Chapter 16

The first floor of the cruise ship housed a vast dining hall and banquet room, the second floor featured a lounge and swimming pool, and the third floor contained guest rooms for overnight stays.

According to the recollections of actors from the same production crew, on the night of the banquet, Snow Ong only spent a few hours playing in the first-floor restaurant and the second-floor lounge. At half past midnight, she received a phone call and left by speedboat.

She went alone to transfer to the speedboat. Originally, some actresses from the crew wanted to accompany her, but she refused, so no one saw the speedboat that picked her up up close.

The Special Crime Unit thoroughly searched the entire cruise ship but found no significant clues.

Shen Chu Yi walked back and forth in the areas where Snow Ong might have been, but no previous “flashback scenes” were triggered. She wasn’t sure if the earlier “flashback” at the crime scene had been a coincidence.

Feeling at a loss, she stopped in front of a huge bouquet on the first floor of the restaurant. The flowers were placed beside the champagne tower—a massive bundle of black lilies, taller than she was, like a flourishing black tree of blossoms, numbering at least a thousand stems.

“Eleven hundred black lilies,” An Jia Shu came over to inform her. “According to the crew members, this mysterious bouquet was sent by a secret friend of Snow Ong on the day of the banquet, wishing her a smooth start to filming.”

“These flowers are very special.” Shen Chu Yi had never seen black lilies like these before. The black petals curled inward, with orange stamens at the center, exuding an eerie kind of beauty.

“These black lilies are called ‘Secret Kiss.’ Because they are rare, they’re quite expensive,” An Jia Shu explained. “I heard they were Snow Ong’s favorite flowers.”

Shen Chu Yi resisted the urge to ask how much they cost, fearing her own poverty would be exposed.

An Jia Shu smiled and said, “Detective Shen, you must have received plenty of flowers back in school, right?”

“Of course,” Bao Xiao interjected, “Detective Shen was an honor student at Jiulu Academy and so beautiful—how could she not have admirers?”

Shen Chu Yi paused, chuckled softly but didn’t answer. Shen Yulan probably had many suitors; she was both excellent and beautiful. Even Shen Chu Yi herself often marveled at the face staring back at her in the mirror: such a face, such a life, how wonderful it must be.

But Shen Chu Yi had never received flowers herself. People often pursued her, though—at one point, even casino enforcers chased after her.

This joke amused Shen Chu Yi so much that she laughed and turned to face her superior, Si Kang, whose cold gaze was like a ghost’s, startling her.

“Looks like Detective Shen enjoys being pursued,” Si Kang said sarcastically before turning away.

He seemed rather unwell.

After disembarking the cruise ship, the Special Crime Unit rushed back to the station to reorganize the case information and review all the statements from the banquet night.

※※

At one in the morning, the first profiling meeting for the case’s suspect was held. Bai Shizhou gestured for Detective Shen to begin the analysis.

But Si Kang spoke up first: “May I go first?”

Bai Shizhou looked at Detective Shen, as this operation was primarily her responsibility.

Shen Chu Yi confidently said, “Sure, whoever goes first goes first. We’re all working to solve this case quickly.”

Perfect, just the sarcastic rabbit I was waiting for.

Bai Shizhou nodded.

Si Kang stood before the virtual screen, sorting through all the testimonies, information, and case details, distilling the main clues into an orderly presentation.

The case was clear to everyone. He briefly summarized the time, place, suspicious points, and key facts of Snow Ong’s disappearance.

It was concise and to the point, with no superfluous words.

Shen Chu Yi glanced down at her own chaotic notes on her electronic screen, jotting down whatever came to mind.

“Snow Ong disappeared on the night of the crew banquet. Six actors from the same crew saw her board a speedboat on the second-floor deck of the cruise ship,” Si Kang began opening the key points of the statements. “According to their testimonies, the cruise ship was near Coral Island. Snow Ong received a call claiming her agent had an urgent matter and sent a speedboat to pick her up. About ten minutes later, a speedboat approached the cruise ship. Snow Ong boarded the speedboat alone and left. The six witnesses saw her wave goodbye from the boat.”

Snow Ong vanished thereafter.

“So that speedboat was the last place where Snow Ong was seen,” Si Kang stated. “Whoever sent the speedboat to pick her up is most likely the suspect.”

“Snow Ong said her agent Zhao Ming sent the speedboat, but police investigation showed Zhao Ming had a car accident three days before the incident. He injured his leg and was hospitalized at the time of the disappearance. Hospital surveillance and signal tracking showed he did not make any calls that night,” Si Kang added, bringing up Zhao Ming’s information. “So Snow Ong lied. That call did not come from her agent, nor did the agent send the speedboat.”

“That call likely came from the kidnapper,” Si Kang continued. “The suspect called Snow Ong first, told her to wait for the speedboat, and then abducted her.”

