Chapter 383

Nine o’clock in the morning.

Luke drove to the foot of the Santa Monica Mountains.

A very modern fine arts museum and beautiful gardens, the Getty Center, had been built here.

Luke parked his car in the parking lot and walked to the front plaza of the Getty Center, the surrounding buildings blended in with the beauty of the scenery, perhaps because it was Christmas, there weren’t many tourists today.

Luke stretched and breathed in the fresh air, it was nice to come around the mountains once in a while.

A black man came by, wearing a yellow hat and carrying a square bag in his hand, walked up to Luke and said, “Sir, I’m very hungry, can you buy me something to eat?”

Luke looked at the other man, lifted his shirt and pulled money out of his pocket, inadvertently revealing the pistol at his waist, and took two dollars out of his pocket, “Merry Christmas!”

“Thank you sir.

Merry Christmas!” The homeless man thanked him and walked away quickly with the two dollars.

For the matter of giving money to the hobo, there are different opinions, each with their own views, the American hobo is also divided into many situations, but can be roughly divided into three kinds.

The first kind, have hands and feet, can work, but is lazy, do not want to work, eat welfare.

The second kind is sick and has no way to work.

The third kind, with education, motivation, ambition, once tried hard, but failed, can not suffer the blow some disheartened, see through.

On the matter of giving money, also mainly divided into two factions, the first is in favor of giving money, because some of the homeless really poor can not afford to eat, you give him a dollar or two, he can eat a full meal.

If you don’t give it, it may well be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.

There is also a school of thought that says you shouldn’t give money, and that if you do, you’ll be stuck with a homeless person.

If you give him a dollar or two, he won’t be satisfied at all, and will chase you and keep asking for it, and may even be in danger because of the argument.

Luke felt that both of the above schools of thought had a point, and it essentially depended on whether or not you had the power.

Like Luke, give or not give all depends on the heart, look at each other poor, really can not afford to eat, give two or three dollars, send a goodwill.

If the other party dares to pester, continue to chase for money, find a place where no one’s mouth smacked him, a few slaps will be honest.

Not far away, a slender and graceful silhouette came over and said with a smile, “I didn’t expect that Captain Lee still has such a kind side.”

Luke snickered, “Isn’t it a bit regrettable that you missed the opportunity to know me further last night.”

As if she didn’t understand, Orty didn’t care, “That’s why I asked you to join me at the restaurant museum today.

This museum is famous in Los Angeles, have you been here before?”

“No, I’m a vulgar person, seldom come to such an elegant place.” Although Luke had never been to this museum, he had heard about the founder of the museum.

This grandpa’s name was Paul Getty, also a ruthless man, his grandson was kidnapped by the mafia, cut off an ear, still refused to pay the ransom of 17 million dollars, no less than the world’s sick dirt.

Luke more or less knows some insiders, reportedly, Getty’s grandson was kidnapped, a large number of emergency meetings held within the family on the kidnapping case, that he completely want money not people, biased.

Getty publicly refused to pay the ransom for fear that other family members would be targeted by more kidnappers, and Getty’s indifference was a negotiating tactic.

Getty has four wives, four sons, and a dozen grandchildren.

Regardless of the truth, the kidnapping was a minor ripple in his life, not even a setback.

It is this museum that is Getty’s ‘real grandchildren’, built at a cost of $2.2 billion dollars, bringing together his heart and soul.

The museum hangs in a white-themed building, with a collection of mostly paintings and statues, including many famous paintings by Monet, Manet, Chancellor, Van Gogh, and others.

Museum of the square there are a large number of sculptures, strange, various, male and female.

The museum is free to visit.

Luke seldom came to the museum before, always feel boring, but in the museum around, feel a little different.

Every painting has its origin, every painting represents a period of time and is an abbreviation of a historical stage ……

In a sense, these sculptures and paintings are the epitome of Western civilization ……

If you just walk around with the intention of killing time, you might just be wasting your time.

