Chapter 306

Xiao Hei shrugged, ”The car is just a means of transportation, I don’t care at all.

But she must be a rich person for being able to ride such an expensive bike, and is probably the new target of the robbers.

Who the hell is she?”

“Good question, we need to find her before the robbers do.” Luke sent a video of the car recorder to the chat group and brainstormed to confirm the woman’s identity.

Actually, it wasn’t that hard to find the woman; there were highway signs in the video, and with some time it would be possible to determine the other’s neighborhood and thus verify the identity.

But the police now have to do is to race against time, late one minute, the other will be a little more dangerous.

Fame and fortune do not discriminate, since this woman has money, it is likely that she also has a certain degree of fame, Luke is banking on the fact that someone knows her.

If no one knew her, he could only determine the other party’s place of residence through the environment in the video, and then check her identity.

As for using the face recognition database, this would depend on luck, and in turn was not very reliable, and could only be used as an auxiliary means.

Not long after, Jenny came over, “Captain, I seem to recognize the woman in the video.”

“A friend of yours?”

“I wish I had a friend like that, but apparently not.

Her name is Muriel Baldini, she’s a very a very famous businesswoman in Los Angeles, has been on a number of magazine covers, and has a lot of personality.

She’s an advocate for gender equality and for environmental protection to reduce emissions;

She is down-to-earth, has no separate office in the company, no nanny at home, not even a bodyguard or driver.

She’s rich and a maverick.”

Black asked, “She’s openly said she doesn’t have a bodyguard anymore?”

“Yes.”

“Ooooh, no wonder she’s a target for robbers, and that damn bike, it actually costs more than my car, it’s pretentious as hell.

Is she a vegetarian?”

Jenny shrugged, “I can’t remember, but you can ask her in person.”

“No, I don’t really like dealing with people like her.” Black had already mentally labeled her.

Jenny shook her head and lost her smile, “Then Muriel Baldini must be very, very sorry.”

Blacky said, “You better not tell her, I don’t like to see women cry.”

Luke ignored the two and first contacted Matthew to investigate Muriel Baldini’s information in the police system, at the same time, he also searched for the other party on the internet.

Just like what Jenny said, this woman was a rich person who rode her bike to work every day in sportswear, and her photo was very similar to the video in the car recorder.

It was basically certain that she was the new target of the robbers.

Luke’s primary concern now was not the capture of the robber, but the safety of the new target.

The fact that the robber was not at home was in itself a not so good omen, indicating that the other party had probably already made a move.

Luke guessed that there were four possibilities.

The first possibility, the robbers had already made their move and had even managed to kidnap Muriel Baldini, only the police didn’t know about it yet, which was the worst case scenario.

The second possibility, the robbers were in the middle of the crime, if they contacted Muriel Baldini rashly at this time, it was likely that it would bring her an untoward situation, or even be silenced by the robbers.

The third possibility, the robbers are still planning, preparation, did not formally carry out the kidnapping operation, this possibility is the most favorable for the police, the police can be arranged to arrest.

The fourth possibility, the robbers gave up the action, absconded. This situation will be very tricky for the police.

Different situations require different means.

After some discussion, Jenny volunteered to go to Muriel Baldini’s house to detect the situation.

Matthew’s side also found out the details of Muriel Baldini and determined the address of her house.

The Stringer neighborhood.

It was an upscale neighborhood with a beautiful environment, well-built and beautiful houses and yards, and all kinds of luxury cars were placed in front of the garage.

A black Mercedes-Benz Big G drove into the neighborhood, Luke drove, Jenny sat in the passenger side, Blackie sat in the back.

Luke usually seldom drove a Mercedes Benz car on a mission, firstly, he couldn’t afford it, worrying about cuts and scrapes, and more importantly, it was eye-catching.

But this time the situation is different again, in this kind of luxury car everywhere in the upscale community, Luke’s Mercedes Benz big G instead will not cause people’s attention, really want to drive a Ford SUV instead of eye-catching.

Car parked in a luxury villa, villa construction is very beautiful, the yard is also planted with some flowers, this is exactly Muriel Baldini’s home.

At this time, the sky is already dark, the villa is lit.

Bright lights were a good sign.

Luke parked the car, turned his head and asked, “Jenny, are you ready?”

“Sure.”

“Good. If you encounter anything unusual, call for backup immediately.”

“I understand.” Jenny took a deep breath, straightened her clothes, and got out of the car with a pile of information.

Marcus suggested, “Captain, should I get out of the car and hide in the yard for support.”

Luke thought for a moment, “No need for now, Jenny is just going to scout, more people going will be easily exposed instead.”

While speaking, Jenny walked to the door and pressed the doorbell: “Dingdong ……”

After a while, the visual doorstop rang, “Which one are you?”

“Is this Ms. Muriel Baldini, please?”

“It’s me.”

