I am a super cop

In the courtyard, Lu Weiwei, feeling somewhat awkward due to Zhang Meng's rudeness, quickly came over and reminded him, "Mr. Zhang, what do you mean by this?"

"Don't look for me, that thing is already mine, I don't want to return it." Zhang Meng leaned back in his rocking chair, speaking with complete nonchalance.

Lu Weiwei was almost amused by his behavior, and quickly came over to remind him again, "Mr. Zhang, can we not be so willful? This is stolen goods. How can you not return stolen goods? We will pursue and recover them according to the law."

Seeing Lu Weiwei's words, Zhang Meng didn't seem to appreciate them.

This infuriated Lu Weiwei, who retorted irritably, "Uncle Zhang, I think your attitude is very problematic right now."

"Is there a problem? I don't think there's a problem." Zhang Meng seemed unconcerned about Lu Weiwei's feelings and continued to do as he pleased.

Lu Weiwei had no other choice but to look at Gu Chen.

Gu Chen observed Zhang Meng for a while and found him quite interesting. He knew the goods were stolen, but he still refused to return them.

Xu Lang had contacted him by phone before, but he was turned away.

The police have come to his door to discuss this issue, but Zhang Meng remains unmoved.

Clearly, Zhang Meng wasn't stupid; he knew it was his fault, but he was acting somewhat shamelessly.

Or rather, it's about taking advantage of one's age and seniority.

Of course, Gu Chen could tell that Zhang Meng was somewhat guilty, so Gu Chen quickly asked again:

"Mr. Zhang, is there something troubling you?"

"What difficulties?" Taken aback by Gu Chen's sharp question, Zhang Meng pretended not to understand.

"I do not know what you're talking about?"

"What I mean is, are you having some kind of trouble? Or does that gold watch have any special meaning for you?"

Taken aback by Gu Chen's question, Zhang Meng pretended not to care and replied:
"I still don't quite understand what you're talking about? What do you mean by meaning or meaning? It's just buying and selling."

"I'm afraid it's not just a simple transaction, is it?" Gu Chen walked back and forth beside Zhang Meng, and said slowly:
"You must just be a retired chemical plant worker, and your pension probably isn't that much."

"But if you spend 32 yuan at once to buy an expensive gold watch, then this gold watch must have some special meaning for you."

"Otherwise, why wouldn't you return this gold watch?"

Hearing Gu Chen's explanation, Zhang Meng was stunned for a moment. Although Gu Chen's words made him feel uneasy, Zhang Meng still had to remain calm.

After chuckling twice, Zhang Meng slowly said, "Officer, you really like to overthink things, don't you?"

"To be honest, I don't know where I put that gold watch."

"What do you mean?" Upon hearing this, Lu Weiwei felt as if the sky had fallen.

Zhang Meng, however, said unhurriedly, "What I mean is, I don't know where I put that gold watch either."

"You're talking nonsense." Hearing Zhang Meng's sophistry, Lu Weiwei became anxious, and her tone became urgent:

"You clearly don't want to hand over the item, so you're deliberately making up that it's missing. You must have hidden it."

"Hehe, little girl, how can you say that?" Seeing Lu Weiwei getting agitated, Zhang Meng chuckled and said, "Really, I really don't know where I put that thing."

"Mr. Zhang, let's stop joking around," Gu Chen said seriously, seeing Zhang Meng's recklessness and disregard for the law.
“We are recovering stolen goods in accordance with the law. If you refuse to cooperate, we will also act in accordance with the law.”

“You should know that hiding stolen goods and refusing to hand them over is also a crime. There’s no need to make yourself look bad over a watch.”

Although Gu Chen was warning Zhang Meng, he still gave the retired old man a lot of face and spoke in a relatively gentle tone.

However, Zhang Meng clearly understood Gu Chen's good intentions. He seemed to be thinking, but after a brief moment of thought, he suddenly raised his chin and slowly said:
"Excuse me, officers, please go back. I really don't know where that watch went. Maybe I lost it. Who knows? I'm old and my memory isn't very good."

Seeing that Zhang Meng had said this, Gu Chen knew that this time they might have encountered a tough opponent.

