Captain Lu was aloof again today.

Chapter 111 Monitoring
In the era of big data, mobile payment has become widespread, and paying by scanning a QR code with a mobile phone has long been the norm.

This person, however, unusually used cash, likely to conceal his spending records and prevent the police from tracing him through electronic transaction history.

Chen Jin slammed his hand on the table: "He's covering himself up like this in broad daylight, he must be the murderer!"

This suspicion is not without merit.

But he was indeed covered up too well, wearing a loose, long hoodie, fully armed, making it impossible to even tell his gender.

Lu Jingming's expression hardened as he asked the convenience store owner, "Do you have any other impressions of this person? Did he say anything when he paid? Was he a man or a woman?"

The convenience store owner thought back carefully: "At the time, I did think this person was quite strange. He gave me a five-dollar bill, and I was supposed to give him change, but he just threw the money down and left. He didn't say anything, and he seemed to be a bit strong. I felt he was probably a man, but I wasn't quite sure."

Lu Jingming instructed Chen Jin to copy the surveillance footage, and then said, "Take this footage back and retrieve Xunji's surveillance footage to see if this person was present before Xu Caihong bought that box of pastries."

Chen Jin responded and left.

Wei Qingsong stopped in front of the bread shelf in the convenience store. The person in the surveillance video was about the same height as her. If it were her, the "Taoli" brand bread in the second row would be the most convenient for her to take.

If you want to get the bread in the first row, you have to look up and reach out. Conversely, if you want to get the "Xunji" bread in the third row below, or the bread on the bottom layer, you have to bend down slightly.

Was the murderer's choice of Xun Ji really just a simple coincidence?

Wei Qingsong drew a question mark in his mind.

Xiao Song and several police officers stayed at the convenience store to continue taking statements and collecting evidence, while Lu Jingming and Wei Qingsong went to the property office of the food court.

Large food courts like this must be equipped with surveillance equipment, which might be able to capture the person's whereabouts after leaving the convenience store.

After showing his police ID, the property management staff had no suspicions and readily provided the surveillance footage.

"We might not even have surveillance cameras at the entrance of the convenience store. Our plaza has been under construction for many years, and the surveillance equipment hasn't been updated yet. Moreover, our main monitoring areas are the main entrances and exits of the mall, the main entrances and exits of the parking lot, and the activity area of ​​the plaza outside the atrium. Tiantian Convenience Store is in Phase II, and there are only two cameras in the entire area, one at one end of the street and one at the other end of the street."

The property management staff carefully explained the situation, afraid of getting into trouble.

"It's alright, I understand." Wei Qingsong kindly reassured the terrified property management staff.

This food court has existed since she can remember, so it has a long history.

Although the system has undergone several renovations over the years, blind spots in surveillance are inevitable. After all, the installation, storage, and maintenance of surveillance cameras are very costly, so it is understandable that relevant authorities are unwilling to invest more in these areas.

The property management staff breathed a sigh of relief and became more relaxed, proactively offering assistance: "Our plaza is quite large, and there are many surveillance cameras. Are you looking for the street with the Tiantian Convenience Store? I'll help you find it. What time period of surveillance footage do you need?"

"Around 10 a.m. this morning, a person wearing a black hoodie, a mask, and sunglasses entered and exited the Tiantian Convenience Store. We want to find him."

Wei Qingsong didn't stand on ceremony with him. She and Lu Jingming only had two pairs of eyes combined. Most of the police force was still lingering in the electroplating factory park. It was really troublesome for the two of them to watch so many surveillance cameras.

In comparison, property management professionals, being more experienced, make it easier to find people with their help.

The property management staff clicked a few times on the screen with practiced ease, and four surveillance feeds appeared on the screen simultaneously.

"I'll pull up several surveillance cameras in the vicinity together for you, so it'll be easier to find them that way."

At the same time, he increased the playback speed to save even more time.

After watching the surveillance footage for half an hour, Lu Jingming counted the number of times that person appeared in the footage.

There were more than a dozen surveillance cameras that captured him. By piecing together these fragments, we can roughly figure out his movements.

“At 8:10 this morning, he entered from the east entrance of the food street and lingered in the food plaza. At 10:00, he went straight into the street where Tiantian Convenience Store is located. At 10:07, he exited from another intersection of the street. At 10:30, he entered the mall and disappeared at a corner. He has not appeared in the surveillance camera since.”

The food court's interior structure is intricate and crooked, and most of the shops are clothing stores. There is a high volume of people coming and going, and it's quite normal for some customers to change into new clothes and leave immediately after buying them.

Disguising yourself here is incredibly easy.

After that person disappeared from the surveillance camera, they likely changed their clothes and swaggered out of the mall.

It is not an easy task to capture him through surveillance.

Lu Jingming copied all the surveillance footage from the past two days and went back to meet up with Chen Jin.

Chen Jin retrieved the surveillance footage from Xunji's shop and also made a discovery.

Around 10 a.m. yesterday, a person wearing a white hoodie, sunglasses, and a mask walked into Xunji's shop.

This time, he was dressed differently, sporting long, curly hair that reached his waist. He stood with his back to the camera, lingering in front of the shelves for a long time before leaving without buying anything ten minutes later.

Chen Jin pointed to the surveillance footage and said, "The poisoner looks like a woman."

“Not necessarily. Since he’s deliberately disguising himself, it’s possible he’s wearing a wig.” Wei Qingsong didn’t agree with drawing such a hasty conclusion so quickly. “Besides, look, this person is always wearing a loose-fitting hoodie, so it’s impossible to tell whether he’s male or female from his body shape.”

Lu Jingming nodded in agreement: "Based on the surveillance footage, we can estimate that he is about 170-175 cm tall. Within this height range, he could be either male or female, and we cannot rule out the possibility that he was wearing height-increasing shoes to interfere with the police's judgment."

"What can we do? We've found him, but we haven't completely located him yet. It's really frustrating," Chen Jin said, looking annoyed.

Based on the surveillance footage from Tiantian Convenience Store and Xunji Store, it can be inferred that this mysterious person, whose gender and appearance are unknown, is most likely the poisoner.

However, he always managed to easily avoid the cameras and prevent the surveillance cameras from capturing his face.

Moreover, it is highly likely that they were disguised, and perhaps they even brushed past this person on their way to the scene.

Just thinking about it makes my feet feel cold.

This mysterious poisoner has murdered two innocent people with potassium cyanide in just two days.

At this very moment, he might be hiding in some corner, watching the helpless police, and letting out an evil laugh.

(End of this chapter)