Chapter 103: The Following Feels Uncomfortable

“What’s the matter?”
Hearing Fletcher’s words, Roan hurriedly asked.

“The story in the notebook is nearly finished. When I was coming back from a friend’s house, my car broke down halfway.”
Fletcher rubbed his eyes and explained,
“I sent the car to a repair shop, and that night I accidentally left the notebook in the car. If my guess is correct, the employees at the repair shop most likely read it.”

“OK.”
Roan’s eyelids twitched, and after a few seconds of silence, he nodded slowly before continuing to ask for other information.
But due to the effects of the flour, Fletcher’s mind wasn’t entirely clear; he even dozed off in his chair later.
Seeing this, Roan frowned and stopped questioning him, leaving the interrogation room and instructing William to take Fletcher away for temporary detention.

Returning to his desk, Roan spent some time looking through Fletcher’s notebook, then tilted his head to Mona:
“How long has Lacey been gone?”

“About half an hour.”
Mona glanced at the clock at the front of the Fifth Investigation Group’s office and said,
“I saw her come out of the interrogation room and head straight to the armory.”

Roan nodded and, seeing Mona’s fingers flying over the keyboard, asked,
“What are you looking into?”

“Augustus asked me to check the profiles and itineraries of the NYPD officers who looked through the bank robbery case files.”
Mona shrugged and explained,
“Augustus suspects the previous four cases might be connected to the NYPD.”

“Hmm.”
Roan’s eyebrows twitched at the words and he asked,
“Did Augustus find information related to the robbers?”

“Probably not.”
Mona shook her head slowly. Augustus hadn’t told her much, just asked her to look into it first.

“OK.”
Seeing Roan hesitate, Mona smiled and asked softly,
“Is there anything you need my help with?”

“There is.”
Roan nodded and said directly,
“In the fifth and sixth cases, two robbers planned to use female scouts. Fletcher’s notebook also mentioned using female scouts to check out the bank. I think there’s definitely a connection here, but I haven’t figured out what it is yet.
But this can wait. Right now, I hope you can check the footage from the two days before the first four cases, specifically the women on the surveillance tapes. Look into their identities and occupations—see if they’re linked to scouting or similar jobs.
If there’s a connection between their professions, they might also be involved in the first four robberies, possibly even acting as spotters sent by the robbers.”

“No problem! Leave it to me!”
Mona nodded decisively, seeing Roan’s surprise, she smiled,
“Augustus said he’s not in a hurry. Three days is enough.”

Roan understood and patted Mona’s shoulder,
“Thanks for your hard work.”

Mona waved him off, indicating it was nothing, and picked up the phone to call several banks.
Most banks in America keep surveillance footage for about three months, so after a little over an hour, Mona received the lobby surveillance videos for the four days before each robbery.

Roan sat heavily in his chair, just about to review the footage with Mona when the phone rang.

“It’s me, Lacey.”
A faintly noisy background sounded from the other end, Lacey’s voice tired:
“I just checked the hotel. Fletcher wasn’t lying; at the time of the incident, he really was here.”

“Got it.”
Roan clicked his tongue, hearing Lacey’s offbeat tone, his face grew serious:
“Did something happen over there? Need backup?”

“No.”
Lacey’s voice refused from the other end, then explained,
“When I arrived, the hotel owner was arrested by New Jersey police for growing leaves on the roof and balcony.
It took a lot of effort to convince the New Jersey cops to let me question the owner and check the hotel’s surveillance.”

“…Thanks for your effort.”
Hearing Lacey’s determined assurance she’d handle these minor issues, Roan grimaced and hung up.
He’d judged from the voices in the background that the New Jersey cop was probably a woman.

Soon, it was the end of the workday.
After confirming Fletcher’s status with William, Roan left the office like everyone else, drove his Chevrolet to a nearby supermarket to buy several bottles of red wine, and then leisurely headed to Ryder’s house.

A lavish barbecue feast.

——

The next day, Jacob Federal Building.

Roan emerged from the restroom, looked at his somewhat haggard face in the mirror, and felt a discomfort in his stomach, making him grimace.

“This won’t do. I need to eat more vegetables and fruit.”
Even last night’s stamina potion from the system at midnight was useless.
The detox potion might help, but Roan didn’t want to use such a life-saving item for something trivial.

“Good morning, Roan!”

Returning to the Fifth Investigation Group office, Ryder greeted Roan with a broad smile and wave. Roan forced a grin and nodded.

Lacey and Mona were present too, sitting together, excitedly discussing cosmetics at their computers.

“Good morning, everyone!”
The familiar opening and booming voice sounded at the office door. Augustus, with his big belly, walked in carrying breakfast.

Without wasting words, Augustus stood at the front and immediately turned to William,
“William, give us yesterday’s investigation report!”

“I’ll do it.”
William had just stood up when Roan gestured for him to sit back down—it was his turn today.

“Yesterday we arrested a former Boy Scout, Fletcher.”
William sat back, and Roan took a deep breath, holding the notebook as he addressed everyone:
“According to Fletcher’s account, we’ve clarified the general situation of the four robberies.
Four months ago, Fletcher’s wife died. Three months ago, he decided to spend the rest of his life fulfilling her unfinished dreams. Soon after, the script for the bank robbery appeared.
Many people have read the script—not just Fletcher’s friends and family, but, according to him, employees at a certain repair shop may also have seen it.
Last month, the first bank robbery occurred, and the robbers’ actions were exactly as described in the script. So we can conclude—the robbers definitely read Fletcher’s script!”

“Good.”
Augustus nodded in satisfaction, signaling Roan to continue.

Roan walked to the front, pulled over a whiteboard, and wrote as he spoke:
“Our investigation will proceed in three directions:
First, thoroughly examine Fletcher’s friends and family, especially those with military backgrounds.
Second, visit the repair shop Fletcher mentioned, and verify who read the notebook.
Third, review the surveillance footage from the four days before the robberies…”

“Excellent!”
After Roan’s briefing, Augustus waved his hand, instructing the technical team to begin vetting personnel, then turned to the field agents:
Who wants to go to the repair shop?

“Let Lacey and Ryder handle it.”
Feeling a faint discomfort in his stomach, Roan grimaced,
“Fletcher’s mind was cloudy yesterday—there’s still much we haven’t asked. I’ll interrogate him again soon.”

“OK.”
Augustus nodded. Lacey and Ryder said nothing, rising together to head to the armory.

Half an hour later, Fletcher was brought back to the interrogation room.

(End of chapter)