The richest actor in Hollywood.

"Did you enter the room after returning?"

At the entrance of the master bedroom on the second floor, a sergeant from the Beverly Hills Police Department looked around the room and asked, "Did anyone else enter?"

Matthew slowly shook his head. "No, I saw the room had been rummaged through, so I immediately stepped out and called the police."

In fact, he had first called Helen Herman. Helen and Amanda were already on their way to Horner Manor and arrived within minutes. After assessing the scene, Helen had immediately advised Matthew to call the police.

This kind of matter was best left to the authorities.

Another detective was questioning the maid in the villa. Matthew had already asked her before; she had stayed on the first floor and hadn't noticed anything unusual on the second floor.

Other detectives had gone to check with the gate guards.

After asking Matthew a few more questions, Sergeant Bernati said, "We need to conduct a forensic investigation on the scene, which may take some time."

Matthew nodded. "That's fine."

He then went downstairs to the living room, where Amanda and Helen Herman were talking on the couch.

Seeing Matthew come down, Helen Herman immediately asked, "What's the situation? Did anything get stolen?"

Matthew sat on the single-seater opposite them and shook his head slightly. "The police need to do their forensic work. I haven't checked the room yet, so I can't be sure what was taken."

Amanda frowned slightly. "Isn't Beverly Hills supposed to be safe?"

"That was before," Helen Herman pointed out. "In recent years, as the economy worsened and unemployment increased, the crime rate in Los Angeles has worsened, affecting even Beverly Hills. In the past two years, more thefts have occurred in Beverly Hills than in the previous ten years combined."

Matthew shrugged. "Beverly Hills is home to wealthy people. If I were a thief looking for money or valuables, I would target Beverly Hills first too."

Amanda looked up at the second floor and said, "We need to strengthen the security of the manor."

"The thief probably chose tonight specifically," Matthew speculated. "The news about our auction event had been spread out for some time. They knew I wouldn't be home tonight."

He couldn't help but chuckle. "This thief is quite diligent."

Helen Herman agreed with Matthew's reasoning. "They might have been targeting you for a while." She thought for a moment and then said, "You should really strengthen your security here."

Matthew nodded. "I'll have Brown come and take a look tomorrow."

In his days in the Delta Force, Brown Williams had trained in killing and rescuing, but after retiring and becoming a bodyguard, he specialized in security. He was a true professional.

Despite the burglary, Matthew wasn't overly worried. There was little cash in Horner Manor, and not many valuable items. For example, the $100,000 jade bathtub couldn't be quietly stolen. The truly valuable items were mostly his bespoke clothing and the luxury watches sponsored by Rolex.

However, the watches weren't kept in the bedroom but in a safe on the first floor.

Thinking of this, Matthew got up and entered a room adjacent to the living room, opened the safe, and checked. All twenty-plus Rolex watches were there.

Helen Herman, who had followed him, asked, "Nothing was stolen?"

"Nothing," Matthew said, closing the safe. "These are the most valuable items in the manor."

As he walked out, he continued, "Before you arrived, I had the maid do a quick check. Except for the master bedroom on the second floor, no other rooms showed signs of being disturbed."

Returning to the living room, Matthew spoke with Amanda and Helen Herman for a while longer. Upstairs, the police finished their forensic investigation, and Sergeant Bernati invited him up to identify what items were missing.

Amanda and Helen Herman followed Matthew to the second floor and into the spacious master bedroom.

Inside the master bedroom, several areas were cordoned off. Sergeant Bernati explained, "These are the areas where the intruder was most active. We are collecting evidence and will remove the tape soon."

Matthew noticed that the cordoned-off areas were mainly around the shelves, the closet, and the nightstand, where most of the storage space was located.

The shelves seemed to be missing something. The nightstand had been rummaged through, and a few photos of him with Britney and Charlize Theron that had been under a book were missing. Other items appeared to be untouched.

