Chapter 171: A Cast of Villains
Squad Five, Office Area.
Everyone looked at Mona in unison, waiting for her to continue.
"Those black guys are members of the 'Cigar Gang', a small local black street gang in the Fordham community."
Mona tapped a few keys on her keyboard, displaying the computer's files to everyone:
"Agent Norton from the Organized Crime Investigation Division just sent me a file. It shows that the 'Cigar Gang' has recently been trying hard to expand its territory."
Roan picked up his coffee and took a sip:
"That's really not unexpected."
"Yeah."
Mona nodded, then suddenly burst into laughter:
"However, because of you and Ryder, the 'Cigar Gang' will probably be wiped out very soon."
Roan paused his movements:
"What do you mean?"
Hearing this, the others also wore puzzled expressions.
Mona didn't keep them in suspense and explained with a smile:
"The 'Cigar Gang' was established not long ago, and their numbers are small. A large portion of the guys you took out were core members of the gang. Now that the core members are dead, and the leader of the 'Cigar Gang' has offended quite a few other gangs in nearby areas recently while trying to expand his territory, so..."
The agents suddenly understood, and the looks they directed at Roan were once again filled with admiration.
Roan raised an eyebrow, not expecting this operation to have such an unexpected side effect. He planned to chat with Agent Norton from the Organized Crime Investigation Division later to see if there were any benefits to be gained.
However, the turf wars between gangs could be set aside for now; the urgent matter at hand was the murder case of the female judge.
Therefore, Roan looked at Mona and asked again:
"Have you figured out why those guys from the 'Cigar Gang' met with Avar Miller at the motel?"
"No."
Mona shook her head, indicating she hadn't found out yet, but Edwin Miller had already woken up, and he surely knew the reason behind it.
---
At the hospital, upon hearing Roan's question, Edwin Miller, lying on the hospital bed, endured the pain from his wounds and explained with an ugly expression:
"That's because Avar was doing business with those black guys!"
Edwin stated that some time ago, Avar had managed to acquire a batch of weapons from somewhere and intended to sell them to the 'Cigar Gang'. Today was the day Avar was scheduled to meet with the Cigar Gang to discuss the price.
Meeting at the motel was also Avar's idea.
However, he hadn't expected that the moment they met today, those black guys would pull out guns, pointing them at Avar and Edwin, intending to use the lives of the two brothers in exchange for the weapons.
---
Lacey, standing to the side, was speechless.
But on second thought, this kind of behavior was entirely consistent with the behavioral habits of those gang members.
Roan wasn't surprised by this at all; doing business with gangs meant always being prepared for the other party to double-cross you, especially when the other party was a newly established gang composed of low-level street thugs.
Jotting a few notes down in his small notebook, Roan asked:
"You mentioned earlier that you had an important clue to tell us. What is the clue?"
"Sand Dian, ********"
Hearing Roan's question, Edwin immediately rattled off a name and a string of digits, then said through gritted teeth:
"This is the fake identity Avar bought, along with the social security number for this fake identity. You must catch him and put him in prison!"
Edwin was a veteran who had fought for his country in his youth and had always abided by the laws of the country since returning.
However, some time ago, he lost his job and couldn't pay the exorbitant alimony on time. With no other choice, Edwin decided to turn to his cousin, who had been in and out of prison over the years, hoping to make some quick cash with his help.
What made Edwin happy was that Avar agreed without hesitation and didn't treat him like an outsider at all, showing him everything.
What made Edwin furious, however, was that the reason Avar didn't treat him like an outsider was simply because he never intended to let him survive; instead, he regarded him as human shielding for this transaction.
When the two met with the Cigar Gang today and learned that the gang intended to double-cross them, Edwin was extremely nervous, but Avar remained completely unfazed. Hearing gunshots from downstairs, Avar immediately shoved Edwin hard toward the barrels of the Cigar Gang's guns, smashed a window, and jumped from the second floor to escape.
---
Having finished listening to Edwin's account and looking at his sullen face, Roan and Lacey exchanged glances, both seeing the speechless expression in each other's eyes.
True to form, he was Avar Miller, a man whose trips to prison outnumbered his trips home.
Writing the name and social security number into his notebook, Roan remained silent for a few seconds, raised his head to briefly summarize the general situation of the judge shot outside the bakery, and then asked:
"Next to the body, we found two 9mm bullets with Avar's fingerprints on them. What does this case have to do with Avar?"
Edwin Miller opened his mouth but said nothing, lowering his head in silence.
Seeing this, Roan narrowed his eyes, and Lacey's expression beside him turned serious as well.
It seemed there was more to the story.
After a long hesitation, Edwin licked his dry lips, raised his head, and looked at Roan and Lacey:
"Before I talk about this, I demand full immunity from you for this case."
Lacey raised an eyebrow, not expecting Edwin to be involved in this case as well.
She turned to look at Roan, only to see Roan close his notebook and flash a wide grin:
"That depends on whether the information you provide is useful. If the information you give us allows us to solve this case, we will put in a good word for you before the judge."
"...OK."
---
After a long silence, Edwin let out a long breath and said in a deep voice:
"After Avar showed me the batch of weapons he had acquired, I stole ten handguns and a bunch of ammunition from there. And behind Avar's back, I secretly sold them off."
The reason Edwin asked Roan and Lacey for immunity was, firstly, because if he kept quiet now, the FBI would still expose him once they caught Avar. This was because although Avar had been in and out of prison many times, he had never sold guns alone, and the negotiation with the Cigar Gang was his first time doing so.
On the other hand, it was Edwin Miller who had loaded the guns.
Legally speaking, he was an accomplice to the murder.
By speaking up about this now, Edwin would still have grounds to plead for leniency before the judge in court. If he kept hiding it and the FBI eventually uncovered it, Edwin would find himself in serious trouble.
Edwin, a man of forty experiencing the torment of a brush with death all over again, now only wanted to live out the rest of his life in peace.
Listening to Edwin's description, Lacey rolled her eyes.
Clearly, in this entire story, there wasn't a single good person.
Roan didn't dwell on the matter and directly asked:
"Do you remember who you sold those guns and ammunition to?"
"Of course!"
Edwin nodded:
"I was very cautious about this; I recorded the time and location of every single transaction with pen and paper."
"Good."
Tossing the notebook to Lacey, Roan patted his thigh and stood up from his chair:
"We'll need that notebook."
Edwin was extremely cooperative:
"No problem!"
---
That same night, due to the severity of the case and high public attention, Squad Five was forced to work overtime.
As for Avar Miller, Squad Five handed his information over to the Fugitive Task Force under the Major Incident Response Team to hunt him down.
Catching the customized large hamburger tossed over by Augustus, Roan took a bite, looked at Mona, and asked:
"How is it? Any discoveries?"
Mona shook her head; she was still searching.
"Thanks for your hard work."
Patting Mona on the shoulder, Roan was just about to hand her the other hamburger when William, not far away, suddenly slapped his desk and shouted excitedly:
"I found a clue!"