chapter 6

Property Management had already been inside for almost half an hour.

Just what kind of door and window inspection takes so long?

I sent another message to the Downstairs Sister.

“Hello, sorry to bother you again. May I ask how long Property Management usually takes to check the doors and windows?”

“Maybe half an hour.”

Just five brief words.

But looking at them made me uneasy.

I finally realized what was off.

I scrolled back through our chat history.

The Downstairs Sister is a college student.

Whenever she messaged me before, no matter what she said, she’d always add an emoji at the end.

Sometimes it was a puppy, sometimes a kitten.

But these last two messages were short and businesslike.

Not only were there no emojis, there wasn’t even any punctuation.

Just as I was thinking about this,

I suddenly heard the sound of a door opening in the hallway.

I hurried over to the door and peeked out.

The Property Management staff came out.

He closed the door and jotted down a few notes in his notebook.

Then he turned and left.

Soon,

he disappeared from the peephole.

Right after, I heard the elevator doors open and close.

Then there was no other sound.

I checked the time.

From when he went in to when he came out, it was exactly thirty-one minutes.

Pretty much what the Downstairs Sister said.

Could it be that I was just overthinking things?