Just as Melody Summers was watching the security footage in confusion, Mrs. Sutton played a second clip.

The second clip showed the Sutton family’s living room.

In the video, the person who had just picked the lock tiptoed stealthily into the Suttons’ living room.

She first rummaged through the drawers and cabinets in the living room, finally pulling a box from the TV stand. She opened it and took out a ring.

She held the ring up for a moment to inspect it, then stuffed it into the pocket of her puffer jacket.

Next, she walked over to the coffee table, where a plate of pastries was sitting.

She hesitated for a moment before pulling off her mask and starting to scarf them down.

Because her back was to the camera, her face was still not visible in the footage even though she had removed her mask.

After finishing the entire plate of pastries, she placed the empty plate back on the coffee table.

But her hand slipped. She didn’t set it down securely, and the plate fell to the floor with a SMASH, shattering to pieces!

The sharp sound of the shattering porcelain plate echoed through the living room, captured perfectly by the security camera’s microphone.

The "thief" in the video seemed frozen by the sudden noise, standing there stunned and staring at the broken shards scattered across the floor, completely at a loss.

The sharp crack of the shattering plate also startled Mr. and Mrs. Sutton. Five seconds later, they opened their bedroom door, walked into the living room, and came face-to-face with the "thief," staring at each other, wide-eyed.

In the video, Mr. Sutton stared at the "thief" before him, his face a mask of shock as he shouted, "Melody Summers! It’s you?! What are you doing in my house?!"

Mrs. Sutton chimed in from the side, "Melody Summers, how did you get in?!"

But the "thief" didn’t answer their questions. She hastily pulled her mask back on, spun around, and bolted out the door.

Mr. and Mrs. Sutton started to give chase, but after just a few steps, Mrs. Sutton lost her footing, staggered, and fell to the floor.

Seeing his wife fall, Mr. Sutton quickly bent down to help her up, abandoning the pursuit of the "thief."

...

After playing the second video, Mrs. Sutton shot Melody Summers a smug glance, her eyes seeming to say, ’Let’s see you talk your way out of this one!’

A moment later, Mrs. Sutton began playing the third clip.

The third clip was from the elevator, which the Suttons had obtained from building management.

The elevator stopped on the 15th floor, and the "thief" in the white puffer jacket rushed inside.

She looked flustered, immediately pressing the button for the 16th floor and frantically mashing the "close door" button the moment she was in.

The doors then closed, and the elevator ascended, arriving at the 16th floor.

The second the doors opened, she darted out.

In the footage, just as the elevator doors were closing, a voice could be faintly heard from outside: "Melody Summers, why are you going out so late?..."

...

After the clips finished, Mrs. Sutton put her phone away. She looked at Melody Summers with a sneer and said, "I bet you didn’t expect us to have security cameras! Melody Summers, what do you have to say for yourself now?"

Mr. Sutton stepped forward as well, putting on the airs of a disappointed elder. He looked at Melody Summers with a mix of disbelief and disapproval, speaking slowly. "Melody Summers, our family and your biological parents go way back. I never imagined you would be so shameless! A fine young woman like you, having the audacity to break into our home and steal!" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Melody Summers said nothing. She knew the person in the footage wasn’t her; this was clearly a farce staged by the Sutton family.

’Three video clips, and not a single one with a clear view of the person’s face,’ she thought. ’Trying to accuse me of theft based on this is just a dream!’

But...

Melody Summers couldn’t understand one thing: why was the person in the video wearing a puffer jacket identical to her own?

After all, this jacket wasn’t exactly a common style...

Mrs. Sutton assumed Melody Summers’s silence was fear. She immediately turned to Officer Tristan Tanner and said, "Officer, you saw it all! This young woman broke into my home to commit burglary. She stole my ring and ate a plate of pastries—it’s all right there on camera, clear as day!"

Mr. Sutton nodded in agreement and added, addressing Officer Tanner, "Officer, we demand the police deal with her and her family immediately. Make them compensate us for our losses and move out of this complex!"

After Mr. Sutton finished, Mrs. Sutton jumped in again. "Officer, you know we’re in the middle of a natural disaster. That plate of pastries she ate was specially supplied by the tea house of a five-star hotel downtown—it costs thirty thousand yuan a plate! And the ring she took, that was a gold-set sapphire, valued in the five figures!"

The moment Mrs. Sutton finished, Mr. Sutton put on a pained expression. He sighed, pointed at Melody Summers, and said, "That’s a six-figure loss in total. By rights, if we took this to court, it would be enough for a few years in prison. But... we’re old friends of her parents, after all. Out of respect for them, we’ll be satisfied if she just compensates us for our losses and moves out of here."

The couple went back and forth, perfectly in sync, as if determined to nail Melody Summers to a pillar of shame.

Officer Tristan Tanner didn’t speak. He simply took the phone from Mrs. Sutton and watched the footage again with a frown.

Then, he looked up. Meeting the Suttons’ expectant gazes, he replied in a deep voice, "Let’s not be so quick to convict her. None of these three clips show the thief’s face, so they don’t prove who it was."

Mr. and Mrs. Sutton were stunned. Mrs. Sutton then said anxiously, "What do you mean they don’t prove anything?! When she took off her mask in the living room, I saw her face! I can testify that it was her!"

Officer Tanner just shook his head. "You’re an involved party. Your testimony cannot be considered conclusive evidence. Surely you’re aware of that basic legal concept?"

Hearing this, Mr. Sutton grew anxious too.

He pointed a finger at the puffer jacket Melody Summers was wearing. "Then what about her clothes?! The jacket she has on is identical to the one the thief in the video is wearing! You can’t fake that!"

Frowning, Officer Tanner studied the footage again. Melody Summers also leaned in to get a closer look.

’It really is the same jacket...’ she thought.

The puffer jacket’s collar had a slight ruffled design.

Melody Summers had bought this jacket in college. She was younger then and had a fondness for flashy things, which was why she’d picked it. She had worn it for several years since and had grown attached to it, never having the heart to throw it away.

The key thing was, the jacket wasn’t from a major brand, nor was it a trending style. Melody Summers had bought it from an obscure online shop that only had about a hundred followers.

The shop was an independent brand; the owner was the sole designer and made clothes as a hobby, handling the design, pattern-making, and sewing herself. Because it was so niche, the jacket had very low sales—only about ten were ever sold.

A few days after Melody Summers bought the jacket, the shop had a clearance sale and closed down.

’Could it really be such a coincidence? A jacket with only about ten units sold nationwide, and a second one just happens to show up here in The Metropolis Residences?’

As Melody Summers was lost in her memories, she heard Officer Tanner shake his head and reply, "That doesn’t prove anything either. It could just be a coincidence that it’s the same jacket. None of this evidence is solid."

This wasn’t Officer Tanner showing favoritism to Melody Summers; there was simply no way to convict her based on these three video clips alone.

There was no clear shot of a face and no traces left at the scene. No matter how you spun it, she was only a suspect! Innocent until proven guilty—none of this was enough to convict Melody Summers.

Officer Tanner pinched the bridge of his nose and asked the Suttons, "Can you provide any other evidence?"

Just then, a woman’s voice came from behind them. "Officer, I can be a witness!"

Melody Summers froze for a second, then mentally rolled her eyes.

She knew that voice all too well. She didn’t even need to look up to know who was speaking—it was Maisie Lynch.