Chapter 276: Chapter 276: The Thief

The neighbor shook their head, “No, they said he was wearing a mask. The police have taken notes and accessed the surveillance from the property management. They said they’d inform us if they catch the person.

But, I think it’ll be hard to catch him. Sigh.”

After hearing this, Li Qin clicked her tongue, “Such bad luck, being robbed during the New Year.”

“Tell me about it. Sigh, let’s not talk about it. I’m going to throw out the trash.”

“Alright.”

After bidding farewell to her neighbor, Li Qin sighed as she entered the elevator.

Returning home, she found nobody there. She first hung up the clothes she bought today, then began tidying up the house.

“Oh dear, nobody cleans up after eating. I’m always the one left to clean this mess. Really…”

Li Qin looked at the mess in the kitchen after her family had lunch, feeling very upset.

Clothes and trash were thrown around the living room…

When she left in the morning, everything was fine. But just in half a day, it turned into this. She felt like a maid!

In the evening, Li Qin’s husband came back from work, and her son also returned home.

Li Qin served the food onto the table and called her husband and son to eat.

“Hurry up and eat. Every day, if I don’t call you, you don’t know to come out and eat. I’m tired of calling you every day, aren’t you tired of hearing it?”

Hearing Li Qin’s (mother’s) nagging, her husband and son immediately put down their phones and sat at the table to eat.

“What happened to the family that got robbed in the neighborhood?” Li Qin’s husband asked.

Li Qin: “Sigh, the neighbor said the thief was wearing a mask and the surveillance couldn’t catch what he looked like. The police have accessed the footage and are waiting for notice.”

Li Qin’s son spoke while eating, “I guess it’s hard to catch the thief.”

Li Qin: “Others say the same, but I feel they will catch him. There’s surveillance everywhere now, they must catch him.”

Li Qin’s husband: “But the stolen things are probably hard to recover. Those thieves are too cunning.”

“Before going to bed, remember to lock the door! And the windows!” Li Qin reminded her husband and son while washing dishes.

“Got it, I’ve already locked the door. We’re on the twelfth floor, I don’t believe any thieves would dare climb up, risking their lives…”

Hearing this, Li Qin didn’t respond. She needed to clean up the house quickly so that she could play mahjong online with her friends.

At around one in the morning, it was quiet everywhere. The entire neighborhood had turned off the lights, and everyone was asleep.

A figure emerged from the shadows in the neighborhood and headed straight to one of the unit buildings.

The person entered the building, took out a mask from their chest in a blind spot of the surveillance, put it on, then put on a hat, and entered the elevator.

They pressed the button for the 12th floor.

At that moment, in the Sheng’an District’s property monitoring room, a group of police officers was watching each surveillance screen.

“Chief, there’s something happening here!” Li He pointed at one of the monitors and shouted.

He Qi’an immediately went over and saw a man wearing a black cotton coat and a hat, his head lowered, inside the elevator.

“Which unit is this elevator in?”

“Unit five.”

He Qi’an immediately stood up, “Zhang Ming, Ning Xuan, you two keep watching. The rest, follow me!”

“Yes!”

He Qi’an quickly led his team to run towards unit five. Zhang Ming watched the monitor; the man had already reached the twelfth floor and exited the elevator.

He immediately searched for the surveillance on the twelfth floor of the unit.

The property staff on duty shyly said, “Well… to ensure the safety of the owners, our neighborhood only installed surveillance in the elevators…”

Zhang Ming glanced at the property staff and let out a cold snort inside.

Wasn’t it because they were lazy and didn’t want to spend money to install it elsewhere?

By this time, the man had exited the elevator and was standing silently, listening carefully to the sounds around him.

It was still and silent all around.

Then, he took out a flashlight and shone it at several doors on the twelfth floor.

He saw a mark above one of the doors.

He walked over silently, without ever looking around to see if there were any surveillance cameras, his hat covering his face very well.

He skillfully took out lock-picking tools from his pocket, and in less than five seconds, the door lock was opened.

The man didn’t enter immediately. He carefully put away the tools, then slowly opened the door and entered…

After entering the house, he stood at the entrance, slowly surveying the surroundings.

Then, he walked directly to the kitchen. When he came out again, he was holding a kitchen knife…

At the same time, He Qi’an and his team were swiftly heading up to the twelfth floor. To avoid alarming the thief, they did not take the elevator and used the stairs instead.

Soon enough, they reached the twelfth floor.

He Qi’an surveyed the surroundings and walked alone to each apartment door, listening for sounds inside.

Suddenly, he noticed that one of the door locks seemed to have marks. He gestured, and the police officers behind him quickly and silently followed.

The hallway was silent. Everyone held their breath, listening to the faint sounds inside the apartment.

In Li Qin’s home, the bedroom door was quietly opened. The man adeptly took out a spray and sprayed the sleeping duo with an unknown liquid a few times.

Then he moved to the other room, skillfully continuing his task.

A few minutes later, he was certain that the people inside would not wake up. Boldly, he turned on the room lights.

He began rummaging through drawers and cabinets, searching for valuables.

…

Early the next morning, Li Qin’s family woke up in the hospital.

“Where… is this???

Li Qin stared at the white ceiling and the pervasive smell of disinfectant, dumbfounded.

“Mom, mom, you’re awake!”

“Honey, our house got robbed!”

Li Qin’s son and husband looked excitedly at the newly woken-up mother (wife).

When Li Qin heard that their house was robbed, she shot up, “What! Call the police quick, you two idiots!

The house was broken into, and you’re just laughing!”

Her husband quickly pulled her back and explained what happened last night.

It turns out that their whole family was taken to the hospital by the police last night. The thief was caught red-handed, and apparently, nothing from their house was stolen.

Li Qin felt like she still hadn’t fully woken up; otherwise, why didn’t she remember a thing!

She usually slept lightly, aware of the slightest noise. How had she slept so soundly this time?

Finally, when the doctor came for a check-up, they were told that they had been drugged with a sedative last night, which is why they hadn’t noticed the commotion.

The police also came and instructed them to visit the police station after being discharged to give statements and identify their belongings…

After hearing this, Li Qin couldn’t stay in the hospital any longer. She needed to check if anything was missing at home first!

The Sheng’an District experienced another thievery last night!

But the good news is that the police caught the thief on the spot last night!

Yet, this still could not quell the homeowners’ anger.

Homeowners flocked to the property management, demanding they strengthen patrols to ensure their safety.

The property staff had no choice but to assure them repeatedly that surveillance would be installed all over the neighborhood and more security guards would be hired to take turns on duty…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep