Chapter 280: Dispatching The Online Water Army (1/2)

After Yi Xi left, the reporters who had lost their target surrounded us instead. Xiaotao waved desperately at the crowd, ”Please leave! Don’t crowd around here!”

However, the reporters ignored her, rushing towards the station regardless of the obstructions like hungry wolves after a sheep. Right then, Director-General Cheng came forth and stood before them with a smile, ”Friends of the media, I am Director-General Cheng, the supervisor of this case. We will hold a press conference at eight in the evening. I will answer your questions then.”

His words were polite and measured, prompting the reporters to withdraw politely.

Xiaotao ordered some takeout so we could eat while we discussed the case. After all, it was a race against time. She sent officers to chase down some clues while she looked for surveillance videos near the hotel. Our next step was to investigate the identity and background of the drowned man and find methods to obtain Yi Xi's dental records.

The officers soon went out on their duties. Xiaotao turned to me and said, ”Song Yang, you’ve just returned from your internship. Go back and rest for the night! I will inform you of our findings tomorrow morning.”

”Don't worry about me,” I assured. “I’d like to watch the surveillance video.”

”I expect you’ll be disappointed,” replied Xiaotao. “There’s nothing special.”

”It's no harm to take a look!” I laughed.

The three of us visited the technical support department and watched the hotel's surveillance video but found no signs of the purported visitor at noon.

“Could the housekeeping staff really be lying?” I wondered out loud.

”Although I don't have your ‘Sharingan’ eyes, judging from my years of experience, she’s telling the truth.”

”Who said anything about Sharingan eyes?” I looked at her, bewildered.

Xiaotao pointed at the culprit Dali who immediately buried his head in shame and continued eating his lunch. What a bunch of nonsense! He was teasing Xiaotao for her lack of anime knowledge.

I fast-forwarded and rewinded the video several times. ”There’s no need to watch the rest,” said Xiaotao.

I found the surveillance video rather interesting despite there being only one picture and no sound. I was absorbed in watching the video but Dali was almost nodding off. All of sudden, his eyes brightened as he pointed to a woman in the video. ”What a nice figure!” he exclaimed.

It was a girl in red with a voluptuous body, two long, slender and pale legs, and flaming red lips–she was sexy and bewitching.

”What the hell are you focusing on?!” Xiaotao burst out angrily. “Can’t you learn from Song Yang? Look how calm he is!”

Unfortunately, I too failed Xiaotao's expectations, repeating this part of the video over and over again.

”What clues have you found?” asked Xiaotao excitedly.

”Xiaotao-jiejie, how can you so biased?!” Dali loudly protested. “Why is it that I’m accused of having my attention elsewhere when I look at a beautiful girl, but when it comes to Song Yang, he’s looking for clues?!”

”That woman is a prostitute!” I shouted.

“How can you tell?” the two looked at me in puzzlement.

”Where’s the leaflet with the solicitation advert we found on the dead man?” I asked. “Go get it now!”

Xiaotao admitted she had thrown it away but Dali slowly removed it from his pocket and shamefully added, ”I was only taking it back to show friends! That’s all!”

I grabbed the advertisements and examined them one by one, noticing that one of the photos contained the same person in the video. Because of the tear mole on her face, she was easy to identify.

Xiaotao took a deep breath and leaned forward, ”Isn’t this too much of a coincidence?! Does this mean that the drowned man has a special relationship with Yi Xi and he might have once stayed in this hotel?”

”That’s hard to prove from the advertisements alone,” I said. “What I’m concerned with is another matter. Do you think it’s possible for us to call this woman and ask her when she went to this hotel to conduct her business?”