Chapter 3 third chapter

At midnight, I returned to my apartment.I took a shower, climbed into bed, and was about to turn off the lights when the phone rang. I picked up the phone and said: Hello.Bai Sha's voice came from the phone like a gust of wind sweeping fallen leaves.Tang Nuo, she shouted: Come on, come here quickly! Here is where?I asked. Rooftop apartment The rooftop apartment of Huangfu Yoda. What's the big deal? Stop talking, don't argue with me, she yelled: Come here, come here with a pair of pants on, hurry up. OK, I said: I'll come right away. I hung up the phone, got up, got dressed and drove over.

From the description in the newspaper and Baisha's dictation, I have a pretty clear picture of the situation there.The residence of the Huangfu family is on the 21st floor of an apartment.To go to this floor, you must take another special elevator on the twentieth floor. This special elevator goes up and down between the roof apartment and the reception room on the twentieth floor. When the Huangfu family has a banquet or treats guests, the reception room is open, and the special elevator has an operator, otherwise the elevator can be operated automatically.Those who wanted to see Huangfu had to call at the counter on the first floor. For those who Huangfu wanted to see, he would send someone down the elevator, open the door of the reception room, and greet him in the corridor on the twentieth floor.The people Huangfu didn't want to see couldn't go up even if he reached the 20th floor, unless he had the key to open the door of the reception room.Once in the reception room, the lift is automatic, but the buttons are fairly hidden.You can only get down by pressing the right elevator. There is also a well-hidden phone in the reception room, and you can talk to Huangfu's apartment alone.

The reception room on the twentieth floor is quite large. It occupies about the same area as a small apartment in this building. There is a door leading to the corridor on the 20th floor. Looking at the door from the outside, it seems that it is just an ordinary small apartment door. There is also a number on the door, 20S. When I reached the twentieth floor, the door of the reception room was open, and someone was operating the elevator.I give him the card.Even so, I didn't see much effect, I only saw him say to me: Wait.The elevator doors closed right in front of my eyes, and he drove the elevator up, obviously reporting directly to Huangfu Youtian himself, because when he came down, he expressed his apology and said: Sorry, sir.I was just following orders, and I will take you up immediately.

I went into the elevator and he drove me up. The elevator doors opened and I walked into a large reception room with oriental carpets, crystal chandeliers, a row of comfortable chairs on one side, and a spacious cubicle on the other side, designed to be used as a cloakroom during banquets for. A girl with a skirt too short to be called a skirt accepted my hat and coat behind the counter.She looked very tired, but forced a smile. A door opened, and Ni Maowen hurried over.He was wearing a formal suit, but his face was gray and dusty. Come in, he said. What's up?I asked. Come in and talk.

I followed him into a very comfortably furnished room with strong oriental colors. The guests in the room were separated into groups and gathered together, and everyone was speaking. I recognized a bunch in the middle of the room, the tallest one being Huangfu Youtian.His pictures are often seen in various weekly magazines, sport hunting journals and social columns. Kebaisha was also among the group of guests. She seemed to be happy to find a reason to leave. She came over and grabbed my arm so tightly, as if she had fallen from a 100-foot building and caught something life-saving. like.The thick white powder on her face could not hide the liver color of her skin.There were a lot of sweat spots on her forehead, and she was going crazy with anger.

son of a bitch!she says. I?I asked. He, she said. That's about it.I said: what happened? She said: Come here and I'll tell you. Mrs. Ke.Huangfu Youtian called out with enthusiasm. I'll come over later.Ke Baisha said to him loudly: This is my partner, let me talk to him first. Bring him over, I'm going to meet him now.Baisha hesitated for a moment, and led me there. Huangfu Xiaotian is a man with natural masculinity. He was 6 feet 2 inches tall, with naturally broad shoulders, which were padded by his clothes to make his waist look thinner, and his upper body was a triangle shape.

Seeing him reminded me of a short article once written about a reporter interviewing his tailor. The tailor said: God, this man doesn't need special tailoring skills. He is a good clothes rack. Huangfu Youtian looked down at me, and stretched out a hand with a sun-tanned and healthy complexion. This guy's getting a tan is probably as important as eating, he sunbathes when the weather is nice and artificial lights when the weather isn't.He maintains a healthy complexion, and at any time and on any occasion, everyone will envy him as the center. You are Ke Baisha's partner, I have admired you for a long time.He said.

