Legendary FBI Detective

"The situation is as follows."

From a temporary borrowed office, in front of the conference room's floor-to-ceiling windows, Luo An looked at the scenery outside while briefly summarizing the interrogation record on his phone.

Having finished his summary, Luo An awaited a response from Vireness on the other end of the phone, but all that could be heard was faint breathing.

As time ticked by second by second, Luo An's expression gradually grew more serious, and he asked:

"Chief, this case..."

"Put a hold on making any arrests in this case."

Before Luo An could finish speaking, Vireness interrupted him with a serious tone, repeating:

"Halt your actions for now."

"Chief."

Luo An narrowed his eyes slightly and said:

"I need a reason."

A few seconds of silence followed on the other end of the line, then came a deep breath. Vireness said in a grave voice:

"After listening to your briefing, I was reminded of a case. I'll send you the case file shortly.

The reason for pausing your investigation is not what you're thinking. It's because Mr. Clement is not here these days; the White House needs him.

Once Mr. Clement returns, I will report this case to him, and then we will continue to handle it."

Vireness's words were straightforward; they had the capability to handle the case, but without her and Luo An handling things behind the scenes, it would get messy.

It would be better to wait for Mr. Clement to return to coordinate the behind-the-scenes affairs, and then Vireness and Luo An could deal with the case.

"I understand, Chief."

With Vireness's assurance, Luo An relaxed slightly. After a brief exchange, they ended the call, and Luo An went to his computer to start reviewing the case files Vireness had sent him.

The contents of the case file were not complicated; it was also an unsolved serial murder case, along with its investigation records.

'Serial murder case remains unsolved' was merely a cover-up.

The reality was that the case had been almost entirely investigated, yet it remained recorded in that way in the archives due to some complex issues involved, which the FBI was involved with.

The complexity of the situation had a simple reason, mainly because the case involved the Federation's true leading organization:

The Church!

Christianity has been an important part of the Federation's history and culture since the discovery of the American continent by Europeans and has become an inseparable part of the Federation's social and political life.

The influence of Christianity is omnipresent in the Federation, from everyday life to presidential elections; the Church plays a significant role without anyone noticing.

Many say the Federation is a country governed by law, but at every presidential inauguration, it is not the Constitution that is pressed beneath the right hand, but a thick Bible.

Every time the President delivers a national address, he doesn't say 'the law blesses the Federation,' but 'God blesses the Federation.'"

The information Vireness sent to Luo An contained unsolved serial murder cases where the perpetrators behind the scenes were some priests from the Church.

They brainwashed certain followers with doctrines, fooling them into 'offering themselves,' deceiving not only girls and boys into sex, but also adults into giving up their lives to be killed by others—proclaiming that their souls would ascend to Heaven.

After all, the souls of those who commit suicide are destined for Hell.

And those 'others' were naturally people who craved the thrill of killing but did not dare because of the law and other reasons.

In the 'unsolved' serial murder cases, some priests in the Church took money from both ends:

On the one hand, they fooled the believers 'willing to dedicate their souls' into letting themselves be killed, while at the same time, also conning them into 'offering' their worldly wealth to the Church—that is, to the priests.

On the other hand, these priests also took money from those who wanted to taste the thrill of murder. Although you are helping the faithful "ascend to Heaven", murder is still murder, and "volunteering to be killed" is not a common resource, so it requires a fee, an added premium.

This case occurred fourteen years ago, and although the case record indicated it was "unsolved", soon after the case came to light, the FBI in conjunction with the church to conceal the scandal, had already arrested a large number of the implicated priests.

However, because the operation needed to be kept low-profile, and it was not large-scale enough to move simultaneously, ultimately there were some that slipped through the net.

The incident happened so long ago that Vireness hadn't thought of it before.

After hearing Luo An's words, she then recalled this matter and speculated that the mastermind behind the consecutive beach shootings was one of the few that had slipped through the net from that year's case.

However, considering the complicated situation and attitude of the church, Vireness decided to wait for Mr. Clement to return so he could negotiate with the church before proceeding with the arrests.

After scanning through the data on the computer, Luo An pondered for a few seconds, expressionlessly printed out a document using the printer, then stepped out of the office, declaring aloud:

"Everyone, the operation for this case is on hold."

"What?!"

"You said what?"

Upon hearing this, Mona, Reesi, and Winslow were visibly shocked, Chenier's expression changed, and Michelle, thinking of something, asked anxiously:

"Is someone trying to suppress this case?"

Michelle had previously worked at the FBI's Washington Headquarters and had seen many similar situations.

"No."

Passing the folder to Reesi, Reesi hurriedly reached out to take it and look, while Winslow and Mona quickly squeezed to Reesi's side, Luo An shook his head and said:

"It's not that the investigation of the case is permanently stopped, just the operation is on hold."

After reviewing the information in the folder, a look of contempt flashed in Mona's eyes, Reesi let out a cold laugh, and Winslow cursed under his breath.

Snatching the document to take a look, Chenier and Michelle's faces revealed understanding, while Mona, thinking of Luo An's words just now, asked:

"So, we're not dealing with this serial murder case anymore?"

Before calling Vireness, the original plan of Group 13's agents was to use Innis Heller's disposable phone to contact the "organization's" dealers.

To set a trap for arrest, bring the "organization's" dealers back for interrogation, and then trace back to the source, to eradicate the people in the "organization" all at once, to clarify their purpose and the truth behind purchasing so many "meat rabbits", and to send the mastermind behind bars.

Hearing Mona's question, Winslow and Reesi looked up at Luo An in unison, while Chenier and Michelle also took their eyes off the folder and turned their gaze to Luo An, eager to hear what he had to say.

Seeing everyone's gaze, Luo An shook his head, cracked a grin, and said:

"Everyone, I only said to put the arrest operation on hold, I didn't say to pause the investigation."

Arresting is arresting, investigating is investigating, these are two different things.

Group 13 had already received plenty of useful clues from Innis Heller's mouth and the file sent by Vireness, such as the "organization" dealers' appearance, height, and the model of their cars, etc.

Since the arrest operation has been forced to pause, they will use these clues, along with those from the underground crime websites, to continue investigating the "organization's" situation.

Instead of following the original plan of tracing back to source for arrest, Group 13 would try to clarify the "organization's" member information, division location, etc., to completely eradicate them all at once!

After Luo An finished speaking, the corners of Winslow's and Reesi's mouths rose, their eyes all lit up:

"Understood!"

"No problem!"

The oppressive atmosphere in the office area was swept away, and everyone briefly shared the information they had and immediately began to allocate the tasks each needed to handle next.

Just then, Michelle suddenly remembered something and said:

"Luo An, the Trace Examination Division called for you earlier."