“My name is Jenny Ravens, I’m the new Community Relations Councillor, I’ve only officially taken up my post today.

I know you, I’ve read your magazine interviews, and I know you’re a busy man, so I was going to stop by this evening to see and hear what you have to say about the community.”

A few moments later, the door opened and a blonde white woman stood in the doorway, tall and dressed in a casual housecoat.

“May I call you Jenny?”

“Of course, even though this is the first time we’ve met, I’ve read a lot about you and you’re an amazing woman.”

“Thank you, I’m glad to meet you too. Can you tell us about any new plans for the community in the near future?”

“Can you step forward some? I’m not used to talking to people across the room.”

“I’m sorry, it was an oversight on my part.” Muriel Baldini stepped to the door.

Jenny surveyed her and found nothing out of the ordinary, “Is there anyone else in your house?”

“No, why do you ask?”

“I’m sorry Ms. Baldini, I lied earlier.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m not a community relations commissioner.” Jenny flashed her badge, “I’m an LAPD officer.”

“Police?

What happened? Why are you pretending to be a community relations commissioner to come to my house?”

“It’s complicated, so I’ll make it short.

We’re investigating a group of robbers with prior convictions, and in the CarLog video of one of the robbers, we found that they had been following you some time ago.

We suspect that you’re probably the next target of the robbers, so I’m here to make sure you’re safe.”

“You mean someone is trying to kidnap me.”

“Yes. Have you noticed any suspicious people lately?”

“No, I rarely pay attention to that aspect, our neighborhood has always been well policed, and by God, this is horrible.

What am I going to do? Will you police protect me?”

“You don’t have to be nervous, this is just the police’s speculation, the robbers may not always strike.

Besides, the police will protect you in the dark, and I also hope that you will pay more attention to yourself.”

“You’re right, I did used to be more negligent in this area, I’ll pay attention.”

“But don’t act too abnormally, if the robbers see through it, they will likely be alerted.”

“I see, thank you guys so much.

Where are your guys? I’d like to pour a couple cups of coffee for you guys.”

“Thank you for your kind words, but the robbers may be watching from the shadows as well, and it would be better if my colleagues would protect you from the shadows.”

“OK, I will definitely go to the police station to personally thank the robbers when they are caught.”

“Keep the doors and windows closed, this is my business card, call me anytime if there’s a situation.” Jenny handed the other party a business card and then left the house.

“Thanks.” Muriel Baldini called out to Jenny’s back and turned to return to the house.

Jenny returned to the car and Black asked, “How did it go with your idol?”

“She’s brilliant and personable, and I admire her, but she’s not really my idol, at least not yet.” Jenny finished and turned to Luke, who was off to the side.

“Captain, I talked to Muriel Baldini, she didn’t notice any suspicious people, I reminded her to be safe and also informed her that the police would be in the shadows.”

Luke nodded, “Although the situation at Muriel Baldini’s house is normal for the time being, we can’t take it lightly, I guess the robbers may commit a crime at any time.

It’s also not possible that they are also secretly watching Muriel Baldini’s house.”

Jenny asked, “Captain, what do we do next?”

Luke had a hunch that if the robbers were going to make a move, they shouldn’t wait too long, “Everyone work harder tonight and take turns keeping watch.

The three of us will guard the front door of the villa, and Ramon and Jackson will keep an eye on the back door.”

Luke then started the car and parked the Mercedes a little farther away.

Jackson drove the BMW and parked behind the villa.

If the robbers were to make a move, the police would be able to detect it in advance and make an arrest.

Vigil was a hard job, Luke guarded the first half of the night, followed by Jenny, and finally Blackie.

Comparatively speaking, Luke’s night watch time period was relatively easy, after all, he was the captain, he had to maintain a good state of mind in order to better command the operation.

There was no abnormality in the first half of the night.

In the second half of the night, it was Luke’s turn to rest, but he slept lightly, and was able to respond to the situation first if it arose.

However, the imagined accident did not happen, the robbers did not make a move.

At seven o’clock in the morning, Luke yawned; in his experience, it was unlikely that the robbers would strike during the day.

Muriel Baldini was a professional woman, and if she was kidnapped at this time of day, she would quickly be noticed as unusual, whereas a nighttime strike would have a much longer buffer.

Jenny made a call to Muriel Baldini and all was well and the other woman was ready to go to work as usual.

Luke also began rearranging tasks.

He originally thought that the robbers would most likely make a move last night, but the other party did not make a move, and Luke could not keep on guard, in case the robbers changed their target again or just absconded, he would not be foolish.

Luke asked Raymond and Jackson to access the community road surveillance to see if there were any suspicious vehicles in the community.

Luke, Blackie, and Jenny were responsible for escorting Muriel Baldini to the company.