He shook my hand, and I patiently hoped my bones wouldn't break. Nice to meet you.I said. It's messed up here.He said. what happened? Someone just under your partner's big nose stole my other jade Buddha and my dwarf blowgun.God knows what else was missing. I don't know how much experience your detective agency has with this type of work, but it's obvious that you don't know even the oldest tricks.Someone showed the invitation card to the elevator driver, went upstairs, tried to take the invitation card downstairs, and got a thief to come up.The thief used that invitation card to come in under the nose of your partner, Ke Baisha.Apparently your partner didn't compare the invitation card with the list.I haven't had time to make a list of stolen ones yet, but I already know of blowguns and jade buddhas.The Jade Bodhisattva was originally the same pair as the one stolen by the thief last time.

Gosh, people would think I was giving away curios and curios last time I was stolen, and I wasn't too upset.But this time, this time I paid someone to watch over it.I did so many newspaper campaigns and took a lot of risks.I don't dare to call the police now, because everyone knows that I am embarrassed.It was me who wanted to challenge them, but now I am so disgraced. The curvaceous, curvaceous blonde who came over was different from him.Oda, she said: It's not all their fault. Don't tell me it's not their fault.He said: God, I paid them money, and I asked this woman to stand here at the door to check the invitation card, and it turned out that she didn't even do the simplest basic work, come in and check off a single one on the list.

Baisha said: Your signature is on the invitation card, of course I let him in. Of course, each one bears my signature.Huangfu said: But, do you know how many times you let Zhang San in?Zhang San came up by himself, so he could get the invitation card down, and the thief took Zhang San's invitation card and came up again. I asked for the first time: Do you mean that Zhang San brought the invitation card down by himself? Of course not, Huangfu Xiaotian looked at me and said harshly: He asked the assistants who supply the food to take it down. people, like leaning against a wall and smoking a big cigar.

