53. CCTV (1)

Arleena squinted her eyes with a serious expression as she looked at the computer screen. There was a display of CCTV footage that took place the night Arleena returned to her apartment to pick up some baby items. Arleena had just come to the security room where the CCTV footage could be monitored. "Wait, I need to look at the minute before this," Arleena said to her apartment's CCTV supervisor. Arleena's apartment CCTV supervisor nodded his head without answering. He followed what Arleena said. The CCTV footage that appeared on the screen then rewound a few seconds. The apartment's CCTV supervisor looked so serious while rewinding the footage, until finally Arleena pointed to the screen enthusiastically. "Stop at that second," Arleena said, making the man who was supervising Arleena's apartment CCTV stop the recording. "Start playing this footage a little more. There's someone I want to find around the apartment building." The CCTV footage resumed running. Only for about five seconds, Arleena pointed at the screen as a signal for the CCTV surveillance man to pause the recording once more. At that moment, Arleena's gaze was focused on one of the CCTV recording boxes that shone in front of her apartment building. More precisely, the direction towards the entrance of the apartment lobby. Arleena squinted her eyes to clarify her vision. "Zoom in, sir," Arleena requested. The man watching the CCTV footage zoomed in on the screen showing the people about to enter the apartment. From the point of view through this CCTV footage, Arleena could not clearly see the faces of the five people who were about to walk in. But among them, there was someone who just stood without seeming to take a step. Someone who was either a woman or a man there was covered in a hoodie. The hoodie covering his head did not show his face. Moreover, the CCTV recording screen only highlights from the side, the top. "Is that hooded person over there the person you're looking for?" the CCTV surveillance man asked Arleena. Arleena remained silent for a moment. Arleena tried to guess whether someone who just stood and silently looked towards the inside of the apartment building could be someone she suspected. "I'm not sure. I actually don't know what the face of the person who followed me looks like. That's why I'm looking through this CCTV footage, whether there was someone suspicious when I went to the apartment or not," Arleena replied calmly without taking her eyes off the screen. The CCTV surveillance man sitting in front of Arleena was silent for a moment. He was thinking about Arleena's words. "I didn't realize there was someone suspicious yesterday. It's just that... I slightly remember seeing someone coming to the security post when I wanted to have coffee with the security guard. I don't think that person is a resident of the apartment building you're in," replied the CCTV surveillance man, his face looking very serious as he explained to Arleena. At that moment Arleena looked at the CCTV surveillance man who seemed to be thinking quite hard. Arleena wanted to feel that the man beside her was saying something serious. "Did you see someone suspicious yesterday?" asked Arleena. The CCTV surveillance man beside Arleena nodded his head. "That's right. I didn't get a good look at his face. But he was wearing a short-sleeved flannel shirt. Not a hoodie." The CCTV surveillance man explained once more. Arleena immediately fell silent and thought about what the CCTV surveillance man said. On the other hand, Arleena began to be curious about who the CCTV surveillance man was talking about. "How about you look at the other footage?" asked the CCTV surveillance man. Hearing the question, Arleena nodded approvingly. Arleena couldn't help but find out who the CCTV surveillance man was talking about. In the end Arleena moved to stare at other footage. Arleena and the CCTV surveillance man beside her were both looking for footage near the security post. Until shortly thereafter, the CCTV surveillance man who found the footage and enlarged the screen. "Try to pay attention to this part of the footage," said the CCTV surveillance guard. Arleena also paid attention to the screen that shone right at the side of the apartment security post. Arleena also leaned slightly towards the screen, wanting to see more clearly. The screen was playing the footage of when someone approached the security post. The CCTV footage was immediately paused when the suspicious person stopped and was talking to the security guard behind the post. "Is he the person you suspect?" asked Arleena without taking her eyes off the screen. "That's right. I saw that he didn't seem to be a resident of the apartment. But at the time I wasn't too sure of my thoughts. I felt that my judgment might be wrong. So I just focused on watching television at the security post." Arleena frowned. For a few seconds, Arleena did not say anything. At that moment Arleena only paid closer attention to the clothes worn by the suspicious man beside the security post. The