Legendary FBI Detective-Chapter 842 - 844: The Story Behind the Case (Part 1)

8 PM, Columbia City, FBI Division Building, a certain interrogation room.

"Herman has confessed everything. What's your choice?"

Vasel Wen's face paled at Luo An's question, recalling the scene where Lawyer Ilhan had just been taken away. However, something occurred to him, and he sneered:

"Honestly, Group Leader Luo An, your joke isn't funny at all."

Luo An chuckled, shook his head slightly, patted Chenier on the shoulder, and left the interrogation room without another word.

Bam—

As the interrogation room door closed, Vasel Wen's complexion quickly changed, beads of sweat starting to form at his temples.

Meanwhile, in the corridor outside the interrogation room, Winslow and Reesi looked puzzled. Seeing Luo An and Chenier come out, Reesi immediately approached and asked in a low voice:

"Luo An, what's the deal with those IRS-CI agents just now?"

"Both agents said there's a problem with Lawyer Ilhan's financial status."

Luo An smiled, but Reesi still looked puzzled. Just then, Mona came over from the office area, handed a folder to Reesi, and said with a smile:

"Luo An asked me to investigate Lawyer Ilhan's relationships earlier, and I did find some clues."

Reesi opened the folder and found that Lawyer Ilhan's relationships were extremely complex, including ordinary civilians, company owners, and various criminals as his friends.

In the business and political circles, Lawyer Ilhan also knew many people. However, most of his friends in these circles were middle-class or slightly above but not yet at the level of tycoons.

"These people aren't low-ranking, but they're far from being top-tier bigwigs."

At this moment, Michelle also walked over and explained seriously:

"Normally, with such wide connections, Lawyer Ilhan should have been able to climb higher by befriending friends of friends over a few years. Yet, he hasn't expanded his connections upwards in the last ten years, which is quite unusual."

Winslow's eyes shifted as he suddenly recalled a case he had encountered years ago and speculated in a low voice:

"Is there someone behind Lawyer Ilhan, and this guy is just a front man?"

"Let's say he's more like a maintenance man, extending the life of the front," Luo An suggested, flipping to the last page of the folder in Reesi's hands and pointing to a circled name.

"Harrison Hamid, an otherwise unremarkable billionaire.

Through cross-checking, there's no direct link between him and Lawyer Ilhan, but their paths invariably cross indirectly in every case Lawyer Ilhan takes on.

Vasel Wen is the same."

"What?"

Reesi was surprised:

"Vasel Wen is a bank robber. How could he be connected to a billionaire?"

"Oh, he can." Michelle found another folder, handed it to Reesi, and whispered:

"Those few bank robberies in Georgia involved different banks each time.

But if you compare the accounts of these banks, you'll find they're all linked to private equity funds of certain subsidiaries under a parent company owned by Harrison Hamid."

"Uh..."

Reesi frowned, feeling that Michelle's words were a bit convoluted. After thinking for a few seconds, she expressed her surprise:

"You're saying that the reason Vasel Wen robs banks is actually to help Harrison Hamid, the billionaire, balance his accounts?"

Michelle looked at Luo An, who shook his head slightly:

"Balancing books is unlikely; there must be another story behind it."

Reesi was dumbfounded for a moment:

"What kind of story?"

Luo An spread his hands:

"I don't know."

Reesi was immediately exasperated, and Luo An chuckled, handing the folder back to her:

"Since we don't know, that's why I called IRS-CI."

IRS-CI, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Department, holds top priority among all federal law enforcement agencies.

Vasel Wen, a mere bank robber, being connected to a wealthy tycoon like Harrison Hamid, suggests a complicated story that could be challenging to untangle.

In such a case, it's better to go straight to IRS-CI, since they have little interest in the case itself but have a keen eye on the involved money.

IRS-CI has the power to arrest first and provide evidence later, and even a billionaire like Harrison Hamid wouldn't openly resist them.

"We don't need to rush with Vasel Wen. Once the investigation results from Lawyer Ilhan's case come in, it will be much easier to solve his case indirectly."

Faced with Vasel Wen's stubbornness, Luo An decisively resorted to using external social networks, seeking help from Supervisor Elmer of IRS-CI.

Supervisor Elmer was very pleased with this, as Luo An had undoubtedly brought him another major achievement.

Reesi twitched at the corner of her mouth. Vasel Wen, in the interrogation room, was unknowingly feeling confident, completely unaware that Luo An had already neatly set him up.

After a brief silence, Reesi asked again:

"So, what do we do next?"

"Next, we'll have a chat with Herman."

Luo An stretched lazily, smiled softly, and said:

"He hasn't been in the water long enough to grow muddled; he should be able to understand the pros and cons."

-------------

"I'll speak, I'll say it all."

Five minutes later, in another interrogation room, Luo An and Chenier had just finished organizing their documents. Before they could ask questions, Herman, with a solemn face, proactively spoke:

"That guy with the gold tooth in his mouth was killed by Vasel Wen."

Chenier was momentarily stunned by Herman's cooperative attitude, while Luo An chuckled, pouring a cup of coffee for Herman, and then asked:

"What about the big fire? What happened there?"

Herman paused in his motion of taking the coffee, fell silent for a few seconds, then took a small sip and said:

"I set that fire."

Herman claimed that he had no choice but to start the big fire.

Before the fire broke out, Herman and his few subordinates had been living in a warehouse on the outskirts of Atlanta City, leading a carefree life, sometimes printing large crates of counterfeit money to pass the time.

"Susan was my... uh, friend."

Faced with Chenier's faintly disdainful look, Herman smiled awkwardly and continued:

"A little over a month before the fire, Susan went out to buy food and ran into trouble with two drunk guys."

The drunk men Herman referred to were two members of a treasure-hunting team.

It so happened that Herman was out buying food with Susan that day, and upon seeing the situation, he immediately stepped in. The two drunks, angered, started a fight, and Herman engaged them.

Midway through, someone stepped in to break up the fight. The person was the leader of the drunks, named Benson.

Compared to the two drunks, Benson had a much more amiable attitude, apologized briefly and left with them, while Herman returned to the warehouse with Susan. While tidying up, Herman suddenly realized that the counterfeit money he used for business demonstrations to customers was missing.

He immediately knew Benson and his crew might have taken the counterfeit bills, rushed back to the site of the brawl, only to find they were long gone and he couldn't track them down.

Herman planned to evacuate from the warehouse with his crew, but Susan and others refused because the equipment was massive and hard to transport, and setting up elsewhere would be very troublesome and time-consuming.

"I should have forcibly taken them away back then."

Herman smiled bitterly:

"Neglecting quality control is indeed a recipe for disaster; that saying proves true."