But if it’s a heartfelt experience, it might be rewarding and heartfelt.

While strolling through the exhibition, Ortie acted as Luke’s guide and walked up to a pair of Impressionist oil paintings, “This Still Life is a work by Champselle, which was auctioned for 60.5 million dollars in 1999.

It gave art lovers all over the world a chance to view the master’s work, and at the same time confirmed his position in the world of fine art.”

Luke scrutinized it, perhaps because he had been here so little and was not artistic, and did not see what was so good about it.

The two walked forward a bit to the middle of the hall, where Orty pointed to a blue and green painting, “This Iris is the town treasure, Van Gogh’s masterpiece created in 1889.

The Getty Museum paid over $53 million dollars to get it from auction in 1988, a record for an oil painting at the time.”

Luke didn’t pay attention to painters, but he had heard of Van Gogh’s great name, and just held an admiring attitude and didn’t savor his paintings.

The two of them wandered around until noon and dined at a restaurant outside the museum.

This is an Italian restaurant, Luke also quite like to eat Italian food, just usually busy, do not have that leisure.

Today, he was on vacation and accompanied by a beautiful woman, so he naturally had to eat something good.

Luke picked up his red wine glass and clinked it with Orty, “Didn’t you say there was something you wanted to find me last night? What is it?”

Orty took a sip of red wine, “Can’t I ask you out if there’s nothing going on?”

Luke leaned forward, “So today is considered a date?”

Without answering positively, Orty asked instead, “Is there a painting here that you like?”

Luke laughed, “That townhouse is pretty good, how much would it go for now?”

Ortie said, “It’s hard to value such one-of-a-kind paintings, a conservative estimate is over 100 million dollars.”

“With such a painting, I can retire early.”

Olti took out a picture, “Some time ago, the museum received a pair of anonymous letters claiming to steal this Iris during the Christmas holiday.”

Generally, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are back-to-back in the United States, usually between December 22nd and January 5th.

Luke picked up the photo to view it, it was a letter, ‘Hi Mr. Curator, it’s been a long time.

The last time I saw you was at your inaugural welcome party.

I’m envious of you.

Envious that you’re going to be the curator of the Getty Museum, which has always been a dream of mine.

You know what?

Every time I stand in front of Master Van Gogh’s Iris, I feel the urge to claim it for my own.

It has an irresistible magic.

I’m going crazy.

Crazy about it.

So, I’m going to take it with me.

After this vacation, it will be mine.

I will treat it well, do not miss it.’

Luke put the letter down, “What is the museum going to do about it?”

Orty said, “The museum contacted the Pinkerton Detective Agency and offered a reward of two hundred thousand dollars to investigate the origin of the letter.”

Luke asked, “You want me to take over the commission?”

Orty shook his head, “It’s not something you’re good at, or at least you’d have a hard time completing the commission on your own.”

“Then why did you mention this to me?” Luke didn’t want to believe that Orty had brought him here for no other reason.

Orty tapped the photo with a long, slender finger, “The museum is offering a reward of two hundred thousand dollars for a single letter from an unknown source, and if that Iris was really stolen.

How much more reward would the museum offer to recover the painting?”

Luke said, “Isn’t it a little early for that?”

Olty put his cell phone away, “I am hoping that you have a preparation in advance, otherwise even if the painting is really stolen and the museum offers a high reward, with you alone you still won’t be able to take over this high commission.”

Luke guessed, “Is it someone who wants to cooperate with me?”

“It’s not a collaboration.

Rather, I wish to form a team of detectives in your name.”

Luke picked up the red wine and took a sip, before he went to Washington to visit the North American branch of Pinkerton Detective Agency, President Bailey had this proposal, however, Luke refused at that time.

There were four reasons for the refusal.

The first point, Luke’s Sleuth System at that time had not been upgraded, and every time he solved a case, there would be a high bonus, but now it was no longer available, and it was like cutting off his biggest and most stable economic source.

The second point, at that time, Luke and Pinkerton Detective Agency had not been working together for a long time, and their trust in each other was not yet high.

