Chapter 5 chapter Five

Puller sat on the trunk of his black military Chevrolet Malibu, sipping coffee from an oversized mug as he scanned documents in the streetlights outside the CID headquarters building.The area is home to the various criminal investigative agencies of the military, including the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.They have already made a name for themselves with the hugely popular TV series.Puller hopes that he, too, can solve a crime in the sixty minutes of a weekly episode, like his Marine counterpart on television.In the real world, it actually takes a lot longer to solve a crime, and sometimes you never find out.

① Naval Criminal Investigative Service (Naval Criminal Investigative Service): abbreviated as NCIS.The TV series "NCIS" has been aired in the United States since 2003 and has been broadcast for 11 seasons, with more than 20 episodes per season. Gunshots rang out all around.The FBI Hostage Rescue Team and the Marines practiced live ammunition around the clock.Puller was so used to the constant gunfire that he barely noticed it.He only reacted when he couldn't hear the gunshots.Ironically, if there were no gunshots at Quantico, something seriously amiss had happened. He flipped through the document.Like other things, the documents organized by the U.S. Army have always been organized and meticulous: the size of the document, the binding style, the comparison of information in the left and right columns, the use of period dashes and slashes, etc., are completely impeccable.For these, the voluminous Army field manual has already stipulated in detail to the extent that it cannot be more subtle.Due to strict adherence to military regulations, the documentation of the Gendarmerie has maintained a legendary and rigorous character.For Puller, however, it was always what was in the document that mattered, not whether the outward form of the document was pleasing to any officer.

Matthews Reynolds, his wife Stacy, and their two teenage children, a girl and a boy, were murdered at a home in rural West Virginia.The postman found their bodies.The local police are investigating and collecting evidence at the murder scene.Reynolds was a colonel in the Defense Intelligence Agency.He was in the process of retiring from the military, ready to shed his uniform of twenty-six years and become a private-sector employee.He is based in the Pentagon and lives in Fairfax, Virginia.Puller wondered what the man and his family were doing at the house in West Virginia.It was one of many questions he had to find the answer to.Maybe the local police already have the answer.Puller will go and find out everything they have and independently re-verify everything.

He put the materials back in the file bag and began to examine the various equipment in the suitcase. They are all packed in a special infantry backpack.There are more than one hundred item compartments in the backpack, and almost everything that may be needed at the crime scene is placed: light blue latex gloves, flashlights, paper bags, body bags and body tags, 35mm and one-shot cameras, etc. , green biochemical protective clothing (with hood and respirator), white overalls for evidence collection, tape measure, ruler, classification form, potential fingerprint collection tools, gunpowder particle detection tools, isolation cloth, digital tape recorder, field records Books, medical supply bags, shoe covers, thermometers, sterile masks, reflective vests, pocket knives, and 60 or 70 other items.He carried two M11 pistols with extra 13- and 20-round magazines.

There is also an MP5 submachine gun in the trunk of the car.The combat uniform was neatly folded in another bag.It was late at night, but the temperature was still close to thirty degrees Celsius.Jeans and a short-sleeved white shirt, plus a pair of Nikes, will do. In the past, when Puller handled similar cases, he never went to the single gang. At least one investigator cooperated with him. Generally, there were more people, and some technical investigators also provided assistance.The case itself does require more human input.However, the task has been assigned to him.In the military, you're given a mission, and the next thing you do is to do it.Otherwise, you could find yourself facing a court-martial, and the next stop in your military career could very well be prison.

He entered his destination into the car's navigation system, closed the Chevrolet door, and put his foot on the gas, leaving Quantico behind. Puller stopped the car once for convenience, and drank another cup of black coffee.At three o'clock in the morning, he drove to Drake County, West Virginia.Signs indicate that the population here is 6547 people.There were still three more hours before dawn. GPS guided him to a three-way intersection on the edge of the town.Pooler took the wrong path. His headlights illuminated a residential area that was no longer inhabited.There are at least a hundred old abandoned houses here, maybe more.The houses appear to be mass-assembled using batches of prefabricated components.There were wires on one side of the street and telephone poles.

Puller, who was about to change course, changed his mind temporarily.The houses are not completely abandoned, at least some of them are still inhabited.Old cars are parked outside the house.There were lights in some of the windows, but not like electric lights, like gas lamps or some kind of battery light.Puller continued to drive forward, and the headlights of the car suddenly shone on a huge dome-shaped concrete building rising from the woods. What the hell is this? Although curious, Puller didn't stop.He hurried to his destination. The GPS recalibrated the direction, and Puller quickly discovered that he had chosen the right route this time.He didn't feel a bit tired when he got there.In fact, the long drive made him feel both relaxed and energized.He decided to get to work right away.

He had called ahead and made a reservation at the only motel in the area.It was several notches below the Motel 6, but Puller didn't care.Some years of his military career were spent eating canned food in the swamp or desert, bathing with only a small bucket of water, and the toilet was a hole dug in the ground.So in his eyes, this shelter with walls on all sides was as luxurious as the Ritz Hotel. ①Motel6 (Motel6): A well-known chain of economical motels in the United States, with more than 1,000 hotels in the United States and Canada. The business room of the hotel is locked.But after ringing the bell three times, the door opened.An elderly woman came out to receive Puller.Sleepy-eyed, with curly hair and torn pajamas, she stood behind the desk and asked Pooler what she was doing in town.

Puller grabbed the room key and replied, "Vacation." His answer made the old woman laugh. "You're a handsome young man," she said.The sound coming through the gaps in her front teeth was a little muffled.Her mouth smelled of cigarette smoke, garlic and onions, an impressive combination of scents. "And so tall." At 1.55 meters tall, she looked Pu Le up and down. "Can you recommend a place to eat?" Military rule number one: find a trustworthy place to fill your belly. "See what it says." The woman replied. "What's the meaning?"

"See if you mind getting soot on your eggs." "I've had my morning coffee with uranium slag in it. It couldn't be worse. You see, I'm still standing here." She giggled. "In that case, any restaurant in town will do. They're all pretty much the same, dear." As Puller turned away, she asked, "Are you married?" "What do you think?" He replied, turning around to see the woman's smile with broken teeth. "I wish, dear, I wish you were married. Get a good night's sleep." Puller left.Sleep is not yet on his agenda.