Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 648 Investigation
“We’re not his subordinates, so why should we be ordered around to do things and go out to find some old thief? I haven’t seen any other skills of Lü Caotang, but I have clearly felt that he is decisive and good at ordering people around. I was planning to go home tomorrow or the day after, but I didn’t expect to be dragged out for a few more days.”

Sun Chang complained somewhat speechlessly as he walked in the line, looking around and checking the information on his phone to find the corresponding building.

It is said that the person living here is a notorious long-time thief in Zhuzhou City, who once held the title of "King of Thieves" in Zhuzhou City more than ten years ago.

He was later sentenced to six years for theft.

When Ai Yun got into trouble, this old thief was still in prison! After he was released, he behaved himself and didn't commit any more crimes, but he didn't expect that even so, he was still targeted by Lü Caotang, who sent the police to ask him for information about the underworld.

Sun Chang didn't think such a thief could possibly know any clues; after all, reality wasn't like those exaggerated scenes in Hong Kong movies. But judging from Zhang Yong and Zhang Ke's patient demeanor, they didn't seem worried about making a wasted trip.

"Don't underestimate these shady characters. No one in the underworld is more well-informed than them. Of course, petty thieves don't count. These professional thieves are more capable than you can imagine. Since Ai Yun has ruled out local human traffickers in Zhuzhou, we really need to investigate the 'cross-border dragons.' They know everything about the underworld, who to mess with and who not to mess with, and when the cross-border dragons will arrive."

Zhang Yong smiled and turned around to explain, winking as he did so: "We used to have two old thieves like that in Zhangzhou, but unfortunately they couldn't keep their reputations and ended up in Qian Wei's hands; because they were repeat offenders, they're still in jail right now!"

"Pfft!"

Li Siyu couldn't help but laugh. She knew that with Qian Wei in Zhang City, even notorious thieves would become a joke.

The atmosphere among them became more cheerful as they talked about Qian Wei's jokes. Lin Ge turned over in Li Siyu's arms to make himself more comfortable, and also used Li Siyu's arm to shield his eyes from the glaring sunlight.

The group quickly arrived near the registered residence of the thief leader. The area consisted of private houses, which were reasonably well-planned and easy to identify, so they wouldn't go to the wrong place.

Although Lü Caotang assigned tasks to Zhang Yong and his group, they were, after all, police officers from out of town, so Lü Caotang naturally wouldn't assign them particularly complicated or difficult targets.

Perhaps he was just looking for a quick fix, having Zhang Yong and his team take over this simple investigative work so that the limited manpower of the Zhuzhou police could be transferred out to handle the more troublesome and easier-to-find tasks.

To be honest, not to mention Lü Caotang, even Zhang Ke and Li Yiduo, apart from Zhang Yong, didn't have much hope for this mission. What valuable intelligence could an old thief who was still in prison ten years ago possibly have?

Upon arriving at the destination, we discovered it was a small financial mortgage shop.

"Gold and jewelry mortgage, emergency loans from small financial institutions, buyback of luxury cars, watches, cigarettes and liquor, business license processing and car insurance... This guy's business is pretty diverse!"

Zhang Yong scrutinized the signboard at the entrance and realized that the old thief was indeed different. This kind of business, involving all aspects of life, was something that ordinary people couldn't do. Moreover, with counterfeit and fake goods rampant these days, one needed a sharp eye to succeed in this business; otherwise, one could only wait to be ripped off.

The crowd became more interested in the old thief. When they went inside, they found a bald old man wearing a tank top and shorts, fast asleep in a recliner, snoring loudly.

"Is it him?"

Sun Chang took out the photo provided by the Municipal Bureau on his phone and looked at it. It did look somewhat similar, but he had gained a lot of weight compared to the photo.

'tread'.

The old man opened his eyes the instant the group walked in.

He was snoring just a second ago, but when someone invades his territory, the old man wakes up faster than anyone else.

Upon seeing that the newcomers were all police officers, the old man paused for a moment, then reflexively sat up straight, placing his hands on his knees. However, he quickly recovered and gave an awkward smile.

"Officer, is there something wrong? I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Your business doesn't seem like a legitimate business! Have you done anything wrong? Can you guarantee that the items you're buying as collateral are all legally obtained?"

Zhang Yong put on a stern face.

Before he could finish speaking, the old man suddenly grinned slyly. "Look at what you're saying, the source is of course legal! What money can you make these days by buying stolen goods? It's all those clueless young men, those fools who don't know the value of money when they're not in charge of their own household. They bring me their own things, the nice things their parents bought for them, to sell! The source is legal, the receipts are complete, and the quality is high-end. It's much more profitable and safer than buying stolen goods. Some parents are too embarrassed to come back to me to redeem them for their children's sake, or even if they do, I still make a profit! Hehe... Officer, I've already reformed! I'd rather die than do anything criminal!"

Seeing the guy's cunning look, Zhang Yong shook his head, not knowing what to say.

This old man targets clueless and penniless young people, clearly taking advantage of their lack of self-control and tendency to overspend. Ironically, since it's a mutually agreeable arrangement and not illegal, those parents deserve to have such a demanding child.

