FBI Washington Headquarters, a villa in a community on the northwest side.
At eight in the evening, Luo An and Mona returned to the villa, and Caroline, wearing long sleeves and pants, yawned as she walked downstairs:
"Good evening, both of you."
Mona casually replied, put on the slippers Luo An handed her, and went into the kitchen to prepare food.
Luo An nodded to Caroline, intending to go upstairs to change clothes, but suddenly noticed a large object in the room around the corner:
"Caroline, what is that thing you bought?"
Caroline poured herself a glass of juice, took a sip, and replied with a smile:
"It's a grand piano I just bought. It was delivered this afternoon by the workers."
Luo An's eyelids twitched, too lazy to talk, and returned to his room to change clothes. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Mona with a "bang" inserted the knife into the chopping board and glared at Caroline:
"Hey, we agreed before that the room would be reserved as a gym!"
"That room is quite large, even with a grand piano, there's still enough space for your gym equipment."
Caroline, holding the juice in her left hand, leaned lazily against the kitchen doorway, laughing:
"You both have jobs, something to keep you busy during the day.
Since I'm unemployed and bored at home, I might as well buy some musical instruments to pass the time."
Caroline actually guessed why Javari Evans sent her to the Fed.
To cause less trouble for Luo An and Mona, Caroline has barely left the villa since moving in, and the farthest she's been to is the villa's lawns extending to the main gate.
Luo An and Mona also installed some surveillance, defense, and emergency contact devices around the villa, just in case.
Mona gave her a sideways glance, turned back to continue preparing food, Luo An, who had changed his clothes, came down to help, Caroline stood aside and began to cheer them on.
Caroline's cooking skills were dreadful, the first time she entered the kitchen for the two, she produced an indescribable yellow mush, and since then, Luo An and Mona never let her cook again.
Soon, dinner was prepared, Caroline, with a small appetite, ate a little and put down her utensils, then went into a nearby room to start arranging the large grand piano.
Luo An swallowed the beef in his mouth, wiped his lips, and asked loudly:
"Have you contacted your father these past few days?"
Mona rarely called Javari, but Caroline and Javari kept in frequent contact.
From the room, Caroline answered:
"I called him. Father is currently touring Australia with Mrs. Hanover."
Luo An turned his gaze towards Mona, who pretended to be indifferent, yet was all ears, chuckled lightly, and continued savoring his steak.
Not long after, Luo An and Mona finished dinner, and they left the cleanup to Caroline. After a brief chat, everyone returned to their respective rooms, and the night passed without further conversation.
The next day at FBI Washington Headquarters, Office Area of Investigation Team 13.
"Good morning, everyone."
Luo An walked out of the group leader's office, stretched his hand and tapped on the huge whiteboard hanging on the wall at the front of the office area, saying:
"Regarding this park murder case, we have two targets for our next investigation:
First, find the murderer who killed the victim Nockvic.
Second, figure out what case the victim Nockvic was investigating before his death."
Winslow, Chenier, and others nodded in unison, Reesi swallowed her breakfast and asked:
"Where do we start our investigation?"
Luo An counter-asked:
"The key we found in Nockvic's box before, how is it coming along with that?"
Reesi quickly finished her breakfast, picked up the coffee, drank it all in one gulp, sighed and said:
"Winslow and I asked a lock company, they said the lock that matched the key is one of the most common on the market.
You can buy them at any hardware store, there are thousands of people using it just in Washington D.C., and since buying and selling it doesn't require registration, just money to purchase, it's impossible to track which specific lock it matched."
Reesi finished explaining, and everyone exchanged helpless glances.
Currently, they had the key, but couldn't find which lock it opened.
"Previously, while watching the surveillance video, Mona found out that the sports car Nockvic drove was rented from a car rental company."
Luo An pondered for a few seconds and pointed to the laptop on Mona's desk, saying:
"Winslow, Reesi, you two go to that car rental company to investigate.
See if there are any clues there, and also, remember to bring back the personal information Nockvic left when he rented that car!"
Winslow and Reesi nodded together, stood up, and… first picked up the unfinished breakfast on the table, eating as they left the office area.
"Mona, Michelle, you two investigate Nockvic's financial and spending information to see if there are any clues."
Mona and Michelle began to busily lower their heads, Luo An then looked towards Chenier, and said:
"Chenier, bring Alehlo from the USSS here, I need to ask him something."
An hour later, Alehlo and Chenier walked into the conference room again.
"Good morning, Group Leader Luo An."
Luo An extended his hand and shook hands with Alehlo, who was all smiles, not quite understanding why his attitude had changed so much today.
Alehlo didn't hide anything, mentioning that he had briefly inquired about Luo An's work history yesterday.
Seeing the 100% case-solving rate led by Luo An in the Special Investigation Team, Alehlo was dumbfounded and couldn't believe it, seriously flipping through it several times to make sure he wasn't seeing things, suddenly his face filled with admiration and his eyes became incredibly bright.
For a simple reason, Nockvic was killed, and Alehlo was worried about how to handle his 600,000 US Dollars.
"Since it's Group Leader Luo An taking the lead on this, I believe this case will definitely be cleared up."
Alehlo held Luo An's hand tightly, shaking it vigorously, his expression extremely sincere and genuine.
Luo An, somewhat speechless, pulled his hand away from Alehlo's grasp, without mincing words, directly asked:
"Alehlo, as Nockvic was an informant under you, do you know anything else about him?"
"Such as his source of weapons, his spending habits, where he often went and similar information."
Alehlo, now almost completely open with Luo An, thought for a long while and said:
"Previously, when investigating a case, Nockvic mentioned he had an informant, with whom he had a good relationship, and Nockvic got a lot of information from that informant."
"An informant's informant…"
A flicker of peculiarity crossed Chenier's eyes, Luo An asked:
"What's that informant's name? What does he do?"
"His name seems to be Beren."
Alehlo frowned, lowered his head trying hard to recall the conversation, suddenly slapped his palm, raised his head with eyes sparkling, and answered:
"He works at a maintenance company, his profession is an electrician!"
A dozen minutes later, Mona found Nockvic's informant, pointing at the information on the computer, she introduced:
"Beren, 49 years old, single, not much savings, likes to drink, and spend most of his salary on street women.
Because he didn't pay for a ticket after a musical performance, he got into a fight while drunk, and three days ago he was locked up in the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington D.C, and is still inside."
Michelle, Alehlo, Chenier were somewhat speechless, and the corners of Luo An's mouth lifted:
"Without paying, what did the Metropolitan Police say about his singing? Chenier, walk with me, we need to go to the station and talk with this talented individual."
At the Metropolitan Police Department, Luo An and Chenier flashed their FBI gold badges, and quickly in an interrogation room in a corner, they met Beren.
Upon hearing the identities of Luo An and Chenier, Beren sat on the chair, his face filled with astonishment:
"I just fought and didn't have money for compensation, why are you from the FBI looking for me? Did that guy die?"
"It has nothing to do with your fight."
Luo An pushed the photos of Nockvic and the key towards him, Beren's pupils suddenly contracted as he saw the photos clear.