Treasure Hunt Tycoon
chapter-583

All the people involved in this transaction, together with the counterfeit opals, were brought to the police station. There was no escape for Stevenson, Christopher or the rest of them.

During the ride, the hunters confirmed they had been duped.

As the number of people was too large and one police car was not enough to accommodate all of them, the policemen let them drive their own cars to the police station.

The party came to an intersection soon after they drove off. The car Christopher swerved suddenly and accelerated in a bid to escape.

At this sight, it was obvious to the hunters what was happening.

The national park, being some distance away from Winslow, was deserted with hardly anyone around. Hence, he stepped on the pickup truck's accelerator with all his might to maximize its speed as he raced off recklessly.

The policemen were unable to give chase; their police cars were in front leading the way and by the time they turned back, the pickup truck was a few miles away.

At this, the two policemen did not look anxious but instead showed excitement on their faces.

Some of the hunters shouted with panic. "Policeman sir, go after them quick— they've got our money!"

The policeman waved his hand. "Don't panic, everyone. We've already called for backup."

To capture Christopher and his gang, the car convoy turned back and gave chase. The hunters were more than willing to help the policemen capture the men simply because if Christopher and the rest fled, their losses would be massive.

The pickup truck in front desperately zoomed ahead.

Twenty minutes later, a roaring sound from the air started to drum into Li Du's ears. Sophie asked, "Thunder?"

Godzilla mumbled, "Helicopter!"

He had the most experience in this aspect, as he had on many occasions witnessed the mafia leaders using their private helicopters when he was in Mexico.

Li Du looked up. A helicopter painted in the police's green shade was flying above them. It then flew past them toward the racing pickup truck in front.

This was his first time seeing a police helicopter chasing after criminals, and with him being involved in the case, it got his adrenaline pumping.

With the police helicopter giving chase, the pickup truck was like "a monkey trapped in Buddha's palm"—there was no way of escaping.

The police then captured Stevenson and the gang. An investigation was conducted immediately after they got to the Winslow police station. The truth emerged soon after.

Just like what Li Du had deduced, this was a scam.

What he hadn't guessed was that Stevenson and the rest had set their eyes on them very early on.

On the day they arrived, they had noticed Li Du and his friend's success at finding the opals within a short time. Hence, they started to monitor them, by hiding a distance away and using binoculars to observe them.

Originally, Stevenson and his gang had plotted a robbery. After considering the presence of the muscular Godzilla and Big Quinn, they did not dare to make any moves.

In the end, they decided to make use of the batch of fake boulder opals that were meant for cheating the tourists. Since Li Du had really found gems in that plot of land, they came up with this scam.

Stevenson and the rest knew that it would not be easy to deceive fellow gem hunters, but they had no choice. Deep in debt, they needed money urgently and were on the brink of desperation.

They had worked it out: the hunters would eventually discover that they had dug out counterfeit opals, but when that happened, they would just deny everything.

In addition, after getting the money, they had planned to leave Winslow for Alaska to fish and to catch king crab. Anyway, it was almost winter, and the Alaskan fishing season was approaching.

In the end, it was God's will that Li Du had discovered that the boulder opal they had buried was fake. Someone reported it to the police and they all got caught before they could flee.

After Stevenson and his gang related their account, the courts would prosecute them. As the scale of the scam and sum of money involved were considered significant, they would be sent to jail for at least a few years.

Li Du's outlay of 20,000 dollars cash was no matter; it would be returned to him after the court had passed judgment. As for the rest who had used online banking for their transactions, they were down on their luck.

The way loan sharks pursued debtors was horrifying; Stevenson, Christopher and the gang were terrified of them. After they had received the transmitted money, they transferred it directly to the loan sharks.

That was to say, the rest of the hunters would not get back their money back so soon.

This was really a depressing piece of news!

After they got the news, the hunters at the police station were furious.

"F*ck F*ck F*ck! How could this happen? That was all the savings I had!"

"D*mn it, I wanna kill him. Christopher, that d*mn black ghost. Get lost, let me kill him!"

"The son of a b*tch, I'll never let him off! I wanna chop this son of a b*tch up!"

The police stopped them; one of them said, "Quiet, everyone. This is a police station. Please calm down!"

"We've lost our money! How can we remain calm?" one elderly man cried pitifully. "I had a hard time accumulating 10,500 dollars, and I still owe someone 5,000 dollars!"

The sheriff said, "Rest assured we will do our best to get the money back. If they don't have the money, the court will auction off their fixed assets—"

"What fixed assets would these sons of b*tches have besides this broken pickup truck? If they have fixed assets of more than 100,000 dollars, they wouldn't have had to set up such d*mn scam!"

The sheriff cleared his throat and said, "We'll investigate the loan sharks they mentioned . . . "

"That's under the Arizona governor's nephew, don't you all know?" another hunter yelled out. "Do you even have the guts to investigate this? And dare to arrest them?"

The sheriff got impatient, waved his hand and said, "We, the police, know what we need to do, and don't need your reminder. Alright, let's wait for the court to deal out the judgment. All of you should go back then."

Looking at the frustrated and depressed hunters, Brendan sighed in relief. "Sh*t, luckily I didn't throw in money to get me a piece too."

Alicia peered at her husband out of the corner of her eyes, and sneered, "Do you have 20,000 dollars?"

"I don't," Brendan chuckled. "I really managed to escape from this scam. Old Deckard and the rest are so screwed—it will be almost impossible to get the money back."

Alicia sighed. "Old Deckard wanted so badly to earn some money. If I were him, I would have also taken the risk."

"What happened to him?" Li Du asked.

Brendan said, "Old Deckard's wife has uremia, and he needs the money for medication. His son fell off the scaffolding while at work some time ago, and is still in the hospital waiting for the operation."

Hearing this, Sophie made the sign of the cross over her chest and whispered, "May God bless this pitiful man."

Li Du pondered this for a moment. "God has sent an angel to save these poor fools."

A few hunters walked out despondently—they had just suffered a massive blow!

Li Du chased them and said, "Hey everyone, would you like to have dinner together?"

An ashen-looking Old Deckard pushed him away as he mumbled, "If there's poison in the dinner, then I'm willing to have a taste."

Li Du said, "There's no poison in the dinner. Just 20,000 dollars."

The few of them gazed at him with puzzled looks as he continued, "I'd like to buy the few pieces of land in your possession, at 20,000 dollars each."