Chapter 102

The person in charge of the TV station investigated the costume situation of each program group and temporarily found no cases of missing costumes.

The rehearsal started at 3 PM, so during the time period when Su Momo disappeared, most of the people who left the makeup area were wearing performance costumes. The remaining few in civilian clothes were artist assistants and makeup artists. The police have already found and verified the identities of all relevant personnel.

There were many backup dancers wearing performance costumes, so it wasn't possible to accurately verify their identities. However, they all left in an orderly manner by group and knew each other, and so far no suspicious individuals have been found.

The makeup area is an enclosed space with only one entrance and exit, and everyone must pass through the corridor with surveillance cameras.

According to the police investigation, the person who entered around 3:30 PM was indeed Su Momo, as confirmed by her bodyguard and assistant. After the incident, the police immediately searched the entire makeup area but did not find Su Momo or her body.

She seemed to have vanished into thin air in that area.

At this moment, Su Momo's agent Sun Qin called to urge progress on the case: "Officer, what are your investigation results? You need to tell us whether Su Momo is dead or alive. Now many of our advertisers and business partners are coming to us wanting to terminate contracts. A TV drama that was already negotiated also wants to replace Su Momo. You must give me definitive information as soon as possible so I can carry out further work."

"We will investigate as quickly as possible."

"What do you mean 'as quickly as possible'? It's been so many days, and you can't even figure out if Su Momo is dead or alive. Your work efficiency is too poor! Please take this seriously and give us results quickly."

"..."

Clearly, Su Momo's disappearance had already seriously impacted her career.

"Boss, if Su Momo did this to get revenge on her ex-boyfriend, she's already achieved her goal, so why hasn't she reappeared? Could she really have been killed?" Zhang voiced everyone's doubts.

Fang Rui also found it strange. If Su Momo didn't reappear soon, her entertainment career would truly be over.

Could it be that she really didn't care about her career anymore?

Fang Rui reviewed the surveillance video again.

He discovered that Liu Yaying entered the makeup area around 3:30 PM, almost following right behind Su Momo. Then she left that corridor at about 4:05 PM. S~eaʀᴄh the nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

At around 4:10 PM, someone wearing Qi Fang's clothes entered the makeup area carrying bubble tea, but in less than a minute, she ran out empty-handed, and her back was caught on the corridor's surveillance camera. She was walking very hurriedly.

Fang Rui watched it many times, and judging from the figure and attire, this person did indeed appear to be Qi Fang.

Bored with nothing to do, Mu Mian came to keep Fang Rui company while watching the surveillance videos.

"Fang Rui, I'm very good at spot-the-difference games. Let me help you look," said Mu Mian, with a SpongeBob SquarePants bandage on her head.

Fang Rui looked up and saw the yellow sponge grinning stupidly at him.

Fang Rui gave his seat to Mu Mian.

Mu Mian first watched the video of Su Momo and Qi Fang entering the corridor, then watched the segment of Qi Fang leaving alone.

At first, Mu Mian didn't notice any differences between the two Qi Fangs. Their clothing, appearance, and even walking posture were almost identical. Even their unconscious small movements were the same, such as both instinctively avoiding stepping on the mandala patterns on the floor tiles.

But suddenly Mu Mian noticed that the Qi Fang who was leaving had a scar on her right wrist.

"Fang Rui, does Qi Fang also have a cut on her right wrist?"

Fang Rui thought for a moment, not quite sure: "I don't think so."

"Su Momo has one on her right wrist, you know," Mu Mian reminded softly.

Fang Rui opened the surveillance videos from the bubble tea shop and cake shop again.

The bubble tea shop's surveillance caught Qi Fang buying bubble tea there around 4:05 PM. The camera only captured her side profile and body, and her face wasn't very clear, but at first glance, one would think it was Qi Fang.

The cake shop's surveillance also captured Qi Fang, from about the same angle.