Chen Kelin arrived with the second team for support, and they were responsible for continuing to keep watch at Muriel Baldini’s house to prevent the robbers from sneaking into Muriel Baldini’s house during the day.

At nine o’clock in the morning, Muriel Baldini left the house in a Maserati.

Luke followed in his car.

Blackie shook his head and lamented, “Sure enough, every rich person is a liar, she actually has a Maserati in her garage, and she has the nerve to talk about environmental protection.”

Jenny said, “At least, she listened to what we said.”

Xiao Hei said, “But now that she doesn’t ride a bicycle, the difficulty of kidnapping has increased, will the robbers know what to do.

If the robber gives up the kidnapping, we might lose his whereabouts again.”

This, too, was something Luke was worried about.

Luke and Anthony had been in contact, and the reason Anthony hadn’t shown up was because he had other assignments.

For one, the FBI had been monitoring several anonymous cell phone cards that would be located whenever the two suspects used them.

Secondly, the FBI had been squatting near the home of the robber, Mabry Carr, and as soon as he dared to return home, the FBI would immediately make an arrest.

However, there had been no movement on the FBI’s side, and if the robbers had given up on kidnapping Muriel Baldini, it was likely that the two robbers would disappear again.

“Ringing ……”

Luke’s cell phone rang, and Ramon’s number was displayed on the screen.

“Captain, we found the two robbers when we were checking the neighborhood surveillance.”

“Where are they?”

“Community surveillance shows that at seven o’clock yesterday evening, Solstice drove into the neighborhood in a Cadillac with Mabry Carr in the passenger seat.”

Luke recalled that they were still surveying the scene at Mabry Carr’s house at that time, which meant that the two robbers had arrived in the neighborhood where Muriel Baldini’s house was located before the police, so why hadn’t they chosen to strike?

Were they ill-prepared and still stomping around?

“When did they leave?”

Raymond said, “There’s no video of them leaving on the current surveillance.”

“Sure they didn’t leave?

Or haven’t finished watching the surveillance video?”

“Haven’t finished watching the surveillance.”

“Keep watching.”

“Okay Captain.”

“Stay in touch.” Luke hung up his cell phone.

But the doubt in his mind didn’t lessen.

Last night, the two robbers were most likely in the neighborhood of Muriel Baldini’s house as well, and they shouldn’t be too far away from Muriel Baldini’s house if they were targeting her.

But Luke hadn’t spotted any suspicious vehicles.

Where were they hiding?

“Jenny, are you sure that Muriel Baldini was not unusual last night? Like signs of being held hostage?”

“No way, she had walked out the door last night, and if she was being held hostage she could have told me to save her, but she never called for help.”

Blackie said, “I remember that Muriel Baldini had already stepped outside the door at the time, even if the robbers were in the house there’s no way they could have taken her hostage.”

Luke said thoughtfully, “Last night, what was Muriel Baldini wearing? What was the figure like?”

Jenny thought for a moment, “She’s a little taller than me and wore a loose casual dress with a jacket over it, her figure wasn’t very obvious.”

Luke asked rhetorically, “It wasn’t very cool yesterday, why would she need a jacket at home?”

Jenny also seemed to think of something, “Did …… you think she had a bomb on her?”

Luke said, “I’m not sure, but one of the robbers is good with bombs and we can’t ignore that possibility.

If Muriel Baldini has a remote controlled bomb on her, even standing in the doorway won’t keep her safe.”

Jenny said, “Captain, if your guess is correct, then the robbers were at Muriel Baldini’s house at the time, and we were guarding outside Muriel Baldini’s house all night, so it’s unlikely that they could have run away.

Could they still be hiding in Muriel Baldini’s house now, should we notify Captain Chen who is keeping watch at Muriel Baldini’s house.”

Jenny’s words sounded right at first glance, but with a little thought one could detect the problem.

Thinking differently, if Luke was the robber, he would definitely not stay at Muriel Baldini’s home at this time.

Remote-controlled bombs had a distance limitation, and although Luke didn’t really understand it either, this distance certainly couldn’t be exceeded by too much.

In other words, it was impossible for the robbers to let Muriel Baldini drive to work alone, and once Muriel Baldini was out of control, they would definitely call the police, and then it would become a trap in a jar.

Luke said, “Jenny, did you remind Muriel Baldini last night to drive to work today?”

“No.” Jenny also woke up, “The robbers are hiding in Muriel Baldini’s car?”

Earlier, Jenny had a misconception that Muriel Baldini had chosen to drive because she was worried about her own safety.

After all, driving a car is relatively safer compared to riding a bicycle.

Assuming that Muriel Baldini was really being held hostage, then this speculation was not valid.

The police had already set up a perimeter around Muriel Baldini’s home, and the robbers could have been spotted if they had fled.

But hiding in Muriel Baldini’s car is different, this belongs to the black light, the police will instead relax their vigilance, creating opportunities for them to escape.