Chapter 37.2: Picking Locks
Jiang Xia shrugged, brushing it off before asking curiously, “Speaking of which, why are you so eager to earn merit?”
The question seemed to go a little beyond what ordinary friends would normally ask each other.
But Lu Yixing didn’t seem bothered. He thought about it seriously before saying, “In the past, I wanted to prove that I wasn’t inferior to my father. But now…”
“I think I’m the better choice.”
There was no one in the entire police detachment with better marksmanship than him, nor anyone more capable in a fight.
That was some serious confidence.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t convince Captain Tan. As the only child of a fallen soldier, who would dare let him take the lead on a dangerous operation? If something really happened to him, the leaders’ careers would start flashing red immediately. They might very well be finished.
“Good luck.”
Jiang Xia offered him encouragement in spirit, while already deciding that if they encountered a major case involving someone armed with a knife or gun, she absolutely could not tell him who the culprit was.
She didn’t want her own career flashing red either.
Lu Yixing, who had just carried another table outside, looked up at Jiang Xia.
Why did he feel like her words weren’t entirely sincere?
Maybe they still weren’t familiar enough with each other?
Should he help her out a little more in the future?
“Oh, right.”
With all the large items cleared out, Jiang Xia, having caught her breath, continued moving the smaller things. As she worked, she asked,
“Are you free a week from now?”
Lu Yixing asked, “What for?”
“The furniture I ordered should be finished soon. I can’t move it by myself.”
Jiang Xia said, “Do you have time to come help transport it?”
“Sure.”
But if it was furniture, the two of them might not be enough. Lu Yixing thought for a moment before adding, “Then I’ll get Brother Chen to come along and borrow a three-wheeled cart.”
“Then it’s settled.”
Jiang Xia immediately said, “And remember to mention it to Captain Tan. Tell him to hurry up and find the person I need!”
“Okay.”
＊
Whether Lu Yixing had mentioned it to him or Captain Tan had already kept it in mind, the “talent” Jiang Xia wanted arrived three days before the furniture was even finished.
His name was Li Jinfu. Apparently, he was quite well-known in the criminal underworld. Not only had he been trained by a “master,” but his skills had even surpassed his teacher’s.
He had once secretly broken into a state-owned textile factory at night and stolen half of the payroll from the safe in the finance office. The criminal police spent more than a year investigating but couldn’t find him. It wasn’t until he tried to pull the same trick at a steel mill that he was caught red-handed by a security officer lying in wait.
Because he had been fairly cooperative during questioning and the amount stolen hadn’t been particularly large, he had been sentenced to seven years. His performance at the labor-reform facility had also been quite good, making him one of the prisoners actively working toward rehabilitation.
After asking whether he was willing to cooperate, they arranged for him to be transferred over and held at the detention center next door.
Now that her “talent” had arrived, Jiang Xia hurriedly called everyone over to transport the furniture as soon as it was finished.
Master He had completed the two-section table she ordered, and he had also made a cabinet. Jiang Xia bought both.
Fortunately, her royalty payment had arrived. Otherwise, the little bit of funding Captain Tan had sponsored really wouldn’t have been enough.
She was really going to extraordinary lengths just to pick a lock at the police station!
Once the furniture arrived, they immediately moved it into the cleared-out storage room. Jiang Xia did her best to arrange everything until it barely resembled… half a room.
The commotion soon attracted Huang Xueling.
She was a trace examiner too, so of course she had to come over and get a firsthand look at the traces!
It definitely wasn’t because she was about to throw up from looking at fingerprints all day.
Trace Examiner Li also came over with great interest to watch. Even the head chef in charge of cooking at the cafeteria curiously came over and stood nearby.
You didn’t get this kind of commotion every day. Naturally, everyone had to come take a look!
Jiang Xia took out the confiscated burglary tools and placed them by the door. Meanwhile, Lu Yixing and Chen Dong went to the detention center to bring over the key “talent” for today’s test: Li Jinfu.
Li Jinfu had been having a pretty good time these past few days.
Criminals back then didn’t have it as easy as they would after the turn of the millennium. They were prisoners undergoing labor reform and were sent to farms to do agricultural work. Just look at the anguished accounts written by educated youths sent to the countryside, and you’d know how miserable those days could be.
