Los Angeles Detective

  Chapter 234 Pawn shop

  Luke looked up band names and songs online.

  thequarrymen is the predecessor of "The Beatles".

  That'llBeTheDay is the only album released by the band.

  This album has very little circulation and has a high collection value.

  In 2012, a professional record magazine valued it at $250,000.

  Although Luke seldom listens to music, the Beatles are so famous that it is difficult for him to know.

   This band is known as "one of the greatest, most influential and most successful bands in the history of popular music".

   Luke is not concerned about the band itself, but the value of this record.

  Ten years ago, it was already valued at 250,000 U.S. dollars. It would not be too much to double it, and it could be worth 500,000 U.S. dollars.

  Luke was a little excited, but not so excited that he couldn't sleep.

  He knew that this was probably a monetization opportunity provided by the system, otherwise, how could there be such a good thing, he bought a record player for 500 dollars, and got a record worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the accompanying record box.

  What Luke has to do now is to inquire about the specific market price of this record, and try to sell it for as high a price as possible.

  …

  The next day.

  Luke woke up, his whole body was full of energy, as if he had endless energy.

  In the morning, he was going to learn about the valuation of this out-of-print record.

   As for his own collection, Luke doesn't have this idea, nor is it that elegant.

   What's more important is that Luke still has to go to work, and he always takes the record with him when he can't go to work, and he is worried about leaving the record at home.

  So, it’s better to just sell it.

  Luke also knows that the price of such collectible records is often not fixed.

  If you meet a wealthy enthusiast, let alone $250,000, the other party will buy it for $500,000.

   It is very important to find a suitable customer. If you want to sell at a higher price, you must inquire from many parties.

  Luke is going to go to three places to inquire, the first place is an antique store, the second place is a store that specializes in selling records, and the third place is an auction house.

  Among them, Luke has the greatest expectations for the auction house.

  Luke went to the antique store first, but this time it was a different street and a different place. He wouldn’t be so stupid as to go to the antique store where he bought records.

  There are more than one antique street in Los Angeles. This antique street is closer to the city center. Luke chose a larger store called Strange House.

  As soon as he entered the door, Luke was greeted by a Latin beauty, "Sir, what collection do you want to buy?"

   "I'm not buying, but I have something to sell. Is your boss there?"

  The Latin girl asked, "What do you want to sell?"

   "An out-of-print record."

   "Okay, just a moment."

   After a while, a black man in his thirties came behind the store, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, "Sir, sorry to keep you waiting."

   Luke asked back, "Are you the owner?"

"Yes."

   "Do you have the final say on the price of purchased items?"

   "Sure, I hear you want to sell an out-of-print vinyl record?"

"Yes."

   "What band?"

   "the quarrymen."

  The black man was a little surprised, "The predecessor of the Beatles?"

   "Exactly."

   "The That'll Be The Day album?"

"Yes."

"How much do you want to sell?"

   "$700,000."

  The black man shook his head, "You are simply crazy. Although that album is precious, it is far from reaching this price."

   "You asked me? It's my freedom to ask a price." Luke asked back, "Are you interested in buying?"

   "Of course, but your asking price is too high, let alone I can't give it, and neither can others.

   Rich people are not fools. "

   "Then how much money do you think is appropriate?"

   "$300,000."

   "You're not the only antique store on this street."

   "$350,000."

   "It seems that you don't like this out-of-print record very much." Luke turned to leave.

   "400,000 US dollars, this is the highest price, no one can be higher than me."

   "That's not necessarily true." Luke continued to walk out, and he just called one, but he didn't want to sell it so easily.

  Seeing that Luke has decided to go, the black shopkeeper said, "Sir, what is your name? Can you give me a contact information? I will discuss it with other partners later, and if they agree, we can continue to increase the price."

   "Okay. Thank you." Luke told the other party his mobile phone number.

   Afterwards, Luke went to a record store.

  The owner of the record store liked this out-of-print record very much. After some bargaining, the other party offered $450,000.

  Finally, Luke went to another auction house—Gary's Auction House.

  The auction industry in the United States is also very developed. After learning about Luke's intentions, the manager of the auction house received Luke in person.

   There are professional appraisers who are responsible for appraising and evaluating the price of vinyl records.

  Finally, an auction range price between US$500,000 and US$700,000 was given.

  The estimate given by the auction house is the highest, but a 10% commission is charged.

   This is a big deal, and Luke didn't decide right away.

  He returns home, grabs the record player, and drives to Robert's birthday dinner.

