On the other side, as the SUV left the parking lot of the FBI New York Division, a white young man in a suit and glasses stepped out from behind a car.
"Boss, it's me, Jock."
The young white man took out his phone and dialed a series of numbers. A few seconds later, the call was answered, and he hurriedly said:
"Agent Luo An I'm monitoring has left the headquarters with Agent Reesi and Mr. Darren. What should we do next?"
The person on the other end of the call was Matthews. At that moment, he was attending a small party hosted by Broson. Upon hearing his subordinate Jock's words, he put down his glass of wine, and while looking at Broson who was giving a speech, calmly said:
"Follow Luo An immediately."
"Understood, boss."
Jock nodded his head, but suddenly thought of something and hesitated for a few seconds before asking:
"What about the journalists we planned earlier? Boss? Should we inform them?"
A while ago, Broson had Matthews secretly inform Joseph about some details of the serial murder case to be leaked to the television network, as Matthews felt merely waiting for Virene to fail at solving the case within 24 hours wasn't secure enough.
Thus, Matthews had contacted some journalists, planning to have those journalists follow the steps of Investigation Team Number Five and broadcast their failed investigation process to the audience in front of TVs.
Matthews didn't inform Broson about this; he planned to surprise him.
Hearing his subordinate's question, Matthews promptly replied:
"Inform them! Why not? Do you really think Luo An and his team can find the murderer?"
"Of course not, boss."
Jock opened the car door, took the driver's seat, and laughed:
"This is a serial murder case. It's been less than an hour since the news conference ended. Luo An and his team don't have divine help, how could they possibly find the murderer so quickly?!"
"Exactly."
Matthews nodded, gulped down the wine in his glass, and then said:
"That will be all for now, keep me posted on any developments."
After hanging up, Jock dialed another set of numbers, called the journalists he had already coordinated with, briefly explained the situation, then turned the steering wheel and drove in the direction Luo An had just left.
He had previously installed a tracking device under the chassis of Luo An's SUV.
At the small party, Broson, having finished his speech, was holding a glass of wine and chatting with an elderly white man with a full head of silver hair.
After briefly thanking him for his presence at the party, Broson turned to approach someone else, saw Matthews nearby, and beckoned him over.
"What's up, boss?"
Seeing Broson's gesture, Matthews quickly excused himself from the pretty girl he was talking to, walked over to Broson, and asked in a low voice:
"Any instructions?"
Broson smiled, patted Matthews on the shoulder, and said:
"Don't be nervous; I just saw you were on the phone. Did something happen?"
Matthews, relieved, laughed:
"Nothing major. My subordinate just informed me that Luo An Greenwood from the Number Five investigation team has gone out to look for clues, and he's planning to follow them."
"This matter is yours to handle."
Broson revealed a look of realization, but he didn't take the matter to heart.
The reason was simple. The news conference had just ended, and he didn't believe Luo An could find the murderer so quickly. The outing was likely just to investigate some clue.
Patted Matthews on the shoulder, indicating that he had full authority on the matter, and then, with Matthews pleasantly surprised, Broson led him towards an elderly white man in a suit with a stern face and bald head.
"Councilman Matai, good evening, thank you for attending my party tonight. This is Matthews, my capable subordinate..."
"Congressman, hello."
Matthews was extremely surprised. Councilman Ma Tai was a strong competitor for the Governor of New York. He never expected the other party to appear at Broson's party, let alone for Broson to introduce him.
Upon hearing Broson's introduction, Councilman Ma Tai tilted his head and glanced at Broson.
Seeing Broson's lips slightly curled up, Councilman Ma Tai's lips slowly rose, a strange glimmer in his eyes, he reached out and shook hands with Matthews, his tone amiable:
"Hello, Matthews."
...
On another side, after the press conference ended, Virene stayed in the Special Agent-in-Charge's office for quite a while before turning to walk towards the office area of Team Five.
Pushing the door to the office area, she saw Team Five's agents busily at work, Virene nodded almost imperceptibly.
Whether the case would be solved or not was one thing, but at the very least, their work attitude was acceptable.
"Chief."
Augustus, who was analyzing documents at Luo An's desk, saw Virene rush to greet her as she asked directly:
"How's the progress on the case?"
Although she asked this, Virene didn't actually expect Augustus to reveal any useful clues, especially since the press conference had just ended, and finding the murderer now would be...
"Luo An has already gone to arrest the murderer, Chief."
"???"
Hearing Augustus's words, Virene struggled to maintain her composed expression and took a few deep breaths to cool down her temper, asking in an unfriendly tone:
"Are you joking with me?"
"No, Chief."
Augustus's earnest expression made Virene pause, and before she could inquire further, Augustus picked up a file from Luo An's desk and began to explain:
"This is what happened, the murderer..."
After listening to Augustus's explanation, Virene was somewhat stunned and after a long silence, she tilted her head and asked:
"Do you all just trust Luo An Greenwood's judgment that much?"
Augustus spread his hands – what other choice did he have? Team Five was full of talent, but the only one who really had the brains and capacity to solve cases was Luo An. Who else could he trust?
"And we haven't just been waiting for Luo An's updates; we've done other investigations, too."
Waving for an agent behind him to bring Virene a chair, Augustus pointed at Mona and others saying:
"They are investigating the victims' movements and surveillance footage before they went missing and examining the personal relations of both victims. Lead is questioning the families of the victims."
All aspects of the investigation that should be pursued were being covered by the numerous agents of Team Five. Virene remained silent for a moment, then walked towards Augustus's team leader office:
"Immediately let me know if there's any news from Luo An."
"OK."
Entering the office, Virene locked the door and took out her phone to make several calls.
Broson obviously came prepared, but Virene had worked hard for many years in the FBI to become a team leader as a woman. This time, she couldn't let Broson beat her.
"Good evening, this is Virene..."
...
On the other side, seeing the intersection ahead blocked by a pile of cars, yet the SUV continued to accelerate uncontrollably, both Reesi and Darren turned pale:
"Shit! We're going to crash!"
"Are you crazy? Luo An? Hit the brakes! Move your leg!"