Los Angeles Detective Chapter 404

  Chapter 404 list

  Luke looked at the oil painting, "Is this oil painting really a fake?"

"Yes."

   "I want to take this painting back for appraisal."

  Jim looked at the deputy team, then at Luke, "Do you have a search warrant?"

"No."

  Jim spread his hands, "You can do whatever you want."

   It's definitely different with and without a warrant, but Jim decides to sell Luke anyway.

  He suffered from Luke's hands, and knew that this man was not easy to mess with, so there was no need to be tough.

   "Deputy team, you take the oil painting back for appraisal, and I will talk to Boss Jim alone."

  The deputy team glanced at Jim, "Why don't you take this slippery kid back to the police station?"

"I will think about it."

  Luke didn't take him to the police station, not because he knew the other party, but because this guy was a little tricky, it was easy to catch him, but hard to convict him.

  He has been monitoring the conversation between the two of them. Jim is very careful and never said that the painting is real from the beginning to the end. Luke might as well sell him a favor and get some benefits.

  Jim invited Luke into the store, and the two sat by the antique tables and chairs in the corner of the store.

  Luke cut to the chase, "You should still be on bail, right?"

  Jim lowered his head and pushed the gold-rimmed glasses with the **** of his right hand, "Captain Li, that old police detective named Vincent may have misunderstood.

  I have nothing to do with the getty painting robbery. "

   "Since I'm here, I don't intend to go back empty-handed. Either you provide some valuable clues, or take you back to the police station."

   "Captain Li, it is not illegal to sell high imitation oil paintings. Antique stores are not auction houses. It is impossible for everything to be genuine."

   "We have received news that you are selling the real oil painting "Rome" here, and we can take some investigative measures before identifying the authenticity of the oil painting.

  Such as applying for a search warrant, conducting a search of your antique store or even a **** shop. "As long as the other party is involved in the oil painting robbery, Luke has a lot of ways to deal with him. Even if there is no problem with the oil painting "Rome", he dares to say that all the items in the antique shop have no problem?

   Not to mention those things in the **** shop.

  Luke believes that as long as he is not stupid, he will definitely compromise.

   "Captain Li, I respect you very much and am willing to assist you in the investigation, but I have nothing to do with the case of the oil painting being robbed from the Getty Museum.

  I just want to take advantage of this opportunity to make some money, that's all. "

   "Say what you know, don't hide, don't lie.

   I'm only interested in painting heists, you should know what I mean. "Luke's implication, as long as you don't participate in the oil painting robbery, I can turn a blind eye to other charges.

  Based on Luke's understanding of Jim, this guy is not clean, and those news did not come through serious channels, and what Luke needs now is news from these unconventional channels.

  Luke was afraid that the other party would be suspicious and conceal some valuable news.

Jim has tasted Luke's tricks. Last time Luke cleaned himself up through David's relationship. This time he was involved in the oil painting robbery, which was equivalent to falling into his hands. , there is really no other way,

"I did hear about the case of oil paintings being robbed. I knew that the Getty Museum had lost ten oil paintings, one of which was "Rome" by Svensson Pilger, so I moved my mind and bought one. Highly imitated paintings.

  The painting I bought is different from ordinary fake paintings. The artist's painting standards are very high, enough to make the real ones look like real ones.

  The authentic oil painting was stolen, and it has spread in the antique circle.

   There will always be some guests who will be interested in these stolen authentic items.

  Maybe someone who is taken advantage of will buy the oil painting, then I will get rich.

  That's the way it is. "

  Luke said, "It's not easy to sell your oil painting as a real one."

  Jim nodded, "I know.

  99 out of 100 people may not believe it.

  But as long as it can be sold, it is a huge profit.

  Even if I can't sell it in the end, I can sell it at a reduced price.

  Highly imitated paintings are also sold in antique shops, so you don't have to worry about selling them.

  I'm not going to lose money anyway, why not try? "

   "If customers know that you sell fake paintings, are you not afraid of retaliation?"

  Jim laughed, "I never said it was genuine, I am an antique shop here, good or bad depends on my own ability, as long as I go out of this door, it has nothing to do with me.

   Besides, these stolen oil paintings have been recorded in the police station, and I don't think the other party dares to identify them.

