The security guards immediately relented and said, "No, no, we just went out for dinner, so we didn't see it. Usually... Usually, we always stay right in front of the surveillance monitors."

Chen Shi said, "Really? I want to go to the monitoring room to have a look."

"I'm afraid that won't work. The hotel has its rules."

"A greater rule than the law? The police are investigating a case and citizens have an obligation to assist."

The security guards looked at each other and then agreed. After returning the oil painting, Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue followed them to the monitoring room. The security guards said that they would clean it up and let them in after five minutes.

Chen Shi noticed that the equipment there was advanced and complete. Then he looked at the sofa. A piece of clothing hanging on it was used in an attempt to cover up their playing cards and a few beer bottles were hidden in the corner. Their purposeful hiding made things even more conspicuous. Chen Shi secretly sneered.

Chen Shi asked to see the surveillance of the 22nd floor on the evening of July 14th. The security guard helped him to set it up. At about 8:00PM, a boy in a red T-shirt and a girl came out of the elevator and entered the presidential suite.

Lin Dongxue said excitedly, "This is the victim!"

"We can’t confirm that yet... Can we copy this part of the surveillance footage?"

"I'm afraid that's not possible. The hotel regulations are very strict." The security guard said.

"Can we just watch it here then?"

"You can!"

Chen Shi dialed Sun Zhen’s phone while leaving his phone in his pocket to signal that he could start hacking. Then he continued to investigate the footage with Lin Dongxue. Chen Shi rewound the tape a little. The boy had left the presidential suite at about 6 o'clock. He left in a black hoodie and was wearing a beret cap.

Although the clothes were different, from the body and posture, it was obviously the same person.

The boy’s body was very clean. He didn’t have any tattoos or the like. They couldn’t see his face due to the monitor’s low resolution, but there was a glittering thing around his neck, which seemed to be a necklace. When he returned at eight, the necklace was also seen.

Lin Dongxue took out her mobile phone and did some searching. She found the photos of Luo Zuyu's recent activities on Weibo. He was also wearing a gold chain in those photos. She handed her phone over to Chen Shi. "Does he look similar to the person in the footage?"

This action showed that Lin Dongxue and Chen Shi’s suspicions were aligned. Chen Shi pressed her hand down and glanced at the dazed security guards behind him, saying, "Let’s discuss this when we get back. Let's continue watching the video."

They continued to watch and saw that when the two people entered the suite, a cleaning lady across the corridor had walked over while facing them. Lin Dongxue said excitedly, "There is a witness!"

It was very quiet in front of the presidential suite until 11 o’clock. At around eleven, a man in a suit walked into the presidential suite and stayed there for about half an hour. Then the red T-shirt boy came out alone. But this time he took the stairs instead of taking the elevator.

"Security! Cut to the stairs for me."

"The stairs aren’t monitored," The security guard said.

"What?!"

"What hotel would install a security camera on the stairs? People don’t usually take them."

Chen Shi muttered to himself. There isn’t anything weird there, right? He continued to fast-forward through the video. About twenty minutes later, a boy in black came out from the stairs and entered the presidential suite.

Chen Shi asked to watch the video of the reception hall on the first floor. At 11:30, the boy in the red T-shirt came out from the staircase on the first floor and walked straight to the door. They rewound the video a little. At 11:10, a boy in a black sweater went into the staircase.

Lin Dongxue said, "What's going on? It’s as if it’s a magic show?"

Chen Shi said, "This is probably a trick he used since he knew about the blind spot at the stairs."

The cell phone in his pocket rang. It was a secret signal indicating that Sun Zhen had already obtained everything. Chen Shi thanked the security guard and left with Lin Dongxue.

Back in his room, Sun Zhen was using a computer. He said, "I have all the videos and check-in records that you wanted."

"Good job, bring up the check-in records."

Sun Zhen opened up a check-in list. Chen Shi searched for the name of the presidential suite on the 22nd floor on July 14th. He only saw a person named “Liu Deyang”. Records showed that he had checked out at 6:00AM the next morning.

"What's going on?" Lin Dongxue asked.

"Celebrities won’t register using their own names. Check which room Luo Zuyu is staying in right now."

Sun Zhen checked and said, "I can’t find him!"

"Sure enough…"

Chen Shi looked at the records and pointed at a line. "Strange. The presidential suites on the 23rd to 25th floors were all booked in one go on the evening of July 14th, so now the three rooms are occupied by the same group of people. It might be Luo Zuyu and his management team.

Lin Dongxue asked, "Do we need to pay them a visit?"

"It doesn't make sense to go right now. We’ll wait for your brother to get an arrest warrant!"

Sun Zhen said, "Is this case really related to Luo Zuyu? He seems to be filming a variety show in Long'an right now and will have to stop over here for a while."

"It seems like there’s still lots of time. Let's talk tomorrow. Little Worm, I’ll send you down!"

"That's a notice for visitors to leave. Okay, okay, I won't bother you guys!"

While he was sending Sun Zhen off, Sun Zhen said, "Brother Chen, is Yueyue on summer vacation right now? She often comes over to our office to play."

"Does she really come over to play?"

"She’s actually learning skills from kk."

"Little bastard..." Chen Shi couldn't control Yueyue. It’s as she said though. Learning from bad people he trusted was better than learning from people with unknown backgrounds. "I’ll go back and teach her a lesson later."

"Brother Chen, with all due respect, isn’t your parenting a little too relaxed?"

"She’s not my child and I’m not responsible for parenting her. She and I are two independent people. As long as she grows up healthily, it’s fine."

"Learning to steal things with kk all day long, how could she be healthy?" Sun Zhen said. "It's better to learn some hacking techniques from me. This stuff will be very useful in the future."

"Fifty steps laughing at a hundred steps.[1] Take your phone out."

Chen Shi transferred 2,000 yuan to Sun Zhen as payment for his services. Sun Zhen pretended to reject it politely a few times and then accepted it calmly.

After sending Sun Zhen off, Chen Shi went to the top floor, opened the lock on the rooftop, and called Lin Dongxue.

On the rooftop, the night breeze was noisy. Chen Shi used his phone’s light to search for clues on the ground. Whenever he saw suspicious areas, he sprayed some luminol on them. The two of them bent down and searched for a long time. Lin Dongxue called out, "Here, here!"

Chen Shi ran over. Lin Dongxue was shining an ultraviolet lamp on the ground and there was a blood stain reaction there. But the blood stain was a bit strange in shape. It showed an irregular cross shape.

"How did this blood stain form like this?" Chen Shi asked deliberately.

"Uh..." Lin Dongxue pondered. "Something was placed on the ground and blood leaked from the gaps?"

"Correct! Look around again."

Many blood stains were found around the area, but it was getting too dark for the phone to take clear photos of them. Chen Shi made some simple marks so that Lin Qiupu could come over and investigate again tomorrow.

At a place on the edge of the rooftop, Chen Shi found signs of abrasion. He poked his head over and looked down. Lin Dongxue said, "Be careful not to fall." and grabbed him from behind.

Looking down from that height made him dizzy. The building's steep exterior wall was lined with lit-up windows and buzzing air-conditioning units. Chen Shi said, "The presidential suites are in a line straight below."

He moved back. They were exhausted by the investigation that night. Lin Dongxue asked, "Do we need to continue to investigate?"

"Let’s wrap up here. Let's go back to the room to rest and eat. And then what should we do?" Chen Shi asked with a smile.

Lin Dongxue smiled and punched him. "Take a shower first!"

1. An expression that’s similar to “The pot calling the kettle black.”