Chapter 246

“When was the last time you two were in touch or saw each other?”

“On the morning of August 1st, he called me after he dropped off his mom and was sad.

We bought beer and went to the hotel where he was staying to drink beer.

He told me a lot about how we had the same thing going on and I could understand him.

But I’m luckier than him because I’m an orphan.

You heard me right.

I could fit in better with my foster family, my guardians, Mr. and Mrs. Brown, were good to me, and I was happy with my life now.

But not Quinnell, who couldn’t get over his mother, and even more sadly, his mother was a drug addict.

In the absence of drug addiction, she might be able to remember Quinnell as a son, once the addiction kicks in, Quinnell will have to step aside or even become her ATM.”

“On the night of August 3, two men claiming to be LAPD went to Brown’s house to see you; did you recognize them?”

“I did not recognize them.

I heard Mr. Brown say that the LAPD had come to his door and I thought that the spending of counterfeit money had been exposed.

I didn’t want to disappoint Mr. Brown or implicate the family in this, so I jumped from the second floor and prepared to escape.

I was unarmed and didn’t make any dangerous moves, those two assholes shot me directly from behind and I was scared stupid.

I didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t dare to contact Mr. Brown, and I was afraid of implicating Quinnel, so I was going to stay here for a while longer until the wind died down.”

“Would you recognize them if you were asked to help identify them?”

“Two chased me at first.

Then one left in the middle of it, most likely to go to his car, a man I didn’t get a good look at.

The other kept after me shooting and shooting, I turned my head and saw his face, it was a black, mean looking man.”

Luke pulled out George’s picture, “Is that him?”

“No, he was more like the guy who went to the car, I can’t quite remember.”

Luke pulled out another picture of Jamie Brady, “Is that him?”

“Yes, that’s the asshole who tried to kill me!” Derek jabbed his hand at the picture, “What is he? Is he one of those guys who prints counterfeit money?”

“From what we’ve seen so far, that’s highly likely, we’ve got one of the suspects in custody.

The other suspect is still on the run, and we can’t rule out the possibility that he’ll continue to hunt you down, so we need to catch him as soon as possible so you can be safe.”

“How can we catch him?”

“This guy is very cunning and has gone into hiding, we need to learn as many clues about him as possible, such as their characteristics, what they said, and the warehouse where you found the counterfeit bills.”

“I haven’t had close contact with them or I would have been killed by them, but I can take you to the warehouse where the counterfeit bills were found.”

1204 Boswintan Road.

There were quite a few factories in this neighborhood, most of which had been abandoned.

Because it wasn’t a residential area, the neighborhood was rarely visited, making it a suitable place to manufacture counterfeit banknotes.

This factory area is very large and disorganized, if not for Derek leading the way, even if you know the door number it is difficult to find.

Printing counterfeit banknotes is definitely a big case, and after the 1st Squadron reported it to Reed, Reed personally led the team to the scene, and also brought in reinforcements.

Reed takes over the scene, laying out arrests around the warehouse where the counterfeit bills were manufactured.

Camera-mounted drones scouted the area and found no suspicious people.

Reed sends another team to observe the area around the warehouse.

The warehouse covers a large area and has a height of ten meters.

A member of the team climbed to the windows of the warehouse to look down, the plant’s machinery did not start, and there was no sign of people.

After double-checking, Reid guessed that the suspect might not be inside the warehouse and decided to search the warehouse.

“Bang!” The warehouse door was slammed open and the heavily armed LAPD broke into the warehouse.

“Clear.”

“No suspicious persons found.”

“Clear.”

The LAPD quickly searched the warehouse and found no suspicious persons or counterfeit bills.

However, a printing press suspected of manufacturing counterfeit bills was found at the site.

Printing counterfeit banknotes was not a simple matter, a small banknote contained a lot of technology, the most basic were issues such as ink and printing plates, the biggest challenge was the paper and anti-counterfeit markings.

Printing the dollar paper is very special, the feel is also very special, often touch the money with a hand to know the real fake.

In addition the printers found on the scene are also different from ordinary printers, ordinary prints use letterpresses.

But the printing of banknotes is the use of intaglio printing presses, this technology is not advanced, the cost of printing is also very high, rare, and later controlled by the world, the market simply can not buy.

