Chapter 25 Chapter Twenty-Four

They took Jackie to the Authority headquarters on Southern Avenue in West Palm.Nikolai removed an army bag from the chair by his desk so she could sit down.She asked him what it was.He said it was a pack of dynamite, and left her alone for twenty minutes.Jackie believed he must have gone to talk to his watchmen, to see if they had anything they could ask her about.While they were still on the boulevard, she told how Melanie went into the fitting room and stole the money.They took her air bag, so they must have talked to that salesman, Frieda. They told her on the drive here that Melanie was dead and shot twice, but gave no details, and Nicolai sat in the front seat of the Authority car and said, "You see it might What happened?" That is to say, he didn't believe what she said, or didn't believe all of it.Said the purse-carrying woman next to her in the backseat: "That 'Unitel' walkie-talkie isn't worth farting on the boulevard. I can't hear you." Nicolai glanced at her, but the woman didn't say another word.Jackie noticed.Their surveillance is flawed.

While Nikolai walked out of the office, Jackie looked at photographs of weapons in a self-storage and fingered a copy of The Shotgun News.There was no ashtray in the house, so she used someone's coffee mug from the morning.There are two desks in this office, put together, compared to Taylor's office in the investigation department, it is small and messy, and it looks like a lot of people are working in it.On another table was a labeled submachine gun that Jackie guessed was unloaded. Nicolai brought her a cup of coffee without asking if she would like it.This is a good sign.He had taken off his jacket and tie and appeared to be unarmed.He sat at the table and said, "You didn't tell me beforehand that you were going to buy something."

"I think I told you at the airport." Nicolai shook his head. "I thought, you were thinking about this money gift in your heart, and you had to wait until it was over before you bought it." "I have my eye on this suit," said Jackie. "I'm afraid it will sell." "Why did you leave the flight bag behind?" "Well, originally, I carried it for my uniform and clothes I bought and didn't wear at the time." "But you didn't put it in." "No, because when I came out...wait a minute, let's start from the beginning. I was thinking, I'm going to put whatever I buy in the airbag so I don't have to carry it around, and thank you Londa only had the fifty-dollar bag with her when she met."

He said it again, staring at her at the same time, "But didn't do that." "Because I lost the bag. Ray, I swear, Melanie came in and snatched it." Then he lowered his voice, "Someone killed her for me?" He stared at it for a while. "Where's the bag she gave you?" "She didn't give it to me. I tried to explain it to you," Jackie said. "Melanie wasn't in the plan. Ordell wouldn't let her in. She came in, grabbed the bag and ran. I Standing there changing, only in underwear. What am I supposed to do? Chasing her? I have to get dressed, and by the time I get out, the salesperson has boxed my purchases and put them in a bag .”

"You took the time to pay." "I have to pay." "You can keep what you bought." "Are you or someone else spying on me there?" Nicolai didn't answer. "I was completely flustered. I didn't know what to do." "So you grab the shopping bag with the clothes you bought and go see Sheronda." "That was after I found you. I went straight to Barney's and you weren't there. Is anyone watching me?" "You're under surveillance, yes." "Ray, how do I get someone's attention to let them know what's going on? You didn't tell me how, did you?"

Nicolai paused for a moment without answering.He said, "You took Sheronda's bag and left her the bag with the new clothes." "A skirt and a top." "You bought it for yourself, right?" "I'm sorry for her. I told you she didn't know anything about it. Did you see those two boxes with those clothes?" "We'll keep those clothes for a while." "Did she tell you what happened last time? After I left the 10,000 yuan, another woman came and changed the bag with her?" Nicolai said, "Wait a minute." "Ask her."

