Chapter 1198: Failure in Sneaking
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Dr. Saatchi didn’t have the guts to turn on the surveillance camera. He didn’t expect things to turn out like this.
He called the police to investigate Li Du, based on nothing but his observations.
The night before, he saw Li Du poking his head around the entrance of the museum. Then the floor was inexplicably broken. The tables and chairs above fell down. The treasure hunter he hired did not get anything…
Therefore, Saatchi could not help but think that perhaps Li Du, like him, also knew where the masterpiece was!
It was all too much of a coincidence. Li Du just happened to stroll around the museum, the building suffered sudden and inexplicable damage, and then Li Du bid for the room that contained the fallen table and chairs.
Saatchi was a scientist. He did not believe in coincidences.
In his opinion, it was more likely that Li Du knew about the existence of the book, sneaked into the museum last night to find it, smashed the floor of the building and planned it all.
Saatchi hoped the police would find the clues and confiscate the book. As long as Li Du did not take the book away, Saatchi would have a chance to get it back. Of course, he would have to act in the name of the museum.
Now it looked this young foreign man had won over him, and he would walk out of this auction empty-handed.
The way it all ended made him depressed. Apparently, the ceiling collapsed due to natural aging, but why didn’t it happen last night when he came in?
He was not in the mood to think about it now. The police wanted to check the surveillance camera, and it would cause trouble.
There were security cameras all over the museum. They came in last night. They must have been filmed.
He had called the police, forgot all about the incident, and wanted to arrest Li Du before he left with the book.
At ordinary times, it would be fine if he entered the museum at any hour, but now that the museum was consigned for auction, according to legal provision, n.o.body was allowed on the premises before the auction.
Saatchi was well-known and well-connected in Philadelphia, so when he called the police, they showed up promptly both last night and today.
However, he did not run the police station, and they did not always listen to him.
The case was filed and they had to come to investigate, so they had to check the surveillance footage.
When the video was played, the cops’ faces got serious, and Saatchi’s didn’t look good.
Back-comb looked more afraid than anybody else, however, and made to sneak away.
The policeman noticed that and said, “h.e.l.lo, sir. Please don’t leave just yet.”
Back-comb turned his eyes to Saatchi for help. Saatchi pretended not to notice and was sullenly upset.
Li Du came up to Back-comb and said, “Hey, man, you know the rules of the Warehouse Auction a.s.sociation, don’t you? You broke the rules, so I’m afraid you will be sanctioned. You might not be able to continue in this business in the future.”
This was what the man was most afraid of. He and Saatchi had very different stakes on this matter. Both of them did break the law entering the museum last night, but if they were just ordinary people the punishment would not be heavy, they would just be investigated and fined.
However, he was a treasure hunter. In order to promote the healthy development of the industry, the Warehouse Auction a.s.sociation strictly prohibited the treasure hunters from entering the warehouse during the freezing period. Once found, the archives of the offending treasure hunters would be frozen.
The warehouse auction industry was different from many other industries. It was a relatively closed business. The authority of the auction a.s.sociation was very strong.
Therefore, the a.s.sociation’s punishment was a serious matter for treasure hunters.
Back-comb was worried and pointed at Saatchi, “He took me into the museum. I, I, I didn’t know there was going to be an auction. He told me I should bid this room and he will give me two thousand dollars as a reward.”
Saatchi was also in panic when he was pointed out, “Don’t talk nonsense. I did not say so. d.a.m.n it! I brought you in to visit the museum.”
Li Du watched the scene with interest. The case had nothing to do with him. The police had concluded that the ceiling falling in was because it was old and not due to any tampering.
What’s more, the surveillance cameras showed that it had nothing to do with him, that he had only wandered the streets for a while and had not entered the museum.
Instead, Saatchi and Back-comb were seen on the surveillance cameras entering the forbidden museum, which was against the law, and the police were quick to take them into the police car.
Satisfied with the result, Li Du quickly ordered, “Notarize the book, prove that it is our legitimate gain from the warehouse auction, and then we can go back immediately.”
He and Brother Wolf took Birds of America out of the museum to prevent any further trouble. In his opinion, the greedy old guy Saatchi has definitely done some illegal operation on the book.
G.o.dzilla led the men to clean up the trash they bid for, preparing to take it to a waste disposal station.
After that, Li Du turned on his mobile phone again. Hans had called him dozens of times.
He had been in Los Angeles, and after an urgent flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, he found G.o.dzilla, but no books or Li Du, so he flew on from Philadelphia to Phoenix.
This time Hans was miserable. He swore that he would not go to the red light district and mess around anymore, and only then did Li Du let him off.
Li Du thought that he was not asking for too much. He didn’t want to be in the warehouse auction industry anymore. He wanted to buy a mansion in Los Angeles and develop his jewelry business.
Hans asked him to continue working in warehouse auctions, in order to join the Millions Dollar and even Billion Dollar clubs. The result was, Li Du listened to him and flew across the United States to find a valuable warehouse, having to leave Sophie behind so soon after their engagement.
Meanwhile, Hans, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, went off to drink with the girls himself, and Li Du felt that it was not fair.
Hans came back to take charge of the book. Li Du tapped the front page and said, “The year before, a similar book fetched $11.5 million, and it was in poor condition, so you must sell this one for at least $15 million!”
Hans promised. “No problem! I’ll contact the customer!”
Within an hour of his declaration, someone came to the door, claiming to be a member of the Audubon Society, and asked to meet Li Du to take a look at the precious volume.
Surprised, Li Du said to Hans, “You are very efficient. Is this potential buyer in Phoenix?”
Hans sneered, “Well, it wasn’t me this time…”
No matter who contacted them, however, potential buyers were already at their door.
Li Du arranged to attend them in the study. Birds of America was on the desk, occupying almost half of it.
There were five visitors, led by a bald, spectacled man in his forties. This was Bravo Tompsey, President of the Audubon Society.
The other four were also members of the Audubon Society. They were in high positions, some were event directors, others on the financial side. It looked like they were a big team.