In the first month of the eleventh year of the Republic of China, the temple fair was held again. For several days, there was an endless stream of visitors to the Dazhong Temple. Some burned incense and worshiped Buddha, kowtowed to make wishes, and some visited the various antiq

The Dazhong Temple in the western suburbs of Beijing, which was called Juesheng Temple during the Republic of China, is a famous scenic spot. The temple not only has a huge Ming Dynasty bronze bell, but also holds a temple fair every year.

In the first month of the eleventh year of the Republic of China (1922), the temple fair was held again. For several days, there was an endless stream of visitors to Dazhong Temple. Some burned incense and worshiped Buddha, kowtowed to make wishes, and some visited the main hall. Various antiquities are displayed on the inner table, including Ming Dynasty Jingtailan crafts, lacquer carving products from the early Qing Dynasty, and Qianlong period official kiln fired porcelain... They are all precious cultural relics.

That evening, all the tourists had dispersed, and the peaceful and quiet atmosphere of Juesheng Temple returned to a noisy day. The monk guarding the temple closed the mountain gate and prepared to rest.

Suddenly, a knock on the door broke the tranquility of the temple. The monk opened the door and saw several strangers standing outside. They were all about thirty years old. They were wearing short clothes, tight pants, and rubber shoes. They looked neat and tidy.

"Excuse me, everyone..." the monk asked in confusion.

"We are from the fire brigade and have been ordered to inspect opium." The answer was serious and polite.

The monk thought: Where can we get opium here? However, since the superiors sent them to inspect, they did not dare to neglect and let them in quickly.

"Firefighters" searched and checked all over the temple, but found nothing. They walked to the door of the main hall, pointed to the main hall door and said to the monks: "Open the main hall door, we want to go in and check."

The precious cultural relics displayed in the main hall are generally not easily opened. The monk said respectfully: "There are many tourists going to the temple fair these days, burning incense and worshiping Buddha, and they are constantly coming and going. How can we hide prohibited items in this hall?"

"There is an order on the mountain, and no place is missed in the search." The monk had no choice but to open the door of the hall.

The "firefighters" swarmed in and scrambled to plunder all the precious antiquities displayed on the desk. Several "firefighters" also rushed into the monk's house and stole a timepiece and many pieces of clothing. Then they fled out of the temple with a roar and disappeared into the dark night. ...

Only then did the monks know the truth about these "firefighters", and they repeatedly shouted that they had been "deceived" and regretted it too much.

Since the abbot monk happened to be traveling at that time, the other monks did not know the details of these antiquities, so they had to draw up a hasty list of lost items and report the case to the Detective Team .

The news that the valuable antiquities from the Dazhong Temple had been robbed immediately spread throughout the capital and inside and outside the capital. People were talking on the street and speculating one after another. The detective team investigated around and got a clue:

A few months ago, an antique dealer visited the Dazhong Temple and met several idle and rogue young people in the main hall. One of them, a young man named Yang, had known him for a long time. Looking at the various valuable antiques displayed in the palace, Xiao Yang said to the antique dealer: "You have been in the antique business for many years and can be considered an expert in antiques. You must be good at identifying the authenticity of antiques. The antiques displayed in the palace are all genuine. Can you estimate how much these antiques are worth?"

The antique dealer casually replied: "It's probably worth a few hundred taels of gold." When several young people nearby heard about it, they immediately said with a playful smile: "If these antiques can get into our hands, we will sell them to you at a low price, and you can make a lot of money, ah? Hahaha..." The antique dealer also joked with them and then dispersed. …

In a casual conversation, the antique dealer talked about this past event. Soon, the matter reached the ears of the fifth detachment of the detective team.

The fifth team asked the antique dealer to ask for details about what happened a few months ago, and also asked about the address and experience of the young man named Yang. The antique dealer only knew Xiao Yang’s address and did not know anything else about him.

