First-Class Lawyer

After another twenty minutes, someone finally found Barry.

There was a small pub about two hundred metres away from the dormitories for the hotel staff, with an extravagant water fountain outside. Barry was face down, his upper body was soaked in the fountain pool. By the time he was found, it was too late for him. 

It was no longer the time for discretion.

Gu Yan decisively called the police.

The Silver Leopard patrol car specially used by the Fa Wang District Police sped along the overhead hover roads, whizzing across the city’s skyline, cutting three parallel tracks in the air.

With their sirens blaring, they made their way unhindered to Hanjin Garden Hotel in no time at all. 

Though the three patrol cars didn’t encounter any obstructions in the city, they had to exercise patience outside the main entrance of the hotel, for it was completely jammed up by the cars of the press.

The patrol car heading the charge sounded its shrill sirens, and the hotel security lined up like a brick wall, pushing and shoving to open up a lane for the police. It was only thereafter that the patrol cars were able to file into the hotel.

The police chief got out, along with the men under him in two of the cars, striding into the hotel lobby.

The policemen in the remaining patrol car trotted off, wrapping a police cordon around the whole perimeter of the hotel’s courtyard. Then, they were led by the hotel management to the water fountain to the east of the staff dormitories.

“Chief Xiao,” the general manager of the hotel waiting at the door greeted the police chief. “Thanks for coming down.”

Chief Xiao had been stationed at Fa Wang for many years now. He was no stranger to the management of Hanjin Garden Hotel, several of whom he had had the pleasure of making acquaintance with before. Frowning, he cast a glance outside the courtyard, saying discontentedly, “Your people here are very loose-lipped. The investigation has yet to start but word has already leaked. Those reporters outside arrived even earlier than I did.”

The general manager said helplessly, “You’ve misunderstood. We weren’t the ones who leaked the news. Those people have only just arrived as well. To be precise, they weren’t here because something had happened, but that they just happened to run into it.”

It was glaringly obvious from the logos emblazoned on the vehicles outside. Most of them were no-name media, always charging at the forefront of everything to get some buzz. The social event that Southcross organised this time invited many hotshots, which attracted these websites like a banquet of roast beef. They had long come scampering along at the scent of it, uncaring whether there was really anything happening at all. 

“How can those outside be called reporters?” the general manager said, “A real reporter would get offended hearing you say that.”

“Nevermind that,” Chief Xiao asked. “Where are they?”

“Ktf uefrar?”

“Zc.” 

“Ktfs’gf jii lc atf ujgvfc cbk.”

Pc atf tbafi’r uijrr-vbwfv ujgvfc, fnfgsbcf lcnlafv ys Vbeatmgbrr Ojk Mlgw kfgf rlaalcu lc ibbrf ugbeqr. Ktfgf kfgf wemt wbgf qfbqif atjc atbrf ktb jaafcvfv ijra cluta’r kjgw-eq gfmfqalbc, jcv atf afcrlbc kjr atlmx lc atf jlg.

Jtlfo Wljb obiibkfv atf ufcfgji wjcjufg ab atf ujgvfc, atfc cbvvfv yglrxis ja fnfgsbcf qgfrfca lc ugffalcu. Lf milqqfv bc jc jwqiloslcu fjgqlfmf, rjslcu, “Vbggs obg tjnlcu ab ygfjx eq sbeg njmjalbc. Pc ageat, ws boolmfgr jcv P vbc’a klrt ab lcafggeqa remt j clmf qjgas, yea atfgf lr kbgx ab yf vbcf. P’w regf atja wbra bo sbe tjnf tfjgv jybea atja qbbg fwqibsff, jcv P agera atja la tjr cbatlcu ab vb klat wbra bo atf qfbqif qgfrfca. Lbkfnfg, jr j wjaafg bo gbealcf, sbeg rajafwfcar tjnf ab yf ajxfc. P tbqf atja sbe mjc ecvfgrajcv ktfgf kf’gf mbwlcu ogbw, jcv jirb tjnf rbwf rswqjats obg atf qiluta bo atja qbbg fwqibsff.”

The guests present didn’t have any objections, but their complexions didn’t look very good. 

“What’s wrong?” Chief Xiao eyed the nearest guest, asking, “You don’t look very pleased about it.”

“Nothing of that sort.” That guest turned his head to look at the surrounding crowd, telling the police chief, “I’m not displeased; I’m very willing to cooperate with your work. The reason for the look on my face is only because… it’s a bit of a disappointment to have such a fine reception encountering such an incident.”

