The door of the courtyard house has been welded dead

Liu Guangqi made no attempt to hide anything.

He picked up the case file on the table and began to examine it carefully.

Coincidentally, the case on the table is the burglary case at Xu Damao's house. Due to the large amount of money stolen, the branch office has accepted the case.

"Have you heard? This Xu Damao hasn't paid taxes for over three years. When this case came out, the tax authorities only found out about his specific income by reading about the theft in the newspaper. Guess what? He went to the Youth Video Parlor before eight o'clock this morning to knock on the door and check the accounts!"

In the office, the other police officers involved in criminal investigation were also looking at the same case file, but someone brought up the matter of Xu Damao's back taxes, and Liu Guangqi stopped looking at the case file, his face showing no sign of surprise.

Is Xu Damao the kind of person who would voluntarily pay taxes? With his unorthodox business methods, let alone paying taxes, he would be considered quite capable just to keep his accounts straight.

"I heard that too. The district tax bureau's inspection was a step too slow, and the municipal tax bureau beat them to it. They had to pay this amount in total, including both back taxes and fines!"

On the other side of the conference table, the police officer clenched his right index finger and thumb together, making the number seven. Liu Guangqi could imagine that Xu Damao probably hated the inspectors even more than he hated the thieves.

"Seven hundred?"

There were also young police officers who didn't understand tax collection and guessed based on smaller amounts.

"Be bold, add another zero!"

"The district tax bureau must be regretting it terribly, letting the city ones beat them to it!"

Goodness, seven thousand yuan was collected all at once, and it came from a single individual business owner. In the district, that's considered a major taxpayer. In this case, it's like losing an important customer!

"What do you think? The district's tax inspectors realized what was going on right away and started a major inspection this afternoon!"

"I reckon the other districts have realized this too. None of these video arcades can escape; they all have to be investigated from beginning to end, and all the taxes owed from previous years will have to be paid in fines and back payments. I doubt many will pay voluntarily!"

Compared to that, Xu Damao's theft of more than three thousand yuan is really not worth mentioning. The tax authorities finally found an opportunity to use Xu Damao as a typical example to investigate other tax agencies, which would make things much easier.

"Then the revenue from those dozens of video arcades in Beijing will suddenly reach hundreds of thousands!"

"I'm telling you, you guys are underestimating their taxes. Come to think of it, Xu Damao's actual operating time is definitely more than just three and a half years. I remember that Youth Video Hall was sneaking around and opening up around seven or eight years ago!"

"Yes, it was seven or eight years ago. Back then, they said they were just asking people to watch TV, so no one could really interfere. There was a lot of job pressure in the city, and the authorities had already relaxed the rules a bit. He even borrowed that TV from someone in the Film Bureau. Considering that he was released from prison and could have a legitimate job, no one bothered to investigate him. This guy was pretty capable!"

The veteran police officers who know Chaoyang well are all very familiar with the area. They know exactly which territories have which individual businesses, and they even know exactly which territories those repeat offenders frequent.

"The tax audit took advantage of the situation, but it's not so easy for us. This theft case involves a fairly large sum of money. Does anyone have any thoughts? Let's discuss them!"

The conversation ended with the tax department. As for the police, their focus was still on solving cases. As for the victims being audited by the tax authorities, they treated it as a joke. In any case, the back taxes paid had little to do with the police.

"There's no doubt that the owners of video arcades are all rich. More and more people are watching TV these days, and it's impossible for tax officials to go to video arcades after work. Those with regular jobs know that those places are full of all sorts of people. That's why the thugs and hooligans who go to the movies know Xu Damao's income better than the tax officials!"

"Moreover, I know Xu Damao. He was sentenced to more than ten years in prison for extortion and was forced to dig sand in the Northwest. When he returned in 1977, his family didn't welcome him at first. He can be said to be one of the first people to go south and come back. He has courage and vision. He was one of the earliest people to open a video arcade in Beijing!"

"But precisely because of this, he became even more fond of showing off after his success, perhaps wanting to regain the dignity he had lost. From his clothing to his speech and actions, he never hid anything, showing off his wealth!"

"That's probably why he was targeted by someone with ulterior motives. They scouted the area around his home and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was home that night, oh dear, they emptied the house. The root of the problem is most likely that among those people at the video arcade, there must have been someone who scouted the place!"

Cigarettes started being lit one by one. In this era, once the police officers started discussing a case and got into the swing of things, they became heavy smokers, their lips never leaving their mouths, filling the meeting room with smoke as if it were on fire. "Yes, I agree with Hongchang's point of view. This is a direction for the investigation. We can start by screening the people he's recently been in contact with. It's normal for some people to be envious of someone who made a fortune running a video arcade!"

