There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

Communicating with the Capital Commandant was an exercise in futility; even if Xu Shuo exhausted himself speaking, the Commandant hardly listened to a word he said.

Therefore, Xu Shuo abandoned the attempt to guide the conversation with words.

After he said that sentence, he looked away with an expression of helpless resignation, his eyes simmering with anger and displeasure. In the end, he chose to say nothing more.

At that moment, a knock sounded from outside the door.

A military officer entered, leaning close to whisper something to the Capital Commandant.

The Capital Commandant nodded and said expressionlessly, "Allow her men to enter from the rear courtyard of the Five-star Hotel at ten tonight. The security there won't stop them."

As he spoke these words, the Capital Commandant made no effort to avoid Xu Shuo, nor did he particularly lower his voice.

Xu Shuo responded with an appropriate display of puzzlement, tinged with curiosity, resignation, and finally, he continued to keep silent.

Once his instructions were delivered, the military officer swiftly departed.

Then, the Capital Commandant pulled out his pistol, slid off the safety catch without a flicker of emotion, aimed it at Xu Shuo, and didn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

Bang!

"Hiss…"

The bullet's shrapnel and the damage from the shattered shackles left several bleeding cuts on his ankle.

The broken shackles dropped to the ground. Xu Shuo looked down at them and then back up at the Commandant, puzzled.

At a signal from the Commandant, the military officer freed Xu Shuo's hands, which had been tied behind his back, and then stood quietly to the side like a sentry.

Xu Shuo moved his sore arms in front of him, and with his right hand, gently massaged his left wrist back into place. The pain was so sharp that he immediately furrowed his brow, his face pale.

If this was indeed military territory, they would likely have more professional methods of coercion at their disposal.

Not just the breaking of hands and feet as now.

"Did the Capital Commandant agree?" Xu Shuo asked after he finished tending to his wrist, looking up again.

"I'm interested to see what you plan to do next," the Commandant replied indifferently, neither confirming nor denying.

Xu Shuo ignored the taunting provocation and directly assumed his role, tilting his head in thought before asking tentatively, "Do you have some solid intelligence on that spy now? With that, it should be easier to find that person."

The Commandant fell silent for a moment and then stared at him: "An adult male with the identity of a doctor. He will certainly show up at the Five-star Hotel this afternoon. He's agile and decisive in action."

"…" Xu Shuo tugged at the corner of his mouth.

The information about the spy being an adult male surfaced last night when the soldiers from the military zone, who were lucky enough to survive the attack, revealed it. As for the timing and location at the Five-star Hotel today, that was disclosed by the treasonous contact person.

The supposed identity of a doctor was merely a conjecture.

Because just based on the previous information, the range of suspects was still quite broad.

To put it plainly, the military had no real intelligence on the spy!

The connection with Doctor Kong, who had died that day, was established only today, in the shadows, with a message left for the meetup.

The Radiant Corps members of District Thirteen were generally led by the deputy, a high-level undercover agent infiltrated into the military zone of District Thirteen, who would remain dormant unless absolutely necessary.

Even so, he did not know who was coming to District Thirteen on a mission this time.

During the social season, Doctor Kong, who had returned from studying abroad, had a clean and flawless reputation without any blemish!

Except for the fact that he was a doctor.

Xu Shuo picked up his grey suit from where it had been thrown aside, speaking as he did, "Let's not dwell on the uncertain issue of identity, Capital Commandant. You mentioned before that after the power went out, the spy began to move, right?"

The Capital Commandant was frugal with his words, just looking at him calmly.

Xu Shuo continued, "So could you tell me about the traces he left after his movements?"

"After engaging with me on the second floor, he fled with a shoulder injury," the Capital Commandant said while looking at him. "Then he went to room 303 on the third floor and retrieved the items he had stored there."

"If he was injured, it should be easier to check among the hotel staff, unless his injuries heal quickly. Otherwise, this can't be hidden," Xu Shuo analysed seriously and then paused, "Hm? Room 303?"

The Commandant's gaze was mocking, "Correct, that person hid the items in the room you occupied before."

"So this is the reason for your suspicion?"

Xu Shuo asked back, and the Commandant neither confirmed nor denied.

Their gazes met briefly in the air, the latter still as unmoved as an ancient well, while Xu Shuo, after a moment of helpless expression, continued, "If that's the case, given the extent of your search earlier, you shouldn't have missed anything. He probably placed it there after switching rooms, possibly sometime between five-thirty in the afternoon and seven in the evening."

Upon hearing this, the Commandant's gaze sharpened, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a mocking smile, "Correct, by the time we searched, that item was indeed not in the room. It had been placed elsewhere."

Xu Shuo's heart skipped a beat, but he followed up on the Commandant's words, "The place where it was initially put, did you find it, Capital Commandant?"

"It was in the toilet water tank on the third floor, but the item isn't very waterproof, so it had to be wrapped, perhaps in a plastic bag," the Commandant said, looking down on him, his words deliberate and measured.

