Chapter 7 — A Day as a Janitor

It is not aunt Tan, she has always been in the conference room.

Luo Qian offered a cold laugh.

Your words carry no weight.

Zheng Huaiyin also chimed in.

Chairman Shen, this matter only proves that there is a problem. She went up to the twenty-ninth floor during the day, and the safe had an incident at night; how could there be such a coincidence in this world.

I looked at the image displayed on the tablet.

Rewind the time by five minutes.

The young employee Gu Nan looked towards Shen Zhao'an. Shen Zhao'an gave a slight nod. Gu Nan immediately operated the device. The footage reversed. That person approached from the fire escape, paused in front of the door for half a second, then retrieved a card and swiped it to open the door to the inner area. I asked: Is there card-swiping data? Gu Nan replied: We are currently extracting it. Luo Qian immediately interjected: She used to manage administrative permissions in the past, so having an old card is hardly strange. I looked directly at her.

Director Luo, down on the first basement level just now, didn't you people already plant half a card with my name pasted on it?

Her face turned ashen. I continued: The exact same trap, used twice, is far too clumsy. Zheng Huaiyin slammed his hand on the table.

Do not try to divert attention here!

Shen Zhao'an paid no heed to him.

Up to the top floor.

At one twenty in the morning, the entire group returned to the twenty-ninth floor once more. The door to the inner area of the chairman's office was wide open. The door to the safe was also open. One compartment inside was completely empty. Sweat beaded heavily on Gu Nan's forehead.

Chairman Shen, the permission to open the safe belongs exclusively to the Board Secretariat and yourself.

Shen Zhao'an asked: Who touched it tonight? Gu Nan shook his head.

The system indicates a backup card.

Where is the backup card?

Gu Nan's voice dropped.

According to regulations, it is sealed inside the Administrative Center.

Everyone's gazes shifted back toward Zheng Huaiyin and Luo Qian. Luo Qian bit her lip fiercely.

The backup card was handed over long ago; you cannot pin every single thing on the human resources department.

I squatted down and inspected the floor right outside the office door. I had not entered the inner area tonight. The outer floor was the one I had mopped. A faint streak of water left by the mop was still visible along the edge of the tiles. However, right beside the threshold of the inner area, a patch of dust had been wiped away. It was not a footprint. It was a wheel track. I asked Miao: Which sanitation cart's wheel is damaged? Miao immediately answered: Cart number three, the front right wheel is missing a piece of rubber, and it vibrates whenever pushed. I pointed down at the ground.

This mark was also made by the front right wheel missing its rubber piece.

Gu Nan turned around and went to check. Before long, sanitation cart number three was pushed out. A pair of disposable gloves was hung over the cart's handle. Inside the compartment was a set of gray sanitation overalls. The cap was stuffed at the very bottom. Luo Qian's eyes lit up.

This is the concrete evidence!

She stared at me.

Tan Yuzhen, how else do you plan to explain this?

I did not look at her. I picked up the uniform and examined the inside of the collar.

This does not belong to me.

Luo Qian let out a cold laugh.

Sanitation uniforms all look the same.

Miao said in a low voice: They are not the same, there are numbers on the inside of the collar. I flipped the collar over.

Number thirteen.

Miao quickly added: Number thirteen is a spare uniform, it was still down in the first basement level yesterday. Shen Zhao'an looked toward old Hu. Old Hu immediately stated: Spare uniforms are not logged out for personal use. I placed the uniform back onto the cart.

Someone took the spare uniform, pushed cart number three up to the twenty-ninth floor, and deliberately arranged for the security camera to capture the gray clothing.

Zheng Huaiyin said in a deep voice: It is entirely possible that you prepared this in advance. I stood up.

Before I assumed my duties at nine-thirty today, the supervisor's access rights had already been locked, and temporary cards could not possibly open the supply cabinet in the first basement level.

Miao raised her hand.

Yesterday, the key to the spare uniform cabinet was taken away by Director Luo.

Luo Qian turned around abruptly.

What nonsense are you spouting!

Miao shrank back in fright, trembling. I looked at her.

Continue.

Miao gritted her teeth.

She said she wanted to inspect the appearance of the sanitation staff, took away two spare uniforms, and only returned one this morning.

At that moment, Gu Nan came running back.

Chairman Shen, the card-swiping data has been retrieved.

He handed over the printed sheet.

The backup card unlocked the inner area of the twenty-ninth floor at one hour and nine minutes.

But the backup card should be securely stored inside the sealed cabinet of the Administrative Center.

Shen Zhao'an gazed at Zheng Huaiyin.

Who manages that cabinet?

A vein throbbed violently at Zheng Huaiyin's temple.

The Administrative Center holds numerous supplies; it is impossible for me to personally oversee every single item.

I suddenly spoke up: Replay the security footage once more. Gu Nan complied. In the image, the person in gray clothing walked out hugging a red ledger. I stared fixedly at the upper left corner of the ledger.

Stop.

The image froze in place. I stated: This ledger is not the Special Guarantee List from the startup period. Shen Zhao'an tilted his head to look at me. I explained: The upper left corner of the genuine list was once soaked in water, leaving a swollen crease on the red cover.

Thirty-two years ago, when the factory roof leaked, I used an enamel mug to press down on it for an entire night, yet the mark still remained.

Shen Zhao'an stared intently at the image. After a long moment, he spoke in a low voice: That is correct. The breathing of everyone around him turned erratic. I pointed toward the safe.

Whoever came tonight did not come to steal the real list.