Joining Investigation Team Five on the first day, Luo An did nothing but sat at his desk browsing the computer all day, then left when his shift ended.
The next morning at 9 AM, with nothing else to do, Luo An shook his head and when he looked around, he saw Mona chatting online, Lede was not in the office and whereabouts unknown, only Reesi had just woken up and was eating something. So Luo An moved his chair next to Reesi and asked:
"Reesi, is it like this for us every week?"
"What do you mean?"
Reesi, still groggy from just waking up, took a while to respond after hearing Luo An's question, then tilted her head and answered:
"Do you mean if we have no work this week? Of course not."
And then Reesi quickly changed the subject while munching and muttered:
"We haven't had any work for the past two months."
"What?"
Luo An was baffled by Reesi's heavy breathing, then hurriedly asked:
"Why?"
"Because our Investigation Team Five was just established, and nobody has handed over any cases to us."
Reesi finished a small bag of doughnuts and started on the second:
"Well, not exactly true, three months ago the New York Police Department did hand a few cases over to Investigation Team Five, but we didn't solve any of them within the stipulated time... So the team supervisor Vireness withdrew the cases and passed them to other teams."
"..."
Luo An fell silent for a moment, then raised his head and asked:
"Did the other teams solve those cases then?"
Reesi nodded as if it was obvious, saying:
"Yeah, they solved them."
Luo An: "..."
What the hell kind of place have I come to?
Seeing Luo An's twisted facial expression, Reesi comforted him by patting his shoulder and asked:
"Why do you think Augustus transferred you to Investigation Team Five?"
Luo An already had an answer in his mind.
"Other than because you're handsome, it's also because you can solve cases."
Luo An: I knew it!
Reesi finished the second bag of doughnuts, opened the third one, and began to introduce the members of Investigation Team Five to Luo An:
"Lede comes from a SWAT background, excels in shooting, combat, search and rescue, weapons... but he can't solve cases."
Luo An: "..."
"I, Reesi, am from the intelligence division, good at gathering information, undercover surveillance... but also can't solve cases."
Luo An: "..."
"The few technicians sitting behind you have worked in the FBI's records room for many years, and they can find any suspect's related information faster than any other team."
Luo An's expression became more and more bizarre: "But they also can't solve cases."
"Yeah."
Reesi patted Luo An's shoulder seriously:
"That's why we need someone who can lead us to solve cases."
Luo An almost suffocated, taking a deep breath before he could recover:
It's good to think that at least this team needs me, I am an indispensable member of this team.
But on second thought, Luo An asked Reesi:
"What about our team leader Augustus? Do you know what he did before?"
"Of course."
Reesi nodded and explained:
"Augustus was previously an administrative officer in the Criminal Justice Department."
Luo An nodded, realizing: "So Augustus won't solve cases either."
"Right."
Having learned all this information, Luo An stroked his chin and asked, "So if everything goes as expected, if we get cases in the future, it will be me leading you all to solve them, right?"
Reesi thought for two seconds, then nodded: "That should be the case."
Luo An continued to ask: "Since I'll be leading you to solve cases, what use is Augustus as the team leader? Just waiting to take credit after the case is solved?"
"Of course not."
Hearing Luo An's words, Reesi immediately widened her eyes and seriously told him:
"Augustus is responsible for taking the blame and dealing with superiors when things go awry!"
"...Reesi, why were you transferred here?"
"Because I insulted a superior."
"That's just like you."
Returning to his own workstation, Luo An looked around and saw Mona typing furiously at the computer as if hacking into some program, and he couldn't help but sigh, "Unit 5 really attracts outstanding talent."
Pa pa pa—
Just as Luo An was pondering whether to temporarily leave Unit 5 for a few days to make some money on private jobs, team leader Augustus, with his belly protruding, came to the front of the office area and loudly announced:
"Everyone, pay attention! Two cases have been handed over to our Unit 5! One disappearance and kidnapping case, one serial murder case!"
In 2005, America had not yet adopted large screens widely, so several large whiteboards always stood at the front of the office area. Augustus casually pulled over a whiteboard and began to write the provisional names of the two cases on it.
[Wealthy Woman Kidnapping and Disappearance Case][Lake Female Corpse Serial Killing Case]
Returning to the office area, Jade distributed the documents to everyone, with Luo An receiving the most detailed information.
Luo An: "..."
Since there were cases, he couldn't ignore them. Evaluating the urgency of the cases, Luo An began to review the first disappearance and kidnapping case, while bear-like Jade also began to introduce it to everyone:
"The victim is named Sabina Card, 36 years old, disappeared from her villa in Connecticut. The incident likely took place between last night when she returned home and this morning at 8 AM. This morning, her husband Darren came back from a business trip to find someone had broken into their home, and his wife had disappeared, but her mobile phone and purse were still at the entrance hallway."
As everyone finished reviewing the material at hand, Augustus knocked on the whiteboard to draw everyone's attention, his expression serious:
"Without further evidence, we need to assume she is still alive! The police at Greenwich Police Department think this is a kidnapping, but such incidents are very uncommon there, so they have sought our help."
Greenwich Village, located on Long Island Strait, is a satellite town of New York City and one of the most upscale areas near New York State with an extremely high standard of living. It has been home to many celebrities, artists, and musicians.
Without waiting for anyone to raise their own questions, Augustus pulled out several crime scene photos from a folder and stuck them onto another whiteboard, saying at the same time:
"Serial murder refers to a crime where one or more criminals illegally kill two or more victims in separate events. This morning at five o'clock, an angler on a lake on the border between New York and New Jersey unexpectedly discovered a female corpse. After divers searched the lake, they found three more female bodies.
The first victim, Linda Chipo, married, twenty-eight years old, reported missing by her husband eight months ago, was determined by forensic doctors to have been murdered shortly after her disappearance.
The second victim, Beatrix Leon, married, thirty四 years old, disappeared two months ago.
The third victim, Natalie Carrel, married, twenty-five years old, disappeared a month ago.
The fourth victim, Tamara Terry, married, thirty years old, disappeared two weeks ago..."