Chapter 276: Chapter 276: Caught on Camera

Hearing this, Melody Summers couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter.

’This Mrs. Vance is quite something,’ she thought. ’She even knows about forensics.’

It was no wonder Mrs. Vance was arguing so craftily. After all, her footprints and fingerprints really weren’t at the scene.

The one who had entered 1606 last night was that scrawny little chihuahua. The one who had stolen the pork was also that chihuahua. It was impossible for there to be any trace of Mrs. Vance.

Mrs. Vance must have thought that without evidence, the police couldn’t do anything to her.

At the sound of Melody Summers’s laugh, Mrs. Vance’s head snapped up to look at her.

Mrs. Vance’s eyes darted around. Then, she took a few steps forward, grabbed Melody Summers’s hand, and began to wail, tears and snot streaming down her face.

"Young lady, you can’t frame me! I’m just an old woman! I... I... I have a bad heart! High blood pressure, coronary heart disease! Angina! ... I can’t handle this kind of stress! If you insist on framing me, you’re basically driving me to my death!"

With that, Mrs. Vance started howling.

Melody Summers listened to the ear-splitting racket, rendered speechless by Mrs. Vance’s performance.

She wanted to say to Mrs. Vance: ’A bad heart? High blood pressure? You were pretty damn agile when you were climbing the security bars last night!’

’Even someone in their twenties wouldn’t have the guts to scale sixteen floors bare-handed!’

Mrs. Vance’s grandson seemed to be frightened by her as well. The small, frail boy, who had been standing there quietly, scurried into the bedroom in terror.

Seeing this, Officer Tate hurried forward to separate Mrs. Vance and Melody Summers. He stood in front of Melody, preventing Mrs. Vance from getting near her.

Then, Officer Tate pulled out his phone with the surveillance footage.

Officer Tate held the video footage up in front of Mrs. Vance, his expression grim. "Who needs forensics? The resident of 1606 has a security camera. The entire crime was recorded! See for yourself!"

The moment Officer Tate mentioned the surveillance video, Mrs. Vance was like a chicken caught by the throat; her wails died instantly.

Staring at the clear footage in front of her, Mrs. Vance looked as if she had been struck by lightning, her face a mask of disbelief.

She muttered, "A camera... How is that possible... It’s so cold... How could there be a camera..."

What Mrs. Vance meant was: ’How could a security camera still be working when it’s this cold? Shouldn’t it have stopped functioning long ago!?’

Mrs. Vance thought this because she also had a security camera installed outside her window.

But ever since the temperature dropped, her camera had stopped working.

Mrs. Vance had looked it up online, and the information she found said that security cameras don’t function in excessively low temperatures. That’s why she had dared to take the risk.

She never expected Melody Summers’s camera to still be working properly!

What Mrs. Vance didn’t know was that the camera Melody Summers had bought was a model specifically designed for cold storage, capable of operating in temperatures as low as fifty or sixty degrees below zero.

Gazing at the clear images recorded by the camera, Mrs. Vance’s face turned deathly pale, unsure of how to defend herself.

Seeing this, Officer Tate said sternly, "I already gave you a chance to confess, but you repeatedly made excuses, refused to cooperate with the investigation, and tried to evade responsibility. Are you aware that these are special times? Breaking and entering is a felony! In serious cases, you can be expelled from the residential complex directly!"

Ever since the cataclysm, cases of home invasion and burglary had become frequent. To maintain stability, the government had cracked down hard on such crimes.

Mrs. Vance had lost all of her earlier truculence. Her face was ashen as she began to apologize profusely to Officer Tate and Melody Summers. "I was wrong, it’s all my fault... But I was truly desperate... I’m begging you, please be lenient..."

Just then, the bedroom door suddenly opened, and a gaunt young woman hurried out.

Hearing the noise, Melody Summers and Officer Tate turned to look. They saw a woman with disheveled clothes and messy hair, looking as if she had just woken up.

She was painfully thin with sunken cheeks. Despite being about five-foot-five, she looked like she weighed no more than ninety pounds.

She wore a sweater, and through its wide collar, her two collarbones protruded sharply, like those of a human skeleton.

Eerily, despite how thin she was, her belly was noticeably swollen, looking like she was five or six months pregnant.

The young woman—Mrs. Vance’s daughter-in-law, Susan Warren—had been woken by her son and had rushed into the living room to see what was happening.

A single glance at the people in the living room was all it took for Susan Warren to understand the situation.

With a THUD, she dropped to her knees before Officer Tate and cried, "Officer, it’s all my fault! I was the one who wanted to eat meat! If you’re going to press charges, charge me! Don’t charge my mother-in-law!"

Everyone in the living room was startled and scrambled to help her up.

Officer Tate quickly tried to soothe her. "Don’t get agitated, you’re pregnant, right? Be careful, you might harm the baby!"

Melody Summers glanced at the pregnant woman’s swollen belly. ’She must be five or six months along, right?’ she thought.

’Five or six months, and yet she’s still so frail...’

Susan Warren continued to cry, "It’s all my fault. It was my craving. I’m the one who forced my mother-in-law to go steal the pork! She couldn’t say no to me, so she steeled herself and went."

"Officer, I know I was wrong! My mother-in-law is old. If you have to punish someone, punish me. Please, let my mother-in-law go!"

Tears streamed down Susan Warren’s face, and seeing the scene, her son began to cry softly nearby.

Melody Summers and Officer Tate exchanged a glance, each seeing a trace of helplessness in the other’s eyes. Neither of them had expected the situation to unfold like this.

Before Officer Tate could speak, Mrs. Vance hurriedly interjected, "No, no, no, this has nothing to do with my daughter-in-law! She told me not to steal, I was the one who insisted on going! Officer, if you have to punish someone, punish me! My daughter-in-law is over eight months pregnant! She’s due in a month! She can’t handle the stress!"

Melody Summers was stunned—

’Over eight months?!’

Melody Summers quickly turned to look at Susan Warren’s belly again.

Susan Warren’s belly didn’t look like she was over eight months pregnant at all!

Melody Summers frowned slightly. ’The baby inside her must be severely underdeveloped...’

No wonder Mrs. Vance had risked climbing the window to steal. She must have realized the danger her daughter-in-law was in and decided to take a desperate gamble.

Looking at Mrs. Vance and Susan Warren, Officer Tate felt a sense of helplessness but still spoke up. "I can understand your difficulties, but these are special times. Everyone is facing hardship. But no matter what, you shouldn’t have broken into someone’s home and stolen their property. That’s against the law!"

Mrs. Vance nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, I know I was wrong, Officer. Whatever my punishment is, I’ll accept it!"

Then, Mrs. Vance walked over to Melody Summers, her face full of shame. "Young lady, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t thinking straight! I... I’ll go get the meat and give it back to you right now!"

With that, Mrs. Vance ran straight to the kitchen.