Luke has not been to a pawn shop today, and has no impression of this pawn shop called csj.

"What's the name of the pawn shop owner?"

"Jim, he is a very dangerous guy. He has a black gang background. He wears gold-rimmed glasses. There are not many black people dressed like this and it is easy to identify."

Luke asked, "Does he run an antique shop called the House of Oddity?"

"Yes, he often takes the stolen goods collected from pawn shops to antique shops and sells them. This guy is very business-savvy."

This connected the story. Luke met the black boss named Jim today and asked him about the price of purchasing vinyl records. Unexpectedly, he was an unruly guy who relied on his gang background to rob.

If you are an ordinary person, it will be difficult to find out-of-print records if they are stolen, so you can only consider yourself unlucky and suffer a loss.

But unfortunately, this time he met Luke.

Luke handcuffed the kneeling guy on the ground.

The latter breathed a long sigh of relief and lay down on the ground. He knew that he was safe for the time being.

Luke put away his spare gun and asked, "What's your name?"

"Anlec Raul."

"Jim ordered you to steal vinyl records?"

"Yes."

“Do you know the value of this vinyl record?”

"I don't know, I just know it's more precious."

"This vinyl record is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. You should be lucky that you didn't steal it. Otherwise, you will face prosecution for a first-degree felony.

In other words, I saved you."

"Officer, thank you, I really appreciate you."

"It's Jim's fault that you were arrested. Do you hate him?"

"Yes, but...I can't do anything. Jim is not someone I can mess with."

"You can identify him and tell the police that he ordered you to steal vinyl records."

"I don't dare, Jim will definitely let someone kill me."

"He doesn't dare, the police will protect you."

"It's useless. Jim won't admit it. I don't have any evidence. When the time comes, the police will have no evidence to arrest him."

"As long as he commits illegal and criminal acts, the police will definitely catch him. The only difference is whether it is necessary and whether they want to catch him."

If, as Anlek said, Jim's pawn shop is engaged in collecting stolen goods, it means that the other party is in a gray industry.

Such people generally have gang backgrounds, and usually the police will not touch them.

Because it's not necessary.

Once you capture this stolen goods den, a new stolen goods den may appear the next day.

Therefore, as long as what they do is not too excessive, the police rarely take stern measures to rectify them.

In the eyes of many people, this is black and white.

Very impressive, very powerful.

But it's different now. This kind of gray chain of interests has actually been brought to bear on the police, and he's still a promising deputy captain. If Luke doesn't make an appropriate counterattack, it will be a disgrace to the entire detective bureau.

This is no longer his alone, it is related to the honor of the entire lapd.

The police department's inability to protect the interests of police officers will affect the cohesion of the entire LAPD, and the consequences will be serious.

…

The United States is a country with a short history, and the pawn industry has not existed for a long time. It was first brought there by European immigrants.

However, the United States is the only country in the world that has pawn shops before it was founded, and banks and pawn shops have always kept pace with each other.

After more than a hundred years of vicissitudes, the United States has become the country with the most developed pawn industry in the world.

Eight o'clock in the evening.

There is a pawn shop with a white sign on the corner of the street.

Not far away sat a strong black man wearing a yellow vest.

Seeing a black man wearing gold-rimmed glasses approaching, the strong black man nodded quickly.

The black man wearing gold-rimmed glasses did not stop and walked straight into the pawn shop.

This person is none other than Jim.

He stayed at the antique shop during the day and came to the pawn shop at night, almost every day, very regularly.

Jim greeted his men and went directly into the warehouse to count the items. This is a job he has to do every day.

Ordinary pawn shops have two ways to make money. The first is to collect high pawn interest and related fees paid by the pawnbroker.

The second is the considerable commodity price difference obtained from selling dead pawned items (items that cannot be redeemed after the pawning period). Compared with the former, the latter is the biggest gain.

Compared with those large listed pawn companies, csj is a small pawn shop and its competitiveness is relatively weak.

But the business scope needs to be wider, and some gray benefits have been added, such as collecting stolen goods.

Jim's main job is to count all kinds of pawned items and properly handle the stolen goods collected.

Some common stolen goods are directly sold in antique stores, some with more obvious characteristics, and more difficult stolen goods are taken to Las Vegas for processing. He also has some sales channels there, but the income will be less.

A black guy came over and said, "Boss, there is a customer who pawns a watch outside and wants to talk to you in person."

"What watch?"

"He wants to pawn a 2010 commemorative Rolex for $6,000."

Jim smiled, "Did he think it was a Patek Philippe?"

Jim left the office and came to the counter in the front hall, where he found a Mexican man carrying a black backpack.

"Man, you want to sell watches?"

"Yes, a commemorative Rolex watch is very collectible."

Jim picked up the watch on the cotton cloth and looked at it carefully, then glanced at the man again, "What's your name?"

"Tom."

"How much money do you want to pawn?"

"$6,000."

Jim put the watch back, "Where did this watch come from?"

"I bought it?"

"When did you buy it? Where did you buy it?"

"In Los Angeles in 2010."

"Sorry, we can't accept this watch?"

"Why?" Tom asked.

"We don't accept things that come from improper sources."

"What do you mean it came from the wrong place? This is my watch."

"This is indeed a 2010 commemorative watch, but this one is a European model and is only sold in Europe. You can't buy it in Los Angeles."

Tom sighed softly, "Hey, I was introduced by a friend. I heard that you also sell this kind of goods here.

Jim held up a finger and said, "$1,000."

Tom thought he heard wrongly, "Are you kidding?

This watch is a commemorative edition, and the bezel is so well preserved. Why do you only give me a thousand dollars? Your pawn shop is not the only one in Los Angeles. I will probably find another pawn shop."

Jim said calmly, "$2,000, think about it."

Tom said, "At least $3,000."

Jim said, "$1,900."

"Hey, how come you can bargain like this? Why is the price so low again?"

Jim continued to lower the price, "$1,800."

"Okay, I'll pawn the $2,000." Tom looked annoyed, but helpless.

Jim said to the men on the side, "Go and complete the procedures for him. It will take a month, and he will be dead if he expires."

After his subordinates completed the formalities and watched the pawn customer leave, he couldn't help but ask, "Boss, why are you so cruel in lowering the price? This guy probably won't dare to come here again."

Jim asked, "How much do you think is appropriate?"

"It's about 3,000 US dollars. We can make a profit, and he thinks it's a good deal. He will come to us again to sell stolen goods in the future. You taught me this way before."
To be continued...