Chapter 555: Mona falls ill, clues, searching for the Masked Man
FBI Washington Headquarters, a three-story villa in a northwest community.
"Targeting you?"
Hearing Luo An's words, everyone present was suddenly shocked, Mona's face turned even paler, and Reesi asked anxiously:
"What's going on? How can you be so sure about that?"
"Check the surveillance."
Luo An pushed his laptop forward, displaying the surveillance footage to everyone.
In this villa, Luo An had installed many hidden cameras, except for Mona and Caroline's bedrooms and bathrooms; he did not even spare his own room.
From several different corners, Luo An set up five surveillance devices, capturing everything that happened in the bedroom clearly.
Everyone's eyes turned to the computer screen, only to see the man in the black mask breaking into the villa and heading straight to the second-floor study and Luo An's bedroom, beginning to search for items.
Unsure of what the black mask man's goal was, he searched for a while without finding anything significant and then turned to Mona and Caroline's room.
The time the black mask man spent searching in Mona and Caroline's room added up to no more than four minutes, but the time spent in Luo An's room far exceeded ten minutes.
In the end, the man in the black mask left empty-handed, turned to go downstairs, prepared to leave through a window, and then he encountered two men in jackets.
After the surveillance footage ended, the air in the study was quiet.
"I've already found out the identities of those two men in jackets."
Luo An tapped the computer keyboard a few times, and pictures of two Caucasian men appeared on the screen.
Earlier, when Winslow had contacted trace evidence analysis, and Mona, Caroline, and others were rushing back from the hospital, Luo An had gone upstairs for a while.
During that time, Luo An took out his phone and called Javari, briefly described the appearance of the two men in jackets, and Javari quickly identified them as the "youngsters" working for the "old fellows" who were previously described as targeting Caroline.
Javari sent the information of the two to Mona's computer, and after Luo An carefully checked it, he found that one was a rogue assassin and the other had worked for a smuggling syndicate; neither were ordinary people.
Winslow and others quickly finished reading the information of the two men in jackets, and Chenier frowned tightly:
"Luo An, you are right, the target of the man in the black mask was highly likely you."
Mona's expression sank a bit, worry flashed through Caroline's eyes, and Reesi looked up, asking with confusion:
"Luo An, who have you made enemies with recently? Or rather, what item have you taken?
This man in the black mask clearly came here looking for something."
"I'm still thinking, and I haven't figured it out yet."
Luo An closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with a slight headache.
From joining Team Five to his promotion to the Special Investigation Team and then the transfer to Team Thirteen, Luo An had solved many cases along the way.
Looking back at these cases, Luo An had made far too many enemies along the way, and a list of them would not even fit on one piece of paper.
As Luo An pondered with his eyes closed, Winslow and the others also had no idea and could only continue to review the surveillance footage.
Michelle, standing by Mona's side, thought about it and asked:
"Is there a way to find the fingerprints of the man in the black mask?"
"Can't find them."
Chenier shook her head, and Winslow frowned slightly and replied:
"This guy wore gloves, and on his shoes, he had two black shoe covers.
Additionally, this guy's movements bear the mark of military training, careful and attentive to detail, leaving basically no clues behind."
"No, there are still clues."
Luo An opened his eyes, leaned forward to pull the computer closer, and said in a deep voice:
"The height of the cabinet in my room is 170cm, and when this guy stood beside it, the top of the cabinet only reached his earlobe.
The distance from the earlobe to the top of the head is usually about 20cm, so this guy should be around 190cm tall.
One meter ninety, well-proportioned figure, likely military background, agile, quick reflexes, sharpshooter..."
As he spoke, Luo An's eyes narrowed, his speech gradually slowed, and just as Reesi was about to inquire further, Luo An suddenly raised his head and said:
"Everyone, let's split up and check the community surveillance as well as the surrounding area's footage.
This man in the black mask couldn't have possibly left no other clues besides the ones in my bedroom."
