Chapter 234

Luke hadn’t been to a pawn shop today and had no recollection of the pawn shop called CSJ.

“What’s the name of the pawn shop owner?”

“Jim, he’s a very dangerous guy, has a black gang background, wears a gold-rimmed glasses, not many blacks dress like that, easy to recognize.”

Luke pressed, “Does he run an antique store called the Odd Fellows House?”

“Yes, he used to take stolen goods collected at the pawn shop and sell them at the antique store, the guy had a good head for business.”

This connects, Luke had met the black boss called Jim today, and asked the other party about the price of acquiring vinyl records, he didn’t realize that behind the scenes he was an unruly guy who took advantage of his gang background to make a quick buck.

If it is an ordinary person, the out-of-print record was stolen is also very difficult to find back, can only recognize their own bad luck to eat a dumb loss.

But unfortunately, this time he met Luke.

Luke cuffed the guy kneeling on the ground.

The latter took a long breath, his whole body spread out on the ground, he knew he was safe for the time being.

Luke put his spare gun away and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Annelec Lauer.”

“Did Jim instruct you to steal the vinyl?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know the value of this vinyl record?”

“I’m not sure, only that it’s rather valuable.”

“This vinyl record is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and you should be glad you didn’t steal it. Otherwise, you would be facing prosecution for a first-degree felony.

In other words, I saved you.”

“Officer, thank you, I really appreciate it.”

“It’s Jim’s fault you got caught, do you hate him?”

“Yes, but …… there’s nothing I can do about it, Jim is not someone I can mess with.”

“You could identify him and explain to the police that he instructed you to steal the vinyl.”

“I wouldn’t dare, Jim would have someone kill me.”

“He wouldn’t dare, the police will protect you.”

“It’s no use, Jim won’t admit it and I have no proof, the police will have no evidence to arrest him then just the same.”

“As long as he has committed a crime, the police will definitely be able to catch him, the difference is just whether it’s necessary or not, and whether they want to catch him or not.”

If Jim’s pawnshop was engaged in collecting stolen goods, as Anlek said, it meant that the other party was in a gray industry.

This kind of person usually has a gang background, and normally the police won’t touch them.

Because there’s no need to.

After arresting this stolen goods den, a new one might appear the next day.

Therefore, as long as they don’t go too far, the police seldom come down on them to rectify the situation.

To many people, this would be black and white.

It’s very dodgy, very powerful.

But now it was different, this kind of gray chain of interests had actually gotten to the police, or a promising lieutenant, if Luke didn’t make a proper counterattack, it would be the face of the entire Detective Bureau that would be disgraced.

This was no longer about him alone, the honor of the entire LAPD was at stake.

The police department’s inability to protect the officers’ interests will affect the cohesion of the entire LAPD, with dire consequences.

The United States is a country with a relatively short history, and the pawnbroking industry has not been around long, having first been brought over by European immigrants.

However, the U.S. is the only country in the world that has not yet been founded to have a pawn shop, and is a country where banks and pawn shops have always gone hand in hand.

After more than a hundred years of wind and rain, so far the United States has become the most developed country in the world’s pawn industry.

Eight o’clock in the evening.

There is a pawnshop with a white sign on the corner.

Not far away sits a black man wearing a yellow undershirt.

Seeing a black man wearing gold glasses walking over, the black strong man hurriedly nodded his head in greeting.

The black man wearing gold glasses didn’t stop and walked straight into the pawn shop.

This man was none other than Jim.

He stayed in the antique store during the day and would come to the pawn shop at night, almost every day, very regularly.

Jim greeted his men and went straight into the warehouse to count the items, which was his daily job.

Ordinary pawnbrokers have two ways to make a profit, the first is to collect the high pawn interest paid by the pawnbrokers and related fees.

The first is to collect the high interest rate and related fees paid by the pawnbrokers, and the second is to sell the dead pawned items (items that cannot be redeemed beyond the pawning period) for a sizable difference in the price of the merchandise, which is the big head compared to the former.

Compared with those large listed pawnbrokers, csj belongs to small pawnbrokers and is relatively less competitive.

But the business scope is much wider, adding some gray earnings, such as collecting stolen goods.

Jim’s main job is to count all kinds of pawned goods, and will collect the stolen goods reasonable treatment.

Some common stolen goods directly to the antique store sales, some characteristics more obvious, more difficult stolen goods is pulled to Las Vegas to deal with, he also has some sales channels there, just earnings will be less.

A black guy came over, “Boss, there’s a pawn watch customer outside who wants to talk to you personally.”

“What kind of watch?”

“A 2010 commemorative Rolex, he wants to pawn $6,000.”

Jim laughed, “Does he think it’s a Patek Philippe?”

Jim exited the office and went to the counter in the front room where he found a man of Mexican descent with a black backpack.

“Man, are you the one who wants to sell a watch?”

“Yes, a commemorative Rolex watch, very collectible.”

