The case turned out to be more complicated than expected. Luo Jian would have prefered to give Wenjie some good news. Instead, they came across more questions. 

As the investigation revealed, the deliverer had called from a cell phone number. However, this was not registered to a man, but to a woman called Li Wan. She had no criminal record and worked as a secretary in a doctor's surgery.

"I already wanted to report it stolen," the woman said during questioning. "But this morning someone dropped it in my letterbox. I must have just lost it after all. Maybe the camera surveillance can help you. I'm sure the person should be on it. The finder only rang the bell once. When I went downstairs, he was already gone." 

The building management of the apartment building where Li Wan lived was very helpful. They were actually able to find out who had been in and out during the morning hours and who had been at the letterboxes. Several people could be recognized on the recordings. Almost all of them were residents of the house. Only one figure wearing a motorcycle outfit and a closed helmet could not be identified. 

However, Captain Luo recognized that it must be the same person, who had been in the restaurant. The outside cameras revealed, that the man had still been riding his motorcycle at the time. One of the cameras even showed the license plate.

As they learned from the traffic police, the motorcycle had been reported stolen for two days. The owner was a mechanic called Han Jin. He also had an impeccable reputation and had never been involved in any shady activities. 

In cooperation with the traffic police, the motorcycle was tracked down. The thief had parked it on Jinbao Street, near a block of flats with the number 24, but his trail was lost in a residential area where there was no camera surveillance. 

Li Wan and Han Jin lived in blocks of flats numbered 38 and 28, and these numbers rang a bell in Luo Jian's head. Weren't these the positions of the tiles on the Weiqi board? Indeed they were. The same numbers. Only 33 was missing, but none of the houses near which the stranger had last been seen had this house number. There was also no such number in the residential area where he had disappeared. 

"Maybe the numbers don't mean anything?" said Pang Dazhi at their team meeting in the office. "We should question the people who last saw him again. Maybe it would also be useful to check Li Wan and Han Jin. They could have been lying."

"They're both fine," Luo Jian replied. He could also rely on his gut feeling. It hadn't kicked in with the two of them. Their statements were correct. Moreover, he was sure that Jiag Hao or Liao Shuang would have found something when they had investigated the two's background. There was nothing unusual, apart from the house numbers. 

"If we put a grid over the city map and mark the house number on it. Then we could check, whether the distance between the 24 and the 28 is four times as great as the distance between the 28 and the 38. If the position on the board is actually being readjusted, that should be the case. Then we could roughly determine the 33 based on the positions and have a look around the suspected area," suggested Liao Shuang. 

Pang Dazhi frowned. "Aren't we just looking for a needle in a haystack? We'd better concentrate on finding the thief's trail."

"That's not much better," she countered. 

"That's actually a good idea Shuang'er," Luo Jian said. "If we're lucky, someone in the area will have seen the thief and we could pick up his trail again. Jiang Hao, as a precaution, inform the museums where the relics from the Japan-China War are stored. I have a feeling that someone is trying to tell us that he's planning a big score."

This someone was certainly none other than Xu Zhengqing. Captain Luo therefore suspected, that the criminal had pulled out all the stops in recent months to build up a new network. That did not bode well.

Liao Shuang's idea turned out to be fruitful. House numbers 24 and 28 were on the same line. The distance from 24 to 28 was four times as long as the distance between 38 and 28. If they assumed that 33 was at the same height as 38, as was the case on the Weiqi board, it was possible to calculate the area in which 33 should be located.

Luo Jian and his core team set off there immediately. It was a residential area that was partially under camera surveillance. However, this did not apply to the house at number 33. It was a warehouse that belonged to a closed car repair shop. 

This brought back memories of the search for Ding Shenhuo's hideout. But he was in prison. 

The front door of the hall and the entrance to the workshop were locked. At the back of the building, the police discovered a back door that was ajar. The door handle was missing. A piece of iron chain and an open lock lay on the floor. It was quiet inside. 

Luo Jian carefully pushed the door open. The interior was empty and dusty. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling. Light streamed into the room through the skylights. A wall clock lay on the floor in the center of the hall. It was reminiscent of the clocks he had seen in Xu Zhengqing's clock store. Another indication that the man was still alive. But there was no sign of the thief or the mastermind behind the whole operation. 

It was to be hoped that they would find fingerprints here, as the examination of the magnetic Weiqi board had already failed to uncover any. At least there were footprints on the floor. However, they did not match Xu Zhengqing's shoe size. This probably meant that the thief, who had stolen the motorcycle and delivered the package, had left the clock here. If they found him, that would also lead them to Monsieur. At least in theory. In practice, it proved to be much more difficult. 

to be continued ...