Treasure Hunt Tycoon

Chapter 469: While the Village Road May Be Slippery, Perils from the Heart Could Be Worse

BAC referred to blood alcohol content, the measurement of the alcohol concentration in the blood. In the US, the legal limit on a person’s blood alcohol content while driving was .08 percent.

Frank and York were definitely over the limit. It appeared as though Li Du had good intentions, but he had actually set them up.

Some male police officers came forward to pull them away, but they still resisted. Frank pushed the police officer and shouted, ”I will comply with the investigation, but first let me find out about our—”

The police officer who was pushed was now angered; American police did not care about civilized enforcement after being assaulted.

Frank’s action was considered an assault on the police officer. The officer pulled out his revolver and yelled, ”Squat down! Hands on your head! Or I will act with violence!”

York and Frank were now terrified and could only squat down despondently, with their hands on their heads.

Li Du squatted down beside them. ”Why were you guys so agitated? This is a police station, not your California territory. Better not throw any more tantrums here!”

Frank glared at him viciously. ”Son of a b*tch—I knew it! I knew it! You planned all this, you’re with the three d*mn cheats!”

Li Du innocently spread his hands out. ”What’re you saying? This has nothing to do with me. I still have no idea what exactly happened.”

Before long, the truth was out.

The three of them were indeed cheats but not just any cheats. They were from the Gulf Islands and had worked either at the museum or taught archaeology at the local university—they really knew a thing or two about appraising artifacts.

After arriving in America, their educational qualifications were not recognized and so they were not able to find good jobs. They had been recruited by Ma Zhi-an to engage in fraud and cheat fellow countrymen. The scam this time had been initiated by Ma Zhi-an. He had paid special attention to the Chinese people in Arizona in search of making a quick buck.

He had heard of Li Du and knew that he was a rising star in the storage auction trade in Flagstaff, having bought many flashy cars within a short span of time. He deduced that Li Du had likely bought many valuable items at auctions. After meeting Li Du in Phoenix, he realized that his chance had arrived.

In the beginning, he worked hard to maintain his relationship with Li Du, gaining his trust with sincerity by sharing relevant news. For this part of the scam, the auction in Page was key. Zhang Kai, the one who had shared news with Li Du, was also a member of their team. The fake famille rose porcelain ware had been placed in the storage unit by Zhang Kai.

The reason for Zhang Kai sharing the news was to gain Li Du’s trust, as well as to have a reason to introduce him to the three appraisers. After Li Du had gotten the famille rose, Ma Zhi-an introduced the three men under the pretext of admiring the porcelain ware. This was all part of the scheme.

According to plan, there were two reasons for them to appraise the famille rose.

The first was to demonstrate their abilities and gain Li Du’s trust. The second was the possibility that when Li Du suffered the disappointment of realizing the porcelain ware was fake, he might have been more willing to reveal the other valuable items he had on hand.

They had a foolproof plan, built upon the basis of gaining Li Du’s trust. They had actually succeeded for a while.

But Li Du was too cautious, and had not given them all of his antiques to look at.

They had been planning on continuing with the plan and staying in Flagstaff to get ahold of Li Du’s antiques—how could they have known that someone had called the police on them?

Frank and York were in a panic, and asked the police officer, ”Are they not appraisers from Christie’s? Then what about the items they have in the vault at Chase Bank?”

Hearing that a bank was involved, the police were on the alert. The next morning, they contacted the bank.

They learned that the Flagstaff JP Morgan Chase Bank did not have any partnership with Christie’s to provide complimentary storage for auction items, and no Christie’s staff members had gone to the bank to deposit anything.

Frank exploded. ”Impossible! We just went yesterday to deposit our item! Look, this is the deposit slip—there’s a company stamp of the bank on it!