The following morning, at the FBI Washington Headquarters, in a certain interrogation room.
Seated behind the interrogation table, Matthew, still in yesterday's attire, sat handcuffed, head bowed in silence.
"Good morning, Mr. Matthew."
Suddenly, the door to the interrogation room opened. Mona walked toward the chair, carrying a laptop, while Luo An entered with two cups of coffee—one handed to Matthew, and one for himself—as he said with a smile:
"I had a brief meeting with the boss this morning, sorry to have kept you waiting."
After taking a sip of the coffee, Matthew asked:
"Which boss isn't important, let's talk about your situation instead."
Luo An didn't mention Mr. Clement's name. He took a small sip of his coffee and then took a folder from Mona's hands, reading aloud:
"Matthew Moses, male, 47 years old, outwardly a manager at a lobbying company, but actually a senior director at the CIA…"
There were extensive records in the folder, but Luo An only picked out some key information to discuss.
This morning, Mr. Clement had called Luo An to his office for a meeting. As soon as Luo An entered, Mr. Clement handed him the file, then briefly explained what had happened.
After Luo An's team captured the CIA assassin, Dick Lawrence, Mr. Clement informed FBI Director Robert.
Director Robert was furious because the CIA's secret deployment of agents within the Federation to carry out assassinations was a serious overstep.
Immediately, Director Robert, along with Mr. Clement, went to the Department of Justice. The leadership there was also enraged when they learned of the situation and quickly got in touch with CIA senior officials.
A senior CIA official held a meeting with the top leadership of the Department of Justice and FBI Director Robert, which lasted over three hours.
Mr. Clement did not tell Luo An about the meeting's process and specifics, only that after the meeting ended, the CIA handed over the file to the FBI.
They indicated that Matthew Moses was the main person responsible for the deployment of these agents within the Federation, and that these activities were his actions alone, previously not fully known to the higher-ups in the CIA.
Now that the situation had been exposed, the CIA leadership certainly wouldn't knowingly break the law, so they chose to hand over all information on Matthew Moses to the FBI, allowing the FBI to arrest him.
Clearly, an agreement was reached between the CIA leadership, the Department of Justice, and the FBI, where manager Matthew Moses was the scapegoat.
Luo An wasn't surprised by this. Matthew Moses, after hearing Luo An read the file, showed no sign of surprise or anger on his face, only letting out a cold laugh and saying:
"Typical of Group Leader Greenwood."
There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone, but Luo An paid it no mind as he closed the folder, smiling:
"Mr. Matthew, can we now discuss the sequence of events?"
The process and reason for Vireness's poisoning, and the arrest of Etwan Jones, the head of the nuclear laboratory, had already been clarified by Luo An and his team.
However, there were still some details unclear, such as how manager Ulysses came to know the investigator was Vireness, his source of information, and what relation Matthew had with the Illinois Nuclear Energy Company—these mysteries still existed.
After a brief silence, Matthew drained the coffee from his cup, looked up intently at Luo An, and said:
"During my temporary detention in jail, I want a solitary cell to myself, the quiet kind.
In the official prison, I also want one with a window, where I can see the sun.
Agree to this, and I'll tell you everything."
Matthew Moses was well aware of his current predicament and showed no inclination to resist.
He had tried to flee by plane earlier, not intending to desert or betray the CIA, but mainly to escape to another country beyond Federation jurisdiction, avoiding FBI pursuit.
Matthew Moses knew all too well the methods of the CIA. He took on all charges and went to prison, suffering yet his life remained, and nothing would happen to his family.
Should he stubbornly resist and refuse to cooperate, his eventual fate would likely become quite spectacular.
Luo An consented to Matthew's small request, upon which Matthew Moses stopped being coy and explained:
"The blue-eyed Assassin stabbed to death in prison was arranged by me.
The CIA agent I sent to assassinate Prison Guard Danny's mother was also my doing.
As for the poisoning of Vireness and the prison riot you mentioned, those have nothing to do with me. I am not aware of them."
Matthew Moses stated that Polonium-210 is an excellent material for assassinations, for the CIA, it is considered an undeniable treasure, and so he made connections with the higher-ups of the Illinois Nuclear Energy Company mainly for purchasing Polonium-210.
The top brass at Illinois Nuclear Energy Company, the President and CEO Leiden Perelman, was also happy to foster good relations with the CIA, thus he agreed to the deal and handed the task over to Manager Ulysses.
Manager Ulysses then assigned this task to the head of the nuclear lab, Etwan Jones, who was at the forefront, actually leading the team to produce Polonium-210.
Some time ago, high-level Federation officials caught wind of the Polonium-210 affair, and out of fear, they ordered the FBI to lead an investigation into the matter.
The top echelons of the Federation Government are not totally airtight, and Matthew Moses quickly became aware of the situation.
Hence, on one hand, Matthew Moses sent people to assassinate the blue-eyed assassin in prison, hoping to prevent the FBI from continuing the investigation.
After all, according to some rules, within Federation territory, it was not the domain of the CIA's activities; the covert manufacture and purchase of Polonium-210 cannot be openly discussed.
Not to mention that the CIA itself was not clean in this matter; a considerable amount of Polonium-210 had "accidentally" ended up on the black market due to money, which is how people like Blue-eyed Roy managed to buy it.
On the other hand, Matthew Moses planned to notify the top brass of the Illinois Nuclear Energy Company, Leiden Perelman, wanting him to instruct his subordinates to lay low for a while to avoid attracting FBI attention.
However, just recently, negative news about a leak at Illinois Nuclear Energy Company broke out, causing an uproar, and Leiden Perelman himself was killed by an assassin's long-range headshot, dying as a result of this matter. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel~fire~net
Matthew Moses had no choice but to break the rules and was forced to contact Manager Ulysses, passing on Vireness's information to the latter.
Mona's typing paused for a moment, Luo An's expression shifted slightly, he took a sip of coffee and said:
"So you're saying, to stop Vireness from investigating, you first sent someone to kill 'Blue-eyed Roy', and then to erase the traces, you sent someone to kill Prison Guard Danny.
The CIA agent Dick Lawrence then encountered a prison riot halfway and had to divert to kill Danny's mother, correct?"
Matthew Moses nodded his head and said with a furrowed brow:
"The prison riot was completely unexpected for me, I never thought such a thing would happen."
Luo An continued to ask:
"The person you bribed in prison, who was it?"
Matthew Moses mentioned several names, and Mona found the matching files with a quick check, discovering they were all victims who died in that riot.
Luo An scanned them briefly and then looked away, his eyes slightly narrowed as he continued to ask:
"You just said that when you contacted Manager Ulysses, you informed him that Vireness was the person in charge of investigating the Polonium-210 case and provided him with related information about Vireness... How did you know this?"
Matthew Moses paused for a moment, then asked with a smile:
"Are you sure you want to know?"