Going round and round, we come back to the problem of the missing slipper bag.

Xu Shuo sighed with a helpless look, "After I took them off, I indeed threw them in the trash can. As for why you couldn't find it upon searching just now, I'm thinking... could it be that the spy took something and then took the opportunity to disguise it, trying to divert your attention?"

Upon hearing this, the Capital Commandant, however, did not speak.

After the power outage, Room 303 became extremely chaotic, with trash cans being knocked over, and it was only after things were dumped out that he realized something was wrong.

Thus, this possibility certainly existed—the enemy, seeing a plastic bag on the floor, spontaneously took it with the intent of shifting blame or diverting attention.

So the thought of this matter made the Capital Commandant irritable.

If they had not overlooked that inconspicuous trash can during their first search, then it would have been a certainty, immediately taking control of the person on the spot, and from there, it would not have been difficult to surmise that the items had been placed inside the water tank of the public bathroom.

However, having missed that moment, not only did they give the enemy a chance to move the items, but they also gave them a reason for quibbling.

The Capital Commandant gazed darkly at the doctor before him.

But in fact, the items were never in the room from the beginning, nor were they moved to the now-vacant Room 303 after the fact.

This meant that before the military zone had locked down the hotel, the adversary had already received advance notice and removed the map from their possession, placing it in the public bathroom on the third floor.

The sniper who had arrived at the surroundings of the hotel before the military district had clearly stated that they had not seen anyone climbing over walls outside during the day.

So, discounting the probability that the sniper was blind during the day, it is more likely that the enemy moved within the hotel.

This kind of behavior, everyone in the hotel at that time could have had the opportunity, only that those on the third floor were slightly more suspect.

However, the problem arose again: prior to the military taking over the hotel, the hotel attendants stationed at the stairwell entrances on both sides of the corridor reported that no one had left their rooms on the third floor.

Before the arrival of the military forces, only one guest appeared on the third floor, and that was Doctor Kong who had just reserved a room.

But after Doctor Kong entered his room, he never left until the military district came to lock down the hotel; he stayed in his room the entire time.

Only when the hotel attendant was removed and a squad of soldiers was stationed on the third floor did Doctor Kong, hearing strange noises, do the same thing as the guests in other rooms—open the door to ask what had happened.

But he never left his room.

It sounded incredibly innocent.

However, the Capital Commandant did not fully trust the hotel attendants who had turned blind after nightfall even more than the sniper.

For an excellent spy, the basic ability is to deceive and distract onlookers during operations.

Anyway, Doctor Kong definitely had to be suspect!

…

After he finished voicing those speculations and heard no response for a long while, Xu Shuo looked at the Capital Commandant, who wore no expression and seemed to be lost in thought, and tentatively asked, "Capital Commandant, what do you think?"

The Capital Commandant glanced at him indifferently, "You can speculate however you want, I have my own considerations."

Translation: You can make all the excuses you want, but I'll listen to myself.

Xu Shuo smiled gently, "I know the Capital Commandant doesn't trust me right now, so in that case, why don't we follow the current clues and first investigate those who were injured in this event? —Speaking of which, I didn't have any injuries either."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Towards the end, it seemed he had just remembered this point, touching his completely unharmed shoulder, as if he fully believed the Capital Commandant's words from earlier.

—Deliberately fabricating a plot that the spy was injured and fled, to confuse the true final location of the map, was merely to see his subconscious reaction, but unfortunately, Xu Shuo had no reaction whatsoever.

However, the Capital Commandant didn't explain anything and turned to leave the room.

Not far from Room 214, and diagonally across from it, was Room 211, where another person was being kept.

Xu Shuo followed him over and when he saw the person inside, he immediately furrowed his brows and an expression of discomfort and anger appeared on his face.

A female hotel attendant was tied to a chair, covered in blood, yet apparently still lucid. Seeing the Capital Commandant enter, her body uncontrollably began to tremble.

"Why are you treating her like this?" Xu Shuo looked at her sympathetically before asking the Capital Commandant.

"At 7:30 in the evening, the person who sabotaged the hotel's power main switch was her, and she didn't deny it," said the Capital Commandant, expressionless as he walked over and forcefully pulled the girl's hair to make her face Xu Shuo, then whispered, "Do you see this person? Tell me honestly, do you recognize him or not?"

Facing Xu Shuo's gaze, the girl trembled and shook her head, her voice hoarse with fear, "I... I don't recognize him..."

"Truly don't recognize him?" the Capital Commandant harshly tugged her hair, his tone dark.

"I really don't know him, please..." the girl cried in pain as tears streamed down her face, and she gasped for air in short, ragged breaths, clearly terrified to the extreme.

"That's enough," Xu Shuo frowned and spoke out, clearly distressed.

The Capital Commandant let her go disinterestedly.

This hotel attendant had confessed to everything she had done but refused to admit that the adjutant had instructed her, nor did she know why she had acted in such a way previously.

Quite the cunning move.