Larry's dilemma lay in this: a shadow on the wall and a faint stench—neither was sufficient evidence to take action.
It seemed he had no choice but to go home without clearing up his doubts. After all, he didn't want to ruin his companions' night.
Just then, chaos erupted on the dance floor. Several men, apparently quite drunk, got into a fight after brief physical contact, worsened by the alcohol. More and more people joined in, and the smaller group scattered and fled.
A young man with a small braid, shaved temples, and dark circles under his eyes jumped over the wooden barrier separating the booths, went over the seats where Larry and his group were sitting, and headed straight for the bathroom.
It seemed this man knew the building's layout very well, because next to the bathroom there was a locked stairwell door—an emergency exit. If he ran there, kicked it open, and escaped the chaos…
But the people chasing him were not willing to let him escape. In an instant, they lunged over the booths like little pellets dropped into boiling water, chasing after the young man.
Due to the crowd, some people stumbled and fell. One person fell right behind the booth where Larry and his group were, knocking over a row of fire extinguishers. Like a domino effect, several extinguishers toppled and fell forward.
The cylinder of the first extinguisher struck the corner of the wall with a loud crash, bursting into a cloud of white powder, and the cylinder shot forward, crashing into the burning wall.
Those causing trouble were also choked by the white powder, increasing the chaos even further.
Just as the smoke began to clear, a heartbreaking scream came from near the bathrooms.
Larry and his group ran toward the sound. It turned out that the extinguisher cylinder had pierced the wall, revealing a large, dark hole.
A shadowy figure could be faintly seen inside, appearing before everyone's eyes as the smoke dissipated. Immediately, a strong stench of decay filled the room.
Larry slapped Max, who was still somewhat dazed. "We can't leave. Max, call the command center!"
"Dilon, identify everyone. Jane, keep order—I'm going to check what's going on."
At that moment, several of the bar's security guards rushed toward them, trying to push away the surrounding people. Jane showed her police ID, and the guard hesitated before letting her pass. Their manager approached quickly.
"Officer, hello, I'm Martin Hanson, the manager of this bar. Let's talk over there."
Jane looked at him and refused the card he offered. "If I were you, what I'd be doing right now is detaining those who were just fighting and protecting the scene."
"Who can knock down a wall and create a huge hole with a foul mess inside?"
The man thought for a moment and realized Jane was right. The building was rented, a major investment. Whatever was inside that wall, even if not directly related to them, would definitely affect their business in the future.
It was better to limit the spread now to avoid irreversible damage. After understanding this, the man turned around and ordered all security guards to maintain order and cordon off the area where the wall was.
Meanwhile, the host announced the end of the show and that entry was now free.
Although many guests were somewhat annoyed, the chaotic movement of the extinguishers had been frightening enough, and everyone left.
The two groups that had been fighting had already run toward the emergency exit by the bathrooms; the door upstairs was locked, so they could hold out until the police arrived.
Ten minutes later, Max arrived with her team and looked at the four people with a perplexed expression.
They had been sitting in a booth near the scene, so now they were covered in white powder.
"How did you end up like this?" Larry asked, glancing at her, assuming the command center had contacted her colleagues directly.
"There's a corpse inside the wall! Hurry, send someone to the scene!"
Jack knew Larry never lied and signaled to his subordinates.
"Officer Colen, take someone to clean up the scene and have Max go with you so she can get familiar with the situation."
Soon, the place calmed down, the lights were turned on, and the man went to Larry's car to retrieve the investigation kit, muttering to himself as he carried it up.
"They always keep this stuff in the car; the boss has strange tastes." Max had already approached to observe the large hole.
Although it was dark inside, she could make out a large bag wrapped in plastic.
The top of the bag was almost perfectly sealed with cement. The part revealed by the extinguisher was the center of the bag, where the packaging was looser. The wall was probably too thin in that area, which made it easy to break.
"Larry, what do we do? We can't pull the bag out—we can only widen the gap!" Larry found a piece of chalk and marked an area according to the approximate position of the bag inside the wall.
"Break the wall—remove it entirely!"
Max's cheeks twitched, her characteristic smile disappeared, and she pointed at her nose.
"Me? Break it? We don't have tools!"
The bar manager ran toward them and said, "Wait a moment, I'll go get the electric pickaxe. We just finished the renovations, and many of the workers' tools are still on the seventh floor."
A moment later, several men came running with electric pickaxes. A dry sound echoed as a block of concrete was cut along the lines Larry had drawn.
Immediately, the entire wall collapsed onto the pile of debris. Police officers and security guards rushed over and carefully picked it up.
However, the stench throughout the bar intensified, and many security guards began to crouch down and vomit.
Larry crouched near the bag, examining it with a powerful flashlight.
The bag had completely blackened and lost its transparency; its shape clearly indicated that it was a corpse, one that had been sealed inside the wall for quite some time.
The neck, torso, and legs were bound with red copper wire, each knot tightly twisted several times, with horizontal marks, likely from pliers.
The packaging was nearly airtight; even the top of the bag was sealed with two copper wires and the plastic folded over—it was meticulous packaging.
Larry carefully peeled off a piece of concrete stuck to the bag and placed it in an evidence bag. Then he picked up a few more pieces of concrete that didn't belong to the outside of the corpse and put them in another bag.
After recording the bag, he looked at Jane. "Did you call a funeral vehicle?"
Jane nodded and asked, "Yes, but… is there only one body?"
"Didn't Max say you found a wall full of corpses?"
"I requested several trucks."
Larry looked at Max with some confusion.
"Have you watched too many ghost movies? Where did you get the idea of a wall made of corpses? Do you think this is a TV series?"
Max crouched behind Jane, laughing like a drunken fool. Seeing everyone looking at him, he realized his laugh had been a bit awkward. He rubbed his nose, stood up slowly, covered his temple with one hand, and leaned against the wall with the other.
"Uh, you guys go ahead. I'm a little out of it from the smell of corpses. Don't worry."
Footsteps were heard behind the group. Manager Hason was guiding the people who had been fighting in the hallway into the building. They had all lost their arrogance and were now as docile as quails, crouched in a row in the corner with their hands behind their heads.
Not only were they wearing extravagant clothes, but their hair was an explosion of colors, creating a striking scene. Some even wore eye makeup. However, the one thing they all had in common was that they all had pierced ears with strange earrings.
Seeing their openly homoerotic expressions, Max's jaw trembled.
Jane's leather boots clacked sharply as she observed the group by the wall.
"Listen, take them back and hand them over to the Public Security Bureau. Interrogate them all thoroughly to see if they have any connection to today's events."
Dilon and his group left, and Manager Liu, who had been standing with his hands at his sides, approached with a smile.
"Boss, do you think we can clean this up? We need to open tomorrow!" Hason asked, slightly nervous.
Jane turned to look at him. "Open? The area is temporarily closed. Go with the deputy captain to give your statement and clarify the matter regarding the lease."
Manager Hason's eyes widened. "You're closing the hotel?"