"You tell me." "What's the woman's name?" "I don't know. Shelenda said it was Ordell's aunt. Last time he changed his plan, and this time he changed it again, or Melanie made her own decision." "There was a man with her." "Not in the fitting room." "Someone saw Melanie when she came out," Nicolai said. "Our people don't know who she is. But that bag is the same as yours. Our people saw the kid arguing with her and taking it away." Shopping bag. He was holding the bag like it was something valuable. So our guys followed them to see where they were going and got in touch with other agents to keep an eye out for them. …”

Jackie said, "Is that the guy with the walkie-talkie?" Nicolai stared, but said nothing. "The only music in her ears is music from a loudspeaker?" "Some interference, yes. As soon as she saw another agent, she radioed the situation through him.  …" "So she wasn't around when I walked out of the fitting room," Jackie said. "She was looking for you." "When you got to Barney's office, we'll be watching you again. I saw you come out to meet Sheronda." He paused. "The guy with Melanie was Luis Gallas, right?"

"I didn't see him," Jackie said. "I was only in my underwear." "A white man." "Louis probably. Did he kill Melanie?" "Maybe." "Did he run away with the money, or did he give it to Ordell?" Nicolai waited, staring at her like that again. "I don't want to find out that you have anything to do with Louis." "Relax." "You said you didn't know the whereabouts of the fifty thousand dollars." "I don't know anything about it." "Should I use a lie detector to test your words?"

"If that's what you're happy with." Seeing him, she stared silently again.It wasn't his best gesture, a totally deadpan cop; it showed he was losing confidence. He said, "Hope you don't do anything stupid. If Lewis takes the money, Ordell will come after you and figure out what happened." "Aren't you watching him?" "I've got four lads waiting to testify against him in federal court, but I'd love to have the marked money to testify as well." He didn't answer the question."I have a feeling you don't know where he is," Jackie said.

"He's not going anywhere," Nicolai said, "if he doesn't get the money." "That's all you know," Jackie said. "The money wasn't given to him. Or you don't think so." Nikolai's switch rang. He picked up his phone, said, "Yeah," very calmly, listened to the call for a while, hung up, and said to Jackie, "I'm sorry." He put his hand on hers as he walked out past her. shoulders. That's fine, it's a hint to her that they're still friends; it's not personal, it's business.Maybe he just wanted to touch her.Either way, she took it to be a good sign.He wanted to believe her account. She didn't know what Max was doing at the moment; did he put the money away? She asked him where he planned to hide the money, and Max said, "You can't hide half a million dollars. It's in the bank." .First Union Bank, in a locked box." She told him, "Don't you have a heart attack, okay? Then I might not get it out." She meant it to Max, and he smiled. Nicolai went back to the office, sat down at the table facing her again, and said, "Luis Galla is dead. The North Lake Park police found him dead in his car and he was shot twice, according to consensus. According to the analysis, that person must be his friend, huh?—the gun was fired against his body." Jackie remained silent throughout. "Ordell left his apartment at 5:20," Nicolai said. "He drove a few blocks to the boardwalk, stopped on a back street, went into a bar. He never came out." "You mean you lost him?" Jackie said. Nicolai's frozen expression did not change. "Louis can pick him up, there's enough time. They drove together to North Lake Avenue, and that's where Louis was found.  …" Jackie waited. "What's Louis going to do in that area?" "I don't know," Jackie said. "A bar, a dirty place that Ordell likes to patronize?" "I've never met him in a bar." "If he comes to you, you'll let me know, okay?" "Okay, but I don't know why he's looking for me." Nicolai said, "He's still got money in Freeport, isn't he? Got it shipped here? Maybe not half a million, but more than fifty?" Jackie said, "Ray, you see how much I've got." "The ones you showed me." "Do you think I took some of it off?" "I have no proof that you took anything. The money you paid for new clothes was not the marked money; I'm glad to see that. You've been doing us a favor and you've told us about Melanie, Louis , so I should take your word for it. That is, for what you've told me." Jackie waited. "I'm going to arrange for marked money to be charged against Ordell. If there's anything you haven't told me, it's between you and him. I just want to say one thing: I hope we find you before he does." found him before."