Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
There was only a dim light at the entrance, and there was no one outside.
Xiang Wan felt a little cold with the sizzling symphony of tiny raindrops ringing in the ear.
The feeling of darkness intruded into her brain, giving rise to tingling fear which seized her heart.
That day, she had witnessed a flourishing “The Palace”, but now, a cold and deserted sight was before her. The two contrasting images were like the cross-cut scenes from a movie, alternating back and forth in her mind…
“Xiang Wan?”
While she was caught up in her thoughts, she heard Bai Muchuan calling for her.
“Hm, what’s up?” Xiang Wan turned and saw the furrowed brows of Bai Muchuan.
“I wanted to ask you what happened?” He sounded a little concerned. “What are you thinking? You didn’t reply my question.”
“Oh.” Xiang Wan brushed her hair and apologized for getting distracted. “Oh, what did you ask me earlier?”
“Want to go up to the fifth floor?”
“I’m already here, so of course, I want to.”
Bai Muchuan’s eyebrows seemed to crease even more tightly together. “That’s where the whole thing started, you sure you’re alright with it?”
Did he think that she was distracted because she was nervous about going up there?
Xiang Wan pursed her lips lightly and made a V sign with her fingers. “I’m absolutely alright, Mr. Detective!”
Bai Muchuan looked at her dubiously before turning to Tang Yuanchu. “Let’s go!”
…
The bar counter in the magnificent hall was empty. No one was keeping watch at night.
Only one light was switched on in the enormous amount of space, giving off a sense of emptiness as well as darkness.
Hearing their footsteps, a person who seemed to be the manager of “The Palace” came out behind a door.
“Hello, may I know is there anything…”
Tang Yuanchu showed his police badge. “Police!”
The manager was used to dealing with the police due to the case. He did not show any surprise and walked to them in a composed manner, wearing a polite smile. “How can I help you?”
Tang Yuanchu took a glance at Bai Muchuan. “We want to take a look at the crime scene.”
The manager extended his hand out to show the way. “Sure, please come with me.”
“The Palace” had been closed since the incident. The room on the fifth floor had also been sealed as requested by the police. No one had entered the room since.
The manager asked, “This case is still not closed? All of us are waiting for news.”
Tang Yuanchu replied, “It’ll be soon!”
…
The manager brought the three of them to the fifth floor.
The fifth floor was completely dark as all the lights were off.
The dim light from the lift lobby reflected on the face of Xiang Wan, making her look terribly pallid.
Bai Muchuan took a gaze at her. “Are you’re scared?”
Xiang Wan looked at him in the eye, shaking her head.
Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow. “Switch on the lights.”
“Sure,” answered the manager as he walked in front.
In no time, the whole of fifth floor was lit up.
As the lights came on suddenly, it felt rather blinding and Xiang Wan squinted her eyes out of reflex.
“This way, please.” The manager pointed a direction.
The suite where it all started was not far from the elevator—all it took was just a turn at a corner.
The manager gave an account of what happened that day. “This suite is not the biggest suite in the fifth floor. When Sun Shangli called up to make a reservation, I had actually recommended another suite when she told me the number of guests coming, but she rejected and insisted on that suite…”
Sun Shangli.
It was the name of the woman who died. The woman whom the police identified as “Sun” in the news.
More than half a month had passed, the suite was left exactly the same as that fateful night.
Everything was well-preserved—the wine bottles, snacks, glasses… nobody had cleaned up the room.
As Xiang Wan stood at the doorway, she started to imagine many scenes of that night inside her head…
There were loud music, as well as men and women dancing wildly to the beat with heavy makeup on their faces. Sun Shangli was beside the window. She was smiling, sometimes laughing, when suddenly, she leaped…
Xiang Wan sort of imagined the scenes like that when she wrote her novel, and her curiosity was even more piqued now that she saw the actual scene before her eyes.
The manager left the room, leaving the three of them inside. She couldn’t resist the urge and asked Tang Yuanchu a question.
“Detective Tang, what on earth happened when you came in that night?”
Tang Yuanchu took a look at Bai Muchuan, hesitating.
Bai Muchuan grunted a laugh and gently placed a hand on Xiang Wan’s shoulder. “She’s one of us, no worries.”
Tang Yuanchu gave a chuckle as he scratched his head. He looked the two of them meaningfully before he started to recall the incident that day.
“For this matter, I really feel wronged for Huang He,” he said seriously, “when we entered this room, this group of people were like lunatics. They were roaring, singing, and yelling, as if they were having a wild party. The music was very loud; the smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke lingered in the room… All these smells were merged together and was pungent to the nose. But besides Sun Shangli, everyone else was fully dressed.”
Xiang Wan’s heart suddenly missed a beat when she heard that. She stared at the window subconsciously, as if she saw a naked woman dancing there…
She was able to imagine the scene very vividly!
She gave a shudder and pointed toward the window. “It’s that position, right?”
Tang Yuanchu was stunned for a moment before he nodded. “Yes. But in actual fact, I did not even had time to look clearly. Huang He was the one who said that when he barged in, Sun Shangli was standing right beside the window. See that high stool? At that moment, she was standing on that high stool, naked, and was moving along with the music, making a dance movement…”
What a twisted party!
