Chapter 3 first quarter

"Who showed up at the scene of the crime the first time?" I asked Lao Liang while walking. "There are troupe director Long Wu, general manager Hu Junqing, director of housekeeping department Gu Jianhua, financial manager Gao Ruoxue, and magician Huang Hefei." "It's really good, even this kind of thing needs to form a group!" With that said, we came to the VIP reception room of the hotel as a temporary interrogation room. The five people mentioned just now lived in the guest rooms of the Bainiaoyuan Hotel.So finding them is easy. About ten minutes later, four people filed in.

The first one to come in was Long Wu.He is not tall, has a big nose, small eyes, and always has a smile on his face.Although he is in his fifties, his body is very strong.He was wearing a set of traditional white double-breasted exercise clothes, a wide black cloth belt around his waist, and black cloth shoes with layered soles on his feet. The wind seemed to be the first to come in. The second one is a middle-aged man with a hooked nose, handsome appearance and moderate build.Although he is only in his forties, he has silver hair.He is Gu Jianhua.The so-called director of the housekeeping department actually plays a role similar to that of a housekeeper in this grand theater, responsible for the cleaning of public areas, the uniform management of employees, etc., in fact, he is the head of the chores.However, he is kind and popular. People of the same generation in the theater call him "Old Gu", while the younger generation call him "Uncle Hua".

A petite, unsmiling middle-aged woman came in right behind her, about the same age as Gu Jianhua.Her name is Gao Ruoxue, and everyone in the theater calls her Sister Gao.She wore a gray suit, and although she was approaching fifty, she was still a youthful beauty. The last one who followed was a tall, thin man, probably 1.9 meters tall, with a darker complexion, but very handsome. It was the famous magician Huang Hefei.He was still wearing his signature outfit: a knee-length black hooded trench coat, like a medieval wizard in a black cloak.A cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth looked like it was about to fall from the corner.And he also has the habit of shaking his shoulders when he walks.

Long Wu asked Lao Liang with a smile on his face: "Captain Liang, we have another performance tomorrow night, can it start as scheduled?" Really dedicated!My niece was eager to perform for the public before her bones were cold. "It depends on the progress of the case. But I will try my best to give you the green light." "Thank you very much!" Long Wu clasped his fists and saluted. "Why are there only four of you? Where is the other one?" "I'm dealing with reporters! I'll be here soon." "Okay. The purpose of calling you here is just to let you recall the period before and after the body was found. I hope you can cooperate with me." Lao Liang said politely. "That's no problem!" Long Wu responded readily. "Thank you for your understanding. Then let's start with you, Brother Long!" "Ah, the situation is probably like this." Long Wu said and sat on the chair that had been prepared earlier.Gao Ruoxue had already sat on the sofa where I was sitting before, with her right leg resting on her left leg, and she took out a slender lady's cigarette from the cigarette case and lit it.Gu Jianhua held his right hand with his left hand and put it in front of him, standing beside Long Wu like a waiter.Huang Hefei leaned against the wall, smoking with his eyes closed.

"Because there is no performance tonight, we started to have dinner as usual at 8 o'clock in the evening. Everyone has already seated, but Xiaofeng is missing. After about half an hour, I sent He Qiqiao, the prop master of our troupe, to call She. But..." "Wait a minute, when was the last time you saw Miss Long?" I asked. Long Wu looked me up and down, his eyes full of doubts.Am I not like a cop? "Just be blunt, Second Brother Long." Lao Liang hastily added. "Ah, that's right. After dinner last night, Xiaofeng said at the dinner table that she was not feeling well, and told us not to disturb her, and there was a sign 'Do Not Disturb' on the outside of her door. This morning at 8 o'clock Around, Xiaofeng used the phone to order the room attendant to deliver another bucket of milk. After that, no one saw her or heard her voice."

"I'm sorry, you seem to be the deceased's uncle? Why don't you all feel sad about this incident? It seems that tomorrow's performance is more important than the deceased." I went straight to the point. "That's because you don't understand Miss Long's personality." Before the embarrassed Long Wu could answer, Gao Ruoxue, who had long been unable to restrain herself, gave the answer first. "I shouldn't speak ill of the person who left, but Xiaofeng in life is disrespectful and domineering. Her notoriety in personal relationships in life is very different from her good reputation on stage. If you don't believe it , you can just find anyone in the theater to confirm what I just said."

"Thank you. Mr. Long, please continue." "So Xiaofeng was last seen at 8 o'clock this morning." "Is that room attendant reliable?" I asked Long Wu again. "Absolutely reliable!" "She put up such a small 'Do Not Disturb' sign so that no one will enter the house?" "Xiaofeng has a bad temper! Everyone in the theater knows this, and no one wants to get into trouble." "Okay. Let's talk about the discovery of the body tonight." "He Qiqiao in Xiaofeng He knocked on the door of her room for a long time, but there was no response from inside, so he had to come back to find me. At that time, Huang Hefei was with me, so I hurriedly called her room with my mobile phone..." "Huh? Isn't there a phone near the restaurant? ? Why use a mobile phone to make calls?" Lao Liang asked.After a night of investigation, he had a general understanding of the entire Bird Garden.

