Chapter 199: Locking Onto the Suspect

After some investigation and visits, the police discovered that Ge Tianjian'er had been at his workplace all day yesterday.

All his colleagues could confirm this for him.

But Shenhu Yi still felt something was fishy about this.

So he fetched the surveillance footage from the museum.

He played it once in front of Ge Tianjian'er.

"This person in the video…… is he related to you?"

Seeing this video, Ge Tianjian'er was dumbfounded.

Because the person in the video looked exactly like him.

He even almost mistook that person for himself.

But upon closer look, he noticed something was off.

The person in the video had a right hand, while he did not.

This is clearly not him.

After a few seconds of shock, Ge Tianjian'er gave a wry smile and said.

"Officer, don't joke around, I……"

Saying this, he paused, then quickly pulled off his prosthetic hand and placed it on the table attached to the interrogation chair, continuing: "How could this possibly be me?"

Seeing this, Shenhu Yi stepped forward and picked up that prosthetic hand to examine it.

Made of silicone, without any joints, it simply couldn't move.

After just a glance, Shenhu Yi put the prosthetic hand down.

Returning to his seat, he continued asking.

"Then… do you have a twin brother? Someone who looks exactly like you, indistinguishable from you."

Ge Tianjian'er shook his head again: "I'm an only child."

Hearing that, Shenhu Yi lost interest in continuing the questioning.

He stood up and left the interrogation room directly.

No twin brother; he had a solid alibi for the entire day yesterday, making it impossible for him to appear at the museum; he is missing a right arm.

All signs indicate that he has mistaken the person.

The Ge Tianjian'er sitting in the interrogation room could not possibly be the thief who looted the museum.

"Where exactly did something go wrong?" Shenhu Yi muttered to himself.

Did the surveillance footage go wrong?

Impossible.

This surveillance footage has been checked by technicians; it hasn't been tampered with at all.

Moreover, the Bald Man can vouch for the authenticity of this footage, since he was present yesterday.

The scene captured by the surveillance matches his description exactly!

The more Shenhu Yi thought about it, the more confused he became.

Just as he stepped out of the interrogation room, the Bald Man followed him.

Like Shenhu Yi, he too was bewildered at this moment.

Of course, neither of them chose to give up just then.

Even if it's hard to investigate, they must, after all, this case involves something significant.

Shenhu Yi paced back and forth outside the interrogation room.

"Based on what we know now, Ge Tianjian'er is clearly not the thief, yet the surveillance shows him at the museum yesterday, and you saw that person with your own eyes."

"The timing doesn't match, so whoever appeared at the museum yesterday was someone else, a person who looks exactly like Ge Tianjian'er."

"The records show Ge Tianjian'er has no twin brother, and he himself confirmed that, so…… this person is using some other method to make himself look exactly like Ge Tianjian'er…… could it be makeup?"

Hearing Shenhu Yi's words, the Bald Man was visibly taken aback.

He knows that makeup can change a person's appearance.

Many people look completely different before and after makeup.

But using makeup to turn oneself into another person, even fooling facial recognition technology…… what kind of sorcery is this!!

Seeing the Bald Man's expression.

Shenhu Yi also shrugged his shoulders in helplessness.

"This is the only plausible explanation I can think of; I think we should keep focusing on this, continue examining the surveillance from that day, and go over every bit of footage showing him—maybe we'll find more clues."

……

After carefully reviewing yesterday's surveillance footage.

They compiled the movement trajectory of the 'Ge Tianjian'er' captured on camera.

At 11:08 a. m. yesterday, 'Ge Tianjian'er' walked out of the restroom.

Before 11:08 a. m., the surveillance did not capture 'Ge Tianjian'er' entering the restroom.

At 11:42 a. m., after parting ways with the Bald Man, 'Ge Tianjian'er' entered the restroom again.

After 11:42 a. m., the surveillance also did not capture 'Ge Tianjian'er' exiting the restroom.

From the movement trajectory.

'Ge Tianjian'er' first appeared out of nowhere from inside the restroom.

Then he promptly disappeared back into the restroom.

This is clearly suspicious.

Shenhu Yi narrowed his eyes at several segments of the surveillance.

"The surveillance didn't capture him entering the Restroom, but he came out of it; the surveillance captured him entering the Restroom, yet didn't capture him leaving…"

At this moment, Shenhu Yi already had two hypotheses in his mind.

The next second, he looked at Bald Man.

"Does the museum's Restroom have a window?"

Hearing that, Bald Man immediately shook his head.

"No, there's only a door; the Restroom's ventilation relies on a vent pipe at the ceiling."

There is no window in the Restroom.

So it couldn't be entered or exited through a window.

Thinking that, Shenhu Yi continued to ask.

"Can a person squeeze through that vent pipe? Could the thief have slipped away through the pipe?"

Bald Man shook his head.

"Impossible. The museum's design accounted for this from the start; both ends of the vent pipe are sealed with welded iron mesh. Unless you use something like hydraulic pliers, it can't be opened."

Hearing that, Shenhu Yi smiled lightly: "I understand…"

Bald Man's answer negated one of Shenhu Yi's hypotheses.

Now only one hypothesis remains.

Shenhu Yi reviewed his second hypothesis.

"I previously assumed that the thief's makeup skills might be exceptionally good; he could use makeup to make himself look exactly like someone else."

"With that assumption, everything is easy to explain: the thief arrived at the museum early yesterday, entered the Restroom before 11:08, disguised himself as Ge Tian Jianer, and walked out of the Restroom."

"During that time, he stole your Police Badge, impersonated the person above to extract the museum's security measures from the officers, then, wearing Ge Tian Jianer's face, returned to the Restroom after 11:42."

"Afterwards, he removed his makeup in the Restroom, changed clothes, and left the Restroom with his true face."

Before Shenhu Yi could continue speaking,

Bald Man already knew what to do.

He immediately ordered: "Screen the surveillance and identify anyone who entered the Restroom before 11:08 yesterday and came out after 11:42."

The officer complied at once.

…

After a period of screening and comparison, the results came out.

Only two people met the screening criteria.

"Sir, we found them; both entered the Restroom before 11:08 and later emerged after 11:42."

He glanced at the already frozen surveillance frame on the computer screen.

Shenhu Yi said, "It must be one of these two people."

At this point, the pool of suspects had been narrowed down considerably.

What they would do next was to capture the culprit!