"This way." The boss led the three of them up to the third floor. The sun was already hanging on the horizon, and the gas lamp in the corridor was not yet lit, making it even darker.

The door to room 303 had to be closed, so the boss knocked gently. It was as quiet as death inside.

"No need to knock, he's probably tied up."

Annick passed the boss and opened the door directly.

"The gas light switch is over there, turn it on for me."

Ding, after the boss turned the wall switch, light blue flames appeared in the transparent lampshade.

After Guangming returned to the room, he finally saw the structure of the entire room clearly.

This is a single room, and the bathroom is on the right side of the door. There is only a bed, a writing table and attached chair. There is an ashtray with cigarette ashes on the writing table. Annick noticed that there are no matches and

cigarette boxes.

"Mr. Annick, watch."

Bell pointed to a few dark red blood stains on the ground. It felt dry and it looked like it had been a few hours.

There are promotional posters from the hotel on the wall.

Special room reservations.

Massage and other services are provided, all are young and beautiful girls, and the massage fee is 1 shilling and 5 pence per hour.

Our hotel does not provide food service, but has an agreement with Farmer Hotel. You can enjoy a 20% discount with your room key.

Acting as an agent for immigration business in Northern China.

"Boss, you've done a lot of business."

The boss was smiling with all the wrinkles on his face.

"As a small business, I dare not compare with you."

The bed showed signs of use, the bedding had been turned over, and a hand hammer was found next to the pillow.

After shaking it, it felt a bit heavy. It has an octagonal hammer head and a left hand symbol on the wooden handle that is clenched into a fist.

"Mr. Barron, I think this is the 12p hand hammer that was lost in your house."

Barron took the hammer and observed it carefully for a while.

"It should be our lost hand hammer."

"I think your young master was tricked into opening the door, attacked and knocked unconscious, then stuffed into the suitcase and taken away."

"That should be the case. I hope the robbers did not persecute him." Mr. Barron's tone was sincere. It seems that this idle young master should usually treat his subordinates well.

"Boss, go take a look next door."

"Do I need to call the police?" The boss was trembling with fear after hearing the words "robber, kidnapping, and knocking out."

"We will take care of it, you don't need to take care of it."

"That's good. If my small business is blocked by the police for a few days, no one will come."

The boss learned the lesson this time and knew that there was a high probability that no one would be there next door, so he opened the door directly with the spare key.

The room was quite tidy and the mattress had no trace of being touched.

"Bell, I'm going to check the bathroom. You and Mr. Barron will check the bedroom for any clues."

"Okay sir."

Annick pushed open the bathroom door. There was only a toilet, a sink and a bathtub inside.

Drip, drip, drip. The sink is still dripping with water. Someone must have left it open after using it.

Annick rummaged through the trash can on the side and found a small piece of bloody gauze still inside, along with cotton wool stained with alcohol.

Strange, the two big men helped stop the bleeding after injuring Rory? Or maybe the blood drops in room 503 next door were simply man-made.

"Mr. Annick, come out and take a look." Little Bell's voice came from outside the room.

After pushing open the bathroom door and walking out, Bell held a rope in his hand. It was quite long, enough for about ten yards.

"Boss, your hotel doesn't have such a rope."

"How could it be? This must have been left by the two people in room 304."

The boss insisted that it was not his, and Annick didn't say anything more. He took the rope and looked at it.

The rope in my hand was almost as thick as a baby's arm. I counted it carefully and found eight strands of smaller ropes interwoven together to form a larger rope.

"This material is like a hemp rope made of sisal fibers. It is so thick and so long. What do you think of it?" Annick asked in front of everyone.

"Such a thick rope will be used on construction sites or ships." Barron answered.

"Indeed, if you are just tying up an adult, a rope as thick as a thumb is enough, and there is no need to make it so long."

"Mr. Annick, do you mean that this rope is not used to tie up the victim to prevent him from escaping?" Bell asked.

"I think we'll find out just by going to the balcony and taking a look."

Annick walked to the balcony. The balcony was an extension of the main body of the house. There was a small table and two chairs painted white.

Ding! Annick knocked on the guardrail on the balcony, making a crisp sound.

"Boss, your guardrail is made of hollow iron pipes. I think I can bend it or even tear it off if I am strong enough."

"Yes, Mr. Sheriff, the guardrail is just to remind travelers of the danger, as long as they don't ride on it."

Annick poked his head out. Under the balcony was a small alley with not many pedestrians, just the kind that one person could pass through.

"Boss, your hotel doesn't have balconies on the first or second floor, and the windows facing the street can't be opened."

"To prevent theft, the lower two floors are nailed."

"There are no more clues. Go down and show me your registration status today." Annick greeted everyone downstairs.

"This is not good. Don't pull out your gun. I'll give you everything."

In front of the counter on the first floor, Annick opened the registration book and asked, "Is the room 303 on the third floor designated by him?"

"Yes, not many people came to register today. In fact, I recommended him to live on the fifth floor. There is no building on the fifth floor and it is windy at night."

Annick didn't say much and continued to look through the register. The female tenant in 301 was a bit suspicious. Although her name was Nancy, her check-in time was eight o'clock this morning and she checked out at 3:30 p.m. It happened to coincide with Rory.

And they're all on one level.

"Do you remember what Nancy in Room 301 looks like?"

"301, let me think about it. He has blond hair tied into a single ponytail. He is half a head shorter than you. His skin is fairly fair. He wears glasses. There is no other impression." The boss tried hard to collect the memories in his mind.

"Mr. Barron, how about your tea maid?"

"The height and hair color are right, but she doesn't wear glasses."

"The glasses were probably disguised so that others wouldn't recognize them later."

Speaking of glasses, I remembered that I would take some time to visit a certain vampire some other time. Without those glasses, I couldn't happily pretend to be a cultured person.

"Boss, thank you for your assistance. Also, please don't leak out the information about our visit. Otherwise, an extra headless corpse in the sewer in the south of the city will always cause problems for the forensic doctors."

The boss's head was dripping with sweat, "That's natural. You won't be exposed if you pry open my mouth."

At six o'clock in the evening, the group returned to No. 66 Marigold Street, and Saul was waiting at the gate in person.
Chapter completed!