Chapter 309
Just after seven o’clock in the evening.
Kanaky Law Firm.
Inside a gray BMW, Jackson sat in the driver’s seat and Jenny in the passenger seat.
Jenny lowered her chair and reclined to make herself more comfortable, “Why are we spying on the lawyer of the robber, Solstice?”
Earlier, she and Ramon were investigating the disappearance and were part of a temporary enlistment and didn’t know the details.
Jackson introduced, “The captain and I re-arraigned the three robbers this afternoon.
Some new clues were discovered during the interrogation, and it’s basically certain that Soister Victor had another purpose for robbing the North Hollywood Bank.
The North Hollywood Bank and the case of Muriel Baldini’s kidnapping both involved the Baldini Fund Investment Management Company, and the captain guessed that the robbers’ purpose should be related to this company.
Solstice belongs to the outlaws, and by definition has no connection with this kind of company, the captain speculates that there should be another bridge between Solstice Victor and the company, and this bridge may be the mastermind behind the scene.
Solstice’s delay in revealing the identity of the mastermind behind the scenes suggests that there may be other agreements between the two or that Solstice attaches great importance to the mastermind behind the scenes.
The two sides in this case may still have contact to keep that stability.
At the end of the interrogation, Sost once again asked to see a lawyer, which was the only way he had contact with the outside world.
So the captain and I speculated that the lawyer might be the contact between Soest and the mastermind behind the scenes.
The hijacker and the mastermind continue to maintain an exchange of benefits through the lawyer to ensure that the hijacker doesn’t betray the mastermind.”
Jenny thought about it and said, “Lawyers have high incomes and high social status, so it’s reasonably hard to be bribed, after all, doing this kind of thing involves a great deal of risk, and if something goes wrong, not only will you lose your reputation, but you may even need to go to jail.”
Jackson said, “Every industry can be rich at the extreme end.
Likewise, there are low-end earners in every profession.
Just because the lawyer industry starts high doesn’t mean everyone can make it.
Someone has to do the dirty work too.”
Jenny sized up Jackson, as if reacquainting herself with the other party, “The young man said it well, but how does this tone feel a bit like a captain?”
Jackson shrugged his shoulders, not thinking, “Is it? Maybe I’ve been with the captain a lot lately.”
“I can see that the captain appreciates you.”
“I’m going to correct myself here, I’ve always been good, you just didn’t notice it before.”
Jenny laughed and was about to say something else when her smile suddenly tightened and she said with a straight face, “Target appears.”
Jackson looked ahead as well, several suits carrying briefcases stepped out of the lawyers’ building, one of them a brown-haired man who was none other than Solstice’s attorney.
“We’re going to head out and see who this guy goes to see.”
Jenny asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to follow in a BMW without getting heartburn?”
“The captain said different tracking tools apply to different cases, and tracking in this BMW is sometimes rather less suspicious and more stealthy.”
Jenny spread her hands, “Again the captain said, I can see that you have some admiration for the captain.”
“The Captain is a few years older than me, but really good, don’t you think?”
“That’s right, the Captain is really quite good, but there’s no need to hang on to his age, OK?”
Jackson laughed, “How many years older are you than the Captain?”
“A year or two.”
“Really?” Jackson asked back in a questioning tone.
“Two or three at the most.” Seeing that Jackson was about to say more, Jenny hurriedly interrupted him, “The lawyer and his colleague are gone, drive well and don’t lose them.”
“Don’t worry, won’t.”
The lawyer drove a black Mercedes S-Class sedan and left with several colleagues.
Ten minutes later, the car drove to a few blocks away near a restaurant called CRAZY.
One by one, the lawyer and his coworkers got out of the car and entered the restaurant.
Jenny looked at the lawyer and her coworkers talking and laughing and shook her head, “He doesn’t look like he’s going to meet the mastermind behind this.”
Jackson looked at his watch, “It’s not even eight o’clock in the evening, maybe he thinks it’s too early.”
An hour later, the lawyer and his coworkers walked out of the restaurant and drove off again.
