Luke poured a cup of coffee, "Guys, it's time for the morning meeting."
The deputy asked, "What did I miss last night? I heard the robber was killed."
"That's right," Luke briefly explained, "Based on cell phone tracking, we found the motel where the suspect was staying, and we checked the front desk for the room the suspect was in. We entered the room to make the arrest but discovered that the suspect wasn't there.
The reason was that the suspect had played a trick; he had rented the room directly below us at a high price. While we were making the arrest upstairs, he could hear everything clearly and escaped by jumping out of the window at the back of the building, only to be killed by Anthony who was waiting outside."
The deputy countered, "So, you're saying the lead has gone cold?"
Luke replied, "There are still some leads, just not immediately useful, like those two anonymous SIM cards—as long as the other party turns on their phone, we can locate them."
After thinking it over, the deputy suggested with implication, "The last time we apprehended Jerrang Kazafei, Anthony led the team and it went nowhere;
this time, while capturing Franco Murphy, Anthony ended up killing the suspect...
Considering that Anthony's injuries have not yet healed, I suggest it would be better to have him stay back in future operations."
Luke understood the deputy's point, but it wasn't appropriate to discuss this matter here, "Deputy, the two individuals brought in last night are now your responsibility—check if they have deeper connections with the robbers."
"Knock knock." A knocking sound came from outside.
Anthony pushed the door open, "Good morning everyone. I hope I'm not late."
Luke said, "You're just in time; we're in the middle of a meeting."
"Have you discovered any new leads?"
"Then allow me to share something. I just brought in a new lead."
"This morning at Tidel Bank, a customer made a deposit, and a large amount of the cash matched the serial numbers of the bills stolen from North Hollywood Bank. It won't be long before the police receive the news as well."
Luke asked, "Why does the FBI receive this information before the police do?"
Anthony shrugged, "Bank robberies are under FBI jurisdiction."
Jackson commented, "I remember those robbers didn't steal new bills? Why were they still detected?"
Anthony asked, "This guy looks unfamiliar, what's his name?"
Black joked, "Rookie, just call him Rookie."
Anthony chuckled, "Quite fitting.
Kid, technology is constantly advancing, never assume only new bills can cause issues.
Many of the bank's machines and money counters are equipped to record serial numbers. As soon as the money passes through the bank machine, some of the serial numbers are recorded.
Nowadays, everything is difficult, robbery included."
Luke questioned, "Was the person caught?"
"No, considering customer safety, the bank side hesitated to make a move."
Luke said, "So, what are we waiting for?"
Half an hour later, Luke led his team to Tidel Bank.
Anthony also came along; he provided the lead, so Luke had no reason to leave him behind.
Luke and his team identified themselves and met Tidel Bank's manager, Bindo Fisher, a black man in his forties.
Luke said, "Manager Fisher, where is the laundered money?"
"Please follow me." Bindo Fisher led Luke and his team to the manager's office, took out a box from the safe, and it contained ten stacks of bills, "Here it is."
Luke picked up the money to inspect it; it was all circulated bills, "Please describe how you discovered the laundered money."
"This morning after nine, two men came to deposit money. During counting, the teller noticed an anomaly, many bills had serial numbers matching those from the North Hollywood Bank robbery, and subsequently informed me.
I observed those two men from afar, uh... they seemed rather dangerous, likely armed.
With many customers in the bank at that time, we did not dare to act rashly and just processed their transactions."
Anthony added, "You did right; these guys are indeed dangerous."
"What transactions were processed?"
"$100,000 was deposited into the account of Audval Wells, who was also one of the depositors; they left swiftly afterwards.
Later, two transactions were made from Audval Wells' account through online banking."
"Can you access the details of the recipient accounts?"
"Yes, one is the bank account of Brown Elementary School, a transfer of $30,000.
The other is Boone Middle School's bank account, a transfer of $40,000."
Luke was surprised, "He's paying school fees with that money?"
Bank manager Bindo Fisher nodded, "Exactly, and they are top private schools in Los Angeles."
Anthony remarked with a smile, "This guy knows how to invest, and he's also a good father."
Luke added, "Manager Fisher, we need the information of the depositor and the surveillance video."
"No problem, I'll take you to the surveillance room." Possibly feeling a sense of shared misfortune, bank manager Bindo Fisher was very cooperative with the police investigation.
With the information about the depositor and footage from the surveillance, Luke and his team quickly determined the identities of the depositors.
These two individuals had laundered money, very likely linked to the North Hollywood Bank robbery.
Subsequently, the police and FBI started to set up surveillance and moved to arrest these two individuals...