“I’m sorry. Entry to the 10th floor is not allowed.”

The front desk employee bowed her head to Ansi. Since the 10th floor of the hotel was the scene of the incident, she said that access was prohibited.

It was a huge obstacle for Ansi, who wanted to go up to the 10th floor to check the scene of the incident.

It was also impossible to sneak into the elevator as there was always a staff member accompanying it.

“I just need to check for a moment. I’ll be right out.”

Ansi pleaded with the employee again. The employee’s eyes wavered.

“Mary, please.”

Ansi called the name written on her name tag.

Mary hesitated for a moment. However, after glancing at the employee next to her, she closed her eyes tightly and bowed her head.

“I’m truly sorry. It’s not allowed, madam.”

She was adamant. Ansi lowered her eyes.

Impatience swelled up once more.

The police were already convinced that Damion was the culprit. It was because he came out of the scene with blood on his hands.

When there is a set answer, it is difficult to imagine other answers. Then, even if there was evidence to prove Damion’s innocence, they might not find it.

Ansi had to find it.

She stared at the elevator, unable to give up.

According to what she found out through the police, Damion entered the hotel around 3:40. With a bouquet in his hand.

He took the elevator up to the 10th floor and went straight into the room.

And around 3:50, he came out of the room with blood on his hands.

By the time Ansi arrived around 4:00, he was already leaving the hotel with the police.

Then… since when was Bekishi in this hotel? As Damion’s wife, she found out about his movements, but the police didn’t end up telling her about Bekishi.

“When did Bekishi enter the room?”

Taking advantage of other employees going inside or doing other work, Ansi quietly asked Mary again.

“I, I can’t say…”

“I know it’s difficult for you to say. But it’s a very important matter for me. Please.”

Desperation was evident in Ansi’s voice. Mary, who was watching the situation, barely opened her mouth.

“…The usual check-in time is 3:00.”

It wasn’t a direct statement, but it was a hint that Bekishi also came in at 3:00. Just by saying that, Mary was watching the situation in an oddly wary manner.

“Then just tell me who the employee was that witnessed the scene. I won’t ask any more.”

“Oh, no. I’m sorry…”

Mary bowed her head with an embarrassed expression, as if to say she couldn’t tell. Ansi knew that was the best she could do.

Ansi first stepped away from the reception.

However, without leaving the lobby, she examined the hotel.

She thought she might have to target another employee, but strangely, Ansi felt like she could get information from this employee.

How could she get her to open up more?

It was when Ansi was deep in thought.

“Madam!”

A familiar voice was heard. Ansi turned around. Henet, with a serious expression, gestured towards her.

Ansi walked over to Henet. Seeing her following him, Henet left the hotel.

“You must be having a hard time.”

Henet spoke to Ansi as he walked out of the hotel. For her, there was no such thing as a hard time. It was all something she brought upon herself.

“I need to look around the hotel.”

Ansi, who saluted Henet, tried to go back to the hotel. Henet grabbed her.

“There are still watchful eyes. First, we need to divert their attention. Walk naturally.”

Ansi took a step as Henet said and glanced to the side. There were a few people lounging around the hotel, looking leisurely.

While the reporters who had been bustling were moved to the police station and hospital, the hyenas looking around to see if there was information to take away still remained.

“You also came to find out information, right, madam?”

“Yes.”

“Then, rather than standing out in the lobby like before, it’s much more advantageous to move naturally like this. We need to find a place where attention isn’t drawn.”

“Ah…”

Henet was right. In a hurry to find evidence, she couldn’t pay attention to the eyes of others.

But even if she diverted attention like this, how could she collect evidence? She felt powerless. Ansi’s brow furrowed.

Seeing her expression, Henet brightly added on purpose.

“Damion is skilled at this kind of thing, but it seems like you’re not used to it, madam. Don’t worry. After going around here once, we’ll enter through the back door of the hotel. We’re supposed to meet someone there who will guide us.”

“…!”

Ansi looked at Henet with surprised eyes.

“I’m also very worried about Damion. But I’m sure it will be alright, madam.”

Henet lifted the corners of his mouth. However, an uncontrollable urgency was evident on his face. Ansi nodded.

She tried to suppress her thirst and walked as naturally as possible.

After circling around the hotel, they arrived at the back of the hotel. Entering through the hidden back door, a waiting bellboy guided them.

