Diary of a Criminal Investigator

In the back kitchen, Lu Chuan looked at the three fish on the cutting board, still somewhat skeptical.

"Officer, these are fish I just caught this morning. It’s not illegal to kill a few fish, right?"

Wang Bingquan was almost bewildered.

What’s going on? Killing a few fish at home brought three policemen who interrogated him like a suspect for a long time.

"Where were you the morning before yesterday?"

Yang Sen and Old Bai had been at the scene when Ren Qiang’s incident happened and knew about the North Mountain parking lot, and of course, they were aware that the tow truck driver’s biggest feature was a hoarse voice and a fishy smell all over.

"I didn’t go anywhere. Lately, I’ve been staying home watching over my little pawnshop."

"Can anyone testify to that?"

"Testify? My wife can testify. Is that okay?"

Yang Sen shook his head.

Wang Bingquan was so anxious sweat nearly broke out on his forehead, and then he suddenly slapped his forehead: "Surveillance! Surveillance! There’s surveillance at the entrance of our house, it can testify."

"Where is the surveillance computer?"

"It’s in the front office, I’ll take you there."

"Officer, I really didn’t go anywhere. I’ve never done anything illegal. My pawnshop is legitimate. You can see for yourself when you get to my office."

Once in the office, Lu Chuan and his two companions were genuinely a little surprised.

"You really run a pawnshop and not a micro-lending service?"

The walls in Wang Bingquan’s pawnshop’s office were lined with an assortment of items.

"My family has been in the pawn business for generations. My father and grandfather all ran pawnshops. When it came to me, I ran a pawnshop too. A few years ago, when regulations were loose, I dabbled in micro-loans for a couple of years. When regulations tightened, I returned to the family business. I really do run a pawnshop."

Wang Bingquan pointed at the items on the walls: "These are only a portion. We have many more items in the warehouse behind my house, some of which were pawned when my father or grandfather ran the business. They’re not dead pledges, though, now we don’t dare sell them."

"If their descendants come looking for them and they’re gone, wouldn’t that ruin my reputation?"

"You’re quite meticulous."

Wang Bingquan puffed out his chest upon hearing this: "Hehe, to be honest, integrity is the hallmark of our Wang Family pawnshop. Look at Bao Mountain Road now, we’re the only pawnshop left. Why? Because our ancestors were in this business, valuing reputation and not swindling or deceiving. Even when I did micro-lending, it was all proper lending."

"About five or six years ago, there were more than ten micro-lending companies on Bao Mountain Road, and now they’re all gone, leaving just me."

"I can only say one thing: anything pledged here, as long as it’s a live pledge, will definitely still be here any time, no matter when they come for it."

A thought struck Lu Chuan, and he asked: "Are items from five years ago still here?"

"Five years ago? If you were asking about 50 years ago, I couldn’t guarantee it, but items from five years ago are definitely still here."

Wang Bingquan hesitated slightly: "Are the three of you looking for something specific?"

Lu Chuan didn’t answer, picking up a pocket watch from the shelf: "Since you pledge items, if someone wants to redeem them, what kind of identification do they need?"

"The pawn ticket. We issue a receipt for live pledges, so if they bring our pawn ticket and the money, they can redeem the item."

"What if the pawn ticket is lost?"

"If it’s lost, I have no way to help. The pawn ticket is our proof of transaction. Without it, we can’t release the items; otherwise, anyone could claim them, and we’d be finished."

"What about ID cards or anything like that, are they recorded?"

"Well... truth be told, back then, they weren’t, but they definitely are now because I need to ensure the items pawned aren’t stolen. I don’t handle stolen goods."

"Five years ago, IDs were recorded, right?"

"Yes, yes, they were."

"Bring out the records notebook for a look."

"Sure, please wait a moment."

Apparently familiar with police procedures, Wang Bingquan quickly complied.

In no time, Lu Chuan and his two companions had the pawn records from five years ago.

Wang Mingshan disappeared on July 2nd, five years ago, so Lu Chuan quickly turned to the pawn records of that date.

The three of them tensely reviewed the content of the records...

Wang Mingshan!

One mobile phone!

Found it!

Finally found it!

Lu Chuan pointed to the row with Wang Mingshan’s name in the records: "Where was this person when they pawned the item?"

"I kept all pawned phones in the warehouse at the back. You’ll have to wait a bit; I’ll go find it now."

After a glance, Wang Bingquan swiftly responded.

"No need to wait, we’ll go with you to find it."

"Okay, but the warehouse might be a bit messy, hope you don’t mind."

Wang Bingquan’s warehouse was dusty, but not actually messy.

He had a good habit, organizing all pawned items by year and category on the shelves.

"Boss Wang must be able to make quite a bit of money in this trade, right?"

"Make money? It’s just hard work."

"I wouldn’t think so. I see Boss Wang has quite a few antiques here; they must be worth a lot if sold now."

"There are rules in our trade. Items not redeemed upon expiration can be dealt with at our discretion, but live pledges are different. Some have terms of 30 or even 50 years. Until the term matures, they can’t be disposed of privately."

"But according to you, if no one claims them in twenty or thirty years, it’s possible the owner has forgotten."

"Or perhaps the person is no longer alive—then there’d be no one to claim them."

Wang Bingquan shook his head: "Every trade has its own rules, and to continue in ours, there are ancestral rules set, sworn on incense and with kowtows."

"Additionally, there are people who specifically play the live pledge game."

"What do you mean?"

"Some people pledge valuable items for 30 or 50 years, paying no attention during the term, but once it matures, they come to redeem them."

"If you can produce the item, they’ll pay a hefty amount to redeem it; if not, you owe them a substantial sum."

"Three to five decades, just waiting it out?"

"Exactly, waiting it out for three to five decades, and it’s often insiders doing this. They could be fellow pawnbrokers as well."

"There are only a few real pawnshops in Haizhou City, and we all know each other."

"Sometimes, we team up to target outsiders, and sometimes they team up to target us. In retrospect, it’s a form of industry exchange now."

As he spoke, Wang Bingquan took a phone out of a box.

It had a label with Wang Mingshan’s name and the corresponding pawn date and details.