Chapter 1 The Night Deepens

The night deepened.

A night on a sea island was bound to be romantic, at least for those who had long lived in large cities; just seeing a clear starry sky was enough to fill them with poetic sentiments.

But for the natives, the sound of the tide and the starlight were just their daily life, only able to remind them of the weather and nothing else.

At 9:30 PM, Feng Bujue walked into the bar on the top floor of the Alfred Hotel.

As soon as he entered, he quickly scanned the entire bar and found Sam Herbert's figure in the most conspicuous place—the bar.

"Sure enough, he's here..." Feng Bujue muttered softly as he strolled over.

According to Jue-Ge's conjecture, tonight, Sam would definitely appear in a crowded place and try to leave an impression on others. Seeing this... I'm sure everyone has guessed it, that's right, this guy is preparing to create an "alibi."

Considering that Kochi Kotti Island is only so big, and it's the tourist season, this bar is undoubtedly the best choice.

First of all, whether there are customers or not, it will be open until dawn; while the other small pubs on the island, if there are not many customers, the boss may drive the remaining few drunks home and then close the door.

Secondly, most of the customers in the hotel bar are from outside the island, from all over the world, and they don't know Sam at all; once something happens, the testimony provided by these people will be much more reliable than the statements of the island's residents.

Thirdly, and most importantly, there are many surveillance cameras in the Kochi Kotti Hotel, even if there is an accident... if people's testimonies are not useful, Sam can also rely on physical evidence to prove his whereabouts.

Of course, it must be said that Sam Herbert's luck was not very good; because, in this hotel today, there happened to be two first-class detectives—Feng Bujue and Vidocq, and they had already recognized Sam and smelled a "scent of crime" after only a brief encounter with him.

"May I sit here?" Feng Bujue came to the bar and greeted Sam in a very ordinary tone.

Sam heard this, turned his head, and glanced at Jue-Ge.

After a brief hesitation, he suddenly showed a warm smile and replied, "Of course, friend."

"Thanks." Feng Bujue said, and then moved sideways onto the high stool, extending his right hand to the other party in a slow and unhurried manner, "Feng Bujue."

Sam also naturally reached out and shook Jue-Ge's hand lightly: "You can call me Sam."

At first glance, this was a very common meeting; the eyes, words, and actions of the two people... were all normal.

Anyone who saw this scene would think that this was just a scene of "two strange men meeting by chance in a bar."

And the bartender, who was quickly approaching, also thought so.

"Sir, what would you like to order?" The bartender asked Jue-Ge a question with a very professional attitude.

Hearing the sound, Feng Bujue shifted his gaze to the bartender.

That was a middle-aged man, looking close to fifty years old; his neatly combed-back hair, finely trimmed beard, crisp shirt and waistcoat, and... his age, all revealed one piece of information—this man was making a living here based on his professional skills, not his looks.

"Mix something that you think suits me." Feng Bujue gave a very clever answer, and he quickly captured a hint of a smile on the bartender's lips and pleasure in his eyes.

"Wait a moment, sir." The bartender responded and turned to get busy.

Although Feng Bujue didn't like dealing with people, if he had the will, he could easily please others.

Because he understood human nature...

The best chefs design their own menus, and the same goes for "bartenders"; people with excellent skills and confidence in this type of creative field are mostly not resistant to requests like "give me a surprise." Obtaining people's amazement with their own works is precisely the way these people obtain satisfaction, and in many cases, this is even greater than the satisfaction that money can bring them.

"Listening to your accent... you don't seem to be a local?" After the bartender walked away, it was Sam who took the initiative to talk to Feng Bujue.

"Hehe... aren't all the people who come here tourists?" Feng Bujue responded with a smile, "Eh? Could it be... you're a local?"

Jue-Ge's response made Sam immediately realize that his first sentence was inappropriate: "Um... hehe..." He also laughed twice, with a hint of embarrassment and regret in his laughter, "I stayed here for a while when I was young, and then left for some reason. It's been many years since I've been back."

He didn't lie, but he responded with a tone and statement that didn't want to delve deeper into this issue.

"Oh..." Seeing this, Feng Bujue also "sensibly" changed the subject, he shrugged and said, "Everyone has their youth..." His tone was like a stable man in his forties, but his face was revealing the information that he was "definitely not thirty years old," "Those years are mostly accompanied by many memories and bad luck that even we ourselves find stupid."

"You're so right!" Sam sincerely agreed with Jue-Ge's words, and the expression on his face seemed to be saying "I beg for poisonous chicken soup."

But Feng Bujue's heart was without any fluctuations... and even wanted to laugh a little.

From the moment he walked over, he had been constantly discerning every thought in Sam's heart.

The initial "hesitation" was Sam's normal reaction, but the "enthusiasm" that followed was because he just happened to need to "chat with strangers"; Jue-Ge knew from the beginning that as long as he went to talk to Sam, the latter would definitely follow the boat and chat with him, so he didn't need to deliberately cater to the other party... just needed to start the conversation in the "most ordinary and natural" way.

If nothing unexpected happened, in the next few hours, somewhere on this island, an "incident" would occur... At that time, Feng Bujue would become Sam's "alibi witness," and by playing this role, he would be able to justifiably intervene in the "incident," and even influence the police investigation through his testimony.

It could be said that this was a win-win strategy.

And this was something that Zuo Yan could not do; even if Vidocq, like Jue-Ge... deduced that Sam might appear in the bar tonight and told Zuo Yan this information, Zuo Yan could not walk in and contact him in such a swaggering manner like Jue-Ge. Because in this script world, most countries in Western Europe only allow people who are twenty-one years old to enter bars, and Zuo Yan... is only nineteen this year.

However, Feng Bujue also thought that besides letting "people" investigate, those two had another way...