“Really?” Ran Tao looked at Cui Lizhu in surprise. “Quick, tell me, what did you find out? Tao Xiang had nothing with him!”
“Exactly! It’s strange that he had nothing with him! Look…” Cui Lizhu pointed at the other visitors at the exhibition, then said, “Besides the staff, everyone else is wearing a visitor’s pass.”
“Yeah! I never noticed that at all,” Zeng Ke said. “At the cultural relics exhibition, the theme was Silk Road! All of the visitors who bought tickets received a visitor’s pass as a keepsake!”
“So what?” Rao Tao still didn’t understand.
“Since Tao Xiang didn’t appear in the surveillance videos at any of the entrances, nor did he have a visitor’s pass, this must mean that he and his ally didn’t enter from any of the official entrances!” Zhao Yu pondered this a bit more, then said, “Lizhu was trying to explain that they must have entered from somewhere else…”
“What the h*ck? This king of the thieves is so stingy!” Ran Tao sighed. “They stole a hugely expensive gemstone, yet they weren’t even willing to buy a ticket?”
“No!” Cui Lizhu continued, “I know my dad well. As he was going for the Tamil Star, he wouldn’t take any actions recklessly! He would first get to know the ins and outs of the exhibition before doing anything!”
“Huh? Then… Do you mean…” Ran Tao’s eyebrows were tightly knit. “Tao Xiang and his ally had been living in the exhibition hall for awhile, casing the place?”
Cui Lizhu quickly attempted to explain, “Well, I calculated the timeline. From the time when my dad told me that he wanted to close a big deal and left the house until the news of the Gem Theft Case showed up on TV, it was merely three or four days! In other words, my dad only had two days to check out the venue before he took action!”
She then added, “At any highly secured place like the exhibition, two days is obviously not really sufficient time to properly case a joint! Even thought my dad was a pro, he wouldn’t be able to make plans alone in such a short period of time, let alone getting his hands on that gemstone!” Cui Lizhu looked at everyone as she spoke. “So… So…”
Zhao Yu said, “You are suspecting that your dad’s ally was most likely someone from the inside staff of the exhibition! And, it’s that person that provided your dad the with the accessibility to enter and exit unseen!”
This new theory caught everyone by surprise.
“Yes! Something along those lines!” Cui Lizhu nodded in agreement. “My dad is a careful person. If it wasn’t perfectly safe and planned out, he wouldn’t try it!”
Wu Xiumin quickly said, “The ally must be a staff person! Moreover, it must someone in a place of high authority!”
“Hold on… Take a look at this first…” Suddenly, Zeng Ke seemed to find something.
He quickly projected his discovery up on the screen. “Look at this part. This is the last time that Tao Xiang appeared in any of the surveillance video footage. He walked towards the west of the exhibition on the third floor. After that, he never appeared again! This area was a private zone, meaning that there weren’t any emergency stairways or windows!”
He then added, “There’s only… Look…” As Zeng Ke studied the layout plan of the exhibition, he was stupefied and unable to even finish his sentence.
“What? Let me see…” Ran Tao came before Zeng Ke and read the location where Zeng Ke’s finger was pointed at, “Director of India… What… What does that mean? Why are you not saying anything?”
“Dumba**, AK!” Wu Xiumin reminded.
“What? I’m 47! Oh… Oh oh…” Ran Tao then understood her meaning. “You mean that Tao Xiang’s ally was the owner of the gemstone, AK? Oh my God! Then… Isn’t this identical with the inference of the special force back then?”
“Besides the Tamil Star,” Zeng Ke explained, “Akanksha had another few collections that were all there at the same exhibition! However, he didn’t attend the exhibition personally. Instead, everything was done on his behalf by another person in charge!
“I read over the exhibition’s work log. According to the rules, before participating in the exhibition, the owners of the exhibits had the rights to monitor and weigh in on the security measures! So, they should know about the security procedures of the exhibition. If they were to pass that information along to Tao Xiang, he could naturally have enough time to adequately check out the venue!”
“That’s true!” Wu Xiumin said. “But, these are all merely guesses. There’s still no evidence!”
“Who would have guessed that at the end of the day, the mastermind of the Gem Theft Case is that Indian dude!” Ran Tao exclaimed.
“Did you notice that we seem to be running around in circles, even after having investigated this case for so long. We are now back at our original point!” Zeng Ke said, then added, “It is clearly stated on Wu Fangfang’s information that both China and India sent out spies, as they were certain that the gemstone wasn’t with AK! So, if we really want to find the gemstone, we have to ask Tao Xiang!”
