Chapter 234: Ghost Answers the Call? Hello, yes…

A waterproofing repair van?

The moment this vehicle appeared in the surveillance footage, Su Ming immediately grew serious.

Because it was 8 a.m., during the peak rush hour, and judging from the footage, there weren’t many vehicles entering the underground garage. Sometimes, even after more than thirty minutes, only one car would pull in.

Precisely because of this, the presence of a specialized home waterproofing van in this location seemed especially out of place.

…

At this moment, everyone in the conference room turned their eyes to the other half of the projected screen—namely, the surveillance footage leading directly to the building where Lan Cai’er lived.

If their suspicions were correct, then this otherwise unremarkable waterproofing van might very well be the vehicle Ghost deliberately drove in.

Five seconds later, under the sixteen-times playback speed, everyone could clearly see that the van marked with waterproofing services had already pulled into the nearest vacant spot by Lan Cai’er’s building.

Immediately after, the van’s engine was turned off and the key pulled out. As everyone watched intently, full of anticipation and tension, a man in a navy-blue work uniform stepped out of the driver’s seat. The uniform bore large characters reading “Yuhong Waterproof,” and he wore a paint-stained baseball cap. In his hand, he carried a toolbox, seemingly filled with equipment for fixing leaks.

Due to the accelerated playback, the man in the blue uniform did not remain on screen for long in the building’s surveillance footage—barely two seconds passed before he disappeared from view, heading straight toward the area where the elevator and stairs were located.

Su Ming did not hesitate in the slightest and didn’t continue watching the following footage. Instead, he tapped the table lightly and spoke with calm confidence and seriousness.

“Chen Ju. Pause the footage for now. I believe we should focus on the man who just appeared—the one repairing the leak. He’s very likely the Ghost who snuck in.”

Seeing Su Ming so confident—able to identify the man in the footage as the disguised and covertly infiltrating Ghost without even watching the rest of the footage—Chen Sheng was full of admiration. He quickly hit the pause button and looked toward Su Ming to ask in a calm voice, “Team Leader Su, are you already certain? While I do agree that the repairman looks suspicious, I don’t think we can be one hundred percent sure he’s Ghost.”

“After all, aside from him, we also saw a furniture delivery guy and some workers the residents called to haul away construction debris. At around 8 a.m., even though most residents are driving out to work and wouldn’t be entering the garage, those contractors who were booked in advance usually start early. So it’s completely normal to see various workers entering.”

“At first, I also suspected that debris hauler and the furniture delivery guy. Even a few renovation workers entered. But later I figured, it wasn’t all that strange for them to be there at that time. So why… are you focusing so specifically on this leak repairman?”

In response to Chen Sheng’s doubts, Su Ming raised an eyebrow slightly and narrowed his eyes, staring at the projected image as he explained calmly.

“Chen Ju. The analysis is actually quite simple. Logically speaking, furniture movers and renovation workers appearing in this neighborhood is completely normal, because this is a new development, not an old residential compound. And it’s a newly delivered, developer-finished community.”

“We’ve already established that Lan Cai’er came from a good family and wouldn’t choose an older neighborhood with poor amenities. In these newly delivered buildings, it’s common for owners to move in and buy furniture, or to be dissatisfied with the developer’s finishings and opt to redo everything.”

“But among all those people, there absolutely shouldn’t be… anyone repairing leaks.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Changsheng, standing nearby, immediately understood Su Ming’s point. He slapped his thigh and exclaimed in awe, “I get it now!”

“These developer-finished homes actually come with specific warranty periods. For example, gas lines, plumbing, appliance installations, and general renovation projects usually come with a two-year warranty.”

“And waterproofing works—like roof waterproofing, leak protection in bathrooms or rooms requiring waterproofing, and external wall leak-proofing—if I remember correctly, are under warranty for at least five years.”

“This neighborhood hadn’t even reached two years from handover to the time of Lan Cai’er’s incident. So even if there was a leak, the owner wouldn’t call in some freelance waterproofing service van. They would definitely contact the developer or the property management to sort it out, demanding full responsibility.”

“Clearly, waterproofing is still under warranty—would any homeowner really choose to waste money hiring one of those mobile leak-repair vans that have even been flagged by the authorities as fraudulent?”

“If the homeowner didn’t call for him, then we really don’t need to say much more about this person’s identity, do we?”

Xu Changsheng’s analysis left Chen Sheng momentarily stunned. He turned his gaze back to the projection, to the man in the blue uniform and baseball cap who had come to fix leaks.

After silently praising the logic in his heart, he looked toward Su Ming and said, “Team Leader Su, what now? We’ve basically tracked Ghost’s movements and confirmed that he did visit Lan Cai’er’s apartment nine days before the incident.”

“But the question remains… how do we actually find him?”

Su Ming thought seriously for two seconds, then pulled his phone from his pocket and entered a special phone number.

He called the number directly, turned on the speaker, and said calmly, “There was a contact number on the back of that van. It’s a long shot, but I think it’s worth trying to see if it connects…”

Before Su Ming could finish speaking, the call unexpectedly went through immediately. A low voice followed.

“Hello…?”