In addition to the printing press this evidence, the scene also found the printing ink, misprinted banknotes and some discarded paper, enough to prove that this is a printing counterfeit banknotes nest.

But unfortunately the police came one step too late, the place had obviously stopped working and was empty.

Of course, this is not to say that the police did not act quickly enough, from the two teenagers began to steal counterfeit banknotes, it is likely to have been noticed by this banknote printing organization, so when Quinnel came to steal counterfeit banknotes for the second time was directly caught and killed by the other side.

According to the police investigation, this warehouse is leased by the suspect Jamie Brady, the lease time is up to six months long, from this point of view this printing organization should print a lot of counterfeit money.

But there is no large-scale inflow of counterfeit money in Los Angeles.

Luke guessed that the banknote printing organization did not put the counterfeit banknotes in Los Angeles even though it had placed the location of printing banknotes in Los Angeles.

This was highly probable and would minimize the risk.

Once counterfeit money is discovered in a city, surely they will look for the source of the counterfeit money and the factories that made it.

If the city where the counterfeit bills are manufactured and where they are dropped off is the same city, it raises the risk of manufacturing the counterfeit bills.

And the fact that the place of manufacture and the place of placement are located in two different cities reduces the risk to some extent.

The case of printing counterfeit banknotes was beyond the investigative capacity of the 1st Squadron, and the case was personally led by Reed, with multiple departments involved in the investigation.

Among them are clues to the warehouse, the source of the machines and materials used to print the counterfeit bills, as well as the local gangs and the two suspects, George and Jamie Brady.

Squadron One was responsible for the investigation and pursuit of the two suspects.

The investigation of the warehouse came to an end and the group returned to the Detective Bureau.

On the way, a number of demonstrators were seen who were chanting the name of George Bamberts.

“George!”

“George, the hero!”

“George ……”

“Hero ……”

Most of those participating in the demonstration were black, with a few whites and Mexicans, but few Asians were seen.

At the same time, most of these people have gathered in groups of a few or a dozen, and have not yet formed a large-scale organization.

However, they already had the sense to demonstrate against the police cars.

Halfway across the street, Reed called Luke to his car and pointed out the window at the demonstrating crowd, “See that?

This crazy crowd has already started, and they don’t realize that they’ve become some people’s pawns.

Of course, even if there are some people who already know, they don’t care.

But this group of people did not realize that their demonstration was meaningless.

Its end result is just for the people behind the scenes to get their way, and they don’t get anything out of it.”

Luke, as a part of the LAPD, naturally wouldn’t have a favorable impression of these people, “While we are busy investigating the case, they are busy demonstrating to the police, which is tantamount to indirectly helping the lawbreakers.

And the biggest victims of those fake banknotes flowing into the market are precisely these demonstrators.

It’s ridiculous.”

“You’re right, that’s why George needs to fake his death, dead people are the easiest to become heroes, let them make a scene.

Let them hold this hero in high esteem, and when this hero comes back to life again, he will be judged by the law as a criminal.

And these demonstrators will become ridiculous clowns.

The LAPD is not to be offended.”

“You’re right, I’m also a part of the LAPD, and I’ll uphold the authority of the LAPD as well.”

“I like your choice of words, authority.” Reed smiled and whispered.

“George’s faked death was just the first step, and now that that step has been realized, the next thing we need to do is step two.

Get him to confess to his offenses and make a plea deal.

It’s not just the case of printing fake bills, but also the murder of Quennel.

A murderer who printed counterfeit money will be the new identity of this ‘hero’.”

“To get him to plead guilty, I need to be able to see him.

What’s his condition now? Can he stand trial?”

“George’s condition has stabilized, you can interrogate him anytime, are you sure you can pry his mouth open?”

Luke thought for a moment, “No, there’s not enough evidence to convict him right now.”

Reed patted him on the shoulder, “Then you’ll have to work at it.”

Inside a hospital room.

George had been able to get out of bed and walk around, he sat on the bed bored, his eyes a little dull.

The windows were barred, there was a police guard outside the door, and the TV was recorded, in his opinion there was no difference between this place and a prison.

He knew nothing about the outside world, not to mention that he had become a hero in other people’s mouths.

“Cluck ……” a door slammed.

Luke and Blackie walked into the hospital room.

Before coming, Luke had already done his homework.

George was a very crucial person in the case, as long as he could pry open his mouth, the whole case would basically become clear.

