Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Luke did not go to the pawnshop today and had no recollection of this pawnshop called csj.

"What's the name of the pawnshop owner?"

"Jim. He's a very dangerous guy with a gang background, wearing golden-rimmed glasses. There aren't many black guys dressing like that; he's easy to recognize."

Luke inquired further, "Does he also run an antique store called Oddity House?"

"Yes, he often takes the stolen goods from the pawnshop to sell at the antique store. The guy's got a good head for business."

That connected the dots for Luke. He had encountered the black owner named Jim today and even asked about the purchasing price for vinyl records, unaware that behind the scenes was someone who flouted the rules and exploited his gang connections to his advantage.

For the average person, it would be very difficult to recover stolen vinyl records, and they would have to accept their bad luck silently.

But unfortunately for Jim, this time he had dealt with Luke.

Luke handcuffed the guy kneeling on the ground.

The latter breathed a sigh of relief, collapsing on the floor, knowing he was temporarily safe.

Luke put away the spare gun and asked, "What's your name?"

"Anlek Raul."

"Was it Jim who instructed you to steal the vinyl records?"

"Yes."

"Do you know the value of this vinyl record?"

"I'm not sure, only that it's quite valuable."

"This vinyl record is worth hundreds of thousands of US Dollars, you should feel lucky you didn't manage to steal it. Otherwise, you'd be facing a felony charge.

In other words, I saved you."

"Officer, thank you, I'm really grateful to you."

"It's all Jim's fault that you got caught. Do you hate him?"

"Yes, but... there's nothing I can do, Jim is not someone I can afford to provoke."

"You could testify against him, explain to the police how he directed you to steal the vinyl record."

"I dare not, Jim would surely have someone kill me."

"He wouldn't dare, the police will protect you."

"It's no use, Jim won't admit to it, and I don't have any evidence, so the police won't have any evidence to arrest him either."

"As long as he's engaged in illegal activities, the police will definitely catch him; it's just a matter of whether they need to and whether they want to."

If things were as Anlek said, and Jim's pawnshop was involved in receiving stolen goods, it indicated that he was operating in a gray market.

Such people usually have gang connections, and under normal circumstances, the police don't touch them.

Because it's not necessary.

If you shut down one fence operation, another might appear the next day.

Hence, unless they go too far, the police seldom crack down hard on them.

To many, this is seen as playing both sides.

Very cool, very impressive.

But now it was different. This gray chain of interests had reached the police force itself, and it involved a lieutenant with a promising future. If Luke didn't retaliate appropriately, it was the entire detective bureau's face that would be lost.

This was no longer just about him, but about the honor of the entire LAPD.

The inability of the police department to protect the interests of its officers would affect the cohesion of the entire LAPD, with severe consequences.

...

The United States is a country with a relatively short history; the pawnbroking industry has not been around for long either, initially brought over by European immigrants.

However, the United States is the only country in the world that had pawnshops even before it was founded, and banks and pawnshops have always grown side by side.

After more than a hundred years of ups and downs, the United States has become the most developed country in the pawnbroking industry worldwide.

Eight o'clock in the evening.

At the street corner, there's a pawnshop with a white sign.

Not far away, a black man in a yellow vest is sitting.

Seeing a black man with golden-rimmed glasses approaching, the muscular black man hurriedly nods in greeting.

The man with the golden-rimmed glasses does not pause, but walks straight into the pawnshop.

This person is Jim.

He spends his days in the antique shop and comes to the pawnshop at night, almost every day like clockwork.

After greeting his subordinates, Jim went straight to the storage room to take inventory, a task he does every day.

A regular pawnshop has two main ways to make a profit: the first one is collecting high pawn interest and related fees from pawning customers.

The second is the substantial profit from selling "dead pawns" (items not redeemed within the pawning period). Compared to the former, the latter is the main source of income.

Compared to those large, listed pawn companies, csj is a small pawnshop and relatively less competitive.

But the scope of its business is broader, including some gray area earnings, such as receiving stolen goods.

Jim's main job is to inventory various pawned items and manage the disposition of the stolen goods properly.

COMMON stolen goods are directly sold in the antique store, while those with more distinctive features and more troublesome to handle are taken to Las Vegas for disposal; he also has some sales channels there, even though the profits are lower.

A black young man approached, "Boss, there's a customer outside who wants to pawn a watch and would like to talk to you personally."

"What kind of watch?"

"A 2010 commemorative edition Rolex, he wants to pawn it for 6,000 US Dollars."

Jim laughed, "Does he think it's a Patek Philippe or something?"

Jim left his office and went to the counter at the front desk, where he saw a man of Mexican descent with a black backpack.

"Buddy, are you the one selling the watch?"

"Yes, it's a commemorative edition Rolex watch, quite collectible."