He spoke for the majority. Mr Gao, the partner in the law firm, probably had the most foul look on his face. Hearing the guest express this, he scanned the crowd apologetically, especially the Manson brothers, who had the highest social standing amongst them.

Seeing the undisguised scowl on Miller Manson’s face, he averted his gaze with an impending migraine and rubbed his temples. 

Naturally, there were some who were uncaring about the death of a hotel staff.

There was a flower garden diagonally in front of Yan Suizhi that naturally enclosed a private booth. Three people were seated on luxurious sofas, with several morning tea sets on the wide marble table before them, as well as playing cards and dominoes.

One of them was even fiddling with a few playing cards as he listened to the police chief speak, which produced a rustling sound like the pages of a book turning, looking bored out of his mind.

Miss Fitz, nestled in a sofa next to Yan Suizhi, shot a look over that way, then shook her head, clicking her tongue. 

“Miss Fitz, what’s wrong with your tongue?” Yan Suizhi asked knowingly, simply in a reminder for her not to be too obvious about it.

“Nothing. It’s just that my tongue hurts when I see people I don’t like.” Fitz gulped down her coffee. “That Cliff guy is really obnoxious. He ticked me off so much last night that, if he weren’t a guest, I totally would have told him off.”

The person in question, Mr Cliff, was the man fiddling with the cards at this time. A third of the space shuttles running in the alliance belonged to his family. In their early years, the family had dealings with interstellar pirates, dabbled in weaponry, and mined ores. Their family fortune was considerable, but the money they made wasn’t clean. Later, they cooperated with the Mansons and switched to work on space shuttles, now doing honest work for the space shipping industry.

The focus of the family business had shifted for many decades, but every member still carried the aura of the arms dealers that they once were in the beginnings of the interstellar alliance. 

Having formerly run with interstellar pirates, they undoubtedly saw a fair amount of bloodshed. As such, in the face of someone having died now, the Cliffs took it in their stride, completely inured to it.

The sweeping sound of the playing cards in his hands wasn’t actually loud; it was mostly drowned out by Chief Xiao’s voice.

But Yan Suizhi still glanced over there a few times while drinking his water.

He saw Cliff idly toss the playing cards onto the square table and drink his coffee. After that, he casually picked those cards up and shuffled them again. He picked one out from the deck and tossed it aside, then picked another one out and tossed that one aside as well. 

He was obviously just killing them. His actions when picking the cards were very nonchalant.

Yet, it was when people were relaxed that they would more readily expose their subliminal thoughts.

When Cliff tossed the cards, it wasn’t completely random, but gathering the same suits together.

Hearts and Spades were flung a little further away, Diamonds somewhat closer, whereas Clubs were strewn right in front of him. 

After Chief Xiao went on for a long time, he finally noticed the boredom of this gentleman, glancing towards him.

Cliff raised his eyebrows and stopped his hand motions, giving the police chief the barest amount of respect. He toyed with the few Clubs in front of him, then lounged back onto the sofa, making himself comfortable.

Xiao raised his voice and said, “So, that’s all for now. Ladies and gentlemen, please head back to your respective rooms. My officers will come around to gather your statements separately. Remember to wait where you slept last night; don’t change your location at a whim. Thank you for your cooperation.”

With that, he clapped his hands together. 

One by one, the people in the garden got to their feet. The police officers dismissed the crowd, arranging for everyone to return to their rooms.

An officer walked over to Yan Suizhi’s group.

Joe waved. “Come along, then. The four of us stayed together last night; you can follow us up.”

The policeman nodded. As he accompanied them towards the elevator, he made basic inquiries affirming everyone’s identities. 

Gu Yan said concisely, “I’m a lawyer from Southcross, and this is my intern.”

The policeman was surprised. He glanced towards the front mansion, asking, “Intern? Didn’t I hear from the hotel manager earlier that the interns and lawyers in your law firm were arranged to stay in separate buildings?”

“Yeah,” Joe said, “but they’re my good friends. I was missing company to drink with last night, so I called them over to stay with me.”

The policeman nodded. He jotted it down on a piece of paper. “Then, can you tell me which rooms you were originally assigned to?” 

Gu Yan said, “My room is 701. His is 406.”

The policeman gave a start. “Hold on. 406? You mean the room where there was suspicious activity last night?”

Yan Suizhi nodded. “That’s the one.”

“Then you can’t eliminate the idea that the perpetrator from last night was targeting you,” the policeman said. 

At the mention of this, Joe suddenly seemed to think of something. He said, puzzled, “Yeah, that sure is weird. Why did they happen to set their sights on your room? You’re just an intern…”