Chapter 140: The Truth of the Case

"What is it, Roan?"

Hearing Roan utter a series of questions, Mona quickly turned around and asked, "What did you find?"

"Damn it!"

Seeing the eyes of the agents from Investigative Group 5 turn toward him, Roan pointed directly at the data on his computer. "Garcia's target wasn't Councilman Mata at all!"

The technicians of Investigative Group 5 were stunned. William hurriedly asked, "Then who was Garcia's target?"

Just as Roan was about to answer, Mona suddenly covered her mouth and gasped, "Could it be our unit chief, Verinis?"

"What?"
"How is that possible?"
"Could you have guessed wrong?"

Upon hearing Mona's words, the agents all wore expressions of disbelief and turned their gazes to Roan.

Roan's expression was grim as he nodded heavily. "That's right. Garcia's true target was Verinis!"

Without wasting time, Roan pulled up the surveillance footage from his computer to show everyone. The footage was from the lobby of the Jacob Federal Building, covering the security checkpoint at the entrance, spanning from a month ago to three days ago.

In the footage from those days, Ancona was seen entering the Jacob Federal Building every morning carrying a paper bag filled with donuts. Before passing through security, she would share the donuts with the security guards on duty. The guards would take the donuts with a smile, give a cursory glance at her other belongings, and wave her through.

The paper bag containing the donuts successfully bypassed the security scanners and the wands held by the guards, slipping into the building without ever being inspected. In one clip, Ancona was seen adjusting the bag—which had entered without inspection—and a few yellow electrical wires accidentally spilled out. She remained calm, quickly picking them up without drawing any attention.

Seeing this, the agents of Investigative Group 5 were horrified. William cursed under his breath, while Mona realized with a start, "That's how Ancona brought the components of the remote-controlled bomb into the federal building, bit by bit."

"Exactly."

Looking at the guards in the footage happily eating their donuts, Roan sighed speechlessly.

What you think corporate warfare is: scheming, tactical planning, and high-stakes capital gambles.
What corporate warfare actually is: the CEO personally filming undercover, hiring people to pull the power cables at a rival firm, or poisoning the competition.

The way Ancona smuggled the bomb into the building was just as simple and unpretentious.

Mona remained silent for a moment before tilting her head toward Roan. "Because Ancona started bringing those donuts a month ago, you concluded that Garcia's target was Verinis, right?"

A month ago, Councilman Mata was nowhere to be seen; no one could have predicted he would participate in this press conference. Therefore, the only logical target for a bomb brought in over that duration was Verinis, who frequently held press conferences.

"That's not all."

Roan nodded, closed the surveillance video, and displayed Garcia's file to the group. "Garcia was imprisoned for violating weapons regulations. Prison records show he was held in the same block as Brent Harry, so it's highly likely he learned how to build bombs during that time."

"Yeah."
"That makes sense."

The agents of Investigative Group 5 nodded in agreement; this was already their consensus. Roan flipped to another page of the file and continued.

"As you all know, inmates awaiting trial like Garcia are assigned tasks as part of their punishment. I checked Garcia's work assignments and found that while he initially worked in the chapel—cleaning up trash and mowing the lawn—he was later reassigned to clean the floors of the high-security solitary confinement wing."

"What does that mean?"

The technicians looked puzzled. William was lost, so Mona asked directly, "Roan, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"What I'm saying is..." Roan turned the computer screen around and pointed at a headshot in the prison database, his face dark. "This guy living in the high-security wing is likely the true mastermind behind this case!"

"Frederick Antonio."

Seeing the name and profile on the screen, many of the agents looked confused. But after a few seconds of thought, Mona's expression turned to one of terror, and the hair on her arms stood up.

"Damn it! It's him!"

***

Rikers Island Prison, a certain room.

The people who arrived here included not only Roan and Mona, but also Augustus, who was looking grim and tense. Augustus’s dark mood had nothing to do with Roan or Mona; it was because of the brown-skinned young man sitting before them, dressed in prison garb, his eyes bloodshot and his face cold.

"Frederick Antonio."

Mona waited outside the room, while Roan and Augustus sat across from Antonio. Without preamble, Augustus asked coldly, "You know why we're here."

"Of course." Antonio's voice was raspy. Hearing Augustus, a faint smile appeared on his face. "How is Verinis?"

Augustus remained expressionless. Seeing this, Antonio slowly shifted his gaze to Roan and continued with a smile, "I heard through the grapevine that she was injured and hospitalized."

"Your grapevine isn't very accurate," Roan remarked with a smirk, shaking his head. "Verinis only suffered minor injuries and went to the hospital for a quick bandage. How did that turn into a hospitalization in your version?"

Antonio's smile stiffened slightly, but he continued to ask with a grin, "And what is your name, Agent?"

"My name isn't important." Roan waved a hand, pulled a folder from his pocket, and read aloud:

"Frederick Antonio, 29 years old, sentenced to life imprisonment for large-scale flour smuggling in New York. His father, Hermenegildo Antonio, was a notorious drug lord in a South American country who died of a heart attack years ago. After his death, his wife and two younger sons were beheaded by his own underlings, and their bodies were hung from a bridge as a warning..."

Indeed, this Frederick Antonio was the son of the major drug lord captured by the former Investigative Group 5. It was to protect the lives of that former team that Verinis had disbanded the group and reassigned them to other departments.

But what no one expected was that upon learning of the deaths of his father, mother, and brothers, Frederick Antonio, while in prison, had set his sights on revenge against Verinis. This bombing was a revenge plot orchestrated by Frederick Antonio, who had bribed Garcia while the latter was cleaning the floors of the high-security wing!

As Roan read, the smile on Frederick Antonio's face slowly vanished. When he heard the parts about his mother and brothers, a murderous rage flared in his eyes. He let out a distorted, guttural roar:

"Damn FBI agents! I will find someone to kill your entire family! I swear it!"