Mansion Mystery

A Surprise

Liya looked on before pulling over her lilac Audio TT into the driveway of Huang manor. The large beige brick compound looked straight out of an old English film with wispy willows and creeping ivy providing an elegant 1920's charm but with the flashy cars parked in front and the highly intricate fountains watering the surrounding flora, it brought it back to the modern ages. 

Exiting her car, she took in the chaos among'st the quiet of caution tape pulled in front of the heavy oak doors and various policemen rushing back and forth to secure the area and chase off any unwanted press.

To her surprise, she could see a familiar figure already waiting at the stone stairs for her, 'Dongmin?', she questioned too loudly as his head turned in confusion towards her

'Yes?'

Her eyes upturned in a bright smile, 'You made it', she answered happily as he rolled his eyes

'And you're late', he chuckled slightly, flexing his arms against the cottoned golden collared shirt he wore, 'Where's the rest?'

A startling honk responded and they both spun around to see a woman with a layered bob cut stick her head out of a blood red Range Rover, 'DONGMIN?!', she exclaimed in a shrill and excited voice, 'MAN, YOU LOOK OLD!'

'I see Kaili's here', Dongmin shook his head in disappointment, 'What about Jian?'

Without answering, she handed him her phone which contained a single message:

Liya, it's good to hear you're going back to work cases again 😄

My tenant informed me that you were looking for me to join but, I guess you figured it out already. I left Shanghai, for good

After what's happened, with Ren and Chen Fang, I refused to work in that kind of stuff again. So I've moved to the UK, my daughter and my wife love it here and I'm doing some private investigator stuff now but nothing too serious 😋😋😋

I'm sorry I can't help you guys...but I believe that you can solve whatever this new case is, with or without me. I loved you guys, good luck ♥♥♥

'Jian sent this?', Dongmin asked in disbelief, 'He just..left?'

'I don't blame him', Liya commented, 'Unlike us he has to recover faster for the sake of his family. I'm also assuming his wife suggested they move to take a break from all this'

Giving her a silent nod, he focused back on Kaili who strolled up to them in a simple graphic T-shirt with long waist slanted pants of course all a dark shade of emerald and black. 'Well Liya you look cute as a button', she gasped, 'You really want to ruin that dress when we step inside whatever horror house this is'

Liya blushed the some rosy pink as her pleated dress, 'Thank you', she beamed, 'Alright let's get this over with'

--

Once they entered the house, their emotions shifted immediately. It was warm and radiated luxury and class however the could sense a cold chill from each expensive decoration as though no life had been present at all in the building. 'The first chills when you enter the property', Kaili sighed, 'Don't you miss this'

'It'll be shameful to admit I have', Dongmin answered before looking away, 'I admit I miss it'

Right away, their mood felt at ease when a smiley face emerged from the covered tape blocking a doorway ahead of them. 'Himari!', Liya exclaimed in joy as the girl approached them

Dressed in her usual hazmat suit, she gave them a satisfying hug before speaking, 'It's been forever', she giggled, 'Hey Dongmin'

He cleared his throat and bowed slightly, 'Hello Himari'

She hid a pig like snort as a flush crept up on his face, 'Well, enough chatter', she decided before putting on a serious collected expression, 'The victim is Huang Hao Ran. Eldest son of the Huang family..'

'Sorry', she apologized, 'The mother was here earlier and she mentioned that they are the Huang dynasty'

'Oh so she's being a rich bitch', Kaili concluded in annoyance

'Yes', Himari sighed, 'Well he's the golden child but was found dead in his own swimming pool. His girlfriend reported it by the way'

'May we meet her?'

'Of course', she replied, 'This way please'

Following her pass the excessive caution tape, they reached the lavish kitchen with big oval led windows letting the sunlight hit the huge leafy ferns surrounding the ivory counter tops. Each one splashed with a moon grey accent while the bar stools perched next to the matching island had a unique wooden spiraled carved at the bottom. Sitting on one of them was a slender fair woman who was staring aimlessly into her coffee mug nestled between her hands which lay on the soft fabric of her pleated auburn skirt.

Upon hearing their footsteps clicking against the tiles, she looked up and her face was withered with fear and anxiety. 'Oh hello', she greeted them in a quiet voice, 'Who may you be?'

'I'm Liya', she introduced herself politely, 'This is my team, Dongmin and Kaili'

The others shook her icy hands while she nodded, 'Ah, I'm Ji Hu', she responded simply, 'I'm Hao Ran's girlfriend'

'We're sorry for your loss', Dongmin sympathized briefly

She looked down at the floor with no emotion for a few minutes before scanning the room, 'I thought...there was only one of you'

'Pardon?'

She scrunched her face faintly, 'I contacted a detective', she explained quickly, 'But...I thought it was just one man. Not 3'

'You're saying you didn't hire us?', Kaili blinked

She nodded, 'Unless I'm mistaken and was a bit blur when I messaged the person', she trailed off, 'But..I'm certain it was one man'

'You are correct'

Shifting their heads to the rough voice behind them, Dongmin's face visibly morphed to pure shock whereas Kaili's mouth hung open in disbelief. Liya most of all was frozen like ice, her gaze never leaving the figure's face before studying it carefully

'Chen Fang?'