Suspicion

"When did you lose your phone?"

"Last night," Zhang Heng said.

"Mm, which building do you live in?"

Zhang Heng gave the young man in charge of the Monitoring Room the university student's building number.

"Building 5, Unit 2?" The young man in charge of the Monitoring Room looked somewhat surprised.

"What is it?"

"Ah, no... nothing." The young man opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed the words that had been on the tip of his tongue.

Zhang Heng guessed the guy had probably secretly filmed someone from Building 5, Unit 2 before and had some impression of its residents, but he did not dare say something like that aloud.

Zhang Heng was happy to pretend he had not caught the hidden meaning in his words as he watched the young man pull up last night's footage. After hesitating, the latter said, "Actually, this footage won't be much use."

"Why do you say that?"

"You know that university student with mental illness who lives in that building, right? This morning, they reported that a thief had broken into their home. The police already came to check the footage."

"Did they find anything?"

"No. The police figured the thief went around to the blind spot of the side camera and climbed up from there. Fortunately, nothing was ultimately stolen, so the police didn't pursue it any further."

Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows but said nothing. He hit fast-forward and watched the footage through. Before midnight, there were still people going in and out of Building 5, Unit 2. But after midnight, most people were asleep. Only one man who had been out socializing staggered drunkenly into the building around one in the morning. No one else came out after that, all the way until dawn.

"What about the footage from the