Fantasy Game: Infinite City

Chapter 541: Death of Fabulon (7)

Back to now, it’s 12 o’clock midnight.

"So the man Martina saw on the 26th floor knows the true cause of Fabron's death and the murderer?"

"If Martina remembers correctly, then it should be more than that. The murderer who killed Fabulon should have been killed by that man by now."

"It's hard for a girl who has never seen a shooting to not remember it when she sees it for the first time."

"Do you believe what Martina said?"

"According to our investigation, Martina is indeed unrelated to the case, and she and Fabulon have no connection. There's no need to lie and bring trouble upon herself."

"If that's the case, then there must be more than one murderer who killed Fabron, and their bodies are probably stuffed into that hotel cart. The strong disinfectant used by the hotel can indeed cover up most of the smell, and it makes sense that it would appear here."

"How's the hotel being sealed? If he escapes, we'll probably have a hard time solving Fabron's death."

"Don't worry, Liz. While you were calling your forensic colleagues, I also sent messages to a few reliable colleagues and some private investigators I know. They're hiding secretly outside the hotel right now. If there's any movement, they'll notify me immediately."

"I hope they can keep an eye on it. The rain outside hasn't stopped yet."

"Oh, just in time for the news."

As Frank and Liz were talking, Frank's phone received several text messages. These were mostly from colleagues and friends he had called in to help secretly block the hotel. Everything around the hotel was normal; no one was entering or leaving. Frank immediately shared what he had heard from Liz about the physical description of the man Martina had seen. He warned them that he was armed and dangerous. If they saw him entering or leaving the hotel, they should not go alone but must call for support.

However, one message stood out. It was posted by the police system. Frank, for all the detectives and regular officers, the system sent numerous messages daily. They considered it internal spam, usually dealing with trivial matters. If there was truly important news, it would usually be preceded by a special number. However, few people read it. After all, if something truly significant happened, detectives of Frank's rank would usually receive news directly from their superiors via phone calls. So, Frank didn't click on the message to see what it contained.

"Don't look at the internal garbage for now, let's figure out what to do next."

Unlike Frank, Liz always read every message sent by the police system. It's not that she doesn't have other ways to get the news, but she just likes reading these messages. Of course, Liz can also distinguish between the important and the urgent, so she didn't click on the message.

"According to Martina, the room she saw the man pushing the hotel cart out of was 2607. We should check there first. After all, we've already questioned these celebrities, their agents, and bodyguards, but to no avail. The hotel staff who initially stayed on floors 21 to 23 were few in number for privacy reasons, and none of them were in important locations, so we don't know what useful information they might have."

"But according to Martina, they seem to have some experience cleaning up bloodstains. We probably won't find much useful information even if we get to 2607. Also, the surveillance on the 26th floor was turned off. At least during the time of the shooting, it's difficult for us to find any clues through the surveillance."

"That's not necessarily true. While the surveillance on the 26th floor might not hold any useful clues, the hotel's surveillance hasn't been tampered with, so this man must have been captured on camera somewhere. As long as we know what he looks like, we can... Oh, right! How could I have forgotten about this? Frank, are you a qualified profiler?"

"Ah? Oh, yes, I was bored back then and took the qualification exam. You want me to draw that man through Martina?"

"Yes, with a rough outline of him and the physical features described by Martina, we can more accurately search the surveillance footage. You can also pass the profile you drew to the people outside the hotel so they can accurately find the man."

"Then we must act quickly."

Frank and Liz immediately returned to Martina's residence. When Martina saw Frank, she subconsciously stood next to Liz, hiding behind her. However, this wasn't difficult to resolve, as Liz had previously said. Frank had listened to Liz's explanation, realized his mistake, and apologized sincerely, and the matter was finally put behind her. As mentioned before, Martina was very young and hadn't encountered many challenges. Her agency was also very good, so she had little experience with the intricacies of society.

Based on Martina's description, Frank quickly drew the appearance of the man she had seen. Although the qualification of a profiler was just a pastime for Frank when he was bored, it must be said that he was indeed an excellent profiler.

"I've finished drawing. Can you see if there are any mistakes?"

"That's right! That's what he looks like! But his eyes are a little fiercer."

Frank made a few changes and turned the profile back towards Martina.

"like this?"

"Right, that is it!"

With the appearance provided by Martina, Frank and Liz left Martina's room and immediately began to compare the hotel's check-in information and surveillance video according to the profile. They went to 2607 at the same time. Frank was responsible for looking for clues, and Liz was searching for relevant surveillance videos.

Some time later, at 12:53 midnight, in room 2607.

"There aren't many clues here, at least not enough to constitute evidence. There are several holes on the sofa and wall that have been enlarged. According to Martina's description, these holes are likely covered-up bullet holes. There are no bullets or eggshells left anywhere in the room. The man must have cleaned up the traces after firing. Moreover, in the places where the bullet holes appeared, anything that could have left blood stains, such as carpets, sofa cushions, backrest covers, and even wall coverings, has disappeared. I guess the gunman took them away to clean up the remaining bloodstains. I'm guessing these things are in the hotel cart that Martina pushed."

"I think it's unlikely. The body shouldn't be in that hotel cart, at least not all of it."

"Are you saying the number of people doesn't match?"

"Well, I checked the hotel's check-in records. There were three people staying in room 2607. That's just the hotel registration information. Based on all the surveillance footage from today that shows the location of room 2607, we can see that there were at most seven or eight people in the room. Let's not even talk about whether the hotel's cart can fit eight people. Even if it could, Martina wouldn't be able to push it with her physique."

