Chapter 573 Caught in the act
Jack didn't expect to convince Helton to let Chloe go directly. Before helping him find his daughter, Chloe was his only life-saving straw.
But Jubal, who stayed at the scene, could actually do a lot, such as gradually building mutual trust by informing Helton of the progress of the investigation.
Another example is to let Helton relax as much as possible through conversation, and then guide him to empathize with Chloe.
What Jack is really worried about is not that he cannot find Stephanie, but that three weeks have passed. If they only find a body in the end, the collapsed Helton will shoot himself in the head. It's really hard to say whether to shoot Chloe before she dies.
If the program didn't allow it, he even wanted to install two cameras directly on him and Hannah to broadcast their progress to Helton. He believed that when he saw himself speeding up to nearly 60 miles in the rush hour traffic in New York, , you must believe the sincerity of the FBI.
The analysts at the operations center made a meritorious service again. They performed image processing on the driving recorder video combined with surveillance along the way, and obtained part of the license plate number. Combined with the model, they successfully found the vehicle's identity. Original owner.
Jack and Hannah were on their way to Brooklyn at this time. The original owner of the car was Alfonso Gomez, who was over sixty years old.
Although his age obviously does not match the younger man who kidnapped Stephanie in the video, analysts have not found any records of the car being stolen, so there is a high probability that this person is related to the kidnapper. .
Jack turned off the Dodge Hellcat's siren and hidden lights two blocks away from his destination. This was the advantage of the plainclothes police car, which would not arouse any unnecessary suspicion.
After knocking on a room on the top floor of the apartment building, an old white man appeared at the door. It was Alfonso Gomez, the original owner of the car used by the kidnappers.
After hearing that the two FBI agents explained their purpose of coming, and that his car was related to a kidnapping case, the old man looked embarrassed, "About a month ago, I sold that car to a young man named Sergio. .
He originally rented a room with me, but later I found out that he was actually a drug addict and was secretly in the room. I kicked him out that day.”
Hannah didn’t. After talking nonsense to him about why the car was sold but not transferred (most likely to save some handling fees), he was interrupted directly.
"Sir, please tell us how to find this Sergio. This is really important. Does he have any acquaintances here or somewhere he frequents?"
The old man seemed a little unhappy after being interrupted, but he still said, "If you are so anxious to find him, just wait downstairs for a while. He will come here at this time every day."
"What are you doing here? ?" Jack raised his eyebrows. Didn't the old man say that Sergio was kicked out by him?
“He has a pigeonhouse on the roof of the building. Although I don’t understand why a drug addict would still keep pigeons, but maybe this is some kind of psychological comfort for him, so he let him keep it. Who You know, maybe this can help him get off drugs." The old man rambled again.
"Well, the FBI thanks you for your cooperation." Jack and Hannah left quickly. It wasn't that they were rude, but they just didn't have time.
When they went downstairs, Hannah finally couldn't help but complained to Jack, "I still can't imagine why the NYPD ignored Helton's case like this."
Since coming to New York, whether it was her personal experience, or hearing Jack talk about the Reagan family dinner he attended, or even eating the story of Beckett and Cassel together, she could not compare it with Hull. connected with the unfair treatment they encountered.
Jack, on the other hand, is not as resentful as Hannah. When he was at the LAPD, he had already seen how Smiddy, the old salty fish, treated ordinary people who came to report crimes when he was sitting at the front desk.
Among the grassroots police officers, there are very few who can reach the level of old rookie John. This is determined by the special police system of Lao America.
Because the system of this country determines that there cannot be a police headquarters in the federation itself, and there is no unified state police department in each state. The state police are under the jurisdiction of the governor. In municipalities like New York, the police are under the jurisdiction of the mayor or mayor. Parliament governs. Further down, the police at the town level are under the jurisdiction of the town mayor, a typical small government model.
Therefore, the police in various parts of the United States are different from the police uniforms to the police badges. Everyone is usually in a state of autonomy. Even the FBI, as a federal police, must "discuss" with the local police when handling local cases. Come on.
Why did Hannah sympathize with Helton's situation? Maybe she didn't even realize in her heart that her childhood experience was actually somewhat similar to Helton's current situation.
The police in that country on the other side of the ocean are managed from the central government down to the next level. If there is a problem, theoretically you can file a complaint all the way up. Of course, the theory mentioned here does not exclude some "village sages" "One hand can cover the sky, but this situation is relatively rare.
But in this country, if there is a problem with the town police, and the local police chief and the town mayor are colluding, there is really no place to reason.
So when Jack was preparing to avenge Hannah, he did not consider other legitimate means at all, precisely because he knew the joints very well.
This is also the reason why Jack has been insecure since he came to this world. An ordinary person who has lived under the big government model since he was a child suddenly came from a country where he was accustomed to the duty of the police to "protect the safety of people's lives and property." To such a world.
It was like a little lamb was thrown into the dark jungle. Before he got used to the laws of this jungle, he could only curl up as much as possible. This is what many people would joke about in his previous life. , one of the reasons why Chinese people who come to the United States are particularly "honest".
It is conceivable that when this case is over, even if the FBI discloses the details of the case to the media, the police officer who took over the case will most likely not be punished too severely.
Because from a process perspective, he didn’t do anything wrong. The only fault was Helton himself because he didn’t “work hard” enough to become a rich and powerful man like Chloe’s father. The rich man was able to call the deputy director of the FBI as soon as something happened to his daughter.
This is the law of this society, so although everyone will know deep down in their hearts that this is an injustice, they will only say that this is the reality instead of making even verbal comments about it. complain.
Only someone like Hannah, who has experienced personal pain, would instinctively think that this was wrong, but she might not be able to tell what went wrong.
Of course it is not convenient to go into detail at this time. Some things can only be said after returning home. The two of them hid in bed and chatted privately. Jack called back to the command center and asked them to investigate Sergio with the NYPD. information.
Although they only got one name, since the other person is a drug addict, he is probably a criminal with a criminal record. Coupled with the video that has been processed for high definition, it should be enough to lock down this guy's identity.
After hanging up the phone, he put his arms around Hannah and pretended to be a couple in love. He stood at the entrance of the apartment and seemed to be kissing me. In fact, he was always paying attention to the people around him. movement.
Although the old man Alfonso Gomez chattered a little, he told the truth. After waiting for less than ten minutes, a short young man yawned and shook his legs. Came across the street.
"Is it him?" Hannah put her arms around Jack's neck, tried hard to restrain the subconscious movement of crossing her legs around his waist, and whispered in his ear.
"It looks right." Jack noticed her movement, suppressed his laughter, turned his head quietly, and kissed her on the face.
The two continued to maintain an intimate posture. Just as Sergio passed by them, Jack reached out and grabbed the other person's neck.
"Ouch. What do you want to do?" Sergio was caught off guard and felt as if his neck was tightly clamped by an iron pliers. He screamed in pain and knelt down involuntarily.
(End of this chapter)