Chapter 574
The case of the stolen necklace felt like a farce, and it was good that the farce was over.
After John and Lucy left, Luke and Lilith returned to the club.
Milka’s Tea Café.
Both Luke and Lilith didn’t eat properly at lunch for the necklace theft, and now that it’s over, both of them are a little hungry.
Lilith brought Luke for afternoon tea.
Two cups of black tea, a plate of fruits, and muffins, sandwiches, bread rolls and cream pastry, and white asparagus cake.
Each of the tea treats was exquisitely ornate and small, with Luke’s favorite being the chocolate mousse with gold leaf; he’d seen a lot of gold, and it was the first time he’d ever had it in his mouth.
Lilith put down her teacup and asked with a smile, “How does it taste?”
“It’s not bad, the chocolate flavor is very plain, I like it.”
Lilith suggested, “How about we have Spanish food tonight? The club just got a Spanish chef, try his cooking.”
“OK, I haven’t had paella and Iberian ham in a long time either.
Those two dishes are my favorites.”
Lilith said, “But there is one more thing to take care of before dinner?”
Luke put down his fork and wiped his mouth, “The case of the stolen auction items?”
“Yes.
I just called and inquired about it, and the investigation isn’t going well on the police’s end, and the longer it drags on, the more trouble things are going to get.”
Luke teased, “It’s not easy to eat your meal.”
Lilith held Luke’s hand, “I know, it’s really hard to let you investigate two cases in a row, but you’re the only one who can help me now.
When the investigation is over, you can stay at the club for a while and relax.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad, is membership here expensive?”
“That doesn’t matter.
You’re my VIP and it’s always free.”
“One size does not fit all, I still like to pay for myself, I’ll feel more comfortable staying here this way.”
“OK, your hiring fee for this investigation will more than pay for the membership, don’t worry about it at all.”
Luke took a sip of black tea to moisten his throat, “Let’s talk about the case of the stolen auction items.”
Lilith took out her tablet from her bag, while standing up and sitting next to Luke, she opened the tablet and found a video, “This is the surveillance video from last night’s auction.”
The two sat close together and Lilith smelled faintly of perfume.
Luke didn’t like too strong perfume scent and found it pungent, Lilith had a light perfume scent, like a blend of flowers, it was fresh and smelled good.
The video began to play and Luke withdrew his mind and began to check the surveillance of the auction.
The camera was placed in the corner of the auction house, which was a good angle to capture most of the space of the auction venue.
The auction venue was about two hundred square meters, in front of it was a higher auction table, behind it were some tables and chairs for guests to be seated, the whole auction venue didn’t have a lot of people, there were only about forty people in total, excluding the service staff, there were probably only about thirty guests who participated in the auction.
Luke also saw Lilith’s figure in the video, “You were there when the auction item was lost?”
“Yes.
That’s what depresses me, I was obviously there but I don’t know who stole the auction item, would you think I’m a fool.”
Luke teased, “That would also be the most charming fool I’ve ever seen.”
Lilith bristled, “Don’t tell anyone about this, I wouldn’t admit it if you did.”
The video showed the crowd settling into their seats as the auction officially began.
The first auction item was an oil painting, the one meter square paper was painted in a messy way, Luke didn’t know what exactly was painted, maybe this was the so-called impressionism.
After the auctioneer announced the starting price, one after another guests walked to the auction table to view and observe the oil painting.
Luke frowned slightly, “This auction seems to be a bit random.”
Lilith said, “Those attending the auction are all guests of the club, and it is a small-scale auction, so it is not as strict as a large auction house.
This is also a characteristic of club auctions.
Some people like to bid at large auctions, and there are also people who like these small-scale exchanges, and there is no conflict.”
Luke understood, simply put, this kind of small auction was more ‘humane’ and easier to exchange some benefits.
For example, if the mayor’s wife of Los Angeles wanted to auction off a painting or collection of her own, it would definitely be more appropriate on this kind of occasion.
At the same time, in the event of a security problem at this kind of auction, it would be a blow to the club’s credibility, and it would lose a lot of potential customers and some regular guests.
Lilith pointed at the screen with a slender finger, “Luke, what was stolen is this auction item.”
Luke looked at the screen, it was a green gourd-shaped porcelain, the workmanship was very exquisite, the lower belly of the gourd was also painted with a pair of danding cranes, the painting was very dynamic, the two danding cranes seemed to be able to fly out of the bottle at any time.
“Chinese porcelain?”
Lilith nodded: “It’s enamel, the best plain porcelain fired by JDZ is sent to the palace to be baked in colored glaze by the imperial painters, exclusively for the palace royal family to play and enjoy. Painter skill is particularly high, the processing level is strictly controlled, if there are defects immediately broken processing. The number of survivors is rare, each piece is a rare boutique, worth a lot of money.”
Luke was a bit surprised, “You still know porcelain?”
Lilith said helplessly, “As the head of the club, it’s also my first time to be in charge of an auction, and I’ve made an understanding of each and every auction item.
Moreover, after this green gourd enamel was stolen, I did some more homework.”
