I signaled them to not make too much noise and to quietly go downstairs.
We hid by the stairwell and saw a tall, skinny man sneak into the house. He wore a duckbill cap on his head and looked around furtively - he was clearly up to no good.
"Don't move, police!" Huang Xiaotao yelled.
The man looked up at us in shock and turned pale. He immediately turned to run outside, and we rushed after him. Wang Yuanchao moved as fast as a cheetah, quickly catching up to the man and tackling him to the ground. He took out handcuffs from the man's waist and cuffed him swiftly.
Nearby residents heard the commotion and came out to watch.
After we caught up, the man pleaded in a panicked voice, "Officers, I just saw the door was open and came in to check out the situation. I really didn't do anything..."
Huang Xiaotao stood with hands on hips and scolded harshly, "Just checking it out? Don't you know this is a murder scene? Do you have something to do with this case?"
The man was so frightened his face turned white. He frantically waved his hands, "Officers, officers, actually I...I wanted to see if there was anything worth taking."
Huang Xiaotao laughed. "Not afraid to admit it, turns out you're a thief."
The man's face fluctuated between pale and flushed. Some residents in the crowd recognized him, "It's this guy! He stole a piece of my clothing that I hung outside last month!"
"The vase that went missing from my home must have been stolen by him too!"
"That's right, and my son's bicycle that disappeared when I left it outside for just a moment."
The residents clamored loudly, denouncing the petty thief. Zhang Liu'er cowered with head lowered, desperately looking to us for help. Huang Xiaotao flashed her badge and said, "Everyone please remain calm. We are the police, and we will take this thief back for interrogation. We will recover all your stolen goods."
The residents quieted down after this. I said, "How can you make such rash promises?"
Huang Xiaotao winked at me and laughed. "Don't worry, this isn't our jurisdiction. If we can't recover their stuff, the local precinct can take the blame!"
I sighed. "Shouldn't we all work together..."
Huang Xiaotao grabbed Zhang Liu'er and asked his name and occupation.
This Zhang Liu'er was no professional thief, just an idle scoundrel. Finding loose security in this area, he would come around every so often to snoop around and see if there was anything easy to take. Sometimes he would snatch fermented vegetables and potted plants left on residents' balconies. He even took away a resident's entire pot of simmering chicken that was left by their door. Basically, he would take anything free for the taking.
Huang Xiaotao scorned him, "I've never seen such a shameless thief. You're a disgrace to your ancestor, the King of Thieves!"
Zhang Liu'er smiled bashfully, before Huang Xiaotao kicked him and he quieted down.
I asked, "You're always prowling around here. You must know there was a murder case here recently. Didn't you see police investigating nearby? Why did you still go into that house?"
"I didn't have any other intentions, just wanted to take a look inside," Zhang Liu'er fawned as he smiled at me.
"Were you eyeing something inside?" I interrogated fiercely.
Zhang Liu'er quickly denied, "No no, a house where someone died, what is there worth eyeing?"
Hearing this, I became alert and grabbed his shoulders anxiously asking, "What cat are you talking about?"
Perhaps I was too worked up, my grip painful on his shoulders. Zhang Liu'er shrank back, trembling, "Brother, brother, could you put away those red eyes first?"
I deactivated my Evil Eye. I pressed him to explain everything clearly.
Zhang Liu'er said recently he was very tight on money. His petty theft wasn't solving his problems, so he wanted to pull off a big heist - burglary!
He had staked out the murder victims' home, because the couple was never home during the day, only an elderly grandmother. The old woman had leg problems and poor eyesight. Zhang Liu'er disguised himself as a gas inspector to first enter and scope out whether there was anything valuable inside.
When only the grandmother was home, he successfully mixed his way inside and searched the house. In a storage room on the first floor, he discovered a cat statue that seemed to be gold-plated with exquisite, lifelike craftsmanship. Its eyes appeared to be gemstones. It looked to be worth a lot of money.
Zhang Liu'er immediately hatched a scheme to take this cat statue. But when he reached for it, the cat's eyes suddenly shifted towards him!
Zhang Liu'er jumped in fright, making some noise. The old woman asked what was going on from outside. Zhang Liu'er hurriedly placated her with excuses before leaving.
After a period of observation, he discovered the old woman would go to a neighbor's home to play mahjong every few days, leaving the house empty. He planned to take advantage of that to act.
But before he could, the family met that tragic fate - all three murdered. The scene was quickly cordoned off by police, so he had to abandon the idea.
He didn't expect to find the door open today when he passed by again, rekindling his thieving intentions. He wanted to go inside to take another look, but flipped his boat in the sewer instead.
After finishing his account, I contemplated - we didn't see any cat statue inside the house earlier. Could someone have taken it away?
Huang Xiaotao asked me, "What should we do with this thief?"
I said, "Weren't police investigating nearby just now? Find someone to take him back to the station to give a statement."
"Hey hey, brother, I already confessed everything. Why do I still need to give a statement? You guys seem busy investigating the murder case, I won't interfere with your work anymore. Just do me a favor and let me go, pretend I'm just a fart." Zhang Liu'er pleaded.
I laughed at his humor, and said, "Don't worry, handing you to the local precinct won't take up our precious time."
Zhang Liu'er bitterness, "Didn't I confess it all already? I didn't take anything!"
Huang Xiaotao angrily scolded, "Behave yourself. You've stolen plenty before right? Go back and account for everything clearly!"
Indeed, we saw a passing policeman and had him take away Zhang Liu'er to the nearby precinct for booking and giving a statement. We then returned to the murder scene. Luo Weiwi had come back, holding a bag of flour and asked, "Where did you guys run off to?"
I answered, "Out catching a thief."
"Catching a thief?" Luo Weiwi sneered. "You guys are so free. Here's the stuff you wanted."
I thanked her and took the flour, entering the first floor storage room to investigate again. Indeed there was no cat like Zhang Liu'er described. I opened the flour and sprinkled a thin layer by the windows, windowsills, and door.
Huang Xiaotao suddenly asked, "Oh right, didn't you use this trick last time when dealing with the female ghost at school? Could it be you suspect this house is haunted?"