novelraw Chapter 55 Luo Qiu's Worries
Chapter 55 Luo Qiu's Worries
The jewelry exhibition ended as usual at 6 p.m.
According to procedure, someone will clean the exhibition hall inside and out over the next three hours. After 9:00 PM, patrol officers will check the surrounding area, and once the check is complete, the lights will be turned off and the doors locked.
The same process will be followed today.
However, at nine o'clock, because of the strange questions asked by Mr. Moran during the day, Luo Qiu was unsettled and simply joined the patrol.
At 9:10, Luo Qiu walked alone outside the exhibition hall with a flashlight.
Within a 50-meter radius, which is the exhibition hall's restricted area, there's not much to note: a few bushes, a few large trees, a sidewalk, streetlights, and the Darlington River.
The exhibition hall is not far from the Darlington River. After leaving, Luo Qiu walked a few dozen steps east and arrived at the bank of the Darlington River.
Night had fallen, and there were only a few boats drifting on the river. The few that were there had their bows brightly lit, and their hulls were only marked with warning lights—marks of cargo ships.
After inspecting several ships, Luo Qiu activated his Clarity spell and used a flashlight to examine the shoreline.
Several years ago, the Bureau of Investigation recorded a case. In an art gallery next to the Darlington River, thieves took advantage of the darkness to quietly row their luxury boats close to the surroundings, go ashore, enter the gallery from the back, steal treasures, and then leisurely row away in their luxury boats.
The patrol officers had even spotted the thieves, but unfortunately, the thieves had a boat while they only had a car, so they couldn't give chase.
Therefore, Luo Qiu's inspection was to check whether there were any hidden stakes buried in the surrounding area, or any suspicious movements.
The flashlight beam shone into the grass, and a rustling sound suddenly came from the edge of the beam. The next moment, a frog jumped out, croaked, and then tried to jump into the grass next to it.
Luo Qiu quickly moved the flashlight beam over, and the frog stopped. Luo Qiu carefully checked it and found no suspicious signs before moving the flashlight away.
In April in Chongqing, it's the end of the frog breeding season, and this one that appeared by chance was already about half the size of a palm.
As you walk further on, even more frogs like these jump out.
……
At 9:30, Luo Qiu returned to the exhibition hall.
Prior to this, the patrolmen had already inspected the doors and windows of the exhibition hall.
Luo Qiu was still not at ease, so he carefully checked the ventilation openings before focusing his inspection on the display cases.
The ruby display case is the focus of the inspection.
Not only because of its high value, but also because, in Luo Qiu's eyes, it would be a focal point for those extraordinary individuals. Within his innate vision, the intensity of its red glow was at least four times that of the pocket watch.
The ceiling light shone down, passing through the glass and illuminating the surface of the gemstone. It then passed through the lower right side of the gemstone, converging on the velvet fabric to form a clear red spot of light. There were no inclusions, no cracks; at first glance, it was a blood-red hue.
From the moment Luo Qiu first saw it, many greedy thoughts had crossed his mind. Now, upon closer inspection, seeing the red of the gemstone itself and the innate red light resonating together, he inexplicably recalled Mr. Moran's words:
A sleeping beauty is placed inside a glass enclosure, solely for people to view...
Moreover, those who were watching were unaware of the gem's true value!
With her hand resting on the display case, Luo Qiu felt as if she were hearing a devil's whisper in her ear, and her gaze kept shifting.
Fortunately, just as his fingers were starting to clench involuntarily, the examination was finally over. He quickly turned his gaze to the side.
"Have other areas been checked?"
"No problem, it's already been checked."
"...Close the door and lock it."
……
In the early hours of the morning, in the small room behind the exhibition hall, Luo Qiu turned off the small orange lamp and sat in silence with Smith.
Smith is in much better shape tonight than he was last night.
Having witnessed the sturdiness of that glass, his main emotion at that moment was excitement.
He was anticipating the moment when another thief would recklessly barge in and be caught.
Compared to Smith, Luo Qiu had many more things on his mind at this moment.
Was Mr. Moran's statement intentional or unintentional?
The other party claimed to be a traveling merchant, but the traveling merchants he knew either helped large companies promote new products or sold some inexplicable thing, such as a box that claimed to "give you ten rank every day," to people who didn't know the truth.
But the other person doesn't seem to be either of those two types of people.
In addition, he returned to the Bureau of Investigation in the afternoon to check the files, and found that none of the unsolved large-scale jewelry theft cases in recent years had such a refined and polite character recorded...
Ring ring ring~
Suddenly, the alarm in the room went off. Someone in the control room sounded the alarm.
Upon hearing the sound, Luo Qiu quickly jumped out of bed, grabbed his coat, and rushed out of the room.
Smith ran out after him, pulling his gun from its holster as he ran. Two patrolmen also ran out, gripping their batons tightly.
Everyone agrees that those who can attempt the challenge on the second day are definitely much stronger than the thieves on the first day.
Of the group, Luo Qiu was the first to run and the fastest. With only a few steps in the corridor, he rushed into the exhibition hall in no time.
At this moment, the exhibition hall lights were not yet on, and the area was pitch black. There were no people in sight or any obvious noises. However, when looking in the direction of the ruby display case, in the innate vision, besides the dense red light of the ruby, there seemed to be a weak red light flashing by.
"Where?"
"Don't move!"
The next second, Smith and two patrolmen followed, shouting as they arrived. The patrolmen, carrying flashlights, instinctively shone them towards the area where the rubies were located in the darkness of the exhibition hall.
Unfortunately, there was nothing there; everything was normal.
When other areas were checked, the flashlight beam passed over them and everything remained normal.
Now, the group was somewhat bewildered. The patrolman shone his flashlight, glancing at Smith every now and then, trying to see what the training instructor was doing. Smith, on the other hand, hunched over slightly, gripping his pistol tightly, as if wary of a thief lurking in the shadows. But when he occasionally glanced at Luo Qiu, he seemed completely confused.
After finding nothing when the flashlight beam swept across the area for the first time, Luo Qiu stood straight in place, even slightly lowering the gun he was holding.
"senior……"
Just as Smith was about to quietly inquire about the situation, Luo Qiu made another move.
Turning around, Luo Qiu snatched a flashlight and aimed it at the corner of the wall to the left of the ruby display case.
There was a palm tree there, but somehow, a dark mass appeared next to it. When the flashlight shone on it, the dark mass had a fuzzy texture, and then a thin, long black thread split off from that dark mass, twisting eerily in the air.
Meow--
"...It's a cat."
Upon hearing the sound, the patrolman realized what the black mass was, breathed a sigh of relief, and began to approach with his flashlight.
"It must have gotten in through the vent."
"I don't know, but it would be easy for a cat to squeeze in..."
"Could it be that it jumped onto the display case and accidentally triggered the alarm?"
"It's very likely. This alarm is too sensitive. We need to catch this cat quickly and get it out of here."
And so, the two patrolmen went off to deal with the black cat while they talked.
Smith lowered his guard, scratched his head, and prepared to leave.
Only Luo Qiu felt his back soaked with cold sweat the moment the flashlight beam shone out.
……