Chapter 66 - The Ones Who Are Dead

Qing Chen could barely keep his eyes open the next morning he was at his office. Lifting his lids felt too much trouble so he just kept them down as he listened to the updates about the case and potential leads that the police were working on.

After getting out of the pool last night and washing up, he and Feng Xuan spent more hours talking in their bedroom. Even when they have already said their good nights, one of them would think of something to say and they would go on talking about it for a few minutes and when the conversation went dead, they would think the other one was already asleep until they would speak again. It was a cycle until no one spoke and sleep took them.

"Mr. Qing, are you listening?" Detective An asked.

"Yes," he said and took a sip of his coffee. "Please proceed."

"We want to stage a trap on the said date on the paper. We have checked the records of the hotel the night the murder happened and found that there were two weddings happening in your function rooms. Security was not as tight on a normal day and your staff were all busy to notice anything that could be possibly happening in the higher floors due to the volume of people going in and out of the hotel. We are already in contact with the couples to confirm their list of attendees for that night."

"Okay." Qing Chen opened his eyes. "How do we do this trap?"

"The police will handle everything, Mr. Qing. Please be in full cooperation. We want you to throw the biggest party of the year. We have learned that Mr. Wei owned a small percentage in The Kingly Empire. We would like you to invite all your shareholders. We think that the murderer is targeting your company's core members. Trust that the best of the best would be there for security and protection."

"You want to put all the possible targets in one place?"

"So it's easier to keep an eye on all of them," the detective answered. The under of his eyes were rimmed with black and he was looking really pale. "At least we know where they all are."

Qing Chen nodded. "Alright, we'll comply. The party, it could be any kind of party?"

"Yes, but make sure it will attract the people we need to be here."

Qing Chen just have the idea on how to make the shareholders flock the place. "Consider it done. Anything else, Detective?"

"We still do not have any leads. We have checked every inch of the body, every inch of the room, the CCTV was tampered with, it was a dead end."

Qing Chen leaned back on his chair and pressed a fist to his lips. "We're only waiting for a new body to appear."

"That is what we would like to prevent with the event on the weekend. It would also be good for the hotel as this would be covered by the press—your presence in the same location of the murder would ensure the safety of this place once more."

The hotel had not really been suffering from the lost. True, they lost a number of their bookings for the next weeks and months. But there were crime enthusiasts that had taken their places—some would even fly from another country just to get there.

Qing Chen nodded. "Thank you so much for also considering the hotel, Detective. You look like you need some rest. Can I have a room arranged for you? Free of charge, including the room service."

"No," the detective smiled. It was the first time Qing Chen had seen him happy. "Thank you for the offer, Mr. Qing. However, I really need to go home to my wife and my kid."

"Ah!" Qing Chen said. "Of course. Have a safe trip back home."

They shook hands and the detective left. Qing Chen would even say he was standing straighter than yesterday. He must be excited to be finally going home. Qing Chen pressed a button on his telephone.

"Yes, Mr. Qing?" said a raspy voice.

"Hello, Mrs. Chi. Please arrange for a food service in the detective's house."

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you."

Qing Chen was more than surprised to find the middle-aged woman on his secretary's desk when he arrived this morning. She had short hair, the color of pepper and salt. Her skin was wrinkled and her voice sounded like a broken cassette tape but she had smiled at him when she greeted him good morning.

On his desk, he found the woman's resume. Mrs. Chi worked from a small company before it closed. She might not be as quick like Li Zongying but at least she was not crazy.

Qing Chen attended another meeting with the marketing team. He let them prepare for an hour, to create a concept of ideas for what would happen over the weekend and spent a couple more hours flattening the plan.

At lunch time, he was already out of the office and was on his way to his father's house. He reported on the latest updates with the police.

"The least thing that we would want is that they would find a connection with The Underground," Wuming said with a whiteboard marker on his hand as he wrote the letters and putting a huge circle on it.

