Luo An scanned the crime scene, instinctively ignoring the onlookers in the distance. His expression subtly changed as he began to simulate the killer's actions at the time of the crime.
Time seemed to rewind. On the dark park pathway, the assassin followed Mike, who started to jog as if he sensed something, but failed to shake the pursuer. Then, the assassin called out Mike's name, and Mike, with no choice, turned back in response..... Bang!
Luo An narrowed his eyes slightly and mimicked the action of firing a gun, then stood at the spot where Mike's body lay for a few seconds, before suddenly running towards the woodland to the east.
Standing beside him, Mona watched Luo An's actions with total confusion. As she saw Luo An stride toward the woodland, she quickly got up, wanting to follow him, but the forest was too dense with branches. All it took was for Mona to duck under a branch, and when she looked up, Luo An had already disappeared from sight.
"Damn it!"
Mona cursed loudly, but couldn't understand how Luo An could run so fast through the woods when they had all come from the FBI Academy in Virginia... Could someone have given Luo An special training?
Since she couldn't keep up with Luo An, Mona decisively chose not to follow and turned back to the crime scene, preparing to wait for Luo An to come to her.
On the other hand, Luo An, completely ignoring the curses of the wild ducks, didn't stop running rapidly through the woods and soon emerged from the forest, arriving at a road on the east side of the park.
Watching the endless stream of vehicles on the road and looking at the shops across the street, Luo An pondered for a few seconds and then returned the way he came.
Back at the crime scene, Mona was sitting on a chair fiddling with a computer. Seeing Luo An, she raised her hand to signal her position. When Luo An sat down beside her, Mona finally asked:
"How did it go? Did you find any clues?"
"Of course."
Luo An smiled and nodded, saying, "The killer must be a soldier who fell on hard times after retiring from the military, someone who started to take contract work, possibly even retired from the special forces."
"Why?"
"Because all I found were the footprints of New York Police Department officers and their police dogs. Nothing else."
"..."
Mona was speechless, not expecting Luo An to state so confidently that finding no clues at all was, in fact, the biggest clue:
"The place I just walked through is the most suitable route for fleeing after a murder."
"The forest is full of branches. Anyone passing through would inadvertently break a few, but I took a close look just now, and the only spots with newly broken branches had either police dog footprints or both police dog prints and police boot prints; nowhere else showed freshly broken branches or obvious footprints."
"Only someone from the special forces would have such counter-surveillance awareness."
After hearing Luo An's explanation, Mona stopped playing with the computer, tilted her head, puzzled: Could it be that she attended a fake FBI training academy?
"What's wrong?"
"It's nothing."
Seeing Luo An inquire, Mona shook her head and pushed her laptop towards him, saying,
"This is the autopsy report that just came in. It shows the victim had a small amount of alcohol in his stomach."
"The victim drank before he died?"
Luo An showed a hint of excitement upon seeing the report and asked,
"There are a few bars to the south of the park. Can you check them out?"
"Why the south?"
Mona took the computer back and started searching for information while asking.
"Because the victim came from the south side of the park... I guess."
Hearing Luo An's words, Mona pursed her lips, and a few seconds later, she finished searching and turned the screen toward Luo An:
"There are only two bars in the nearby blocks, many more several blocks away."
"Okay, let's start with these two bars; we have plenty of time."
"No, we only have three days."
...
No one at the bar on the left side of the block had seen the victim Mike, so Luo An and Mona turned and headed for the bar on the right side.
"Have you seen this man?"
Seeing the photo in Mona's hand, the bar owner shook his head:
"He's not a regular here; I didn't see him yesterday."
Mona looked up at Luo An, who in turn glanced at a pretty waitress chatting with customers. Seeing this, the bar owner loudly called the waitress over.
The waitress with the long red hair, especially prominent in the front, walked over and her eyes lit up when she saw Luo An:
"Hi there, just call me Kristen."
Though she greeted everyone, the waitress only had eyes for Luo An.
Mona rolled her eyes beautifully and passed a photo up to Kristen's face, obstructing her view of Luo An:
"Have you seen this man?"
Kristen wasn't offended by the obstruction, she gave Luo An a flirtatious look, took the photo, and said directly:
"I've seen him, this man came to our bar yesterday and ordered two glasses of red wine. He sat in a corner as if waiting for someone. But no one showed up until the end, so he drank both glasses of red wine by himself and left."
Hearing this, the corners of Mona's mouth twitched, and she subconsciously looked at Luo An, not expecting that Mike had indeed entered the park from the south before his death.
Luo An didn't see Mona's expression, but upon learning that Kristen had seen the deceased Mike, he hurriedly asked:
"Did anyone come in after he left? Or was there anyone looking for him?"
"Is there a reward for answering this question?"
"..."
Silently, Mona snorted coldly, patted Luo An's shoulder, and said to her:
"As long as the information you provide is useful, this man is all yours tonight."
"Then it's settled."
Kristen smiled, stuffed a piece of paper into Luo An's arms, and then said:
"There was an old man sitting at the bar. After the man in the photo left the bar, he followed and left the bar too."
Luo An immediately turned his head towards the bar owner:
"Do you have surveillance cameras here?"
Kristen looked disdainfully at the bar owner after hearing this, her tone very annoyed:
"There's only one, and it's aimed at the cash register, mainly because they fear we might steal money."
"Kristen!"
The bar owner couldn't maintain face, but Kristen ignored him, she looked through her pocket, pulled out a bunch of paper notes, searched through them, and handed one to Luo An, shrugging:
"This is the contact information for that old man."
"..."
Seeing the astonished expressions of Luo An and Mona, Kristen placed her hands on her hips and thrust out her chest, her towering presence unmistakable—who were they looking down on?
"I'll be waiting for you tonight, handsome!"
Kristen stood behind the bar's door, waving at Luo An and Mona as they left the bar. Luo An silently put the paper note into his pocket, and Mona sat in the car, using her laptop to access the FBI's internal network to search for the phone number's owner's identity information.
"Found it."
Soon, the owner of the phone number was displayed on the computer:
"The owner of the phone number is West Watts, 56 years old, a professor at New York University, living in Scasday. His wife passed away six months ago due to cancer..."
"A university professor?"
Hearing Mona's introduction, Luo An sitting in the driver's seat massaged his temples, feeling a headache coming on:
"Could I have analyzed this wrongly?"
"To be honest, I never felt like your analysis was right... except for the part that the deceased had indeed entered the park from the south."
Mona continued to look down at the computer for more information, and spoke:
"We should go to West's house first and catch him to talk."
"OK."
Luo An nodded, started the car, and made a U-turn leaving the bar.
Inside the car, there was only the sound of Mona's rapid typing. Luo An felt the atmosphere a bit awkward, just about to say something when Mona's body suddenly shook, she shrieked:
"Fu-k! West died in a car accident!"