Chapter 284: Changing Appearances
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"What?" Liang Huang and another expert were shocked, and asked, "What do you mean wrong version? How come I've never heard of it?" Zhao Yu also craned his neck, confused.
"Broadcast Gymnastics stamp was a regular type of stamp," the older expert said. "The original plan was to release them in 1951. But after the post office made about ten-thousand copies or so, they suddenly realized that there was some mistake on the stamp, so they didn't release them that year, but destroyed them quickly! After editing, they finally released them in 1952!
"But, even though they recalled them quickly that year, according to rumors, there was a set or two that survived. Just how they survived was unknown. Even my teacher had only heard of them, but had never seen them!"
"Woah, isn't that incredible?" Liang Huan looked at the screen. "Sir, since no one had seen them, how could you know of them? Just how were they printed wrong?"
The old expert did not rush to answer, but instead pulled up a website for Ling Huan and the other two to see. "Look! Do you see anything wrong?"
"Oh…" Another expert had sharp eyes, and immediately said, "The female in the Broadcast Gymnastics stamp that was printed in 1951 was more sexualized, and wore less clothing! Also, the color of the stamp is different!"
"Right!" the old expert said. "The stamp didn't have any errors in design, but the officials in the post offices felt like these were too inappropriate. That's why they were quickly recalled!"
"Single edition, and the wrong version? Ah!" Liang Huan's eyes widened. "If it's like this, then aren't these stamps almost priceless? Just how much do you think they're worth?"
"Hehe," The old expert smiled and answered, "it's hard to say. Even though they were new, they were still regular stamps. But, they're also the highest grade of all normal stamps! If you ask me, based on the market right now, I'd say at least four-million or so! But it's hard to say with these sorts of rare items. If someone wants them, I wouldn't be surprised if they paid ten-million!"
Four million? Zhao Yu estimated in his head. He had previously heard of an extremely rare type of misprinted stamps called the "Crimson Rivers of the Entire Nation", the price was about a few millions as well! For a few stamps to reach such price, it was quite incredible, right?
But…was four-million yuan worth for five people to risk their lives and rob a bank?
Liang Huan and the two experts also analyzed the rest of the stamps. Even though there were a few that were quite valuable, but there were none that could compare with the Broadcast Gymnastics stamp set. In the end, the stamp expert did a rough estimate, and said that the entire stamp book's worth was about six million or so. Meaning that without the Broadcast Gymnastics set, all the other stamps added together were worth only about two-million yuan.
If so, then the entire situation was even weirder! Just what did the robbers want to do?
Compared to the other valuables inside the safety deposit box, even though the stamp book was the smallest, it definitely was not worth the most! Could it be that all the robbers were stamp collecting maniacs, and only came for these few stamps? Or, was there some big secret hidden within these stamps?
Quickly, Miao Ying also heard the results of the analysis. She felt similar to Zhao Yu, and was also very confused. The two of them immediately contacted Li Mengqi, and asked if Li Mengqi knew about the wrong edition stamps. Unexpectedly, Li Mengqi actually did not know about it. She said that when she found an appraisal expert to appraise these stamps, they had not even noticed that this set of Broadcast Gymnastics stamps were the wrong version.
Li Mengqi also said that a few years ago, someone had asked for these stamps, but the price had not been high enough, and also, she did not want to sell them! She had not needed the money, and had planned on saving the stamp book for a few years so she could sell it at a higher price later.
Miao Ying immediately asked her if she remembered who had wanted to buy the stamps. Li Mengqi said that it was not just one or two people who had wanted the stamps. Also, most of them were middlemen, so she had no idea who the buyers were.
Miao Ying then asked her to think back carefully, to try and recall just who the buyers were. The bank robbers were most likely within these buyers. Li Mengqi did not dare to refuse, and agreed. However, there clearly would not be any results anytime soon.
At this moment, Zhao Yu suddenly remembered that he still had an invisible appraisal device. If he used it on the stamp book, maybe he could find something out. Yet, currently, they did not have the actual stamp book—only pictures. The appraisal device would not be of any use.
Sigh, amazing! Previously, the police had hoped that by finding what was missing from the storage boxes, they would be able to find a new investigation direction, but now it seemed like that was not going to happen anymore. Right now, the only lead they had now was the security footage of the suspects.
From the police dogs' tracking, the police could pretty much guarantee that the robbers had been captured by the security cameras. Yet, due to the robbers changing their appearances, up until now, there had not been much progress. Originally, there were sixteen suspects caught on the security camera. But after further investigation, there were nine remaining. These nine people were still not cleared of their suspicion, thus, the bank robbers were most likely part of these nine.
Miao Ying knew that this was their only important piece of evidence right now. Thus, she had already brought in all the facial recognition experts from all departments to repeatedly observe the footage, trying to find any kind of clue.
Now, Zhao Yu finally understood just why the investigators responsible for the footage had not even overlooked an old lady! The five robbers only had a stamp book. Most likely, most of them were empty handed. If they were disguised, the stamp book would not have been seen at all. Also, Miao Ying had guessed that maybe the robbers had already taken the stamps out of the stamp book, and possibly ran away with the stamps? The stamps were tiny, if the robbers put them inside their pockets, who would have known?
Due to the Team B office being currently occupied by the City Special Investigation Team, the investigators from both teams were currently squeezed into the Team A office. Even though there was air conditioning, it was still very uncomfortable.
Suddenly, Zhang Jingfeng came through the door and told Miao Ying, "Team Leader Miao, another two were eliminated from the suspect list!" As he spoke, Zhang Jingfeng handed a set of documents to Miao Ying. As it turned out, Zhang Jingfeng matched his information with that of the missing person's department, and found the identity of two of the people on the suspect list. There were only seven suspects left, and all seven of these suspects were, without exception, male.
Five out of seven. With the ratio decreasing, the analysis expert's suspicions became even more precise. Soon, they found some issue with the footage of one suspect.
The man was fifty or so. He was wearing very normal clothing, almost like a grandfather who was about to pick their grandson up after school. Yet, the experts noted that if he really was an elderly about to pick up his grandson, and was a local, then there would be no reason why they could not find any information on him. Thus, this person was very suspicious.
Also, by slowing down the footage, the experts noticed that was some unnatural glow on his cheek. Some experts felt that this was most likely the remains of some sort of glue, that this person had something stuck to his cheek. Soon, another expert noticed that the elderly man's hair swayed a bit unnaturally in the wind, most likely because it was a wig!
Suddenly, the old man shown in the footage was increasingly suspicious. Could this person be one of the robbers? Even though there was some evidence from the footage, to Miao Ying and the other's investigation, it simply became even more difficult. If the suspect had really used a wig and mask to change their appearance, then it would be very difficult for the police to find his true identity. Then, once one of the suspects left the range of the security camera, if he changed his appearance back, then there would be no way to find him again! What should they do now?
"Comrades!" After some consideration, Miao Ying could only say helplessly, "It seems like we have to go back to our old method! Contact the security department and send people to all the airports, train stations, bus stations, and investigate everybody one-by-one! Even if there is only a one in ten chance of finding evidence, we still have to try our best!"