   Unable to identify, how can it be true or false? "

   "Do you know which group stole the oil painting?"

"have no idea."

   "Have you heard of the stolen painting?"

"No.

  As long as the robbers are not stupid, they should not sell oil paintings at this time. "

  Luke took out a photo of the suspect Giorgi, "Do you know him?"

  Jim picked it up and looked carefully, "I don't know it.

   Sorry, I really don't know much about painting heists. "

   Luke pondered for a moment, and said, "If you were to rob oil paintings, what would you do with them?"

  This question is not difficult for Jim, "You are right on the point, there is a saying that 'stealing paintings is easy to sell but difficult to sell', which refers to the current situation.

  Many newcomers will put a lot of energy into theft when committing a crime for the first time, but only after getting the things in their hands will they find that the real problem is coming.

   There is no way to sell the stolen things.

  Therefore, professional gangs will plan the channels for selling stolen goods in advance before committing crimes. "

   "What channels are there for selling stolen goods?" Luke asked along the way. The robbers were well-planned and aggressive, and they were definitely not newbies. There was a high probability that they had already found a channel for selling stolen goods before the robbery.

   "There are many channels for selling stolen goods, which can be roughly divided into two categories.

  In the first case, a reliable buyer has been found before committing the crime, and the oil painting will be traded directly after the oil painting is in hand.

  It will not alarm other people, and it can be realized quickly, which is also the best.

   You can call it a custom buyer.

   There is another situation where the oil paintings obtained are not sold for the time being, and are stored in a place that no one knows.

  After the limelight passed, the police investigation was lax, and then the oil painting was sold. "

  Luke pressed, "Sold to whom?"

   "It's a bit complicated, because the stolen oil paintings cannot be realized through legal means, and the thieves will turn their attention to the black market. Of course, the selling price will definitely not be too high, about 5% to 10% of the actual price.

  This is only a preliminary transaction, and it may change hands several times in the middle. These antique paintings may also be exchanged for drugs or weapons.

  As for the final flow of these stolen antiques, there is a high probability that they will be resold to the stolen museums, galleries or insurance companies. "

  Luke thought he heard it wrong, "You mean those ten stolen paintings might be resold by the thieves to the Getty Museum?"

   "Exactly.

  However, this has changed hands several times, and one or two middlemen are needed to reach a deal. Of course, the purchase price will not be too high, probably around 10%. Added Jim, "Actually, it was for the best."

   As far as I know, the ten stolen paintings from the Getty Museum are worth about $20 million.

  The Getty Museum has a reward of $2 million.

   So why not buy back the stolen painting for $2 million?

   These ten stolen oil paintings can only get the greatest value if they are returned to the Getty Museum. "

  Luke understood what the other party meant. These stolen oil paintings have been recorded and cannot be circulated normally. Take the ten oil paintings robbed from the Getty Museum as an example. These ten oil paintings are worth at most 2 million US dollars in the hands of other people.

   And once returned to the Getty Museum, the value of the oil painting can be doubled tenfold.

Now let the Getty Museum use two million to redeem the oil painting. They may not be happy and feel aggrieved, but if the police can't catch the robbers and get the oil painting back, after two years, the person in charge of the Getty Museum will calm down. , there is a high probability that they will choose to repurchase oil paintings, because in this way the benefits can be maximized.

   Losing these ten oil paintings, they lost 20 million.

  Using 2 million US dollars to repurchase, equals to a loss of only 2 million.

   Taking a step back, even the Getty Museum doesn't want these ten oil paintings anymore. If you buy them back and sell them, you can make a net profit of 18 million, which is not a loss no matter how you look at it.

  As long as you are not stupid or stubborn, everyone knows how to choose.

  Luke sat at the table thinking quietly.

  From Jim's analysis, the first situation can be realized immediately.

  The second situation is long-term holding, with greater risk and longer payback period.

  Luke is more inclined to the first situation. The gang of robbers should have found a buyer before committing the crime, and took the deposit before committing the crime.

   As for the reason, Luke analyzed it based on the actual situation of the case.

  First of all, there is a cost involved here. So far, this oil painting robbery should involve five suspects. If we look at the 10% sale price, they can get 2 million US dollars by selling the oil painting through the second method.

   Five people share two million dollars, and one person's four hundred thousand dollars is not much.

