Reborn with Nothing but My Farm and Vengeance in the Apocalypse Chapter 275: Bare Walls

lody Sumrs and Officer Tate chatted idly as they walked toward Building 4.

The snow last night hadn’t been heavy, leaving only a thin layer on the ground.

lody Sumrs wore rubber rain boots, her steps making a CRUNCH CRUNCH sound on the dirty snow.

Officer Tate flipped through the file for 1505 as he walked. He said to lody Sumrs, "This apartnt, 4-1505, was originally ho to a family of three—a young couple and their child."

"Last April, the husband’s mother, Ms. Vance, moved in with them. She’s the one who brought a dog to your apartnt to steal from you yesterday."

lody Sumrs was confused. "So, there are four of them living there now? That’s strange. Why would the couple make Mrs. Vance, the oldest one, do sothing so dangerous?"

Recalling yesterday’s harrowing scene, lody Sumrs couldn’t help but complain to Officer Tate. "Officer Tate, you have no idea how dangerous it was! My apartnt is on the 16th floor, and Mrs. Vance actually just climbed right onto my balcony!"

"She just had a rope tied around her waist and no other safety gear. The rope was incredibly thin; I bet it wouldn’t have been able to handle the force of a fall. If she had slipped, it definitely would have snapped!"

"The temperature outside yesterday was almost negative twenty degrees! You’d freeze stiff after just a few minutes out there! She was clinging to the security bars like a gecko. Can you imagine how cold that was? If her hands and feet had gone numb, the consequences would have been unthinkable!"

lody hadn’t even dared to go out and confront Mrs. Vance yesterday. She was afraid that her sudden appearance would startle the old woman and send her into a freefall from the 16th floor.

There wouldn’t have been an intact body left.

The kind you can’t even piece back together!

lody really didn’t want a death on her conscience, especially in her brand-new apartnt. If Mrs. Vance had actually fallen from her balcony, she’d never be able to look at that window again without feeling uneasy.

Besides, as annoying as Mrs. Vance was, breaking and entering was a cri, but not one punishable by death. lody didn’t want to send the old woman to her grave over sothing so trivial.

Officer Tate shook his head. Frowning at the file in his hand, he replied, "Not four. They’re a family of three now, too..."

lody was confused. "What do you an?"

’The couple, their child, and the husband’s mother. Doesn’t that make four people?’

Officer Tate lowered the file. "The husband died in that terrorist attack a few months ago," he explained. "Now it’s just his wife, their child, and his mother living together."

lody froze.

’So that’s what happened...’

Thinking about the terrorist attack that had struck in the dead of night a few months ago, lody’s heart sank. She let out a soft, "Oh."

That attack was a nightmare for everyone in The tropolis Residences. Even though lody hadn’t been there, it wasn’t hard to imagine the scene of utter carnage.

Natural disasters, man-made catastrophes... for ordinary people, they were all inescapable forms of suffering.

Seeing lody’s somber mood, Officer Tate gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Whatever her situation, it doesn’t give her the right to steal from others. Don’t feel any pressure over this."

lody nodded. She wasn’t that much of a bleeding heart; otherwise, she wouldn’t have saved the evidence and reported it to the police so promptly.

It wasn’t about a small piece of pork; she just had to teach Mrs. Vance a lesson.

Since they had moved into Building 4, Mrs. Vance had co by to bother them more than once.

If she let Mrs. Vance get away with it this ti, the woman would get a taste for it and would surely try the sa thing again.

And you can’t spend every day on guard against a thief.

...

Officer Tate and lody Sumrs arrived at Apartnt 1505.

Officer Tate walked right up and knocked on the door.

lody had worried that Mrs. Vance’s guilty conscience would keep her from answering, but to her surprise, the door opened quickly.

It wasn’t Mrs. Vance who opened the door, but a frail little boy.

The boy looked to be four or five. His body was so gaunt that his head seed disproportionately large, like a bobblehead doll.

The little boy froze for a mont when he saw the strangers at the door.

But a second later, he recognized Officer Tate’s uniform.

He let out a "Wow!" and shouted with a happy smile, "Mr. Policeman!"

Then, the little boy enthusiastically ushered lody and Officer Tate inside.

Once inside, lody and Officer Tate discreetly looked around. They were surprised to find that the apartnt... looked very strange.

The living room had no sofa and no appliances. Aside from a wooden table with four chairs, there were only two drawer cabinets and almost no other furniture.

A few plastic bags and so of the boy’s toys were scattered on the floor.

The place could almost be described as destitute.

But calling it "destitute" wasn’t quite accurate either.

The walls and floors had been beautifully renovated. The wallpaper was fine and delicate, with an elegant, subtle pattern, and the flooring was high-quality. It was clear the owners had invested a lot of money in the decor.

This blend of exquisite decor and sparse furnishing made the whole living room feel strangely dissonant.

Just then, Mrs. Vance, hearing the noise from the living room, ca out of a bedroom, muttering, "Who is it, so early in the morning..."

Before she could finish, she caught sight of Officer Tate and lody Sumrs standing in her living room.

She froze instantly, the words dying on her lips.

While Mrs. Vance was still frozen in shock, Officer Tate spoke first. "Excuse , are you Ms. Nathan Vance?"

Mrs. Vance nodded, flustered. She answered in a small voice, "Yes, that’s ... Officer, why are you here? Is sothing wrong?"

Mrs. Vance was clearly panicking. Her eyes darted about, unable to et Officer Tate’s gaze.

Officer Tate nodded and continued, "Ms. Vance, there was a theft in Apartnt 1606, downstairs from you, last night. So supplies were stolen..."

Before Officer Tate could finish, Mrs. Vance quickly feigned a look of shock. She stamred, "Wha-what? Sothing was s-stolen?... How could that happen?!"

lody stood silently to the side, watching Mrs. Vance’s performance with a cool gaze. ’Looks like she’s going to try and play dumb,’ she thought.

Mrs. Vance continued, "That’s terrifying, Officer. But that’s the 16th floor! How could there be a thief? Maybe their security door wasn’t locked properly?"

Officer Tate ignored her and continued, "We have reason to believe that you are directly connected to the theft at 1606."

At his words, Mrs. Vance’s heart plumted. Her sixth sense told her she was done for this ti...

But she had to at least try to struggle!

So she began to ramble, "No, no, that’s impossible!... I’m just an old woman, how could I do sothing like that?! Officer, you... you can’t go around accusing innocent people!"

"It really wasn’t ! If you don’t believe , go check the cri scene. You won’t find my fingerprints or footprints there!"

"Don’t you police use forensics these days? Don’t you have to analyze trace evidence for your cases? There’s no way you’ll find any trace of at the scene! I... I’m truly innocent!"