Xiang Wan took a sniff, as if she could smell something in the air.
“What happened next?” Bai Muchuan suddenly asked.
“Huang He said he shouted, ‘Police! Don’t move!’” said Tang Yuanchu. “That woman was startled for an instant, but before the music stopped, she was already at the window sill and jumped. All these did not take more than three seconds.”
“When I came in, Huang He was trying to stop her by rushing to the window, but as she jumped so suddenly, nobody had time to react…” Sigh!
At this moment, Tang Yuanchu started to feel discouraged.
“D*mn! Just why did things turn out like this? We perform our job responsibly, and this is the kind of outcome we get. Captain Bai, I don’t want to hide from you, the whole team is now very depressed. Everyone felt stifled, so stifled that they don’t know what to do…”
For something like that to happen to Huang He, it was indeed unjustified.
One thing led to another. It was only natural for them to feel upset and demoralized.
Bai Muchuan patted him on his shoulder. He proceeded to walk around the room.
Suddenly, he turned and stared at Tang Yuanchu, “There’s no surveillance camera in the room?”
Tang Yuanchu sighed resignedly. “Exactly, otherwise, why would ‘The Palace’ be ordered to stop operating temporarily?”
Bai Muchuan was stunned.
In a place like “The Palace”, their so-called service “fit for a king” was also to provide absolute privacy for their customers. Besides the main hall at the ground level, only the corridors of every floor had surveillance cameras. None of the rooms had surveillance cameras installed. Sun Shangli had jumped off the building so fast that no one had expected it. Moreover, Huang He had drank some wine that day, and being the interim captain, he was right in front. His tall stature had blocked the police officer who was carrying the law enforcement recorder.
Therefore, the law enforcement recorder did not manage to record the part where Sun Shangli jumped.
That had indirectly become the biggest excuse for the Sun Family to apportion the blame to the police.
“The police claimed that she had jumped off the building herself. If so, they got to disclose the footage. Otherwise, how would they be able to convince the public?”
“The police recorded everything, but not the part where she jumped, isn’t this evidence enough that they are trying to hide something?”
Xiang Wan knew that the internet would be filled with such remarks.
In fact, she also had doubts back then, but she never thought that it was actually a simple blunder like this.
“So, there isn’t any other hidden information about this case?” Xiang Wan muttered to herself as she followed Bai Muchuan to examine the room slowly. Her mind was full of imaginary scenes of that night. “The moment Sun Shangli saw the police, she jumped off the building. This is really… beyond comprehension?”
“You’re right,” Tang Yuanchu puffed a helpless sigh, “it’s obvious that she didn’t want to live anymore. But what can we do, they are adamant on pinning the blame on us. In fact, the team also wanted to help clear Huang He’s name. We have been investigating to get more clues during this period but to no avail.”
“You sure there’s nothing?” Bai Muchuan suddenly turned around.
Tang Yuanchu was dumbfounded for a moment. “Is there?”
“According to what I know,” said Bai Muchuan clearly, “shortly after Sun Shangli’s death, the insurance company also made a report about this case. They reported that Sun Shangli bought several high coverage insurance policies last year, which involved tens of millions of payout money…”
The insurance company would not issue payout so forthrightly for such cases.
This was because the insurance policy had not exceeded two years of age. If Sun Shangli committed suicide, the insurance company need not issue the payout as per contractual terms.
Therefore, whether she had committed suicide or was forced by the police, it would give a completely different result.
“At the end of the day, it’s all because of money,” remarked Tang Yuanchu with a sneer.
“Captain Bai,” he continued, “you’re really resourceful. You’re not even in Jin City, but you’ve already looked up about this. Indeed, such a thing did happen. However, it is Sun Shangli’s family members who came to the police with questions about her death, yet according to our investigation, none of the Sun Family member is the beneficiary.”
Bai Muchuan looked serious. “Who’s the beneficiary?”
Tang Yuanchu sighed. “It’s her son.”
“But it doesn’t seem right!” Xiang Wan listened to their conversation, and her brain found a lot of illogical conclusions. “Could it be that Sun Shangxiang… erm no… Sun Shangli, she had wanted to use her life in exchange for a huge sum of insurance payout for her son?”
Tang Yuanchu shrugged his shoulders. “Money is really not a good thing!”
“No, it doesn’t seem right, too!” Xiang Wan shook her head seriously. “If that’s the case, she could have chosen other methods, why would she want to die like this?”
Even if one wanted to die, why would one want to die stark naked?
As a woman, Xiang Wan knew that the layer of clothing not only covered the body but dignity as well. A person who is in the right mind would not want to end their life in such a manner.
“Detective Tang,” Xiang Wan thought for a moment, “why was she the only one not wearing clothes? Did you and the team checked on this?”
“This…” Tang Yuanchu hesitated as he peered at Bai Muchuan.
Looking at his hesitation, Bai Muchuan laughed. “She’s not afraid of anything, just say it!”
Tang Yuanchu chuckled awkwardly. “It’s not about her being afraid. It’s me… I’m the one who’s somewhat embarrassed.”
Xiang Wan: “…”
…