“No, that is not exactly right,” Zhao Yu said. “At least we know that Tao Xiang’s ally is related to the Indian! So, we can look into the staff members who were working with India. Then, we shall see who is the most suspicious one!”
“No no no..” Cui Lizhu quickly said. “Team Leader, you misunderstood me. The ally is the ally, while the Indian is the Indian! My dad might be working with the Indian to help them steal the gemstone, but the ally that did this with him is definitely another disciple under the same master! Trust me, the Indian would definitely not understand the secret codes!”
“Oh… That’s true…” Zhao Yu pondered this fact seriously and thought that Cui Lizhu’s logic definitely made sense.
It seemed like Tao Xiang’s ally was definitely someone very important. Moreover, the Tamil Star might really still be in his hands!
Zeng Ke suddenly sighed in disappointment. “I just read something in Wu Fangfang’s information. It turns out that the special force was just like us back then. They highly suspected the team from India and thought that they were the ones that leaked the security information!”
He then added, “There is even a list of suspects’ names. Among them, there was a person named Lu Gang. He was listed as the prime suspect. He was the person in charge of all of AK’s affairs. As such, he took care of everything regarding the Tamil Star!”
He took a breath, then kept retelling the facts. “Something really bizarre happened to him though, as just when the special force was investigating him, there was a gas leakage in his house. Both he and his fiancee died! Although it looked like an accident, the special force suspected that it was most likely AK who had killed them to shut them up! And, since Lu Gang’s death, AK’s deputy was nowhere to be found. The police authority in India tried to look for him, but they couldn’t find him! Then, as time dragged on, they just gave up…”
“Gosh. It’d be great if Lu Gang was still alive!” Wu Xiumin said. “Maybe, it’s this person who connected Tao Xiang with AK?”
As they spoke among themselves, all offering different hypotheses, Zhao Yu beckoned for Zeng Ke to show Cui Lizhu Lu Gang’s information and photos. However, Cui Lizhu could only look at it and shook her head. She had never seen the person!
Zhao Yu didn’t stop there, but told her to look through all of the suspects that the police had listed, just to see if there was anyone who they had left out. Although Zhao Yu was anxious, he could faintly feel that he was close to finding some answers!
“Really?” Ran Tao looked at Cui Lizhu in surprise. “Quick, tell me, what did you find out? Tao Xiang had nothing with him!”
“Exactly! It’s strange that he had nothing with him! Look…” Cui Lizhu pointed at the other visitors at the exhibition, then said, “Besides the staff, everyone else is wearing a visitor’s pass.”
“Yeah! I never noticed that at all,” Zeng Ke said. “At the cultural relics exhibition, the theme was Silk Road! All of the visitors who bought tickets received a visitor’s pass as a keepsake!”
“So what?” Rao Tao still didn’t understand.
“Since Tao Xiang didn’t appear in the surveillance videos at any of the entrances, nor did he have a visitor’s pass, this must mean that he and his ally didn’t enter from any of the official entrances!” Zhao Yu pondered this a bit more, then said, “Lizhu was trying to explain that they must have entered from somewhere else…”
“What the h*ck? This king of the thieves is so stingy!” Ran Tao sighed. “They stole a hugely expensive gemstone, yet they weren’t even willing to buy a ticket?”
“No!” Cui Lizhu continued, “I know my dad well. As he was going for the Tamil Star, he wouldn’t take any actions recklessly! He would first get to know the ins and outs of the exhibition before doing anything!”
“Huh? Then… Do you mean…” Ran Tao’s eyebrows were tightly knit. “Tao Xiang and his ally had been living in the exhibition hall for awhile, casing the place?”
Cui Lizhu quickly attempted to explain, “Well, I calculated the timeline. From the time when my dad told me that he wanted to close a big deal and left the house until the news of the Gem Theft Case showed up on TV, it was merely three or four days! In other words, my dad only had two days to check out the venue before he took action!”
She then added, “At any highly secured place like the exhibition, two days is obviously not really sufficient time to properly case a joint! Even thought my dad was a pro, he wouldn’t be able to make plans alone in such a short period of time, let alone getting his hands on that gemstone!” Cui Lizhu looked at everyone as she spoke. “So… So…”
Zhao Yu said, “You are suspecting that your dad’s ally was most likely someone from the inside staff of the exhibition! And, it’s that person that provided your dad the with the accessibility to enter and exit unseen!”
This new theory caught everyone by surprise.
