Chenier’s words surprised Winslow. Luo An looked at Chenier quietly without saying a word. Taking a deep breath, Chenier recounted everything she knew:
"At the security check area on the first floor of the headquarters building, there is an agent named Lillany who often delivers items to the female agents in the building."
On the first floor of the FBI Washington Headquarters building, there is a sizable security check area. Everyone entering or leaving must go through an inspection, primarily to prevent the entry of dangerous individuals carrying explosives or other hazards into the building.
If someone orders takeout, the delivery person cannot enter the building and must leave the food at the security checkpoint on the first floor. Then, they would call the person who placed the order to come down and collect it.
Sometimes, when people are too busy to come downstairs, agent Lillany would volunteer to fetch and deliver the meals, using it as a way to make a little extra cash.
Chenier furrowed her brows and continued: Get full chapters from novel fire.net
"I had seen coffee beans ordered by Vireness at the first-floor security check area before. Vireness didn’t have time at that moment, so it was agent Lillany who delivered them up to her."
Hearing the name, Luo An felt puzzled, as he had little recollection of this woman. He asked:
"Which department does this agent belong to?"
"She’s one of the agents in the security check area."
Winslow had some information on agent Lillany and shared in a low voice:
"Her father was an exemplary agent in one of the departments at our FBI Washington Headquarters. During a particular case, he saved a minister’s child but was killed by the criminal’s gun.
Actually, agent Lillany’s performance is quite average, but because of her father’s story, that minister transferred her to the checkpoint so she could have a stable job."
Luo An nodded in realization. The saying "The Federation doesn’t do personal favors" is utter nonsense; the concept of personal relationships is very evident within the Federation Society, with college recommendation letters being one outward manifestation.
After a moment of thought, Luo An turned to Chenier and asked:
"Do you think agent Lillany is suspicious?"
Chenier spread her hands. She had a reasonably good relationship with agent Lillany, but she truly had no knowledge of this aspect, and said:
"But she certainly is suspect."
Luo An didn’t say more, pulled out his phone, and called Michelle. After briefly explaining the situation, he asked:
"Michelle, can you get the surveillance footage from the day agent Lillany was delivering?"
Michelle’s tone was relaxed:
"Alright, and one more thing."
"In addition to agent Lillany, who delivered the coffee to Vireness inside the building, also check the information of the person who delivered the coffee beans from the store to the FBI Washington Headquarters building."
The lives of the wealthy in the Federation are entirely different from those at the bottom.
For example, when buying clothes, ordinary people go to stores to choose and purchase; wealthy people would contact the store clerks, let them select suitable clothing according to their specifications, and have them delivered.
Even wealthier people would have fashion designers modify and design new clothing according to their preferences before having the final products delivered to them.
It’s the same with the coffee beans Vireness bought; she is a premium customer of that brand, and a phone call is all it takes for the brand to pack and proactively deliver the coffee beans.
Michelle promptly took the order, and Luo An, with Winslow and Chenier, left the place and drove back to New York City.
Winslow had just driven into New York City when Michelle called:
"Luo An, I’ve got the details."
"The surveillance footage showed no suspicious behavior from Agent Lillany, just the usual delivery of coffee beans to Vireness’s office."
Michelle said on the phone with a rather serious tone:
"As for the service worker responsible for the delivery of the coffee beans, I’ve looked into her information. Her name is Ophelia Johnson, 26 years old, and she has worked for the company for over 4 years.
After delivering coffee beans to Vireness, that afternoon, Ophelia Johnson took leave, claiming that a relative was injured and she needed to check on them and help out."
Hearing this, Winslow, who was driving, and Chenier, seated in the back, both had their expressions darken, and Luo An narrowed his eyes, asking:
"Where is this Ophelia now?"
Michelle said in a solemn voice:
"She’s gone off the radar."
Luo An’s expression remained unchanged as he continued to ask:
"Where did she disappear? Are there surveillance videos or other clues?"
There was the sound of keystrokes on the other end of the phone, and Michelle replied apologetically:
"I’m sorry, all I can find is that Ophelia Johnson has a rental place, but the surveillance in the vicinity of the rental may not be networked, I can’t access the specific details."
"That’s alright, where is this rental?"
"It’s in Southern Washington D.C.!"
Around eleven o’clock at noon, Winslow drove to the location mentioned by Michelle.
Chenier got out of the car, pulled out her pistol, and with no exchange of words, Luo An, using his crutch, went into the apartment building with them, where Ophelia Johnson’s rented room was located on the third floor. Winslow and Chenier stood on either side of the door, posing as community workers and called out several times.
No response came, and seeing Luo An nod, Winslow directly kicked the door.
The door was kicked open by Winslow’s foot with a dull thud; Chenier rushed into the room immediately to check it, and then found a large cocoon under the bed in the bedroom.
Looking at the human-shaped object tightly wrapped with plastic in front of them, the expressions on Winslow’s and Chenier’s faces turned very ugly. Luo An patted Winslow on the shoulder and said:
"Get the Forensic Evidence unit here to process the scene."
Winslow suppressed the negative emotions in his heart and went to make a phone call while Luo An carefully inspected the room and found a laptop inside a cabinet.
After starting up the laptop, they found it was password-protected. Being inexperienced in this field, Luo An and Chenier called Mona.
Mona’s voice was relaxed and very calm. She instructed Luo An to plug his USB drive, which he always carried with him, into the computer and leave the rest to her.
The USB drive was from Mona, containing a facial recognition system and some other unique gadgets she had developed.
Mona had given it to Luo An to carry with him so that he could deal with computer-related difficulties when she wasn’t around.
Through the system on the USB drive, Mona quickly hacked into Ophelia Johnson’s laptop from afar.
"Luo An, I’ve found a lead."
From the other end of the phone came the sound of typing and Mona’s voice, and in the rental room, as Luo An and the others watched, the laptop was remotely controlled by Mona, bringing up a chat page:
"This is a chat record between Ophelia Johnson and someone before her death. This person must be the murderer who had Ophelia Johnson poison the coffee beans and then killed her to silence her."
The chat record in the computer wasn’t complicated. It was just a person willing to pay 80,000 US Dollars to hire Ophelia Johnson to add "a bit extra" to the coffee beans during delivery.
Ophelia Johnson was ultimately persuaded by the other party and agreed on a meeting place without surveillance.
Looking at the text on the computer screen, Luo An picked up his phone and asked:
"Mona, is it possible to find out who this person is?"