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Objects lost mysteriously in Hanoi, detectives catch ‘slender Spidey’

Objects lost mysteriously in Hanoi, detectives catch ‘slender Spidey’

Sunday, May 03, 2020, 10:45 GMT+7
Objects lost mysteriously in Hanoi, detectives catch ‘slender Spidey’
Some villas in Tay Ho District, Hanoi were robbed mysteriously. Photo: Vu Tuan / Tuoi Tre

Two weeks after a villa owner in Hanoi sought private investigators’ help locating his lost IBM laptop, the suspect was busted and handed over to police officers.

He turned out to be a slender man able to climb poles like Spider-Man.

It was a thrilling search for a laptop owned by a French national residing in a villa located in Quang An Ward, Tay Ho District, Hanoi.

The contents of its hard drive held greater value than that of the machine itself.

According to the client, his powerful second-hand IBM laptop and some personal belongings vanished into thin air one night, despite the stronghold surrounding his villa.

Interestingly, all the locks and latches were still in place, and the furniture inside was intact.

According to Tuan Anh, the detective in charge of the case, CCTV cameras were not so popular around that time. Finding clues was an uphill struggle, and there was no suspect.

Some of the client’s Vietnamese friends told him that the house was haunted, which to them could explain the mysterious disappearance.

Dat, a member of the detective team, was assigned the task of locating the store that dealt with the stolen laptop.

He was a fresh graduate from Hanoi Open University and used to make a living selling computer parts.

He left no stone unturned around the computer hub of Thai Ha Street and Le Dai Hanh Street, as well as some other ‘black market’ spots.

The team basically had to search the whole of Hanoi.

The one-week search narrowed down to four laptops, none of which matched the descriptions of the client, but the dealers of those were put under inspection.

One of them was active near the student zone of the Hanoi University of Science and Technology and the National Economics University.

The detective team finally got to meet in person with their targets.

One turned out to be an uncanny drug addict, the other an overweight game addict who got stuck in college for seven years, unable to qualify for graduation.

Thanks to the strings he had, Tuan Anh found two other similar reports of theft, one of which happened on the same date as their own case.

All these cases occurred at villas rented by non-Vietnamese. Also, none of the locks were picked, and expensive stuff simply disappeared.

It was definitely one single man behind the scenes.

The only trace they ever had was some dirt track near the window of the second floor. The detectives could not figure out how the gig was done.

Without a ladder and assistants, only a Spider-Man or a ninja, a kind Japanese stealth warrior, could climb such high walls.

Therefore, the two suspects above were removed from the list, as neither the drug addict nor the fat guy was capable of such a wall climbing feat.

Tuan Anh claimed that the thief must have been a slender man living outside of the capital.

Their search had a turn. Now they targeted suspects from the south of Vietnam as many people there are good at climbing coconut trees.

Again, hundreds of names were crossed out considering their alibi.

The trap

As the deadline of the contract drew near, the detective team decided to stop their search. They set a trap instead.

They used dozens of villas around Tay Ho District as bait.

The most luring bait was one villa situated in an alley, with a broken electric pole on its side.

That night, the villa owner left the light on on the first floor and opened the window on the second floor.

A detective team meets up to discuss a case. They blend in with their suspect to gather information. Photo: Vu Tuan / Tuoi Tre

A detective team meets up to discuss a case. They blend in with their suspect to gather information. Photo: Vu Tuan / Tuoi Tre

He, together with the investigation team, stayed up anxiously awaiting the thief.

Around 2:00 am, there suddenly appeared a slender man walking around the area. The tall figure abruptly made a turn into the alley and quickly climbed the electric pole.

His whole gig was caught on camera. While ‘slender Spidey’ was joyfully stuffing his pocket with a valuable necklace, the light went up.

Three sturdy men stood in his way, and the thief was handed over to local authorities.

He turned out to be the very target that the investigators had been trying to capture.

Just as they had anticipated, so the slender man was responsible for the break-ins at the three villas as mentioned above.

The French client, finally, got his laptop back.

The Spide-Man thief came from Hai Duong Province. He made a two-hour bus journey to Hanoi for his ‘patrol’ then headed back home.

“Everybody was stunned to see how skillfully he climbed the poles during the reconstruction of the crime scene. Even coconut tree climbers in the south had to watch in awe,” Tuan Anh said.

“This job is as demanding as being a cop. It takes skill to watch and tail a target. You have to be able to recognize your target and avoid being spotted.

“I may look like this for now, but later this afternoon when I leave the office, I’ll be wearing a different jacket and helmet, and I’ll even change my walking gait.”

An old hand at the job

According to Tuan Anh, there once was an old hand at the job whom he deeply respected.

Twenty years ago, this master solved a case with a drug lord named Khanh.

Khanh denied all charges of his alleged murder. The only clue in the investigation file was a knife mark made by a left hand.

Ever since he was arrested, the drug lord had done everything with his right hand.

But Khanh could not fool the experienced detective.

Aware that he was a heavy smoker, the investigator left him alone for two days without any interrogation, during which he was not allowed anywhere near cigarettes.

During an interrogation later, the investigator simply sat in front of him, enjoying himself over a cigarette.

Sensing the drug lord’s surging thirst, the detective pulled out one cigarette and tossed it over to him.

By instinct, Khanh caught it with his left hand, revealing he was a lefty.

He had to forfeit all right-hand acts and spill out the truth about his crimes.

According to Tuan Anh, those involved in investigative jobs should be very well aware of legal issues.

Quite a number of clients make bogus evidence and have detectives collect them. The detectives themselves have to know how to set a trap as well.

Whatever the case, private investigators should draw a fine line when it comes to breaking the law.

According to Vu Van Tinh, a lawyer from the Hanoi Bar Association, a private investigator’s job is to collect evidence of law breaking, not to intrude on people’s privacy.

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Vu Tuan - Tien Bui / Tuoi Tre News

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