As they were speaking, Mr. Qu and his group walked in and went straight to the sides of Xu Dayuan and Liu Yufei, lifting up a laptop for them to see.
On the screen was a screenshot, Li Mubai was standing at the front desk with a girl who was talking to him. The girl was very pretty, but extrely petite, not taller than 160 cm and looking as if she weighed less than 80 pounds. Clearly, this was the girl that Li Mubai had t that day.
Xu Dayuan waved a hand, beckoning the manager to co over.
"Co here and see if this person is that Banxia," he said.
The manager walked over and glanced at the video.
"Yes, that’s her. This girl was here for less than ten days, and she didn’t show up on the morning of the 28th, which is considered a resignation since she didn’t even claim her salary. We didn’t lose anything either, so we didn’t really pay it much mind.
In fact, there are many such occurrences, particularly since many people from film and television companies co over, each pursuing their own futures. We can’t exactly stop them. Furthermore, whatever ans they use is beyond our control.
Many people, chasing fa and developnt, co here with fake identities. I do have a registry here, but the ID cards look nothing like the person in the pictures."
At this point, the manager paused and flipped open the employee registry, rifling from the back forward, and not long after, pulled out a form and handed it to Xu Dayuan.
Xu Dayuan took a look and saw that the girl in the ID photo was very ordinary-looking, soone who wouldn’t stand out in a crowd.
Her appearance was indeed markedly different from the one in the surveillance screenshot.
The girl was nad Zhang ng, from Ying City in the western part of Ludong Province, her educational institution listed as YaXin Film and Television Art Academy, 22 years old. The interests section of the form was filled with many items, and a mobile phone number was registered. Liu Yufei glanced at it and dialed imdiately, but the call went directly to a ssage stating the phone was either switched off or unreachable.
Zhou Ning had also co closer by now. Liu Yufei quickly made room for him to look. Comparing the ID photo with the screenshot, the eyes, nose, and mouth seed completely different. However, He Shancun had previously explained to him the various thods of costic surgery, and through the double child suicide case, he had acquired a certain understanding.
Altering the teeth and the upper jawbone could greatly affect the appearance of the mouth. As for the eyes and nose, rhinoplasty and epicanthoplasty were also possible to achieve. After all, her education and major were sowhat relevant to the date on the 24th.
"Send the video and ID information to Mr. Xia for a comparison, and also contact the academy to look up Zhang ng’s records. I believe there will be more photos on file, especially given that this ID photo seems to be from when she was eighteen," Xu Dayuan instructed.
Mr. Qu promptly followed through. Xu Dayuan gestured to Li Mubai, who hurried over.
"Take our people and check out the room you booked, and call the manager over here. We need to inspect every room," Xu directed.
The manager hesitated, not moving, and after a mont, said:
"It’s not that we’re unwilling to cooperate with the police, but there are two guests staying on the third floor, and as far as I know, they just ca back in the early morning. They’re probably still sleeping, and it would be rude to disturb them, right?"
Xu Dayuan waved his hand dismissively.
"No problem, we’ll explain. I discussed this with Mr. Fang before we ca. He also stated that he would cooperate fully. Do you need to call him now to relay the instructions?"
As Xu Dayuan pretended to look for the number, the manager had already smiled, stepped aside from the stair entrance, signaled a room service staff mber to co forward and whispered a few instructions before attempting to back away. However, Xu Dayuan stopped him.
"We don’t know your honored surna yet," he said.
"The surna is Liu, my na is Liu Liwei," the manager responded.
"Manager Liu, please accompany us. We will be recording everything with our law enforcent recorder, but it’s better to have your staff with us, to avoid any misunderstandings," Xu Dayuan said.
Liu Liwei had no chance to object, as Mr. Zhao and Mr. Yang had already taken hold of the manager, one on each side, and were leading him upstairs. anwhile, Mr. Qu received a ssage: Xia Momo was the first to reply. She believed there were differences in their facial bones, but after analyzing the cranial shape, the hairline, and a mole inside the eyebrow, she concluded that they were the sa person.
Zhou Ning’s face was practically pressed against the screen, yet he hadn’t noticed a mole in the girl’s eyebrow in the video. Mr. Qu rubbed his nose, holding back laughter.
"Mr. Xia is able to do the comparison. The R&D center developed a special comparison software for her to analyze bone and facial similarities. It’s not installed on my computer, but Mr. Xia ntioned it’s because you often need related comparisons, so it was developed especially for you. Apparently, quite a few people are interested," Mr. Qu told Zhou Ning.
Now it was Zhou Ning’s turn to be surprised; he couldn’t believe this was linked to him. He felt sowhat embarrassed, for after all, he knew the sha of taking credit for others’ work. It was Xia Momo’s doing, and he couldn’t take the credit. However, this wasn’t the ti to discuss that.
"If you’re certain, then search for this person’s information. Shen Shuyi disappeared here on the 27th, and the next day she didn’t show up for work. Obviously, there is a connection to the previous disappearances," Zhou Ning said.
He paused, then leaned close to Xu Dayuan and whispered,
"We’re encountering quite a few people with the surna Liu today."
