Chapter 80: A New Clue

Luo An, Mona, and Lacey had just stepped out of the elevator when they saw August arriving at the door of Investigation Group Five.

Upon seeing the agents behind him, August immediately stopped and asked, “How’s Ryder doing now?”

“Nothing serious,” Luo An summarized the doctor’s diagnosis. Hearing this, August let out a sigh of relief.

He waved his hand, signaling the agents to return to their desks and carry on with their work, then pulled Luo An into his office.

“You did an outstanding job this time, Luo An!”

As soon as Luo An sat down, August grinned widely, revealing his molars. He didn’t go into details about the meeting, but Luo An clearly understood the final outcome: the other agents’ salaries would double this week, and his own bonus would quadruple.

Moreover, with the matter of the Hyena Gang finally resolved, and those people sent to prison, Investigation Group Five would receive a gratitude payment of about fifty thousand dollars, of which Luo An would get a share.

Not only that, August had also secured a promise from Veronice: if Luo An could solve two more cases in a short period, he would be promoted immediately to Senior Agent.

Luo An didn’t particularly care about the promotion, since the salary wouldn’t increase much anyway. But the bonuses and the future earnings made his eyes light up instantly.

“Thank you, sir!”

“You’ve earned it,” August waved him off, saying nothing more. Then, his smile abruptly faded, replaced by a serious expression as he looked at Luo An and spoke in a deep voice:

“Luo An, according to a message I received from Veronice, our FBI New York branch is planning to launch a ‘Star Agent Program’ soon.”

“?”

Luo An was taken aback. How could the words ‘agent’ and ‘star’ be combined?

Seeing the confusion on Luo An’s face, August began to explain in detail:

“You know, the crime rate in New York has always been high. While we in the FBI solve quite a few cases each year, there are even more unsolved ones.

This leads the media to criticize us constantly, saying we waste taxpayers’ money.”

Though the NYPD also gets its share of criticism, most of it comes from ordinary citizens because of the nature of their cases.

The FBI, however, deals with more special cases, often involving the wealthy and influential. When a case isn’t solved, it’s these people who call the FBI incompetent.

Luo An understood the implication, but he still couldn’t figure out how ‘star’ and ‘agent’ could be merged.

Was the leadership planning to create an image of a hundred-percent success rate?

“No one would ever claim to solve every case,” Luo An said, puzzled. “I don’t believe the higher-ups don’t know this.”

“Of course,” August nodded. The leadership was well aware of that and never intended to create a perfect record. “The ‘Star Agent Program’ actually intends to select a few good-looking agents to speak to the media about the details of solved cases. The real detectives won’t appear before the press.”

“What?”

Luo An’s face was filled with shock. “Are the higher-ups mad? Letting these pretty faces steal the credit from the real case-solvers?”

If this happened, Luo An couldn’t guarantee he’d solve every case, but he could wager that these so-called ‘star agents’ would definitely get shot at after work.

“You’re overthinking it, Luo An,” August rolled his eyes. The FBI leadership wouldn’t do something so foolish, so he continued:

“These ‘star agents’ are only for show, you understand? They won’t claim the cases as their own, just represent some agents and answer questions from reporters.”

“What about recognition and rewards?”

“The real agents who solve the cases will still get them.”

After August’s explanation, Luo An rolled his eyes. The whole plan sounded riddled with flaws.

The real agents, though rewarded, would be deprived of the right to be interviewed by the media. Seeing some pretty boy on TV talking about their case, who knows what thoughts would stir in their hearts?

Would they wait for a chance to shoot the imposter?

And what was the point of all this? Shouldn’t the true issue be increasing the actual case-solving rate?

August also found the plan unreliable, so he mainly wanted to warn Luo An today, his face grave as he said:

“Because of your outstanding recent performance—and you look somewhat like me—you’ve already caught the attention of certain people.

They may invite you to join this ‘Star Agent Program’ and perhaps even want you to proclaim a ‘hundred percent case-solving’ slogan, becoming a real ‘star agent’ rather than just a figurehead.”

So this was a warning not to be fooled by them.

Luo An suddenly understood the real purpose behind August’s words.

“Thank you, sir,” Luo An smiled and nodded, standing up to pour August a cup of coffee.

“I just want to quietly solve cases, quietly make money. I have no desire for fame.”

“Good,” August nodded with satisfaction, seeing Luo An’s sincerity.

On the broad land of America, there were many lunatics, or simply people with abnormal minds.

If the FBI really created a ‘hundred percent case-solving’ agent, those people would certainly try all sorts of ways to commit murders, many murders, bizarre and horrifying crimes, just to challenge that agent.

Especially those ‘uncrowned kings’ in America’s media—if it boosted ratings, they’d say anything except the most sensitive topics. Turning that agent into a modern Sherlock Holmes was entirely possible.

But if that agent ever failed a case, or made a mistake during an investigation—

The consequences were unimaginable.

Luo An only wanted to solve cases, earn bonuses and gratitude payments, and enjoy life. He had no intention of engaging in battles of wits with lunatics.

Making a fortune quietly was the way to go.

Knock knock knock—

A knock came at the office door. Luo An and August turned to see Lacey enter.

“The suspect, Sean, has been escorted to the interrogation room.”

“OK!”

Luo An nodded to August, decisively standing up and leaving the office.

But before he reached the interrogation room, his phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the caller ID—it was Agent Norton.

“Hello?”

He pressed the answer button and chuckled, saying, “Thanks for your effort. Our Group Five successfully took custody of the suspect, Sean. He’s in our interrogation room now.”

Luo An assumed Norton was checking if they had received the suspect.

“When we were interrogating the suspect earlier, we learned something new, Luo An,” Norton said, his voice a little strange. “Your investigation group—are you recently looking into a series of bank robberies?”

(End of chapter)