Just at this moment, the surveillance video suddenly ended.
“What’s going on?”
“The auction had a power outage.”
“Man-made, or an accident?”
“It rained heavily last night, and there was thunder and lightning, so I thought it was an accident at first.
But the maintenance man said that the distribution room had been tampered with and the power outage was man-made.”
“How long was the power outage?”
“About five minutes or so.”
“Was anyone using a cell phone for light at the time?”
“According to the rules, cell phones are not allowed to be brought into the auction house during the auction.
And it was pouring rain that night and it was dark.” After about three or four minutes someone was heard shouting, “Where’s my enameled gourd vase? Who has seen my auction item? Tommy, it was an employee of your club who collected it ……”
Lilith sighed, “I knew something was wrong at that moment, when the call came in, I asked the staff, it was a bit chaotic at that time because of the darkness, the auction room was a bit chaotic, nobody messed around with the auction item, everyone claimed that it hadn’t been moved, but the auction item was off the beaten track and missing.”
“How big was that auction item?”
“The enamel is 19 inches tall, 2 inches in caliber, 4.7 inches in upper belly diameter, 9.5 inches in lower belly diameter, and 4.7 inches in base diameter.”
“Did anyone leave the auction block during the blackout?”
“Yes, according to the police, two club employees and six guests left the venue.”
Luke asked, “Is it possible that these people took the enamel?”
Lilith nodded, “The police thought so, but the surveillance didn’t capture the footage because of the power outage.
That’s the most difficult part, the six guests can’t all be thieves, and we can’t treat them as suspects, it would affect the club’s reputation, the investigation is progressing very slowly, and I’m a bit at my wits end, that’s why I asked you to come.”
Luke finished his black tea and wiped his mouth and hands with a wet napkin, “Let’s go check out the auction block.”
The two walked along the green path for a few minutes and came to a three-story building next to a cafe on the first floor, a small theater on the second floor, and the auction venue on the third floor.
Pushing open two heavy wooden doors, Luke saw the auction house from the video and entered to take a closer look, recalling the location of the guests and auction items from the video.
“Did you hear any suspicious noises that night?”
“After the blackout that night, it was a bit chaotic because the venue was full of people ……,” Lilith thought for a moment, “Does thunder count?”
Luke asked, “When did the police arrive? Did the investigation of the scene reveal anything? What department was in charge of the case?”
“It was nine o’clock when the power went out, and I called the police as soon as I noticed the enamel was missing.
Half an hour later, patrolmen from the Van Nuys section of the Canyon Division arrived at the club.
In charge of the investigation of the case was Night Detective Nicolin Yarrow.”
The name was somewhat unfamiliar to Luke and his eyes scanned around, “Did they do a thorough search of the auction venue?”
Lilith sighed, “They searched all the locations where the enamel could have been hidden and found nothing.”
Luke checked the tables and chairs and found no hiding spaces.
He checked the cabinet on the auction table again and opened the door, it was not small and empty.
Luke tapped his finger on the bottom of the cabinet and asked, “How thick is the floor?”
Lilith replied, “I don’t know, but it must be solid, and the police have checked this cabinet, so it should be fine.”
Luke stepped off the auction table and walked over to the window and looked down, it was on the third floor and not very high, and asked, “Did you open the window last night?”
“Yes.”
“Is there any chance the enamel could have been lowered through the window?”
Lilith shrugged, “No way, these windows are fixed for security reasons and only open six inches at the widest, that enamel wouldn’t even make it out.”
Luke tried, the windows did only open six inches, they were sturdy and showed no signs of vandalism.
He then proceeded to look around the auction house and saw the ventilation ducts on the roof, stepped on a table and climbed up to the roof and knocked on the ventilation ducts, “Have the officers searched the place?”
“Yes, no enamel was found. And the ventilation duct is very narrow, only 25 inches, it can’t accommodate a normal person.”
“Ding ding ding ding ……”
Luke was about to say something when Lilith’s cell phone rang, “Excuse me, I have to take this.”
Luke nodded, “I’m going to take a look outside the auction venue.”
Lilith watched Luke Luke out of the auction house and pressed the answer button, “Hello, Penny, good afternoon.”
A woman’s voice came over the phone, “Hi my dear sister, I hear you’re having a little trouble with your club.”
“The club is owned by the family, my grandfather just asked me to take care of it for a while. Did the news reach you so quickly?”
“Yes, there are always ‘hotheads’ who like to spread gossip around.
Do you need my help?”
“No, I’ll take care of it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m pretty sure.”
“As a sister, I’d like to remind you that managing a club well isn’t as easy as treasure hunting on an island, it requires professional management knowledge and a lot of experience, as well as some tips on how to use people.
If you need it, you can always call me for advice.
I don’t want to see my dear sister take over the club and mess it up, and maybe even face claims from the guests.
If this matter spreads out, the entire Finn family will lose face ……”
“Penny, I’ve already taken care of the club’s affairs, you should worry more about your own.” Lilith grunted lightly and hung up her cell phone, muttering.
“Nasty old woman.”