CHAPTER 542: CHAPTER 542: IDENTITY, A CASE WITH A MILLION-DOLLAR ENTRANCE FEE

The United States Secret Service, abbreviated as USSS.

This department belongs to the Federal Department of Homeland Security, its employees are divided into special agents and the uniformed division, mainly overseeing the prevention and investigation of the counterfeiting of US dollars, government bonds, other types of tickets, as well as protecting the president, vice president, and their families.

Forty minutes later, in the meeting room of the thirteenth investigation team, Luo An and Vireness were seated at the center chairs, with Winslow and Chenier standing behind them. Across from them sat a man in athletic wear, expressionless.

On the conference table, Mona’s laptop was placed before Luo An and Vireness, the screen displaying the identity information of the man in athletic wear.

"Alehlo-Moore."

Luo An looked at the available information on the other party, and said with a smile:

"That’s an uncommon name."

Alehlo paid no attention to Luo An; he turned his gaze to Vireness and said:

"Until my direct superior arrives, I won’t answer any of your questions."

Vireness’s makeup was stoic, her expressionless face seemed even colder. She opened a folder and tossed it to Alehlo across from her:

"This is an order signed for you by your direct superior’s superior."

In the USSS (Secret Service), Alehlo was just an ordinary senior special agent.

His immediate superior was the Special Agent Leader, but since Vireness did not have the contact information for him, she directly called a director, who was a rank above the special agent leader.

Alehlo: "..."

Seeing the expression on the face opposite him turning red, his mouth opening and closing without knowing what to say, Luo An grinned and proceeded to pour coffee into the cup in front of Vireness.

His colleague not only had long white appealing legs but also never failed him in crucial moments. Truly dependable.

Alehlo looked down at the folder for a long while then raised his head and asked:

"...What do you want to know?"

Vireness turned her gaze to Luo An, who found and handed over a photo of the victim, Nockvic, and asked:

"Is he one of your Secret Service’s men?"

"NO."

Alehlo shook his head and replied:

"Nockvic had participated in the Secret Service’s screening and training but couldn’t persist till the end, so he was transitioned to be an informant for our Secret Service."

"Was Nockvic’s superior you? Were you responsible for contacting him?"

"Specifically, for the past five years, yes."

Alehlo licked his somewhat chapped lips, answering:

"His original superior got promoted within the Secret Service, so Nockvic was transferred under my command."

Thinking of the safety deposit box found earlier, Luo An asked:

"The money in the safety deposit box, did it all come from your Secret Service?"

"That’s correct."

Alehlo nodded:

"Nockvic was a very outstanding informant, which is why his previous handler solved so many cases and got promoted so quickly.

And for that reason, the informant fee Nockvic received was always among the highest tier."

"OK."

Winslow pondered for a moment then followed up with a question:

"So, Nockvic was killed because his informant status was exposed?"

The term "informant," often combined with "snitch" and "traitor" at the Federation Cultural Station, was highly despised.

Nockvic was an excellent informant who made a lot of money from this status; it’s uncertain how many people would want to kill him.

"It’s possible."

Luo An nodded, directing his gaze at Alehlo, saying:

"The issue now is, what exactly was Nockvic investigating before he was murdered."

Seeing Luo An’s look, Alehlo was silent for a moment, his complexion darkening, and he replied:

"Sorry, I don’t know."

"What?"

"I really don’t know."

Alehlo’s face looked quite troubled as he explained:

"A month ago, Nockvic reached out to me, said he had stumbled upon a major case, but needed some funds to investigate, as he didn’t have enough money himself, so he borrowed some from me."

"How much was it approximately?"

"...600,000 US Dollars."

Seeing the odd look in Winslow and the other’s gaze, Alehlo quickly explained:

"That’s my own money! I’ve saved it over the years!"

Nockvic had told him that as long as the case was cracked, he could earn a substantial amount of money himself, and Alehlo was assured of a promotion.

Alehlo thought it over for a while. Given Nockvic’s high reliability and nearly flawless record over many years, he agreed and lent him the funds a week ago.

In addition to Alehlo’s 600,000 US dollars, Nockvic had also taken a significant portion of his accumulated informant fees over the years, almost 400,000 US dollars.

The two sums together nearly reached 1 million US dollars, all for the sake of investigating the major case Nockvic had mentioned.

Winslow looked at Alehlo with disbelief:

"You gave away such a large sum of money, 600,000 US dollars! And you have no idea what case Nockvic was looking into?"

"I really don’t know!"

Seeing Winslow’s suspicion, Alehlo became visibly agitated, his veins bulging and his face growing ugly with anger as he said:

"After Nockvic got that 600,000 US dollars, I lost contact with him!

This whole week, I’ve had people watching Nockvic’s wife, Margery, to prevent her from leaving the Federation!

Last night, Nockvic finally sent me a message and arranged a meeting at a certain location.

But I waited for a long time, and Nockvic never showed up, so I sent him a message to ask what was happening..."

Winslow and Chenier exchanged a dubious glance, still not quite believing Alehlo’s explanation, leaving Alehlo restless and flushed with anxiety.

Luo An squinted his eyes and took a sip of coffee.

Through the "Emotion Perception", Luo An confirmed that the other party was telling the truth, and after thinking for a moment, he understood the entire course of events:

A month ago, Nockvic discovered a major case, but due to a lack of funds, he approached Alehlo.

Because the amount was substantial, Alehlo took a long time to decide, and only a week ago agreed to lend the money to Nockvic.

Having received the funds, Nockvic told his wife Margery he was going out to drive for someone, but in reality, he was investigating the case, and both Margery and Alehlo lost contact with Nockvic since then.

Last night, after being out of contact for a long time, Nockvic sent a message, which might indicate he had found some leads, or it might be for some other reason, but anyhow he wanted to meet with Alehlo.

But Alehlo waited in vain for hours because Nockvic had been killed in the early hours of the morning at a park by the Potomac River.

"A case that requires 1 million US dollars just to gain entry for investigation..."

Luo An set down the coffee cup, a flicker of thought crossing his eyes, and waved his hand for Winslow and Chenier to take Alehlo out of the conference room.

The door of the conference room closed, and Vireness’s expression, which had been tense and cold, slowly softened as she asked in a soft voice:

"Luo An, what are you thinking?"

"The case is complicated."

Luo An spread his hands; that private club Reesi and Chenier couldn’t enter, the 1 million US dollars "investigation fund", Nockvic’s death without a trace, all were hints that there was extraordinary background to this matter.

How to investigate was Luo An’s duty, but whether or not to continue investigating...

Luo An picked up the coffee pot again, filled Vireness’s cup, then looked at her mature and composed face and remained silent.

Considering her career achievements, Luo An guessed that Vireness would not abandon the case, because she and Mr. Clement needed merits and social connections, among other things.

Sure enough, after a moment of thought, Vireness stood up, her expression serious as she said:

"Luo An, this case is yours now."

Luo An nodded, and without waiting for him to speak, Vireness leaned in and whispered in Luo An’s ear:

"Mr. Clement was invited to attend the President’s dinner a few days ago, remember to call if you encounter any problems."

"Yes, boss."

Luo An immediately smiled, thought for a moment, and said:

"Boss, that private club, we’re having a bit of trouble investigating it."

"I’ll handle it."

Vireness nodded lightly at Luo An and took her folder, leaving the Thirteenth Investigation Team.

The door closed and Mona looked up at Luo An:

"What do we do next?"

Luo An pointed at the clock on the wall and smiled:

"It’s time to get off work, let’s go home!"