The police are very cautious with international friends; if not handled properly, it could become an international dispute.
Based on the principle of fairness, the two police officers questioned the entire incident.
According to the initial investigation, the general process was that Frank woke up in the morning and found a cockroach in his pillow, then notified the front desk to send someone to deal with it.
The front desk sent a cleaning staff member to check, but no cockroaches were found.
Frank felt he had clearly seen it; the cleaning staff must have hidden the cockroaches and were deliberately fooling him.
So he decided to ask the receptionist for an explanation.
The police arrived at Frank's room, carefully examined the bed, and finally found two dead cockroaches inside the pillowcase.
"See? I told you so. Their hotel's hygiene is terrible. How could it be rated as a five-star hotel? I'm going to sue them."
Frank felt that the truth was on his side and was very pleased with himself.
The cleaning lady, however, was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground, muttering to herself:
"It wasn't here just now, it wasn't here just now..."
Chun Tao and Huo Xiao were dumbfounded. Could it be that the aunt was too careless during the inspection and missed the cockroach?
However, Chun Tao knew that she had personally chosen this aunt, who was conscientious and responsible, had never made a mistake, and had a child in college who was short of money. She would never make such a basic mistake.
"Aunt Zhao, don't be afraid. Try to recall carefully what was unusual about this room at the time?"
The woman addressed as Aunt Zhao looked a little better and began to furrow her brows in deep thought.
“I remember now, when Frank and I were looking for cockroaches, we heard water running in the bathroom, which means someone must have been in there,” she said.
Frank vehemently denied it, saying, "What are you talking about? There's no one else here. Don't talk nonsense."
He can't make his affair with other women public. If his wife finds out, she'll definitely want a divorce, and he'll lose half of the family assets—it's not worth it.
The police listened and asked him again if anyone else was there at the time, but he still received a negative answer.
Huo Xiao sent people to inquire whether anyone had seen anyone else enter Frank's room.
Everything seemed eerie. He suspected that someone had deliberately put cockroaches in the pillowcase and then framed the hotel. As for whether Frank knew about it, he didn't know.
But whether there is anyone else in the room is a crucial piece of information.
Soon, someone told Chuntao that she had seen Frank chatting with two women in the lobby yesterday, but it was impossible to confirm whether they went into a room or not, and no one had seen them.
At that time, there were no security cameras, and the elevators didn't use card readers. Even though their hotel had strict management and guards at the entrance, it was still possible for some people to sneak in.
Huo Xiao had a bold guess in his mind: there was indeed someone in Frank's room who tampered with the pillowcase, but he couldn't find that person and couldn't prove his innocence. In order to resolve the matter as soon as possible, he could only negotiate with Frank.
“Mr. Frank, this matter is too complicated. If we continue to pursue it, it will probably be detrimental to both parties. I suggest that the hotel apologize to you, pay you 20,000 yuan in compensation, and also give you a free month’s stay. What do you think of this plan?”
Huo Xiao, considering the bigger picture, thought of using money to solve the problem.
The police felt that making a big fuss would not do Frank any good, so they persuaded him to accept the terms.
"What? You think you can get rid of me with 20,000 yuan?"
"No, you have to compensate me one million yuan, otherwise I'll sue you at the Health Bureau, the Consumer Association, and the Industry and Commerce Bureau, and I'll even get the TV station to report on this!"
Frank suddenly became agitated and made exaggerated expressions.
The police officer rolled his eyes at him inwardly, but smiled and said:
“Mr. Frank, since you’ve decided to sue them since we can’t resolve this through negotiation, we’ll take our leave now.”
They're here to solve the problem, not to help him extort money.
If it were an ordinary Chinese person, they would never have given so much compensation, and they still wouldn't be satisfied!
When the police were about to leave, Frank, seeing that no one was there to stand up for him, blocked their way and prevented them from leaving.
For a moment, the situation reached a stalemate.
A group of people were in a hotel room, and no one spoke; the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Just when Huo Xiao was at his wit's end, the receptionist came to him and said that Lu Wanqing was looking for him.
Lu Wanqing happened to be receiving a foreign investor, who was introduced by a leader from the Health Bureau. She asked Huo Xiao to arrange a room for him and to meet with the relevant factory负责人.
After Huo Xiao agreed, he secretly pulled her aside and told her about it.
"Frank, doesn't that name sound familiar?"
Lu Wanqing immediately remembered that she had once gone to his office in Shanghai to look at the blueprints.
Huo Xiao then realized, "I always thought foreigners only had a few names, I never thought of that."
"Thank you, Mr. Lu." He wanted nothing more than to kiss her on the cheek.
Watching him leave with a smile, Lu Wanqing shook her head. Frank was going to die at Huo Xiao's hands now.
Back then, Huo Xiao investigated Lu Jiajia's affairs. Wasn't Frank her lover in Shanghai?
Did he come to Beijing this time to see her, or was it simply for work?
He quickly returned to his office, found Lu Jiajia's photo, and showed it to a hotel staff member.
"That's her. Yesterday, that foreigner was chatting with two girls in the lobby, and she was one of them," a staff member confirmed.
Having confirmed this, Huo Xiao felt more confident.
He simply took Lu Jiajia's photo and went straight back to Frank's room.
"Officer, I suspect this woman spent the night in this room and deliberately put cockroaches in the pillowcase, harming the hotel's interests. I hope you can find her as soon as possible to verify this."
Huo Xiao said, casting a provocative glance at Frank.
"What are you doing? The hotel has a problem, but you're pointing the finger at me. You're deliberately making things difficult for foreigners. I can report you to the embassy!" Frank didn't want Lu Jiajia to get involved.
The police, however, acted as if it were all just business.
"Sir, our police are responsible to all citizens. We will not let any bad person go unpunished, nor will we wrong any good person."
The hotel now suspects that someone deliberately released cockroaches to damage its reputation, and we will investigate this matter thoroughly.
Frank was so angry at these words that his hair almost stood on end. He could only threaten them with the embassy, but it had no effect.
People are already looking for her everywhere.
At this moment, Lu Jiajia was holding hands with a girl, shopping for clothes.
"Xue'e, you really weren't seen, were you?" Lu Jiajia asked again after picking out a beautiful outfit for her.
"Don't worry, I went up the stairs, no one will notice."
A woman named Xue'e smiled charmingly.
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