SFTD -Chapter 298 Bride Who Fell From a Building (Part 7)

Xiao Liang scratched his head a little awkwardly and tilted his head toward Zhou Hai and Luo Yunfeng.

“Actually, I might be overthinking this, but I didn’t see the victim’s shoes in the lobby downstairs. You see, she was wearing a wedding dress, with very exquisite makeup on her face, but her feet were bare—and the stockings on her soles were completely clean, without a single stain.

At first, I thought the shoes might have been left somewhere at the scene, but after the staff removed all the trees and cartoon decorations, I led people to carefully search several times, and we still couldn’t find them.

Where did the shoes go?

Could it be that the killer took them away?”

Everyone turned their gaze toward Zhou Hai. This question was truly difficult to explain.

“Where did the shoes go?”

Zhou Hai immediately fell into thought. A heavily dressed victim, yet barefoot in stockings, with no other traces on the ground—plus those four chair-leg impressions in the corridor on the fifth floor. Many possibilities flashed through his mind at once.

As if thinking of something, Zhou Hai reached out and firmly patted Xiao Liang on the shoulder.

“Xiao Liang, your observation is very careful. That was my oversight. At the time, I also assumed the shoes had fallen at the scene. After all, at a fall-from-height scene, anything can happen.”

Xiao Liang handed over a few photos.

“Brother Hai, look. These are photos I took in the victim’s room. The soft slippers provided in the room were never worn. All her shoes were neatly arranged in the cabinet, each pair supported with shoe trees—not like something that’s worn casually. It feels like she didn’t wear shoes inside the room at all, walking around barefoot.”

Zhou Hai nodded.

“That makes sense. It’s also possible she went outside without walking there herself.”

Xiao Liang and Luo Yunfeng both looked puzzled.

“If she didn’t walk there, how did she get there?”

Zhou Hai didn’t answer, but he already had his own theory forming.

At that moment, Zhang Wenqi standing nearby coughed lightly. The sound wasn’t loud, but it was enough to draw everyone’s attention. Luo Yunfeng even tapped his head.

“If you have something to say, say it. Stop making noise here.”

Zhou Hai glanced at Luo Yunfeng—he really was starting to look like a team leader now.

Zhang Wenqi blinked rapidly and forced a smile, holding a stack of reports and handing them to Luo Yunfeng.

“Brother Luo, this is all the completed lab analysis.”

Luo Yunfeng quickly flipped through it, then immediately handed it to Zhou Hai.

Seeing Luo Yunfeng’s confused expression, Zhou Hai knew there must be something important in the report. He quickly took it, walked to the whiteboard, and listed all the key findings one by one:

On the chair in Room 527, four complete sets of fingerprints were found—one belonging to the deceased, and three unidentified, which can be compared. In addition, powder-like material was found on the front edge of the chair, matching samples collected from the balcony wall.

The glass door handle of the indoor balcony had the victim’s fingerprints—an extremely complete palm print. However, the balcony railing and the outer handle had more complex prints, mostly incomplete, but several glove-pattern impressions were found.

White threads and embroidered floral patterns found on the railing opposite Room 527 match the material of the victim’s wedding dress.

DNA testing between the fetus in Zhang Huihui’s uterus and Zhang Ziliang showed no biological father–child relationship.

No semen was found in the vaginal samples. There were minor injuries on the vaginal wall, suggesting sexual activity before death.

Zhou Hai rested his chin on his left hand, trying to connect all the clues and known conditions. Yet the situation still didn’t quite add up. There must have been another person at the scene—but who was it?

He turned back to Xu Jun and asked: “Which rooms were occupied next to 527? Have you made a list?”

Xu Jun nodded and handed him a sheet of paper.

“This is the hotel’s check-in record. Room 526 next to 527 was occupied by Zhang Huihui’s parents. Room 525 was her uncle’s family. Room 528 was occupied by Zhang Huihui’s two cousins. Room 529 was a guest who booked independently.”

“A guest? Any details?”

Xu Jun and Zhou Hai quickly checked the records for Room 529, but found only an online booking entry with no further information.

Zhou Hai frowned.

“Isn’t hotel check-in supposed to require real-name registration now? Why is this booking missing detailed information?”

Xu Jun was also puzzled and quickly called the hotel manager at the Crystal Grand Hotel.

“Regarding Room 529, the information is incomplete. Do you have full records? Why wasn’t real-name registration done?”

After a pause, the manager replied:

“Officer Xu, Room 529 was booked by one of our corporate clients. We have long-term cooperation with that company. Most of the time, their admin department calls directly to reserve rooms, and designated staff pick up the key cards. As for guest information, sometimes rooms are booked but not actually used. It’s not uncommon. In such cases, details are usually filled in later.”

The explanation sounded reasonable, but it was clearly a management loophole. As for whether anyone actually entered Room 529, the front desk had no way of knowing—the key card was in the guest’s hands.

Zhou Hai patted Xu Jun, who was about to speak further.

“Have them open Room 529. Send people in to check. Also contact the company and ask them to send someone over to the hotel to explain how Room 529 was arranged.”

Zhang Wenqi immediately understood Zhou Hai’s intention and began packing his inspection kit, ready to depart. Zhou Hai glanced over and couldn’t help but smile slightly, nodding at him.

“Go ahead. Xiao Liang, go with him. Search the room carefully—don’t miss anything, not even drains. Check hair, razors, everything. Pay special attention to the balcony door handle and railings. Those are key areas for fingerprints.”

Xu Jun hung up the phone, his expression no longer relaxed, but full of confusion. Zhou Hai didn’t have time for that and patted his arm.

“Have you questioned the victim’s family? Especially the mother—I saw she was very emotionally agitated. Could she know something?”

Xu Jun pursed his lips.

“Before I came, I spoke with Zhang Huihui’s mother. She was somewhat incoherent, and I couldn’t quite make sense of her words. But I recorded a video—you can take a look if needed.”

Zhou Hai gave him a cold look.

“Why didn’t you mention that earlier?”

Xu Jun froze, not expecting Zhou Hai to turn so stern over this.

“My… my thinking was a bit off. It’s still not too late to watch it now.”

He stood up, took out a law enforcement body camera and a data cable from his bag. Luo Yunfeng helped connect it to the computer. The video began playing: the victim’s mother appeared, still seemingly trapped in shock even hours after the incident.

She kept shaking her head, repeating that it was impossible—her daughter Huihui could never do such a thing.

The officer taking notes asked: “You’re saying… what exactly is it that Zhang Huihui could never do?”