man there appeared to be wearing a flannel shirt whose color was not very clear on the CCTV footage. Unfortunately the footage highlighted the side of the face, especially since the man was wearing some kind of beanie hat and mask. "Can you describe what his face looks like, sir?" asked Arleena as she watched in great detail. "I didn't see much of his face because as you can tell from this footage, he was quite covered up. I think she was sick and wanted to go to her relative's place. Because she was asking if this was really a Green Living Choices Apartment or not," replied the CCTV surveillance guard beside Arleena. Hearing those words made Arleena somewhat astonished. Arleena was still trying to guess the stature of the person seen in the CCTV footage. To be honest, Arleena didn't really know who the person around her was who always wore flannel shirts. As she remembered, Justin almost rarely wore flannel shirts. "But I remember he had sharp eyes that were a bit dark blue. Like the color navy. Then the shape of his eyebrows dipped slightly near the bridge of his nose. He has a sharp face shape," the CCTV surveillance man continued his sentence. Arleena's eyebrows automatically furrowed. Arleena didn't really know who had the shape of eyebrows and eyes as described by the CCTV security guard beside her. Arleena again froze and thought about who fit the description exactly as described by this CCTV surveillance guard. "Do you know anyone like that around you?" asked the CCTV surveillance guard. Arleena hissed softly and briefly. She thought for a moment before shaking her head. She wasn't too sure if there was someone of that description. "I'm not sure if anyone I know has that description," Arleena replied. "I might be able to tell who he is from the vehicle he used to come to this apartment area. Can I see the footage in front of the main gate?" "Ah, right. I didn't see that person enter by car. He just walked. It looks like he just parked his vehicle outside the apartment building area," replied the CCTV surveillance guard beside Arleena. Arleena snapped her fingers as she instantly felt enthusiastic to confirm firsthand what the CCTV security guard had explained. Arleena nodded her head to the security guard beside her as a signal that she agreed to the request to see the other CCTV footage. Because he received a sign of instruction from Arleena, the CCTV security guard finally moved the CCTV footage. When the CCTV footage moved to the front of the main gate of this apartment, Arleena's eyes spontaneously narrowed as her face turned serious. Arleena watched the screen more intensely. On the footage screen that zoomed in on the front of the apartment's main gate, Arleena saw a car parked a few meters away. It was on the side of the road, opposite the main gate of the apartment. It was a luxurious blue car. After seeing the appearance of the car that was parked quite carelessly, Arleena frowned. For once Arleena couldn't figure out clearly what the car looked like, let alone the license plate number. "Oh my ... again can't reach the cctv clearly," replied Arleena as she exhaled a resigned breath. Arleena immediately straightened her body position as she let out a rough breath. Arleena did not expect that all the footage from the CCTV footage did not provide clear clues. Only fragments of clues that still need to be figured out. "In my opinion, that person most likely already knows where the positions that are not too accessible to CCTV cameras are." The CCTV surveillance guard explained Arleena's confusion. "Huh?" Arleena was somewhat taken aback, then looked to the side. "What do you mean?" The CCTV surveillance security guard sitting beside Arleena looked back at Arleena. The look on his face was very serious. "What I mean is... she had already researched this apartment beforehand. She has memorized the 'safe' parts so that she won't be seen on the CCTV footage," replied the security guard. Hearing that explanation made Arleena gape in surprise. Arleena did not think that there was a possibility that the suspicious person had been watching her since yesterday. That meant ... that person had indeed intended to plan Arleena's stalking. "Then I've been followed since the other day," Arleena said before sighing heavily. The CCTV surveillance guard nodded his head. "I'm not too sure if my opinion is right or wrong. But the most important thing is that you should be aware of the people around you, Miss Arleena. They could be possible perpetrators following you," said the CCTV surveillance guard beside Arleena. Arleena did not answer the security guard's words before sighing once more. Arleena slumped her shoulders limply. She didn't expect that the pieces of clues she was getting now showed her that the perpetrator who was following her had memorized the area around her apartment. Arleena felt very uncomfortable. Arleena wasn't afraid to face the person who was following her. But Arleena is more worried because she has absolutely no clue to find out who the perpetrator is following her.