Jim picked up the watch on the cotton cloth and inspected it closely, then looked at the man again, "What's your name?"

"Tom."

"How much do you want for it?"

"US Dollar 6000."

Jim put the watch back, "Where did this watch come from?"

"I bought it?"

"When did you buy it? Where did you buy it?"

"In Los Angeles, back in 2010."

"Sorry, we can't take this watch."

"Why?" Tom countered.

"We don't take goods with questionable origins."

"What do you mean questionable origins? This is my watch."

"It's indeed a 2010 commemorative edition, but this one is a European model, sold only in Europe; you couldn't possibly have bought it in Los Angeles."

Tom let out a sigh, "Hey, I was referred by a friend. I heard that you guys take this kind of stuff."

Jim held up a finger, "US Dollar 1000."

Tom thought he had heard wrong, "Are you joking?

This is a commemorative edition, and the bezel is in such good condition, yet you're only offering me a thousand US Dollars? There's more than one pawnshop in Los Angeles; I can just take it to another store."

Jim spoke indifferently, "US Dollar 2000, think about it."

Tom said, "At least US Dollar 3000."

Jim said, "US Dollar 1900."

"Hey, who bargains like that? How come the price dropped again?"

Jim continued to lower the price, "US Dollar 1800."

"Okay, US Dollar 2000, I'll pawn it." Tom showed an annoyed expression but was helpless.

Jim turned to his subordinate, "Process the paperwork for him, one month's time, it's dead pawned if it expires."

After the subordinate finished with the paperwork and watched the pawnshop customer leave, he couldn't help asking, "Boss, why did you drive such a hard bargain? That kid probably won't dare to come back."

Jim asked back, "How much do you think is appropriate?"

"Around US Dollar 3000, right? We'd make a profit, and he'd feel it was worth it, probably coming back here to offload more stolen goods. That's how you used to teach me."

"This time is different. Even if you gave him US Dollar 3000, he won't come back."

"Why?"

Jim explained, "Have you ever seen a pawnshop customer carrying such a big bag? Besides, he kept checking the time on his watch after I came in.

If I'm not mistaken, this guy is probably planning to run away.

He won't likely return to Los Angeles anytime soon."

The young Black man showed an admiring expression, giving a thumbs-up, "Boss, you're really something."

Jim put away the Rolex watch, in a good mood, and asked, "Did we take in anything else today?"

The young Black man, as if presenting a treasured possession, brought out a forty-centimeter-tall statue from a cabinet, "Boss, I pawned this for US Dollar 300. It may not be the work of a famous artist, but it should have a history of twenty or thirty years."

Jim pushed his glasses up, examining the statue closely— it was a Marilyn Monroe statue, in her classic pose holding down her skirt.

"Not bad, although I don't see what's so great about this woman, a lot of white guys like this sort of thing, it should fetch a good price."

Just then, a group of people walked in from the outside, led by a bald white man, "Hey, ladies, come out for your clients."

"Ha ha..." The men behind him burst into laughter.

The young Black man looked a bit uncomfortable, about to say something but Jim stopped him.

Jim forced a smile, "Deputy Chief David, what brings you here?"

The man was none other than Deputy Chief David of the Anti-Gang and Drug Squad.

"Whoa... you know me? Then, introductions are unnecessary."

"Yes, I've met you once before. Is there something I can help you with?"

"We received a report alleging that you're dealing in stolen goods; we've come to investigate."

"There must be some misunderstanding here, or perhaps it's jealousy from competitors. We're a legitimate pawnshop and don't deal in stolen items."

"That's good. We're just performing a routine search, so we can report back afterward," David gestured with a tilt of his head, signaling his subordinates to search the premises.

"Sorry, Deputy Chief David, we're in the middle of normal business hours. Do you have a search warrant?"

David flashed the search warrant, "Any more questions?"

Jim broke out in a cold sweat and felt a bit helpless, "No."

"Good, guys, let's move."

Following that, several officers began searching the store.

Such dens for selling stolen goods, if the police want to investigate, can always find some issues.

Officers quickly found some pawned items that looked like stolen goods.

"Jim, how do you explain these stolen items?"

"It's got nothing to do with me; it was the staff in the store who took them, and I'm not here during the day. Moreover, they didn't know these were stolen items; we were duped as well," Jim sighed as he disclaimed all responsibility.

David laughed, "You're the owner of this pawnshop; you can't just say it's unrelated and be done with it. Come with us."

Jim also realized that this group had probably targeted him, "Deputy Chief David, I've always held the LAPD in high regard. Could there be some misunderstanding?"

"Do you know Anlek Raul?"

"No, I don't know him."

David shrugged, "Then there's not much to talk about, is there? Let's talk about these stolen items then."

Jim caught on, "Is it because of that out-of-print record?

Oh God, who have I managed to offend?"