Chapter 1194

"We have already taken a statement from the cattle farm owner once. Should we use the name of taking a statement to interrogate him again?" Wang Zhihao was still following the mode of an ordinary case.

For ordinary cases, if the police are a little stricter and bluff a couple of times during interrogation, ordinary suspects will easily confess.

People like the owner of the Mujian Cattle Farm, who was a second-generation rich kid by origin, hadn't suffered any hardships, had little contact with people in society, and was into art, belonged to the type of targets most easily interrogated.

Liu Jinghui, however, didn't wait for Jiang Yuan to answer and refused at the first opportunity: "Since we want to take the case seriously, then we should do it according to the standards of a major case. Even if it's a small case, we'll treat it as training. If it's not, then we should prepare fully before conducting the first interrogation."

Liu Jinghui's words weren't exactly polite, but they were logical.

If this case were a small case, then it should be done according to the standard, treating it as training. Otherwise, it naturally had to be conducted according to strict standards; otherwise, it would be rolling around with Jiang Yuan's reputation.

Wang Zhihao understood and said hurriedly: "It definitely has to be done according to the standard. I've also told the team here that everything must be done according to the standard."

"Can do. Then let's take the first interrogation as the goal and do the investigation first." Liu Jinghui made the decision in a few words, then looked at Jiang Yuan and said: "Shall we determine a direction?"

"I'm prepared to look at the footprints and surveillance; you can arrange the rest." Jiang Yuan said it very easily.

It was indeed a small case; there was no need for too complicated a process.

Liu Jinghui nodded and didn't play the game of modesty with Jiang Yuan again, only saying: "If this case isn't a random crime by coincidence, then some brains must have been used. Like this... have you checked the disposal of stolen goods?"

"Not yet." Wang Zhihao shook his head.

"Then let's check the channels for disposing of stolen goods first. Although the probability of a random crime is very low, we can't rule out that the perpetrator is someone in urgent need of money." Liu Jinghui paused and then said: "The fact that the perpetrator can recognize the value of the paintings is itself worth noting."

Wang Zhihao nodded in cooperation: "When you get to a place like a cattle farm and see paintings, most people will treat them as fakes; it's impossible to see them as valuable famous paintings, especially since there were two paintings not locked in the cabinet. The cattle farm owner hung them on the wall, and many people would treat them as crafts."

Wang Zhihao's reasoning here wasn't very rigorous in the second half. In fact, with the paintings in the cabinet as a base, it's not strange for a thief to take the paintings hanging on the wall while they're at it.

Liu Jinghui didn't say much about this aspect and sought common ground while reserving differences: "Then, let's take screening the channels for disposing of stolen goods as the first direction."

"Good."

Wang Zhihao agreed first, then hesitated slightly and said: "If it's screening the channels for disposing of stolen goods within Liyuan City, we can still... if it's a larger scope, we might not have the capability."

He wasn't embarrassed either; he was just a captain of the Criminal Police Detachment of Liyuan City. The detachment leader above him, and even the deputy bureau chief, could only cover the scope of Liyuan City. Even the bureau chief wouldn't dare say he knew the situation in the province like the back of his hand.

Liu Jinghui replied: "This is something I didn't consider perfectly. Regarding the channels for disposing of stolen goods, I'll talk to relevant colleagues at the Provincial Department."

Liu Jinghui was a person from the Provincial Department, and he did indeed have information in this regard.

Wang Zhihao then expressed: "Sorry to trouble you, Director Liu."

Disposing of stolen goods is a link where it's very easy for thieves to make mistakes, but not disposing of them often makes the theft lose its meaning.

In history, the famous "Case of the 100 Product Theft," the perpetrator stole 80 kilograms of gold from the mint with the code 615 in '61. The news reached the highest level directly, and the special task force established was naturally top-tier. In the end, it wasn't solved, which shows that the difficulty of solving theft cases is real. And the final solving of this case was the most interesting part; it was 20 years later, in the '80s, when the perpetrator took a portion of the gold to the bank to cash it in that the secret was revealed.

The same analogy is also suitable for the "Sunshine Supermarket Case" solved a couple of days ago. Because that supermarket owner had his own supermarket to dispose of stolen goods, it was very hard to discover when he stole things from other supermarkets.

As for disposing of stolen artwork, it actually has some special features. Some premeditated artwork thefts, especially thefts in places like art galleries and museums, often have buyers before the theft.

That is to say, thieves often take a customized route, belonging to an act of hiring where they take the order before doing the work. This situation is extremely prevalent in Europe. Some old European nobles are truly willing to spend a large sum of money to buy stolen artwork and then hide it deep in their "castles" for decades or even a century.

However, it's probably not easy for the domestic artwork market to reach this level.

A single non-boutique painting by Zhang Daqian alone doesn't seem to be able to attract an art thief of this level.

Liu Jinghui waved his hand and continued: "Second, regarding the inside job, just check it according to the normal process. However, looking at the current investigation progress, if it's not an inside job, this case becomes interesting."

Wang Zhihao's eyelids jumped as he listened. As a criminal police officer, who wants their case to be interesting!

Anyone who still has some expectations for their future, hearing someone like Liu Jinghui say it's interesting is like listening to a horror story.

Liu Jinghui, however, chuckled: "Actually, I don't think it looks like a random crime or an inside job. This Mujian Cattle Farm has been operating for some years, and the cattle farm owner has had a history of buying artwork for over 10 years. He also has paintings in his own home, but the perpetrator didn't go to his home and instead came to the cattle farm... Also, why was it stolen now? What situations have changed?"

Wang Zhihao looked up at Liu Jinghui.

The police officers in the auditorium began to answer in a chaotic manner.

"Must have obtained the information through some channel?"

"Doesn't necessarily have to be information given by cattle farm employees? The cattle farm owner or merchants coming and going might also know about this."

"Is it necessary for the cattle farm owner to commit the theft himself? Paintings like his can't be insured; he can't make much money by committing the theft himself."

"Then maybe he was targeted by someone during the process of selling the paintings or asking for prices."

"Selling paintings and asking for prices is your guess. Actually, there's no need to sell the paintings. He has these paintings in his hands; doesn't he show them off? Is there any group or forum or something where he shows them off? It's possible that he made someone notice."

All kinds of guesses were thrown out for free, making people unable to analyze for a moment.

Liu Jinghui listened earnestly; even for him, it was necessary to obtain new ideas.

Soon, Liu Jinghui summarized his point of view again and said: "I think it's very necessary to start from the information. How the thief obtained the information, why they stole from the cattle farm instead of the cattle farm owner's home—from this point, perhaps we can separate the suspects..."

Liu Jinghui didn't continue the reasoning further and turned to look at Jiang Yuan, asking: "Is there any new evidence?"

"I'm prepared to analyze the footprints in the cattle farm first and combine it with the surveillance to see. It might take a day." Jiang Yuan gave a time limit.

Liu Jinghui thought for a moment and said: "That's perfect; I'll analyze the issue of the information source here."

(End of chapter)