Qing Chen was stroke with a realization. "Not all of our shareholders are members of The Kingsman's Club. It's definitely another mafia out to get us. One that would like to put us out of business."

"Possibly, or…" Wuming grinned. "I had finally become a known assassin and people would like to get rid of me to get contracts."

Qing Chen rolled his eyes. "Not everything is about you, Wuming."

"I'm kidding! Lighten up, Chen," Wuming said and gave him a smile.

"Well, I'm here instead of being at home with my wife. I think you owe us a vacation."

Wuming chuckled and leaned over Qing Chen on his seat. He used the tip of the marker and flick it under his brother's chin. "Your wife."

Qing Chen hardened his gaze at Wuming. "Yes, my wife."

"Who could've been my wife—"

"Enough," their father barked from his seat. "Wei, stop poking your brother. You're not doing any good. And you, Chen, as if you do not know better. Get on with your theories, Wei, so we could send your brother home to HIS wife."

With a final smirk, Wuming turned away from him and went back to his whiteboard. "To keep you up to speed, Chen, I have thought about this last night. Here we have La Hiena at the top of the list. Though he was a friend of ours, he would dominate Chengshi if he would be able to end our line. He was already popular here because of the drugs he kept on supplying. But there is no concrete evidence that this is the work of La Hiena. On the--"

"Chen!" their father called and Qing Chen turned to look at his father. "Did you do something to La Hiena?"

He shook his head. "I wish."

"Be careful with your saying, boy."

Wuming stood in between them, "Can we not talk about this right now? We're in the middle of conceptualizing here."

Qing Lok, who had been silently just watching his older brothers banter earlier, finally spoke. "La Hiena, why is he there?"

"Because La Hiena's men also had animal nicknames. But they were all in Spanish. If he was going to kill us, he would have done it all at once. If he would not, the remaining of us would go into hiding and would block all transports of his products. I do not think he would risk attacking us one by one. He would lose the market here in Chengshi."

"Basically, with La Hiena's out of the equation, we do not have a clue still?" Qing Chen asked, still feeling his father's glare at him as if he had done something to his precious friend.

"Yes, no clue as of the moment." Wuming nodded once, biting his lips as he surveyed the remaining names at the board. "Some of these names were smaller mafias. They would not have the resources and the means to attack us. Besides, most of them answer to our father."

Qing Chen looked at the name and knew that Wuming was telling the truth.

"Who else could be on this list?" Wuming asked Qing Chen. "Am I missing anyone?"

Qing Chen looked at him straight in the eyes. "The ones who are dead."

Wuming's grip tightened on the marker. "Their heirs," he answered and proceeded to write down the names of the biggest targets that Enigma had encountered over the recent years. His fingers drummed noisily on the board. "You're right, Chen. We have to look into this." He pointed to Qing Lok. "Go call our people. We got some digging to do."

Qing Chen was about to rise from his seat to transfer to a bigger room where they would meet with their underlings but Wuming put a hand on his shoulder.

"Crown Prince," Wuming said and did an exaggerated bow. "We do not want to bother you with this small work. You should go home to your future queen."

Qing Chen rubbed on his temples. "Wuming, I'd be more than willing to help here."

"No," their father said, his eyes still filled with doubt. Qing Chen decided not to let his father'rs suspicion. "You go home and rest. You need more of that. Come back tomorrow. We'll let you know if anything else happens."

Wuming gave him a smile before disappearing from the room followed by Qing Lok. Xie Changying had been quiet all this time, sipping on her tea. Qing Chen put down his saucer on the table.

"You should take him back," Qing Chen said to his father. "See just how he's taking all of these in stride."

"You knew it was his choice to leave, Chen," the father replied. "The only thing that Wuming has that you don't, is that he recognizes the power of the mafia and he is having fun using it. You could be like that too. If you would just let yourself."

Qing Chen released a disappointed breath. "Well, I'll be on my way."

"Yes, we'll see you tomorrow. We have to get ready for the weekend."