Chapter 3

Lizard in the box, the culprit next door.

Angell called the security guard and, together with Os and the others, went to the room where the hotel guests were gathered.

"Is the woman who caused a commotion at the front desk here?" Angell asked.

"No," the security guard shook his head, his voice trembling as he asked, "Isn't she dead?"

Angell didn't respond, but led everyone back to the door of Room 407. He examined the room numbers and found Room 401, which was three doors away.

Angell studied the door for a moment and instructed Os, "Open the door."

"Huh?" Os was momentarily puzzled and thought of calling a bellboy, but then he heard Angell say, "Quickly."

Just as Os was about to ask "why," Mo Fei had already stepped forward. He grabbed the door frame, raised his foot, and kicked the door forcefully.

With a resounding "thud," the door flew open. Immediately, they heard a woman's scream from inside the room. Mo Fei saw a naked man and woman lying on a large bed in the room.

Os, taken aback, asked, "Why is someone still in the room? Weren't they all gathered together?" Just as he spoke, the woman inside screamed, "Get out!" While saying this, she hurled a shoe outside. Mo Fei quickly dodged, and he suddenly saw Angell right behind him. Mo Fei instinctively reached out and grabbed Angell's arm, pulling him away just in time.

Angell's reaction was quite sluggish, and if Mo Fei hadn't pulled him away, he would have been hit for sure. After being pulled aside, he stood there somewhat dazed, not realizing he needed to brake, and ended up bumping into Mo Fei's chest. He didn't show any other reaction, just rubbed his shoulder and said to Os, "Detain them; the culprit is in the room."

The police officers at the door and Mo Fei were all in a state of shock. However, the people inside the room swiftly got out of bed, wearing only their underwear and pants. It seemed they had been pretending to be asleep. The man quickly stepped onto the windowsill, preparing to jump down.

"Arrest them!" Os finally reacted and shouted. The police officers rushed into the room. The woman was apprehended quickly, but the man had already jumped out of the window, and there was a loud, painful scream.

Mo Fei shook his head; they were on the fourth floor, so even if he didn't die, he would probably have broken his legs.

Os called for his subordinates to catch the man but heard another "thud." Os was momentarily stunned and then heard Angell say, "If we don't act quickly, he might get bitten to death." At the same time, they heard a blood-curdling scream from below.

Os leaned out and looked outside. He saw that the large lizard had somehow jumped down and was vigorously biting the man. The man was screaming and writhing in agony. Os quickly ordered his men to rescue him. Angell pointed to the bed and said, "There should be a stun gun there to subdue the Komodo giant lizard." After Angell's instructions, several officers rushed over and indeed found a stun gun on the bed, along with some bloodied clothing.

The officers rushed down, and Os, somewhat weakly, said to Angell, "You need to stop calmly narrating such exciting things in the future. Give me some psychological preparation, what if he had pulled out a gun when he kicked the door open?"

Angell looked at Os for a moment and said, "He didn't have a gun." Then he heard the officer responsible for checking the room say, "Detective, there's really no gun, just a knife."

"Alright," Os gritted his teeth at the officer, then turned to Angell and asked, "What's going on?"

"Hmm..." Angell pointed at the room number and said, "Originally, this should have been the room of the deceased woman."

"Oh?" Os glanced at the room number displayed on the wooden door, which read 401. He asked with some surprise, "Then how did he end up in Room 407?"

"He got the room number wrong," Angell replied lightly and led Os back. Mo Fei had been listening with wide-open eyes and hurriedly followed the two men. When they reached the door of Room 407, Angell pointed to the number 7 at the end of the room number and said, "You see it's a 7, right?"

"Yes," everyone nodded.

"What about looking at it from the corridor? From a distance of about five or six steps away?" Angell gestured to the side and asked.

"Well, it's manageable," Auste backed away a few steps, observing cautiously.

"What if the person is far-sighted and not wearing glasses?" Ansel inquired.

"Far-sighted? Without glasses, distant objects appear blurry, and close ones even more so," Mofei replied.

"You're quite knowledgeable," Auste turned to Mofei with a nod of approval.

Mofei nonchalantly answered, "I've worked in an eyeglass store."

Ansel gestured towards the door, "The deceased woman's bag contained a pair of well-kept glasses with convex lenses, indicating she was far-sighted. Her makeup bag had numerous makeup and removal tools, showing she was accustomed to wearing makeup. The glasses were quite cumbersome, so she probably didn't wear them outside."

"So she mistook a '7' for a '1' from a distance?" Auste asked, "And the key to the room?"

"This hotel has been around for a while," Ansel pointed to the lock. "Old-style room doors have a feature where the door doesn't lock automatically if the key is left inserted from inside."

Auste examined the door and agreed.

"The woman used the key, found the door could be opened, so mistook it for her room," Ansel illustrated the deceased's actions. "She entered with a suitcase, intending to place it in the cabinet. But upon opening it, she found a black box. Puzzled by the room's pristine state, as if unused, she was startled when the box moved."

Auste raised an eyebrow, "She probably thought her eyes were playing tricks?"

Ansel nodded, "Bending down, she opened the box, and out crawled a large lizard, scaring her. At that moment, the rightful occupants arrived. Seeing a woman inside and the lizard crawling out, they quickly shut the door."

"Wait..." Auste interjected, "The rightful occupants?"

Ansel confirmed, "The room wasn't locked because the previous visitors left the lizard behind. The subsequent couple took the lizard and left money behind."

"Chief!" A police officer emerged from room 401 with a suitcase, "There's a lot of money in here!"

