After Chen Lin finished jotting down the roommate's statement, Furina continued her questioning.
"You said you discovered the body this morning. So… you didn't sleep here last night?"
Li Yue nodded. "Yes. My boyfriend came from out of town, so we stayed at a hotel overnight. The front desk can confirm it."
"What hotel?"
"Home Inn, on Xiuhua Road."
Furina snapped her fingers.
A male officer quickly approached. "Captain?"
Furina tiptoed up and whispered in his ear, "Go verify what she just said."
Her voice was soft as silk, and the faint scent of her perfume brushed past his nose. His cheeks flushed.
"Y-yes, Captain!"
He hurried off.
Furina turned back to Li Yue. "What time did you leave to meet your boyfriend?"
"Around 7 p.m. He came here to pick me up, and we left together. We took the elevator—there should be surveillance footage."
Furina's mind blinked.
"Surveillance?"
"What's that?"
She nodded solemnly anyway. "Mm."
Just then, the forensic team arrived.
"Where's the body?"
"In the bedroom," Chen Lin gestured.
Furina pointed to the glass door leading to the balcony. "Is that door usually left open?"
Li Yue followed her gaze and shook her head. "No. We keep it locked unless we're hanging laundry."
She paused, eyes widening as a memory surfaced.
"Wait… yesterday, my boyfriend wanted to smoke. I didn't want ash on the floor, so I told him to use the balcony."
"Could it be… he forgot to close the door, and the killer climbed up and murdered Xiaoyan?"
Furina said nothing and walked to the balcony.
It was only the second floor, and there was no security mesh.
She scanned the floor—no ash.
"Even without wind, there should be some ash if someone smoked here…"
"Is she lying?"
She looked at the neighboring balconies. The gaps were too wide—no one could've crossed over.
Then she spotted a thick iron drainpipe running up the building's side.
Her brows furrowed. She approached.
"Could the killer have climbed up this pipe?"
She ran two fingers along it—no dust.
She grabbed a plastic stool, stepped up, and touched the upper section.
Her white gloves came away dirty.
"Did the killer wipe the pipe clean while climbing?"
"Or did they deliberately erase the evidence to mislead us?"
"Hard to say."
"Even if Li Yue is the killer, she's clearly hiding something…"
"But without solid proof, we can't break her."
Furina turned to look at Li Yue—who was already watching her. Their eyes met briefly before Li Yue quickly looked away.
"Chen Lin, let's go door to door."
Furina stepped off the balcony and headed for the front door.
Since Li Yue wasn't giving them anything useful, they'd have to gather intel the old-fashioned way.
The crowd outside had already been dispersed by officers.
Furina and Chen Lin knocked on the door of Unit 205.