Hush, My Sweet Darling

Chapter 30: Something Didn't Add Up

Kai woke to the constant buzzing of his phone.

He reached to grab his phone and checked the time. It was three o'clock in the morning.

The phone rattled mercilessly.

"Yes?" he answered.

It was Kimmy.

"Sir. Desmond Lo is dead. His body was found in a room of Hotel R in West Kowloon. I thought you would want to know."

Kai immediately got out of bed and headed toward the bathroom.

"When?" he asked.

"They called it in about half an hour ago, sir."

"I'll be right there." He hung up.

It took him less than ten minutes to get ready. He filled Mian Mian's food bowl with the cat's favorite kibble, patting the furball's head before leaving his apartment.

Kimmy was already waiting in the hotel's underground parking lot. She greeted him as soon as he got out of the car.

"The coroner just arrived, sir," she said as they walked toward the hotel's entrance.

"How was it called in? Who found his body?"

"His assistant had been trying to contact him the whole night but couldn't get through. Desmond was supposed to be at the airport for a 10 pm flight to Shanghai, but he never showed up. The assistant knew Desmond had booked a room here and called the hotel to check. The hotel saw that he hadn't checked out and called his room a few times, but no answer. So, they decided to enter and found him lifeless in the bathtub..."

"Did you already check the scene?"

"No, sir. They didn't let me in. Not our jurisdiction."

West Kowloon was indeed not his area of command; it was Rowan's. Any information about what happened outside of his jurisdiction would usually take half a day to reach his ear unless it was directly linked to a case under his authority. But even then, getting the information half an hour after it was called in was unusual.

"How did you get a hold of all this?" Kai asked.

"Uh, that... Coincidentally, I was with one of their detectives when she got the call regarding this..." Kimmy answered, scratching her head.

Kai raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

They climbed, arriving at the floor where the room in which Desmond Lo had been staying that evening was located. A police officer was posted outside the room, while another man in a suit was talking into his phone, looking distressed.

"No, sir... I don't know yet. No. We don't know how long this will take..." His voice carried a hint of frustration.

The police officer saw Kai and Kimmy approaching the room. He went to stop them, but Kai flashed his badge before he could say anything.

The officer was surprised when he read the name on Kai's police ID. "Superintendent Wu!" He quickly straightened his back and saluted.

"Wait! Wait!" The man who was on the phone noticed the new faces. He appeared in front of them abruptly.

"I'm sorry. sir, ma'am. Eh, my name is Brian To. I'm the hotel's night manager on duty. Could you please tell me what's going on?" he asked. "No one here is willing to give me any details. How long will this take? I have a duty to inform my superiors and provide an explanation to our guests."

"That's what we're trying to find out, too, Mr. To. I'm sorry, but we have to ask for your patience in this matter, as we're still investigating," the police officer who was stationed outside explained as he led Brian To to the side.