Chapter 55 - Room Service

Deaths in the hotel were a normal thing. It happened. People die of sickness everyday. Accidents happened. They slipped on the bathroom floor and hit their head on the sink. That sort of stuff. But when you person had been killed, it surely did wake Qing Chen from his slumber.

"What?!" he got off the bed, turning the sheets from his body. It was still dark outside. His head swam but he still got up, aware that Feng Xuan was already sitting up and turned on the light on their nightstand. "Murder, not homicide?"

"You heard me well," said Violet over the phone. Her voice was deep but there was a slight shrill to it. She was probably enjoying her sleep when she had also received the phone call. "We'll know more when we get there. See you."

Qing Chen rushed to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face, his hands going to his hair. "Murder, not homicide," he repeated. "Of all the places on earth!"

Feng Xuan was up and was scrolling through her phone when he exited the bathroom. "It's all over the news. They're saying it's a murder."

Qing Chen shut his eyes forcefully. Why was this happening? It had only been about a couple of weeks since the last issue about The Kingly Hotel and there they were again on the headline of news.

He immediately got dressed and Feng Xuan was waiting for him by the door when he got downstairs. "Do you really have to leave?" she asked in a small voice. Her eyes looked tired.

"Go back to sleep," he said to her with a smile.

"I'll try," she said.

"I'll be home as soon as I can."

She quickly pressed a kiss on his cheek and opened the door for him just as he finished shrugging on a jacket. "You be careful."

"Always," he answered and jogged to the already waiting limousine. His body had recovered well after what pain it had endured the last time Qing Lok 'sparred' with him.

His phone was blasting away with messages and countless emails. He ignored most and answered his father. "I'm on my way," he said immediately.

"What is it now?" he father gruff. Like the rest of them, he sounded like he had just woken up.

"Murder at the hotel."

He heard his father sigh. "Who was it?"

"Not yet identified. The police won't release anything not unless I am there. The press is going crazy."

"Eh, they always do. I'll leave this in your hands."

"Yes, father. I'll update you the soonest I can."

Qing Chen felt the heaviness on his eyelids and only let them rest for a few seconds before the car came to a halt. Almost every entrance to the hotel was flooded with media. His limousine couldn't even get into the parking lot. It moved at a snail's pace until a few men wearing police uniforms pushed the people out of the way that they had successfully reached the door.

"Set up a barricade," he said to the nearest bellboy who immediately sprung to action. Qing Chen entered the hotel and saw that it was on lockdown. Many of the guests were in the lobby, wearing thick robes with their wailing children. Most were on the reception area asking what was going on. Qing Chen saw a detective, a man probably in his mid-30s wearing a black shirt and a long coat, made his way to him and he quickly introduced himself.

"I know who you are, sir," said the detective offering a hand. "Detective An."

Qing Chen took the hand and lead him to the elevator. "Nice to meet you, sir. We shall speak in my office. Do you need to take anyone with you?"

"No, my partner will be here in a short while."

"Let me know so I can send them upstairs." He pointed to another bellboy. "Coffee in my office."

As they made their way to the office, the detective briefed Qing Chen. The face was mutilated and any—and he meant any part that would give them immediate DNA results had been taken off. Even the fingerprints were scr.a.p.ed. Qing Chen couldn't even imagine what the body looked like. There was a forensic team in the room, scrubbing any nook and inch for a clue on who might be the murdered and the murderer, in the fortieth floor where it happened.

There were no other forms of identification in the room. All they could determine was that the victim was male and was in his late fifties or early sixties. There was no blood in the room, leading them to believe that the murder happened in another place. Just the dead body on the bed.

"We expect The Kingly's full cooperation, sir."

"Of course," Qing Chen nodded as he sat down in his chair and the detective in the seat in front of him. The bellboy arrived with a cart and had fixed them a cup each. "Anything you need. I'll provide."

"A cleaning lady found the body at 2:46 in the morning. A phone call was made for a cleaning service at 2:42 a.m. Clearly, it was the murderer who called as per our team, the victim had been dead around 6 hours before he was found."

Qing Chen thought, how would you sneak in a dead body?

"The room was under the name of Zhu Yi. Does that ring any bell?"

Qing Chen shook his head.

"Okay," the detective said. "He paid in cash. The CCTV cameras seemed to be functioning well in the entire hotel but some of them were tampered including the one in the reception, main, entrance, near the elevators, and the fortieth floor from 5:31p.m. to 5:37 p.m. of the day before. The system said that Zhu Yi was checked in 5:33 p.m."

"So you have no idea yet who this man was?" Qing Chen asked.

The detective shook his head.

"Do I have to close the hotel?"

"Not necessarily, sir. But we do wish you to close only the fortieth floor until further notice."

"Done," Qing Chen said. "What are we allowed to tell the press?"

"Nothing, sir. The police will release their own statement. You may only speak of the matters of the hotel but none of the details about the murder."

"Yes, I understand." Qing Chen looked around. "Is your partner coming?"

With that the detective pulled out his phone. "She said she was already downstairs looking at potential witnesses."

"Have a meal in the restaurant when you have the time. It's on the house," he said. "Is there anything else I could do for you, Detective An?"

"If you and your staff could help with reassuring people and calm them down, that would be really great."

"Will do." Qing Chen nodded and stood up.

The detective also rose. "And please, do answer when we call."

"Of course."

Then when he took Qing Chen's hand, there was warning in his eyes. "And we will call."

Qing Chen returned the rough handshake. "Looking forward to it."