North America Gunman Detective Chapter 39: 038 Black car

Jimmy hurried to Sumrfield and found Das Moro. Moro let Jimmy into his house, then pointed out a cargo truck parked by the street through the window.

"That's the one, the truck parked by the roadside. I didn't see anyone go near it, but I might not have noticed if soone did when I wasn't looking."

"OK, I'll go check it out."

Jimmy turned and walked toward the cargo truck.

It was a dium-sized box truck, the type commonly seen in movies, about the size of a roadside food truck. There was no one in the cab, and Jimmy checked the exterior of the cargo compartnt; it wasn't very dusty. He walked to the rear of the truck, knocked on the cargo compartnt, and the sound was dull, much more so than knocking on an empty shipping container would be.

Jimmy visited several neighboring hos to see if anyone knew anything about the truck, but unfortunately, no one knew when it had been parked there, who the driver was, and there were no security caras installed in the area. Based on what the neighbors said, the truck appeared to have been parked there about three evenings ago and did not disturb anyone. It had not seed strange until no one ca to drive it away after three days, which then raised everyone's suspicions.

Jimmy returned to the patrol car, contacted the dispatch center via radio to check the license plate. The dispatch center conducted a search and reported that the number plate was fake.

Now this was awkward, a cargo truck with a fake license plate and no driver. In such a situation, even if the vehicle were impounded, there would be no one to notify.

After pondering for a mont, Jimmy got out of the car and walked to Frank Moses's house. Maybe Frank would know sothing given that, according to his own speculation, if anyone else was going to be aware of the truck situation, it would likely be Frank, considering he was an agent.

Jimmy wasn't lucky, though; despite knocking several tis, there was no response, and it seed that the house was empty.

Jimmy contacted Sergeant Cage directly by phone, and Cage instructed him to contact a parking lot and leave a notice of impoundnt at the scene.

Jimmy did as instructed, sticking the notice of impoundnt on a wooden fence by the roadside, listing the contact details and reasons for the impoundnt. If anyone saw it, they could get in touch with him to arrange for retrieval, although the hope was slim; with a fake number plate, the person coming to claim the truck would face charges of forgery, impoundnt, fines, and detention...

After contacting the parking lot and arranging for soone to co tow the cargo truck, Jimmy returned to Moro to report the outco, and then he left.

In the afternoon, Jimmy received news from the parking lot that the cargo truck contained a bunch of packing boxes and wooden fras for securing goods; there were no actual goods inside, and no relevant vehicle or cargo docuntation was found in the cab. This was an unregistered vehicle.

Jimmy had a hunch that it might be related to Frank, and the goods inside had likely been moved.

Finding no owner, they decided to treat it as an unregistered cargo truck; after all, if no one claid it after a certain ti, these noncompliant vehicles would be processed collectively.

In the evening, Jimmy visited Sumrfield again, but Frank's house was still empty. He left his business card wedged in the door and departed.

Whether the truck was involved with Frank or not, it was necessary to make contact and confirm. Jimmy guessed that Frank was probably an agent, and if you add a truckload of equipnt to the mix, any incident would likely beco a major event. In the past, Jimmy would have steered clear as far as possible, but now, with Golden Finger, he suddenly found the quiet life too boring.

Once people suddenly acquire so ability or beco instant millionaires, they often do so bizarre things, like the mutants in comics. There are many cases where soone suddenly gains a power and then a tragedy ensues.

Jimmy's ntality was sowhat similar to these people. He had been just an ordinary police officer, but after acquiring new abilities, he started to show a more aggressive attitude. Luckily, he had no criminal impulses; instead, he found dealing with regular events lacked excitent and just went through the motions.

But Jimmy was relatively lucky; compared to national United States data, the cri rate in Arkansas was very low. Of course, this was mainly because Arkansas was poorer and had fewer people. In 2019, the state population was 3 million, with an average density of 21.8 people per square kiloter, whereas in 2003, the population was 2.7 million.

Little Rock, as the capital of Arkansas and seat of Plaskey County, had 160,000 people in 2019. Including North Little Rock and the surrounding six counties as part of the tropolitan area, the total population was 740,000.

Let's make a comparison. Asia's largest residential complex, Tian Tong Yuan in Beijing, has 645 apartnt buildings with a resident population of 700,000, covering about 8 square kiloters.

The vast area and sparse population are defining features of the living situation in Arkansas, entirely decentralized. Apart from a slightly higher population density in urban areas, the surrounding villages and towns are typically ho to a few hundred people, and beyond that, it's mostly farms and forests. Describing it as sparsely populated and having vast lands isn't an exaggeration.

In such an environnt, the likelihood of serious cris occurring is naturally much lower than in more populous and economically developed areas. For police, the cases they deal with are mostly various violations and infractions, and high-risk situations are rare.

Life as a county police officer is monotonous, and Jimmy considered taking a leave to vacation around the area. Not far from Little Rock is Hot Spring City, ho to the Hot Spring National Park, which could be one of the smallest national parks. The main activities are soaking in hot springs and enjoying the woods.

Jimmy, a single man with nothing much to do, decided to just pick up and go whenever he wished. When a rest day arrived, he'd just drive straight there.

Hot Springs is about an hour's drive away from Little Rock, southwest of the city. Hot Spring National Park lies on the northern edge of the city and has no so-called entrances and exits; it is not a large park, covering 22 square kiloters, with dozens of natural hot springs. However, all natural springs have been covered by hot spring hotels, so if you want to find a spring to imrse yourself in, think again.

Hot Springs belongs to Hot Spring County, but the county seat of Hot Spring County is not in the city but in Malvern to the east of Hot Springs.

The hot spring hotels are costly, and for soone with Jimmy's ans, staying at a hot spring hotel over the weekend is completely out of the question. He was really here to hike, as the Hot Spring National Park had over a hundred years of history with comprehensive roadways and public facilities. The hiking trails were well established and offered great views.

There weren't many tourists on the weekends, or rather, the kind of crowding you see in China is rare worldwide. Jimmy found a public parking lot, parked his car, then grabbed a free map from the visitor center. Following the receptionist's advice, he filled his water bottle with drinkable spring water, shouldered his pack, and set off on the marked hiking trail according to the map.