North America Gunman Detective

Chapter 493: Case 358 Investigation


Jimmy felt dizzy looking through the materials; the shadow of the Zodiac Killer case was always lingering in his mind, unconsciously seeping into his thoughts whenever he examined other cases. Although his mind was cluttered, he knew he had to press on with the caseload in his hands. The key issue now was that he was alone and in dire need of some assistance. He once again sought out Hughes's office, this time to request the support of intelligence personnel.

Jimmy laid out the current situation to Hughes, urgently needing intelligence analysts to help investigate traffic surveillance footage before and after the taxi incident, among other things. He could himself look into the victim's social connections. So, if Hughes couldn't provide additional personnel, this case could be dragged out for a long time.

Hughes didn't make any excuses and managed to temporarily reallocate two people. A veteran intelligence officer, Nick, arrived at Jimmy's office accompanied by a trainee intelligence officer.

Jimmy: "Welcome, Nick. Thanks for coming."

Nick: "No need for formalities. That bomb case last time was quite an eye-opener. Jimmy, well done. You always manage to turn an accident into a major case."

Jimmy laughed and said, "It's just luck. Anyway, Nick, I need your help this time with the surveillance footage. Here are the files for the four cases. Take a look first."

Jimmy handed the files on his desk to Nick, who opened his laptop on an empty desk, then started reviewing the files with the trainee officer.

Nick: "Jimmy, you want to investigate the surveillance footage of the intersections before and after these incidents?"

Jimmy: "Yes, because the killer in the latter three cases might have used a silenced pistol. NYPD's nearby investigation didn't turn up anyone who heard gunshots, nor did anyone see any suspicious individuals, so we have quite an amount of footage to go through. We need to track the taxi's movements and figure out the killer's boarding time before we can move on to investigate nearby areas."

Nick nodded: "Got it. This is going to be a hefty workload, but let's get started."

Jimmy: "Thanks. I need to go investigate the victim's background now. Call me directly if you find anything."

Jimmy thanked Nick and then collected his belongings before heading out.

Having help definitely saved Jimmy a lot of time, and he was growing increasingly fond of the Anti-Terrorism Bureau's command center. The approach of combining all intelligence investigation capabilities and then coordinating field agents for on-site investigations was indeed a great resource-saver and very convenient. Unfortunately, there was no such place at the FBI office, unless one went to headquarters.

Jimmy first visited the home of Diego Lopez. Diego lived with just an unmarried girlfriend, and there, Jimmy didn't find any leads. According to Diego's girlfriend, for the past two years, Diego had been honestly driving his taxi and hadn't associated with his old acquaintances; he had completely changed. Diego hadn't had any significant enemies previously, nor had she heard of any recent disputes he had with anyone, so she had no clue who would want to kill Diego.

Jimmy said goodbye and left, not believing a word she said. For gang members, it's extremely difficult to break away, especially since Diego had been a formal gang member and not just a low-level lackey. Dealing with someone like Diego, the list of possible enemies could be quite long, including rival gang members, past personal enemies, and perhaps even someone with an opportunistic motive for robbery.

Since he couldn't glean any clues from Diego's home, Jimmy looked at the time and headed to the underground gambling den owned by Si, known as Razor. This time, he called Razor directly, and after several rings, Razor answered.

Razor: "Who is this?"

Jimmy: "FBI here, Razor. Are you at the shop?"

Razor slammed the phone down. Damn, what a lack of respect.

Jimmy hung up, put on his sunglasses, and knocked on the door of the underground gambling den. Someone approached from inside to peek through a peephole. Jimmy held up his FBI badge to the peephole and said, "I'm here to see Razor. Open up."

The peephole snapped shut, and the person on the inside hurried away. Jimmy pocketed his badge and waited for someone to return and open the door. Gang members aren't fools; those movie scenes where an underling doorkeeper just shuts the door on the police are often dramatized for conflict, whereas in reality, except for those with loose screws, most would report it up the chain, especially when the person outside is from the FBI.

Soon enough, the door opened, but the person didn't let Jimmy in: "He's not here. Please come back another time."

Jimmy: "Call him over for me." With that, Jimmy turned and walked back to his car parked by the roadside.

Ever since he had read the Zodiac Killer case files, Jimmy had felt an intense sense of urgency. He certainly didn't want his name associated with the current case, to be remembered as a supporting character in an unsolved mystery for decades to come. Even if this case remained unsolved, he was determined to give it his all, so at the very least, he would have no regrets.

Jimmy didn't know what was going on with Razor, but half an hour later, he did manage to meet him. Razor drove up next to Jimmy's car, waved him over, and together they drove to a roadside green space.

The two got out of their cars, and Razor stood before Jimmy: "Why are you looking for me?"

Jimmy: "Your man was killed. I want to know what happened."

Razor furrowed his brow: "My man? Who?"

Jimmy: "Diego Lopez, a taxi driver."

Razor shook his head: "Doesn't ring a bell. He's not my guy."

Jimmy pulled out half a page from the inner pocket of his suit jacket and handed it to Razor. It was Diego's profile from the system. "Have a look for me. He was one of your Latin Kings. If he wasn't your guy, then look around and see whose he was, and who killed him."

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