   And there is also a time issue involved. According to Jim, if no buyer is found in advance, the suspect will keep the oil painting for a period of time, and wait a year or two before the limelight passes before selling.

  And the suspects put 200,000 US dollars in his warehouse in order to frame the murdered policeman Jens Jauregui, which is equivalent to losing 200,000 US dollars without making any money.

  Luke felt that the cost of committing the crime, the degree of danger, and the time to benefit were a bit too high, and it was not worthwhile.

  He speculated that before the gang committed the crime, they should have established a fixed buyer and received a large deposit, so he was willing to take part of the deposit as stolen money and use it to frame Jens Jauregui.

  This makes sense and is in line with common sense.

  Luke sorted out the clues and asked, "Among the people you know, are there any similar targeted buyers?"

   “This targeted buyer is very demanding and hard to find.

   Rich, Art-loving, Bold..."

   "That's it."

   "I... do know a few."

   "I want their names."

   Robbery Murder Division Office.

  Look looked at the list in his hand, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

  Dormer Wood, Ruth Morgan, Buddy Cadis, Albus Stone.

  The identities of these four people are not difficult to investigate. They are all prominent figures in California, with money, leisure, and status.

  Dormer Wood is a major shareholder of a real estate company. It is said that he has many real estate businesses in Washington, New York, and Los Angeles.

  Ruth Morgan, this needs no introduction, her last name is enough to explain.

  Buddy Cadis used to be an executive of Disney, with an annual salary of up to 20 million U.S. dollars, including a basic salary of 1 million U.S. dollars and a bonus of the same amount, as well as stock awards worth 18 million U.S. dollars.

  Albus Stone stock market tycoon, known as California Buffett, has long held stocks in companies such as Disney, Apple, and Amazon.

  These four people have one thing in common, they love art and collect, especially oil paintings.

  There are suspects who are suspected of buying oil paintings, but it is not easy to investigate these people.

   First of all, these four people are currently not related to the oil painting robbery, just Luke's guess, there is not enough reason to investigate them.

  Secondly, these people have identities and status, and rash investigations without legitimate reasons are likely to cause some trouble.

  Luke is not afraid of trouble, but he doesn't want trouble either.

  He consulted with the deputy team, and handed over his speculation and the list of suspects to the other party.

The deputy team looked at the people on the list, and frowned involuntarily. He is not a timid person, but these rich people are really difficult to deal with. If there is any discomfort, they may find a lawyer or even a team of lawyers to sue you .

  Secondly, these people are all donors, and everyone has their own network of connections. Maybe these people still know the director. It's okay if they have legitimate reasons, but the problem now is that there is insufficient evidence in the investigation.

  The deputy team looked carefully at the profiles of these four people, "These four people like to collect, and they should have quite a few collections.

  Why don't we take the initiative to come to the door and tell them that the oil paintings of the Getty Museum have been robbed, and the robbers have not yet been caught.

  Through the investigation, it was found that this group of robbers may commit crimes continuously, and there are many precious collections in their homes, reminding them to pay attention to anti-theft.

  Through communication, we can check their reactions. If they are really buyers of oil paintings, they are likely to reveal some clues.

   Of course, this requires enough experience to judge.

  So, the two of us must investigate in person. "

  Luke said, "Would such an active offering of courtesies alert them?"

  The deputy team curled their lips, "This group of rich people has priority, and they are often flattered by others, and they have long been used to being courted.

  If they have nothing to do with the oil painting robbery, they should not have any doubts. They will only think that our robbery and murder department is "caring", and maybe they will thank the director when they meet at the party.

  If one of them is really the buyer of the oil painting robbery, maybe there will be suspicion and some reactions.

  It depends on our ability to discern. "

  The deputy team's proposal gave the police a reason to contact these suspects, but there were also some hidden worries.

  It is possible to startle the snake.

  Luke thought for a moment, "Let Matthew collect some more information about the four people, and I'll think about it."

   "OK, you are the captain."

  After the deputy team left the office, Luke took out his mobile phone and prepared to call Orti's number to see if he could get more detailed information from her.

  Cats have cat paths and mice have rat paths.

  However, before he finished dialing the number, the phone rang, "Dinglingling..."

   Coincidentally.

   It was Ortie who called.

  (end of this chapter)

Chapter end