Shadow Empire

Chapter 375 Looking for clues
Alan tried his best not to show any abnormality on his face.

Just now when they were inside, Erwin told him that there was an undercover agent in the family, and he might even be right next to him.

During this period of time, about fifteen people have been to the temporary warehouse. Now that the temporary warehouse has been discovered, there is a high probability that the problem lies with these fifteen people.

Derisi is from the second group. They have done deadly things together. In addition, Lance is very good to them and never lacks their money and status, so they basically will not take the initiative to join Lugal.

Captains like Allen have their identities clearly checked, so they won't act recklessly.

There were only eleven people who were ultimately suspected.

This annoying number means that there is a 3 in 11 chance that there is an undercover agent among Allen's men.

All three of them were his best friends. Whether it was Beno or anyone else, he really didn't want any problems to arise with him.

But now, he had to be more vigilant and start paying attention to these people.

As the group was walking out, two guys wearing baseball caps walked in from outside.

Beno paused briefly at their faces and then smiled.

The two men also smiled at them. After all, they were a particularly popular team recently. Beno noticed that there were some splattered blood on one of them's baseball cap. He didn't know what they had done outside.

Everyone knew each other, said hello, and then left.

As he stood at the door, Beno turned and watched the two men push open Lance's office, and Erwin casually close the door behind them.

He turned around and continued walking out with Alan.

In the office, the two young men handed the brown paper bag to Lance and told him about the whole process of how they dealt with Lucard.

After listening carefully, Lance praised them with great appreciation, "This is an excellent decision, much better than I thought!"

"You didn't use guns, but baseball bats that are everywhere. Although the nature of the case is bad for the superiors, the means of committing the crime have been reduced by two levels, which can also make the coincidence look more real."

"Go to Melo to collect your bonuses and take a rest for the next two days."

After putting down their things, the two young men walked away arm in arm, smiling. Killing Lucard would at least allow them to get a bonus of more than 2,000 yuan.

With this money, they can live happily for a long time!
In the room, Lance opened the leather bag and poured all the contents onto the table.

"Wallet." He opened the wallet and took a look. There was about thirty yuan in cash and some change in it.

He poured out the money and checked it. There was a photo in the wallet. It looked like an old photo and didn't look very similar to Lucard. It should be someone like his parents.

Inside was his driver's license, vehicle identification, and his police badge.

Lance actually liked this badge very much. The federal government obviously put a lot of thought into making the badge for law enforcement agencies.

On top is an eagle representing the federation, and below is a triangular shield with the full name of the Hazardous Materials Administration on it.

In the center are two dolphins surrounding a crossed sword that represents law enforcement, and on top of the swords are scales that represent law and fairness.

Finally, there is the agent’s rank and agent number.

It is actually quite difficult to forge such a police badge, so it is itself an anti-counterfeiting symbol.

However, this has also led to the current situation where some people are impersonating it, and there are definitely more than one person.

In addition to this there were several keys, a pistol, a spare magazine, and a notebook.

He picked it up, glanced at it, and put it back. It was of no value and was written entirely in cipher.

The large number of combinations of letters and numbers makes people dizzy at first glance. Without any reference, even a cryptography master cannot crack it, not to mention that there is no cryptography master here.

The things were all laid out here. Lance put his fingers together like a spire. "There's nothing we want. It might be in his office or home."

He picked through the keys, sorted them out, and put two of them aside. "These look like they should be the keys to his house, the front door and the garage."

Then there were a few others. "These look smaller, very much like keys to filing cabinets or drawers. They should be keys to his office."

In addition, there is another key that looks a little different. It doesn’t look like an ordinary key and seems a bit "out of place".

"I can't tell. I'll ask someone later."

Lance picked up the phone and dialed Ponda's number. "Come to the old place later. I need you to do something."

"Got it..." Ponda hung up the phone immediately. Although he had begun to accept this kind of life, he was still a little uneasy when Lance's call came to his desk.

Lance strung the keys together and threw the rest of the garbage into the trash.

More than half an hour later, Ponda got off work at the Hazardous Materials Administration. Instead of driving directly home, he drove to a roadside restaurant he often went to.

He chose a seat further inside, waited for the food to be served, ate for a while, then stood up and walked towards the toilet.

Instead of going to the restroom, he left through the back door and came to the back alley.

Lance's car is right here.

The restaurant is run by an imperial family, so the boss was very cooperative.

Pang Dala opened the door and got in. "Mr. Lance, try not to call me directly. What if I don't answer the phone and someone who knows you answers the phone, I might be exposed!"

Lance nodded after listening to it, "You are right, next time I call you, say banana first."

"If you say this word, I will know it is you and I will speak, otherwise I will not speak."