Luke smiled and greeted, “Hi George, feeling better?”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Lieutenant Luke of the Robbery-Murder Division, besides, Jamie asked me to say hi for him.”

“What happened? Why is that nursemaid trying to kill me?”

“She’s an assassin sent by the Counterfeiters Organization to get rid of you.”

George showed a panicked look, “What fake money organization? I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Luke took out a few photos taken at the warehouse where the counterfeit banknotes were printed, “Look at these photos, are they familiar?

Jamie and the female assassin have fallen into the net. They gave up everything they knew.

Of course, you, as their handler, should know more.”

“What handler? You’re kidding, I’m not their handler.”

“I never joke, they did say that. You’re a core member of the counterfeit banknote organization, tell me, where did you learn those techniques of printing counterfeit banknotes?”

“I don’t know how to print counterfeit bills, and I’m not a core member, I’m just a warehouse watcher, only responsible for sentry and running errands, Jamie is my handler, and I do everything he says.

I’m not a core member of any counterfeit banknote organization at all, I haven’t even been in direct contact with them, it’s always been Jamie.”

“Then what are you? A peripheral member of the counterfeit money printing organization?”

“Something like that, I’m just a lookout, dispensable.”

“How many more people are there in this counterfeit money organization besides Jamie?”

“I don’t know.”

“It seems you don’t intend to cooperate with the police, so we’ll have to take the confessions of the other two.”

“No, I’m willing to cooperate with you guys, everything I said is true, I usually keep a lookout outside the warehouse, Jamie won’t let me into the warehouse at all.

Every time the bills were printed it was one cart in and one cart out, I never had to deal with them.”

“When did you get involved?”

“Two months ago Jamie approached me and offered me a job with forty thousand dollars a month.

Forty thousand dollars!

How could I possibly turn that down?

I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon.”

“Was the $40,000 they paid you in real money, or fake.”

“Real bills, they never use counterfeit bills in Los Angeles.”

“Then why would you use counterfeit bills?”

“Uh …… The situation is a little complicated to say the least.” George wanted to say something.

“You think it’s complicated, Jamie doesn’t, he’s confessed and is willing to turn tainted witness.

You killed Quinnell and the counterfeit bills were taken from him, you are cruel, you won’t even spare a fourteen year old.”

“NoNoNo, I didn’t kill the teenager, Jamie did, I just …… I was panicking.

FUCK! I should have never agreed to him then.”

“You don’t admit that you killed the teenager named Quinnell?”

“That’s right, Jamie killed the man.”

“Then tell me about Jamie’s M.O.”

“If I tell you, will you take it as evidence?”

“It’s only a hypothetical statement, and the police can only take your confession if both parties reach a plea bargain.”

Hearing this, George breathed a sigh of relief, “Some time ago, the warehouse where the counterfeit banknotes were printed was burglarized, at that time, the warehouse was installed with surveillance, and from the surveillance, we could see that two teenagers did it.

This counterfeit money organization is very vigilant, and has not opened the machine since then, and, also, asked Jamie and I to find the two teenagers who stole the money.

L.A. is so big, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.

At the time, Jamie decided to stay at the warehouse and keep an eye on it, figuring that the teens had gotten a taste of the stuff, and if they came the first time, they might come back a second time.” George sighed and continued to reminisce that

“We waited for a few days and didn’t spot the two teens, then on August 2nd, sure enough, one of the teens returned to the warehouse to steal again, and was caught by Jamie and me.

Jamie started questioning him about his gang and the whereabouts of the stolen counterfeit currency.

The kid said the counterfeit currency was hidden in a hotel, so Jamie and I took him to the hotel.

On the way, Jamie kept pressing the kid repeatedly and he did not believe the kid.

When we got near the hotel, Jamie took charge of watching him and told me to go to the hotel and get the money back.

I went into the kid’s room and only found about a thousand dollars.

Jamie was pissed off when he found out about it and pressed for information on how the counterfeit bills were spent and the whereabouts of the other thief.

The kid was pretty tough and wouldn’t talk.

At that time, it was already night time, there were not many people on the beach, Jamie took him to a more remote beach, let me hold down his body, Jamie pushed Quinnel’s head into the water, and forced to ask about the counterfeit money and the whereabouts of the other thief.

Quinnell choked on the water a couple of times and became much more honest, saying that part of his money went to rent a room and part went to his mom and her boyfriend.

