Chapter 96

Fang Rui answered the phone, and the person on the other end said angrily, "Su Momo, you finally picked up. It's just singing a song at the New Year's Eve gala, why are you hiding and not answering your phone? Can you stop being so childish? Do you remember how you became famous? Without me, you're nothing!"

The voice on the phone belonged to Su Momo's agent, Sun Qin, who was extremely frustrated at the moment. Su Momo was at the peak of her popularity, and any negative news would undoubtedly affect her career.

"Hello, we're the police. We suspect that Su Momo has gone missing. Please come down to assist with our investigation."

"She's missing? Don't worry, she's probably just hiding to avoid performing at the event. She's done this before. She'll come back on her own in a few days." Sun Qin paused, then added, "Officers, I'm sorry you've wasted a trip. I hope you can keep this confidential and not let this information leak out."

Fang Rui reminded her, "We found a large amount of blood in her dressing room. I think it would be better if you came down."

"Blood? What's going on? She hasn't really come to harm, has she?"

"We're still investigating."

"I'm sorry, I'm out of town and can't get there right away. But I'm booking a flight now and will fly over as soon as possible."

At that moment, Su Momo's assistant Qi Fang returned with bubble tea. When she saw the blood all over the floor, the drink fell from her hands with a splat.

"What happened?" Qi Fang asked quietly, her lips trembling as she looked at the blood on the floor. "Who's hurt? It's not Momo, is it?"

Fang Rui turned to Qi Fang, "We're not sure yet. Miss Qi, we have some questions for you."

Fang Rui suspected that Qi Fang might be the one who placed the cursed doll, as only three people had entered that room. If it wasn't Liu Yaying, then Qi Fang was the most suspicious.

By getting rid of Liu Yaying, Qi Fang would have a chance to be favored, otherwise she would always be overshadowed by Liu Yaying.

"Alright, go ahead and ask," Qi Fang replied cooperatively.

Qi Fang was average-looking with many freckles on her face, but she had a pleasant voice and seemed very gentle.

"What time did you arrive at this dressing room?"

"A little after three. We were worried about traffic, so we left half an hour early, but there was no traffic jam, so we arrived more than an hour ahead of schedule. The makeup artist we booked wasn't due until 4:30, so Momo was bored and asked me to go out and buy her some bubble tea.

I could have come back quickly, but then I received a message from Momo. She asked me to go to I-PINK to buy her a brownie. That store is far from the TV station, so I had to take a taxi there."

"What time did you receive the message?"

"Just a moment, let me check the chat history," Qi Fang hurriedly opened her phone and looked. "4:16 PM."

"Do you know Su Momo's phone password?"

"Well..." Qi Fang hesitated for a moment, "Yes. Sometimes when Momo is filming, she asks me to keep her phone for her."

Qi Fang helped unlock Su Momo's phone. It had many game and video apps downloaded, and the wallpaper was an anime cartoon.

The chat history on her social media apps had been cleared, with the most recent message being from her agent at 4:45 PM.

The earliest message was around 4:31 PM, when Qi Fang sent her a photo asking if she could substitute another cake since the brownie was sold out. But Su Momo hadn't replied.

Fang Rui also checked her call log, which had also been deleted. The list only showed dozens of missed calls from Zhang Dawei, Qi Fang, and Sun Qin. The earliest missed call was at 4:35 PM.

After taking Qi Fang's statement, Fang Rui questioned people in the public dressing area if they had noticed anything unusual.

As Zhang was leaving, he accidentally stepped on the spilled bubble tea. While wiping his shoe with a tissue, he noticed the tea was ice cold.

"Boss, that Qi Fang might be lying. The bubble tea in her hand was freezing cold. Chen Xue often drinks that brand, and it can only be made hot. The tea being so cold doesn't seem like it was just bought," Zhang muttered.

"Go ask her where she bought the bubble tea and verify the information."

"Got it."

Fang Rui questioned the performers in the public dressing area.

One dancer said, "I'm a fan of Su Momo. I was planning to ask for her autograph, but when I got to her dressing room door, I heard people arguing inside. It sounded like Su Momo and another woman."

Another backup dancer added, "That woman might have been Su Momo's former assistant Liu Yaying. I saw her go into that dressing room. At first, Su Momo didn't want to let her in, but she kept begging, so Su Momo let her in."

Fang Rui asked, "Are you sure the person you saw was Su Momo?"

Fang Rui suspected this might be a prank. Su Momo might have deliberately set up this scene to confuse everyone and make them think she had been harmed. The motive could be to scare her agent or to avoid performing at the New Year's Eve gala.

"Of course it was. I'm Su Momo's die-hard fan. Even if she was in disguise, I'd recognize her. I couldn't possibly be mistaken."

"Around what time did Liu Yaying go in?"

"Close to 4 PM, because it was almost our turn to go on stage. We started rehearsing at 4:05 PM."

An assistant from the dressing room next to Su Momo's said, "When I first arrived, I saw a man lurking suspiciously outside Su Momo's dressing room. As soon as I approached, he slipped away. I didn't get a clear look at his face. He was wearing a black jacket and was rather short."

"After Su Momo entered the dressing room, did any of you see her come out?"

"No, I don't think so. We didn't see her leave."

The police suppressed the news of Su Momo's disappearance, but with so many people at the scene, many backup dancers and extras learned about it. Various rumors immediately spread like wildfire online.

#SuMomoMysterious Death#

#SuMomoMissing#

#SuMomoMurderedByAssistant,BodyVanished#

#SuMomoFilmWorksMontage#

Several hashtags quickly topped the trending list, and several major media platforms focusing on celebrity gossip crashed.

Some netizens speculated that Su Momo had committed suicide due to work pressure and frequent cyberbullying by anti-fans. Others guessed that she had been killed by her unscrupulous agent, who had also seized all her assets. Even more outlandishly, some said Su Momo wasn't dead at all, but had faked her death to escape her company's control...

The current focus of the investigation was to first determine whose blood it was. Could the injured person be Su Momo?

Mu Mian and Chen Xue went to Su Momo's room to collect DNA samples.

Chen Xue felt very heavy-hearted. Just the day before, she had been chatting with her idol, and now Su Momo's fate was unknown.

"Mian, do you think Su Momo is already dead?" Chen Xue sighed.

"If that blood belongs to Su Momo and was shed in a short period of time, then she's most likely dead," Mu Mian said, then realizing she might have been too blunt, added comfortingly, "Chen Xue, everyone dies eventually. Don't be too sad. You can find another celebrity to follow."

"If Captain Fang's corpse disappeared, would you find another corpse to like?" Chen Xue suddenly realized that since being kidnapped, Mu Mian had never mentioned the word "corpse" again. S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.