Chapter 157: Solving the Case

Worried that the suspect might hear them and escape, Gong Zhixuan parked the car more than a hundred meters away from the quarry.

The four of them quietly entered the quarry under the cover of darkness. Yu Xiangnian led them directly to the warehouse.

Gong Zhixuan shone his flashlight over the stones one by one and whispered, “The patterns on these stones resemble various animals. They are indeed very unusual.”

Xiao Wang nodded in agreement. “Captain Gong, should we bring him in for questioning?”

“Let’s take him back for questioning first.”

Cheng Jingmo led Gong Zhixuan and Xiao Wang to the room where the man lived and knocked on the door.

After several knocks, the door finally opened, revealing the man with the dark gray aura, standing there groggily.

Gong Zhixuan immediately showed his badge. “We are officers from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Su City Public Security Bureau. We suspect that the stones in your warehouse are problematic. Please come with us for investigation.”

The man, now more awake, looked innocent. “Problems with the stones? Officer, this is a quarry. There are stones everywhere. How could there be any problems?”

“Come with us,” Gong Zhixuan said sternly. “Whether there are problems or not, we will investigate.”

Gong Zhixuan then entered the room and conducted a search, finding a set of women’s clothing and a gold necklace in the man’s storage chest.

The man quickly explained, “These belong to my wife.”

“Valuable items will be temporarily kept by us and will be returned once the matter is resolved,” Gong Zhixuan said.

The group returned to the police station, and it was now 3 a.m.

Yu Xiangnian, Cheng Jingmo, and the man all gave their statements.

By the time they finished, it was nearly 7 a.m., and Yu Xiangnian and Cheng Jingmo were preparing to head back to the guesthouse to pack their things and catch their bus to Ping County.

Gong Zhixuan stopped them and explained the current situation.

It turned out that the man was the quarry director, named Ma Hongchao.

He claimed that the stones were just randomly piled in the warehouse and were nothing special.

Aside from a pile of unidentifiable stones, there was no evidence proving that Ma Hongchao was smuggling ancient fossils.

In other words, to convict him, they needed to prove that the stones were indeed ancient fossils and find additional evidence of smuggling.

Gong Zhixuan said, “This is the first case of its kind our department has encountered. The biggest challenge now is proving these stones’ significance.”

Yu Xiangnian was surprised. “Doesn’t the police have a dedicated forensic center?”

She had seen on TV that there were police specialized in forensics.

Gong Zhixuan smiled wryly. “It takes an expert to make such a determination! None of our internal staff have that level of expertise!”

After a pause, he revealed his true thoughts. “We would like to ask for your assistance in solving this case. You recognized these stones as ancient fossils at a glance. Are you experts in this field?”

Yu Xiangnian and Cheng Jingmo shook their heads simultaneously.

Gong Zhixuan looked disappointed. “This makes the case difficult. Without classifying these stones, we cannot charge him with smuggling. Do you know any experts in this field?”

Cheng Jingmo thought of Liu Chunwei and his wife.

The couple traveled nationwide for research. Since they knew experts in radio technology, they might also know someone specialized in ancient fossil research.

They decided to split up. Gong Zhixuan and his team would investigate other evidence, while Yu Xiangnian and Cheng Jingmo would contact an expert.

Breakfast consisted of steamed buns and porridge at the police station cafeteria.

Leaving the police station, Yu Xiangnian said, “Cheng Jingmo, it looks like we won’t be going back for now.”

Cheng Jingmo replied calmly, “Since we got involved, we should see it through.”

Yu Xiangnian smiled wryly, “You have such a strong sense of duty!” Whenever faced with illegal activities, he would put everything else aside.

Cheng Jingmo said, “Let’s first go to the station to refund the tickets, then go back to the guesthouse and inform Xiao Jie before we look for Mr. Liu and his wife.”

Yu Xiangnian suggested, “Let’s split up. You go to the station to refund the tickets and wait at the guesthouse, and I’ll go find them.”

Luckily, before parting, Yu Xiangnian had asked Liu Chunwei where they were staying.

Yu Xiangnian went to the Su City guesthouse, found them, and explained the situation.

Liu Chunwei smiled, “You came to the right person. We actually know an expert in this field! But he is in Beijing.”

Liu Chunwei introduced the expert, named Dong Bicheng, who works at a museum in Beijing specializing in ancient fossil research.

Yu Xiangnian sincerely requested, “Could you please contact him?”

There was a phone in the guesthouse, and Liu Chunwei briefly explained the situation over the phone.

Then, Yu Xiangnian described the stones in detail to Dong Bicheng.

Upon hearing that many suspected ancient fossils were found in Su City, Dong Bicheng immediately agreed to come. However, the earliest he could arrive from Beijing would be the day after tomorrow in the morning.

Yu Xiangnian returned to the guesthouse and informed Cheng Jingmo of the situation.

The three of them had lunch outside, and then Cheng Jingmo asked Yu Xiangnian to take Xiao Jie back to the guesthouse to rest while he went to find Gong Zhixuan.

After that, Yu Xiangnian didn’t see Cheng Jingmo for two days.

Later, she learned that Cheng Jingmo had been assisting Gong Zhixuan with the case.

They first investigated the workers at the quarry and found out that:

Ma Hongchao was very meticulous with his work, inspecting every stone extracted. He would transport stones with unique patterns to the warehouse for storage. The workers didn’t know what was special about these stones. Every three to five months, someone would come to collect them.

It was also rumored that Ma Hongchao had a mistress, Li Shuixian.

Cheng Jingmo and his team found Ma Hongchao’s mistress, Li Shuixian, and searched her house, finding a passbook with over five thousand yuan—a substantial sum of money.

Cheng Jingmo and Yu Xiangnian met again two days later when Yu Xiangnian brought Dong Bicheng to the police station.

Cheng Jingmo and Gong Zhixuan both had panda eyes, with stubble and a tired appearance. The only difference was that Cheng Jingmo’s hair was short and neat, whereas Gong Zhixuan’s messy hair made him look even more worn out.

The police had sealed and guarded the stones.

Dong Bicheng was astonished at seeing so many ancient fossils.

The rest of the case was then handed over to Gong Zhixuan and his team.

Gong Zhixuan specifically treated Cheng Jingmo and his team to a meal to thank them.

The table was set with Su City specialties—steamed lamb, roasted chicken, and of course, noodles!

After spending three days and two nights together, Gong Zhixuan and Cheng Jingmo had become quite familiar with each other.

“If it weren’t for you, so many precious items would have been lost abroad!” Gong Zhixuan exclaimed. “We’d never even heard of ancient fossils before, and Comrade Yu could recognize them right away!”

Cheng Jingmo didn’t want to arouse suspicion.

He didn’t mention that Yu Xiangnian first suspected Ma Hongchao and then discovered the stones.

In fact, Cheng Jingmo was always puzzled.

How did Yu Xiangnian always seem to know who was the bad guy?

It had been the same with the tomb robbers before.