And the name of the other thief, Derek.

Then Jamie held the kid’s head under the water ……

By the time I realized something was wrong and let go of the kid’s body …… he wasn’t moving.

I didn’t want to kill him, it was all Jamie’s move.

I didn’t expect this.

Everything I said is true, Jamie is the real killer.”

Xiao Hei’s red eyes, glaring at George coldly said, “You’re right, you’re not a murderer, you’re a hero!”

The word hero, in turn, confused George.

Luke continued to ask, “What did you do with the body?”

“The teenager wasn’t breathing, and we were at the beach when Jamie offered to throw the teenager into the ocean to feed the fish, and bolted a weight to his right foot.

We stole a boat and threw the teenager’s body overboard.”

George showed a guilty look, covered his chest and choked, “I was so hard inside, I should have stopped him, I shouldn’t have let him kill the teenager.

I really regret it.”

George’s description basically matched the scene of the body dump, and it was certain that he was one of Quinnel’s killers.

Luke turned the tables and asked his next question, “Did you and Jamie pose as police officers to go after Derek on the night of August 3rd?”

“Yes. It was all Jamie’s idea and I had to do what he said.”

“Did you both shoot?”

“I just fired a couple shots and then I went for a drive. Jamie had been chasing after the teenager called Derek, but the teenager was shrewd enough to manage to escape.

To be honest, I had a sense of relief at the time when I saw him escape ……

I’m really sorry about Quiniel, I really didn’t want to kill him.

That night, I drank a lot and took drugs, and you all know what happened after that.”

There were two cases on George, one of counterfeit money and one of murder.

The latter, he had already explained pretty much, although he was not the main culprit, but a second-degree murder could not be escaped.

Luke said in a serious tone, “George, whether you did it out of your heart or not, you have committed a crime.

If you want to get a favorable plea deal, you have to provide the police with more clues about printing counterfeit bills so that we can help you turn into a tainted witness.”

George thought for a moment and shook his head, “SORRY, it’s not that I don’t want to assist your investigation. But I really don’t know much about printing counterfeit money.

You guys can ask Jamie, he has a direct connection with the gang that printed the fake banknotes.

He must be well aware of the identity of that gang.”

Luke also wanted to know Jamie’s whereabouts, but at this time, he couldn’t ask George about Jamie’s possible hiding place, otherwise, George would probably notice the problem.

After the interrogation.

Luke and Blackie returned to the detective bureau.

Susan held a meeting to summarize the case.

Luke gave a general description of the case.

George’s confession made great progress in the case investigation, and the team was encouraged.

Meanwhile, those demonstrating under the police station building looked more and more ridiculous.

After listening to Luke’s report, Susan was in a good mood, “Guys, who else has new developments in the investigation.”

“Uh ……,” Jenny said, wanting to speak.

“Jenny, what is it?”

“Quennel’s mother contacted me.”

Black pressed, “She’s in L.A.?”

“No, it’s a little complicated, didn’t we put together a traveling fund for her? After I transferred the money to her, she said she would come to LA as soon as possible.

I just got a call from her and she said …… the money was stolen.”

The lieutenant bristled, “So she didn’t want to come?”

“No, she wants …… us to help her with another two hundred dollars for the trip.”

The lieutenant laughed, “Does he think we’re stupid?

Don’t even think about taking another dollar from me, no, not one cent.”

Luke took a stand, “I’m with the vice squad on this one.”

Seeing Jenny look at herself, Jackson spread his hands, “Do I look like a fool?”

Jenny was a little bemused and more than a little relieved, “I’ll just tell her to make her own ……”

“Wait ……” Black took a deep breath, “I’m out the two hundred dollars.”

The lieutenant frowned, “Kid, you’re a cop, you can’t see through such a simple trick.”

Blackie sighed and rummaged through his pockets for only one hundred and twenty dollars, handing it to Jenny on the side, “I know she’s probably lying.

But Quinnel always expected to live with his mother and wanted her company and attention.

Now that he’s dead, I don’t want him to die alone.

I believe that his greatest wish right now is to be able to see his mother again.

Even if that mother wasn’t up to snuff or even cared for him that much.

But he still misses her!

I’m doing it for Quennel!”

Blackie’s words moved Luke to pull out twenty dollars a bit, too.

“Count me in.”