I found the security office and saw the guard on duty.
He was the guard who had been on duty when the surveillance cameras were switched off that day.
I knew this guard was lying.
His gastroenteritis had happened to flare up just when someone switched off the cameras that day.
How could someone with gastroenteritis eat spicy food?
A bowl of malatang sat on his desk, probably ordered for delivery. I had smelled the spice from the doorway.
"What are you here for?"
He glanced back at me and quickly recognized me. "Huh, weren't you the one who just went in for an interview?"
I nodded, offered him a cigarette, and struck up a conversation. "Actually, I'm Chen Guowen's son. My name's Chen Mo."
He paused. "Manager Chen's son?"
His manner immediately became several times more polite.
"So you were interviewing for the finance department just now?"
"Your dad's the finance manager, after all."
I said I wasn't there for an interview. I had come to investigate something.
"Wang Hua, the supervisor of Workshop Three, had his motorcycle stolen a while back. Someone switched off the cameras that day. You were on duty then, weren't you?"
The guard paused and looked at me. "Didn't your dad tell you about this?"
I paused too, puzzled. "Tell me what?"
He suddenly laughed. "Nothing. I meant, did you hear about this from Manager Chen?"
I nodded. "I mainly came today to ask whether you saw who switched off the cameras that day."
He shook his head. "No, I didn't see anyone. I definitely didn't see anything. If I had, I'd have told Supervisor Wang."
I didn't press him. Instead, I wrote my phone number on a piece of paper. "How about this? Think it over carefully. If you remember anything, give me