The police arrived quickly, and so did the person in charge of the property management of the residential complex; both parties almost arrived one after another.
Moreover, as soon as a few uniformed police officers emerged from the elevator, upon seeing Jiang Ning, one of the younger officers blurted out, "Jiang Ning? How could you be here?"
This young officer was named Bi Siwei and was a colleague of Zhang Lang.
Jiang Ning had completed her first task after binding with the "System," which involved capturing a criminal who had attacked police in the street and taken innocent bystanders as hostages. Bi Siwei had also been at the scene at the time.
Since then, he had paid close attention to each time Jiang Ning made the trending searches for catching criminals, which was why he recognized her at first glance.
He looked at Jiang Ning, then at Qi Xingzhou standing beside her, his face showing a mix of shock and suspicion.
"We’re the ones who called the police," Jiang Ning began, pointing to a small foam box next to the door. "I came back from outside just now and found this foam box at the door. When I opened it, I found a tormented and murdered calico cat inside; I have no idea who left it."
On hearing this, Bi Siwei frowned deeply.
He was about the same age as Zhang Lang and had handled hundreds of cases, both big and small, with his colleagues over his two years on the job. Cases involving someone suddenly finding threatening and intimidating dead objects delivered to them were rare but not nonexistent.
An older policeman stepped forward and lifted the lid.
Upon opening the lid, the gruesome sight inside the foam box instantly made one’s scalp tingle.
Amongst the mangled flesh and blood, the eyes of the cat, which had been gouged out alive, were placed at the very top. They shone like two crystal-clear marbles, cold and terrifying, sending chills down one’s spine.
If someone with a weak constitution saw this scene, they would surely have nightmares for a long time.
The person responsible for property management in the community, having seen such a bloody and frightening scene without any mental preparation, reflexively stepped back, a chill running up his spine: "Ahhh, how could it be so terrifying!"
Everyone’s brows were deeply furrowed.
Bi Siwei’s first thought was, "Have you offended anyone lately? Or have you had a conflict with someone?"
"No," Jiang Ning replied without hesitation. "My schedule for the past month has been very full; I’ve hardly been at home. I have very little social interaction, and since I moved in less than a month ago, hardly anyone knows I live here. I haven’t yet met any of these neighbors, so there’s no chance of conflict."
Her response was clear and precise.
As Jiang Ning spoke, the stenographer beside her was recording everything diligently.
The older officer spoke up, "Let’s check the surveillance first."
With that, he looked up at the ceiling of the corridor. "There should be surveillance cameras here, right?"
"Yes, there are," the person in charge of property management quickly replied. "I’ll take you to the surveillance room."
The person in charge had called the security guard in advance. By the time everyone arrived at the surveillance room, the guard on duty was already at his post, meticulously waiting for them.
The security guard had not expected something to happen today.
Moreover, despite the occurrence under the watchful eyes of dozens of surveillance cameras, he hadn’t noticed anything unusual!
Jiang Ning had left the house at 7:30 this morning, and the time now was a little past 11 a.m., leaving a gap of nearly four hours.
Everyone in the surveillance room looked intently through the surveillance footage, searching for suspicious individuals.
Jiang Ning and Qi Xingzhou were kept outside by the property management’s person in charge for privacy reasons, to protect other residents’ information.
They would have to wait for the police to find footage of a suspicious person’s movements in and out of the complex before Jiang Ning and Qi Xingzhou could be allowed in to view it.
The two stood outside in boredom when suddenly, Qi Xingzhou’s pocket phone rang.
Qi Chen had driven to the entrance of the complex based on the directions provided by Qi Xingzhou, and then... he was stopped by the community security guard.
He called for help, "Is Jiang Ning there?"
Qi Xingzhou glanced at Jiang Ning and replied succinctly, "She’s here."
Qi Chen said, "Let her take the phone; I’ve been stopped by security at the gate."
As soon as Qi Xingzhou saw that the call was from Qi Chen, he turned on the speakerphone, and Jiang Ning heard what Qi Chen said.
Without waiting for Qi Xingzhou to speak, Jiang Ning leaned toward the phone and said to Qi Chen on the other end, "Big Brother Qi, hand the phone to the security guard; I’ll talk to him."
Qi Chen replied, "Okay."
A minute later, the security gate was successfully opened, and Qi Chen drove in.
Under Jiang Ning’s phone guidance, Qi Chen quickly found his way, dressed in a sharp suit, and appeared in front of Jiang Ning and Qi Xingzhou.