American Detective: Starting as a Rookie Cop in an American TV Show

Chapter 1374 Satellites and Empty Bottles
"Eight months. I think he has almost used up all his savings." Reese tapped his headset impatiently. "Finch, how is the investigation into Powell's account going?"

"Please be patient, Mr. Reese." The keyboard sound from Finch's side continued to ring. "I don't have any magic little button here that can be used to find out everyone's detailed information by just pressing it.

I asked Detective Fusco to investigate his background because I was too busy to handle it alone, and the firewalls of various banking systems are much more stringent than the NYPD's criminal database. "

"It sounds like you need an assistant who is also proficient in computers. Oh, by the way, will the plan to launch two geosynchronous orbit satellites mentioned last time be helpful for you to do similar work in the future?" Jack asked.

Finch paused for a moment. "It won't help speed up the investigation, but even if it's relayed through a ground receiving station, a dedicated satellite network can still greatly improve security.

A company under my name is already negotiating with the Aerospace Industry Group of Serbia, and should be able to find a suitable launch window to launch by the second half of this year at the latest."

This conversation between the two attracted Reese's sidelong glance, and there was a rare hint of confusion in his eyes.

He could understand every word the two guys said, but when they put it together it was a bit confusing because the former CIA agent couldn't figure out whether they were having a serious discussion or just bragging.

As a professional agent, Reese doesn't know much about satellite communications, but he knows more basic "common sense" than ordinary people.

Although Starlink, developed by a certain "open source saint", has been praised by some people, in Reese's view, it is nothing more than some technologies developed by NASA during the Cold War that have been transferred from military to civilian use.

Some technologies, such as parallel rocket engines and stainless steel rocket shell welding, even come from the former Soviet Union.

The so-called global local area network composed of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of small low-orbit satellites with a lifespan of only five years, regardless of its practicality, the intention to seize low-orbit resources is the most important.

However, it was not only Reese who was surprised. Jack was also a little surprised after hearing Finch's reply.

"Wait, you have a satellite ready to use?"

Compared to finding a suitable rocket to launch the satellite into space, building a usable geosynchronous orbit satellite is the most difficult thing in this plan.

Similarly, compared with the string of garbage at an altitude of several hundred kilometers that the "Open Source Saint" has put into low-Earth orbit, the altitude of the geosynchronous orbit is about 3.6 kilometers, which is not a matter of technical level at all.

Similarly, the lifespan of geosynchronous orbit satellites is much longer, with the shortest being around ten years and the longest being more than fifteen years, or even close to twenty years.

"I am involved in the Galileo Satellite Navigation System project at a German company. Now the project has almost come to a standstill, and subsequent funding and technical cooperation are facing difficulties due to conflicts among EU countries.

I currently have a finished satellite and two backup satellites to be assembled, which can be used for our plan with just a few modifications and by removing some functions. "

Jack and Reese looked at each other in surprise, and gained a further understanding of the financial strength of this invisible rich man.

At this time, Reese's cell phone beeped. He looked down and found that it was an incoming call from the cloned phone of Powell, who was still chatting with the boss in the pawn shop.

"New York Mutual Bank." Reese read out the caller ID.

Powell's face in the pawn shop turned visibly pale. "You can take all of these things for only 100 yuan."

The pawn shop owner, whose forehead was shiny and hairless, was obviously getting annoyed by him and shook his head speechlessly to refuse. "Sorry."

"Fifty is fine."

The boss took off his glasses and rubbed them gently on his nose. Then he turned around and was about to serve other customers in an unhappy mood, "Hey, take these garbage away, please." "Don't say these are garbage." Powell was furious and grabbed the bald boss by the collar.

Reese, who noticed this scene, had his hand on the door handle, ready to get out of the car and intervene at any time. Jack waved his hand at him and said, "It's okay. If he can endure eight months of unemployment, he won't suddenly lose control."

Sure enough, under the threat of the pawn shop owner to call the police, Powell let go of his hand in disappointment, picked up his bag and quickly left the pawn shop.

"I have checked all of Powell's credit card records. In the past two months, he has been borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. The only card he has not touched is the one he shares with his wife, but it is no longer sustainable."

Finch described the situation in a calm voice, "So, you two, do you think he's a threat?"

"A man who is penniless has a family behind him who needs his support. If I were him, I could do anything." Reese said as he looked at the man leaning weakly against the pickup truck.

Finch continued to ask, "Agent Tavola, can the FBI dig deeper into Powell's background than the NYPD? We need to know the reason why the 'machine' prompted this."

"If it was terrorism, an FBI background check might have helped a bit, but then he wouldn't be listed as a 'not involved number', would he?"

Jack took a few minutes to make sure he had no memory of the case before answering.

"NYPD records show that he has a clean record. I have confirmed that his identity is not forged or borrowed. So what on earth did he plan to attract the attention of the 'machine'?"

"Then it seems that the only way now is to keep a close eye on this guy until we figure out the problem." Reese looked at Jack and hesitated to speak.

Jack came to join in the fun without changing his clothes after returning to New York, and waved his hand quickly, "Don't look at me, I definitely don't have time for 24-hour tracking, so let's stick to the old rules, you can handle it by yourself during the day.

You can leave it to me tonight, and I'll have Detective Fusco come over to work overtime, since someone has already started paying him."

Staying up late is not a problem for him, but tracking and monitoring at night is much more difficult than during the day, mainly because it is too boring to be alone and you can't be distracted to do other things.

"While you're away from New York, the HR people are trying to contact Detective Fusco. He has to frequent the Police Bar at night recently. Why don't I accompany you tonight?

I can try to get some sleep and come in to relieve the shift at 9pm."

Finch's initiative made the two of them look at each other in surprise. Reese's mouth curled up slightly, "Are you sure, Finch? Have you done this kind of work before?"

"No, is there anything I should prepare?" Finch asked humbly.

"A thicker blanket, books, newspapers or other things to pass the time, oh, and most importantly, an empty bottle." Reese grinned and bumped fists with Jack.

"Empty bottle? Why?" Honest Finch was a little curious.

Jack held back his laughter and explained, “There’s no time for you to go to the bathroom during surveillance, so it’s best to choose an empty bottle with a mouth size that’s appropriate for your own caliber.

Also, choose the number based on your bladder capacity. Generally, two is enough, but if you do it more frequently, three is best.”

(End of this chapter)