Mahong nodded, "Thank you very much."
Reading the data took a long ti and, with the encoding, by the ti the two staff mbers got the data, it was almost an hour later. However, it also made Jimmy and the rest realize that investigating other Yacht Clubs would be a big hassle.
After thanking Michelle again for her cooperation, they did not continue further. Instead, they took the two sets of data back to the office as the first samples. They needed to familiarize themselves with it quickly. Michelle had said that this was a common practice in their industry. Now that they had a record, once they understood how to handle it, dealing with others would be much more convenient.
But it wasn't until they began reading the data that they realized the GPS accuracy was sowhat off. The Hudson River isn't very wide, and the actual recorded positions on the GPS logs weren't precise enough to show whether they were on the shore or off-shore in the river. This was a big problem; if the yachts didn't dock, it was impossible for the people on board to just fly ashore. Without surveillance, it was now impossible to determine whether these two boats had docked while passing by Hudson River Park.
Another clue was thus interrupted, and there was no need to continue investigating the subsequent Yacht Clubs. The case had plunged back into darkness.
Jimmy watched Mahong, deep in thought, and couldn't help feeling that sothing was off. Was he pushing too hard? Yes, it was a serial murder case, which was serious, but was Mahong perhaps too invested?
Philicia looked at Mahong, her eyes seemingly flickering with sothing. She definitely knew sothing. Jimmy watched her from the side. To be honest, he wasn't particularly interested in a black woman, but Mahong's state was making him feel that maybe he should find a way to inquire about Mahong's situation. Such a boss could be very pressuring.
Jimmy said, "I'm gonna go out for a smoke." Jimmy didn't wait for a response and left the office directly. Mahong seed not to have heard Jimmy's words at all, as he was deep in thought, while Philicia turned to glance at Jimmy, then back at Mahong, not moving.
Jimmy called his best go-to guy, Ruiz, and invited him to co down for a cigarette. Yeah, it was a flimsy excuse. Everyone was on the sa floor, and calling for a eting obviously ant he was up to sothing.
Ruiz didn't make Jimmy wait too long, and after smoking two cigarettes, he ca downstairs next to Jimmy and said, "Give one."
Jimmy took out his cigarette case and gave Ruiz a HuaZi. Ever since he arrived in Manhattan, he had been buying HuaZi from an old store in Chinatown, but that cigarette case was just too ugly. He had to unpack and put them into his own cigarette case each ti.
Pulling out that lighter a vagrant had given him, he shielded it with his hand to light a cigarette for Ruiz and said, "Ruiz, do a favor."
Ruiz, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, nodded, and Jimmy went on, "Help look into my current boss, Alexander Mahong. I want to check out his file."
Ruiz glanced at Jimmy, then looked towards the curb, "Any problems?"
Jimmy, "It's not certain yet, just that he makes uncomfortable."
Ruiz, "You wanna co to my place? I can go ask Hughes."
Jimmy, "No, it's not like that, you know . I don't care about having a new boss, even one who's been parachuted in, soone I completely don't know. It's all the sa to .
In his first few days here, everything was fine, but since we began investigating the case, I've suddenly realized his behavior is a bit off. How to put it, during the investigation, he's too tense. If I didn't know this case had just happened, I might suspect he knows about the suspect, or he might even be the suspect himself."
Ruiz thought for a mont, took a couple of puffs on his cigarette, and then said, "I think I kind of understand his behavior. I'll check it out for you. Don't contact anyone else."
Ruiz tossed his cigarette butt on the ground, turned, and went upstairs. Jimmy stayed still, not moving until he finished his own smoke.
Jimmy was in turmoil. This was the first ti he had initiated an investigation into his own superior, not for his own benefit but because he was worried about Mahong's state. However, this sort of act was not sothing to be taken lightly. The last ti he inquired about Nia's information, it had troubled him for quite a while. Now, having Ruiz assist him in investigating Mahong was bound to make him even more conflicted.
As a team, Jimmy didn't want his boss to be in a tense state; if sothing went wrong, it could cause greater harm, whether to himself or to the departnt.
Jimmy threw his cigarette butt on the ground and turned to go upstairs. By now, Mahong had probably returned to normal, after all, there were no clues and his mind should have detached from the case.
Sure enough, Mahong and Philicia were both sitting at their respective desks, continuing to look through docunts. These primarily consisted of files from the Manhattan office and previous cases they had handled. When Jimmy had first joined the Homicide Unit, he too had spent a long ti getting acquainted with these materials, even pausing the review process temporarily to avoid psychological distress from the disturbing content.
Ti passed by slowly, and after three peaceful days, bad news arrived again. The NYPD had reassigned another case, a female corpse like the previous two, only this ti, the scene was not in Hudson River Park but on the shores of Jersey City.
The Jersey City Police had checked the identity of the woman after receiving the report but couldn't match it, and ultimately they contacted the NYPD, which led to the smooth consolidation of the sa three cases.
This ti, Mahong didn't personally go to the scene for an investigation. Instead, he directed Philicia to contact the New Jersey Port Authority and re-examine the information on the vessels on the Hudson River from the previous night. Yes, after seeing where the bodies were located, they determined imdiately that if these three cases were the work of the sa person, then he must have been moving along the river by boat.
The third victim in Jersey City was found in a setting identical to the two in the park, with no surrounding surveillance capturing any information. The NYPD had already investigated the scene once with the assistance of the Jersey City Police.
It wasn't until Philicia obtained the shipping information from the New Jersey Port Authority that they began to compare it with the few boats found previously, bringing three yachts that had appeared on multiple occasions to light.
A smile crept onto Mahong's face, finally dispelling so of the gloominess. Jimmy, looking at these three boats and their corresponding clubs, noted that one was from the sa Yacht Club they had visited two days ago, the one with the long-term leased yacht.
Jimmy, "Should we investigate now?"
Mahong shook his head, "GPS locations are aningless. What we need is their client list, and that's definitely sothing they won't give up."
Jimmy, "So what should we do?"
Mahong didn't respond, standing up to look out the window.
He was deep in thought, his mind tangled with complexities. Jimmy watched Mahong gazing out the window, unable to guess what plan he might have.
Ruiz hadn't given Jimmy the file yet, and he hadn't rushed him. His relationship with Ruiz had extended far beyond that of ordinary colleagues. If there wasn't an issue, Ruiz definitely wouldn't forget to provide the docunts. He must be investigating sothing he senses isn't right. But Jimmy was completely in the dark about what was going on. Ever since Mahong's arrival, it seed like everything was off. Was his bad luck coming back?
Mahong, "Jimmy, do you know any wealthy people? Preferably mbers of a Yacht Club."
Jimmy, "No, it was also my first ti at such a club, but I can ask around."
Mahong, "Keep it confidential."
Jimmy, "Sure, one of our guys, Peter from the White Collar Unit, he probably knows quite a few of these people."
Mahong, "I know him, you go ahead."
Jimmy left the office; it had been a long ti since he'd seen Peter. Calling would be too impolite, so he decided to pay a visit instead. Among the people around Jimmy, if anyone knew wealthy individuals, besides Nia and her father, it would just be Peter and Hughes. Let's forget Hughes; Peter was easier to talk to.
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