Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“At least I took revenge for myself!” Ran Tao comforted himself. “So, it shouldn’t be consider a deuce, right?”
“Of course.” Wu Xiumin looked at Zhao Yu and confirmed. “Team Leader pushed that woman against the wall! Hehe, it felt great just to watch! Dealing with a hot-tempered woman like her, violence must be met by violence!”
“Alright, then why does it sound like you are scolding me for acting like a gangster?” Zhao Yu looked helpless. He never expected that Wu Fangfang wasn’t as weak as he had first thought.
“No! I didn’t say that Team Leader was acting like a gangster!” Wu Xiumin replied. “No way! Our Team Leader is a legit gangster!”
As everyone in the house roared with laughter, Cui Lizhu stole a glance at Zhao Yu. She felt her heart ripple with emotion.
A few minutes later, the information that they had obtained from Wu Fangfang’s side had been printed out. Zhao Yu and his teammate read through it carefully.
It turns out that the special force for Gem Theft Case really hadn’t put in much work on the case. However, they had at least set up news notifications worldwide. That way, once the Tamil Star appeared, they would be the first to find out.
What surprised Zhao Yu and the others most was that Wu Fangfang’s team’s prime suspect for the Gem Theft Case wasn’t the king of thieves, Tao Xiang! Instead, their suspect’s name was Akanksha, who was an Indian.
When referring to him, the special force called him “AK” for short! AK was a wealthy businessman from India. His leather company had branches all across the globe, so he was a well-known international business tycoon.
However, besides being a tycoon, he had another important identity. He was the owner of the Tamil Star!
That’s right! After the gem was stolen, the police first suspected the owner. They suspected that he had hired someone to steal the gemstone, so that he could then put up a show, where a thief would call another the thief!
Apparently, the Tamil Star had somehow found its way to Europe during the war. It was then that Ak had bought it from an auction at a sky-high price. After he got it, he placed the Indian national treasure in his personal collection.
Over time, due to the huge importance and national symbolism of the gemstone, India hoped that AK would donate the gemstone to their country. However, AK wasn’t willing to do that, as he thought that his buying the gemstone at such a sky-high price meant that it should belong to him legally!
Later on, AK’s company was involved in a court case that would only be solved if he gave up his citizenship. The Indian government seized this opportunity to offer him a deal. In exchange for his donation of the gemstone, they would extract him from his current difficult situation.
At first, everyone thought that AK would opt to make the exchange in order to avoid any further conflict. But, before any decision could be made, the gemstone was stolen from an exhibition in China!
As the gemstone was now lost, the Indian government could no longer use it as a bargaining chip to threaten AK. Thus, if the burglary really had been planned by AK himself, this meant that he could run away from his trouble and also keep his gemstone! It was like killing two birds with one stone!
However, the loss of the gemstone had triggered a huge diplomatic storm. So, the police couldn’t help but list AK as among the prime suspects and investigate him thoroughly.
However, in Wu Fangfang’s investigation record, it was clearly noted that there were no traces of AK’s having participated in the robbery, even after her team had kept watch over and investigated him for quite a long time. Plus, the police even sent a special agent to investigate, who already certified that the Tamil Star wasn’t in AK’s possession!
Actually, not only did the Chinese police investigate the matter, but India also sent countless spies to investigate AK thoroughly. Yet, they couldn’t find anything either.
Zhao Yu found this whole case puzzling…
If the gemstone wasn’t in AK’s hands, nor in Tao Xiang’s, then where was it?
And… if Tao Xiang really did take the gemstone, then why wasn’t it with him in the end? What had happened to it?
“I had an idea back then…” Cui Lizhu analyzed aloud. “After my dad returned, not only did he have problems mentally, but I also found many wounds and bruises on him! So, I suspect that my dad was betrayed by someone! For instance, the person who sent my dad to rob the gemstone maybe didn’t want to pay, so he tried to kill him!”
“I’ve seen Tao Xiang’s medical analysis.” Wu Xiumin nodded and said, “His skull didn’t change in shape, nor was it fractured. But, there was some serious damage to his brain. This means that Tao Xiang’s head might have experienced a heavy blow, or maybe he fell from a high place…”
Wu Xiumin then added, “I feel that he likely suffered a heavy hit during the chase, and the possibility of his falling from high ground seems even higher! The wounds and bruises on his body might be related to a fall!”
“That makes sense!” Zeng Ke said. “Do you think the person who was after Tao Xiang was AK? Maybe AK and Tao Xiang worked together, and Tao Xiang helped to steal the gemstone. Then, after it was done, AK wanted to kill to shut him up, so he forced Tao Xiang off a cliff!”
“Really?” Ran Tao scratched his head, “If AK killed him to shut him up, then wouldn’t he get the gemstone after that? Or… Could the gemstone still be with Tao Xiang?”
After Ran Tao said this, everyone was astonished. They then redirected their gazes to Cui Lizhu.
“Hey, if I had the gemstone, I wouldn’t have had to live such a poor life!” Cui Lizhu waved her hands helplessly.
“Actually, there’s another problem that we didn’t figure out!” Zhao Yu walked before the whiteboard, his eyebrows tightly knit together. “If Tao Xiang stole the gemstone and planned to return in ten days, in the end, he only returned after thirty days. So, during those several days, where did he go?”
“I remember that, after my dad had been gone for about five or six days, there was some news about the Gem Theft Case on the television,” Cui Lizhu recalled. “When he returned home, some twenty days later, he was in bad shape and his clothes were all torn! I asked him so many questions, but he refused to tell me anything!”
Wu Xiumin suspected aloud, “I feel that something is amiss here. If we could find out where Tao Xiang went and who he saw during those twenty days, we might be able to find some real clues, right?”
“We know that the exhibition was held in the capital. In a period of twenty days, he could have run all over the nation!” Zeng Ke said helplessly.
“Hence, it’s a dead end!” Wu Xiumin said. “No wonder the special force team, even after six years, still couldn’t unearth the gemstone’s whereabouts!”
“Don’t be disheartened,” Zhao Yu clapped his hands and told everyone. “There are no definites in this world! Have you ever thought that, although Tao Xiang was called the king of thieves, no matter how capable he was, he would need an accomplice for every deal he made?”
Zhao Yu then turned to Cui Lizhu and said, “Try to think of who might be that person. It might be one of your dad’s friends, or even your neighbor!”
“Alright, let me think!” Cui Lizhu replied. “Actually, all this while, I shared a similar suspicion, but my dad never told me where he got his news! And, in my impression, he really didn’t have any friends!”
“It’s okay, but try to think again. Once you think of any suspicious person, we will investigate them thoroughly!” Zhao Yu said.
“Let’s start with the female fish vendor!” Cui Lizhu shrugged. “After all, she is the one who spoke with my dad most often!”
“Okay, pass this task to me!” Zeng Ke pointed at his computer and said, “Tell me more about her situation, then I’ll be able to find her…”
“Okay! You guys go ahead with that! I have something else to take care of!” Zhao Yu pointed at Cui Lizhu, then said to his colleagues, “Look after her, as I feel that Wu Fangfang might return! Be cautious!”
“We understand!” Everyone agreed together, then Cui Lizhu asked, “Police Officer Zhao, where are you going?”
“I am burning with rage at the moment, so I have to go somewhere to vent my anger…” he said.
Then, after seeing the confused looks on everyone’s faces, Zhao Yu rectified, “I’m just joking. My Phaeton is still at the police station, so I need to drive there and get my car back. See you later.”
Then, Zhao Yu left…
