The Retired Mercenary's Great Retaliation

The prints could also reveal a person's habits.

Most of the time, it only took one footprint for me to locate a person. My captain had once patted me on the shoulder and said, "Remember, the ground will never lie to you."

My flashback ended, and I stood up to look at the drag mark on the ground. "The person who took the item used a forklift, and he only drove it once."

Lynn was taken aback. "What?"

I pointed at the corner of the warehouse. "There is only one drag mark, which means whatever was taken was first dragged toward the forklift. After that, it was moved with the forklift." I looked at the forklift one more time. "If this were an outside job, the thief wouldn't have known where to take the forklift keys."

The warehouse was silent as everyone stared at me. Even Lynn was surprised. She looked at me, a middle-aged man in a worn-down worker's uniform with hands full of calluses. It was difficult for her to imagine me as an ordinary stockkeeper.

Lynn had no idea what to make of the contrast. “W-who exactly are you?" she could not help asking. There was respect in her tone.

I smiled but did not answer. All I did was walk toward the forklift again to gently knock on the forklift door while glancing down at the tire. The dust was pressed flat to the ground, which meant the tires had moved.

My footsteps and the clanging of metal were the only sounds that could be heard in the warehouse. The echoes were particularly loud and crisp in the warehouse's wide space. Everyone around me gradually stopped speaking as their expressions shifted from curious to solemn, and ultimately to one of indescribable surprise. They walked past this place every day, but none of them had ever noticed anything different.

Three hours later, I had deduced the entire situation from every trace and mark I found in the warehouse. I compared several other drag marks on the ground once more. The route was clear to see.

The metal cupboard, the forklift, and the side door. There was only one set of footprints throughout the entire process. "I'm done." I let out a long exhale as I stood up. The warehouse was quiet as everyone looked at me.

Tony unconsciously clenched his fist as sweat covered his palms. He looked nervous and doubtful at the same time, while Lynn looked at me with a whole new perspective. She walked to the side door and took a deep breath while slowly clicking into the security footage showing the outside of the warehouse.

Bzzt…

The sound of a machine starting was heard from inside the warehouse. The footage from outside the side door lit up, and the path toward the warehouse gradually appeared on the screen. It was quiet at first. All that could be seen on the footage was the light outside the warehouse and the security guard passing by occasionally.

Someone shouted, "Look! The lights are turned on!"

Tony quickly went closer to look at the footage with an agitated expression. This was it! The thief would be caught the moment the cameras caught him. However, his hopes lasted less than ten seconds.

Beep… Beep…

A sharp alarm was suddenly heard from the main controls, and the screen jumped. The clear footage turned red with a warning, then disappeared. The system notification indicated that the footage data had been damaged.

The hopes of everyone in the warehouse were dashed, and Tony's smile froze. "What happened? Why is the footage damaged?"

That was when hurried footsteps were heard coming from the warehouse door.

"Mr. Chapman! Mr. Chapman!" His assistant, Charlie, ran in breathlessly with a middle-aged man in a suit following behind. It was the security consultant hired by the company, Greg Walsh. The first thing Greg saw upon entering the warehouse was the crowd around the security footage. His face fell when he saw me standing by it.