The surveillance footage was quickly reviewed.
To avoid wasting time, Han Fei only focused on people leaving the building during that period, not those entering.
During that time, no one had entered from the 20th floor and taken the elevator down.
Eight people had gone down from other floors.
However, upon investigation, these eight were just other residents of the building, not the targets of their arrest operation.
Of course, they couldn't rule out the possibility that someone might have deliberately avoided the elevator cameras by taking the stairs.
So Han Fei also checked another surveillance video.
This camera faced the building's entrance, capturing anyone going in or out.
As before, he paid close attention to those leaving during that time period.
In half an hour, eleven people had exited through the entrance.
Eight of them matched up perfectly with the eight who had taken the elevator down.
These eight were not suspects, as the police had checked them recently.
Two others were the people they had encountered waiting for the elevator on the first floor earlier.
One without clothes, and one carrying a cleaver.
These two weren't targets of their arrest operation either, and had no suspicion attached to them.
Barring any surprises, those two should have already been taken to the police station by now.
There was one person who seemed somewhat suspicious.
Han Fei had someone look into it.
It turned out this guy didn't take the elevator because he lived on the third floor and could easily walk down.
He took the stairs not to avoid surveillance, but simply because he was too lazy to waste time waiting for the elevator.
"Only these people left the building in the last half hour, and none of them are suspicious," Chen Ke concluded, considering also that the cigarette smell in the room hadn't fully dissipated yet. "That means... the two fugitives we're after haven't left."
"Yes, they must still be in this building, not having gone out. It's even possible they're in this very room!" Han Fei nodded.
With that, the officers began searching the room carefully once again.
This time, Han Fei personally joined in.
He thoroughly checked every possible hiding place in the room.
He even opened the refrigerator and washing machine to take a look, leaving no stone unturned.
Then there was the balcony.
Standing in the balcony area, Han Fei looked through the window and saw the neighboring balcony, not too far away.
Suddenly, a bold idea popped into his mind!
Was it possible that the fugitives, hearing their commotion, had frantically climbed over the balcony to escape to the next apartment?
Once this thought occurred to him, it wouldn't go away.
Due to the layout of the apartments, the distance between balconies in this row of flats wasn't very far.
So much so that anyone with decent physical ability could jump across.
Of course, that's assuming they could overcome the psychological fear.
At this moment, Chen Ke also came onto the balcony.
Seeing Han Fei staring intently at the neighboring balcony, Chen Ke realized what he was thinking.
He was a bit dumbfounded.
"Captain Han, you don't... think those two fugitives jumped over to the next balcony, do you?"
Han Fei didn't speak, but he nodded.
That was exactly what he thought.
Seeing this, Chen Ke leaned out the window to look down.
One glance, and his legs went weak, his head starting to spin.
He had severe acrophobia - even looking down from the third floor made his legs wobbly, let alone the twentieth floor!
At the height of twenty stories, jumping from one balcony to another - wasn't that just insane?
Thinking this, Chen Ke shook his head vigorously like a rattle drum.
"No, no, no, impossible, impossible, Captain Han, this is absolutely impossible! This is the twentieth floor, they'd be splattered if they fell. They're just ordinary office workers, where would they get such courage?"
It's worth noting that the targets of their arrest this time weren't real fugitives, but ordinary people who had signed up for a TV show.
If they were hardened criminals facing severe punishment upon capture, it might be understandable for them to attempt such a desperate move when cornered.
But ordinary people... would they really have such guts and determination?
"Nothing is absolute," Han Fei said with a smile. "You're so against the idea because you're afraid of heights, but others might not be. I've looked, and the distance between these two balconies isn't too far. As long as one can overcome their fear, any able-bodied person could jump across."
After saying this, Han Fei walked out of the balcony and said to the officers,
"Let's go check the apartment next to 2011. I suspect these two might have heard us coming and jumped to the next balcony."
Leading the officers, Han Fei knocked on the door of apartment 2010.
Soon, a woman's voice came from inside: "Who is it?"
"Police. Please open the door, we need to ask you some questions."
Shortly after, the door opened.
The person who opened it was a woman wearing a black lace nightgown.
The woman's hair was a bit messy, her face flushed, and the lipstick carefully applied to her lips was smudged. It seemed she had been... busy!
Seeing this scene, the officers couldn't help but swallow hard.
It's worth mentioning that a large portion of the officers accompanying Han Fei this time were young men who had never experienced such things.
Where would they have seen a scene like this before?
"Police? You must have the wrong person. I'm a law-abiding citizen."
Han Fei was about to explain their purpose.
Just then, a voice sounded from inside the room.
"Little darling, are you hidden well? If you are, Godfather is coming to find you..."
Han Fei: "???"
All officers: "???"
Godfather?
The next second.
They saw a half-gray-haired old man in a bathrobe, wearing an eye mask, appear in their field of vision.
Because of the eye mask, the old man couldn't see anything and could only move slowly by feeling the walls, tables, and chairs with his hands.
As he walked, he kept muttering,
"Still hiding, are you? Godfather has heard your footsteps. Don't let Godfather catch you, or else... hehe..."
The key point was the old man's expression, which was as improper as it could be!
It was exactly the expression of a debauched emperor playing games with his concubines in a TV drama.
The officers were all dumbfounded.
The woman also walked towards the old man at this time, reaching out to remove his eye mask, saying softly, "Godfather, let's stop playing for now. The police are at the door..."
Having his eye mask removed, the old man instinctively rubbed his eyes. After his eyes adjusted to the light, he looked towards the door.
The improper expression vanished instantly.
He looked at the woman reproachfully: "Why didn't you say so earlier! You've made me embarrass myself in front of the police officers."
Then he turned to look at the officers standing at the door, with a serious expression.
"Officers, I'm a respectable person. I've never done anything illegal or improper. You must have the wrong person, right?"