"The murderer intends to steal Lie Guoxiao's paintings!" Chen Shi suddenly said to Lin Dongxue.

Lin Dongxue had an epiphany. "Yes, why didn't I think of this possibility? But now that Boss Shen has been killed, can their plan be realized?"

Chen Shi took a look at Taiyang pawn shop. He Jingjing was staring at them maliciously, so Chen Shi said, "Let’s not stand here talking."

Back in the car, Chen Shi said, "Although we don't know what the murderer's whole plan is, we can think about it in another way. What is needed for the murderer to complete this plan?"

"Manpower, tools, skills, and backup plans to deal with various consequences."

"These are of course necessary for the implementation of the plan, but there is one more important thing- information. We all saw it last night. Lie Guoxiao had hidden these priceless paintings in a very inconspicuous place, with special protection. If we hadn’t visited with a search warrant, we wouldn’t even know this piece of information. At that time, a motorcycle rider was following us. I thought he had been sent by Lie Guoxiao, but now that I think about it, the person who followed us was the murderer! Based on this, it’s obvious why the murderer didn’t hesitate to abandon "Mountain Residence XX Picture" to frame Liu Feng. They needed to do this to smear Lie Guoxiao’s name, let the police conduct a search, and then follow the police. As a result, the location of the paintings was exposed."

"Was this the murderer's plan from the beginning, or their backup plan?"

"I think this was a backup plan. After all, there are many variables in this. For example, Lie Guoxiao might have been unwilling to cooperate with the search, the police might not have conducted a search, or the tailing might have failed. At first, the murderer wanted to bring Boss Shen over to their side. Boss Shen was being scammed by Lie Guoxiao. They asked Boss Shen to do something so that they could find out where the paintings were. However, Boss Shen was obviously unwilling to take the risk and be used as a scapegoat. To prevent the plan from being leaked, they killed him."

"Looking at things in this way, the murderer has everything ready now. They will act any time. I have to talk to my brother."

"Wait!" Chen Shi said, "It's better to let this happen. We aren’t obligated to protect Lie Guoxiao's paintings. Wouldn't it be better if we use his paintings as bait to catch the murderer? ... I'll find a friend right now to monitor that neighborhood."

"Is it that friend of yours again?" Lin Dongxue smiled bitterly.

Chen Shi took out his phone. "It's too slow to go through the formal procedures. It’s safer to put in an informer first. You can report this when everything is settled."

Chen Shi contacted kk. He hadn’t contacted him for a while. kk said, "Damn bastard, you only just remembered to call me? Did you need me for something again?"

"Hey, don't be like a resentful woman and help me keep watch on something."

After kk complained for a while, he readily agreed and rushed to that housing district.

Lin Dongxue said, "Wouldn’t it be better to monitor Taiyang pawn shop?"

Chen Shi smiled and shook his head. "All of these are just our speculations. The murderer may be someone out of our field of vision. Let's be on the safe side. No matter what, the murderer will definitely go there."

"Then we should go back and look for my brother."

The two of them ate a simple lunch and updated Lin Qiupu about the situation when they returned to the bureau. Lin Qiupu was surprised when he heard about it, and asked, "What did you manage to find out in order to come up with all these conclusions at once?"

"It's because we discussed and reasoned things out with each other. Things will be unclear if undebated."

Lin Qiupu pondered, "You admit that it’s all speculation and there’s no evidence..."

"Brother!"

Lin Qiupu stretched out his hand to signal Lin Dongxue not to interrupt. "If I were stubborn, I would definitely not take action based on your reasoning, but I know you’re always accurate in guessing the criminal's intentions. Furthermore, this reasoning is based on the existing clues and there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it... Forcibly intervening at this juncture doesn’t seem to have much benefit. It’s better to go with the flow, and then we secretly make arrangements."

"Haha, our opinions are the same. I have already asked a friend to go to the place where the paintings are hidden to keep watch."

"Can he manage it alone? I'll send a few more police officers!" Lin Qiupu picked up the intercom. "Xiaodong, come over here for a bit."

Lin Qiupu asked Xu Xiaodong and his partner to go there and keep watch. They had to monitor 24 hours the people entering and leaving the building, especially those who were suspiciously dressed and carrying boxes or bags. They could be arrested on the spot if necessary.

The next step was to wait and see what happened. One day passed, and under the surveillance of three pairs of eyes, nothing happened.

The next day, Lin Qiupu was worried and was about to send some more people. Old Zhang remonstrated, "If you put too many pairs of eyes at the place, the thief won’t dare to come." Hence, Lin Qiupu only sent two more groups so that Xu Xiaodong and the others could take turns to rest.

In the evening, Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue were eating stir-fried rice vermicelli when they suddenly received a text message from kk. "Brother Chen, a suspicious person had just rushed down in a panic."

"Do you have a photo?"

"Wait a moment."

A video was sent over. They saw a man in a suit running down with a briefcase in his hand, looking around, and then leaving.

Lin Dongxue glanced at the task force’s chat group. "Weird, why is the little thief the only one reporting it? There’s nothing from the others we sent."

The video wasn’t very clear and they couldn’t see the man's face clearly. Chen Shi said, "There is only one explanation. The police don't think he is a suspicious person... I understand now. He’s the one who takes care of the paintings for Lie Guoxiao! Oh no, it has already happened!"

Lin Dongxue hadn't reacted yet.

Chen Shi hurriedly finished his stir-fried rice vermicelli, gulped down his iced cola in one mouthful, wiped his mouth and said, "If you were the one who took care of the paintings for Lie Guoxiao, what would you do when you saw these paintings disappear overnight?"

"Escape?!"

"Yes. Hurry and ask Xiaodong to chase after that person. Let's go to the scene!"

The two of them got into the car. Lin Dongxue was on her phone all along the way, and the information quickly spread throughout the second team.

When they arrived at the scene, Chen Shi called all the people who were keeping watch and prepared to go up and have a look. The group went to the house. Although the anti-theft door had several locks installed, the person who just left had just simply closed it. It only took Chen Shi half a minute to pry open the lock.

When they walked into the house, the air-conditioning was still running strong. When they got to the room where the paintings were kept, they saw that the shelves were empty and there was a line written on the wall: "It's not that revenge wouldn’t be taken. The time wasn’t right yet."

"It's impossible!" said a police officer. "We were watching so carefully and nobody came down with a bag or box. Even when someone threw a big bag of garbage out, we would look through it."

Chen Shi saw that the window in the living room was open. There was a bustling road outside. Noticing his line of sight, another police officer said, "There are railings on this window, so people can't pass through it."

"But the paintings can pass through." Lin Dongxue said, "After the thief came in, they threw the paintings from here to the accomplice below."

"Impossible! It's a road outside with people coming and going, and there are security cameras. If you pass things out one by one, someone would have called the police long ago."

Chen Shi checked around the house. "They weren’t taken away through the window. Their technique was even more ingenious than this. They evaded our surveillance perfectly. Maybe we've alerted them long ago!"

At this moment, there was the sound of footsteps rushing up the stairs...