In an antique teahouse, Wang Zhaoping threw a peanut into his mouth, but his eyes were fixed on a door across the street.
There are two stone lions in front of the door and a red-painted wooden door. It can be seen from the color of the bricks and stones that this house is quite old.
"Team Wang! We have checked. The registered head of household at No. 324 Zhujiajiao is named Ma Liang. He is male, age 53, and his ancestral home is Jinmen. There is no criminal record."
Qin Xiaoru, who was sitting next to him, closed her notebook and said.
"Ma Liang? Who else is in this family?"
"Gone."
"Gone?"
"Yes, he is the only one on the household registration, but he is divorced, and his ex-wife and two sons seem to have gone abroad."
"Lonely? Suspicious!" Wang Zhaoping touched his chin.
I am over 50 years old, living in an old house with a single family, but I don’t even have any relatives around me. Either I am forced by life, or it is convenient for me to be alone...
"Captain, isn't it too hasty to assume that someone has a problem just because he's alone? The total number of lonely people in the city is eight hundred if not one thousand, right?"
"Let's first determine that there is a problem here, and then conversely speculate that there is a problem!"
"So, captain, where did your news come from? Why are you so close to home? I haven't heard you mention that there is an intelligence network in Hangzhou?" Qin Xiaoru asked suspiciously.
"Exclusive news, how can I tell you such a secret!"
“I can probably guess it without telling you, it must be the ‘Rising Sun Mass’ again, right?
Damn it, you asked me to accept an interview and went to investigate the "Chaoyang Masses" eating alone. Captain, you are very unkind!"
"Don't talk nonsense about eating alone. Didn't I bring you out? The case is really solved, and you have a share of the credit."
"Don't be like last time, saying you were arresting an antiquities dealer, only to end up with another murder case, right?"
"You have watched too many cartoons. How could we be so lucky? There are murders everywhere we go!" Wang Zhaoping rolled his eyes.
"Creak~" At this moment, the wooden door opposite opened, and a middle-aged man wearing a Tang suit and a Buddhist bead bracelet came out.
The two immediately looked at each other.
"Captain, it's him just like in the photo!" Qin Xiaoru whispered.
Seeing his target Ma Liang walking out of the alley with the Buddhist beads in his hand dangling, Wang Zhaoping put down his tea cup.
"Let's go! Follow us!"
The two of them followed Ma Liang for about ten minutes and arrived at a quite lively antique street.
"Master Ma! Are you out for a walk again?"
"Yes! The weather is nice today."
"Master Ma, would you like to take care of the ancient Ming Dynasty coins that I just bought yesterday?"
"Not bad, good imitation."
I saw him looking around here and there, picking up some antiques from the stalls and chatting with the stall owner from time to time. He looked like he was familiar with the road. It seemed that he came here often.
"Brother, let me ask, is Master Ma famous? Why does it seem like so many people know him?"
Wang Zhaoping came to the stall of the previous vendor and handed over a huazi with a smile.
"Oh! Don't get me wrong, I just have a little thing, and I want to find a reliable expert here to identify it. I'm afraid I'll be scammed."
"That's it..." The vendor took the cigarette and didn't think much about it.
"Then you've asked the right person. That Master Ma is a well-known expert on the street, especially in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. His eyesight is like this!" The man gave a thumbs up.
"Yeah, okay, thank you, brother."
After leaving the stall, Wang Zhaoping and Qin Xiaoru looked at each other.
Regardless of whether the news this time is accurate or not, at least this person is finally involved with cultural relics.
I followed Ma Liang all the way, and not long after walking, I saw him turning into an antique shop with a somewhat unremarkable appearance.
Wang Zhaoping took a look at "Jingfu Zhai", which contained various porcelain, calligraphy and paintings and other antiques.
The two of them followed in and happened to see the store owner chatting enthusiastically with Ma Liang. Without a word of conversation, the two of them walked into the back room.
They pretended to be tourists and pretended to be interested in the decorations in the store. From time to time, they would pick up an antique and ask the clerk for the price.
After a while, Ma Liang and the boss walked out from behind, with Ma Liang still holding a small box in his hand.
When Ma Liang passed behind the two of them, Wang Zhaoping's ears twitched slightly.
The boss had a smile on his face and enthusiastically walked Ma Liang to the door.
"Master Ma, walk slowly. Next time I have something good, I will invite you to come and taste it."