Xu Dayuan patted Zhou Ning’s shoulder, indicating that he understood, and then tapped the information from the employee registry, revealing a form with Liu Liwei’s details. Clearly, Xu Dayuan had already considered this point, and Zhou Ning breathed a sigh of relief.
"Director Xu, you can proceed with the questioning. I’m going to lead Peng Shinian upstairs to have a look and also compare with the video," Zhou Ning said.
Xu Dayuan nodded. Liu Yufei had already started to call nas, as people stepped forward to be interviewed. So of the ladies were still whispering amongst themselves; the presence of the police didn’t seem to alarm them.
Peng Shinian followed Zhou Ning to the second floor. Liu Liwei, along with Mr. Zhao and the others, stood at the farthest end of the eastern corridor. The small building did not look modest from outside, but it did not house many rooms per floor. Upon counting, there were a total of nine rooms on the second floor, with a small hall in the center.
Zhou Ning did not go directly to where Mr. Zhao and his group were. He opened the map on his phone, located the Customs Building, and then walked to the window of the small hall. The window here was not large, and unlike the typical protruding German-style windows, it was slightly set back, which made it less likely for ivy to obstruct the view.
Peng Shinian stepped up beside him, looked out of the window, and then at the screenshot on Zhou Ning’s phone.
"The angle we have of that building from here seems incorrect."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Although the terrain is high, from this angle, one cannot see the Customs Building unless pressing against the window. So, the height is right, but the angle is slightly off. Tell them to start with the rooms on the south side of the second floor."
Peng Shinian hurriedly went to give the order. Mr. Zhao and Mr. Yang didn’t say anything, but Li Mubai beca anxious.
"I booked this room specifically. It’s this room that can have her clues. What’s the point of looking anywhere else if not here?"
Liu Liwei lowered his head slightly and ran his fingers through the hair at his forehead, Zhou Ning glanced at him from the corner of his eye. The man was clearly nervous; it seed he might know sothing but was not willing to speak.
Of course, it was also possible that, before their arrival, Liu Liwei had already been inford on how to cooperate with the police—or perhaps on how not to cooperate.
Mr. Zhao patted Li Mubai on the shoulder, signaling for him to be patient.
"Don’t worry, we are professionals. Mr. Sun, take Li Mubai downstairs. We’ll follow Zhou Xiaozhou up. The manager and this waiter will co with us."
The waiter looked at Liu Liwei, but Mr. Yang pushed him slightly.
"Stop looking, your manager doesn’t call the shots on this matter. Besides, the guests are resting on the third floor, and we are not disturbing them on the second floor—isn’t that good enough?"
Liu Liwei glared at the waiter and everyone followed Zhou Ning to the south end of the second floor’s corridor.
Upon opening the first room on the south side, Zhou Ning imdiately knew it wasn’t the right place as soon as he saw the room’s layout. The room had too many windows; it was spacious, but with the bed positioned against the north wall, it was impossible to film from the windows. He promptly left the room.
He called the waiter and moved on to the second room. Before they could open the door, Liu Liwei stepped forward with a smile, blocking the waiter’s action.
"Hold on a mont. This room is reserved by the film and television company. There are no guests inside, but we need notice to clean it. We don’t usually enter."
Zhou Ning nodded.
"No problem, we just want to have a look."
He brushed aside Liu Liwei’s hand, took the master key from the waiter’s hand, and directly unlocked the door.
With a beep-beep, the door lock opened. Zhou Ning didn’t rush in but instead took out gloves, put them on, followed by shoe covers and a mask. His actions prompted the others to quickly do the sa.
Ma Liang pulled Liu Liwei and the waiter back, positioning them in the corner, as Zhou Ning got ready and was the first to enter. To the right upon entry was the bathroom; a few steps further inside revealed a modest-sized window with sheer white curtains blowing gently, flanked by bronze-colored drapes.
On the left side was a TV and a vanity, with a small circular table and two chairs placed in front of the bathroom wall. By the window stood a large bed, different from the other rooms—this one was 2 ters by 2.4 ters. The bedside tables, headboard, wall lamps, and bed linen matched perfectly with those in the video.
Mr. Zhao was visibly excited and quickly pulled out his cara. He gestured at Ma Liang at the door, who got the hint and closed the room’s door. Mr. Zhao then eagerly exclaid:
"It’s identical to the room layout in the video, Zhou Xiaozhou!"
Zhou Ning smiled, and Peng Shinian raised his hand. Zhou Ning gestured for him to go ahead and speak.
"I’ll have a look at the window; may I?"
Zhou Ning waved his hand.
"Go ahead, just make sure you wear gloves."
Upon reaching the window, one could perfectly see the spire of the Customs Building, and the view from this window was unobstructed.
Zhou Ning went to the end of the bed, took out the screenshot on his phone, adjusted the angle, and Mr. Zhao hurried to take pictures. Comparing the two adjacent photos, Mr. Zhao pumped his fist triumphantly.
"This is the place, which ans we need a thorough investigation. But based on our assumptions, if the person has been dead for five or six days, could they still be here?"
"Don’t know. You conduct a careful investigation. Even knowing this is the sa room from the video, we don’t know who the killer is or where the body is. Seems we have to check the surveillance. I’ll call Mr. Qu up."
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