I looked at Bai Sha. She was very red in the face and her eyes were burning.On the invitation card, they may have tricked me.She said: But I tell you, there's no way someone passed me with a blowgun, I couldn't see it! I also believe you'll find that blowgun somewhere, dear Yoda.The blond said: You must have put it somewhere by yourself. It is impossible for someone to take this thing out. This is my wife.Huangfu said briefly to show his introduction. The blond girl smiled at me. I remembered a magazine saying that she was a beauty pageant queen before she married Huangfu.She is really qualified, and I think she has a good heart. What about the Jade Bodhisattva?Huangfu asked: Do you also think it was misplaced?Someone broke the glass box Yoda, I agree with you on this point.She put a hand on his arm comfortingly and said: But you can't blame Mrs. Ke for everything, she is just hired by us to guard the door to keep thieves out, if you want her to protect your baby, you should make it clear What is she responsible for.Of course she will send a few more people to guard it.She glanced at me and said: Maybe her partner, Mr. Lai, will come along. Huangfu Youtian looked down at me again. Baisha said: You only need to tell me that you want me to keep an eye on that ghost Bodhisattva, and now nothing will be lost.Tang Nuo can guard the door to check the invitation card. I stand there to see this Bodhisattva personally. If any woman wants to put that thing on her chest, I will strip her naked from the waist up.But I absolutely believe that these guests did not take these things when they left, at least not when I was guarding the door. Huangfu Youtian let out a contemptuous breath from his nostrils, turned around and strode away. You don't have to pay attention to him.Mrs. Huangfu said: Of course he will be uncomfortable, but he will forget it after the past. He is always like this at the beginning of things. How much is the Jade Bodhisattva worth?I asked. Thousands of dollars. What about the other stuff, the blowgun?She shrugged in an unknowing gesture that accentuated the virtues of her low-cut top.Not worth a dime, she said slowly, emphasizing her opinion on such things: Honestly, Mr. Lai, if this thing hadn't been stolen, I would have thrown it out of the window sooner or later.If I wasn't afraid that the heads of people who happen to be bad on the road will bloom, I would have thrown it out a long time ago.That thing is a long, ugly thing that gets dusty.As soon as you turn around, the spider will crawl in.Besides, these darts are really dangerous things.It is said that it is extremely poisonous, and I know that even a small prick of the skin can be fatal.I never ask a servant to clean his showroom, I do it myself. She smiled at me and continued: "I will tell you without counting, I personally hope that this dwarf blowgun and those poisonous blow darts will disappear without a trace and never appear again."I'd like to make a paper and offer a reward not for bringing it back, but for the man who never does. Is it a long piece that cannot be separated, or can it be separated and put together? It is a solid one.My husband thinks this is a great masterpiece of primitive tribes. You see, they take a branch or trunk of a tree, roast it to straighten it, and then poke a hole in it.Because the trunk is too long, the front will bend down when it is used, so the hole must be straight when it is used. I think they burned it out with fire, and then I don’t know how many days they used to drill the hole.It was a long strip of extremely hard wood with holes in it that shone like glass. I have seen Yuda blowing this kind of blow dart with his mouth once, the speed is very fast, and because of its mystery, it looks weird. Poisoned arrows were used?I asked. no no.She said: He puts the poisoned arrows in a special container; he calls it the quiver, quiver.But he made some darts himself out of a very light wood, a balsa wood found in South America.He attached metal arrowheads to the front and feathers to the tail, which he wound with wool to the size of the hole in the blowgun.Quite strange, this thing is very powerful. Has the blowgun been stolen too?I asked. Blow darts for demonstration?She asked: I don't know. Put it there? In a drawer of the desk in his personal room.Mr. Lai, you don't have to be too sad about this matter, and you don't have to pay too much attention to what Xiaotian said.When something goes wrong, he always has this virtue.I promise, he won't take it seriously tomorrow. Anyway, he has been stolen before.He has insurance on everything.Besides, for a person of his stature, such things are inevitable. She smiled at Baisha, and shook hands with me: You don't mind, Mr. Lai.Hope you don't mind. No, nothing.I said. I tell you a secret.She said: My husband was so angry because he couldn't afford to lose.Tonight is a trap he deliberately set up.Otherwise he wouldn't be so angry.That's why he did so much publicity.He just bet on whether the thief would dare to come and steal something tonight. You know, he used to steal little things of value, and he decided to catch the thief.Finding a private investigator to guard the door to look at the invitation card is a deception.The real reason was not to let anyone know that he had installed an Xray in the elevator. Xray in the elevator?I asked. Yes, he installed it three weeks ago.You may have been to a unit with strict security checks. They let you walk through a room, and people in the other room can see you through X-rays. After passing through the see-through screen, they will know if you have a knife or a gun. I've seen it in state prison.I said. Every guest leaving tonight will be X-rayed.There's no way these things would leave this floor, but, it's just gone. Now, if you don't care, I'm going to see my husband, don't let him get mad. She smiled at me and walked away from me to the group in the middle of the room, her hips bobbing smoothly. What a bastard plus three levels.Baisha said to me: Take your eyes off her ass!We must get to work. I am working.I said. Does not look like.What should we do now? It's all done.I said. You can't push six, two, five and put them all on my shoulders.Baisha said: We are a partnership company, I think you intend to go out to pick up dirty girls by yourself, and leave me here alone to watch these fuckers. You didn't ask me to come, I said: You want to show off yourself, you want to take a picture yourself, you are the female detective who can cover you, you want to grab the thief by the heel, lift her upside down, put a six A foot-long blowgun swings out of her arms, it's you Shut up!Bai Sha said to me. You're looking at each guest's invitation card downstairs by the elevator, aren't you? Yes!Baisha said briefly.One more sentence: Don't ask me why I didn't check the guest list and cross out one by one.Otherwise, I'll beat you up in front of these people. I wouldn't have asked you about it.I said: How did the people who serve the food come up?Is there another elevator? No, she said: only this way.Go up the only elevator.Everything goes up this elevator, and everything goes down this elevator. I said: Tell me, how could someone smuggle out of this place with a six-foot-long, non-collapsible wooden blowgun? Baisha looked at me, blinking quickly with her twinkling