It was obvious that Zhang Meng didn't want to return the watch.

So he deliberately used this method to resist the police investigation, but faced with Zhang Meng's lack of cooperation, Gu Chen could not forcibly search him.

So Gu Chen kindly advised, "Mr. Zhang, I hope you can be more aware of this."

"That watch may have some special meaning to you, otherwise you wouldn't have spent 32 to buy it."

"You know, 32 is a considerable sum for you. You bought this watch but insisted on not handing it over. Obviously, this watch is very important to you."

With a soft sigh, Gu Chen continued, "Of course, I understand your feelings. Perhaps we can try a different approach."

"For example, you return the stolen goods first, and after we have handled the case, you can communicate with the owner and sell the watch to you."

"If the other party is willing, you can buy it back at the original price. If the other party is not willing, we will communicate with them to see if they will agree."

Seeing the subtle change in Zhang Meng's expression, Gu Chen added, "Of course, perhaps you know the owner of that watch."

"So there must be some subtle relationship between the two of you that makes you want to get that watch."

"Perhaps this is just a secret between you and the owner. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't."

Gu Chen gave many reasons, but when he said the last one, Zhang Meng's expression changed slightly.

Gu Chen noticed all these subtle changes in his facial expressions.

Gu Chen smiled slightly and continued, "Perhaps we will go to the owner of this watch and have a good talk with him to see how much this watch means to you."

"Hoo." Hearing Gu Chen's words, Zhang Meng seemed to be in a bad mood. He also let out a heavy breath and slowly said:

"Say whatever you want, I need to rest now, so I won't see you off."

Seeing that Zhang Meng had given him the order to leave, Gu Chen knew he couldn't stay any longer.

However, Gu Chen could tell that Zhang Meng was very sensitive about the owner of the stolen watch.

This might be why he figured out why Zhang Meng was unwilling to return the watch.

Realizing that it was impossible to get Zhang Meng to cooperate now, Gu Chen didn't insist. After a brief farewell to Zhang Meng, he hurriedly left.

……

……

On the drive back to the Furong branch, Lu Weiwei, sitting in the passenger seat, crossed her arms and said in a rather irritable tone:

"This old man is too stubborn, he's simply unreasonable."

Turning to look at Gu Chen, Lu Weiwei asked him again, "Junior Brother Gu, is he unreasonable?"

"Mm." Gu Chen smiled slightly and nodded in agreement.

"Exactly! That stolen goods weren't even his. Why should he keep them? That's illegal." "I think someone his age, still a company employee, should have that much awareness, right?"

"Of course." Hearing Lu Weiwei's complaint, Gu Chen nodded silently and continued:
"Obviously, he knows what he's doing is wrong, but he insists on doing it anyway. What do you think is the reason?"

Seeing Gu Chen turn to look at her, Lu Weiwei was stunned for a moment, then shook her head:

"do not know."

“I think the problem lies with the owner of the lost item,” Gu Chen said, shaking his right hand.

"The answer lies with the owner?" Upon hearing Gu Chen's words, Lu Weiwei was stunned for a moment, and blurted out without further ado:

"What does this have to do with the owner? Does he have some kind of connection with the owner? It can't be such a coincidence, can it?"

"His expression says a lot," Gu Chen added.

"You mean, Zhang Meng might know the owner of the lost item?" Lu Weiwei looked at Gu Chen with a serious expression.

Gu Chen nodded slightly: "Yes, maybe he knows him, and maybe he feels that returning it is unacceptable to him, so even though he knows it's stolen goods, he refuses to give it back."

"Obviously, there is a reason for this, and as for what that reason is, I think the problem lies here."

“Then we should investigate this thoroughly.” Hearing Gu Chen say this, Lu Weiwei also took out her phone and started calling He Junchao as she spoke: “I should ask He Junchao to help us investigate the information of the owner of the lost property.”

As they were talking, the call connected, and Lu Weiwei quickly asked, "He Junchao, who is the owner of the watch we went to look for? Can you help me investigate?"

