Chapter 3 — Neighbors Occupied My House For Three Months, Finally Their Entire Family Had To Pay The Price

If they cannot prove that they entered illegally, then the theft allegation will lack an important premise. All eyes turned to me. The middle-aged policeman also frowned at me.

“Miss Tran, about the lock…”

I took out my phone and opened an app.

“Officer, my house lock is not broken.”

I turned the phone screen towards him.

“Because it doesn't require a key.”

"I use a smart lock. Every time I open the door, whether by password, fingerprint or NFC, there will be a history record."

“Just before I left for work three months ago.”

I raised my head. His eyes passed through the police, stopping on Vuong Quan's face, which was changing violently.

“I gave Vuong Quan a temporary password.”

As soon as my words ended, the atmosphere in the living room seemed to freeze. Vuong Quan suddenly raised his head, his face filled with disbelief. His wife, Ly Quyen, was also stunned, stopped struggling, and stared at Vuong Quan with dumbfounded eyes. A trace of surprise and suspicion also flashed in Ms. Vuong's cloudy eyes. The middle-aged policeman took my phone. On the screen is the interface of an application. The interface is very simple. Above is a long series of records.

“Unlock history?”

he asked.

"That's right."

I nodded.

“Every successful or failed unlock has the exact time recorded down to the second.”

I pointed to a note on the screen.

“This was the last time I left home, at 9:30 a.m. on May 20, three months ago.”

Then I pulled the screen down. Below are dense red warnings with the content:

‘Password is incorrect’.

Starting from the third day after I left, there were several unlock attempts every day.

“These are the times they try to guess the password.”

Finally, one day two months ago, a blue note appeared:

‘Unlock successful with temporary password’.

The time is 2:03 p.m. The middle-aged policeman's eyes immediately became extremely serious. He raised his head and looked at Vuong Quan as sharply as an eagle looking at its prey.

“Temporary password?”

Vuong Quan's lips trembled like a leaf in the autumn wind.

“I… I…”

I answered for him.

“Policeman, one day before I left for work, Vuong Quan came to see me.”

"He said his son was naughty and loved to play football in the hallway. He was afraid that one day he would mistakenly kick the ball into my balcony, so he asked if I could leave him a spare key. If something happened, he could come in and get the ball for me."

"I found it unsafe to hand over the key, so I told him that my house lock could create a one-time temporary password and then automatically deactivate it."

“So right in front of him, I created a temporary passcode that was valid for 24 hours and sent it to him.”

My eyes turned to Vuong Quan. The corner of his lips carried a cold light.

“But I didn't tell him…”

“What I created is actually a temporary ‘permanent’ password that can be used at any time.”

“Also don't tell him that this lock will record the entire usage history.”

Vuong Quan's psychological defense completely collapsed before two phrases:

‘Permanent Temporary Password’.

‘Record everything history'.

He knew he couldn't keep lying anymore.

“I… I didn't mean to…”

He stammered an explanation.

“I just... my mother said... there's not enough room in the house...”

“So you used the kindness I showed you to open my door?”

I interrupted him.

“You guys don't just move in.”

“But every day you try to break my master password.”

“You want to make this house completely yours, right?”

Ly Quyen looked at her husband in disbelief.

“Wang Quan!”

“Do you really have the password?”

“Why didn't you tell me?”

Mrs. Vuong also regained her composure and immediately shouted to her son:

“Useless thing!”

“Why didn't you say it sooner?”

“If you said earlier that she had historical records…”

Having said this, she suddenly fell silent. Because saying that is like admitting guilt. The middle-aged police officer coldly watched the internal fighting of the entire Vuong family.

“The evidence of illegal intrusion is clear.”

He returned the phone to me and waved his hand to order his subordinates.

“Take everyone back to the station.”

“Separate each person for questioning!”

“Now the focus is on the safe that disappeared and the 3,000,000 yuan inside.”

The police escorted three members of the Vuong family out. The two children were so scared that they burst into tears and hugged Ly Quyen's legs tightly, refusing to let go. The scene was extremely chaotic. Ly Quyen still tried to struggle one last time.

“We have never seen a safe!”

“When we moved in, there were already quilts in that drawer!”

“She is slandering us!”

“She has no evidence!”

"Yes! There is no evidence!"

Vuong Quan, as if clinging to a life-saving straw, immediately shouted:

“On what basis do you say we took your safe?”

“Do you have any evidence?”

Proving they entered illegally and proving they stole 3,000,000 yuan are two completely different things. The former will at most only result in administrative sanctions or temporary detention. The latter is a felony, with a starting sentence of more than ten years in prison. They understand that very clearly. I looked at them. Until the whole family was escorted to the elevator. The elevator door slowly closed. I turned to the middle-aged policeman.

“Officer, can I talk to you in private for a moment?”

We went back to the master bedroom. Technical staff are still working inside. They used specialized brooms to carefully collect traces that may be left in the empty cabinet where the safe used to be. I closed the door. Completely isolate noise outside the living room.