Chapter 309 - Alibi

Seeing that the woman finally responded to her, Officer Liang carefully approached and sat down next to Emerson. "But, why were you disguised as a hotel cleaner?" she asked.

One of the most suspicious things about this woman was the way she was dressed. It looked like she was trying to sneak in and out of the room undetected.

Emerson quickly answered on behalf of the woman, "I gave her the disguise because I snuck her out of the hotel earlier that night."

Officer Liang looked at Emerson in surprise, "At what time did you sneak her out?"

"Just before 10:30pm. We were having a late dinner together," Emerson replied.

"And what time did she return?" the woman continued to ask.

Emerson paused for a second. He had fallen asleep before Avaleigh left, so he wasn't completely sure...

"I left Emerson's place around midnight and got back to the hotel just before 1am," Avaleigh answered.

Officer Liang looked at Emerson, "Can you confirm that?"

Emerson bit his lip and shook his head. He wanted to help Avaleigh, but he had to be honest, "I fell asleep before Miss Song left."

Officer Liang sighed, "The coroner has confirmed that Miss Chen died some time between 10:30pm last night and 12:30am this morning. If we can't confirm that Miss Song was away from the hotel during that entire period, she will still be our number one suspect."

Emerson frowned, "Can't you check the hotel cameras? One of them must have caught her returning...Or even better, someone else must have been seen entering Miss Chen's room."

Officer Liang shook her head, "The cameras were down for routine maintenance last night and no one remembers seeing her return. Since she was dressed as a cleaner, the staff didn't realize who she was so they didn't take notice of her."

Avaleigh looked at Emerson helplessly.

Emerson picked up his phone at that moment and dialed a number, "You can speak to my maid. She showed Miss Song out."

Emerson placed the phone on the table and switched it to handsfree. Soon, a young woman answered, "Hi, Young Master."

Without wasting any time, Emerson immediately asked, "June, do you know what time Miss Song left last night?"

The maid thought for a second and replied, "Around midnight..."

At that moment, Officer Liang cut in, "Hi June, this is Officer Liang from the Hong Kong Police, we are investigating a serious case. We need to confirm the exact time that Miss Song left your residence. When you say around midnight, was it before midnight or after? Can you be more exact?"

The maid immediately gasped when she realized how serious the situation was. After a short pause, she replied, "I'm sorry, but I didn't look at the clock. There is no way for me to confirm the 'exact' time."

"Did anyone else show Miss Song out with you?" Officer Liang asked.

"No..." the maid replied regretfully. Everyone else was asleep and the other staff were helping Emerson into bed.

Officer Liang sighed as Emerson hung up.

"Miss Song...things aren't looking good for you. Is there anyone else that can prove you returned to the hotel after 12:30am?" Officer Liang asked patiently.

For some reason, she had a feeling this woman was innocent, but she was currently the only suspect. She was found at the scene of the crime, she was suspiciously disguised, she was on bad terms with the victim, and her fingerprints were found on the victim's body.

But, all of a sudden, a glimmer of hope appeared in Avaleigh's eyes, "The taxi driver. I caught a taxi back to the hotel. Maybe you can try to find him..."

Officer Liang nodded. Although the chances were slim, she quickly stepped out to investigate.

Emerson smiled comfortingly as he followed the woman out, "Don't worry, we will find him. Even if I have to flip the entire Hong Kong upside down, I will prove your innocence."

Avaleigh looked at the man and nodded her head.

As soon as Emerson stepped out of the building, he walked straight up to his driver. "Jimmy, you mentioned before that you have friends in the taxi industry. Can you help me find a driver?"

Jimmy looked at his boss and immediately picked up his phone, "Do you have any details?"

"I'm looking for a driver that picked up a woman at my place around midnight last night and dropped her off at Royal Sunset Hotel," Emerson explained.

Jimmy nodded his head and began to make calls while Emerson waited inside the car.

He understood that Officer Liang was also following this lead, but knowing how slowly the police could work at times, he did not have the patience to wait. His woman was sitting inside an interrogation room and she was being treated as a murderer. He needed to get her out of there as soon as possible. After all, they still had a dinner date that night...

Meanwhile, online, fans of Macaron were going crazy. The rest of the girl group's concert tour was suddenly canceled due to 'unforeseen circ.u.mstances' and there was no explanation as to what these circ.u.mstances were.

At the same time, rumors started going around that there had been a murder at the Royal Sunset Hotel where the girl group was staying and that the victim may have been one of the members.

Fans started logging onto the group's fan site, demanding for an explanation. In particular, Fans in South Korea were distraught that their idol may have lost their life in a foreign country.

"What were security doing at that time? If this is true, what will happen to the murderer? Will they be trialed in Hong Kong or Korea?"

"Please tell us this isn't true! My heart won't be able to handle it!"

"Who was murdered? We demand an explanation!"

"The murderer should be hanged!"

This was a sticky situation. A South Korean celebrity had been murdered in Hong Kong and the murderer had not been confirmed yet. Worst of all, the two countries had very different legal systems. For a high profile murder like this, the murderer would be sentenced to death by hanging in South Korea, but in Hong Kong, capital punishment had long been abolished. How would this case be handled?