Li Jinfu was never the hardworking type to begin with. The moment he heard that the authorities needed someone with his particular skills to cooperate in a burglary test, he immediately agreed.
Sure enough, he was promptly transferred from the farm to the detention center, where he didn’t have to do anything at all.
Naturally, Li Jinfu wanted to enjoy such a good life for a few more days.
As he was escorted by the criminal investigators to that supposed testing site, Li Jinfu couldn’t help calculating things in his head.
He couldn’t be too honest. If they asked him something and he told them everything, that wouldn’t do. He had to reveal as little as possible and take his time, giving them the information bit by bit. That way, he could stay in the detention center for a few more days.
Hmm. He also had to keep his best tricks to himself and make sure the police didn’t find out about them.
And if he could take the opportunity to see how the police caught burglars, that would be even better. Then, after he got out of prison…
Heh heh.
Lost in pleasant thoughts about the future, Li Jinfu soon arrived at the open space in front of the room.
Jiang Xia looked up at him.
The man was probably in his early thirties. He had short hair, a slightly hunched back, and a somewhat ingratiating expression on his face. But his eyes habitually darted around, assessing his surroundings.
“Jiang Xia, we’ve brought your man.”
Chen Dong spoke up. “Just have him do whatever you need. The two of us will keep an eye on him here. Once he’s done, we’ll take him back.”
“Okay, Brother Chen.”
Jiang Xia first took out her notebook and confirmed with the man once again, “You’re Li Jinfu?”
“Yes, yes, I’m Li Jinfu.”
Li Jinfu nodded repeatedly.
He looked around, feeling somewhat puzzled.
Strange. There were so many police officers standing around, so why wasn’t anyone giving orders? Instead, this very young female officer was the one questioning him?
“All right, let’s begin.”
Jiang Xia said, “Starting with breaking into a building, tell me first: what are the usual ways of getting inside?”
“There are generally only two.”
Li Jinfu swallowed.
“Either you go through the door, or you go through a window.”
Jiang Xia continued asking, “How many ways are there to get through a door?”
Li Jinfu looked away.
“Uh… use pliers to pick the lock.”
He wasn’t telling the truth.
Jiang Xia looked up at him.
“What else?”
“There’s also a crowbar.”
Li Jinfu said, “You just pry open the door latch directly, and naturally the lock comes open too.”
That was indeed another method. It was just rather crude, and Jiang Xia hadn’t thought of it before.
The “talent” she’d brought in wasn’t being very cooperative.
“What method did you use when you entered the finance office of the textile factory?”
Seriously? Why was this police officer asking about everything? Couldn’t she wait a couple of days?
Li Jinfu was somewhat reluctant to answer.
“I used a hook to pick it open.”
She knew it. There was no way someone who had been trained by a master could not pick locks.
There weren’t many types of locks available at the time, and there were even fewer tools that could be found on the market. The main techniques were basically limited to these. It was only after the turn of the millennium, when the lock industry expanded and materials became more readily available, that lock-picking techniques truly began to flourish in all kinds of forms.
Jiang Xia changed the question.
“Then how do you open a window?”
Li Jinfu sighed. He realized there was no way he could keep anything from her, so he could only answer honestly.
“Break it. But that makes too much noise, so first I’ll check whether there’s a window latch. If there is, I’ll use a small piece of metal to lift it up, or slowly push it back. That way, I can open the window.”
Jiang Xia continued asking, “What if there isn’t one?”
“If there isn’t one… there’s still a way.”
Li Jinfu said, “Wrap tape around the glass first, then hammer it. That way, you can barely hear the noise. But a roll of that stuff costs more than two yuan, and it’s often impossible to find. It’s too expensive, so nobody uses it.”
Oh, right. That was another way to break a window quietly.
Jiang Xia wrote it down, then glanced at the man again.
China apparently hadn’t completely mastered tape manufacturing yet. Production was limited, so naturally the price was high. But that wasn’t actually the main reason burglars didn’t use it. The real problem was that tape was in short supply and could only be bought at supply-and-marketing cooperatives, making it easy to trace the buyer’s identity and, from there, track him down.
Trace Examiner Li had originally come over just to watch the excitement. He hadn’t expected to actually learn something. Upon hearing this, he nudged Huang Xueling with his elbow.
“Make sure you write this down. We’ll be able to use it in the future.”
