Chapter 5 — The Midnight Message

Immediately after that, Ms. Tran sent a voice message, her voice trembling like sifting rice: "Just now, after I opened the door, in the hallway there was a dark shadow running past my door." The perpetrator. The perpetrator did not escape. The police came but he didn't hide. I took a few steps back, my back pressed against the bedroom wall. The mind turns quickly. The police were already in, he must have escaped from the other end of the hallway, or climbed out the window. Why are you still running around in the building? The group immediately asked.

“Didn't you meet the police?”

The echo of the scream still echoed in the hallway. The messages in the group were like a water pipe being punctured and gushing out.

"Miss Tran, what do you mean? What shadow?! Haven't the police already entered?"

"When you opened the door, the police weren't by your side? Didn't they protect you?"

“What exactly is going on? Please explain clearly!”

It took nearly three minutes for Ms. Tran to respond. During these three minutes, each person in the group sends at least two messages. From questioning to speculating to scolding, each belief becomes more and more intense. I looked at the loading screen. Finally, Ms. Tran's voice message popped out. But that petulant voice returned: "Oh my God, don't panic, don't panic. I saw clearly just now, it was Tieu Ly. I don't know when he ran down from upstairs, it startled me." The group was silent for a moment.

"Tieu Ly? Is that Tieu Ly in room 202?"

“Fuck, scared me to death.”

“Tieu Ly is also serious, why are you running down to the first floor, aren't you safe on the second floor?”

"Aren't the police here? Where are you?"

Ms. Tran added another message, her tone relaxed: "The police officer has arrested someone, right in the second floor staircase, saying he climbed the wall, everyone can rest assured and sleep." Catch people. In the second floor staircase. Climb the wall. All the information from the entire evening came together, like a mosaic that didn't fit. What happened in between? Did the police come so quickly? At 3:00 a.m. when he left the country, he "caught someone" at 3:20 a.m. and identified him as a "suspect who climbed the wall"? There are indeed people in the group who think like me. The guy on the fifth floor sent a message: "Miss Tran, when the police arrested the person you were with? What did you see? How was he? What did he look like?" From below, someone gradually sent: "That's right, please explain clearly."

"Where is the arrested person now? Is the police car still downstairs?"

“I looked down just now, I didn't see the police car anywhere?”

The sound of doubt was like a snowball rolling louder and louder. Ms. Tran did not answer. Someone mentioned her name three or four times, but she still didn't appear. Ms. 402 sent a voice message, keeping her voice down: "I just called the management office, they said they basically didn't receive a murder report tonight, nor were they able to look up 110's exit records." The group immediately became quiet. Different from the previous silence, the silence now was frozen, each person holding the phone waiting for the next person to speak. I put the phone down, a thought swirling in my head, spinning so much that my temples throbbed with pain. Ms. Tran is lying. If you report a false crime, you will not be able to check your police exit records. The killer was still wandering around the building, even if she was even more stupid, she wouldn't have dared to actually open the door. As for her motive for lying. At first it was just to gain comfort and sympathy. Realizing that the situation had become a big deal, she couldn't clean it up, so she pretended to report it to the police, deflecting responsibility. While thinking, Tieu Ly suddenly answered in the group.

“I called the police, but the police haven't come yet.”

Everyone immediately turned their attention to him.

“Is it real or fake? Show me the screenshot of the police report.”

Mr. 601 was the first to speak up. The group all followed suit. Tieu Ly quickly forwarded the screenshot, and the group finally became quiet. Suddenly, Ms. 402 sent a question: "So who was the person who came in just now?" The group chat was quiet but immediately exploded. Six

“Now that the door lock is open, will the killer run away?”

“I begged him to leave quickly, if there was any more commotion I would have a nervous breakdown.”

“What the hell?! Ms. Tran, didn't you say you already called the police?!”

“So who was the person who came in just now?!”

Ms. 402's voice message immediately popped out, her voice as tense as a bowstring being pulled at its maximum: "What did I say just now? I called the management, the management said they did not receive any relays of the situation."

"So who are the two people downstairs? Wearing uniforms, driving cars, and even entering the building!"

This voice message is like a key turning the lock in everyone's throat. Messages popped up one after another. Someone said they saw a police car parked in the yard. Someone said they heard someone talking downstairs. Some people say the glass door was actually pushed open. Tieu Ly sent three text messages in succession, each short but with a very steady rhythm: "Everyone, don't panic. First, Ms. Tran is lying, no one called the police tonight."