Detectives from the fifth team arrested the young man named Yang based on his address. Based on the address given by the young man named Yang, they also arrested several rogue young men who visited the Dazhong Temple that day.

After several interrogations, these young men did not admit to robbing the Great Bell Temple. Their residences were searched, but no stolen goods were found.

The detectives investigated from the sidelines. Judging from the time, performance, motivation, etc., these young people did not look like the perpetrators. However, the detective team did not dare to deny it easily, so they detained these young people in the team and then investigated for clues elsewhere.

At this time, the third detachment of the detective team investigated another group robbery outside Chongwen Gate.

Detectives from the third team discovered that every time they arrested a robber near the Sanzhuan Bridge, there was always a middle-aged man standing nearby to watch. He would always come to the police station whenever they were arrested. Furthermore, when the detectives escorted the robber back to the detective team, this man would follow the team to make inquiries. Even when summoning other relevant personnel and going back and forth to the team, he would often abandon his job and follow him to make detailed inquiries. His behavior was quite suspicious. Then he was taken back to the team for questioning.

"What do you do?"

"I run a sesame cake shop near Sanzhuan Bridge." "What's your name?" "My name is Yang Liu."

"We are arresting criminals, why are you always following around?" "I just watched the excitement, nothing else." "Be honest!"

"What I told is the truth." After repeated questioning, Yang Liu remained firm. The

team sent detectives to Sanzhuanqiao to investigate and found out that Yang Liu was indeed from the Shaobing Shop. He had always behaved himself and had done nothing wrong. Yang Liu was then ordered to be released on bail, and the third team transferred him to the second team outside Chongwenmen to send a nearby detective to accompany him on bail.

The detective of the second detective team learned about this and became suspicious: Yang Liu actually abandoned his business and followed the arrest again and again. Is it just to watch the excitement? He must have some connection with the case, otherwise it would never be the case.

So, he did not let Yang Liu go home, but took Yang Liu back to the second team and interrogated him again. At first, Yang Liu insisted that he was just "watching the excitement."

The detective repeatedly questioned him, and Yang Liu said: "That day I went to Sanzhuan Bridge to visit a friend, and I happened to encounter the detective team arresting the robbers, so I stood there and watched for a long time."

"What is your friend's name? Where does he live?"

Yang Liu casually said a name and address. The detective immediately sent a detective to investigate according to this address and name, but no such person was found.

The detective severely questioned Yang Liu: "You said you were going to see a friend, but what friend were you seeing? There is no such person in Sanzhuan Bridge."

Yang Liu did not expect that the flaw would be revealed so quickly. He was dumbfounded and speechless for a moment.

"If you don't tell the truth, I want you to taste the taste of these torture tools."

The detective ordered to move out the torture tools, and Yang Liu panicked: "I said, I said! I used to work as a fisherman in Sanhe County, Hebei Province, Zhili Province, and later I retired and went home to open a sesame cake shop.

Some time ago, several people came to my shop for dinner. I saw them bringing some ancient artifacts from the temple to sell to others. Judging from their speech and behavior, they are definitely not good people. The antiquities carried must not have come from the right way. He wanted to catch them and seek rewards, but he was no longer working in the government and could not act rashly. He was prepared to wait for the opportunity before making any plans.

In the past two days, I heard that bandits were caught near Sanzhuan Bridge. In order to prove my judgment, I rushed to watch and inquire. However, after watching several times, the arrested bandits were not the same people who came to my shop for dinner last time. "

The detective was overjoyed when he heard this, and asked again: "What kind of antiquities did you see those people holding?"

"I didn't see clearly at the time."

"How old were those people? What were they dressed in?"

"They were all about thirty, wearing shorts breeches and rubber shoes on their feet." Isn't this the same age attire as the robbers reported by the monks of the Dazhong Temple?

The detective suppressed his excitement and asked: "Do you know where they live?"

"Listening to their conversation while eating, it seems that they live in a sauce wine and koji shop in Suanshikou."