   After more than ten minutes, a black Honda car parked not far from Luke's house opened the door, and a black man got out of the car. Seeing that there was no one around, he quickly ran to Luke's house.

  The black man took out tools from his pocket, quickly unlocked the door of Luke's house, and quietly sneaked into the house.

  Black men put on gloves and foot gloves, and rummaged through the house, seemingly looking for something.

  He was fast and professional, searching the entire house.

  Unfortunately, he didn't seem to find what he wanted.

   Just when he was about to leave, he suddenly found a black-haired young man in the living room, "fuck! It scared me to death!"

   "What are you idiot doing in my house?"

  The black-haired youth is exactly Luke.

   After Luke gave the record player to Robert, he didn't attend the party and returned home directly.

  As for the reason for returning home, it's not that Luke discovered the problem, but that he relied on his intuition from years of working as a police officer.

  He just got an out-of-print record worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's like keeping hundreds of thousands of dollars with him.

  Although the police can be regarded as his protective color, there is never a shortage of greedy people in the world, and there is no harm in being cautious.

  Luke returned home and found the problem, and blocked the thief.

  Seeing Luke pointing a gun at himself, the black man quickly raised his hands, "Sir, I don't have a weapon and I pose no threat to you. Please don't shoot."

   "What are you doing at my house?"

   "I'm just hungry and want to come to your house to find something to eat.

  sorry, I know what I did was wrong, you can call the police and arrest me. "

   "Are you here to steal that out-of-print vinyl record? How do you know about it? Who ordered you to come?"

   "I don't know what you're talking about? I'm just hungry, I came to your house to get something to eat, and I don't know what a vinyl record is."

   "I hate liars the most."

   "I said, you can call the police."

  Luke flashed his police badge, "I don't need to call the police."

   "Damn it, you're actually a policeman!" The black man showed shock and remorse on his face.

   "Who sent you to steal my vinyl records?"

   "I said, I'm not here to steal vinyl records, you're mistaken." The black man put his head in his hands and knelt on the ground consciously, "You can take me away."

  Luke doesn't like this kind of thief. He is not reckless and understands the law. He has attempted theft. His charges will not be too serious, and he may come out after paying bail.

  Luke didn't want to let him go so easily.

  A thief ran into his own house and rummaged through boxes and cabinets. This is not an honorable thing for a policeman.

  More importantly, the thief came to his house to steal things, probably because of the vinyl record. If the instigator behind it can't be caught, the other party may do it, so we have to guard against it.

  Since the thief didn't cooperate, Luke didn't have to be polite, "Do you have a gun?"

   "I don't, I never carry a weapon, and I don't pose any threat to you." The black man still kept his kneeling position with his hands on his head.

  Because he knew very well that Luke didn't dare to shoot easily in this situation.

  This is not Texas, but California, a typical French state with weak castles.

  The owner of the house can only shoot defensively when he warns first, backs down, has been violated, and is cornered.

  The owner of the house took the initiative to shoot and kill people, which is easy to get into trouble.

   "No, you threatened me. You were ordered to steal the vinyl record, but instead of the vinyl record, you found a spare pistol from my bedside table.

  You are not willing to go home empty-handed, so you are going to steal my spare gun.

  At this time, you just heard movement outside the door, you know I'm back.

  You're holding my spare gun, ready to kill me, making it look like I'm suicidal. "Luke made a serious analysis.

   "No, I haven't seen any spare guns at all. If you don't believe me, search for it."

  Luke squatted down, took out a small spare gun from under his trouser legs, and then pushed it from the ground not far from the black man, "You have it now."

   "nonono!

  Please don’t do this, please…” The black man seemed to understand, and kept praying.

  Luke made a silent gesture, "Don't shout, move slowly, and pick up that gun."

   "Please, let me go, I won't touch that gun, I won't..." The black man moved his knees away from the gun with a cry in his voice.

   "Take that gun, kill me, and you can leave.

  The vinyl record is in my Mercedes, you can take it with you, comeon! "

   "NoNo... Please, I won't touch a gun, absolutely not..."

   "Do you know? I have investigated many cases, some cases are difficult to find out the truth, for example, a gun has the suspect's fingerprints, but the suspect is dead.

  Do you think he touched the gun during his lifetime, or after his death?

   There are details here. "

  Luke's voice became softer as he spoke, "I know how to judge!"

  The black man was trembling with fright, with tears and snot streaming down his nose, "Please, don't kill me, I'll tell you everything.

   I was directed to come by the owner of a **** shop who told me to steal vinyl records. "

   "What **** shop?"

   "csj **** shop."

  (end of this chapter)