"OK!"
"No problem!"
Winslow and the others nodded their heads in agreement, gave a few brief instructions, and everyone filed out, leaving only Mona, Caroline, and Luo An in the study.
Mona sat on a chair in the corner, covering her abdomen, her face pale, while Caroline sat next to her and whispered words of comfort.
After everyone had left, Luo An walked up to Mona, hugged her gently, and asked worriedly in a low voice:
"What did the doctor say about the check-up results?"
Mona leaned her head against Luo An's chest and replied in a low voice:
"Just some inflammation, I'll be fine with some medication and rest for a while."
Luo An nodded but remained silent, then turned his gaze to Caroline standing nearby.
Caroline opened her mouth as if to speak but then hesitated. Seeing this, Luo An's gaze shifted subtly, and he scooped Mona into his arms and walked toward the bedroom of another unoccupied guest room not far away.
Laying Mona down on the bed, Luo An bent down to kiss her forehead gently, comforting her in a soft tone:
"You rest well today, Caroline will stay with you, and I'll be back soon."
"I understand."
Mona was aware of the unusual situation and reached out to touch Luo An's face, as she lifted her head to kiss him on the corner of his mouth, a pale smile on her face:
"Be careful."
"OK."
Luo An smoothed the messy strands of hair on Mona's forehead to one side and tucked her in before standing up and leaving the guest room.
As the door shut, Luo An's expression suddenly turned grave. He pulled Caroline to one side and asked in a serious tone:
"What exactly happened?"
"Don't look so grim; it's not a matter of life and death yet."
Caroline patted Luo An's shoulder, then took out some medicine and handed it to him, explaining:
"Mona didn't lie to you; it really is just inflammation.
But because Mona has a habit of drinking cold water and eating cold food, her stomach has always been weak. Add to that her irregular periods, a bunch of symptoms all erupted these past few days, which is why she ended up like this."
"OK."
Assured that Caroline was telling the truth, Luo An suddenly felt relieved.
He went into the kitchen to boil a pot of hot water, poured a bottle of energy tonic into it, and carried the kettle into the guest room to place it on the nightstand. Luo An looked at Caroline, who was taking care of Mona:
"Please take good care of Mona."
"Don't worry."
Caroline nodded and gave Luo An an OK hand gesture.
Leaving Reesi to help take care of and guard the two women, Luo An had just stepped out of the villa when Chenier approached with a serious tone:
"Luo An, Winslow and I checked the community's security cameras, and we didn't find the man with the black mask."
Winslow frowned:
"That guy is very cautious; I suspect he has scouted out this community before; otherwise, he wouldn't be so familiar with the locations of the security cameras."
Luo An's expression remained unchanged as he walked with the two towards the community manager's place, asking as he went:
"Before the man with the black mask broke into the villa, were there any suspicious vehicles?"
"None."
Winslow and Chenier shook their heads simultaneously, and Michelle, who was nearby, thought for a moment and said:
"There were a few taxis parked on the road on the east side of the community.
But those taxis were positioned off to the side, and the surveillance cameras couldn't capture the drivers' faces."
"Taxis?"
Luo An's expression shifted slightly as he asked:
"Can you make out the license plates of those taxis?"
Michelle, holding Mona's laptop in her arms, looked up and replied:
"The community's surveillance cameras can't, but the cameras at the nearby intersection can."
"Then check the identities of these drivers."
"No problem."
Michelle nodded, got into the car, and began typing on the computer keyboard. Fortunately, this task wasn't too difficult; simply accessing the system directly with FBI credentials would do.
Meanwhile, Luo An had obtained a record of the vehicles that entered and left the community before and after the villa break-in from the community manager with Winslow and Chenier.
As the three were looking over the records, Michelle managed to identify all the taxi drivers:
"Luo An, here are the people."
Luo An looked at the computer and suddenly recognized a familiar figure.
"Is it him?!"