Chapter 146: The Case of the Male Corpse in the Park River

Seeing Roan step out of his Chevrolet, Henry, the branch manager of the first bank to be robbed, immediately walked over with a smile and extended his hand.

"Good morning, Agent."

"Just call me Roan."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Henry led Roan inside to showcase the bank’s newly installed surveillance and security systems. Once the demonstration was finished, Henry asked with a smile:

"Agent Roan, do you have any suggestions regarding the new security measures we've added?"

Roan tilted his head and thought for a moment before replying:

"From a security standpoint, the equipment certainly seems to provide comprehensive protection."

Just as Henry began to smile, Roan continued:

"However, you’ve overlooked one thing: the people you are dealing with are bank robbers. They are usually quite unconventional and will always find ways to pull off a heist that you’d never expect."

Henry’s expression stiffened. Realizing that Roan’s words held truth, he quickly asked:

"Then, Agent Roan, what do you suggest?"

"Glad you asked!"

Roan nodded and led Henry out into the main lobby. Just as Henry looked on in confusion, Roan grinned, and with lightning speed, pulled out two black ski masks. He donned one himself, shoved the other onto Henry’s head, and shouted:

"Nobody move! This is a robbery!"

Henry: "???"

The bank staff: "!!!"

—

A few hours later, at the office of Field Office 5.

"Listen up, agents!"

August pushed open the doors, his belly protruding, and waved a folder in the air as he shouted:

"We’ve got a new case!"

"At five o'clock this morning, a college student out for a morning jog discovered a body in the river at the park. The victim had been shot in the side of the head. Due to the nature of the park and the river, forensics found no witnesses and no relevant surveillance footage. The only clue is the victim’s car, which was found parked not far from the park, with the victim's computer still inside."

Roan frowned as he took the file, asking skeptically:

"A male body found in a park river? Why is this case being sent to us?"

Standard homicides were usually handled by the NYPD.

"Because the location of this park falls under federal jurisdiction."

Mona and Lacey exchanged a glance. Lacey reached out and pointed to the crime scene on the file:

"According to Title 18, crimes committed on federal land fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government."

—

"Fair enough."

Roan nodded. Beside him, William, having received the go-ahead from August, began to detail the specifics of the case:

"The victim is Brent Hughes, 42 years old, a wealthy investment banker working for a high-end firm on Wall Street, specializing in corporate mergers and acquisitions. As for his background, he had no criminal record, no outstanding debts, and no active lawsuits."

"But he did have a troublesome wife."

Mona tapped a few keys and chimed in with a smile:

"I pulled up Brent Hughes’s divorce records. They show that during one of Brent’s business trips, his wife, Marianne, was involved in a relationship that went beyond friendship with a plumber from a construction company."

"Wow, what a sad story."

August remarked casually, while Roan raised an eyebrow:

"A plumber? Are you sure?"

"Hmph!"

Mona shot Roan a sharp glare before continuing:

"Over the past year, Brent and Marianne had been in a constant dispute over child support payments."

Ryder, intrigued, leaned in and asked:

"Do we know the specifics of the dispute?"

Mona nodded and quickly brought up the demands:

"Indeed. Marianne was demanding $500,000 a month in support."

"Half a million?"

The entire room collectively gasped. Roan felt a surge of sympathy and, after a moment of thought, asked:

"Well, Marianne can take all of Brent’s money now. By the way, is she still with that plumber?"

"They are."

Mona nodded, pointing to the information on her screen:

"A month ago, the plumber moved into Marianne’s house and has been living with her."

Upon hearing this, Roan, August, Ryder, and William all shook their heads in unison. Just thinking about it made them feel a phantom ache for Brent Hughes.

Tossing the folder aside, Roan asked:

"What’s the plumber’s name?"

Mona’s fingers danced across her keyboard, quickly pulling up a photo and the profile of a middle-aged white man:

"Millard Thompson, 36 years old. According to company records, he started providing ‘service visits’ to the house shortly after Brent and Marianne moved into that neighborhood."

"I bet his ‘technique’ is quite good."

Looking at the photo on the screen, Roan shook his head in silence and continued:

"Does he have a record?"

Mona scrolled down and nodded:

"One DUI and one count of assault while intoxicated."

After briefly analyzing the remaining information, August stood at the front of the unit, hands on his hips, and began assigning tasks:

"Listen up! Everyone, keep investigating Brent Hughes. I want his private life, recent work, hobbies—everything. Ryder, get to forensics. As soon as the autopsy report is out, bring it back, and grab that computer, too. Lacey, go visit Brent’s office and see if there are any leads there."

Ryder and Lacey nodded in agreement. August then turned his gaze toward Roan.

Roan said with a serious expression:

"Mona and I will go interview the victim’s wife and have a word with the plumber."

"Good."

August nodded in satisfaction. Roan and Mona exchanged a look and headed toward the equipment locker.

—

The black SUV sped down the streets of New York.

Mona sat in the passenger seat, checking Marianne’s financial status on her laptop, and asked casually:

"Roan, I heard you went to those banks that were robbed yesterday to upgrade their security. Care to share what adjustments you made?"

Roan raised an eyebrow, turned the steering wheel to merge onto a different road, and replied:

"I dismantled the outdated mental barriers of the bank managers, helped them break through their ideological confines, achieved an abstract operationalization of robbery crime theory, perfectly leveraged the action dividends of the previous robbers, seized the high ground to iterate their security facilities, and realized a dimensionality-reduction strike within the ecological niche."

Mona: o_O

Seeing that Roan showed no signs of stopping, a bewildered Mona quickly shouted:

"Stop! Speak English!"

Roan blinked and said bluntly:

"I pretended to be a bank robber and showed the managers several ways a thief could bypass their current security to successfully rob them."

Mona: "."

The car arrived at Marianne’s house just then. Mona shot Roan a scathing look, closed her laptop, and stepped out.

Standing at the entrance of the villa, they exchanged a look before Roan reached out and pressed the doorbell.