At 10:35 AM, the police officers arrived at the police station one after another.
There wasn’t much to introduce about this case because all the clues the police currently have are contained in this video.
In the conference room, Han Fei played the video on the projector.
"At 5 minutes and 3 seconds into the video, there’s a train whistle in the background sound, so I suspect the perpetrator lives near the railroad," Han Fei analyzed. "Also, judging by the layout and furnishings of the house, it’s clear that this is an old house in an old neighborhood. Our focus should be on older neighborhoods near the railroad. I’ve checked the map, and there are only…"
"Han Fei," Xu Mo interrupted, standing up. "Actually, I have a faster method."
"What method?" Han Fei asked.
"I can directly trace the IP address from which this video was uploaded. It’ll be much easier to locate the person through the IP address. But first, I need to know the website where the video was uploaded."
Han Fei was momentarily stunned.
"I forgot we had you, the computer expert, here. Wait a moment, let me ask about the website."
After speaking, Han Fei pulled out his phone and called the censor who had previously dealt with the case.
In no time, Han Fei shared the website he had just learned.
"http://www.*********.com"
"Give me ten minutes," Xu Mo said, jotting down the URL and sitting in front of a computer to start his work.
For Xu Mo, a skilled hacker, tracing someone’s location based on their online activity was a simple task.
In fact, he completed the task in under five minutes.
"Kangnan Community, Building 6, but I don’t know the exact apartment number."
"That’s fine. Now that we’ve narrowed it down to a specific building, we’ll just check each apartment," Han Fei responded, impressed.
Thanks to Xu Mo, they saved a lot of effort that would have otherwise been spent sifting through multiple neighborhoods.
Once they learned the specific building where the suspect was located, the police officers immediately headed to Kangnan Community without delay.
Around 11:00 AM, the group arrived at Kangnan Community.
As Han Fei had analyzed, the community was indeed an old one. Each building had only six floors, with two apartments on each floor, totaling twelve households per building.
Compared to modern high-rise buildings with twenty to thirty floors, checking through such an old community was relatively easier.
The officers first arrived at the first floor.
Just as Wang Dachuan was about to knock on the door of apartment 101, Xu Mo stopped him.
"No need to knock. It’s not here."
"Huh?" Wang Dachuan was confused. "Why?"
Xu Mo pointed to the shoe rack by the door. "This apartment belongs to two elderly people."
Following Xu Mo’s gesture, Wang Dachuan saw several pairs of shoes suited for the elderly on the rack, and he lowered his hand, deciding not to knock.
Next was apartment 102. This time, without Xu Mo’s reminder, the officers didn’t rush to knock on the door.
The reason was the same as before—the shoe rack by the door of this apartment also contained two pairs of shoes meant for elderly people.
Then, they proceeded to the second floor.
At apartment 201.
This door lacked a shoe rack, so it was difficult to determine the identity of the occupants.
Wang Dachuan raised his hand and knocked three times.
Soon, the sound of the door opening came from inside.
"Who is it?" The person who opened the door was a middle-aged man. He was rubbing his eyes, clearly having been asleep but awakened by the knocking.
"Sorry to disturb your rest. We are police officers," Wang Dachuan showed his badge and continued, "We are tracking a suspect who is in this building. Can we come in and take a look?"
The man glanced at Wang Dachuan’s badge and sized up the group at the door before finally stepping aside.
"Please be quiet. My child is sleeping, and he has to get up early for school tomorrow."
The officers quietly entered the apartment.
There were three bedrooms in total. One had been turned into a storage room filled with various items.
The other two were the master bedroom and a second bedroom for the child.
The female homeowner, hearing the commotion, also got dressed and came out of the bedroom. The male homeowner quickly explained the situation.
"These are police officers. They’re tracking a suspect who they believe is in our building. They want to have a look inside."
The woman, who had initially seemed worried, calmed down upon hearing her husband’s explanation.
She even offered to help.
"Catching a criminal? That’s important! Officers, what kind of person are you looking for? I know all the residents in this building. Maybe I can help."
Her main concern was that the suspect might pose a danger to her child.
"Everyone in the building?" Han Fei asked, surprised. "That’s great. The person we’re looking for is a young man…"
At this point, Han Fei suddenly realized he didn’t know what the suspect looked like.
The video had been shot from a first-person perspective, so the cameraman hadn’t revealed his face. The only part of the suspect visible in the video was his legs. Judging from the appearance of those legs, the perpetrator appeared to be lean.
After carefully recalling the video, Han Fei provided a description: "A slim young man, probably in his early twenties. Does anyone in this building match that description?"
"A slim young man? Male?" The woman slowly shook her head. "No, the residents here are mainly elderly, with very few young people. There’s no one who fits your description."
Han Fei wouldn’t give up just because of the woman’s words. He responded, "Then we’ll check each apartment. Thank you."
This couple wasn’t their target because the furnishings in their home didn’t match those seen in the video. The video hadn’t been shot in this apartment.
After a quick glance around, the officers left.
Next, they planned to knock on the door of apartment 202.
As the woman was closing her door, she saw the officers about to knock on the door across from her and warned them, "No one lives in the apartment across the hall. The previous resident was an elderly woman, but she moved in with her son a few months ago. The apartment has been empty ever since."
Xu Mo touched the doorknob and noticed a thin layer of dust, confirming the woman’s statement. This apartment indeed hadn’t been occupied for some time.