Several of his colleagues also drove behind them and arrived in front of the bar two blocks away.
Jenny slapped her forehead, “Looks like we have a wait.”
Jackson stopped the car and grabbed the mineral water next to him and took a big gulp, his stomach making a ‘gurgling’ sound.
Jenny opened her own backpack and took two loaves of bread out of it and handed one to Jackson.
Jackson was a little surprised, “When did you buy the bread, how come I didn’t know?”
“I’ve always had the habit of preparing bread, it’s the most basic, you need to prepare some food in the future as well. You’re not the only one who can learn by following the captain, hmmmm.”
Jackson tore open the bag of bread and took a big bite as the two of them talked and laughed about eating.
At 10:35 p.m., the lawyer and a few of his coworkers walked out of the bar, waved goodbye, and got into their respective cars.
Jackson lamented, “These guys are rich, none of the cars are worse than mine.”
Jenny smiled, “You know what? My dream since I was a kid was to be one of them.”
“Then why didn’t you become a lawyer instead of a cop?”
“Because I realized when I was old enough to know better that what I really wanted to be was a cop.”
“Oh, now you’re starting to lie to your roommate, Jesus Christ, who am I going to trust from now on?”
Jenny shook her head and sighed softly, “The bar for lawyers is too high for kids from normal families.”
“Come on, don’t make yourself out to be so pathetic, I think you’re fine now. A gallant policewoman is no worse than a lawyer.”
Jenny said, “You’re right, other than being too busy for a relationship, it’s really not bad.”
Jackson snickered, “You don’t have time for a relationship even as a lawyer, that’s life.”
“Fuck fucking fate, I want a good relationship right now.”
Jackson said with a smile as he drove, “Do you want me to introduce you to a boyfriend.”
“You are not also single, when you get off the single this sentence will be more convincing ……,” Jenny said in the middle of the sentence, the words turned: “The lawyer and colleagues separated, do not follow too close.”
“Don’t worry, I ranked first in my tracking training test scores.”
Jenny said, “This isn’t training, keep lowering your speed.”
“We’re already far enough away.”
Jenny pointed ahead, “Don’t you see? His car is driving further and further off the road and the traffic is getting less and less.
If we keep following like before, we’ll look solid.”
“But if it gets any farther away, I won’t be able to see his car.”
Jenny pulled out her binoculars, “That’s why I exist, you drive and I’ll show the way.”
The two trailed the lawyer’s car all the way.
After traveling for about ten minutes, the lawyer’s car drove to Carmi Mountain, a mountain that was not very high and had two circular highways that circled the mountain.
The black Mercedes sedan drove up to the hillside location, slowed down, and hit the right turn to park in a clearing on the side of the road.
Jackson also saw the black Mercedes sedan, “The lawyer stopped, is he planning to meet the man behind the curtain here?”
Jenny cautioned, “Don’t stop, just drive straight through.”
The gray BMW continued on and drove about a mile down the mountain road, also stopping in a clearing on the side of the mountain.
This was a looped mountain road, not so far in a straight line.
Jenny stepped out of the car, climbed a short pine nearby, and took out her binoculars to look in the direction of the lawyer.
It was high ground, just enough to observe the clearing where the lawyer was, and the lawyer got out of the car, lit a cigarette, and stood beside the car smoking quietly, his eyes looking off into the distance as if he were enjoying the view of the hillside.
About ten minutes later, a gray Volvo from the other direction, reduce speed, also stopped in the clearing.
The lawyer twisted his head to look at the gray Volvo, extinguished his cigarette, opened the Volvo’s passenger door and sat in.
With that, the Volvo sedan’s lights turned off.
Jenny was still looking through her binoculars, but because it was dark, she couldn’t see inside the car or see the license plate.
The night was quiet, so quiet that you could hear the wind blowing the leaves.
Ten minutes later, the passenger door opened, the lawyer stepped out of the car into the driver’s side of the Mercedes sedan, turned on the lights, and the car left the clearing.
Jenny didn’t move and hid in a tree to check with her binoculars.