The place the bellboy headed to had a service elevator for staff. It was used when transporting room service trolleys.

The bellboy who brought them down to the 10th floor immediately took the elevator back down.

There was no one on the 10th floor. Even the guests who had been scheduled to stay had all been turned away.

Ansi and Henet carefully walked down the hallway and went to the door of the room where the incident occurred and pulled the door. The door, which had not been fully closed as the bellboy had pre-set it, opened.

They went inside. At the doorway, there were flower petals scattered from the bouquet that had fallen on the floor.

Ansi swallowed.

She could tell. The person who was supposed to receive those flowers was definitely her.

Thinking about what Damion must have felt when he bought those flowers and what he felt when he arrived here made her chest ache.

The flowers that were not received were thrown on the floor, turning yellow. Ansi reached out and picked up a dried, withered petal. It was just like her heart.

As she lifted her head like that, Ansi’s eyes wavered.

There was a pool of blood on the carpet.

It was Bekishi’s.

Her surgery would take a long time, they said. Ansi sincerely hoped the surgery would be successful.

“For now, let’s look for something that could be evidence.”

Henet and Ansi carefully searched the room.

However, the police had already collected the noticeable things. It seemed difficult to find other evidence in the room.

Henet asked Ansi.

“You said Lady Bekishi arrived earlier than Damion?”

“Probably around 3:00.”

“There was about a 40-minute gap until Damion arrived.”

“Yes. We need to prove that Bekishi was already collapsed before Damion entered this room.”

“First… how about meeting the employee who witnessed the scene? We might be able to get a clue about what happened on the 10th floor before Damion arrived.”

“Does Sir Henet know who that employee is?”

“We should be able to find out easily. They stood out because they screamed so loudly.”

As Henet said, finding out who the witness was wasn’t difficult at all.

Everyone in the hotel knew who the witness was. It was questionable why the employee earlier tried to hide it.

However, obtaining some higher-level information required a bit of a deal. The bellboy who received the envelope quickly spat out the words.

“Gelda went to the police station. After giving her statement today, she’s not coming back to the hotel and is scheduled to leave work. She’s on vacation for a week starting tomorrow.”

“Can we get Gelda’s address?”

“It’s here.”

After securing Gelda’s home address, Ansi and Henet immediately left the hotel. If they heard her testimony, it seemed they would be able to obtain other clues.

The place they arrived at was a street lined with shared housing. Gelda’s house was located in one of them.

Henet knocked on the door of Gelda’s house.

The police investigation had already ended sufficiently by this time. However, there was no sound from inside.

“It seems she hasn’t returned yet or has gone out again. We’ll have to wait a bit.”

Henet stepped back, narrowing his brow.

At that moment, Ansi, who had been staring at the doorknob, opened her mouth.

“Let me check for a moment.”

She bent her waist and stared intently at the doorknob. It was the same type of doorknob she used where she lived. It was a common form in shared housing, and the lock was flimsy, so if you knew the trick, it was easy to open.

Ansi took out a hairpin and inserted it into the doorknob.

“Is it okay to open it arbitrarily?”

Henet, surprised, tried to stop Ansi, but she concentrated without paying attention. The growing uneasiness made her feel like she had to open this door.

Soon, the lock was opened.

Ansi reached out and pulled the door.

“…!”

At that moment, the two people’s faces couldn’t help but turn pale.

Gelda, the only witness, was already dead.

Gelda took her own life in her home. The reason written in the suicide note was despair arising from the difference between the hotel guests and her own situation.

However, there were too many suspicious parts about the death.

“Please investigate with murder in mind.”

Henet requested the police. If it had been discovered after a few days, the investigation would have been more difficult, but because it was discovered quickly, it became relatively easy to identify the cause of death.

While Henet was inside giving a statement to the police about the situation when they discovered the scene, Ansi waited for him in front of the shared housing.

Ansi exhaled a trembling breath and rubbed her face. In any case, the first witness at the scene was gone. A sense of loss, as if she had lost her way, and regret for the death of the young woman she encountered mixed together, making her head dizzy.

Her legs went limp.

She barely leaned against the wall to steady herself.

Where should she go next? While she was thinking about that.

“Madam…?”

Someone called Ansi.

She lifted her head.

It was Mary, the very employee Ansi had spoken with at the hotel.