Upon reaching the parking lot, which was nearly deserted, Peter could no longer keep a calm expression, "Hahaha," he laughed while slapping the roof of the car.

Watching Peter laugh so heartily, Jimmy and the others couldn't help but join in. For them, the case detectives, the brash members of the support force had always been at odds with them, operating under completely different principles. Seeing them frustrated this time was indeed gratifying.

Peter was even happier, especially since Jimmy was from his own team. Seeing Ruiz's expression was truly satisfying. They had never gotten along, and such opportunities were rare.

It had been a long time since Jimmy had enjoyed shooting this much. Gunfights didn't count, as the high tension of those moments left no room for enjoyment. But shooting at a range, with no mental pressure, was definitely a perfect way to relax. His long-practiced reloading technique and his unique skills, which he had displayed in front of others for the first time, seemed to have an impressive intimidating effect.

After laughing for a while, Peter finally stopped. He waved his hand, "Get in the car, we're ready to leave."

Jimmy: "Since we're all so happy today, let's go eat together before we head back."

Peter: "No problem, let's go."

Although Jimmy's demonstration hadn't taken long, they had traveled from Manhattan to Staten Island in the morning, and it was nearly noon now. Heading straight back to Manhattan would definitely mean it would be afternoon by the time they got back, so it was more convenient to just eat lunch on Staten Island.

After a cheerful lunch, such opportunities for the team to dine out together were rare. Jimmy quickly offered his credit card. The cost wasn't much, and it was a small investment for a good return in terms of building rapport.

While Peter and his group were happy, not everyone shared their joy. Around noon, Hughes was enjoying his lunch when his phone began to ring. After a brief talk, he hung up, and his good mood instantly vanished.

Jimmy's performance that morning had been slightly too impressive. Everyone there had friends, and the word spread quickly within a certain circle.

The person who could call Hughes was surely no minor figure. Normally, if it were just an ordinary matter, at most the call would have reached Peter.

With his good mood gone, Hughes hastily ate his lunch and then rushed back to Federal Square, went into his office, hung his suit on the rack, and immediately called Peter: "Peter, where are you?"

Peter, while driving, answered the call: "Just back from Staten Island, we're in Manhattan now. What happened?"

Hughes: "Come to my office when you get back." He hung up immediately, not even allowing Peter the chance to say goodbye.

Peter put his phone back in his pocket and drove while wondering what could have upset Hughes so much.

Soon, Peter and his team were back at the office. Everyone else went to their spots, and Peter went straight into Hughes' office.

Hughes stood up, came from behind his desk to beside Peter: "Peter, what did you guys do this morning?"

Peter was also a bit messed up by Hughes' approach but cautiously responded: "Ruiz forwarded the case report to the support force; they requested Jones and Jimmy to do a scene recreation at the training ground."

Hughes frowned, "That's it?"

Peter: "They didn't quite believe in Jimmy's shooting skills, so Jimmy practiced for a while at the range. I must say, his perfect score in the academy's shooting exercise was truly deserved, he was outstanding."

Hughes clapped his hands, "That's it. I've received several calls since noon asking about Jimmy. No wonder they're so concerned."

Hughes went back to his seat, tapping his desk with his right hand, deep in thought.

After a while, Hughes asked Peter, "How's Jimmy doing on your team?"

Peter thought for a moment: "He's doing great, reckless at times, but very honest and completes the tasks well."

Hughes: "What about his ability to judge case clues?"

Peter: "Good, definitely not lacking in judgment as the academy's comments might suggest. He's at least up to par now. Plus, he sometimes has quite unexpected insights. This time, we located the gunman in Nathan Bird's murder case the fastest due to the position he scouted."

Hughes: "You know, several people want to transfer Jimmy over to their teams, what do you think?"

Peter paused for a moment and reflected: "Jimmy's really good, and of course, I hope he can continue to stay in my team."

Hughes: "I'll think about it." Hughes motioned for Peter to leave as he pondered more deeply.

Now, Hughes faced a decision similar to the one James once had, only James was the boss of the county police, with absolute authority, whereas Hughes was merely a deputy in the New York office, not even the boss.

Peter turned and left his office, went back to his own, and unbuttoned his suit before sitting down.

Watching Jimmy perform that morning was indeed thrilling, and seeing Ruiz being humbled was equally pleasing, but having someone attempt to poach him suddenly was quite maddening. Although Jimmy didn't meet all his requirements, having no understanding of art or relevant case experience, as the strongest force in the team, he had become an indispensable member over the past few weeks.

Jones had served in the Navy, but his combat skill was still far behind Jimmy's. If Jimmy were transferred, it would be a huge loss for Peter's team.

After deliberating for a while, Peter gave up; there wasn't much he could do about staff transfers. It was probably best not to involve Jimmy in cases for a while and let him rest.

Peter browsed through his cases at work, selecting the next one.

Since Peter had yet to assign him a case, Jimmy continued to boredly read through the case files. Just thinking about the over five months left in his probationary period as a trainee detective made him feel like everything was closing in on him, it was just too boring and tedious reading those files.

Now, Jimmy was just hoping Peter would quickly assign a case so he could get out, even idling in a surveillance van would be better than sitting in the office.

Peter walked out of his office, "Dian, bring me the file for our 'Snow White'."

Diana turned to look up at Peter from downstairs: "Are you sure?"

Peter: "Yes, I'm sure."

Diana got up and walked over to the file cabinet to retrieve the file, as Peter returned to his office.

Jimmy leaned towards Jones, "Hey, Jones, who's 'Snow White'?"

Jones sighed, "Damn, here we go again. 'Snow White' is a codename. We've been tracking a forgery case under that name."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.