The third point, President Bailey said this when Ortie did not know, if Luke rashly agreed, it might destroy the partnership with Ortie.

The fourth point, and the most important point, Luke is worried that the detective commission and the police investigation of the case have intersected, the conversation will be more M-sense, he and Ortie talk about M-sense topic will use the detection card, to ensure safety.

If a detective team is established, the frequency of using the detection card will also increase, at that time, it was still a lottery mechanism, he only had three detection cards, and he could not freely redeem the card.

But now it was different again, the Divine Detective System was upgraded, Luke could freely redeem the Detection Cards with points, he now stored 120 points and could redeem 12 Detection Cards, this was no longer a problem.

With the passage of time, the previous four reasons for refusal were now no longer valid.

Seeing that Luke didn’t make a statement, Orty continued, “Luke, you have solved more than ten big cases, and your reputation is so great that you dare not talk about the whole of California, but at least it is like a thunderclap within the Los Angeles police system.

Fame and fortune are twins, you are now famous, as long as you use it in the right place, you can get the benefits you deserve.

I think you should put together a team of detectives.”

Luke also knew that taking commissions was fast money, but it was easy to go up the mountain and hard to come down, what if the team that was put together wasn’t ideal? Split up the team?

This was not a matter of words.

Luke said, “My main job is a police officer, I don’t have much time to run a detective team.”

“I want to ask you to form a detective team because I value your ability to investigate cases, and another thing is your reputation.

Let’s say for example, if the museum’s famous paintings are really stolen, the museum will definitely hire a detective team in order to retrieve the valuable paintings, and the hiring fee and bounty will be a sky-high price.

With so many wolves and so little meat, ordinary detective teams are simply not qualified to take commissions.

If you step in and organize the detective team, the chances of getting the commission for the mission will be greatly increased.

The hiring money will also be at a premium because of the detective’s fame.

As for the specific affairs of the detective, if you have the time, you will be in charge.

If you don’t have the time, you can also arrange for other people to investigate without affecting your main business.” There was one more thing that Orty hadn’t said; the Pinkerton Detective Agency, despite its reputation, was not without competitors in the industry.

From what she’d been told, the museum had likely approached other detective agencies as well.

A horse can’t get fat without night grass, and with just that small salary from being a police officer, it would be hard for Luke to get rich and buy a mansion and go to the top of his life.

But across the line, forming a team of detectives is not a matter of words, everything is difficult at the beginning.

“I’ll think about it.”

“If you have any ideas, you can communicate with me.

Although you can take on commissions alone, a real money-making commission still requires a team of detectives, and it’s hard to go it alone for long.” Orty didn’t intend to convince Luke all at once, as long as he had the idea, it was a good start.

Seeing that Luke’s fame wasn’t being used wisely gave Orty a sense of waste.

Luke wasn’t continuing the topic and asked, “Any luck with the investigation into the source of that threatening letter?”

Orty took a sip of soup and wiped her red lips with a napkin, “Not yet, there are too few clues.

And, for the time being, we can’t figure out the purpose of the letter thrower.

Have you ever seen a thief tell the homeowner in advance before coming to the door to steal?”

Luke said thoughtfully, “Kind of interesting.”

Orty leaned forward, his blouse heavy and bouncy from the fall, “If you have a team of detectives with people who are good at prying.

I’d definitely fight this assignment through.”

Luke snickered half-heartedly, “I’m a little tempted to watch, if I agree to form a team, what’s the constitution?”

Orty “……”

Shouldn’t we be listening?

Where are the eyes looking?

“Ringing ……”

Just then, Luke’s cell phone rang.

It was Little Fatty’s cell phone.

The last time Little Fatty played missing scared Linda, and then he bought him a cell phone.

Luke pressed the answer button, “Hello, is something wrong?”

An anxious voice came from the cell phone, “Older brother, where are you?”

“What’s the matter?”

“Come back quickly.

There are a lot of cops outside!”