After another moment, the gray Volvo started up as well and headed in the opposite direction.
Jenny then got down from the tree and returned to the cab of the BMW, “Jackson, follow the gray Volvo.”
According to the previous speculation, the mastermind behind the case was probably in the gray Volvo sedan.
Jackson started the car while saying, “I reported to the captain, the captain and Marcus will be at the foot of the mountain for support.”
“Good, I thought the Captain had forgotten about the two of us.”
Jackson laughed, “I’d like to think the captain trusts our abilities.”
“That’s right, the two of us are more reliable than any other combination.” Jenny thought deeply and clinked fists with Jackson.
Jackson drove to the bottom of the hill, and to avoid being spotted by the suspect vehicle, Luke and Blackie followed in a black sedan.
The gray Volvo wasn’t going very fast, and after about ten minutes of driving, the car pulled over.
The driver’s side came down a person, with a gray baseball cap, body type is thin.
Because of the distance and darkness, the binoculars couldn’t make out the person’s face, but Luke got the impression that it looked like a woman.
The woman walked briskly to the intersection in front of her and waved for a cab.
“Marcus drive, the suspect got into a cab.”
Blacky started the car as he said, “These guys are cautious, going around and around and now changing cars, whether it’s related to the North Hollywood robbery and kidnapping or not, they’re definitely up to no good.”
Although Blackie was oily and had a somewhat unreliable personality, his driving skills were not bad, and he had been following the cab not far away, “Why do I feel that the more I drive, the more familiar I feel, as if I’ve been here before in this neighborhood.”
“That’s right, if you drive further, it’s the neighborhood of Muriel Baldini’s family.”
“What? Muriel Baldini? Wasn’t he the victim of Soest’s kidnapping? Why would she secretly be in contact with the kidnapper’s lawyer?
Could it be that she bribed the robber’s lawyer and wanted to give the robber the slip?” Xiao Hei had a big brainstorm, but then denied himself after saying that.
“Impossible, we’ve only just captured the robbers, how could she possibly know that the other party is the robbers’ lawyer?
If she was that powerful, she wouldn’t have been kidnapped.”
While talking, the cab did drive to Muriel Baldini’s neighborhood, and happened to stop near the entrance of Muriel Baldini’s house.
The woman with the gray baseball cap got out of the car, looked around, and then quickly entered the Muriel Baldini home.
Luke’s suspicions were confirmed.
At the same time, more doubts arose in his mind.
If, Muriel Baldini is the mastermind behind the North Hollywood case, then why did the two robbers want to kidnap her?
Luke felt that there should be two possibilities, the first possibility, after the North Hollywood robbery case occurred because of some unfathomable reasons, Souster and Muriel Baldini had a conflict of interest.
Soest turned to kidnap Muriel Baldini in order to achieve his goal.
The second possibility, there was no such thing as a kidnapping case, the robbers went to Muriel Baldini’s house not to kidnap, but to find her to share the loot, only to be accidentally blocked outside by the police.
After some discussion, the three decided to stage a bitter trick, Muriel Baldini drove the two robbers to sneak out of the house, even if the police found out, they can pretend to be kidnapped by the two robbers.
Luke, after careful thought, felt that the second possibility is a little more likely, but there is still a little bit that does not make sense, Luke gave Muriel Baldini personally made a statement, asked about the process at the time of the crime, and did not find that she had signs of lying.
Luke’s micro-expression analysis was still relatively accurate, and he had been able to see something when several previous suspects had lied.
Only in talking to Muriel Baldini, Luke did not see the slightest sign of lying.
This woman is not simple ah.
Xiao Hei pulled over to the side of the road, the victim became the black man behind the case, he was also a bit confused, “What should we do now?
Should we just arrest someone?”
Luke looked in the direction of Muriel Baldini’s house, and after thinking about it again and again, he still gave up the intention of directly arresting someone.
It was easy to arrest someone and difficult to convict them.
One could not say that Muriel Baldini was behind the case just because Muriel Baldini had met Soest’s lawyer.
Investigating a case is all about evidence.
