Legendary FBI Detective

Jacob Federation Building, Investigation Team Five office area.

Vireness sat in the surveillance room next to the interrogation room, legs crossed, silently watching Magdalena on the monitor.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

"Come in."

Hearing Vireness's words, Luo An pushed open the door and entered the surveillance room, smiling:

"Good afternoon, Chief."

Vireness swiveled her chair to face him, her arms crossed and her face expressionless as she said:

"Luo An, you really brought me a huge surprise."

Luo An spread his hands; before this, he truly hadn't expected that there would be so many people standing behind Magdalena.

"It's not about standing up for her, Luo An."

Vireness handed over a folder sealed with black confidential stickers to Luo An, her face stern as she said:

"In fact, our FBI New York Branch has been monitoring Magdalena for some time due to certain matters.

It's just that it wasn't the right time, so we hadn't done anything to her yet."

When Luo An opened the folder, he saw a familiar name:

Deborah Palffrey.

The file showed that Magdalena and Palffrey had a relationship akin to "mentor and apprentice" and "sisters."

When these two women were young, they were under the control of the same gang organization, engaged in economic activities that involved the spread of one's legs to measure society's depths.

Later, when the gang organization was destroyed, the female technical workers under it scattered and fled.

Magdalena was the first to flee to New York to continue her old trade, and with thoughtful integration of her strengths, she proposed advanced concepts, explored new markets, and saw her assets grow step by step, completing an industry transformation.

Palffrey, because she did not fare well elsewhere, came to New York to rely on her sister.

And naturally learned Magdalena's advanced concepts, saved up some money, and then went to Washington to start an escort service named "Pamela Martin."

Furthermore, Palffrey updated and upgraded the industry, building upon Magdalena's theoretical foundation.

Women working for "Pamela Martin" had to be at least 23 years old, with a minimum of a college degree, a regular daytime job, and among them were no shortage of professional women with already robust salaries.

Moreover, Palffrey required these girls to have outstanding appearances, proper attire, moderate jewelry, and attention to detail (such as even the backs of their heels had to be beautiful); at the same time, Palffrey demanded that these girls could not indulge in excessive drinking or drug use during their "work" periods, and they must be punctual...

How could these women not attract the attention of the FBI? The reason why the FBI had not taken action was only because the higher-ups in Washington had not chosen to lift the lid on this.

And now, Luo An had inadvertently caught Palffrey's "master," Magdalena.

Luo An: "…"

After reading the file, Luo An felt a huge headache.

Did he startle the snake by hitting the grass?

He never imagined that he would one day be involved in a notorious scandal in federal history.

Seeing the expression on Luo An's face, Vireness's mouth curved slightly upwards, she picked up her coffee and took a sip before speaking calmly:

"Don't worry, Luo An, since we've already startled the snake, there's no need to continue covering this up."

Vireness indicated that she had just called Mr. Clement in Washington, and after a long consideration, he agreed to take action and arrest Palffrey soon and handle the "Pamela Martin" escort service.

If all goes well, the scandal that happened in 2006-2008 in the previous world would be brought forward to 2005.

Hearing Mr. Clement would handle this matter, Luo An immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Having support at high levels is good.

Otherwise, if he were just a low-level agent who uncovered this... who knows what might have happened next.

Closing the folder, Luo An showed a relieved smile:

"Thank you, Chief."

"No need to thank me."

Vireness waved her hand. Indeed, this matter was a huge scandal. Once it came to light, it would certainly cause panic among some people in Washington.

But for Mr. Clement, an old fox who had worked in Washington for decades, he could definitely exchange a lot of benefits for his camp through this event.

So in the end, Vireness handed Luo An a cup of coffee and said in a faint voice:

"One rigid requirement for promotion from Deputy Team Leader to Team Leader is that the Deputy Team Leader must have experience working in other cities."

Luo An nodded. He knew this, which is also one of the reasons why many police officers are reluctant to join the FBI — because working for the FBI means moving from one city to another every few years.

At the same time, Luo An also knew something else — that after the financial crisis of '08, the rule requiring change of workplace was abolished, and from then on, FBI agents could work in one city until retirement.

Vireness's implication was clear to Luo An; she wanted to help him get promoted to Investigation Team Leader.

But there were huge differences between major cities within the federation; some cities were world-famous, while others were so obscure that even Luo An had never heard of them.

"So, what does the Chief mean?"

"Next month, our New York Branch will have a quota to swap workplaces with the Los Angeles Branch."

Vireness passed another document to Luo An:

"The stipulated duration for swapping workplaces is three years, but if one's performance is exemplary and Washington Headquarters issues a transfer order, it's possible to move to another city after just one year."

Upon hearing this, Luo An's eyes lit up.

Vireness's meaning wasn't hard to grasp: she was suggesting that Luo An go gain a year's worth of experience elsewhere, then return and get promoted to Investigation Team Leader.

It was also an opportunity for Luo An to avoid the initial storm of the Palfray case, as in the previous life it had dragged on for three or four years, and it would surely take a long time to handle in this life too.

Seeing the realization dawn on Luo An's face, Vireness nodded in satisfaction and finally pulled out a business card from her pocket to give to Luo An:

"This is the contact info for the Criminal Investigation Division Team Supervisor at the FBI's Los Angeles Branch. Make sure to get in touch with him."

The name on the business card seemed familiar to Luo An, as if he had come across it somewhere.

However, Luo An wasn't in a hurry about this matter; he could set it aside for now. What he wanted to know was something else:

"Chief, how many spots are there? Just one person, or the entire team?"

This was crucial—Luo An didn't want to head to Los Angeles alone.

"There are eleven spots in total."

Vireness paused, her voice still faint:

"Your Team Five can only get up to four spots at most."

As a Special Agent in Charge, Vireness couldn't overdo it—after all, there are fourteen teams.

"OK."

Hearing Vireness's words, Luo An felt a huge sense of relief and heaved a sigh:

"Thank you, Chief."

"You don't need to thank me."

Vireness's tone remained quite indifferent, but a hint of a smile could be seen in her eyes:

"After interrogating Magdalena, you'll have to explain to Augustus yourself."

Both Luo An and Vireness knew perfectly well who would get these four spots.

And under such circumstances, the expression on the face of Augustus, Team Leader of Team Five, when facing the remaining few technical agents like William...

Vireness's mouth curled into a smile, and she turned her chair to start inspecting Magdalena in the interrogation room.

"..."

Thinking of Augustus's face, dark as the bottom of a pot, Luo An's mouth twitched.

Chief, you can't do this, Chief!