Eyes that are the same as those of evil

Chapter 110 The Army of Justice 12
To inspect the jewelry, we need to consult with the original owner, Jin Xiangyuan.

Zheng Yan sent Tan Ming, who looked a bit young, back to the interrogation room. Jin Xiangyuan had calmed down under the police's reassurance; only his red and swollen eyes and haggard appearance showed his sadness and pain.

Seeing the person in charge return, he asked in a hoarse voice, "May I go back now? The steamed bun shop is still open."

Tan Mingxian chatted with him for a while about everyday things: "I see you're not in good spirits. Although being busy can keep you from overthinking, being too tired will only be counterproductive. I suggest you take a break for two days to rest."

He shook his head: "Whenever I have a moment to myself, I think about that pool of blood in the bedroom... Has the murderer confessed? Did he tell me the whole story? Did Qu He instigate him? I need to see Qu He. Does that bitch know that her affair killed our son? She even had the nerve to have a huge argument with me this morning, saying I didn't take good care of our son..."

As he spoke, his emotions became agitated again.

Tan Ming gestured for a pause: "The case hasn't been fully investigated yet."

"Still haven't found out?" He was stunned, then pressed on, "What else hasn't been found out? Isn't Zhao Qingxiang the murderer? Didn't you say you found out about his crimes?"

“He is indeed the murderer, but according to his confession, he hid one of the stolen items. However, the recovered items are correct after your count. I suspect there was a problem during our search, so we need to re-examine these gold and silver jewelry.” Tan Ming said casually, his tone suggesting that he genuinely believed it was just a mistake by one of his own.

Jin Xiangyuan's face twitched, his trapped sadness like a half-faded piece of clothing forcibly pulled up, stuck in the middle, neither up nor down, mottled and jarring.

"...He hid something?"

“Yes, he’s really bold, always causing us trouble,” Tan Ming reached for the bag of jewelry. “He’s stuck on that part and can’t explain it clearly, so we have to show him the items again…”

Jin Xiangyuan held down the jewelry pouch.

Meeting the questioning gaze, he withdrew his hand and sighed, "Actually, let alone him, I'm not even sure if everything is complete, because I didn't buy most of the things. My mother and son are gone, so what difference does it make whether the things are found or not? I just want the murderer to pay with his life. So when I was taking inventory just now, I only checked if a few of the more meaningful pieces of jewelry were still there... Did he say which piece of jewelry he hid?"

"He stammered and didn't explain clearly, which is why we need to look at the things to recall. Mr. Jin, we'll only take half an hour, so don't worry about losing anything."

Although he had the right to choose whether or not to cooperate, under the intense gaze of several police officers, Jin Xiangyuan still handed over the items, his expression awkward and reluctant.

Once the items were in hand, a bag of jingling gold and silver jewelry was poured out and placed on the table in another interrogation room.

Zhao Qingxiang spotted the safety amulet immediately: "That's it! This is what I hid!"

With its red knot and warm, translucent white jade, even someone who can't identify jade types can sense the exquisite and expensive nature of this safety buckle just by looking at and touching it.

"Are you sure it's the same one?" Zheng Yan held the jade up to the light to examine it. "If the whole package was switched, then this is definitely not the one you stole."

Why would you use the exact same thing to switch the stolen goods?
Perhaps there's a difference between the two "stolen goods"—one genuine and one fake.

He placed the safety amulet in Zhao Qingxiang's hand: "Take another look and see if there's any difference."

For ordinary people, it is difficult to distinguish between real and fake jade, but they can still tell whether there are flaws or whether the workmanship is exquisite.

Zhao Qingxiang quickly said, "It is a bit different. This one is whiter and smoother, and there are no loose threads sticking out where the red string is tied."

“So someone really replaced the stolen goods with the same or even better items,” Xiao Chen said in surprise, and then analyzed, “This person must know exactly what jewelry was stolen, who the murderer in this theft and murder case is, and where the murderer hid the stolen goods.”

Such a person can only be one of Jin Xiangyuan and Qu He.

The case got interesting. Tan Jia looked at the safety amulet and shaped the dough in his hand into the shape of a safety amulet as well. Then he placed his dough safety amulet next to the real one, making the fake obvious at a glance.

"I've only ever seen people swap genuine goods for counterfeit ones. Why would someone swap genuine goods for counterfeit ones? It's even possible they're swapping them for themselves."

Zheng Yan: "Perhaps the genuine products are not their own."

Zhao Qingxiang's gaze followed the speaker, turning back and forth several times, before he suddenly realized—

"Did Jin Xiangyuan know I would steal things? He left fakes at home, and after I stole them, he replaced them with real ones. That way, the real ones could be taken openly by him. He got so much jewelry without buying it or spending any money. If they were all real, this would be worth more than 20,000 or 30,000 yuan, right?... He also knew about the milk box, so he must have known about my previous theft, but he pretended not to know... No, most of these things were bought by Qu He for their son. Were they real or fake when she bought them? If the real ones weren't hers..."

His brain is stuck here; he can't think of anything.

“But my son and mother are my own,” Xiao Chen pointed out the most puzzling point. “Could he really kill his own family for money? He’s financially well-off, doesn’t use drugs or gamble, and there’s no indication of that.”

"The murder of my family was an accident, right? After all, the killer we chose didn't harm anyone in the eleven crimes he committed." Tan Jia gestured to the dazed Zhao Qingxiang.

Xiao Chen suddenly realized: "It should have been just theft, but he knew who the thief was and could provide clues to the police at his own pace, guiding them to find the person. By the time the person was found, he had already switched the real and fake goods. The investigation of theft would not lead to the victim himself. The whole plan could be executed perfectly."

Unfortunately, no one expected that Zhao Qingxiang, a habitual thief, would be so emotional. Driven by fear, he killed someone, turning what was a simple theft into a high-profile murder case.

What was even more unexpected was that Zhao Qingxiang had secretly hidden a safety amulet.

Tan Ming shook his head: "This story really took an unexpected turn. But why would he do this? The genuine article isn't his; could Jin Xiangyuan be involved in jewelry smuggling?"

Tan Jia: "Jewelry smuggling cases usually occur at customs and borders, and the perpetrators are usually daigou (personal shoppers), right? The quantity would not be this small."

She picked out the gleaming gold plaque again, still quite interested in the phoenix pattern on it.

"Regardless, this thing doesn't look like it belongs to Jin Xiangyuan, and it probably wasn't bought by Qu He either. Phoenix pattern, golden peace token..."

She suddenly stopped as she picked up the item.

Zheng Yan looked at her: "What's wrong?"

"It's so heavy, it must weigh over 100 grams. If it's solid pure gold, it would be worth at least 100,000 yuan at the current gold price."

Moreover, she suspected it wasn't solid gold, so she carefully poked the top of the plaque with the string attached using a plastic knife she carried with her.

"It's a soft outer layer; I guess it's gold wrapped around jade."

Zheng Yan ordered his men to boldly open the jewelry, and sure enough, they found a jade plaque inside. They then opened several other gold and silver ornaments, and without exception, each one contained jade.

Everyone stared blankly at the pile of jade on the table, shocked.

“Good jade is priceless,” Zheng Yan took a deep breath. “Jin Xiangyuan has done something quite significant. Green Wolf, didn’t you have someone negotiating business with Jin Xiangyuan? Go ask your 'Staring Cat' specialist what clues he’s uncovered.”

(End of this chapter)