Chapter 7 Chapter Six

Before walking out of the crepe shop, McCarthy switched his phone from silent to normal ringing again. The screen showed two missed calls, and the number was the police switchboard.He checked his voicemail, and Annie, the administrative secretary of the robbery group, left him a message, asking him to arrange the next day's plan and set aside an hour. Director Owen wanted to talk to him again—it was nothing more than a "coin" Killer" case, or some talkative guy who told the Chief about him and the FBI agent leaving the police station in the same car-the old fox would not have guessed that he and the FBI agent had become friends, at least he I think so.

Walking out of the crepe shop, the afternoon sun dispelled the fog on the street, giving the city a little hope of spring.For McCarthy, things started to take a turn for the better.He declined Jeffrey's offer to drive him back to the police station, and the federal agents did not insist. They both knew that they should not have any contact until the case showed light—Jeffrey didn't want to "cross the line" without permission. "And getting into trouble, McCarthy didn't want to make his already bad reputation in the robbery group worse by bringing in the FBI. When McCarthy returned to the office alone, Jason Gregg and Frank Kepler were already waiting for him-he was actually in charge of the "coin killer" case for the two in the taxi back to the police station. The detective partner on the case called and said he had an important lead.

He told the two that a person would not suddenly become a serial rapist overnight. Before that, he may have a series of minor sexual crime records, such as stalking, molestation, and attempted rape. When his sexual desire was satisfied, the crime finally escalated into rape and murder.He asked the two to check all the people in this city who had more than one sexual crime record in a year, especially those who were under fifty and handsome, and went to visit them separately—remember that none of the three victims resisted traces?The serial rapists almost all committed the crimes alone, and the forensic examination also confirmed that the three victims were not raped-and it is difficult to approach those beautiful girls without an attractive face.

"Also, pay special attention to those with Greek ancestry and list them as prime suspects!" McCarthy emphasized. "Why?" Frank asked. "The coin that covers the eyes, remember? It was a Greek tradition. The ancient Greeks believed that all the dead had to cross a river called the 'Akron River' before reaching the other side of the underworld. No one can swim across the river of death, where even feathers sink. The only way to cross the river is to take the bottomless ferryboat of Charon, the god of crossing the river. the ferry." Jason didn't say anything, obviously he had already guessed where McCarthy got these "clues" - when he was leaving the police station in the big Chevrolet Suburban of the federal agents, he happened to meet head-on in the car driven by the pair of partners. The Ford Taurus turned into the gate of the police station, and McCarthy was pretty sure they recognized him sitting in the passenger seat—at least his old partner Jason wouldn't miss him.And the young police detective Frank didn't know whether he was pretending to be stupid or he really didn't know who was sitting in the Suburban, he still asked in an incredible tone: "Boss, where did you know about these pagan customs? "

"On TV," McCarthy replied, "CSI: New York." Seeing the two detectives disappear at the door of the office, McCarthy breathed a sigh of relief. Although this was not a real breakthrough, they at least had a direction of investigation instead of running around like headless chickens.After thinking about it, he dug out the internal address book of the police station from the drawer, and found the phone number of the FBI Pittsburgh branch. "Hello, Pittsburgh Branch of the FBI, who are you looking for?" A cold female voice came from the other side of the phone. "Hi, this is the Robbery Homicide Unit of the Pittsburgh Police Department. I'm Detective Inspector Ian McCarthy. I need to speak to your special agent in charge of organized crime investigations."

"Wait a minute, I'll turn around for you." After a series of switchings, a man's voice with a midwestern accent came from the opposite side: "Paul Letterman." "Agent Letterman, I'm Inspector Ian McCarthy of the Pittsburgh Police Department's Homicide Unit. I'm sorry to bother you. I want to ask you for some information." "What's the situation?" The other party was obviously surprised by the call. "I think you also know about the recent serial rape and murder case in this city. I'm here to ask for some information about this case."

"Oh, Inspector, I have heard about the case, but I haven't received any invitation to jointly handle the case." "No, this is not a joint case. I just want to get some relevant information. It's just simple, verbally confirmed information. Agent Jeffrey told me that I can call and ask." "Jeffrey Adams from BAU (short for Behavioral Analysis Unit)? Are you friends?" "We've worked together a few times at work," McCarthy lied. "I don't know him very well, but tell me what you want to know." "It's very simple. I just want to know the basic situation of the Greek gangs in this city."

The other party was silent for ten seconds. McCarthy heard the sound of typing on the keyboard in the receiver, and then the federal agent replied: "In my information, there is no Greek gang in this city. I think you are mistaken." "you sure?" "Yes, there are very few Greeks in America. They almost never form gangs. I've never heard of any Greek gangs." "Thank you for the trouble." ——I was hoping to get some clues from the Greek gang, just like from the Japanese or Chinese gangs, you can always find clues about the Japanese or Chinese suspects you want—but the Greeks It ended up getting nothing here.McCarthy put down the phone, and it seemed that there was nothing he could do until Jason and Frank's investigation came to fruition.Thinking of the meeting with the director the next day, McCarthy became irritable again. Should he tell the director the clue of the Greeks?If you are unlucky and Jason and Frank's investigations are fruitless, then reporting the unconfirmed clue of the Greeks to the director in advance is just asking for trouble, but McCarthy also knows that if it is just prevarication, it may be He couldn't pass this level—once the director decided to invite the FBI's behavioral analysis team to intervene in the case, he would shoot himself in the foot.

