Great, It’s the Pervy Neighbor. We’re Doomed

The surveillance footage they were currently viewing showed the following:

Zhou Wu's father leaving Li Mengmeng's apartment and taking the elevator.

After exiting the elevator, he smoothly passed through the automatic glass doors, then proceeded to the apartment's ground-level parking area, drove away from Alice Apartment, and the footage ended there.

After watching this footage, Zhou Yan said: "It seems we'll need to check other surveillance cameras to trace my father's disappearance, preferably traffic cameras along the route he drove, to identify the last location where he was captured on camera."

"Alright, now let's look at the footage of my brother's disappearance!"

After saying this, she reached for the mouse to view Zhou Wu's disappearance footage, but her arm was stopped by the American detective seated in front of the computer. Since he was leading the investigation, he occupied the chair while everyone else stood nearby.

"What are you doing?" Zhou Yan asked in confusion, looking at the American detective.

The American detective responded: "All your earlier deductions were wrong. This surveillance footage has been tampered with." He spoke in flawless Chinese without any foreign accent.

Zhou Yan, Li Miguo, and Jimmy were all astonished—not by the detective's Chinese proficiency, which they'd already been impressed by during previous interactions, but by his claim that Zhou Yan's deductions were completely wrong and that the footage had been altered.

"You're saying all my deductions were wrong? The footage has been tampered with? How? It clearly shows my father driving away from Alice Apartment!" Zhou Yan's competitive personality made her assertive with everyone, carrying a somewhat domineering, queen-like attitude. The American detective then rewound the footage to when Zhou Wu's father exited the elevator on the first floor. Instead of making them guess, he directly pointed out the issue: "Haven't you noticed that from the moment this middle-aged man exited the elevator, we only ever see his back? His face is never shown."

"This... now that you mention it... that's true!" Zhou Yan, who had initially been skeptical of the detective, carefully rewatched the footage showing her father exiting the elevator, passing through the automatic doors, and driving away. She realized the detective was absolutely right—from that point onward, the footage only showed her father's back, never his face. This was clearly abnormal.

Upon closer inspection, while the figure's clothing and silhouette resembled her father's, subtle differences became apparent upon meticulous examination. For instance, Zhou Wu's father had a slight rightward lean when walking, which this figure imitated, but the imitation appeared unnatural and forced.

Li Miguo stroked his chin thoughtfully: "This means the footage has been edited. Everything after your father reached the first floor and exited the elevator is fabricated, including the driving away. So he didn't disappear outside as we thought, but rather within the apartment building itself!"

The American detective nodded approvingly: "Very astute. You grasped it immediately."

Zhou Yan frowned after hearing this conclusion: "Then who edited the footage and impersonated my father?"

"That remains unknown, which is precisely why I'm here to investigate," the detective replied solemnly.

Ever since receiving Jimmy's commission and arriving in China, after hearing the full accounts of both father and son's disappearances, his years of detective experience told him both cases were inextricably linked to Alice Apartment. That's why he'd insisted on reviewing the surveillance footage—and had immediately uncovered issues.

Having examined Zhou Wu's father's disappearance footage, they proceeded to Zhou Wu's case.

The actual circumstances of Zhou Wu's disappearance were as follows: He returned home during daytime, entered apartment 404, and never came out. Then around midnight, the young security guard Xiao Xing sneaked into 404 and carried Zhou Wu out to his own room.

However, the footage they were reviewing showed something entirely different: Zhou Wu returning during daytime and entering 404, with everything appearing normal, including no footage of Xiao Xing carrying him out at midnight—that segment was completely missing. Then at around 11 AM, Shen Xing left to find Zhou Wu at the factory to return his phone.

This discrepancy was why Li Miguo had sensed something profoundly amiss when Shen Xing first recounted the disappearances—it felt supernatural, like ghosts were involved. After all, Shen Xing, Zhou Wu's mother, and the police had all reviewed this same footage before, showing the exact same inexplicable disappearance without any record of people entering or exiting the apartment. Wasn't that ghostly?

"Great detective, what do you make of this footage?" Zhou Yan asked, her tone mixing genuine inquiry with challenge, as she was completely baffled by the video.

The American detective, intently scrutinizing the replaying footage, replied: "You can call me by name—I'm Mike. Also, this footage has also been edited."

He continued with certainty: "You're fortunate Jimmy found me. Both Zhou Wu and his father's footage were altered with extremely sophisticated techniques that most people couldn't detect without professional equipment."

"Oh, so this one was edited too? Besides that, any other findings?" Given their earlier discovery about Zhou Wu's father's footage, this new revelation wasn't surprising.

"Nothing more. The editing only confirms your brother also disappeared within this apartment. The rest requires further investigation."

Exchanging glances with Li Miguo, Zhou Yan pressed: "How long until you can uncover the truth?"

Mike exhaled slowly: "Uncertain. But my fees aren't time-based—they depend on case difficulty. If I fail, you only pay for my flight and living expenses, so don't worry."

Zhou Yan waved her hand: "No, it's not about money—I'm not short on funds. I mean I need you to find my father and brother as quickly as possible."

Suddenly Mike said: "Bring the manager here."

Zhou Yan was taken aback: "Why him?"

Mike explained: "Since you're in such a hurry, I'll begin investigating immediately. First I need to question him."

Soon, Manager Xiao Zhang was summoned. Upon entering, his gaze kept drifting to Jimmy and Detective Mike's faces—probably because he rarely encountered foreigners.

"Hello, Xiao Zhang. I'd like to ask: Is this surveillance room always locked? Besides you, who else has keys?"

The manager seemed overly familiar with such questions. Waving his hand, he said: "You're all so serious—I thought something major was happening! Just more of these same questions."

Mike and the others looked puzzled.

Xiao Zhang clarified: "The police have asked me similar questions countless times—I know the drill by heart, no need to be surprised. I'll just tell you everything you want to know upfront to save time."