At 5:30 pm, Washington D.C., "Insomnia Building," Special Investigation Unit office area.

After reviewing Thomas's interrogation records, the expressions on the faces of Winslow, Chenier, Reesi, Mona, and Michelle were not good.

The opponent's practice of hiring killers for his illegitimate child and murdering the whole family is too despicable and contemptible.

Mona muttered a few curses under her breath, turned her head to Luo An, and found that Luo An was standing with his arms crossed in front of him, focused on the television in the front of the office area.

Mona walked over to Luo An and asked somewhat puzzledly while looking at the TV:

"Luo An, what are you watching?"

Luo An handed a cup of coffee to Mona and sipped a little from another cup he held, smiling:

"I'm appreciating the breeze and sunshine before the storm arrives."

[Case 210]is concluded, and the time has officially entered January 2007.

The TV was showing a financial news segment that many people disliked.

The female reporter on the TV stated that the second-largest subprime mortgage lending company, New Century Financial, may be facing a business crisis or operational crisis.

The company's top management denied this, claiming that the business was normal, and profits were still substantial, yet many of the senior executives were quietly selling off their shares...

After watching the news on the TV for a while, Mona didn't understand what Luo An meant, and asked:

"Are you thinking of shorting this company's stock?"

Mona's expertise lies in computers and technology, but her knowledge in finance extends only to basic vocabulary.

"I had that thought, but let's forget about it."

Luo An put down his coffee cup and shook his head.

The subprime crisis is the prelude to the financial crisis, the decline in the housing market is the prelude to the subprime crisis, and the announcement of bankruptcy by New Century Financial is the signal of the federal housing market's decline.

The time when New Century Financial declared bankruptcy was in April 2007, and now it is January, with about three months to go.

With these thoughts quickly flashing through his mind, Luo An smiled, patted the puzzled Mona on the shoulder, then walked over to Reesi and others, and asked:

"What are you discussing?"

"We are talking about Thomas and his illegitimate child."

Reesi shook the folder in her hand, her displeasure evident in her eyes, and asked:

"What does Mr. Clement say? Does he want our special unit to go after the illegitimate child?"

Luo An shook his head and took the folder:

"Mr. Clement has already assigned other agents to handle that matter; we don't need to intervene."

Chenier frowned deeply:

"Then what about us..."

"We just need to handle the cases we have on our own."

Luo An flicked the folder and said:

"This case seems to be one case, but in reality, it's several linked together.

The murder case of Blue-eyed Roy, CIA director ordering agents to silence, Vireness poisoning case, kidnapping and blackmailing at the nuclear lab..."

In addition, there is the "Integrity and Rules Office information leak" incident.

Luo An somewhat helplessly shook his head, these cases all needing to be separately archived and processed.

The early case involving Thomas, being handled by another investigative team as per Mr. Clement, was actually to alleviate some pressure on Luo An's special investigation unit.

"No problem."

Michelle raised her hand to give Luo An an OK gesture, indicating she would handle this aspect.

"No rush, we have plenty of time."

Luo An smiled, briefly explained a few things, and seeing that it was nearly time to leave work, shifted the topic by asking:

"Everyone, after finishing this case, we can have a few days off. Any thoughts on what to do?"

"No."

All the agents shook their heads together, accustomed already to relaxing for a few days after handling a case, either resting with family, reading and sleeping, or going out to nightclubs to have fun.

Seeing that no one had any particular ideas, Luo An pondered and suggested:

"How about we all go camping one day?"

"Camping?"

Reesi's eyes instantly lit up upon hearing this, and she eagerly raised her hand to ask:

"Are we talking about the kind where we pitch tents at night? Can I bring my family?"

"..."

Everyone looked at Reesi, speechless. Winslow retorted:

"Since when do you have a family?"

Reesi crossed her arms and shot Winslow a sideways glance, saying:

"Doesn't a girlfriend count as family?"

The agents were exasperated, and Luo An rubbed his temples, asking helplessly:

"Which girlfriend are you talking about now? The one named Susan with the red hair?"

"First of all, that girl's name is Lily, not Susan. You got their names mixed up."

Reesi seriously waggled her finger, adding:

"Second, the Lily you mentioned was my girlfriend two months ago. My girlfriend this month is Sofia, a college student interning at a government department in Washington D.C."

"…SIX."

Luo An twitched the corner of his mouth, gave Reesi a thumbs up, then selectively ignored her further question and asked the others:

"Do you guys have time?"

"I'm good."

Winslow spread his hands and laughed, saying:

"Lanita just quit her job at the company she used to work for, she's free lately, so it's a good time to go out for a picnic."

"We're also fine."

Chenier and Michelle, who were always on their own, had nothing special planned for the holiday and smiled at each other as they nodded in agreement.

"OK."

Luo An smiled, pushed away Reesi who was still asking if she could bring her girlfriend, and asked:

"Any good suggestions for the camping site?"

"I know a great place!"

Mona raised her hand, and just as she started speaking, Luo An quickly added:

"Right, let's avoid those secluded places... and try not to choose a lakeside cabin either."

Avoiding secluded places was a safety concern, considering Winslow's young son.

As for the lakeside cabin… its name didn't sound very auspicious.

Mona rolled her eyes dramatically, pulled out her laptop, and after a few keystrokes, pulled up a beautiful scenic picture, saying:

"How about Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming? It's one of the best federal campsites!"

Chenier and Michelle nodded:

"That sounds good."

Winslow also raised an OK sign:

"I'm good."

Luo An finally looked towards Reesi, who frowned slightly and said:

"Yellowstone National Park... I remember camping there requires reservations."

"Indeed, it does."

Mona typed a few more strokes, then showed the screen to everyone, laughing:

"But it's first come first serve, I think we won't have any issues."

Reesi chuckled upon hearing this:

"OK, then I'm good."

Luo An finished his coffee in one gulp, laughing:

"Alright everyone, get ready, we depart in four days."

"No problem!"

Laughter filled the office area, and as time passed and it reached closing time, everyone drove off from the building, heading home to rest.

Luo An and Mona returned to the villa, made a call to the cleaning service company for the villa that had been unoccupied for days, and began preparing dinner once it was cleaned.

After dinner, resting briefly, they went upstairs to wash up for bed. Mona, too tired from the past few days, wasn't in the mood to play games and soon fell asleep in bed.

Luo An wasn't in a hurry to sleep; he closed his eyes and opened that light blue page.