Chapter 49: Chapter 23: One Thing Subdues Another
Each floor of the Sesame Apartment has two surveillance cameras on each side, with thirty floors in each building. In addition to the entrance and elevator cameras, there are nearly four hundred in total. The monitoring staff can’t possibly view all of them at all times.
The elevator surveillance is relatively clear, so anyone who used the elevator or accessed these three floors during this period might be suspected. Those who used the fire escape to go in and out also seem suspicious.
The police conducted interviews and took away the surveillance tapes from Building 3 for further investigation. They planned to contact He Kao if necessary.
After all this commotion, it was almost dawn. Liang Kai, living on the nineteenth floor, felt a bit uneasy. He hadn’t expected He Kao to report to the police so decisively.
Reporting to the police was strongly suggested by Huang Xiaopang, whose father was a policeman, and who had once told him, "If someone threatens you not to call the police, the right thing to do is to call the police immediately!"
Because people who say such things fear the police more than they fear you. For instance, if someone wants to kill you, at least the police can lock onto a suspect if you report it. If you don’t, you might die unjustly.
Liang Kai was a bit irritated. Generally speaking, the police aren’t likely to put much effort into such a vague case, but who can say for sure? After all, it’s a gun-related incident! According to police investigation logic, all the residents on those three floors are suspect.
Now, warning He Kao again is pointless because he’s already involved the police. Luckily, the police didn’t thoroughly search He Kao’s apartment, so the three cameras he installed are still there. Maybe the police didn’t think much of it.
He can still secretly observe He Kao, but has already concluded that hoping for any breakthrough is unlikely, as He Kao probably isn’t the Hidden Moth, and the pendant isn’t a Hidden Moth Object.
Even if Huang Xiaopang hadn’t suggested it, He Kao would have called the police. In the eyes of an observer, that’s just a normal reaction of a regular person. Not contacting the police would be more suspicious.
Luckily, the next day was the weekend, so it didn’t disrupt anyone’s work. The police were responsible enough to notify the local station to assist by sending a trainee officer to conduct door-to-door investigations on the three floors.
Sesame Apartment’s office holds resident information, but the police still needed to make rounds, accompanied by property staff. Huang Xiaopang even formed some rapport with the community policeman and volunteered to assist in the visits.
The visits were mostly for formality, knocking on doors to get faces recognized, verifying rental information, and inquiring about the previous night’s happenings. If someone wasn’t home, the property staff would open the door to check, preventing anyone from deliberately hiding.
Not only was an escort witness required in such situations, but the entire process was also recorded on a law enforcement recorder.
Liang Kai had the police knock on his door. He was a bit nervous at the time, but fortunately, the police only asked questions and recorded some information. He easily bluffed his way through without revealing any flaws.
He Kao reported to the police early Saturday, and the local station visited during the day. The police officers worked overtime on weekdays. By Sunday, Manager Yang of Sesame Apartment’s sales department and Administrator Xiaohu also went to visit He Kao.
They came under the pretense of offering condolences, but they arrived empty-handed, without even a fruit basket. Once seated, the main topic was the inquiry into the incident the night before last. He Kao stated that he had told the police everything necessary.
In fact, what He Kao told the police wasn’t the complete truth. He only mentioned that he suddenly woke up in the middle of the night, sensed some activity in the living room, turned on the light, and saw a silhouette holding a gun, then quickly fleeing.
Manager Yang said that since the incident occurred in Sesame Apartment, they have a responsibility to understand the situation and requested that He Kao reenact the scene. The so-called reenactment was for He Kao to simulate his actions from the previous night, which the police had already asked him to do.
While they were speaking, Huang Xiaopang also arrived and immediately interjected, "It’s not your job to do the police’s work. The apartment you rented out had such an incident, and the surveillance on three floors malfunctioned. You should be apologizing and offering compensation instead of interrogating the client!"
Manager Yang hurriedly explained that they were doing this out of responsibility to the tenants. However, the conversation continuously circled back, with the implication becoming more noticeable—he wanted He Kao to admit that it was all a mistake from the night before last.
Even if He Kao merely acknowledged the possibility of having seen it wrong, the reason could be easily fabricated, like just waking up and being groggy, or the low lighting in the living room... At least they couldn’t be certain that the silhouette was holding a gun.
Or that the silhouette was holding something, but He Kao didn’t see it clearly and just assumed it was a gun.
Because during police questioning, He Kao was very firm and certain he saw the silhouette holding a gun, regardless of whether it was a real gun or a replica, which was another matter.
Manager Yang heavily hinted and later explicitly stated that if He Kao changed his statement, they would reduce his rent and offer other compensations.
But if He Kao insists on sticking to his statement, there’s not much Sesame Apartment can do, although Manager Yang hinted at advising him to cancel the lease and move out. As for the reason, it could be found in the rental agreement clauses, which certainly contain an appropriate one.
For instance, there’s a clause stating that Party B shall not harm Party A’s market image through defamation, rumor, distortion, exaggeration, or improper discourse.
You’re not mistaken. In this rental contract, He Kao is actually Party B! This somewhat contradicts common contractual understanding, as in most cases, the buyer is usually Party A, and the seller is Party B.