"Seven or eight people? If that's the case, then the man we're looking for doesn't seem to be an easy target. Can you guess how many bullet holes I found?"

"Including the one in the stairwell?"

"Ah."

"Eight?"

"That's right, and more than that. Look carefully at the location of these bullet holes."

"Based on the person's different movement directions and actions, it seems that the location of these bullet holes is... the head?!"

"There are only seven bullet holes in the entire room, not one more, so there's no chance of a missing gun. Whoever killed the occupants of Room 2607 must have been a skilled shooter. Judging from the missing items in the room and the location of the bloodstains, we can also analyze that these people had no chance to fight back. Although the room is not small, including the gunman, with eight people, it would be somewhat crowded. To be able to quickly eliminate seven people in such a crowded space, this gunman must be at least a professional."

"You mean eight, including the gunman? You mean the guy who was killed on the stairs wasn't in the room to begin with?"

"Well, according to Martina, that man was incredibly burly, and there's only one entrance and exit to 2607. What kind of skills do you think it would take for someone to kill seven people in such a short time to escape through that blocked exit? That means the guy who died in the stairwell must have been trying to escape quietly, but was spotted and caught up by the gunman."

"Makes sense."

"Also, the gunman's location was very carefully considered. This hotel room is very soundproof. Judging by the bullet holes, the gunman likely used a conventional 9mm pistol. The sound of such a pistol becomes very faint once it leaves the room, and can only be heard by someone lying near the door. The gunman cleaned up the scene, indicating he didn't want to be discovered. After all, there were other guests staying in room 2607, so the door must have been closed when he attacked. That's why he didn't fire in the hallway afterwards."

"If that's the case, then the last person killed shouldn't have heard the gunshots in the room. 2607 is very close to the stairwell. If he heard the gunshots in advance, he would have had enough time to escape before the door was opened. So he shouldn't have been unaware of what was happening in the room, and was caught by the gunman when he knocked on the door. But this doesn't make sense. If that's the case, why didn't the gunman drag him into the room? Why did he kill him in the stairwell instead?"

"According to Martina, the door to the 26th-floor stairwell was locked. The person who locked it must have been the shooter. He must have known the other party couldn't escape, and he was armed. Although he might not have intended to shoot in the hallway to avoid attracting attention, the other party didn't know that. He might have deliberately not killed him in order to extract some information."

"Maybe, but there's no way we can know now... Found it."

During the conversation between Frank and Liz, Liz found a surveillance video near the time of the crime. The surveillance video was from the underground garage at 40:. They saw the man who was very similar to Martina's description, but because of the angle, Liz could not confirm that this was the man they were looking for.

Following the man's direction, they discovered he didn't take the elevator, but instead entered the stairwell, presumably to avoid surveillance. He possessed a strong anti-reconnaissance awareness, avoiding almost all surveillance cameras and moving only through blind spots. Perhaps unfamiliar with the hotel's structure, a surveillance camera in the corner of the first-floor lobby clearly captured his profile. Comparing it with the profile, they were almost certain this was the man they were looking for.

"What is this place?"

"The hotel's staff laundry room. The staff uniforms are washed here. Martina said that person was wearing a hotel uniform, but it was very ill-fitting. I guess he got the hotel staff uniform here."

"I know Martina said he was big, but I didn't expect him to be this big. Even if he's wearing a hotel employee uniform, it's hard to hide his identity, right? How come no one noticed him?"

"He's rarely been caught on surveillance cameras, and he might have taken the initiative to avoid the hotel staff. He might not have wanted this outfit just for disguise... Wait, where did he go?"

"This place seems to be the hotel's freight elevator. There are surveillance cameras inside. Check Liz!"

By checking the surveillance footage of the hotel's freight elevator, Frank and Liz discovered something strange. The man went directly to the 21st floor via the freight elevator, but after he left the elevator, no surveillance footage of him was found.

"What time is this?"

"Eight fifty, exactly when we arrived at the underground parking lot."

"Something doesn't feel right to me, Liz!"

"I know!"

The two suddenly thought of the same thing. Liz immediately looked up the surveillance video near the restaurant on the 21st floor. Because the 21st floor was relatively chaotic at the time, Dina had just left the restaurant on the 21st floor, and some senior hotel executives and agency personnel went to greet Frank and Liz, the area around the restaurant on the 21st floor was very chaotic and crowded at 50:, so no one paid attention to the location of the restaurant.

Just before Frank and Liz arrived at the 21st floor, they saw through the surveillance video that a figure walked quickly behind the crowd and entered the restaurant on the 21st floor. He stayed inside for two or three minutes, and at the same time as Frank and Liz's elevator arrived, he quietly left the restaurant and left the 21st floor from the stairwell on the other side in the opposite direction.

"it's him!"

"How did this guy get past all the attention in front of the restaurant?!"

Just as Frank and Liz were shocked by what they saw, Frank's phone rang suddenly. It was Director Lugosi calling. Frank stared at Lugosi's number and looked at Liz.

"You won't answer it for me."

"Let's not do that, he probably... Hey Liz!"

"It's me. Our case is still under investigation... What did you say?!"

"what happened?"

"Okay, I understand. I'll tell Frank right away."

Liz grabbed Frank's phone and answered her father's call. From Lugosi, Liz heard serious news.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Look at the notification from the police system that you didn't see before. There was a riot on a prison van. All the prisoners and police officers on board were killed."

"It's a big deal, but does it have anything to do with our case?"

"I guess so."

"what?"

After hearing what Liz said and her expression that became extremely serious after she immediately opened the message to check, Frank realized that this matter seemed to be more difficult than he had imagined, so he immediately opened the message on his mobile phone.

"Oh, fuck..."