"Easy to say!" Ma Liang smiled, cupped his hands, and walked out of the store.
Ma Liang didn't pay much attention to Wang Zhaoping and the other two. This antique street had a lot of people and naturally there were a lot of tourists.
The two stayed for a while, then left the store and continued to follow Ma Liang.
Half an hour later...
"Captain, this guy looks like an ordinary antique lover, are we just going to follow him around?" Qin Xiaoru couldn't help but ask.
The other party has already visited seven or eight antique shops, large and small, staying there for varying lengths of time, and he also has two extra packaging boxes in his hand. It seems that he is no different from ordinary antique lovers going shopping.
"So you are still young. As detectives, we have to see more, listen more, and think more. If you think he is ordinary, I think we have found the right target!" Wang Zhaoping's eyes flashed.
"Huh? Captain, what did you find?"
"Haha! Did you notice that he paid for the two things in his hand?"
"Pay?" Qin Xiaoru was stunned for a moment, and then began to think carefully.
"Nowadays, most stores use scan-code payment, but he just... didn't seem to be using his mobile phone to pay.
But that doesn’t mean anything, right? Maybe he’s familiar with the two bosses?”
"Brothers are still settling accounts. There's no point in buying entertainment on credit. And...when I just passed by him, I heard a subtle metal collision. What do you think it was?"
"Metal clashing sound? What?"
"I guess it's gold bars!"
"Gold bars?" Qin Xiaoru said in surprise.
“For large transfers, transfers will leave traces, and cash is inconvenient.
At this time, if they don’t want to attract attention by carrying large amounts of cash for transactions, many black market traders will carry a few gold bars, which is easy to carry and very concealable." Wang Zhaoping analyzed based on the experience of a veteran driver.
"You mean, they just completed the transaction with gold bars? So... the box contains probably prohibited cultural relics?
Isn’t it? They just carry things in such a big way through the market?”
"It is hidden in the market. Compared with being sneaky, this kind of upright transaction is less likely to be noticed. If it were you, would you want to get it?"
"Hmm! That makes sense. So the other party is really probably an antiquities dealer?
So what should we do now? Go up and steal the stolen goods and get them?"
"I'm just guessing. If I'm not sure, I can't touch him yet. I'll have to wait and see."
As soon as Wang Zhaoping finished speaking, he found that the tracking target had walked out of the antique street, stopped a taxi on the road, and got in.
"Follow me quickly!" The two of them hurried to the roadside and stopped a taxi.
Ten minutes later, the taxi in front made a circle and returned to Zhujiajiao.
"Isn't it? You have to take a taxi for such a short distance?"
After getting out of the car, Qin Xiaoru looked at Ma Liang who was walking home leisurely in front of her and said silently.
"No! There's something wrong with the box!" Wang Zhaoping's expression changed.
"Boxes?" Qin Xiaoru looked at Ma Liang. He still had the two boxes in his hand, so there was no problem.
"It's too light. I just carefully observed their swing range. There are clearly heavy objects inside, but now... it's too light!"
"Huh?" Qin Xiaoru observed it for a moment. Sure enough, the box swayed a bit, as if it had no weight.
"Could it be..."
"It was the taxi just now!" The two of them thought of the answer almost at the same time.
"It seems that the car is his connector, responsible for transferring the goods! One is responsible for identification, and the other is responsible for sending the things away... This must be a gang." Wang Zhaoping analyzed.
"Damn it! I didn't write down the license plate number just now!" Qin Xiaoru said angrily.
"It's okay! I remembered it, Su EXXXXXX!"
Qin Xiaoru was stunned.
Wang Zhaoping smiled and winked at her. "So, you still have a lot of basic skills to learn."
After saying that, he took out his phone and called the local police force in Hangzhou.
"Hey! Lao Lin, I, Wang Zhaoping, have a case that requires your cooperation... Well! The license plate number is..."
…
Three hours later...
"Dong Dong!" There was a knock on the door of No. 324 Zhujiajiao.
Ma Liang, who had just woken up and his eyes were still a little confused, just opened the door.
"Mr. Ma Liangma, right? Hello, I am Wang Zhaoping from the Criminal Police Team. You are now suspected of illegal reselling of cultural relics. Please cooperate with our investigation. This is a search warrant."
When he saw Wang Zhaoping with a serious face outside the door and several policemen behind him, Ma Liang suddenly lost all sleep and his heart dropped...
