Chapter 25: The Case Went on TV
"Fuck!"
Augustus muttered under his breath, cursing either Luo An or the serial killer.
"Reesi, step out for a moment."
"Okay."
Once Reesi had temporarily left the team leader's office, Augustus's big, dark face asked Luo An seriously:
"Luo An, do you know that kidnapping cases and serial killer cases are different?"
"I do."
Luo An nodded.
Compared to solving serial killer cases and catching the true culprits, aside from the boost in fame, lead investigators don't usually get much money, because the reward amount for the cases is fixed.
The families of the victims in serial killer cases most often do not offer much gratitude money, since many families are shattered after the victim's death, and being broke is the norm.
Kidnapping cases are different; the kidnapper's aim is monetary, and the victims' families understand this. Therefore, when an agent helps them rescue their loved ones, they tend not to skimp on gratitude money.
After all, they'd be paying the kidnapper either way; giving gratitude money to the agents is even less than what they'd give the kidnapper.
The concept that 'if you want a horse to run, you must feed it' is also understood by Americans.
This has become an unwritten rule in America.
Seeing Luo An nod, Augustus was pleased; he liked subordinates who got the point quickly, and he continued:
"Our Unit Five has just been established, and serial killer cases are actually not suitable for us.
The reason I took on the 'Lake Female Corpse Serial Killer Case' earlier was because this case spans a long period of time. It would be best to solve it, but if we can't, the team leader won't criticize us and will just transfer the case to another team. So my main reason for taking on the 'Lake Female Corpse Serial Killer Case' was to give you guys more experience.
Kidnapping cases are different; sometimes they are very difficult, and sometimes they're quite easy.
I took on the 'Wealthy Woman Kidnapping Case' mainly as a training exercise. Best if we can solve it, but as I said before, if we can't crack the case, I'll assign Leide to take over, while you accumulate experience for future opportunities..."
Listening to Augustus's speech, Luo An's facial expression was somewhat confused.
Damn, I'm thinking about making money, and you're thinking about politics!
The two of them had totally different directions in mind.
After talking a stream, Augustus felt his mouth getting dry. Luo An got up and poured him a cup of coffee, which Augustus found very satisfactory. After finishing the coffee, he asked at last:
"So, the current situation is, do you actually have any confidence in catching the killer? If not, I'll immediately hand this case over to another team since 14 hours have already passed out of the golden 24-hour window."
"Uh..."
Luo An bowed his head in thought.
Earlier, when he was in the Queens apartment, Investigator Nell from the Trace Examination Unit had briefly introduced the state of the body parts to Luo An while organizing them.
Judging from the thickness of frost on the surface of the body parts and the degree of freezing of the body parts themselves, Nell roughly estimated that the parts had not been frozen for long, about two to three days.
If Investigator Nell's assessment wasn't wrong, then it meant that the killer tortured Seren for more than two weeks after kidnapping her before killing her.
From this angle, the wealthy woman Sabina should still be safe, most likely not yet killed by the murderer.
Of course, there are no absolutes; who knows what a psychopathic serial killer is thinking.
What followed were the three most important matters: Who is the killer? Where is the killer's home address? After kidnapping Sabina, where is the killer hiding now?
Who the killer is cannot be determined yet.
The Trace Examination Division indeed found fingerprints in the apartment in Queens that did not belong to the victim. But now they also cannot lock in with one hundred percent certainty that these fingerprints belong to the assassin.
Furthermore, it takes a long time for the Trace Examination Division to compare fingerprints, and of the 24-hour golden window, only 11 hours remain.
At the same time, the Trace Examination Division can only compare fingerprints against the FBI's criminal fingerprint database. In other words, if this serial killer had never committed a crime before, never had fingerprints recorded at a local police station, then the FBI's fingerprint database would not be able to identify the assassin at all.
Not knowing who the killer is, it's even more impossible to locate the killer's home address.
"The only line of thought now is, where on earth could the assassin be hiding after kidnapping Sabina?"
Luo An closed his eyes tightly, his mind spinning rapidly, desperately pondering everything that had happened today, trying to analyze the killer's pattern of behavior and find the current hiding spot of the killer.
But a serial killer is fundamentally different from a real assassin, and Luo An couldn't deduce what a madman was thinking after considering it for half a day.
Just as Luo An was about to give up, a glint flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly thought of something.
Could the assassin...
Seeing the contemplative expression on Luo An as he bowed his head in thought, Augustus understood that the other party was analyzing clues, so he didn't rush him and picked up his coffee, preparing to take another sip.
Bang!
The door to the team leader's office was violently pushed open, and Augustus was startled by the sudden loud noise, spilling the coffee directly onto his belly.
"Fu-k! That's scalding!"
Augustus jumped up from his chair, grabbed a folder from the desk, and subconsciously wanted to throw it at the person who entered the office without knocking.
But seeing that the intruder in the office was the wealthy husband of Sabina, Darren, Augustus quickly restrained his action and forgot even to wipe the shirt on his belly.
"Agent Luo An, Sabina has been kidnapped by a serial psychopathic killer, is that correct?"
Luo An was equally startled by the suddenly opened door, just as he was about to punch the person who interrupted his train of thought, Darren's questioning rang in his ears, Luo An immediately asked in surprise:
"Where did you hear this from?"
He had only mentioned this to Augustus, Reesi, and Mona... Was it one of them, Mona or Reesi, who had let it slip?
Darren's expression was extremely anxious: "It's on television!"
"W T F?!"
Upon hearing Darren's words, Augustus's expression instantly darkened, hurrying out of the team leader's office to the very front of the work area.
There hung a butts-big TV that broadcast news around the clock every day.
In the work area, all agents watched intently at the blonde female host in the news segment on the TV.
"Tonight around 7:30 PM, a very horrifying homicide occurred in an apartment on a certain street in Queens. The killer not only dismembered the victim's body, but also froze the victim's body in the refrigerator...
According to reliable information, this case is part of a series of serial killings, with the apartment being only one of the victims. The FBI has intervened in the investigation, but currently, the FBI does not have any effective clues... Please, all residents, be cautious..."
"Fu-k! Sh*t! Dammit!"
After watching the broadcast on TV, Augustus's already dark face turned blacker than ink, he turned to look at everyone in the work area and angrily asked:
"Who leaked this case out!"
Darren, standing to one side, wore an extremely ugly expression and shouted loudly at Augustus:
"Has my wife Sabina really been kidnapped by this psychopathic killer? What's happening with her right now?"
Agents in the work area looked at each other left and right, completely unaware of what had happened.
Mona and Reesi, who were in the know, tilted their heads to look at each other, faces showing uncertainty.
According to the customs and culture of America, generally speaking, after a case is known to the media, the subsequent development process of the case will be influenced greatly.