“Yes! Something along those lines!” Cui Lizhu nodded in agreement. “My dad is a careful person. If it wasn’t perfectly safe and planned out, he wouldn’t try it!”
Wu Xiumin quickly said, “The ally must be a staff person! Moreover, it must someone in a place of high authority!”
“Hold on… Take a look at this first…” Suddenly, Zeng Ke seemed to find something.
He quickly projected his discovery up on the screen. “Look at this part. This is the last time that Tao Xiang appeared in any of the surveillance video footage. He walked towards the west of the exhibition on the third floor. After that, he never appeared again! This area was a private zone, meaning that there weren’t any emergency stairways or windows!”
He then added, “There’s only… Look…” As Zeng Ke studied the layout plan of the exhibition, he was stupefied and unable to even finish his sentence.
“What? Let me see…” Ran Tao came before Zeng Ke and read the location where Zeng Ke’s finger was pointed at, “Director of India… What… What does that mean? Why are you not saying anything?”
“Dumba**, AK!” Wu Xiumin reminded.
“What? I’m 47! Oh… Oh oh…” Ran Tao then understood her meaning. “You mean that Tao Xiang’s ally was the owner of the gemstone, AK? Oh my God! Then… Isn’t this identical with the inference of the special force back then?”
“Besides the Tamil Star,” Zeng Ke explained, “Akanksha had another few collections that were all there at the same exhibition! However, he didn’t attend the exhibition personally. Instead, everything was done on his behalf by another person in charge!
“I read over the exhibition’s work log. According to the rules, before participating in the exhibition, the owners of the exhibits had the rights to monitor and weigh in on the security measures! So, they should know about the security procedures of the exhibition. If they were to pass that information along to Tao Xiang, he could naturally have enough time to adequately check out the venue!”
“That’s true!” Wu Xiumin said. “But, these are all merely guesses. There’s still no evidence!”
“Who would have guessed that at the end of the day, the mastermind of the Gem Theft Case is that Indian dude!” Ran Tao exclaimed.
“Did you notice that we seem to be running around in circles, even after having investigated this case for so long. We are now back at our original point!” Zeng Ke said, then added, “It is clearly stated on Wu Fangfang’s information that both China and India sent out spies, as they were certain that the gemstone wasn’t with AK! So, if we really want to find the gemstone, we have to ask Tao Xiang!”
“No, that is not exactly right,” Zhao Yu said. “At least we know that Tao Xiang’s ally is related to the Indian! So, we can look into the staff members who were working with India. Then, we shall see who is the most suspicious one!”
“No no no..” Cui Lizhu quickly said. “Team Leader, you misunderstood me. The ally is the ally, while the Indian is the Indian! My dad might be working with the Indian to help them steal the gemstone, but the ally that did this with him is definitely another disciple under the same master! Trust me, the Indian would definitely not understand the secret codes!”
“Oh… That’s true…” Zhao Yu pondered this fact seriously and thought that Cui Lizhu’s logic definitely made sense.
It seemed like Tao Xiang’s ally was definitely someone very important. Moreover, the Tamil Star might really still be in his hands!
Zeng Ke suddenly sighed in disappointment. “I just read something in Wu Fangfang’s information. It turns out that the special force was just like us back then. They highly suspected the team from India and thought that they were the ones that leaked the security information!”
He then added, “There is even a list of suspects’ names. Among them, there was a person named Lu Gang. He was listed as the prime suspect. He was the person in charge of all of AK’s affairs. As such, he took care of everything regarding the Tamil Star!”
He took a breath, then kept retelling the facts. “Something really bizarre happened to him though, as just when the special force was investigating him, there was a gas leakage in his house. Both he and his fiancee died! Although it looked like an accident, the special force suspected that it was most likely AK who had killed them to shut them up! And, since Lu Gang’s death, AK’s deputy was nowhere to be found. The police authority in India tried to look for him, but they couldn’t find him! Then, as time dragged on, they just gave up…”
“Gosh. It’d be great if Lu Gang was still alive!” Wu Xiumin said. “Maybe, it’s this person who connected Tao Xiang with AK?”
As they spoke among themselves, all offering different hypotheses, Zhao Yu beckoned for Zeng Ke to show Cui Lizhu Lu Gang’s information and photos. However, Cui Lizhu could only look at it and shook her head. She had never seen the person!
Zhao Yu didn’t stop there, but told her to look through all of the suspects that the police had listed, just to see if there was anyone who they had left out. Although Zhao Yu was anxious, he could faintly feel that he was close to finding some answers!