"Gentlemen, you're not local police officers from Zhuzhou, are you?"

Seeing that Zhang Yong and his group didn't seem to be coming with any hostile intentions, the old man breathed a sigh of relief and his back softened. He said with a grin, "Is there anything I can help you with? Just say the word. We've reformed and know how to cooperate with you."

"I have something to ask you! About ten years ago, there was a human trafficker in Zhuzhou; he specialized in buying up trafficked women and children from people and then transporting them to other places to sell. Are you aware of this?"

Zhang Yong didn't mince words with those who had been to the palace and asked them directly.

"Snakehead?"

The old man paused for a moment, then quickly replied, "Back then I was serving my sentence in Zhuzhou No. 1 Prison. How would I know anything about snakeheads? Besides, I was a thief back then. Officer, you've asked the wrong person."

"Is it?"

Zhang Yong wasn't angry. He looked around at the various goods and items scattered haphazardly in the small room, and after a long while, he said calmly, "I have something to tell you. It's started again! This time, the target is everyone involved in the crime of trafficking women and children; including the direct suspects, as well as those idiots who protect them or even cover for them! In the past, these people could be dealt with through criticism and education, but now they are all included in the crackdown and will be prosecuted under criminal law. This time, you must remember this lesson and not put yourself in jail again because of some trivial matter."

Seeing the old man's face turn pale and then red, and his body tense up again, Zhang Yong curled his lip and continued, "You're already so old. If you spend another few years in jail, your life might be over. By the way, I believe you should have some idea about the nature and severity of the penalties for human trafficking cases."

"Old man, all I did was not help you find someone, and I'm going to be sentenced to ten years?"

The bald old man's face darkened further. Having learned his lesson the hard way before, he dared not gamble on whether Zhang Yong was threatening or stating the truth. In a crackdown like this, no one reasons with you; for the sake of social stability, individual human rights are irrelevant.

Zhang Ke and Li Yiduo looked at Zhang Yong in surprise, never expecting his methods of using trivial matters as a weapon to achieve such an exaggerated effect.

But the crackdown is a fact, and the severe punishment of those involved is also a fact. Even if this old man dares to definitively say he wasn't involved, can he really bet he knew absolutely nothing and didn't lie or obstruct the police investigation?

There's no doubt the old man wouldn't dare.

When he stood up, the old man's back hunched over. He gave Zhang Yong a wry smile, but finally spoke honestly.

"While I was in jail, I did hear about something like that. A group of people from Linzhou set up a dock in Zhuzhou. It's said that this group has some connections with foreign countries, and they are ruthless and do heinous things. According to the rumors I heard in jail, this group seems to be involved in human organ trafficking, which is definitely not something a thief like me would dare to deal with. As for whether they were involved in human trafficking... I don't know. The last thing I heard was that this group seemed to have killed several of them in infighting or something, and that's all I know. After that, during the period you mentioned, nothing else major happened."

"The buying and selling of human organs?" Zhang Yong was stunned. Why did another case within a case suddenly appear?
Zhang Yong exchanged a glance with Zhang Ke and Li Yiduo, then signaled to them to immediately notify the Zhuzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau's special investigation office. Regardless of whether it was a case from ten years ago or whether it was related to Ai Yun, this kind of matter could not be taken lightly.

Soon, the special task force office replied to Li Yiduo.

Indeed, such an incident occurred back then. A group of ruthless individuals who had contact with the Vietnamese set their sights on the suddenly emerging and seemingly overnight world-famous human organ trade. However, while they were interested in this business, they underestimated the technical sophistication required for organ transplantation and transportation. Ultimately, their scheme failed, and both the perpetrators and their victims were arrested at the border, with only a few escaping.

Among the photos shown to Ai Yun earlier, one of the people was a member of the criminal gang involved in the organ trafficking case, which was actually used to perpetrate human trafficking. He was wanted by the police, but in reality, he was under police surveillance.

The police had been planning to use him to lure out his other fugitive accomplice, which is why they hadn't decided to make the arrests yet.

Incidentally, this case was also handled by Lü Caotang's team. If he hadn't dismantled this criminal organization in time, who knows what terrible things would have happened if they had actually obtained the organ transplant transportation technology and channels.

"In other words, this old man didn't know about the smuggling leads in Ai Yun's case!"

Sun Chang sighed in disappointment. He had thought he might have some unexpected gains! But it turned out that the old man's information channels were just so-so, not much different from the kind of bragging he heard on the street.

The group shook their heads, said goodbye to the old man, and prepared to take their leave.

But just then, Li Siyu noticed that Lin Ge was staring at a certain spot on the display case with his head tilted back. Following his gaze, she saw a row of watches displayed in the glass case, including Rolexes and Vacheron Constantin watches, though she didn't know if they were real or fake.

She herself didn't understand, but she knew that someone on the team did. Li Yiduo was definitely not into these luxury goods, but Zhang Ke was a different story.

So Li Siyu tugged at Zhang Ke, gesturing for him to look inside the cabinet.

"A green water ghost?"

