Legendary FBI Detective

Upon learning that Mona's father was also going to Los Angeles in a few months, Luo An's expression remained unchanged, but inside he was in turmoil.

Is the city of Los Angeles really that great?

Although having lived two lifetimes, it was Luo An's first time meeting a woman's elder, and he understood the unease that men feel when they meet their partner's elders for the first time.

Moreover, Mona's father had been a CIA agent on field missions for many years... Luo An felt that the likelihood of him resorting to violence wasn't high, but it wasn't nonexistent either.

After Mona finished talking about this, she chatted briefly with Luo An, then turned and left the rest area.

Luo An followed right behind her, returning with Mona to their workstations.

There's an old Eastern saying, "Where there's a car, there's a road; where there's a boat, it will naturally reach its bridge." Luo An thought it over and decided he would just play it by ear; after all, it was unlikely that the other party would just pull out a gun on him.

However, some information still needed to be gathered in advance, so Luo An started to tactfully inquire about Mona's father's private life.

He then learned that Mona's father was not a New Yorker; he had lived in Chicago before marrying Mona's mother.

Chicago, the Federation's third largest city, is not only a financial and technological capital but is also renowned as a "city of crime."

It is a city where legislators have called for and proposed that citizens cease fire between 9 am and 9 pm.

Luo An: "..."

———

The week flew by quickly, and on Saturday and Sunday, Luo An and Mona watched movies and went shopping, and at night they engaged in activities that exchanged feelings and sweat, so time blinked away until the next Monday.

Early that morning, the agents were chattering away, and Luo An sat in his chair, his thoughts drifting, still slowly coming to terms with the reality of starting another workweek.

Bang!

"Everyone! We've got a new case!"

The office door was slammed open, and Augustus's signature loud voice was heard again.

But when the agents turned their attention to Augustus, they noticed that he wasn't carrying the usual files in his hands.

"Just now, a body was found in a garbage dump in the New York Suburbs.

Since the area is under the jurisdiction of the Federation Government, the NYPD called us."

"OK."

Luo An took a sip of his coffee, stood up, and proceeded with Mona to the crime scene.

The location of the crime scene was some distance from Manhattan Island, and being a garbage dump, it had a rather unique and complex smell; Luo An and Mona sneezed twice as soon as they got out of the car.

"Hello, I am agent Luo An Greenwood from Investigation Team Five."

Showing his gold badge to the waiting NYPD, Luo An and Mona lifted the cordon and walked into the crime scene, asking:

"What's the situation with the body? Have you identified it yet?"

"Hello, Deputy Chief Luo An."

The NYPD agent shook hands with Luo An and, upon hearing his question, explained:

"Sorry, it's not one body, it's two."

"What?"

Luo An furrowed his brows, and Mona showed a trace of surprise, turning her head to ask:

"But when you called, didn't you say it was just one body?"

"Yeah."

The NYPD agent spread his hands, an expression of helplessness on his face:

"But when we found the first body, we did a quick check of the nearby trash, and then inside a cardboard box, we found the second body."

"Alright."

Mona sighed upon hearing this, and by now she and Luo An had arrived beside the first body.

The NYPD began to provide a brief introduction:

"This body is about 60 years old, a white female, with no wallet, no bank cards, no information related to her identity."

The body was covered with a white cloth; Luo An bent down to lift the cloth, and there lay a body with a severely damaged face, that was almost split in half like a watermelon before his eyes.

Mona, who also witnessed this scene, cursed softly with an F-starting word, then she turned to ask:

"Did you find the murder weapon?"

"No, there's too much garbage here; we can't search through it all."

NYPD shook their head and then pointed towards a black bag not far away:

"However, we found a disposable raincoat with blood on it in there, presumably left by the killer."

Luo An nodded, covered the white cloth back over the corpse and, walking with Mona towards the second body, asked:

"Can we trace which garbage truck brought these two bodies here?"

"This garbage dump handles half of New York City's garbage, with nearly 150 garbage trucks coming and going every day."

NYPD followed behind Luo An, saying:

"If it weren't for the garbage dump's crusher being somewhat old and prone to jamming without shredding the garbage, forcing the workers to manually break apart the rubbish, these two bodies might have been completely processed by the crusher without us ever discovering them."

"I hope the worker who found the bodies will have a good dream tonight."

Luo An said this offhand, then bent down to examine the second body.

The second body was that of a little boy, around six or seven years old. The body was somewhat mummified, showing clear signs of careful handling.

Moreover, Luo An noticed that the fingertips of all ten fingers of the boy were missing.

"What a bad day."

Luo An sighed, re-covered the second body with the white cloth, and then turned to Mona and said:

"Call the Trace Evidence department."

"OK."

Mona nodded, took out her cellphone, and just as she was about to make the call, Luo An suddenly remembered something and added:

"Oh, and describe the scene to them, ask them to send more people and a slightly bigger vehicle—they'll probably need to take all the garbage around both bodies back with them."

Looking at the dense black plastic bags and various kinds of garbage around the two bodies, Mona's mouth twisted into a wry smile:

"OK, no problem."

————

At twelve noon, office area of Investigation Unit Five.

"So, one murder case turned into two?"

Reesi picked up her coffee and sipped, her expression somewhat astonished.

"That's right."

Reed nodded and then said:

"But there's also some good news, which is that Luo An and Mona didn't find a third body in that garbage site."

"That's indeed good news."

Reesi's voice was tinged with irony, then she asked:

"What are Luo An and Mona doing now?"

"They're at the Forensic department waiting for autopsy results, and in the meantime, sifting through garbage for clues."

Reed patted Reesi on the shoulder and laughed:

"But because there's so much garbage at the scene, they won't be able to go through it quickly, so Luo An asked you and me to go help."

Reesi: "…"

At the Trace Evidence department, the forensic doctor had already completed the preliminary examination of the two bodies:

"There are twelve puncture wounds on the left and right breasts of body number one, but the actual cause of her death was a pneumothorax."

Luo An, standing to the side, nodded:

"So, she was choked to death by her own blood, right?"

"That's correct."

The forensic doctor turned around and continued:

"No foreign body fluids were found in the lower body of the corpse, but there are lacerations inside, and some small wooden splinters were found. We located a wooden table leg in one of the garbage bags that matches the description."

Mona, looking at the body of someone who seemed to be in their sixties, with well-maintained skin despite her age, furrowed her brows. Luo An stood beside her, his expression unchanged, and asked:

"Have you discovered the identity of this victim?"