Lars's last sentence was delivered through gritted teeth, and the look she gave Jimmy sent a shiver down his spine.

Jimmy quickly gestured with his hands, "No, don't blame me for this, I was searching another apartment building. Ryan and his team were the ones directly assaulted by the kidnappers, knocked from the third floor to the first, I just went to support them. If you've got a complaint, take it up with Ryan, it was all his doing."

Lars shifted her jaw from side to side, clearly grinding her teeth, a sign that she was truly angry. "OK, this case is also pretty much wrapped up. I'll come and sit in once McCall's father has arrived. I'm going back now, uh, Chris still has some things to discuss with me. See you later."

Jimmy quickly found an excuse to slip out of Lars's office. You can't mess with women; your own subordinate causes trouble, and you come after me!

Back in his own office, Jimmy found that Chris hadn't arrived yet. Given his injuries, he probably needed at least two weeks of rest at home. Ah, age spares no one. When Jimmy was ambushed and took a bullet in his leg, it only took him three weeks to recover and return to work. Chris's injuries were certainly not going to heal that easily.

Jimmy was looking through some documents when the phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID—Roland?

Jimmy: "Roland, you're back?"

A strange man's voice on the other end: "Are you Jimmy?"

Jimmy frowned, "Who are you?"

The man on the phone: "Jack Chambers."

Jimmy was startled. Jack Chambers—Roland's earliest follower—someone he hadn't seen since arriving in this world. "Jack, how's Roland doing? He said he was returning, so why is his phone with you?"

Jack: "Let's talk in person. Where are you?"

Jimmy: "Manhattan, New York. Where are you? I can come to you if that's better."

Jack: "Give me two days. I'll call you when I get there."

Jimmy: "Alright. I'll wait for your call. Goodbye, Jack."

Jack: "Goodbye, Jimmy."

After hanging up, Jimmy pondered over this strange turn of events. Ever since that black man had delivered Roland's box to him, Jimmy would call Roland every now and then, but it was always unreachable. Now Jack suddenly calls back with Roland's phone—what was going on? And how did Jack get Roland's phone?

Jack Chambers was mentioned in passing by Roland before; Jack too was a Flash Spirit, possessing a form of precognition with an exceptional ability to draw the visions he foresaw. Roland had mailed two paintings to him, predicting his own future—on one, Jimmy was holding guns in both hands; on the other, Jimmy was lying on the ground.

When Roland previously cooperated with Jack, it was Jack's visions that led them to clear up paranormal incidents on the scenes. Clearly, Jack's abilities were strong; although they weren't for direct combat, they were top-notch as support. Maybe when meeting Jack this time, Jimmy could ask about those two paintings.

Leaving his desk, Jimmy sat on the couch to boil water, brewing a pot of tea for himself to rest and think about how to handle things. He wasn't sure about Jack's attitude towards him. Had it been Roland still around when encountering Jack, it would have been fine; at least there would be Roland bridging the gap. But facing Jack directly, Jimmy genuinely wasn't sure what to talk about.

He washed the tea leaves, steeped the tea, and poured himself a cup of Lapsang Souchong. The second brew felt quite inferior to the one made by the tea shop uncle; maybe it was the tea equipment that was different? That uncle had used the same tea leaves too. Indeed, even brewing tea required skill and perhaps a little talent.

Before Jimmy had finished his pot of tea, the phone rang again. Lars informed him that McCall's father had arrived.

Jimmy set down his teacup, picked up his suit jacket, and hurried to Lars's office. In the adjacent conference room, the recently rescued McCall was sitting beside a middle-aged man, with Lars and Ryan sitting across from them.

Jimmy knocked on the door, entered, and sat down next to Ryan. Lars was inquiring whether McCall's father could think of anyone who might have orchestrated the kidnapping.

Jimmy sat opposite McCall and her father, watching them both and feeling a sense of strangeness. McCall had blonde hair, so why did her father have brown hair? McCall's father had short, slightly curly brown hair and looked like a typical middle-aged Caucasian man without a beard, with well-maintained skin on his face. It was the hair that particularly threw Jimmy off, as if there was some secret hidden there.

Because he was speaking French, Jimmy didn't understand a word, so he could only space out. One had to admit, Lars, as the head of the special investigation team, was really skilled; he actually understood French. After chatting for over ten minutes, Lars stood up, shook hands with McCall and her father, and saw them out.

After a while, Lars returned, "Okay, the case is closed, no follow-up. Jimmy, you can work on other cases now."

Jimmy, "Huh? Didn't we previously speculate that someone was targeting them on purpose?"

Lars, "Yeah, but that's their issue after they return to France, it's irrelevant to us. That's it for this case, she'll come back for the trial."

Jimmy, "Alright, once it's in France, there's really nothing we can do. Speaking of which, you actually speak French? I've always found French too difficult."

Lars, "I picked it up while studying. Ryan, go to the hospital and check, the surviving kidnapper should be out of the ICU by now, see if you can take his statement."

Ryan stood up, nodded, greeted Jimmy, and then left the conference room, buttoning up his suit jacket.

Since there was no follow-up, Jimmy had nothing else to do. He left the conference room and drove straight down to the NYPD, where he had another unresolved case.

Jimmy, "Chuck, how's your case going?"

Chuck, "We've already sent Claire back. I've been in touch with Hughes, and we're consolidating the case with Lars's. It's already been transferred."

Jimmy, "Alright, what are you guys going to do next? Are we still following up on that guitarist?"

Chuck, "We'll see. If there's no lead, we might have to put it on hold for now."

Not getting anything interesting, Jimmy wandered over to Nia's desk, "Nia, what are you up to?"

Nia glanced up at Jimmy and then went back to writing her report, "Do you need something?"

Jimmy, "It's almost noon, want to grab lunch?"

Nia, without even looking up, "No time, I have a lot of paperwork to get through."

Jimmy, "There's always a mountain of work, it never ends. Lunch won't slow us down, let's go."

Nia sighed and looked up; it seemed she couldn't shake off this persistent Jimmy. She put down her pen, "Chuck, want to join us?"

Chuck gestured behind his head dismissively, "You guys go ahead, I've got things to do here."

Jimmy left with Nia, and as they passed Chuck, Jimmy made a 'V' sign behind Chuck's back. Chuck saw Jimmy's gesture and smiled, shaking his head.

Because Nia insisted, she and Jimmy had a quick lunch at the diner next to the police station before returning to the precinct. It seemed there might be a tiny bit of chemistry; at least Nia wasn't completely repelled by Jimmy. They talked and laughed during the meal, with no awkward silences.

Over the past two years, Jimmy's conversational skills had become passable. Although he wasn't quite a silver-tongued speaker, he could hold a conversation on just about any topic.

(F**K, my monitor died when I got up this morning. I only typed this much last night. Bear with me, I'm off to get the monitor fixed. It had a 3-year warranty, and it goes all vertical stripes on me in three and a half years, makes me want to curse.)

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