Neither shop's surveillance ever captured Qi Fang's full face. At the time, they didn't suspect anything because they saw Qi Fang's freckles in her side profile. Her height and body type also matched.

Fang Rui analyzed: "Su Momo must have disguised herself as Qi Fang to leave the makeup area, while Qi Fang hid inside. No wonder Zhang said that cup of bubble tea was cold."

Looking at it this way, Su Momo's acting skills were really good. Her disguise was so convincing that even the detail-oriented Mu Mian almost couldn't tell the difference.

"If Qi Fang was hiding in the makeup area the whole time, why did the surveillance camera capture her entering the makeup area with bubble tea again around 5 PM?" Mu Mian asked, puzzled.

Fang Rui also found it strange. Qi Fang first went out to buy bubble tea, then came back, and then Su Momo left disguised as her. Logically, Qi Fang shouldn't have been able to enter from outside again. But the person captured on camera around 5 PM showed Qi Fang's face, and it was indeed her. This was also an important reason why they didn't notice anything unusual in the surveillance video at the time.

That makeup area was an enclosed space with only one entrance and exit. It was impossible to enter or leave that place without passing by this surveillance camera.

Fang Rui and Zhang went to Qi Fang's home together.

Like Su Momo, Qi Fang was a local. Because Su Momo had disappeared, Sun Qin felt that Qi Fang hadn't taken good care of Su Momo, so she directly gave Qi Fang some money and fired her.

Qi Fang's home was in a residential compound near the hospital. Her parents had divorced when she was young, and neither wanted to raise her, so she was fostered by her grandmother from childhood. Her grandmother was a doctor with decent financial conditions, and after she passed away, she gave the house allocated by the hospital to Qi Fang.

Since Su Momo's disappearance, Fang Rui had been having someone secretly keep an eye on her. She stayed at home every day, hardly going out except to take out the trash, and even had groceries delivered directly to her door by the supermarket. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

From Qi Fang's neighbors, they learned that Qi Fang had been odd in personality since childhood, not very sociable, but very filial to her grandmother. After she graduated and came back, she suddenly seemed like a different person.

"Hey, that granddaughter of Dr. Qi's was really spoiled rotten by her. Can you believe a Chinese literature master's graduate with such good qualifications would quit such a good job because of celebrity worship, idling away her days doing nothing productive!"

Fang Rui asked, "She likes Su Momo very much?"

"Who's Su Momo? I don't know which celebrity she's chasing after. I heard from others that when her grandmother was still around, she stole money from her grandmother to buy celebrity photos. Those tiny pictures cost thousands of yuan each, and she didn't even blink an eye when buying them. Tsk, who knows where she learned such bad behavior from, she used to be such an obedient child."

"Yes, she used to be so sensible, saying she would take good care of her grandmother. But when her grandmother was seriously ill in bed, she went to a fan meeting instead of seeing her grandmother for the last time. If it weren't for the fact that this house doesn't have a property certificate, she probably would have sold the house to chase after celebrities!"

Fang Rui felt their description didn't quite match Qi Fang. She seemed quiet and gentle, and quite responsible in her work, not like someone so fanatical.

Zhang muttered softly, "Boss, could this Qi Fang be a crazy fan of Su Momo?"

Fang Rui knocked on the door, and someone inside said: "Just a moment, I'm washing dishes in the kitchen. Give me a minute."

After a while, Qi Fang opened the door.

Her home was very messy, with things piled up all over the floor, seemingly not cleaned for a while. There was also a lot of dust on the sofa. Shoes were randomly placed on the shoe rack in the entryway. Fang Rui found it strange - she appeared to live alone, so why were there two styles of shoes on the rack? Some shoes were very colorful, while others were gray and black, with an old-fashioned style, like the pair Qi Fang was wearing.

Fang Rui gave Zhang a look. Zhang had also noticed this oddity, and he immediately clutched his stomach and said to Qi Fang, "I'm sorry, my stomach suddenly hurts. May I use your bathroom?"