Brian Carter shook his head. “All of this was orchestrated by this manager alone.”

“Nonsense! You’re not even the police, and if you’re accusing me of stealing gold jewelry, show me the evidence. If just saying something makes it true, then I could say you stole the gold jewelry.”

John Grant was a bit agitated, and Emily Parker also noticed something was off. Normally, if someone is falsely accused, they would react, but not so excessively. Of course, it was also possible that John Grant just had a hot temper.

“I wouldn’t say this without evidence.” Brian Carter naturally knew the other party wouldn’t confess so easily, and if he didn’t have solid proof, he wouldn’t have spoken up.

“You say you have evidence—where is it?” Emily Parker pressed.

Brian Carter smiled slightly, his gaze fixed on the Pixiu statue. “The evidence is right here on this Pixiu that our little thief here tried so hard to stop you from moving. Am I right?”

As he said the last sentence, Brian Carter looked at John Grant. There was a fleeting unnatural look on John Grant’s face, which quickly disappeared, but both Brian Carter and Emily Parker, who had been watching him closely, caught it.

“What evidence could the Pixiu have?”

Emily Parker once again looked at the Pixiu. She had examined it earlier and hadn’t noticed anything unusual—it was just a Pixiu.

“Pick up the Pixiu and take a look.”

Brian Carter motioned for Emily Parker to pick up the Pixiu. Although puzzled, she did as he said. But as soon as she held the Pixiu in her hands, surprise flashed across her pretty face.

“There’s something inside!”

Emily Parker heard the sound of metal clinking from inside the Pixiu’s belly. She fiddled with it for a while but couldn’t find any opening, so in the end, she simply smashed the Pixiu onto the ground.

Clang!

The Pixiu shattered. Brian Carter’s mouth twitched, but he said nothing.

However, everyone present stared in shock at the ground where the Pixiu had broken, because among the fragments were gold rings, necklaces, and bracelets.

“These… these are the gold pieces I lost!”

William Miller was the first to pick up the gold jewelry from the ground. With just one look, he recognized them as the batch that had been stolen from his safe.

“So the jewelry was hidden inside the Pixiu’s belly. No wonder it wasn’t found.”

“When was it hidden there? I come to work every day and never noticed.”

“Me too. Logically, if someone hid the gold jewelry inside the Pixiu, we should have seen it.”

The employees of Yubaoxuan all exclaimed in shock, while Emily Parker looked at Brian Carter, her beautiful eyes filled with astonishment and disbelief.

How did he know the gold jewelry was hidden inside the Pixiu? Had he noticed something earlier?

Emily Parker couldn’t figure it out, but she knew now wasn’t the time to ask. Instead, she turned her sharp gaze to John Grant and demanded, “Manager Grant, how do you explain this?”

“Miss Parker, I… I have no idea what’s going on! How would I know there was gold inside the Pixiu? I wipe it down every day, but I’ve never moved it.”

John Grant looked aggrieved. “Besides, the Pixiu is placed in such a conspicuous spot. If I was up to something, there’s no way no one would have seen it. Are you saying all the employees were in on the theft with me?”

After seeing the gold jewelry, William Miller had immediately looked at John Grant in anger, but after hearing John Grant’s words, his anger subsided a bit, because what John Grant said made sense.

“The Pixiu has no opening except for its mouth, but the mouth is so small, there’s no way you could fit something as big as a bracelet inside. This whole thing…”

William Miller was completely baffled. He was the one who had brought in the Pixiu, so he knew its condition well. How did those bracelets get inside?

Emily Parker turned her gaze to Brian Carter, clearly wanting to ask if he had any more evidence. If this was all he had, it might not be enough to prove that John Grant was the thief.

Brian Carter smiled and asked William Miller, “Let’s set aside the Pixiu for now. I’d like to ask Boss Miller, was it Manager Grant who persuaded you to bring in the Pixiu?”

“That’s right, it was Manager Grant who suggested it at the time. He said the Pixiu was very auspicious, and I’d also heard about it from some friends. But I went to a master myself to get the Pixiu; it wasn’t introduced by Manager Grant.”

“Well, there you have it.” Brian Carter looked at Emily Parker. “He was the one who persuaded your uncle to bring in the Pixiu, he’s the one who wipes it down, and he’s the one who didn’t want you to move it. Now the gold jewelry has been found inside the Pixiu. Do you still need me to tell you what to do next?”

Chapter 6: Spiritual Beasts Must Not Be Trifled With

Emily Parker shot Brian Carter a fierce glare. She knew very well that all the clues currently pointed to John Grant, and John Grant was no less a suspect than Eric Foster.