong and rushed forward to ask,

"What exact time did Zhou Yan leave? Where is her home? Do you know which route she usually takes home?"

The hotel manager looked at her in panic, his heart instantly rising, and answered honestly in a nervous and helpless tone,

"It was around 11:50. I remember she had just started work, and a while later she said she wasn't feeling well and wanted to take half a day off. Her house was quite far from the city center, so I can't remember exactly..."

Having said that, Lin Sheng's expression suddenly turned cold, and he stared fiercely at the hotel manager.

The hotel manager was sweating and his throat was dry. He moved slightly, searching for a solution in his mind. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he quickly answered.

"It's in the contract. Her home address is written on the labor contract. Let me look for it."

Lin Sheng took a step back, his expression softened somewhat, and he suppressed his temper.

"Found it! No. 532, Unit 3, Xiqiao Community, South Street. But I really don't know the route she took home."

After obtaining accurate information, Xu Guannan and Lin Sheng prepared to take people to Xiqiao Community.

Just as she was about to get in the car, Lin Sheng suddenly felt a palpitation in her heart. Her intuition told her that things would not go so smoothly. She silently calculated her fortune in her heart and suddenly woke up. When Xu Guannan closed the car door, Lin Sheng suddenly pressed the door and said with a bad look,

"Chu Xiao and I will go to Xiqiao Residential Area. You take people to check the surveillance cameras along the way."

When Xu Guannan heard that she had changed her mind temporarily, his eyes fell on Lin Sheng's face, and he heard Lin Sheng say in a low voice,

"Zhou Yan is likely to have been killed."

Xu Guannan instantly understood what she meant, exchanged a look with Lin Sheng, and instructed,

"Okay, then be careful."

Lin Sheng turned around and sat in the passenger seat of Chu Xiao's car.

1:35 p.m., Xiqiao Community.

The midday sun was shining brightly, and the light passed through the gaps between the green leaves and fell on the shoulders of the sleeping old man, casting a layer of warm light on his silver hair. The old man was lying on a rattan chair under a big tree in the community park, his sleeping face peaceful and his breathing steady.

The neighborhood at noon was unusually quiet, as if immersed in a sleepy atmosphere.

It was probably a while since anyone had come to clean the place. There were a few dead branches scattered on the red tile floor under the big tree. Lin Sheng accidentally stepped on one of them, and it made a sound like water drops falling on the surface of a river, causing ripples, but it couldn't wake up the sleeping old man.

Xiqiao Community is so quiet that people feel guilty about disturbing it.

The two quickly found Room 532, Unit 3. Lin Sheng tried to knock on the door, but after knocking several times, the knocking sound only echoed in the dark and narrow corridor, disturbing the silence of the first floor. The door of Room 532 did not open for a long time.

Chu Xiao stood behind Lin Sheng and took in the surroundings. The stairs in the corridor were low, with rusty handrails. The original white walls were no longer recognizable. The walls were covered with layers of dust. If you looked closely, you could even see children's drawings. He spoke calmly.

"Could it be that Zhou Yan didn't go home? Then where could she go? If we can't get in, wouldn't this be a wasted trip?"

Lin Sheng took out a thin wire from somewhere.

"Who said we'd have to run for nothing? Why not just pry it open?"

Just after he finished speaking, before Chu Xiao could raise any questions, he saw Lin Sheng stuff the wire into his hand and added,

"I'm a law-abiding citizen. For such immoral acts, only Dr. Chu can be called upon. You're a police officer, and prying open the door was an emergency measure. It's not against the law."

After saying that, Lin Sheng gave a sweet smile, his eyes flickering, with the word "innocent" written all over them.

Facing this face, Chu Xiao really had no way to refuse. He walked forward and inserted the wire into the keyhole, mumbling,

"No wonder you asked me to come with you."

Then, there was a "click" sound and the door unlocked...

Lin Sheng couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

"Mr. Chu's forensic technique is quite good. He is very skilled in his job."

Chu Xiao finally realized that he had fallen into the trap set by Lin Sheng again. He secretly swore in his heart that he would never investigate a case alone with Lin Sheng next time!

Suddenly, there was the sound of a cup falling to the ground from inside the room.

The two of them became alert instantly.