Jim picked up the watch, which was resting on a cotton cloth, and examined it closely, while then glancing at the man, “What’s your name?”

“Tom.”

“How much do you want to pawn it for?”

“Six thousand dollars.”

Jim put the watch back, “Where did you get this watch?”

“I bought it?”

“When did you buy it? Where did you buy it?”

“It was in Los Angeles in 2010.”

“SORRY, we can’t take this watch?”

“Why?” Tom asked rhetorically.

“We don’t take things that don’t come from the right place.”

“What do you mean it’s not from the right source? It’s my watch.”

“It is indeed a 2010 commemorative watch, but this one is a European model, sold only in Europe, and there is no way you can buy it in Los Angeles.”

Tom sighed softly, “Hey, I was referred here by a friend, and I’ve heard about it, and you guys take this kind of stuff here too.

Jim held out a finger, “One thousand dollars.”

Tom thought he heard wrong: “Are you kidding?

This watch is a commemorative edition, the bezel is so well preserved, only give me a thousand dollars? You’re not the only pawn shop in Los Angeles, I’ll just go to another one.”

Jim said lightly, “$2000, think about it.”

Tom said, “At least 3,000 dollars.”

Jim said, “Nineteen hundred dollars.”

“Hey, where do you get off haggling like that, why is the price lower again?”

Jim continued to lower the price, “$1800.”

“OK, $2000, I’ll pawn it.” Tom revealed a look of chagrin, but there was nothing he could do.

Jim said to the side of the henchman, “Go to give him the formalities, a month’s time, expired dead pawn.”

After the henchmen finished the formalities and watched the pawn customer leave, they couldn’t help but ask, “Boss, how did you press the price so hard? This kid probably won’t dare to come in the future.”

Jim asked back, “How much do you think is appropriate.”

“About 3000 dollars, we have to make money, he also thinks it’s a good deal, and will come back to us to sell stolen goods in the future. That’s what you taught me before.”

“Things are different this time, he won’t come back even if you give him $3,000?”

“Why?”

Jim explained, “How many people you’ve seen come in to pawn will be carrying a bag that big, and he’s been looking at the time on his watch since I came in.

If I’m not guessing, this guy should be on the run.

There’s no way he’s going back to L.A. anytime soon.”

The black guy showed his admiration and gave a thumbs up, “Boss, you’re still good.”

Jim put away his Rolex watch, in a good mood, and asked, “Did you collect anything else today?”

The black guy offered a treasure, lifting out a forty centimeter high statue from a cabinet, “Boss, this is what I spent three hundred dollars to collect? Although it may not be from a famous artist, it should be twenty or thirty years old.”

Jim pushed up his glasses and carefully looked at the statue, it was a statue of Marilyn Monroe with the classic cover-your-skirt action.

“Not bad, although I don’t know what’s so great about this woman, but quite a few white guys are good at this, it should fetch a good price.”

Just then, a group of people walked in outside, led by a bald white man, “Hey girls, come out and get your customers.”

“Haha ……” A burst of laughter occurred from the several men behind him.

The black guy’s face was a bit ugly, he was about to say something was stopped by Jim.

Jim squeezed out a smile, “Lieutenant David, what brings you here?”

The person who came was none other than the Vice Captain David of the Anti-Black and Narcotics Division.

“Ooooh …… you know me? Then it’s just as well that there’s no need for introductions.”

“Yes, I have met you once. What can I do for you?”

“We received a report that you are acquiring stolen goods here, and we are here to investigate.”

“There must be some kind of misunderstanding here, or maybe it’s just peer jealousy, we’re a regular pawnshop, we don’t accept stolen goods.”

“Very well then, we’re just doing a routine search, so we can go back and deliver.” With a tilt of his head, David signaled his men to go in and search.

“SORRY, Lieutenant David, we’re in regular business. Do you guys have a search warrant?”

David flashed the warrant, “Any questions?”

Jim was cold and a little helpless, “No.”

“GOOD, guys, move in.”

Several officers then began to search the store.

This kind of dens for selling stolen goods could more or less be found out if the police wanted to check it out.

Soon the officers searched out some pawned items that were suspected to be stolen goods.

“Jim, how do you explain these stolen goods?”

“It has nothing to do with me, these were collected by the employees of the store, I was not at the store during the day. Besides, they weren’t aware that these were stolen goods, and we got ripped off.” Jim sighed and shrugged it off.

David smiled, “You’re the owner of this pawn shop, it’s not like you can say it’s irrelevant, come with us.”

Jim also saw that this wave of people should also be coming at him, “Lieutenant David, I’ve always respected the LAPD, is there some kind of misunderstanding?”

“Do you know Annelec Lauer?”

“No, I don’t know him.”

David shrugged, “Then there’s nothing to talk about, let’s talk about the loot.”

Jim responded, “Because of that out of print record?

Jesus Christ, what have I offended?”