The burglarized evidence room

One Police Plaza, Manhattan, New York City, New York City Police Department Headquarters, Commissioner's Office.

While the nationwide campaign to eradicate Vampires and Werewolves is in full swing, New York City has already taken the lead in completely eliminating or expelling these two dark Monster.

However, the ensuing disturbances involving the Sandman, the Lizard, and the Symbiote kept Police Station George Stacy extremely busy. Even now, after returning from serious injury, the old chief has only reduced his overtime hours; he hasn't missed a single task.

Keep in mind, he had only recently been discharged from the hospital, and despite the doctor's advice to rest longer, he insisted on coming to work. Although the director's work is handled by a deputy, there are still some things that the deputy cannot decide or cannot handle.

For example, the complaints from the public, especially from the big taxpayers and the bureaucrats above the police, don't care whether the police are capable of dealing with super criminals. They only know that their personal safety is threatened and someone has to step in to solve the problem.

The most ridiculous part is that the city council rejected the police's requests to increase the budget for equipment and personnel to deal with supervillains.

The reason given is the inability to define what kind of criminals can be categorized as supervillains. What If...? this excessive equipment were used against ordinary citizens? Regular law enforcement doesn't need such equipment.

From a police perspective, you can't just call in Spider-Man to solve every case of an outrageous criminal. What's the point of having police then?

So, George Stacy is trying to find a solution to the increased difficulty of her work. This is not something that can be accomplished by simply handing it over to an agent.

The knocking interrupted George Stacy's train of thought. He put down his pen and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his eyes. "Come in."

"Sir, I think you need to go to the evidence room." The man who entered was an old colleague who had risen through the ranks with George Stacy, and he spoke with a grave expression.

What happened?

"Hmm... it's hard to say here. You'll know once you go and see for yourself."

Knowing this old fellow was a steady and reliable person, not one to cause trouble unnecessarily, his unusual caution suggested something serious was going on. George Stacy leaned on the table and stood up. "Alright. Let's go."

The two arrived together at the headquarters' evidence room. The officer in charge stood at the door, looking quite nervous. The senior officer, upon seeing George Stacy, immediately went to greet her. "Chief."

"What happened? Has someone smuggled out contraband and sold it again?"

This is the most frequently missing item in the police evidence room. During George Stacy's tenure, although no police officer dared to do this at headquarters, he had seen it happen more than once in his long career.

Now that it was happening to him again, it made this man, who considered himself quite strict and upright, somewhat unhappy.

"No—Chief, in a sense, the stolen items are worse."

The veteran police officer guarding the evidence room first invited Police Station George Stacy to the monitor. "Chief, take a look at this screen. It looks normal, doesn't it? Everything that should be there is there."

"Then?"

Apart from the youngest guarding the door, the others followed the older police officer into the evidence room, to the area where large items were stored.

"Look, this is what the actual scene looks like."

A seemingly random remark would likely offend most people, making them angry. However, George Stacy didn't rise to the position of New York City chief through flattery alone. He possesses genuine expertise in criminal investigation.

Upon seeing the evidence room scene, combined with the surveillance footage she had previously reviewed, and noticing that something was somehow connected to her, George Stacy suddenly realized and asked, "Where's the Canary Device?"

That was a forced drug delivery device created by the Oscorp Laboratory, which can turn drugs into a cloud-like substance and disperse it within a certain range.

Previously, the Lizard planned to use the Canary Device to spread Lizard Serum at a high-rise construction site, creating widespread chaos.

As a result, Spider-Man replaced the Antidote for the Lizard Serum in the machine, saving the police officers who had inhaled the mist-like Lizard Serum and entered the transformation phase.

George Stacy had been swatted by the Lizard during that incident and spent more than two weeks in the hospital. It was impossible for him not to remember it vividly.

"You stay here, I'm going to check the security footage."

"OK."

George Stacy returned to the monitor alone. On the screen, the Canary Device was still in place, and her old friend and the old policeman in the evidence room were also on the screen, indicating that this footage was not replaced.

"Who can wave their hand towards where the Canary Device used to be?" George Stacy shouted into the room.

The veteran police officer in charge of the evidence room knew where the items were originally placed, so he waved as instructed. On the monitor screen, George Stacy watched the veteran officer reach out and trace the Canary Device as if it were a phantom.

The incredibly realistic footage was undoubtedly a new type of crime. A serious-looking George Stacy retraced her steps to the location where the Canary Device had been stolen. "How did you find out?"

"When John came to this area to drop something off earlier, I happened to see him pass through the Canary Device, and I felt something was wrong. After checking several times, I realized the item was missing. It was on the surveillance footage, but not in reality."

When did you disappear?

"Today," the old policeman said confidently.

Are you sure?

"Yes, Chief. When I came in to do the inventory this morning, I still saw the Canary Device. It's such a big thing, it's hard for me to forget. No one else has entered this area today, and there have been people at the door of the evidence room the whole time."

George Stacy looked around. The evidence room was located in a somewhat remote part of the headquarters building, in the basement, so there were ventilation windows at the top.

However, to prevent thieves from breaking in, the entire evidence room is covered by a second layer of barbed wire. Even if someone manages to squeeze through the air vent, they still have to face the barbed wire. Therefore, the only way for an intruder to sneak into the evidence room is to cut the barbed wire and leave traces.

It's important to know that the evidence room stores criminal evidence, including firearms and contraband, as well as valuables held in safekeeping.

Lost items and other valuables are kept here; this has always been the most heavily guarded area within the police station.

Therefore, the chances of an inside job here are far greater than the chances of an outsider sneaking in. However, George Stacy didn't immediately conclude that the police officer in charge of the evidence room was guilty. "After discovering the theft, did you notice anything unusual?"

"Yes, Chief." The old policeman pointed to a metal rack to the side, on which was a note that was clearly not used by the police.

It said "Borrowing for three days" on it. The important thing is! The words on it were cut and pasted from a newspaper headline.

This retro approach reminded George Stacy of someone—

The Police Station, torn between his options, wondered if sending in the forensic team to collect samples would yield any useful evidence, or whether he should really wait three days.

"Damn it!" George Stacy cursed, then said to the others, "We'll wait for this guy for three days. During those three days, nobody's saying a word. If the item isn't back after three days, bring in the forensic team. Got it?"

"Yes, sir."