"Ah! Because Xiaofeng never likes to be disturbed by others, the telephone line in her room is independent from the outside line of the hotel. In this way, whoever wants to find Xiaofeng has to be billed separately." Long Wu patiently explained. "It's really troublesome! Then why don't you just dial Long Xiaofeng's cell phone?" I continued to ask. "Dialed, but her cell phone is turned off." "Why don't you call her directly, but send someone to call?" "As an elder, I shouldn't go to her in person in terms of etiquette. "

It makes sense. "Please continue." "The phone rang for a long time and no one answered. Although Xiaofeng doesn't like people calling her, she rarely doesn't answer the calls on purpose. I asked the service center The staff, they said they didn’t see Xiaofeng leaving, so I felt something was wrong, so I ordered Huang Hefei, who was beside me at the time, to find Lao Gu, and happened to run into Xiao Gao on the way, and the four of us arrived at Xiaofeng’s room Outside the door. After knocking on the door for a long time, Xiaofeng did not open the door, so she opened the lock with the key she brought from the service desk. Although the lock was opened, the door still could not be opened. At this time, Huang Hefei, who is good at escape, said that the latch inside might be It was still plugged in, so I proposed to slam the door. I saw that there was really no other way, so I slammed the door together with Huang Hefei and Lao Gu. Finally, it took a lot of effort to slam the door open. After rushing into the room, I found out that Xiaofeng has...been dead for a long time." After all, she was his own niece, so Long Wu still choked up when he said this.

"Oh, it was the door you broke open with all your strength. After rushing into the room, what is the state of the door leading to the bedroom, open or closed?" "It's open. That's why we ran straight to the bedroom." Gu Jianhua, who had been silent all this time, answered. "Then you all ran to the bedroom?" "Hmm..." Long Wu paused for a moment, and then said hastily, "Let me think about it. I was the one who rushed into the bedroom at that time... Lao Gu, ah! And Xiao Gao. It seems...it seems that Huang Hefei wasn't there. Yes Right, old man?"

"Yes, Second Brother. Xiao Gao asked Huang Hefei to guard the door." "Oh, Huang Hefei is guarding the door. What's next?" "It was found that Xiaofeng's body was already stiff, and there was no possibility of rescue. So I ordered Xiaogao to call the police and ordered everyone to protect the scene." "Is 'everyone' just you four?" I asked. "Ah, Hu Junqing, the general manager of our theater, also rushed to the scene. We immediately checked all the windows in the living room and bedroom, and found that they were all locked. There was nothing unusual in the bathroom either." "What's the status of that elevator?" "Well, I have seen the world, but I was a little panicked at the time. So I didn't pay much attention to this, you have to ask Lao Gu." "The main switch is off." Gu Jianhua replied humbly. "Did you see it with your own eyes?" I pressed further. "Hu Junqing said it." Gu Jianhua replied. "This manager Hu is really a fine person! At that time, he thought of checking the elevator first." "Xiao Hu has always been a shrewd person, otherwise he wouldn't have changed his career from an acrobat to a manager." As soon as Long Erye finished speaking, a middle-aged man with disheveled hair, a blue suit and a red shirt walked in from the outside. This person was the general manager Hu Junqing. For some reason, I felt a little disgusted when I saw him.Maybe it's his overly fancy attire, or his obnoxious expression, or something else? "I'm late, I'm really sorry. It's hard to get rid of the entanglement of those reporters." Hu Junqing explained while wiping his sweat with a handkerchief, "Captain Liang, our performance tomorrow night..." "Proceed as usual! Tomorrow night's performance will not be affected. What the hell, I've been haunted by this damn problem all night." Old Liang complained. "Thanks to Captain Liang for your care, thank you very much!" Hu Junqing is worthy of being a "gold medal manager", he is smooth and sophisticated in his work, and his words are impeccable. "Manager Hu, you were the first one to notice that the elevator switch was off at the scene of the crime, right?" "That's right." Hu Junqing glanced at Second Master Long, saw him nodding, and answered the question with confidence. "We are boasting that you are a fine person, you, Cao Cao, came in. Haha..." "Where is it, I'm really ashamed." Hu Junqing smiled all over his face, and took off his grass green tie, which was obviously tied in a hurry. "Why did you think of checking the elevator in the first place?" "Don't mention it. Looking back now, tonight is like a dream. Because I rushed to the third floor just in time to see them knocking down the door, and the windows were checked at that time, so I thought of the only remaining exit. "Hu Junqing was still wiping sweat with a handkerchief. "So you decided it was murder at the time?" "Who would make himself like that to commit suicide?" Hu Junqing asked rhetorically. "Can you?" "What do you mean? You are joking." Hu Junqing was a little displeased. "Oh, your Excellency misunderstood. I mean can you hang yourself like that?" "If you go back ten years, you should be able to. I used to be a pillar of the troupe anyway." "Oh? I really don't know Taishan." "Thanks to Brother Long's appreciation, I was promoted to be the general manager of the theater and hotel. It's a pity that if you don't practice for three days, it will be completely useless if you don't practice for more than ten years." Hu Junqing said regretfully talking. "One more question. Did any of you find any unusual objects at the crime scene?" "What unusual object?" "Oh, the object that wasn't supposed to be there, but was there." Several people looked at each other in blank dismay, and they all answered no.Even Huang Hefei, who had been leaning against the wall without speaking, shook his head. "I'll stop here first." After I finished speaking, I began to pace up and down the room. "Then from the time you called the police to when we entered the scene, was there always someone present?" Seeing that I had stopped interrogating, Lao Liang asked the question himself. "Xiao Hu, Xiao Gao and I waited until the police arrived before leaving the room. Lao Gu went to inform the others, and Huang Hefei went back to rest because of the performance tomorrow." Long Wu replied in detail. "Are there any clues that I can provide about what happened tonight?" Old Liang didn't seem to know where to ask.None of the five answered. "Okay then, we'll start interrogating one by one from now on. Brother Long, please stay here for a while, and the others can go back to their rooms and wait for the notice. From today to before the case is closed, you must notify us in advance if you want to go out." "All actions?" Huang Hefei, who had been silent since entering the room, finally spoke.During the questioning period, he was playing with a coin with his slender fingers like bamboo sticks. "All actions!" Lao Liang said with righteousness and impassionedness.