Chapter 2479: Combined Case Handling

Having obtained the information, the two returned to the police station. On the way, Gao Chongjiu stopped at his usual tea house to find an informant and told him to keep an eye on the Han family.

"Why not just arrest him?"

"In case he didn't confess everything," Gao Chongjiu said. "We are beating the grass to scare the snake. If he has a clear conscience, he won't move. If he has ghosts in his heart, he will definitely toss about blindly in the next few days. We'll just follow behind and watch."

"Master Jiu, you really have good methods." Li Ziyu offered a compliment, unconsciously bringing out the old address.

"Eh, eh, Ah Yu, you should skip the address 'Master Jiu'." Gao Chongjiu was very humble. "Although there is quite an age gap between us, I feel we hit it off like old friends. Consider it a friendship that transcends age. Since I am a few years older than you, just call me 'Brother,' how about that?"

"Good, good." Li Ziyu nodded repeatedly. This was much more intimate than calling him "Old Gao."

Back at the station, a police officer delivered a report. It turned out to be the appraisal report for the silver ingot Gao Chongjiu had confiscated from the money changer. Li Ziyu opened it and was startled.

It stated that the confiscated evidence, the silver ingot with the "Sanjiangmao" stamp, was identified as so-called "Zhuti Silver," or what the Australians called "arsenic white copper."

"Not silver?!" Gao Chongjiu was also surprised.

"No." Li Ziyu handed him the report. "The victim's police report listed five twenty-tael white silver ingots—this is obviously not what he was robbed of."

"What if his silver ingots were Zhuti Silver? By the way, this arsenic white copper looks exactly like silver, only the weight is different. If lead is poured inside, you really can't tell at all..."

"That's hard to say." Li Ziyu thought, this Chen Ding said it was silver, but no one saw it. It was just talk. Who can prove that what he brought was white silver and not this 'arsenic white copper'?

Now that Chen Ding was in Lingao, there was no way to question him in detail face-to-face. Even if asked face-to-face, he proably only knew that what he brought from home was "silver." As for whether it was "Zhuti Silver," few people in Guangzhou knew the difference, and Chen Ding might not necessarily understand either.

Was this silver ingot the stolen property from the abduction and robbery case? Yes or no would affect the direction of the investigation. Neither of them dared to draw a conclusion easily.

Li Ziyu's eyes suddenly lit up, saying: "What did Han Changle say? He stole it from a young man walking from outside the city into the city..."

Gao Chongjiu immediately understood: "Great Market Street is inside the city..."

In that case, this silver was likely not what Chen Ding lost. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain why someone would deliberately send silver robbed from inside the city to outside the city and then send it back into the city—wasn't this just tossing about for nothing?

"Just don't know if what Han Changle said is true or not."

"In my opinion, what he said should be true. Anyway, we also sent people to watch him, not afraid of him making waves."

"But this way, this case still has no follow-up." Li Ziyu was very disappointed. He blinked his eyes, feeling that he had overlooked something, but couldn't remember what.

"Let's go ask the money changer!" After trying hard to "deduce" for a long time, Li Ziyu thought it was better to follow what the instructor said during training in Lingao: when encountering unsolvable problems, look more and ask more; maybe there will be some clues that were previously ignored.

Although money changers were illegal, the Criminal Investigation Section knew almost all the money changers in Guangzhou city. The reason for tolerating their existence was, firstly, they had little impact on the financial system and couldn't stir up big waves; secondly, they were indispensable "channels" for people engaging in illegal activities, functioning as the eyes and ears of the police in the lower strata.

The money changer was named Yu San. Under the rule of the Great Ming, he specialized in selling inferior small coins like "sand shells" and "Guang pieces," and also bought and sold various "tide silver" and rotten silver. After the issuance of the new Australian currency, he started the black market business of currency exchange, swapping silver dollars and banknotes with loose silver, making considerable profits.

Yu San knew his business was illegal and that the Australians could fix him in minutes, so he was always very cooperative with police investigations.

"Master Jiu, I said it yesterday. I exchanged this silver from Han Changle. Although the cut was a bit steep, his silver was of unknown origin anyway—now I've lost my silver, and he won't pay me back..."

"Your skill in exchanging silver is no good; you even exchanged for Zhuti Silver." Gao Chongjiu laughed. "If you sell this to someone else, it'd be strange if you didn't get beaten to death..."

"Damn it!" Yu San's face changed. "This silver... the quality is good, and the weight is substantial. I even cut it open, no lead core."

"No need to discuss what silver it is." Gao Chongjiu waved his hand. "Let me ask you, did you feel anything strange about this silver? Was there anything different about Han Changle compared to usual?"

"Nothing strange, Old Han was not strange either." Yu San blinked.

"Think again. About this matter, from the person to the silver, was there anything amiss?"

