As the auction reached its midway point, Liang En saw a suitcase appear on the podium, and upon opening it, a wooden staff adorned with carvings and gold leaf was revealed.
Although the staff exhibited an odd aura, a blend of ostentatious wealth and crudeness, it was in fact a scepter passed down through generations of chiefs from a major tribe in southern Angola.
Initially seized by the Portuguese during the 19th century wave of colonization in Africa, the scepter subsequently fell into the hands of a wealthy Portuguese, and just a few years ago, it was legally acquired by a member of the Golden Society.
Now, due to the arrest of some upper members of the Golden Society by the police, some previously unknown assets of the society have come into police possession.
Ironically, despite the Golden Society not expecting the police to inquire and compile a list, they boldly brought these well-hidden treasures to a public auction.
These items, though unknown to the police until now, were swiftly identified by Liang En at the auction.
To confirm his suspicions, he stepped up as a representative of the customers to examine the scepter during the three-minute preview before the auction, and indeed confirmed that this was the same scepter once owned by the Golden Society.
Surprisingly, the auction drew little interest, and Liang En easily acquired the scepter for 6,500 euros.
After acquiring the scepter, he finally understood the situation: despite today's perceptions, Africa is still seen as a wild place, thus the low value of its cultural artifacts.
Indeed, Chinese artifacts were also cheap until the rapid rise of China's power in the mid-1990s, making the price of artifacts closely tied to the situation of their countries of origin.
However, Liang En found nothing of value in the subsequent auction and thus did not make any further purchases.
After paying, he promptly inspected the African scepter, confirming that it indeed originated from Africa about five or six hundred years ago.
"How does it look?" Officer Burke whispered as Liang En examined the golden scepter for several minutes before setting it down seriously.
At that moment, they were in the hotel's back garden, a safer place for such discussions, at least more secure from electronic eavesdropping.
This was not because they were overly paranoid, but the previous actions of the Golden Society necessitated extra caution, a little trick spies picked up after the Cold War.
During that era, if spies needed to talk, they would drive to a random spot in the countryside, get out of the car, and talk away from the vehicle to prevent eavesdropping.
"Now I'm certain this is the very scepter listed," Liang En told the opposite officer.
"And I can confirm that this scepter was stored in a warehouse and not moved for more than three days, as the scent of long-term storage hasn't even dissipated yet."
"If that's confirmed, we can start investigating and prepare for an arrest," Officer Burke nodded. "Thanks for your help today. Without you—"
However, Officer Burke's gratitude was cut short by a sharp scream from the upper floors of the hotel, followed by several hotel staff rushing into the building.
Hearing the scream, Officer Burke and his colleague stood up to check the situation, but Liang En quickly stopped him.
"Let me check it out. If this is a situation created by the Golden Society to lure and ambush the police nearby, you could be in big trouble."
With that, Liang En followed the crowd into the hotel, up the stairs to the fifth floor, where several security guards and staff had already formed a human wall to prevent further access.
However, the open door of room 504 and a faint smell of blood made Liang En realize a murder had occurred, creating the current scene.
A visibly nervous attendant stood by the door, identified by the department manager and other staff as the one who discovered the crime scene.
Since the incident occurred in one of the best hotels in the center of Athens, ambulances and police arrived quickly to handle the situation. As they moved the body, Liang En caught a glimpse of the deceased.
"Are you sure this is the victim?" Officer Burke asked solemnly ten minutes later, looking at the sketch Liang En had drawn.
"You know my drawing skills; there's no big mistake possible here. You've seen my abilities and should trust me on this."
"You're right, I'm just shocked," Officer Burke calmed down and explained, "because the person you've drawn is one of the few high-ranking members of the Golden Society we had identified."
"It couldn't have been someone discovering your investigation and killing to cover their tracks, could it?" Liang En asked, equally shocked and concerned.
"It shouldn't be. If it were about silencing someone, the perpetrator would likely try to delay discovery, not have it be found out almost immediately after the act," Officer Burke shook his head.
"This seems more like a crime of passion than a premeditated murder, but right now, we don't have enough information to understand how exactly this incident occurred. We'll need to coordinate with the local police to figure out the next steps."
Although Officer Burke was Irish, he was primarily working for Interpol, which meant he would soon gather the necessary information from the Greek police.
"You go ahead with your work. I'll be staying in Athens for the next few days handling some things. If you need reliable expertise, feel free to reach out to me for help."
"I hope you don’t mind the trouble, considering not many around here can be counted on as reliable. I have a feeling we'll be meeting again soon," Officer Burke said with a smile, then left with his colleague.
Clearly, he had much to attend to, so their parting was brief and hurried.
"I have a feeling that our trip to Athens is going to be more exciting than we thought," Jeanne d'Arc, who had been in the next room, came in and said.
"Indeed, but I think we can likely resolve the Golden Society issue this time around," Liang En nodded. "For future safety, investing some time and taking risks now is worthwhile."
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