small eyes. You may have indeed let a thief in.I went on: But I never believe you're so stupid that you wouldn't be able to tell if someone walked in front of you with a blowgun. Bai Sha thought about what I said, and a smile crept onto her face.Well, this thing is hidden.She said: Must be somewhere in the rooftop apartment. Unless someone handed it out the window and onto the roof. Baisha said: He is waiting for someone from the insurance company to come.He wants me to make a report to the insurance company.I wish he had come sooner so I could get out of here sooner. Have you called the police? Never heard of calling the police.Baisha said: He does not want anyone to leak a word to the police.What did he do to ask you to deal with it quietly? They treat you so well? What are you talking about?I asked. I mean Huangfu Feili, dear!Baisha said: After you came in, she has been looking at you, and has been actively chatting up God, I don't see anything good about you.You are a little toy pistol, neither fancy nor useful.Huangfu Youtian can grab you with one hand.two you without him If you don't have a shoulder pad, one and a half will do.I said. Well, no shoulders, one and a half.Baisha said: But Baisha stopped, looked at Mrs. Huangfu and said with deep meaning: Huangfu Youtian made himself so big for the sake of family reputation, but his wife has no compliment at all. You want me to stay and discuss this topic with you?I asked. I want you to stay and talk to the insurance company guy when he comes.I think that person must be from the insurance company. The elevator door opened, and Ni Maowen brought in a man in blue, with sleepiness still on his face, he must have been dragged up in a hurry after half asleep. Huangfu Youtian gathered us together and introduced us.The person from the insurance company was Qu Weili, who asked questions and took notes.How much do you think Jade Bodhisattva is worth?he asks. nine thousand yuan.He said that he didn't even look down. Carvings of jade? Very high-quality jade, Huangfu said: Orientals call it jadeite.Ruby inlaid on the forehead. You owed a similar Jade Bodhisattva not too long ago?he asks. Yes, the same pair that got stolen today. two the same? Yes. Is it the same everywhere? I told you they were a couple.exactly the same. The other one you estimate is 7,500 yuan.Said the insurance company. Huangfu blinked his eyes and said quickly: I said 9,000 yuan is the approximate estimate of Jade Bodhisattva and blowing arrow gun together. So, Mr. Qu from the insurance company said: 9,000 yuan for the two items.That blowgun cost fifteen hundred dollars. And blow darts.Huangfu said. Oh yes, how many sticks? six. Can you list them separately, how much is the blowgun?How much is a blowgun? no.Huangfu said hastily: I can't separate it.In fact both things are priceless.There is a kind of poison in these blow arrows, and our country is not allowed to import them. To be honest, the blow arrow gun itself is an incomparable work of art.Once lost there is no more.yes I see.Mr. Qu interrupted him and said: I just inquired about the basis of the valuation, and I can report it to the company.Fifteen hundred yuan is for blowguns and blow darts.Seven thousand five hundred yuan is Jade Bodhisattva. He opened the suitcase, took out a form, put it on the suitcase, and began to fill it out. Oh, don't be busy tonight, Huangfu Youtian's attitude softened suddenly, he said: I think I'm too nervous tonight.There's really no reason for you to come here in the middle of the night, but It's okay it's okay.Qu Weili stopped temporarily and looked up at him with a dominant gaze.Said: This is what we do.What we want to provide is this kind of service. Here, Mr. Huangfu, you sign your name, and the check will be mailed immediately, and no one will bother you anymore. Huangfu Youtian read the content of the payment application form, signed it, and the insurance company opened the suitcase, threw the form in casually, bowed to everyone and said: Good night, I should say good morning, everyone.Go straight to the elevator. Baisha froze there like a fool, I said to Huangfu: I think we are fine. Who said no, Huangfu said: I want to get my things back. I pointed to Baisha and said: She is in charge of our company's customers and finances. What do you mean?Huangfu Youtian said. I said: You hired our company not to let thieves take things out, not to hire our company to find stolen things.If you want our company to recover the stolen things for you, that's another job, and of course you have to negotiate the terms again. He blushed, took a quick step towards me, then stopped automatically, fixed his eyes on mine, and burst out laughing. You have a point.He said: Lai, I apologize.I misjudged you at first. I think I was wrong. Never mind.I told him. Bai Sha said proudly: Many people miscalculate Tang Nuo.He's a little smaller, but he's hard and smart. Save it, Betha.I said. I was absolutely right about him.Mrs. Huangfu said: I know when I see capable people.Mr. Lai, we have to say goodbye.What a pleasure to meet you all.I believe my husband will come to your office tomorrow to discuss this matter with Mrs. Ke.She shakes my hand. She turned to Baisha and said: Mrs. Ke, good night. I shouted to Ni Maowen who was guiding Qu Weili into the elevator: Wait, Mr. Ni, let's go down together, so we can save the elevator trip. OK, we'll wait for you.Ni Maowen said. I avoided shaking hands with Huangfu Youtian to say goodbye, lest my hand would ache for a long time again.We all said good night to each other, and Baisha and I entered the elevator, and the elevator doors closed. The person from the insurance company looked at me, smiled and said: How about a card exchange? I know your detective agency, and I want a card from you.For reporting, you know. I gave him one of our cards.We got out from the twentieth floor, changed the elevator to the lobby.Ni Maowen only took us to the twentieth floor and took the private elevator back to the rooftop apartment. Do you have many of these kinds of things?I asked Qu Weili. God, yes.He said: I always meet.Take someone like Huangfu Youtian, who has a room displaying the treasures he has collected from traveling around the world.Every time he came back and sat in the room to look at it, he always felt that it was worth hundreds of thousands.We don't even bother to estimate the price.This is good business.There is absolutely no fool in the world to move all this garbage home.Occasionally someone stole a thing he likes, we pay a very exaggerated price.But the total price quoted for those rubbish is too high, and the insurance premium is too high. We don't care to pay him some, anyway, we still make money, and we make more money.Everyone is happy, no one complains. The only time we could be unlucky is with the fire alarm.But his apartment's automatic fire protection system is so good that we're willing to insure all his collections for a million dollars.But once this guy dies, and these things are auctioned off, you know what will happen. I do not speak.Qu Weili tapped the suitcase containing Huangfu Youtian's application form with his fingers, and continued: They took back about 10,000 yuan for this matter, and they had to throw away that blowgun and never show up again.Of course, various arrangements also cost a lot of money.