A homeless man, who hadn't tended to his beard or hair for a long time, stood next to Jimmy, emanating a truly foul odor, "What do you want to ask?"
Jimmy, "About the taxi driver shooting a few days ago, were you at the scene then?"
Homeless man, "Yes, a white male, not very tall, wearing a hat and glasses, black jacket, that's all."
Jimmy, "How did he leave? Which direction?"
Homeless man, "Didn't notice, I didn't come out to look, just saw him through a gap."
Jimmy, "What did you take? From the dead driver."
The homeless man's eyes shifted slightly, uncertain whether he was recalling the event or hiding something, "Nothing, I left as soon as there was a murder, otherwise there'd be trouble."
Jimmy, "Could you recognize him if you saw him again?"
The homeless man shook his head, "I only saw his side and back."
Jimmy, "Did he have any luggage? What was he doing when you saw him?"
Homeless man, "No, he was empty-handed, he got out from the passenger side. That's all." The homeless man looked at Earl, who nodded, then he turned and left.
Jimmy watched their interaction and knew he wouldn't get more information. However, this place is quite interesting. If it were ancient China, they would probably be called the Beggar Gang. There are many homeless people on the streets of the United States, unnoticeable and often discovering many things, but for various special reasons, not many police officers seek them out for clues.
Jimmy looked at Earl with a frown, this guy is tough, hasn't said a word since the beginning. Earl lifted his chin, and the man who had given Jimmy the lighter stood up, came over to Jimmy's side, and gestured for him to leave the hall.
Jimmy looked at Earl and said, "Thanks," then turned and left the homeless shelter. Standing by his car, Jimmy turned his head towards the shelter, sensing something off about the place. He wondered if Ruiz had any news, but probably not. Ruiz dealt with gang-related activities, which likely didn't involve the homeless.
Whether it was Earl's influence or not, Jimmy had quite a smooth visit this time. He got into his car and went straight back to the station. Intelligence officer Nick was still in his office, as their case had not concluded, and the two were temporarily assigned together.
Jimmy, "Nick, there's a new lead. I need you to look into the fourth case again, a white male, black jacket, wearing a hat and glasses, no backpack or anything."
Nick looked up at Jimmy, "Is the lead reliable?"
Jimmy nodded, "An informant provided it. Heard gunshots and then saw such a person leaving from the taxi. Not very tall, probably 170-175cm. Please check the previous and following surveillance videos to see if you can locate him."
Nick, "Got it, man, with a hat, black jacket."
Jimmy: "Thanks for your hard work."
After speaking, Jimmy returned to his own seat and turned on the computer. He wanted to first look up the situation of the homeless in New York to see if the Beggar Gang was in the system. When he searched for organizations in New York, he found no reservations for the homeless, which clearly indicated that they held no status or importance at the FBI.
Jimmy turned off the computer and went to Ruiz again, only to find the same results. Ruiz was in charge of organized crime, focusing mainly on gangs, while the homeless were not on his radar at all.
As Jimmy headed back to his office, he pondered the matter. This seemed to be a fringe area that nobody was paying much attention to. If he could develop an informant and utilize the intelligence network of the homeless, perhaps he could achieve unexpected results in solving cases in the future.
However, this was not something a low-level detective like him should be considering. Jimmy's current rank was not high enough to expand the network of informants, and he couldn't even apply for informant expenses.
Speaking of which, Razor was quite impressive. Although he was just the leader of a small gang, he managed to find a witness in just two or three days, which certainly took a lot of effort. This person seemed really competent. For gangs, sharing information with each other was nothing unexpected; the key was being able to investigate the matter quickly—that was real capability.
Jimmy was also feeling helpless now; there were too few clues to proceed further. The NYPD patrol officers had not yet replied to his inquiries, and he had no idea whether they had found out where the taxi driver had picked up his passenger.
From the current clues, it seemed that the gunman was not targeting anyone specifically but appeared to be committing random murders. There was no pattern in the timing of these four cases, such as only operating on weekends, which showed a high degree of randomness, making the gunman harder to deal with since there was no pattern.
If the gunman had operated only on specific days, that at least would have suggested some regularity to his actions. Now, with these four cases being completely random, it was impossible to deduce his identity, profession, or whether he had scoped out the locations beforehand.
Also, the gunman used a silencer on his pistol, yet the homeless did not notice him holding anything. It seemed the gunman usually kept the pistol in his pocket or tucked inside his clothing, not visible externally, which was also an important aspect. It was clearly unlikely to install a silencer on a pistol inside a taxi, as a driver is not foolish and could easily observe the back-seat passenger through the rearview mirror. Therefore, to be able to draw a silenced pistol quickly while seated, it would typically be tucked under the arm or inside an internal jacket pocket, and considering the length of the gun and silencer, to retrieve it unnoticed, the gunman must have been very skilled, either professionally or through frequent practice.
Jimmy simulated the action on himself, finding that if it involved a silencer, the movement would be substantial since he was not accustomed to a long barrel.
Nick soon came up with a result. Due to the specific features, combined with it being midnight, the records of such a person were not troublesome to locate. A camera near the fourth taxi driver's place of death had captured the appearance of the person described by the homeless, but the problem remained the same—it was only possible to see the outline, not the specific details.
What remained was to follow the trail. Only two cameras had captured his movements before he disappeared. Who would walk two blocks at midnight? Especially in a relatively chaotic place like the Bronx. He must have had a specific hiding spot within the area where he disappeared from the cameras; otherwise, it would be unusual for someone to choose to wander the streets at midnight.
Jimmy brought out a map, marked the locations of the cameras, and then divided the neighboring few blocks, determining that other crossroads' cameras had not captured this person. Eventually, he circled two blocks.
After much consideration, Jimmy decided to go himself. With no specific search targets, only surveillance screenshots, it would be inconvenient to deploy NYPD patrol officers or a surveillance team for a long period. It was better to stake out the area himself.
Jimmy instructed Nick to continue investigating whether this person appeared in the other three cases, then left the office and headed to the Bronx.
Arriving at the camera where the gunman had disappeared, Jimmy parked his car by the roadside and stood on the sidewalk, observing the direction in which he had left. This was an old district; just from the external fire escape ladders on the neighboring houses, it was evident these buildings were all from before the 1960s. New York City had abolished external escape ladders on new buildings in 1968, which helped date these buildings.
Such a district was not an ideal place for finding and capturing someone because the fire escape ladders hanging outside the buildings often served as escape routes for criminals and, without careful attention, could lead to irreparable losses. Jimmy could only slowly survey the surrounds, ensuring that he didn't miss anyone fitting the criteria.
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