The retention period for bank surveillance footage is generally one to two months. The Vault went in to inquire and found that this bank’s storage requirement was exactly two months.

The two of them searched through the footage by date and soon spotted Xavier Daniels in the surveillance video, along with two people accompanying him.

Chapter 70 Summer

In the footage, Xavier Daniels withdrew some cash at the counter—though it was hard to tell exactly how much. The teller handed them a black bag, and Xavier Daniels casually wrapped it up and handed it over to the middle-aged man without hesitation. Based on The Vault’s experience, the thickness of the stack of bills should be between fifty to seventy thousand yuan.

The girl beside them seemed to want to intervene, but was scolded back by the middle-aged man. The three didn’t say much and left the bank together.

When the girl turned her head, the camera caught a clear shot of her face.

In this area, Julian Grant was more of an expert. He zoomed in on the footage, enhanced the clarity, then took a screenshot and used the bank’s printer to make a color printout.

Julian Grant originally intended to send the picture to his colleagues to help screen and compare it in the database, but The Vault casually handed the photo to the manager nearby and asked, “Do you know this person?”

The young lady manager nodded, “Yes, everyone calls her Summer.”

Julian Grant was surprised. That easy?

“This girl works at the fruit shop by the school’s east gate. She’s usually the one watching the store, but I haven’t seen her for a while. Her mom said she went back to the countryside,” the manager said. “I used to buy fruit from her family’s shop. After we got to know each other, she often gave me discounts or gifted me some ripe fruit. She’s a really nice and adorable girl. I’m not used to not seeing her for so long.”

The Vault asked, “She’s quite young. Does she study at C University?”

“No. Her younger brother goes to the vocational high school on the next street. She started helping at the shop right after graduating high school,” the manager said with a sigh. “I think she’s quite pitiful—working for her family without a salary and never treated kindly. She’s already a grown girl, right? What’s she supposed to do in the future? I doubt her family will make any plans for her. I advised her to save up, buy some financial products at the bank, and plan for herself. Makes sense, doesn’t it?”

The Vault had been looking rather serious, but somehow this struck her as funny, and the corners of her mouth lifted in a smile.

“What are you laughing at? I’m just telling the truth. As neighbors, it’s upsetting to see, and it has nothing to do with my performance at work. Besides, she really is a good person—everyone’s had fruit she’s given out,” the manager probed cautiously, “She didn’t get into any trouble, did she? That money…”

The Vault said, “It’s nothing. She’s a witness. We just need to ask her a few questions.”

“That’s good.” The manager nodded, lowered her voice, and reported to the two, “If there’s any extortion or fraud, it must be her dad forcing her. Her dad’s not clean—whether he needs money or not, he always wants to steal something when he sees it. He even tried to snatch a customer’s phone at our bank before, but the security guard caught him.”

Julian Grant indicated he understood, and then chatted with the enthusiastic staff member about Summer’s usual behavior.

In the manager’s eyes, Summer was a quiet, timid, easily-shy, honest, and somewhat self-conscious girl. She was overlooked at home, lacked survival skills, wasn’t particularly smart, and was even a bit dull. But she spoke softly, had a gentle personality, and if she’d had a different family background, with her delicate features, she’d definitely be a popular girl.

“But she’s started to become prettier recently,” the manager said. “When she first started working here, she never dressed up—just used those bright-colored scrunchies to tie a ponytail, wore cheap T-shirts from street stalls, and went out in slippers, let alone wore makeup. The first time I saw her at the shop, I couldn’t believe she was only eighteen. But look at her now—”

She pointed at the printed photo and said, “She knows about skincare now, pays attention to her clothes, and has become more confident. Most of her customers are C University students. She used to not dare look up when people talked to her, but now she has fun with everyone—they’re all the same age, after all.”

The girl in the photo was indeed striking. Her clothes were well-fitted, her hair was carefully styled, and her petite, slender figure made her look delicate and easy to let one’s guard down around.

Julian Grant covered the spot where Summer’s handbag was in the photo with his finger and signaled to The Vault with three fingers.