After his overview, Si Kang gave a clear profile analysis: “I believe the kidnapper is someone Snow Ong knows. The suspect knows her phone number, schedule, agent’s hospitalization, and even that she went to the banquet without an assistant that day.”

He said, “The suspect has some financial means and social status, can associate with Snow Ong, and owns a private speedboat and private docking area.”

He supported his claim: “The speedboat that took Snow Ong had no registration records in any ports near the Asian Sea. According to the crew’s memories, the speedboat had no license plate and was a black small craft.”

“An Jia Shu found the speedboat model,” he continued, displaying the data An Jia Shu had gathered. “It’s an older model from three years ago. So far, 103 people have purchased this speedboat.”

Shen Chu Yi looked at the dense data. An Jia Shu had checked all 103 buyers’ registration plates, docking ports, and recent entries and exits in Asian Sea City.

In the end, only one speedboat of the same model had no license plate, no records of entering or leaving the Asian Sea, and no docking port logs.

“Impressive,” Shen Chu Yi quietly praised An Jia Shu with a thumbs-up.

Si Kang frowned deeply. Though he was the one analyzing, she was praising An Jia Shu.

He paused for several seconds, even Bai Shizhou looked up at him.

He hurriedly averted his gaze from Detective Shen and returned to the virtual screen, but his thoughts were already disrupted, and he repeated, “One, the suspect is a man with social status.”

Damn it.

He pressed his fingers, trying to push out the despicable image of Shen Yulan from his mind, then resumed: “Two, Snow Ong knows the suspect and has an inconvenient relationship with him, such as a lover. That’s why she lied and said her agent sent the speedboat.”

“Three, Snow Ong didn’t think the suspect would harm her,” Si Kang said, “She willingly boarded the speedboat and did not call for help or resist along the way.”

“Four, kidnapping usually aims for ransom or hostage-taking, but so far the suspect has not demanded ransom, only released a video of Snow Ong confessing in public,” Si Kang explained. “From the confession video, the suspect believes Snow Ong rose through illicit means and improper relations with officials. I think the suspect has a strong motive for revenge against her, and his purpose is to have the public judge her.”

Finally, he pulled up a neatly organized [Snow Ong’s Relationship Chart], listing everyone closely connected to her who also had financial means and social status.

“As long as we start investigating from Snow Ong’s network, I believe we can quickly find the suspect,” Si Kang said, then turned to look at Detective Shen. But she wasn’t looking at him; she was staring down at her electronic screen, absentmindedly tapping and gesturing.

Why wasn’t she paying attention? Why wasn’t she looking at him?

“Detective Shen, do you have anything to say?” Si Kang asked. He didn’t believe she had undiscovered information to share.

She finally looked up and said, “All the people on your relationship chart are men. Why can’t the suspect be a woman?”

Si Kang was stunned.

She expanded her messy electronic screen and enlarged the photo of the black lily bouquet. “These were the flowers Snow Ong received the night she disappeared. No signature, and no one from the crew knows who sent them. I asked Snow Ong’s agent and assistant; they said Snow Ong often received these black lilies, also unsigned. Even they didn’t know who sent them, but Snow Ong always accepted them and had them arranged, so obviously she knew the sender.”

“These flowers are called ‘Secret Kiss,’” she pointed at her cluttered screen. “I looked it up. They’re generally given between women. Rare and expensive. Also, I checked, and Snow Ong never publicly said she liked these flowers. Only a very close friend would know she liked them.”

“I asked major florists in Asian Sea City; none had orders for a thousand black lilies,” Shen Chu Yi continued. “So this expensive bouquet was probably sent from out of town, kept cool during shipment. This secret but close friend fits your profile of someone with financial means and social status.”

Bao Xiao quickly caught on: “You mean Snow Ong might have been a lesbian?”

“Snow Ong publicly had three relationships, all with men,” Si Kang denied. “This bouquet could have been from a man.”

“Check it out and you’ll know. A thousand black lilies is a big order and should be easy to trace,” Shen Chu Yi said matter-of-factly. She believed men wouldn’t have this sense of aesthetics or the thoughtfulness to send such flowers—especially wealthy, influential men. They usually send flowers because they want something from a woman.

But the language of “Secret Kiss” is: I admire you.

Not love, not courtship, but secret admiration.

And Snow Ong’s relationship with the sender was so secret that even her agent Zhao Ming didn’t know?

Of course, she might know. These are just suppositions, so it was understandable Si Kang didn’t agree.

She proactively suggested, “Since we disagree, why don’t you investigate that unregistered speedboat, and I’ll trace the origin of these flowers?”

“I’ll go with you,” Bai Shizhou said, looking at her. “You’re injured now, it’s not safe to go alone.”