Chapter 14: A Land of Extraordinary People

On his first day in the Fifth Investigation Unit, Roan did nothing but sit at his workstation, browsing the computer all day, and then left work when the time came.

At nine o’clock the next morning, with nothing to do, Roan shook his head, glanced over to see Mona chatting online, noted that Ryder was nowhere to be seen, and found only Lacey, who had just woken up and was eating something. Roan rolled his chair over to Lacey’s side and asked:

“Lacey, is our week always like this?”

“What do you mean?” Lacey was still groggy from sleep. It took her a moment to understand his question, and then she tilted her head and answered, “You mean, no work this week? Of course not.”

She changed tack without missing a beat, mumbling as she ate, “Actually, we haven’t had any work for two months.”

“What?” Roan was baffled by her sudden confession and hurriedly asked, “Why?”

“Because our Fifth Investigation Unit was just established, and no one’s handed us any cases,” Lacey replied, finishing a small bag of donuts and opening a second. “Well, not exactly. Three months ago, the NYPD did give us a few cases, but we didn’t solve any of them within the given time... so our unit supervisor, Verinis, took the cases back and assigned them to other teams.”

Roan fell silent, then looked up and asked, “Did the other teams solve those cases?”

Lacey nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Yeah, they solved them.”

Roan: “...”

What kind of place have I landed in?

Noticing the twisted look on Roan’s face, Lacey patted his shoulder in comfort and asked, “Do you know why Augus transferred you to the Fifth Investigation Unit?”

Roan already had the answer in his heart.

“It’s not just because you’re good-looking. It’s because you can actually solve cases.”

Roan: I knew it!

Lacey finished her second bag of donuts and began tearing open a third, all the while introducing the other members of the Fifth Investigation Unit:

“Ryder came from the SWAT team. Marksmanship, combat, search and rescue, weapons—he’s top-notch in everything... except he can’t solve cases.”

Roan: “...”

“I, Lacey, came from the intelligence department. I’m good at gathering information, undercover work, tailing people... but I can’t solve cases either.”

Roan: “...”

“The tech guys sitting behind you have worked in the FBI archives for years. If you need information on a suspect, they’ll find it faster than anyone in any other unit.”

Roan’s expression became more and more peculiar. “But they can’t solve cases either.”

“Yeah.” Lacey patted Roan’s shoulder, her expression solemn. “That’s why we need someone to lead us in solving them.”

Roan nearly choked on his own breath. After a deep inhalation, he consoled himself: at least this team needs me—I’m indispensable here.

But then he asked Lacey, “What about our leader, Augus? Do you know what he did before this?”

“Of course,” Lacey nodded. “Augus used to be an administrative officer in the Department of Criminal Justice.”

Roan nodded, understanding at last. “So, Augus can’t solve cases either.”

“Right.”

With all this in mind, Roan rubbed his chin and asked, “So if nothing unexpected happens, whenever a case is assigned to us, I’ll be the one leading everyone to solve it, right?”

Lacey pondered for a couple of seconds, then nodded. “That’s about right.”

Roan continued, “If I’m the one leading the team, what’s the point of Augus being the unit chief? Just to take the credit after the case is solved?”

“Of course not.” Lacey’s eyes widened at his question and she answered seriously:

“Augus is responsible for taking the blame and dealing with the higher-ups when things go wrong!”

“...Lacey, why were you transferred here?”

“Because I insulted a superior.”

“I’d expect nothing less from you.”

Back at his workstation, Roan glanced around and saw Mona’s fingers flying across the keyboard as if she were hacking into some program. He sighed, “Truly, the Fifth Investigation Unit is a gathering of extraordinary people.”

Clap, clap, clap—

Just as Roan was considering whether he should take a few days off from the Fifth Investigation Unit to earn some extra money, their chief, Augus, waddled to the front of the office area with his big belly and announced loudly:

“Attention, everyone! We’ve just been assigned two cases—one missing person and kidnapping, and one serial murder!”

In 2005, big screens were not yet common, so several large whiteboards stood at the front of the office. Augus pulled one over and began writing the provisional names of the two cases:

[The Missing Heiress Kidnapping] [The Lake Serial Female Homicides]

Ryder, who had returned to the office, distributed case files to everyone, with Roan’s file being the most detailed.

Roan: “...”

Now that there were actually cases to handle, he had no excuse to ignore them. Given the urgency, Roan began reading the missing person and kidnapping file first. The bear-like Ryder started briefing everyone:

“The victim’s name is Sabina Card, thirty-six years old, disappeared from her villa in Connecticut. The incident happened sometime between last night, when she came home, and eight o’clock this morning. Her husband Darren returned from a business trip this morning and found someone had broken into their house and his wife was missing, but her phone and wallet were left in the entryway.”

Once everyone had finished reading, Augus knocked on the whiteboard to draw their attention, his expression stern.

“Until we have further evidence, we must assume she’s still alive! The Greenwich Police Department believes this is a kidnapping, but cases like this are rare for them, so they came to us for help.”

Greenwich is a suburb of New York City on Long Island Sound, one of the most affluent areas near New York State, with a high standard of living and a history of producing many celebrities, artists, and musicians.

Before anyone could ask questions, Augus pulled several crime scene photos from a folder and pinned them to another whiteboard, explaining as he did so:

“A serial murder is defined as two or more victims killed in separate incidents by the same perpetrator or perpetrators. At five o’clock this morning, an angler discovered the body of a woman in a lake on the border of New York and New Jersey. Divers searching the lakebed found three more female corpses.

The first victim, Linda Chepo, married, twenty-eight, was reported missing eight months ago by her husband. Forensic examination confirms she was killed shortly after disappearing.

The second victim, Beatrice Lyon, married, thirty-four, disappeared two months ago.

The third victim, Natalie Carlisle, married, twenty-five, missing for one month.

The fourth victim, Tamara Terry, married, thirty, disappeared two weeks ago...”