Chapter 545
A black Dodge pulled up to the curb and Black and Jackson stepped out of the car.
Blacky looked around and his eyes landed on a blue store sign, West Travel Agency.
Jackson locked the car and said, “This should be it, this is the travel agency that homeowner Clint Mann went through to get into the Guam One Week Tour program.”
Blackie said, “Nowadays, the internet is very convenient for booking flights and hotels, so I really can’t figure out why some people still like to travel through travel agencies.”
Jackson shrugged, “Some guests find travel agents convenient, hassle-free, and the price will be better.”
Blackie was unimpressed, “I still like to travel freely.”
Jackson teased, “When you enter a travel agency, you’d better not say such things, or you’ll easily get beaten up.”
“No need for you to remind me, follow me, rookie.” Xiao Hei looked unimpressed, shaking his head and walking into the travel agency.
The travel agency was not large, on the left side was a cubicle, on the right side was an open office area with only four or five employees working, in the center was the front desk location, sitting a fat white older sister in her forties.
Xiao Hei walked to the front desk, took off his black sunglasses, leaned his elbow on the counter, and asked the fat white big sister, “Hey, is there a travel program to Guam here?”
“Yes, a seven-day trip to Guam.” The white big sister squeezed out a smile on her fat face, “How many of you are there? When are you going to leave?”
Blackie didn’t answer and asked instead, “Is Rohrer Horn still with this travel agency?”
The fat elder sister froze for a moment, and a man in a floral shirt next to her said, “Yes, but he had something to do today and didn’t come to work.
My name is Jorgia Price and I’m the manager of this travel agency.” He pointed to a cubicle off to the side, “Gentlemen, let’s talk in the lounge.
This season is perfect for traveling to Guam.”
Black smiled, “Looks like we’ve come to the right place.”
“That’s right, we have the best service and the best prices here.
Did you guys come here on the recommendation of Roher Horn?” Jorgia Price ushered the two into the lounge and made a gesture of invitation, signaling for them to sit on the couch.
Black shook his head, “No, actually it was my neighbors who just returned from a trip to Guam, they thought it was great and recommended your travel agency.”
“Can I ask the name of this lovely neighbor of yours?”
“Clint Mann.”
“Clint Mann.” Jorgia Price repeated and smiled, “That’s right, he’s a guest of our travel agency, and their family of four took a week-long trip to Guam …… If I remember correctly, they would have gotten back on last night’s flight.
I think they should have had a wonderful vacation.
Since you guys were introduced by acquaintances, I’ll be just as likely to give you the highest discounts and provide the best service.”
The fat white older sister walked over with a tray, put down three cups of coffee, and returned to the front desk.
Feeling that her thighs were almost catching up with her waistline, Black withdrew his gaze and confirmed, “Clint Mann is a guest of your travel agency?”
“Yes.”
“And Roher Horn is an employee of your travel agency?”
“Yes.” Jorgia Price responded and asked rhetorically, “Is there a problem?”
“There are indeed some minor problems. I would like to know when was the last time you saw Roher Horn?”
Georgette Price frowned, looking at Kuro and then at Jackson, “Who the hell are you guys? You don’t look like you’re here to consult on a tour.”
Jackson flashed his badge, “I’m Detective Jackson of the Robbery-Murder Division, and this is our Detective Marcus.”
“Police! Why are you here at my travel agency? It can’t be that your police department is going on a group tour?
If so, I’ll definitely give you guys a minimum discount.”
Blackie snickered, “We can also offer day trips to the police station or multi-day trips to the prison, are you interested? Totally free.”
“Sir, I respect you guys.
But this joke is not funny at all.”
“I’m not joking with you, when was the last time you saw Roher Horn?”
Jorgia Price thought briefly, “You are here because of Roher Horn?”
“Answer my question.”
“It’s been a long time, he’s left the company and is not an employee of ours.”
“Heh heh.” Black interrupted the other, “That’s not what you just said. Do you want me to help you remember?”
“Sir, you must not have been in sales, if you had been in sales, you would understand that I was just trying to keep the customer just now.
The client had said he knew a particular salesman, I couldn’t just tell him that the salesman had left, then the client might leave too, I was just trying to keep the client as long as I could.”
Jackson asked, “Why did he leave?”
“The travel agency wasn’t doing well at the time, and we had some arguments at work, and he wasn’t happy doing what he was doing, so he left.”
“When did Roher Horn leave?”
“It must have been six months.”
“Have you guys seen each other in those six months?”