The detective immediately took several detectives, led by Yang Liu, to Suanshikou, captured four people in one fell swoop, and found a timepiece.

Back in the team, it was heard that the monk from the Dazhong Temple was trying to identify whether the piece of timepiece had been robbed. The monk said: "There are many similar timepieces. I don't dare to identify whether this is the piece."

The detective asked the monk to identify the faces of the four arrested people: "That night when antiquities were robbed, Are they these people?"

The monk did not dare to admit it: "It was dark at that time and he was in a panic. He could not see the faces of the robbers clearly, so he did not dare to make any false accusations. "

The detective ordered the monk to retreat and brought the four people for questioning. They did not admit that they had robbed the Dazhong Temple. They insisted that they were Dongling Tanhu and came to Beijing to visit. What to do with

? It seems that we have to start with stolen goods.

The detective came to Yang Liu again and asked: "Do you know who they sold the antiquities to?"

"I only know that there was an antique dealer named Liu in Santiao Alley of the flower market who bought three antiquities. I don't know who else bought them." Yang Liu replied.

The detective immediately sent a detective to call Liu, and recovered three antiquities from the Liu family. However, when compared with the antiquities listed on the lost items list reported by the monks of Dazhong Temple, the patterns and textures were not completely consistent.

The detective thought for a while and decided to play a trick of "a soldier who never tires of deceit".

He placed the three ancient objects on the desk and covered them with a piece of cloth. A corner of each ancient object was exposed. Then he brought up the four suspects and shouted in a feigned majesty: "Now that the stolen goods have been recovered, the owner has been identified, and the buyer has confessed that he bought it from you, what else do you have to blame?"

The detective thought that the four people would be in panic now. Confession, but unexpectedly these four people did not even look at the stolen goods on the table, showed no fear, and insisted on the original confession: "We are Tanhu from the Eastern Tomb of the Qing Dynasty, coming to Beijing for a leisurely trip; we don't know about the robbery of the Dazhong Temple."

The detective stared at the four people, lost in thought. There are many doubts about these four people. How can we break through? He found that one of the four was younger and his behavior and conversation were not as cunning as the other three, so he decided to use him as a breakthrough.

The detective led the young suspect to another room and said to him in a friendly manner: "The stolen evidence in this case has been found and the owner has been identified correctly. You will not be able to escape the law in any case. But I also know that the person who committed this type of case must be If there is an older person as the mastermind, a young man like you is at best a blind follower. If you can tell the truth, I will go to the top for your help and say that you are an accomplice and give you a lighter sentence."

The young man was thoughtful and bowed his head in silence. The detective further confirmed the speculation that they were the robbers in this case, and further persuaded him politely: "You are still young and have a bright future. It is not a big crime to blindly participate in this case. If you can surrender and expose others, your merits can be redeemed. I will let you stay in the team, otherwise, you will add more crimes to your crimes." I'm so sorry, which way do you think we should go?"

The young man then confessed the truth: "It was the four of us who robbed the antiques from the Dazhong Temple." Do you dare to confront the three of them?"

"Dare you." "

A breakthrough was finally opened. After confrontation, the three criminals all confessed. Then all the antiquities they had robbed and resold were fully recovered and brought to justice."

Soon, the head monk of the Dazhong Temple returned from his travels and asked him to identify the stolen items and confirmed that they were all ancient items in the temple.

After the detective released the people who had nothing to do with the case, he asked several robbers: "Why did you claim to be from the fire brigade when you committed the crime?"

The robbers replied: "In the past, we have seen the fire brigade put out fires. After putting out the fire, they all changed into plain clothes, short and sharp, neat and tidy, and the clothes and shoes we wore Zi et al. were very similar to them, so they decided to pretend to be firefighters and knock on the door to avoid suspicion. However, they did not think carefully at the time. They did not expect that the fire brigade was actually not responsible for checking for contraband. Fortunately, the monks did not understand this trick and did not see through it in time. "

"Peking Detective Case"