In their open notebooks, the criminal investigators had recorded the key points from the meetings. That's how solving cases works; out of the blue, a single idea can lead to the suspect. No clue can be overlooked.

Liu Guangqi was the same, rummaging through his notebook with one hand and taking notes with a pen in the other. The police force was different from the factory's security department. In this aspect of work, he often lacked the experience of veteran criminal investigators and could only learn as he went.

“Captain Liu, if you have any opinions, you can also share them. Xu Damao, I remember, he also came from your compound. And Yan Jiecheng, he's also a resident of compound number 95. You should know this area quite well, right?”

The head of the special task force in charge of the case, who was also the director of the branch bureau, personally selected Liu Guangqi, possibly because of this factor.

Upon hearing the two names in the case file, both from the same compound, and recognizing them, Liu Guangqi was immediately drawn to the attention of the veteran police officers and criminal investigators.

As one of their own, his opinion at this moment is extremely important and can serve as a crucial reference.

"Yan Jiecheng lived in the front yard of No. 95 Courtyard. He was an ordinary worker at the Dongzhimen 787 Factory. He was a regular employee, timid but also very shrewd."

“I don’t understand why he invited Xu Damao to eat roast duck at Bianyifang that night. I can talk to him about this after get off work, but based on my personal understanding, it’s very unlikely that he was involved in the theft. His father is a primary school teacher, his wife is a temporary worker at a coal mine, and his daughter is about to take the college entrance exam. Considering all these factors, there’s no need for him to lose his job and harm his daughter for money. His family is not particularly short of money.”

"I've also reviewed the case files. It's quite obvious that there were more than one pair of footprints inside the house. It's impossible for one person to have turned the house upside down like that in such a short time, so it can basically be classified as a gang crime!"

"And did you notice that the door lock wasn't broken? The fact that they were able to pick the lock and enter the house indicates that at least one member of the gang is skilled at lock picking. This is a great starting point. Not many people know how to do this. To open a locked door, the suspect must be very confident in their technical skills."

"According to Comrade Hongchang's point of view, firstly, the suspect went to the video arcade to scout the location, and secondly, he went to Xu Damao's residence to scout the location, and may even have been keeping watch for a long time. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been such a coincidence that a thief broke into his house right after he went out for dinner."

"Thirdly, this gang must have someone watching the video arcade, but petty thieves don't have time to stay in the video arcade every day. So before the case is solved, we should focus on investigating the strangers in the video arcade!"

"Fourth, the ability to pry open a locked door in a short time and then ransack the house, finding everything no matter how well hidden, undoubtedly indicates a highly coordinated burglary gang with extensive experience in breaking and entering. Our security team will closely investigate to see if any burglars have crossed the line recently, or which gang has overstepped their bounds."

"By the way, that territory belongs to 'Chen Shen Mei'. I checked his territory beforehand; he didn't have the time to commit the crime there. Besides, none of 'Chen Shen Mei's' henchmen are as skilled as him!"

After sharing his judgment, Liu Guangqi exchanged glances with the other veteran criminal investigators. They determined that the gang was highly skilled, and the criminal investigation team had to take them down no matter what.

Once these gangs have tasted the "meat" of ordinary people's money—those tens or hundreds of yuan—they no longer covet it. Their appetite only grows bigger until they start stealing from people they shouldn't be stealing from.

"They pose a great threat to society, so we must find them quickly. Now, let's assign tasks. Captain Liu, Yan Jiecheng is in charge of this part. Your public security branch should also strengthen its information gathering channels. For the criminal investigation, start with the issues we just analyzed!"

"Bring back all the skilled lock-pickers in Beijing who make a living this way. Make sure they're all back. If any are missing or hiding, make them your priority targets. We must take down this theft gang before they become too dangerous. This is Beijing. Even out-of-towners have to bow their heads here."

"Yes~!"

"Yes~!"

The window opened, the smoke in the conference room dissipated, and Liu Guangqi dusted off the ash that had settled on his police cap before putting it back on his forehead.

The Criminal Investigation Division has already put everything in its power. Coincidentally, during this period of strict crackdown, this burglary gang is at its peak and will definitely be apprehended. The Public Security Division can only play a supplementary role in this regard.

The thought of taxation still left Liu Guangqi with a hint of worry on his face. How could he, the eldest son, not know what his father was doing?

Reselling steel bars from Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill (Branch 3) without being a registered sole proprietorship means he can't pay taxes. Undoubtedly, his father, Liu Haizhong, is also digging his own grave! (End of Chapter)