Chapter 96: The Fifth and Sixth Robberies Solved

Roan did not hesitate. He turned and walked to the perimeter of the villa, looking at the SWAT officers stationed outside and asked, "Did anyone try to escape just now?"

"No." The SWAT officer responsible for the perimeter pounded his chest in assurance—no one had left the villa.

"Alright." Roan nodded, studied the villa for a few seconds, then turned and said in a low voice, "Bring a police dog over here."

"No problem." The SWAT officer nodded and immediately went off.

Inside the villa, Lacey was contacting the NYPD, requesting a few patrol officers to assist in taking preliminary statements from the men and women inside.

Seeing Roan return to the villa, Lacey exchanged a few words with him, promised to meet at the hotel tonight, then hung up and walked to Roan’s side, asking gravely, "Dylan is not in the villa. What do we do next?"

Roan’s lips twitched at the faint female voice he heard before the call ended. He took a deep breath, as if nothing had happened, and pointed at the villa: "There’s a high chance there’s a hidden room in this villa. Dylan may be hiding there right now."

This idea came from Roan’s memory of the last raid on the Hyena Gang.

"OK." Lacey arched her brow, about to say more, when a SWAT officer entered, leading a black police dog.

Roan wasted no words, took the dog upstairs to the master bedroom, opened the closet, and grabbed a shirt. He held it to the dog’s nose.

"Find the owner of this clothing!"

"Woof!" After sniffing the shirt, the black dog barked loudly, spun twice in place, and immediately dashed out of the room.

Roan and Lacey followed closely. The dog raced downstairs, circled the living room, and headed straight for the garage attached to the villa.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!" In the southwest corner of the garage, the police dog barked furiously at a wall cabinet.

"Good job!" Roan grinned, rubbing the dog's head, then carefully inspected the cabinet and said, "On the surface it’s a wooden cabinet, but the base is actually metal."

Without hesitation, Lacey turned with the police dog: "I’m going to find some tools."

After a while, all the men and women in the villa had given their statements to the patrol officers. Brandon, who had been loudly protesting his innocence, was also escorted back to Investigation Team Five by two SWAT officers for interrogation by William and others.

Buzz, buzz, buzz—

In the garage, golden sparks burst around the cabinet as a SWAT officer wielded a cutting tool, slicing out a square shape. Minutes later, the officer stopped the tool, turned to Roan and Lacey, and gave an "OK" gesture.

"Thank you, well done." Roan smiled and nodded. Once the officer left with the cutting tool, Roan drew his Glock 18. He and Lacey stood on either side of the square cut into the cabinet. They exchanged a glance, counted to three, and Roan kicked the square inward without hesitation.

As the metal door collapsed inward, Roan tossed a stun grenade inside.

Bang!

The moment after the stun grenade exploded, Roan, in combat stance, rushed into the hidden room behind the metal door at lightning speed.

Inside, Dylan, face flushed from drinking, clutched a leather bag to his chest, crouched with a pistol in hand, hiding beside the door. The sound of the cutting tool was agony to him, every second dragging on. When he heard the FBI voices earlier, he had rushed to this spot. Here he had stashed his gun, cash, and other supplies, intending to wait until the FBI left, then escape with the money.

He had never expected the FBI to use a police dog and find the hidden room so quickly.

At first, Dylan was not panicked—he had a gun. He thought if someone barged in, he could take a hostage and improvise a way out.

What he did not expect was that they threw a stun grenade before entering!

"Damned FBI!" Dylan cursed as he saw the stun grenade.

Bang!

After the explosion, Dylan was dizzy, his insides in agony, his eyes and ears stabbed with pain, nearly passing out. But sensing someone entering, he forced himself up, trembling, and raised his pistol toward the door.

Roan was faster. As he stormed in, he immediately spotted Dylan in the corner and the gun in his hand. Seeing Dylan collapse to the floor, about to fire, Roan’s expression turned cold. He raised the Glock 18 and fired at Dylan's arms without hesitation.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Roan!" Lacey’s face changed at the sounds of gunfire from inside.

"Ah—" The next moment, a scream not belonging to Roan echoed from the hidden room.

Dylan, hit twice in each arm, blood streaming, collapsed on the floor, appeared before Lacey.

"Whew—" Lacey exhaled in relief and promptly cuffed Dylan’s still-bleeding hands behind his back.

"Call an ambulance, now!"

After handing the unconscious Dylan over to the SWAT officers outside, Mona breathed a sigh of relief, turned to Roan with a relaxed smile: "Nice work, Roan! Now we just need to search all the places these two lived and see if we can find the stolen cash!"

"I believe I’ve already found a portion of the stolen cash." Roan smiled, showing Lacey the leather bag Dylan had been lying on. When Lacey looked puzzled, Roan pulled the bag open—inside lay several neat bundles of cash.

If it were only these bills, Roan would not be so sure Dylan was the bank robber. But the pistol Dylan used matched exactly the models used in the last two robberies.

He bent down and collected the gun, smiling at Lacey, "Now it’s time for the forensic team to do their work."

——

"Nice work, Roan!" In the office of Investigation Team Five, Augustus laughed heartily after learning from the forensic team that Dylan’s pistol was nearly identical to those used in the fifth and sixth shooting cases. Roan could even see Augustus’s molars.

"This was a team effort, sir," Roan shook his head. Though he had led the case and provided the overall strategy, every agent in Team Five had contributed their expertise.

"Of course!" Augustus nodded, clearly pleased with Roan’s attitude. He patted Roan’s shoulder and, in front of the delighted agents, announced loudly, "Everyone’s bonus next week will be doubled! And I’ll request a day off for you all!"

The agents erupted in cheers, about to applaud, when Augustus suddenly took a deep breath and added, "But that’s only if you catch the bank robbers from the first four cases this week as well."

"What?" The faces of all the agents fell instantly.

Augustus chuckled, about to say more, when William—who had been assigned to interrogate Brandon—strode over and said gravely, "Everyone, after the interrogation, Brandon has confessed to being the robber in the last two cases. But, in hopes of a reduced sentence, he claims to know who the robbers were in the first four cases."

The agents were stunned for a moment, then all turned their eyes to Augustus.

Augustus: "..."

(The end of this chapter)