The door to the finance office had been pried open. The room wasn’t big, just over a dozen square meters. In the corner sat a safe, its door wide open. Inside was only a stack of documents, with nothing of value. Next to it lay a crowbar.

Brian Hall put on gloves and picked up the crowbar to examine it. “This is a very common crowbar, no obvious markings.”

Paul Bennett shook his head. “There are plenty of these on construction sites.”

Paul Bennett squatted down, peering at the edge of the safe. “There are quite a few pry marks on this safe. Looks like it took a while—seems like the work of an amateur.”

A look of doubt appeared on Brian Hall’s face. “Prying open a safe should make a lot of noise. How did John Baker not notice anything?”

“We’ll go talk to him in a bit,” said Paul Bennett.

……

Factory gate security room.

Paul Bennett and Brian Hall arrived at the security room, standing at the doorway to observe.

The security room was small, with a table, a bed, a cabinet, and some miscellaneous items. An old man in his sixties sat at the head of the bed.

Seeing the two enter, John Baker hurriedly stood up. “Officers.”

Paul Bennett nodded slightly. As soon as he stepped into the room, there was a creak underfoot.

He had stepped on some peanut shells.

“Sorry, I haven’t had a chance to clean up yet,” John Baker said, a bit embarrassed.

Paul Bennett wrinkled his nose, catching a faint smell of alcohol. “Peanuts and liquor really are a perfect match.”

Brian Hall understood and searched the room, finding half a bottle of Erguotou under the bed.

“You drank quite a bit last night, didn’t you?” Brian Hall shook the bottle.

“Not much, not much,” John Baker replied with an awkward laugh.

“Old Zhou, drinking baijiu in a brewery? That’s not right,” Paul Bennett joked.

“I used to like beer when I was young, but now that I’m older, I can’t handle getting up at night all the time,” said John Baker.

“You didn’t hear anything last night?”

“No, I only discovered the office building’s door was damaged when I got up this morning.”

“How many years have you worked here?”

John Baker thought for a moment. “Seven or eight years.”

“Has anything ever happened before?”

“No.”

“If you remember any clues, be sure to contact us,” Brian Hall reminded him.

“Yes.”

After finishing up, having found nothing useful, Paul Bennett and Brian Hall left the security room.

“Captain Bennett, do you think the guard is a suspect?”

“The security room is nearly a hundred meters from the office building. John Baker is getting old, his hearing isn’t what it used to be, and drinking certainly doesn’t help,” Paul Bennett paused, then continued, “Of course, that’s just my guess. We can’t completely rule him out.”

“John Baker isn’t exactly doing a stellar job as a guard,” Brian Hall said.

“He’s an old man making two thousand yuan a month. Watching the gate is fine, but do you really expect him to catch thieves?” Paul Bennett looked unfazed.

Lily Turner walked over. “Captain Bennett, there are five surveillance cameras in the factory. The ones at the main gate, parking lot, and workshop didn’t catch the suspect. The cameras in front of the office building and at the finance office door were both destroyed.”

Paul Bennett thought for a moment. “Any signs of theft in other offices inside the building?”

“No.”

“This suspect knows where the cameras are and went straight for the finance office. They must be familiar with the layout. Could it be an inside job?” Brian Hall speculated.

“Captain Bennett, we found some footprints,” David Thompson called out from near the perimeter wall.

The group walked over. It was an open area that used to have flowers and plants, now overgrown.

In the mud, a set of footprints was clearly visible, coming from the direction of the wall.

Lily Turner looked down. “David Thompson, do you think these are the suspect’s footprints?”

David Thompson shrugged. “I know I wouldn’t climb over the wall to get in.”

Lily Turner rolled her eyes.

“The main gate cameras didn’t catch the suspect, so they probably came in over the wall.”

Seeing the footprints, knowledge of footprint identification immediately surfaced in Brian Hall’s mind, like a chef seeing fresh ingredients…

Chapter 0002: The Academic Overachiever Style

“Brian Hall, you’ve been squatting there staring at those footprints for ages. Got any thoughts?” David Thompson grinned.

The two had been classmates at the police academy for years and were on good terms.

Brian Hall knew David Thompson had a sharp tongue and ignored him. “These footprints should be left by the suspect.”

“Oh? Tell us what you think,” Paul Bennett asked.

“These prints haven’t been covered up, so they were left recently. They lead all the way to the wall, and especially at the base, there’s a pair of deep prints—probably from jumping down after climbing over,” Brian Hall analyzed.

“The rest of the ground is paved with bricks and stone. Jumping down here would help cushion the landing,” Paul Bennett nodded.

Brian Hall pointed at the shoe prints and continued:

“Size 42, rubber-soled liberation shoes, zigzag pattern, sealed tread, symmetrical, with heat transfer holes at the heel.”

“These liberation shoes are durable and easy to clean. Lots of workers like to wear them. It’s hard to find someone just by their shoes,” David Thompson said.

“There’s a lot more information in these prints than just that,” Brian Hall stood up.

“What else can you tell?” David Thompson pressed.