“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.”
Huang Xueling nodded repeatedly.
After asking about the common methods, Jiang Xia stood there and pondered for a moment before asking another question.
“After you use a piece of metal to open a window, do you put it back the way it was?”
“Uh…”
Li Jinfu hesitated for a moment before answering.
“That depends. If I have time, of course I’ll close it again. If I don’t, then I just have to leave it.”
Jiang Xia nodded.
“All right. Then demonstrate picking a lock first. Start with the pliers. The tools are over there. Pick whatever you need.”
“Sure thing.”
For some reason, picking a lock in front of so many police officers made Li Jinfu inexplicably excited.
He immediately stepped forward, picked two wrenches from the tools, and wedged them against the lock shackle. He applied force with both hands at once.
With a soft snap, the old lock Jiang Xia had hung on the door popped open.
Jiang Xia walked over to the door and beckoned.
“Come over here, Xueling. Take a look. This is what a lock looks like after being forced open with pliers. There’s obvious damage along the side, and there are also marks on the shackle, but the hasp itself is basically intact.”
Huang Xueling hurried over and stood beside Jiang Xia, studying the lock with a conflicted expression.
“This lock is way too easy to open, isn’t it?”
After watching for just a few seconds, she practically felt as though the lock hanging on her own front door was completely useless!
“It’s a brute-force method of breaking the lock, so of course it’s fast.”
Jiang Xia did her best to suppress her excitement. She removed the old lock and placed it in Huang Xueling’s hands.
“Hold onto this for now. I’ll try it too. Later, we can compare whether the marks left by a woman picking a lock are different from those left by a man.”
“Okay.”
Huang Xueling took the lock and stepped back a couple of paces.
No one around them noticed anything unusual.
Jiang Xia calmly hung another old lock on the door and locked it. Keeping a straight face, she picked up the wrench and, following Li Jinfu’s movements, gripped it with both hands and pulled outward with all her strength.
With a sharp crack, the old lock popped open.
At the same time, the familiar system voice rang in Jiang Xia’s ears.
[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully picked a lock under the observation of police officers. EXP +20!]
It hadn’t been easy!
Ever since she learned to make ink, this was finally another big source of income!
Jiang Xia removed the lock from the door and rubbed her chin as she carefully examined it. After a moment of thought, she said to Huang Xueling,
“I don’t think I can see any difference. Maybe the sample size is too small? I’ll pick two more and see.”
As she spoke, Jiang Xia put the lock into a paper bag she had prepared in advance, labeled it with a number, and hung another old lock on the door.
After two more sharp cracks, two more pleasant system notifications sounded in her ears.
[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully picked a lock under the observation of police officers. EXP +20!]
[Congratulations, Host… EXP +20!]
Jiang Xia stopped for the time being.
Normally, three samples would hardly be enough for a proper test. But who could blame her? There wasn’t much money or many locks to spare at the moment. Doing this many in one go was already starting to attract attention. If she kept going, people might start getting suspicious.
She pondered for a moment, adopting a thoughtful expression as though trying to recall something.
“Come to think of it, the previous break-in at the garment factory also involved a wrench, I think. But they pried the lock upward and downward, so the lock was forced open without being damaged. I’ll try that method too.”
That was perfectly normal, so Huang Xueling and Photographer Liu didn’t suspect anything. They simply waited for her to continue picking the lock. Chen Dong was keeping his eyes on Li Jinfu and didn’t think much of it either.
Lu Yixing, however, was watching Jiang Xia’s movements, and a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart.
Why did he feel like Jiang Xia was having a little too much fun picking locks?
Upward and downward?
Hearing Jiang Xia say that, Li Jinfu couldn’t help scratching his head.
He knew how to do that too, but it required a certain technique for applying force. Without ruining dozens or even a hundred locks, there was no way to master it. Someone who was obviously trying it for the first time certainly wouldn’t be able to pull it off.
With that thought in mind, Li Jinfu watched as the young female officer wedged the wrench around the shackle of the newly hung lock, working it upward and downward. She slowly applied force, adjusting its position as she went.
After several dozen seconds, there was a click.
The lock actually sprang open upward!
Huh?!!
Li Jinfu’s eyes instantly widened.
Wait, wasn’t this policewoman doing it for the first time?
How was she even better at picking locks than him?!
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