Chapter 4 — Neighbors Occupied My House For Three Months, Finally Their Entire Family Had To Pay The Price

“Police officer, I know it's very difficult to prove that they took that safe.”

“Especially in cases where they dealt with it a long time ago.”

The policeman looked at me, said nothing, waiting for me to continue.

“A steel safe weighing 60 kg cannot suddenly disappear.”

“They can't just blatantly use the elevator to transport it out.”

“Residential security and surveillance cameras will definitely leave traces.”

“The only possibility is to disassemble it and divide it into multiple transports.”

“But to break a specialized safe requires professional tools.”

“It will make a very loud noise.”

“It also leaves behind a lot of metal filings.”

“If you just carefully examine the scene, you will definitely find traces.”

The policeman nodded.

“That is literally one of our lines of investigation.”

“But what if they removed the safe somewhere else?”

“So we have to check their travel route.”

“See if they've been to any remote places recently.”

“Do you rent any warehouse or factory?”

My train of thought was so clear that it was like I was analyzing a case that had nothing to do with me. The policeman looked at me a little surprised.

“Miss Tran, you are very calm.”

“Because I trust you guys.”

Then, I played my trump card.

“Actually, there is still more direct evidence.”

I walked over to the bed. Flipping over the red bed sheet that I hated so much. Revealing the gray mattress that originally belonged to me. Then I pointed to the gap between the mattress and the headboard.

“Officer, look at this place.”

The policeman squatted down. Take the small flashlight you carry with you and shine it. On the back of the headboard, close to the ground, there is a row of numbers sprayed with white paint. If you don't look closely, it's almost impossible to detect. Looks like a series of product serial numbers. The policeman read out loud:

“BGX5A180-20230815-SN7709...”

Halfway through reading, he suddenly stopped. Raise your head and look at me. There was surprise in his eyes. Because just a few minutes ago, he himself wrote down this safe's code in his notebook. BGX-5/A1-80. I calmly spoke:

“Policeman, that code was written by me.”

“BGX5A180 is the code for the safe.”

“20230815 is the day I bought it.”

“And SN7709 is just a code I arbitrarily set.”

“I have a habit.”

“Every time I buy a valuable item, I will spray the product code and date of purchase with paint on a nearby location that is most difficult to detect.”

“Maybe on the wall.”

“It could also be on the furniture.”

“The idea is that if one day the item is lost or swapped, I can still retain a piece of evidence.”

“This painted mark is the most direct physical evidence that the safe once existed in this room.”

“They can take the safe away.”

“Could smash it.”

“Maybe even melt it.”

“But they cannot erase this trace.”

The policeman stood up. Look at me deeply. There was surprise in those eyes. There was applause. And there was also a glimmer of understanding. He finally realized. The woman standing in front of her had already spread a tight net without gaps for a long time. Just waiting for the Vuong family to come in themselves. I sat in the police station's testimony room. The air conditioner turns on very strongly. In front of me is a cup of warm water, the heat gently rising. The policeman The middle-aged man sitting opposite was police officer Truong, who had led the team to the scene earlier. You're recording a formal statement for me. His attitude at this time was a bit more polite than at the scene, one could even say... respectful.

“Miss Tran, regarding the origin of purchasing the safe, the purchase invoice and the real estate transaction contract you just mentioned, we need you to provide a copy or electronic copy.”

“No problem.”

I took out a USB from my bag.

"It's all here. The electronic invoice for the safe, the payment documents to the shipping company, and the entire scanned copy of the old house sales contract, including buyer information."

Officer Truong received the USB. There was a flash of surprise in his eyes. Maybe he didn't expect me to be so fully prepared. He gave the USB to a young police officer next to him, signaling to take it away for processing.

“We conducted separate interrogations of each member of the Wang family.”

Officer Truong spoke up, his tone calm.

“The initial results are exactly as we predicted.”

I listened quietly.

"Mrs. Vuong, Vuong Quan's mother, pushed all the responsibility to her son. She asserted that she knew nothing and only followed her son to live there to enjoy the happiness."

"The daughter-in-law, Ly Quyen, is mentally very unstable. She insisted that she only knew about 'living in' and knew absolutely nothing about the safe. However, she repeatedly emphasized that we had no evidence to prove that they took that money."

“As for Vuong Quan…”

Officer Truong stopped for a moment and looked at me.