What Luke lacked now was precisely the evidence to identify Muriel Baldini as the mastermind behind the case.
The following morning.
Luke led a team to the home of missing person Jakob Johnston.
Giacobo Johnston was an employee of Baldini Fund Investment Management, and it was likely that his death was related to the North Hollywood bank robbery, or that his death triggered the North Hollywood bank robbery.
Luke has had Jacob Johnston’s family contacted; Jacob Johnston has never been married, and his immediate family includes his mother, who has been hospitalized due to the urgency of his disappearance.
Jacob Johnston lived in a white, middle-class neighborhood, and according to the officer in charge of investigating the disappearance, they had gone to Jacob Johnston’s house before and found nothing suspicious.
Luke is ready to re-investigate, not to doubt the ability and responsibility of the officers investigating the disappearance, but just that the focus and intensity of the investigation is different for officers in different departments.
This time to Jacob Johnston’s house to investigate in addition to the members of the first squadron, there are also people from the technical team, Luke briefly instructed a few words, the people split up to investigate.
Luke turned around in the house, because he lived alone, there was not a lot of things in the house, except for the master bedroom, the guest room and study only had some simple furniture, and the kitchen did not have too many kitchen utensils, the whole house gave Luke the impression of simplicity.
Luke searched the house and found nothing suspicious, he went out of the room and searched in the yard, the lawn in the yard was a bit messy, it hadn’t been mowed for a long time.
Luke didn’t find anything unusual and could only pin his hopes on the tech team.
Just then, a black SUV pulled up to the curb and Anthony stepped out of the passenger side and greeted, “Luke.”
“What brings you here?”
“You’re a busy man, and I wanted to talk to you, so I had to chase you a little tighter.”
Luke pulled out a box of gum and took a piece for himself, “Would you like one?”
“Thanks.”
Luke handed him a piece of gum, “Any progress on the investigation against Soest?”
“We did find something out.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“Uh, Luke, you did say earlier that if I could get a lead that convicted Souster, I would turn him over to the FBI for interrogation.”
“Anthony, even if Thorst is in the police station, you can interrogate him just as well, sitting right next to me.”
“That’s not the same.” Anthony looked around and whispered, “He got one of my agents killed, and now there are two others hospitalized with blast injuries that I have to account for.
It’s up to me to interrogate him on FBI turf to bring this to a happy conclusion.”
“Aren’t you worried about gossip that you’re intermingling personal vendettas?
Having the police in charge of the interrogation can cut down on some unnecessary trouble for you.”
“To be honest, I did have worries about that.
But there are no perfect things in this world. If you want to gain something, you have to lose something.
In my opinion, the gossip of the outside world is far less important than the trust my men have in me, and I will personally give them justice.” Anthony pointed to a bird in a tree.
“Just like this bird, always chirping, it does affect people’s lives, but no one is going to move for a bird.”
Anthony picked up a rock and threw it towards the top of the tree.
“Kikk ……” The bird fluttered its wings and flew away.
“Solved.”
“You have a good boss on your staff.” Luke had to admit that the FBI did do things on a larger scale than the police.
“You want to jump ship, I’m always welcome.”
“Forget it, Reed’s been good to me.”
Anthony squared his shoulders and said, “Luke, hand over Solstice to me, count me as owing you a favor.”
If it had been yesterday morning, Luke wouldn’t have handed Soest over to the FBI, but today was a little different, there was a man behind Soest, and in the context of the whole case, Muriel Baldini was the most important.
“Let’s start with the lead you found on the conviction, if it’s reliable, I can consider it.”
Anthony whispered something into Luke’s ear.
Luke’s face changed slightly, the clue Anthony said did have some value, but …… it was also a bit damaging.
Luke didn’t quite want to use it.
“I can hand Solstice over to the FBI for interrogation, but I have one condition.”
“What condition?”
“If the interrogation process in the process of involving other people involved in the case, to be handed over to the police for investigation.”
“No problem.” Anthony agreed painfully.
At this time, he didn’t realize that there were still behind-the-scenes people present in the case.