“Uh ……” Jorgia Price thought for a moment, “He approached me once about three months ago, looking a little down and out, not having a very good time.
He was hoping to still go back to work for the travel agency, and I sympathized with him, but ……
Look at this travel agency of mine, it’s only this big, and the benefits aren’t very good lately, so I can’t afford to hire one more person.
After that, I haven’t seen him again.” Jogia Price finished and revealed a curious look, “What happened to him? You came to our travel agency because of him.”
“Yes, he died.”
Georgette Price gave a surprised look, “When did he die?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
“My God, that’s terrible.
I’m sorry to hear that, but you’re looking in the wrong place, he had nothing to do with this travel agency six months ago.”
“No, I don’t think so.” Blackie said, “Did you just say that Clint Mann was a client of your travel agency?”
“Yes, and he and I spoke in this lounge before their family traveled, so what’s wrong with that?”
Blackie said, “Roher Horn died in Clint Mann’s home.”
“What?” Jorgia Price also wondered a bit, “How did the two of them know each other?”
“That’s for you to ask, one is a former employee of your company and the other is a current client of your travel agency, and they were both involved in a homicide at the same time.
It’s hard to believe that this incident had nothing to do with your travel agency.”
Jorgia Price looked a little nervous, rubbing her chin and thinking for a while, “That’s not right, didn’t you say that Roher Horn died yesterday afternoon? The Clint Mann family should not have returned to Los Angeles at that time.
He couldn’t have killed Roher Horn.”
Blackie waved his hand and explained, “I didn’t say Clint Mann was the murderer or that Clint Mann was there.
Just simply telling you that Roher Horn died in Clint Mann’s home yesterday afternoon.
At the moment, the West travel agency is the only link between them.”
“Wait, I swear, Roher Horn’s death had nothing to do with our travel agency.”
Jackson pressed, “Then how did Rohrer Horn know that Clint Mann’s family was traveling out of town and that he had entered Clint Mann’s home?”
Georgette Price sighed and scratched her hair, “Our company’s client information and trips are recorded on the company’s intranet, and anyone with an account number and password can log in and view them.
Roher Horn probably viewed the client information from the intranet and then stayed at the client’s house.” The more Jogia Price said, the more it made sense: “That’s right, when I met Rohrer Horn three months ago, he was already in financial trouble, in great distress, and now he may not have become a vagrant.
A lot of bums sneak into unoccupied houses.”
Jackson asked, “Didn’t you say that Roher Horn left the company six months ago? Can his account still log into the company’s intranet?”
“By definition, no, because I’ve disqualified his account …… It’s impossible to log on to the company intranet again.” Jorgia Price frowned and seemed a bit puzzled as well.
Jackson pressed, “How do you set up your company’s accounts and passwords?”
“The account number is the travel agency initials and each employee’s initials, and the initial password, six zeros, can be changed by yourself.”
Jackson summarized, “That means that if you know the employee’s initials and get the password, you can log on to the intranet?”
“Yes.”
Jackson asked, “How long has Roher Horn worked here?”
“Over three years.”
Jackson surmised, “Over three years, it wouldn’t be that hard for him to obtain a coworker’s account number and password, either intentionally or unintentionally, don’t you think?”
Jorgia Price slapped her forehead, “The asshole has left his job and he’s still coming to haunt my company! What a fucking asshole.”
Black said smoothly, “So, you killed him.”
Jorgia Price stood up and blurted out, “No, I told you, I haven’t seen him in at least three months.
I swear I had nothing to do with his death.” When he finished speaking, Georgette Price’s face dropped again, and there was a hint of supplication in his tone, “Sir, can we not tell our client Clint Mann about this?”
Black and Jackson looked at each other, neither saying anything.
Robbery and Murder Division, Squadron One.
Luke’s eyebrows furrowed slightly after listening to Blackie’s report.
If the travel agency manager, Jogia Price, hadn’t lied, and the deceased, Roher Horn, had left the travel agency six months ago, why hadn’t he told his wife about his departure?
Had he found a new job?
And why did he sneak into the home of travel agency client Clint Mann?
From the fact that he sneaks into Clint Mann’s house in broad daylight to drink booze, Luke counter-suggests that the odds are that he hasn’t found a serious job.
And what had he been doing all this time?
His whereabouts for six whole months were a mystery.
Perhaps the only way to find out the true cause of his death is to figure out his whereabouts for the past six months.
Luke then reorganized the case, arranging for the team to split up to investigate Roher Horn’s whereabouts and financial situation during the six months ……