"Are you sure?" Angela clearly thought so too. A murder case leading to a counterfeit money case worth tens of millions was like a windfall.
"It's the most realistic counterfeit money I've ever seen, but it's definitely fake. I handled cash frequently when I was a construction contractor, especially large denominations like this." Nolan was certain.
"It's very realistic, but the fluorescent identification line under ultraviolet light is the wrong color. A 1996 $100 note shouldn't be blue, it should be red."
Jack thoughtfully pushed open the interrogation room door again and leaned towards Mickey, asking, "Were those machines Joe saw printers?"
"Yes." Mickey nodded.
"Tell us where you found the money."
....
"This isn't the counterfeit money crackdown mission you described."
This was 214 Mill Street. The empty factory was completely bare, with neither the shelves of counterfeit money Mickey had ntioned nor any professional printers.
SWAT team leader Hondo, fully ard, was followed by several team mbers, jokingly teasing Tim, who was leading the team.
Nyla, who had also been called in to help, shone her tactical flashlight around, asking with a hint of suspicion, "Are you sure your buddy is telling the truth?"
"Yes, I believe him," Tim replied firmly.
Jack ran his fingers along the corner of the shelf, then gently rubbed it, carefully examining the texture.
"There must have been a lot of paper products on this shelf. This isn't dust, but very fine scraps of paper. I can't be sure if it's acid-free paper, but forensic analysis would easily detect it."
Tim glanced at him and nodded. "They must have moved it after killing Joe."
"Then their thods must have been very professional. You can't tell from the surface that counterfeit money was printed here. It's been cleaned too thoroughly." Hondo, holding his rifle, looked around.
"Maybe, not necessarily. Guys, co take a look." Nolan picked up a small piece of paper from under the door.
"What did you find?" Everyone crowded around.
Nolan showed the piece of paper to Lucy and Jack. "Does this logo look familiar?"
"Isn't that the uniform of the guy who repaired the security cara when you and Lucy were searching this morning? It's also on the van behind him."
Jack recognized the blue logo imdiately.
"Yes, it's across the street from where Joe was killed." Nolan was very excited.
"He said the cara had been broken for a week."
"Did you ask him his na?" Nyla asked hurriedly.
"No, I thought the cara lead was useless." Nolan imdiately beca annoyed.
"Uh, I think my body cara might have captured him. I turned on the cara when Jack and I were chasing that thief, and we haven't turned it off since."
Lucy excitedly took out her phone, connected to her body cara, and sure enough, found a video. It showed the black repairman, and the van with the blue logo was also in the footage.
"He wasn't really repairing that cara; he was just trying to fool us. This guy is definitely connected to the case."
Tim nodded. "Go back and use facial recognition to scan him and see if you can find his information."
Before he finished speaking, Tim's walkie-talkie rang, and Commander Grey's call ca through: "Bradford, you all leave the building imdiately and return to the station."
Tim thought he had misheard: "Sir?"
"Get back to the station imdiately. That's an order."
Everyone around him turned to look, puzzled.
"What's going on?"
"We just received a call from the Commander. Your search has alerted very high-ranking people, at the federal level."
By the ti everyone finished their work, it was already dark. In the Wilshire Police Departnt's briefing room, Zoe and Commander Grey had been waiting for a long ti.
"But this is a murder case. Are we just going to sit idly by?" Nolan asked, puzzled.
Zoe shook her head. "No, but we can't continue investigating through the counterfeit money lead."
Everyone looked at each other. Tim seed to have guessed sothing, but he was sowhat unwilling: "But this is the only lead we have right now. The evidence shows that this is a case."
"So what exactly is going on, Captain?" Nyla asked.
Zoe continued to shake her head: "The Commander wouldn't tell where the order ca from, only that it was very high-ranking and there was no room for discussion."
Commander Grey sighed, also looking helpless. "Let's go ho first, we'll talk tomorrow morning, that's all."
"That's not right." Angela was very unhappy; even the snack in her hand couldn't calm her emotions. The search team, worried about the danger, had kept the pregnant woman at the station, with Nyla replacing her. Now the case had been halted, making this woman extrely annoyed.
"Of course it's not right, but it's an order." Commander Grey turned back and emphasized again, then left the eting room with Zoe.
"So that's it? Just give up?" Jack was also frustrated, watching a lot of experience slip away.
"If we're going to be wise, it's like this." Nyla reached into the snack bag in Angela's hand.
Lucy raised her eyebrows. "That's not exactly a denial."
Angela glared at Tim. "What do you say?"
Although she cared a lot about this case, Tim was more deeply involved; his forr comrade was still in custody.
Tim crossed his arms and analyzed seriously, "Obviously, this case conflicts with the missions of certain federal departnts, but we lack enough information and don't know how to proceed."
"Should I ask soone from the FBI?" Jack waved his phone, not to Hannah, who was just a trainee agent, but David Rossi had more than enough authority.
"No use." Tim raised his hand to stop him.
"If the FBI were investigating a counterfeit money case, they wouldn't need to be so secretive. They would directly take over the case and put the LAPD in complete control."
"So," Jack drawled, waiting for Tim to continue, "to find out which federal departnt is behind this, we can only alert them, act like we're not giving up, and wait for them to co knocking."
"Then how do we alert them?" Lucy tilted her head, looking puzzled.
"I'll submit a facial recognition request to the federal database in the na of a commander, upload the photo of the guy who repaired the security cara, and then…" Tim rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.
"And then what?" Lucy pressed.
"Then we'll play it by ear. They won't let us investigate the counterfeit money case, but if we follow the murder leads, no one can say anything, right?"
Jack shrugged, dispelling the doubts in the others.
The guy who repaired the security caras was at the murder scene; whether he was a mber of the counterfeit money ring or a federal agent investigating the case, he could be considered a suspect.
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