There's no such thing as a simple bank robbery, and Jimmy hadn't experienced many. But across the United States, there have been at least 250 to 400 bank robberies each year since the turn of the 21st century, with a clearance rate of less than 60%. This means at least a hundred of the robberies annually remain unsolved, with the culprits at large.
This particular case had clear surveillance footage from the bank. Although the robber wore a hat and a mask, features such as face shape, skin tone, and hair color could still be identified. Even though he touched the counter, the multitude of fingerprints there, intermixed with each other, made it impossible to extract a unique print and use it to ascertain his identity.
Besides, such thorough preparation indicated a meticulously planned robbery. It was very likely that methods like adhesive would be used to prevent leaving fingerprints behind, rendering reliance on fingerprints quite impractical.
The good news was that the bait bills stored in the bank counter had been stuffed into his backpack. The serial numbers of these paper bills had all been documented. As long as these bills entered circulation, they could trace back the source and gather clues pointing to the robber.
The bad news, however, was that if the robber decided to sit on the money, avoiding use for a while, tracing its origins would become very difficult later on. The high circulation rate of American currency and its frequent cross-regional use would mean that, over time, the manpower needed to follow up would increase exponentially.
The bank was not well-prepared, evidenced by the absence of a dye pack at the robbed counter. Had there been a dye pack, it would have exploded after the robber left the bank at a set distance, marking the paper money and any exposed clothing with various colors, thus blowing the robber's cover completely.
Not all banks prepare dye packs; data indicates that only about 30% of the banks that were robbed used them, and many of those were discovered and discarded by the robbers.
Putting the case aside for a moment, Jimmy, sipping a beer and looking out the window, decided to hit the streets for a walk. He needed to buy some clothes, mainly because he needed to send his current clothes to the dry cleaner's and did not have enough clean ones to change into, especially suits.
In his New York apartment, Jimmy had several identical black suits hanging up. This time, he had brought only two with him. Casual clothes were sufficient for everyday use, but he needed to rotate his work suits a bit more frequently.
Shopping wasn't Jimmy's forte because he was the type to shop with a specific goal in mind. However, after seeing a cowboy hat, he couldn't resist buying one. He recalled that during his visit to the Dallas office, his outfit was mostly casual with a cowboy hat.
To be on the safe side, Jimmy bought a black suit. Although it was not tailor-made, it fit quite well. The suit he picked was an American-style power suit, mainly to facilitate carrying a holster. American suits are not as fitted so they can conceal a gun holster and handgun beneath the clothing.
The next day, Jimmy was in the office waiting for Ray to arrive. His hotel was perhaps too close to the office, which is why he would arrive so early, according to New York commuting times.
Ray arrived after a while, "Jimmy, have you looked over the file?"
Jimmy nodded, "I have, but there doesn't seem to be any leads on the robber in the file. Do you have any suspects?"
Ray nodded, "We've already reviewed the surrounding surveillance, questioned people near the bank, and we've also broadcasted images of the suspect on television to gather tips. There's not much more we can do. Today, we will continue to follow the escape route of the suspect."
Jimmy: "Is it just the two of us?"
Ray: "Of course not, there are several agents, and we can also call on the police for assistance. Alright, that's the task for today, let's set off."
Ray and Jimmy left the office. On the way to the parking lot, Ray made a few calls, which was followed by the tedious and mostly unproductive on-site investigation.
While Jimmy assisted Ray with the on-site investigation, Lambert was conducting a concurrent investigation, and the amount of information he received was quite startling.
Now, to check on Jimmy's recent whereabouts and activities, the process was straightforward. The whereabouts mainly involved tracking the FBI phone issued to Jimmy, which could be directly accessed in the FBI database—a task within Lambert's authorization. Investigating his actions wasn't difficult either: first, check if there were any homicides related to gang members in the area; second, inquire about any large-scale disappearances.
In Houston, because Jimmy had called at night, it was clear to him that Atz's influence in Houston had been uprooted. Reinvestigating, among those reported missing at the police station, over a dozen notorious hoodlums and gang members had been missing for a long time, coinciding exactly with the time Jimmy called to say he had captured Morry Davies.
The situation was the same in Albuquerque, with even more missing persons. Over twenty had been reported to the police as missing during the time Jimmy was in Albuquerque, and again, with no clues whatsoever.
Although there were shootings and disappearances in other cities, most were isolated incidents, unlike the wide-scale disappearances in Albuquerque and Houston.
What shocked him the most was, according to DEA informant intelligence, that Azte boss Barrio had committed suicide at his estate. At the same time, more than twenty of his security personnel were all dead. Based on the situation at the scene, a small, elite squad seemed to have raided his estate.
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