Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 1007: Chapter 1003: Suspect

Seeing that no one from the task force was saying a word, Uehara Keijiro’s anger started to rise again.

At this moment, a bespectacled member of the task force came running in hastily, panting: ”Captain, I checked the museum’s server system logs from yesterday. There are some traces that seem a bit unusual, as if someone tampered with them. I’m preparing to find someone to recover it, but it might take a few minutes!”

Hearing the young police officer’s words, Uehara Keijiro frowned: ”Tampered with? What do you mean by that? Is there something wrong with our system?”

The young officer wiped the sweat off his forehead, shook his head, and smiled, saying: ”The museum is controlled by a surveillance system, and any anomaly triggers the alarm system. It automatically closes all exits, sealing off the entire museum.”

”However, there was an anomaly in the museum’s surveillance system yesterday. These traces are different from the usual system data, which proves that last night, some criminal elements may have infiltrated the museum’s internal system. They might have used hacking skills to acquire administrator privileges, turning the otherwise impenetrable surveillance system into a mere decoration and opening a convenient passage for themselves.”

Uehara Keijiro’s expression changed drastically, and he questioned suspiciously: ”So you’re saying that hackers attacked the museum last night? The thieves used hacking skills to infiltrate our system and crippled the surveillance?”

The officer nodded: ”That’s one way to understand it. Although the museum uses a local area network, I looked it over; usually, these local area networks are set up as virtual internal networks. They seem secure, but actually, there are vulnerabilities. By tracking emails, they can tear open these PCs’ internal network, follow the vine and find the server, thereby controlling the server system, turning these electronic eyes into theft tools.”

Uehara Keijiro didn’t understand the technical jargon, but he still grasped the meaning of the statement: these thieves used hacking techniques, employing some special method to turn the surveillance system into their tool, allowing them to evade monitoring.

”If it’s really as you say, that the surveillance became a useless display, what about the people? Last night we had special police on duty. They were stationed at the door the whole time. The thieves could only enter through that door. How did they manage to carry those items out of the warehouse?”

”This...”

The officer believed he had found the crucial clue in the investigation and was somewhat prideful about it, but Uehara Keijiro’s words left him speechless. Those special police officers were reassigned from the Self-Defense Forces, seasoned veterans with top-notch professional ethics and skills. It was just a guard duty, after all, unlikely to have any slip-ups.

Uehara Keijiro couldn’t help but take a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his emotions. He urgently needed a scapegoat to vent his anger, but the target was definitely not the task force members who were tirelessly helping with the museum’s issue. Even if he wanted to lose his temper, he couldn’t take it out on them.

Moreover, the fact that the surveillance system was hacked was itself a dubious point. Regardless of whether this suspicion can become a clue to solving the case, everything related to the museum theft must be investigated. No suspicious area can be overlooked.

Just when Uehara Keijiro and the task force were sifting through all the suspicious points in the case, someone suddenly burst in from outside. This person was pale and looked panicked; as soon as he walked in, he eagerly grabbed Uehara Keijiro’s arm: ”Director, I heard... the warehouse was robbed last night?”

The person who came in was none other than Tanaka Heiichi, who had been hosting Watanabe Yasu and Hattori Keiko at the museum yesterday. He was supposed to be on vacation today, but upon hearing such shocking news early this morning, he couldn’t sit still and rushed over from the countryside.

Uehara Keijiro turned his head and glanced at Tanaka Heiichi, letting out a cold snort: ”You’re well-informed, I just got the news myself, and here you are already, quite the coincidence.”

Tanaka Heiichi’s face changed, realizing Uehara Keijiro misunderstood him, and he hurriedly explained: ”It was the duty room that called me, not... Director, that’s not the point, the point is, I think there are two people who are very suspicious!”

Upon hearing this, Uehara Keijiro quickly lifted his head, his eyes locking onto Tanaka Heiichi’s face like a hawk, his entire body tense, asking in a low voice: ”What did you say?”

Tanaka Heiichi’s face tightened immediately; he swallowed and, after a brief hesitation, opened his mouth to say: ”As per your instructions, I showed Watanabe Yasu and Hattori Keiko around the museum yesterday. They were about to leave when suddenly they made a request. They said they heard the precious exhibits for our themed exhibition had been collected from various museums and wanted to have a look ahead of time to feast their eyes.”

”I initially refused, but Watanabe-san said if I didn’t agree, he would bring it up with you. I was worried about not being hospitable enough and making them upset, so...”

Tanaka Heiichi’s words made Uehara Keijiro’s head throb with anger, and his eyes turned red with rage, wanting to reach out and smack the guy in front of him: ”So you just agreed outright and took them into the warehouse?”

Tanaka Heiichi caught the anger in Uehara Keijiro’s words, but since it was true, he couldn’t deny it. He had no choice but to brace himself and admit it, nodding while explaining:

”I was really confused at the moment, Director. You instructed me to treat the people from the Watanabe Consortium well. I was just afraid our museum would offend them if they withdrew their investment...”

”Are you an idiot? That warehouse is a restricted area, not just anyone can enter! You casually led a few outsiders in, did it never occur to you what kind of crisis this might bring to the museum?”

Uehara Keijiro had already been holding a grudge for some time, and now Tanaka Heiichi stepped right onto the proverbial landmine. Once this barrier was breached, Uehara Keijiro couldn’t hold back anymore. He started berating Tanaka Heiichi without restraint, hurling insults and curses until Tanaka Heiichi was utterly chastised, yet he dared not make a sound.

After finally releasing his anger, Uehara Keijiro regained a bit of composure, softened his tone, and asked coldly: ”So, you suspect that the warehouse theft is connected to these two people?”