Auste glanced at him wearily, "Might as well hire him instead of being a cop."

The officer hastily left.

"Someone paid a high price for a Komodo dragon?" Auste was perplexed, "For what? To eat it?"

Ansel disagreed, "The Komodo dragon is venomous. Its saliva can instantly paralyze a buffalo. Carnivorous and fierce, it possesses ancient predatory traits, exuding a sense of power and timeless beauty."

"Alright, let's not dwell on art right now," Auste shrugged off Ansel's observations. "It's probably about smuggling protected animals. And then?"

"After that couple entered the room, the deceased woman, already terrified, cried about a monster and sought their help. That's when a security guard came knocking," Ansel explained. "He did hear right; there were indeed cries about a monster and calls for help."

Mofei nodded in agreement, "And then the guard went to get the key from the manager?"

"The guards here are just for show in uniform," Ansel commented dryly. "They don't even have a walkie-talkie, so I suspect the killer has used this hotel for transactions before."

"But encountering such an unfortunate and confused victim must be a first," Auste continued. "When the guard left for the key, did the couple kill the woman?"

Ansel nodded, "The male killer stunned the lizard with a stun gun, while the female probably couldn't subdue the victim, so she stabbed her."

"Then the guard returned with staff. The male killer hid the body, the lizard, and himself in the washroom, while the female caused a scene and went to complain at the front desk, drawing everyone out," Auste summarized. "Then the man dealt with the body."

Ansel, yawning lightly, added, "There was just a slight mishap during the body disposal."

"A mishap?" both Auste and Mofei inquired.

"The male probably went to clean the washroom, leaving the victim's body outside. But the lizard woke up," Ansel pointed to the body's wounds. "Having been confined for a while, it attacked the bloodied corpse, devouring the innards."

Auste grimaced at the gruesome detail, as did Mofei.

Ansel continued, "The killer emerged to find the lizard making a mess. He tried to intervene with the stun gun, but the lizard recognized it and fled, leaving a trail of bloody paw prints before falling from upstairs."

"Ah," Auste realized, "So that's why it was covered in blood – from the fall."

Ansel concluded, "The man, seeing the injured lizard, hurriedly returned it to the box and tidied the room. The woman returned, and to divert suspicion, they disfigured the victim's face, stripped her, and dressed her in a robe. This way, no one would connect her to the earlier commotion."

"Hmm," Auste raised an eyebrow, "Makes sense."

"However, they discovered another issue: the lizard was dead," Ansel said nonchalantly.

"Dead?" Auste was puzzled, "But it's alive."

"Cold-blooded animals are adept at playing dead," Ansel stated softly. "Realizing the lizard's demise, they strategized their next move in the room. Just as they were about to leave, they heard someone approaching and hid again in the washroom."

"The security guard?" Mofei guessed.

Ansel confirmed with a nod.

"That's true," Auste chuckled. "If I were that guard, I'd find it strange too. Either it's really haunted, or I'm losing my mind!"

"Shaken by what he saw at the scene, the guard went to report to the police," Ansel said. "The killers, in a panic, ran out. It was risky to leave at that moment, especially since the female killer had just caused a scene in the lobby, and everyone recognized her. They thought of the only place they could hide..."

"I get it, the room card in the victim's pocket, right?" Auste finally pieced the story together. "Hiding in that room for the night was safe; they could lock the door and remain undetected. Hearing someone at the door, they quickly pretended to be engaged in an act, embarrassing the intruder enough to make their escape, but they didn't expect the police to come knocking directly."

Ansel nodded, "That's about it."

Stretching, Auste asked, "But how did you think of room 401 from 407? Just because of a pair of farsighted glasses?"

Ansel shrugged nonchalantly. "There are many clues, just organize them logically."

"Let's hear it," Auste urged. "Don't be lazy."

Ansel, slightly exasperated, explained, "The guard's account and the state of the body led me to deduce the victim and the troublemaker weren't the same person. As a painter, I'm familiar with all animal characteristics. The paw prints belonged to a large cold-blooded animal, not a crocodile, but a large lizard. And the condition of the body indicated it had been gnawed by a lizard..." Rubbing his temples, he asked Mofei, "What time is it?"

Mofei, who had been stunned, checked his watch and replied, "Half past nine."

"I'm tired. Let's go back," Ansel said.

Auste, seeing them leave, hurriedly followed. "Ansel, room 401, why did you guess they were in there?"

Before Ansel could answer, Mofei said, "Since the female killer couldn't be seen, she definitely wasn't in the gathered crowd. If she didn't escape, the only place left was 401."

"Oh," Auste realized. "That makes sense." He shouted after them, "I'll interrogate those two killers tonight and visit you tomorrow!"

Angler gestured gently with his back to him, signaling — I understand, I'm leaving.

……

Downstairs, Mofei opened the car door. Angler sat in the car, leaning back and gently rubbing his brow. Mofei started the car, and then heard Angler's low voice saying, "I'm very satisfied with your performance. Would you like to take this job?"

Mofei glanced at him and said, "Yeah, I'll take it." After saying that, he didn't forget to add, "You have to let me live in the gallery."

Angler, with his eyes closed, half-asleep, asked, "Why must you live in the gallery? Renting another apartment might be more comfortable."

Mofei was silent for a while, then said, "I like those paintings."

"...Is there anything special about the paintings?" Just when Mofei thought Angler had fallen asleep, he suddenly asked again.

"Hmm..." Mofei thought for a moment, "It's hard to describe, a wonderful feeling, don't you think?"

After waiting a long time and getting no reply, when Mofei thought Angler would say something, he had already fallen asleep.