Postpone the meeting as long as possible and see what news Jason and Frank have. McCarthy inserted the five fingers of his left hand into his hair and scratched it, the hairstyle became a mess, and he picked up the phone receiver again. "Hello, McCarthy's family, who can I ask?" After the bell rang twice, his wife answered the phone. "Laura, it's me. I'm afraid I'll be back later today. You don't have to wait for me to eat." "Working overtime again?" "You know, that serial killer has been making a lot of noise lately." "Okay, do you want to save food for you?"

"What do you eat?" "I saw two houses today, Katerina is going to middle school, I want to change to a neighborhood with better public schools, so I don't have time to prepare dinner, I want to let the two children eat pizza tonight Well, they love that too. By the way, what's up with your contract, I wonder if we can send the kids to private schools." "Okay, save one piece for me, I won't be late, I'll talk about the rest when I get home." McCarthy didn't answer her question about the contract. "Investigate the case carefully, Ian, I love you."

"I love you too." McCarthy put down the phone and began to feel uneasy about the lie he had just told.In fact, as the head of the robbery team, he didn't have to work overtime at all, and the list of suspects sorted out by Jason and Frank would naturally be placed on his desk the next morning—although after becoming a detective, He doesn't talk to Jason much anymore, but his former partner is still one of the few people he trusts in the entire big office—Jason is a bit stubborn, but they've been friends for almost ten years, They'd been together for nine years, and even though he'd been promoted before Jason, even though they hadn't gone out for a drink in ages, their friendship hadn't changed much, McCarthy thought. He just doesn't want to go home, the attraction of that home is drying up for him day by day - he knows that he still loves his wife and his children, but the strange sense of alienation gradually expands in his heart, He and his wife, they haven't had sex for a month. It had become very quiet outside at some point.McCarthy opened the blinds and looked outside into the big office. The big office was already empty. He looked at his watch, and it was already a quarter past six.He opened the door of the supervisor's office, walked to the water dispenser with a teacup, filled a glass full of water, then took out the tube containing vitamin C effervescent tablets from his pocket, poured out one and threw it into the water.He sometimes hates himself for this ridiculous drug dependence-this is the aftermath of his parents' wrong nutritional supplement plan in his youth. If his daily intake of vitamin C is less than 3,000 mg, his body will soon go bad. Symptoms of blood disease - usually he has a glass of vitamin C before he goes out, then goes to work, gets home after get off work and has a glass, and then another glass before bed.Although he carried a tube of vitamin C effervescent tablets with him in case of emergencies, he never drank the drink in front of colleagues who worked with him-he didn't smoke, and he rarely went to bars with colleagues to drink. Among the police detectives, this is already a sign of weakness. If those guys find out that he is addicted to drinking such a ridiculous drink, he will definitely become the laughing stock of the entire police station. McCarthy gulped down the orange drink in his glass in frustration—if he had to go back in time and choose again, he didn't want to know the winning numbers of the lottery, nor did he want to say sorry to his beautiful lover in college. Never had the damn vitamin C before.But now he has become the frog that was slowly boiled in warm water, and he has lost the chance to jump out of this predicament. At eight o'clock, McCarthy walked out of the police station building with a heavy heart. He got into the old Mercury, started the car, drove out of the police station gate, and turned in the opposite direction from home. It may not be so obvious during the day, but after dark, Pittsburgh's characteristic dilapidation of the industrial city abandoned by the times is fully revealed.The street under the dim street lights was empty, and Mercury drove almost a mile on the road before McCarthy saw the first person on the street after nightfall.But like every other American city, there are certain corners of the city that don't come alive until after dark. Before he knew it, McCarthy had already driven past Fifty-first Street, and further ahead, it was the area with the worst law and order in the city. When he realized this, the car was already driving on Fifty-seventh Street Up—that's the heart of the red-light district.He stepped on the brake, and as soon as the car slowed down, those yingyingyanyans wandering on the side of the road flocked to him. Looking out of the car window, he could only see half-naked breasts of various colors shaking—McCarthy was startled, and suddenly Stepped on the gas pedal. ——Damn, why did you drive here?McCarthy loosened his tie and undid the first button of his shirt. He turned the steering wheel to the left at the intersection, and the car turned onto Vermont Street. The fuchsia neon lights flickered in front of his eyes, and he slowed down again. The detective drove his old Mercury around the red-light district twice, but eventually he didn't stop the car, and when he was driving on the Norfolk Avenue and started to go home, he pulled over. He parked the car, pulled down the rearview mirror, buttoned up his shirt in front of the mirror, and tightened his tie again. When McCarthy arrived home, his wife was still awake. When he turned the key and opened the door, Laura appeared in the hallway in her pajamas. "Why did you come back so late, dear?" Laura went up to meet her husband, took her husband's briefcase, and put it in the corner behind the door. "It's not for that case!" McCarthy kissed his wife. "Are the children asleep?" "Sleeping, Katerina went to bed at 8:30, little Stuart was lying on the bed and refused to sleep, insisting on waiting for you to come back, his volcano model got an 'A', I went into his room just now, and he fell asleep too .” "Hmm..." McCarthy replied absently, took off his suit and tie, undid the first button of his shirt, and let out a long breath, feeling a little better. "There's pizza in the refrigerator, cheese and bacon, do you want to warm it up for you?" Laura walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Under the white light from the refrigerator, her plump curves looked very sexy. "No, I'm not hungry, tell me about the house you saw today." McCarthy hugged his wife's waist tenderly from behind, and the fat on her belly bounced between his fingers. Laura put down the pizza box and reached behind her back to grab her husband's arm. McCarthy's hand began to restless. His left hand began to move up and his right started to move down. "Oh..." The woman turned around and let out the first moan, before she could make the second, McCarthy blocked her mouth with his own lips.