Next, Matthew entered the closet, which housed his bespoke suits and some sportswear. One dark suit was missing, and a drawer that had been full was now empty.

After a thorough check, Matthew reported the missing items to Sergeant Bernati.

"What was in the drawer?" Sergeant Bernati noticed that Matthew had forgotten to mention one item.

Matthew shrugged. "My underwear."

A strange noise came from behind him. Matthew turned to see Helen Herman still looking calm, but Amanda was covering her mouth, trying not to laugh.

Amanda curiously asked, "Why would someone steal underwear?"

Matthew shook his head. "Who knows?"

Helen Herman calmly said, "It might be a fetishist."

Sergeant Bernati scratched his head. It wasn't common for a high-profile Hollywood star to have a drawer full of new underwear stolen.

Not wanting to dwell on this topic, Matthew asked, "Sergeant Bernati, did you find anything?"

Sergeant Bernati immediately answered, "Only one person entered the bedroom. Judging by the footprints, it was a man." He walked towards the open window, beckoning Matthew and the others. "Please come over here."

Matthew, Amanda, and Helen Herman followed. Sergeant Bernati pointed outside the window. "From the evidence, the intruder climbed up from the cliffside."

Amanda leaned out to look. The cliff near the villa wasn't very high or completely vertical but had an estimated eighty-degree incline and was over fifty feet tall. An average person couldn't climb it.

Sergeant Bernati pointed at a disturbed patch of vegetation below the villa. "He climbed up from there, broke into Mr. Horner's house, and then climbed the drainpipe to the second floor, entering through this window."

He looked at Matthew. "According to your description, the intruder stole four or five photos, an old camera, a dark bespoke suit, and... a drawer full of unused underwear."

Matthew nodded and glanced at the shelves. The old camera had been his first, kept for its sentimental value and placed in the bedroom when he moved.

Did the camera contain anything special? He tried to recall.

Sergeant Bernati continued, "The intruder likely had a large backpack and considerable climbing experience. After stealing, he escaped the same way." He pointed outside the large floor-to-ceiling window. "Descending the cliff is even harder than climbing it. This might be a skilled climber."

When Matthew had chosen this mansion, the cliffside view was one of its selling points. It offered a panoramic view of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills and was a natural barrier. He hadn't expected anyone to actually climb up.

Even for someone as athletic as him, he couldn't imagine scaling that cliff.

To climb such a cliff, carrying a bag of stolen items, and escape safely, the person must have undergone professional training.

This was one of the few clues the police had at the scene.

Sergeant Bernati then advised, "Mr. Horner, I recommend you reassess your security measures on this side of the house."

Matthew nodded. "I'll improve it as soon as possible."

He didn't want a repeat of this burglary. Once Brown Williams came over tomorrow, he would make the necessary adjustments.

The police worked for over an hour more but could gather very limited evidence. Before leaving, Sergeant Bernati asked Matthew to preserve the scene for two days for further investigation.

Matthew agreed, though before the police left, Helen Herman spoke with Sergeant Bernati at length. Given it involved a high-profile Hollywood star, confidentiality was impossible, but they needed to agree on handling some matters.

With many wealthy and famous residents in Beverly Hills, the local police had a lot of experience and a well-established protocol for such cases.

After seeing the police off, Matthew returned to the living room where Amanda was relaxing on the couch with a cup of coffee. Helen Herman was pacing back and forth, deep in thought.

"This won't bring any negative impact," Helen Herman said after careful consideration. "Have Bella Anderson update the blog, proactively disclosing the burglary and including a few photos of the scene. Don't leave too much room for tabloid speculation."

Matthew nodded, agreeing with her suggestion.

"There weren't any... sensitive photos among the stolen ones, right?" Helen Herman knew what she was asking.

"No!" Matthew was certain. "Those were just photos of me with Charlize Theron and Britney..."

Speaking of Britney, he suddenly remembered something. When they had lived north of Burbank, Britney had used that camera to record some videos of their life together.

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