"The owner? Well... wait a moment." Seeing Lu Weiwei's request, He Junchao immediately began his investigation.

Lu Weiwei nodded and said, "Hurry up."

Thirty seconds later, He Junchao responded from the other end of the phone: "Lu Weiwei, I checked the owner of the lost item. He is an entrepreneur named Wang Tianming, who is in the building materials business."

“Wang Tianming? Send me his personal information and contact details,” Lu Weiwei said.

“Okay, I’ve sent it to you,” He Junchao said.

The two exchanged a few words briefly before hanging up the phone.

Lu Weiwei sighed, glanced at the message on her phone, and turned to look at Gu Chen, saying:
"This Wang Tianming must also be having an affair with Hu Xue, otherwise why would he have his things stolen?"

"He doesn't seem like a good guy, but why didn't Zhang Meng give Wang Tianming his watch?"

"Could it be that Zhang Meng really knows him?"

"Who knows?" Gu Chen, who was driving, smiled slightly and then said:

"Senior Sister Lu, did Wang Tianming only lose this one watch?"

"Yes." Lu Weiwei looked at the form she had photographed on her phone and said slowly:

“I took a look, and Hu Xue’s list only includes one gold watch that she stole from Wang Tianming.”

"But Wang Tianming's furniture was not moved out because Wang Tianming and Hu Xue had known each other for a long time."

"At that time, Hu Xue probably wouldn't have been so bold, so she only stole the watch that Wang Tianming was carrying. That should be it."

"Do you have Wang Tianming's contact number?" Gu Chen asked again.

“Yes,” Lu Weiwei said.

Gu Chen flicked his right index finger: "Call it."

“Okay.” Lu Weiwei dialed Wang Tianming’s phone number directly using the contact information He Junchao provided.

Shortly after, the call connected, and a middle-aged or elderly man's voice came from the other end: "Hello, who is this?"

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Wang Tianming? We are from the Furong Branch of the Jiangnan City Public Security Bureau," Lu Weiwei quickly introduced herself.

The person on the other end of the phone paused for a moment before slowly replying, "Excuse me... is there something you need?"

"Do you know Hu Xue?" Lu Weiwei asked.

"I don't know her." Upon hearing Lu Weiwei's words, the man on the other end of the phone quickly denied it.

"Did you lose a gold watch?" Lu Weiwei asked again.

"How did you know..." As if his words had given him away, Wang Tianming deliberately changed the subject as soon as he finished speaking.

"What do you want from me?"

"Did you date a young woman? And did that young woman take your gold watch?" Lu Weiwei didn't mince words and went straight to the point.

There was an awkward silence on the other end of the phone. After a long pause, Wang Tianming slowly spoke:
"Yes, I met a young woman before, and the watch went missing during our relationship."

"Did she take it?" Lu Weiwei asked.

"I'm not sure, but it's pretty close. She disappeared after I woke up that day, and my watch was gone too."

"So she stole it?" Lu Weiwei asked again.

There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the phone before the voice said, "Yes, she stole it."

"Then why didn't you call the police?" Lu Weiwei pressed.

On the other end of the phone, Wang Tianming sighed helplessly, "I only met that woman at a party."

"I was drunk at the time, so I took her home and we slept together."

"I definitely can't talk about this, after all, I have a family. I was with that woman that day because I was drunk and had sex with her while intoxicated."

After a pause, Wang Tianming on the other end of the phone let out a heavy sigh before continuing:

"So, this matter definitely cannot be told to anyone. I only remember that when I woke up that morning, the woman had already left."

"But my watch is missing. I suspect she took it, but I can't call the police."

After letting out a heavy sigh, Wang Tianming said helplessly, "So there's nothing I can do but accept my bad luck."

"How much is that watch worth? Are we just going to let it go like that?" Lu Weiwei asked.

"Uh, it's probably around 60. I think it should be a little over 60. What else can I do? After all, I'm a respectable person. If word gets out, how am I supposed to explain this to my family when I go home?"

"Moreover, this happened so suddenly, and I don't want my reputation to be damaged because of this watch."

"So there's nothing I can do but accept my bad luck."

...(End of chapter)