Zhang Ke immediately spotted the most eye-catching watch face in the cabinet. After a quick glance, he shook his head with a smile and said, "At first glance, it looks like the real thing, but anyone who has seen the real thing up close can tell it's a fake at a glance. The real watch is a vibrant, lively emerald green, with a high overall gloss. But this fake looks rather dull, and there are obvious flaws in the details. However... it's still okay to wear for fun, since you won't feel bad if you break it. Why don't you ask Li Yiduo to buy you a real one? This amount of money is nothing to him; besides, these things hold their value quite well, so you won't lose money if you sell them after a few years. Oh, ladies, a Naples or Patek Philippe would be better."

"No! I'm not interested in watches, but Mimi seems to be staring at them the whole time!"

Li Siyu couldn't help but give Zhang Ke a push. She would never let Li Yiduo spend money to buy her something like this! She would save up and buy it herself when she wanted it. What kind of thing is it to spend her boyfriend's money!
"Mimi, what did you find?"

Everyone looked over, knowing that Mimi would always surprise them at crucial moments.

"I didn't find any snakeheads or human traffickers, but I discovered that this green Submariner actually has Ai Yun's scent on it! Although the scent is very faint, this trace of bloody smell belongs to Ai Yun, and it's highly likely that I'm right!"

Lin Ge's expression was solemn; the smell of blood made him think deeply about what it meant.

What's going on with this watch?

Although Zhang Yong didn't know what Lin Ge had smelled, he at least knew that this cat wouldn't joke around at a crucial moment. So he stopped in his tracks and stared intently at the cunning old man with the eyes of someone looking at a criminal.

"What...what's going on?"

The old man paused, the policemen's serious gazes, as if they were looking at a criminal, made him nervous, even bringing back the terror he felt when he was arrested years ago. He was equally bewildered, panicking as he frantically tried to recall what he had done wrong before rushing over.

Seeing Zhang Yong point to the Rolex Submariner in the glass display case, the old man's lips twitched slightly.

"I knew it... there's no such thing as a free lunch!"

"What do you mean?"

Zhang Yong hadn't expected this guy to actually be up to something. Didn't he say he'd washed his hands of the illegal world and would never do anything illegal again? He'd already made enough money in the gray areas, yet he was still so greedy that he wanted to send himself to jail?
"This watch was sold to me last month by an old bastard! He's a notorious gambler in Zhuzhou, he gambled away his family and left his wife and children without ever repenting. Some time ago, he somehow got his hands on this replica watch, and I bought it for 500 yuan. After all, it's just a replica, I just put it there to keep things in order, I didn't expect it to have any problems, officer. Could this be stolen goods? It can't be, it's just a fake!"

The old man spoke pitifully, his eyes darting around, clearly not content to stay put.

Zhang Ke sneered and exposed, "A top-quality replica of the Submariner is worth between two and four thousand yuan. You bought it for five hundred yuan, and you still dare to say you didn't know there was something wrong with it? Don't tell me you can't tell the difference between a high-quality replica and a genuine one with your eyesight!"

"..."

The old man fell silent. He knew that a perfunctory explanation wouldn't fool the police, and the more he said, the more mistakes he would make.

Besides, it's only a profit of four to ten times, which is already considered a fair price in this industry, right?
"Tell me clearly, who is this person you're talking about? What's their name? How old are they? And exactly when did they pawn this watch to you?"

Zhang Yong didn't waste time arguing with the old man and went straight to the most crucial question. Since Mimi was still fixated on this watch, there was no doubt that it and its owner were very likely related to the case they were investigating today.

While it was a bit of a coincidence that we stumbled upon the clue here, that's also Mimi's skill! If it were any other police officer, they would have missed it, wouldn't they?

"I don't know his name, we all call him Wei Gou!"

The old man had a long face, knowing he had probably been tricked by Old Dog this time. But facing Zhang Yong's eyes, he had no choice but to honestly tell him everything about the guy nicknamed Old Dog.

"You have surveillance footage here, right? Since he said he sold this watch to you last month, do you still have the surveillance records?"

Li Yiduo suddenly spoke up.

"Yes! Yes! The most troublesome and feared thing in my line of work is when a seller sells something and then comes back to renege on the deal. That's why I keep the surveillance footage for six months, with clear audio and video, specifically for confronting those who cause trouble."

The old man nodded repeatedly, then hurriedly rushed to the computer behind him, turned it on, and anxiously waited for it to start up.

"Your boot time beats 0.1% of all computers in the country..."

The long wait of several minutes, the computer's lag making Li Yiduo's lips twitch. He hated people who didn't take care of their computers and didn't configure them properly. Cleaning up junk files and installing less junk software would save that time, wouldn't it?
Of course, these weren't the main points. Aside from making everyone a little impatient, they didn't cause any major problems.

Li Yiduo pushed past the old man without hesitation and operated the computer himself. He quickly found the video recordings from a month ago, but instead of watching them right away, he dragged them all to his cloud drive.

At the same time, Zhang Yong also contacted Lü Caotang to inform him that he might have found some clues.

(End of this chapter)