Yu San pondered for a moment and said: "If there is anything special, it's that this is the first time I've seen the stamp on this silver."

Yu San said that ever since he started in this business, he had seen all kinds of stamps. Not only in Guangzhou city but also the names of smelting shops in big places outside. But it was indeed the first time seeing this stamp.

"Because it was the first time seeing it, this lowly one specially cut the silver open..."

Li Ziyu suddenly shouted: "I remember!"

This startled both Gao Chongjiu and Yu San. Li Ziyu excitedly said: "I remember! I remember!"

He grabbed Gao Chongjiu: "Go, let's go back to the station!"

Although Gao Chongjiu was a bit confused, he roughly knew that Li Ziyu must have suddenly realized some new clue. He immediately said to Yu San: "Don't run around these few days; we might ask you questions at any time!"

"I have a home and business in Guangzhou; where can I run?" Yu San said. "You two can find me anytime if there's business."

Li Ziyu returned to the station and immediately called a police officer to go to the archives to retrieve a case file. After a while, a thick file was delivered to the office.

"Brother Jiu, look at this!" Li Ziyu handed the file to Gao Chongjiu.

Gao Chongjiu took it and saw a label on the file: 1635 South Scissors Lane Wang Xiuzhu Residence Homicide Case. Memories of the past instantly flooded his mind. Correct, the sensational "Guangzhou Witchcraft Case" originated from here. Li Ziyu, standing before him, also rose to prominence from a series of "strange cases" in South Scissors Lane.

The Wang Xiuzhu residence homicide case was later combined with the "Headless Case" as part of the Witchcraft Case. However, although the Witchcraft Case was cracked, the true mastermind behind the scenes was not caught, and the murderer who killed Wang Xiuzhu was not found.

"This..."

"Look at the evidence pages!" Li Ziyu said excitedly.

Gao Chongjiu flipped over to look carefully and immediately understood: "So it's like this!"

"I was the one who went to Jufeng Establishment to investigate the evidence back then. The silver ingots searched from Widow Wang's house were just like this: Sanjiangmao stamp, Zhuti Silver!"

"And a lot of this so-called arsenic copper or drug silver or whatever was found later when arresting the evil Daoists!" Gao Chongjiu pondered. "So, this matter is actually connected to the remnants of the Witchcraft Case!"

"Correct. And Shopkeeper Shen said that this Sanjiangmao stamp belonged to a smelting shop in Foshan that was wiped out decades ago. It hasn't been in circulation for decades. So silver stamped with Sanjiangmao must be related to this matter."

"Then this Chen Ding who had his silver robbed..."

"It is highly likely he is also involved in this—even if he is innocent, there must be some clues connecting to him. I will go report this now, and arrest Chen Ding as soon as he returns." Li Ziyu was very certain.

Gao Chongjiu really admired this Little Brother Li now; fortunately, he remembered this case from two years ago! Otherwise, they would still be completely in the dark!

Li Ziyu immediately went to report to Wu Xiang, suggesting restarting the investigation of the Witchcraft Case.

"The investigation of the Witchcraft Case is currently the responsibility of the Bureau of Political Security. We only assist and cooperate." Wu Xiang thought for a moment and said, "I think you shouldn't mention the Witchcraft Case for now. Concentrate on investigating the ins and outs of these silvers first—who is casting these silver ingots and why convey them into the city. The matter is probably not that simple..."

"Since the Witchcraft Case is not under our jurisdiction, I suggest combining the investigation with the counterfeit currency case." Li Ziyu continued to propose. "These drug silvers even fooled the private money dealers. If they enter circulation, they will probably deceive many common people."

Wu Xiang considered for a moment and said: "Follow your idea. Combine the cases. Your mission remains the same. Report any clues investigated directly to me. In addition, Chen Ding's matter is relatively complicated. Without my written order, you cannot arrest people; you can only question him in the name of assisting solving the caase. Understood?"

"Yes, Comrade Section Chief!" Li Ziyu excitedly gave a salute. He seemed to see himself rising another level on the Senate's rank table.

Coming out of the Section Chief's office, he realized he had rejoiced too early. Although there was a major breakthrough with the Sanjiangmao stamp, the case still had no specific breakthrough point. After discussing with Gao Chongjiu, they decided to proceed from several aspects.

First, notify private money dealers and the local chamber of commerce to watch for the appearance of silver with the "Sanjiangmao" stamp. Once found, report immediately, and try to ascertain the identity of the person exchanging or using it.

Second, continue to track down the remnants of the abduction case or the influx of new "paihua" criminals. Gao Chongjiu judged that since the Witchcraft Case, locals doing this trade had been almost wiped out, and the rest were mostly in hiding, so it was likely done by outsiders unaware of the situation.

Third, confirm the current whereabouts of personnel from various smelting shops in Guangzhou City through a comprehensive check.

(End of Chapter)