"You guys alright?"
Seeing the Ford car smash the trash can beside the street into pieces, Luo An turned to check on Mona and the girl in the sling dress.
"I'm okay."
Mona was just covered in dust and wasn't injured, but the girl in the sling dress had a few scrapes on her shoulder and back because she had been sitting in the driver's seat when the shooting happened and didn't have time to get out.
"Good to hear you're not hurt."
Luo An automatically tuned out the girl's cursing and threw a glance at Mona, signaling her to handle this troublemaker while he himself picked up his gun and walked slowly towards the black Ford car that had merged with the trash can.
Just as Luo An expected, the driver's cabin of the black Ford car was empty. After circling the car once and finding nothing amiss, Luo An began searching the car for useful clues.
A minute later, Mona came over and said to Luo An with a smile:
"She's just a little girl who skipped school without her parents knowing. I've already sent her on her way."
"Are you sure?"
Remembering the girl's ankle bracelet, Luo An shook his head without delving deeper and handed over the vehicle registration certificate he had found in the car to Mona, saying:
"This has the owner's name on it. Can you figure out their identity?"
"Give me three minutes."
Mona gave Luo An a 'trust me' look and turned to retrieve the laptop from the SUV. Before she left, she patted Luo An on the shoulder:
"You actually managed to find the murderer. Lucky you... my luck isn't bad either."
She said three minutes, but it took less than two. After a flurry of keyboard clicks, Mona turned the computer screen to show Luo An the information she had found.
"Conrad Carter, male, 40 years old, former Marine Corps Scout Sniper..."
Seeing the photo in the computer that looked like the same person who shot at him, Luo An clapped his hands:
"I knew the killer had to be a former serviceman."
"Yeah."
Mona nodded helplessly, packed up the computer, and then asked seriously:
"What's the next step? The two of us definitely can't beat him."
"No, it's you who can't beat him."
Luo An shook his head, delivering a remark that made Mona grind her teeth, then before she could react, he pulled out his phone and said:
"First, I'll call the bosses and ask them to issue a warrant for Conrad Carter."
"Why?"
Mona was puzzled. Wouldn't the issuance of a warrant let other groups' intern agents know the identity of the killer?
"Two reasons, Mona."
Luo An took out his phone, grimacing slightly at the sight of the brick-like Nokia, but still explained to Mona:
"First, our current location is Scasday Town, a well-known wealthy neighborhood under New York. Having a dangerous murderer hiding in this area, if something really happens, us two intern agents definitely can't bear the wrath of the FBI seniors. So we have to report this, if things go south, it'll be the higher-ups who'll have a headache."
Hearing Luo An's words, Mona looked at him with some surprise, examining him closely as if it was the first time she had truly seen him.
"Second point."
Luo An finally found Augustus's number in the Nokia's contacts and continued:
"As soon as the FBI issues the warrant, there will be some kind of reward. We'll get extra money if we catch him."
"..."
Hearing there might be extra money, Mona's eyes lit up instantly.
...
Inside a conference room on the 23rd floor of the Jacob Federal Office Building, team leader Augustus of Team Five was in a meeting with other team leaders and the group supervisor Vireness.
Ding-ding-ding——
Hearing the phone ring at his waist, Augustus didn't hesitate, turning to leave the conference room.
The team supervisor and other investigation heads glanced at Augustus but didn't mind his absence; it was common for team leaders to take urgent calls related to their cases, even during meetings.
The next second, Augustus's loud voice pierced through the walls into their ears:
"What? You've found the murderer already?"
Team 1 leader Broson, upon hearing Augustus's words, subconsciously sensed something wrong.
Could it be the Luo An Greenwood case?
But remembering how he passed by the intern agents' office before the meeting and saw them analyzing social relationships of the deceased and working on clues, Broson shook his head and smiled.
He was definitely overthinking it.
Bang!
The conference room door was pushed open, and Augustus walked in and spoke directly to supervisor Vireness:
"Sorry, boss, I have a gunshot case that needs urgent attention."
Vireness's expression remained unchanged, and she asked:
"Which gunshot case? I don't recall you handling a minor case like that."
"It's the test case for the intern agents. One of them, a new intern agent named Luo An Greenwood, just called me saying he has found the gunman of a shooting murder case, and has exchanged fire with the suspect in Scasday Town."
Augustus respected supervisor Vireness, because she controlled the team's activity funds. Hearing her question, he immediately answered everything she asked:
"The suspect is an ex-military person, very capable. After losing one vehicle, he vanished. As the suspect has high anti-surveillance awareness and is good at hiding himself, intern agent Luo An Greenwood requested that I issue a reward for capturing the suspect and urgently notify residents of the Scasday Region to be cautious."
Click.
The pen in Broson's hand accidentally fell onto the desk.
"Scasday Region is a well-known wealthy area in New York."
Vireness closed her pen, leaned back in her chair, and stared intently at Augustus, saying:
"If someone gets hurt there, I will be in a difficult position, you understand?"
"Yeah"
Augustus nodded, indicating he understood: "I'll issue the reward and will also deploy the SWAT tactical team to block and search the area."
Seeing Vireness nod in satisfaction, Augustus picked up the notebook from the table and left the conference room.
"Intern agent Luo An Greenwood."
Vireness wrote the name Augustus had mentioned in her notebook while Broson, watching this scene, felt his eye twitch.
Inside the intern agents' office.
Apart from the two-person team of Luo An and Mona, as well as the hospitalized duo Fisher and Maki, the rest of the intern agents were basically all there.
"Mike's wife didn't have the time to commit the crime."
Jody, who was standing in Fisher's place but had been beaten by Luo An, said in a muffled voice with an ice bag on his right cheek:
"According to the interrogation record, she was in Los Angeles attending a seminar during the crime, and all participants can vouch for her."
"Who are Mike's friends?"
"They're either journalists or senators, or else high officials of various companies, like Sean, a partner of Morlowe Pharmaceutical Company."
As this group of intern agents, who had been beaten by Luo An, were discussing the case, Mediterranean walked in through the door and shouted:
"Lads, you've got a new mission. Go join the manhunt operation in the Scasday Region!"
"What?"
Jody stood up with his ice bag, asking in confusion:
"But boss, we haven't found the shooter of the murder case yet..."
Mediterranean waved his hand to interrupt Jody, speaking directly:
"The target of this operation is the shooter of the murder case. Also, the whereabouts of the suspect were found by Luo An and Mona; therefore, they've already claimed half of the 80 points. As for the remaining points, whoever catches the suspect gets them, depending on your luck."
"WTF?"
Hearing Mediterranean's words, the internship agents' office suddenly erupted with a series of f-bombs.