If Julian Grant remembered the bag, it must not have been cheap. Even if it was a knockoff, it probably cost at least a thousand yuan.

The manager said, “I asked her if she was dating, and she just looked down and smiled.”

The Vault: “Did you ask who her boyfriend was?”

“I did, but she didn’t say. I guess the guy doesn’t really like her—it’s probably one-sided. I told her this relationship was worth it. Her parents clearly don’t care about her and always boss her around. No matter how hard she works, she probably won’t get anything in the end. If she can figure things out, dress herself up, and find a good boyfriend, isn’t that better than working for free at the fruit shop?”

The Vault pointed at the photo and asked, “Do you remember this day? Did they say anything to each other when they came to withdraw money?”

The manager shook her head, “I wasn’t on duty that day. And the bank has so many customers every day—this was a month ago, so no one would remember.”

The Vault put away the materials and said, “Thank you.”

Manager: “It’s nothing.”

The two chatted with her for over half an hour before leaving the bank to look for the fruit shop.

By now, in-game time was already dusk. The days had been short lately, and the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon, leaving a swath of orange afterglow along the skyline.

The two walked along the red and blue permeable bricks, passing by the school’s perimeter.

Julian Grant sorted through the information the manager had given and speculated, “Is her boyfriend Xavier Daniels? Or maybe Xavier Daniels is just toying with her feelings. She got pregnant, Xavier Daniels wanted to break up, so her father went to Xavier Daniels for money.”

The Vault shook her head, “Not necessarily. With Xavier Daniels’s fake and guarded personality, he wouldn’t leave such a big loophole. If something like this got out, his reputation would be ruined. Besides, his family is wealthy—wouldn’t Summer’s father’s first reaction be to force a marriage? Why would it be blackmail?”

The shadows cast by the setting sun deepened the frown on her face. Julian Grant’s gaze followed the streetlights to her face, which was shifting between light and shadow, and he smiled insincerely, “So even you can be stumped sometimes?”

The Vault half-closed her eyes and said softly, “It’s not that I’m stumped—I just have a bad feeling.”

Julian Grant: “Let’s not overthink it for now.”

The fruit shop was easy to spot—they’d already passed by it several times today. The cashier now was a middle-aged woman, who, judging by her appearance and age, was probably Summer’s mother. She had a phone propped up on the table, volume turned all the way up, watching a TV drama.

The Vault walked over, knocked on the table, and asked, “Where’s Summer?”

The aunt didn’t even look up, “She went back to the countryside.”

“Even if she went back, there should be a way to contact her.” The Vault took out her credentials and held them in front of the screen. “Give me her phone number.”

Only then did the aunt raise her eyes and look at the two of them directly.

“What do you want with her?” she said stiffly. “Summer doesn’t use a phone anymore.”

The Vault: “Think carefully before you answer. If we want to find her, it won’t be hard. Don’t make extra work for us. I hate being lied to.”

The aunt rubbed her eyebrows, clearly reluctant to tell them. She tried to dodge the question several times, pretended to be busy, and used some vague words to brush them off, wearing down what little patience The Vault had left.

With the earlier comparison, The Vault couldn’t help but wonder, “Why design an NPC like this?”

Julian Grant mimicked her, putting on a look of deep suffering, and said, “Because this is the daily runaround for grassroots police officers.”

The Vault stepped aside and invited Julian Grant to take over.

Julian Grant stepped forward, pressed a hand on the table, and said bluntly, “We’re just looking for Summer to take a simple statement. If you can’t even give us an address, we’ll go back, change into our uniforms, and sit at your door for a chat. We’ll invite our friends from the fire department and food safety to join us and hang out nearby. How about that? Will 24 hours be enough for you to organize your thoughts and recall the details? If not, we can come by every day.”

The woman finally gave in and said reluctantly, “She’s at home.”

Julian Grant: “Address.”

The woman hesitantly gave them an answer.

Julian Grant wrote it down and gave The Vault a triumphant look.

The Vault sighed, “I’m very disappointed.” This society is just too treacherous.

Julian Grant chuckled, “You’re still young.”

·

The address was close by, so the two walked there. Even so, by the time they were halfway there, it was already dark.