"Okay..." Ponda had no idea what to do. "Is there anything you need me to do for you today?"

"If you're asking about Lucard, I'm not sure. He may have an undercover agent, but I don't know who it is. I haven't heard him talk about it."

He also heard that Lance was investigated in another warehouse.

He thought Lance came to him to ask about this matter, and he didn't want to interfere. Now he and Lisa are living a happy life and don't want to be disturbed by others.

Lance took out a bunch of keys and handed them over.

He looked at Lance with some confusion, and Lance explained, "Here are the keys to Lukar's office and his cabinets. Find a way to get there and see if there's anything valuable."

"It is impossible that this undercover agent has no record at all. He must have recorded it somewhere, maybe a note or a file."

"See if you can find it and bring it out."

Ponda looked at the key in his hand in disbelief, "You stole it from him?"

"You guys are really crazy! He will go crazy when he finds out his key is gone!"

Lance said nothing, just looked at him in the car.

It was dark here, but his eyes were bright, reflecting the cold light of the night.

Being stared at by Lance's eyes, Ponda gradually held his breath, and his expression became somewhat frightened!

"Don't tell me..."

Lance interrupted him, "You'll find out. Your job now is to bring out something suspicious or something that interests me."

Senior agents have their own independent offices, and they are not in the lobby, which means that as long as he sneaks in, no one will find him.

Although it was a bit risky, Ponda had a reason he couldn't refuse.

He remained silent, as if using silence to resist Lance's request.

Lance put his arm around his shoulders and patted him, "We're friends, I won't hurt you, right?"

"Look, you've already made several contributions. If I give you some more intelligence, is it possible for you to move up a level?"

“Ponda, you are no longer alone. Think about you and Lisa. I heard that she is pregnant?”

When he mentioned his wife Ponda, his expression changed a little, he looked a little embarrassed, even a little hateful!

Finally, he sighed heavily, "If they find me..."

"I will help you get rid of the crime. If you really lose this job because of me, I will find you another decent job."

"Ponda, we are friends, and friends will not sit idly by and watch their friends suffer!"

Two minutes later, Pangda returned to the restaurant with a heavy heart. He quickly cleaned up the remaining food and pushed the door open.

He drove back to the Hazardous Materials Administration. The guard didn't find his return strange because there were people on duty and working there at night.

Moreover, bars usually open after dark, so there are many people working here at night. The doorman just glanced at it and then looked away. He turned up the radio again, which was playing a vulgar story, which made his blood boil!

Lucar's office is on the fourth floor, and most other people's offices are on the second and third floors. Ponda's own desk is in the lobby on the third floor, with many other people.

He went straight to the fourth floor via the stairs. The corridor was very quiet.

Many ordinary administrative offices are closed and there is no need for night shifts in these offices.

He found Lucard's office and easily opened the door with the key in his hand.

The moment he entered here, he felt relieved.

At the same time, he began to feel curious about what strange things were in the office of this senior agent.

Exploring other people's privacy will always be an indelible evil in human nature. He sat on Lucard's chair, leaned back, and Lance's promise appeared inadvertently in his mind.

He also has the opportunity to become a senior agent, have his own office, and those people in the hall will obey his orders and commands!

At the same time, Lance's motorcade arrived at the community where Lucar lived. With a luxury car leading the way and Lance showing his ID, the guard quickly let them through.

He straightened his clothes and looked at Erwin, "Do I look like an agent to you now?"

Erwin suppressed his laughter, "Exactly like it!"

It's so hot, and only these "people of status" would wear formal clothes.

He walked to Lucar's house and rang the doorbell.

"coming!"

A cheerful voice came from inside, and the door opened quickly. The smile on the hostess's face immediately turned a little wary, "I don't know you, who are you looking for?"

Lance showed Lucard's police badge and quickly put it away. He was wearing a soft felt hat.

The light from the dim bulb above the main door was blocked by his hat, and the light coming from inside the door could only illuminate his chin.

"I'm Lukar's colleague. He asked me to come and get a few things for him in his study."

The hostess was relieved to hear this, "He said there would be no action tonight."

Although she couldn't see Lance's face, she could see the smile on the lower half of his face. "You know, emergency missions are always like this."

The hostess suddenly realized that it was not a good idea to speak at the door, so she quickly let Lance in, "What should I call you?"

"John, just call me John."

She stood by the door. "Give me your hat and coat and I'll hang them up for you."

Lance shook his head, "No, I'll be leaving soon and won't do that."

The hostess was very welcoming and polite, "Shall I get you some water, coffee or juice?"

"Really, no need. Thank you very much for your hospitality, but I will be leaving soon..." He paused, "Can you take me to the study?"

The hostess nodded quickly, "Of course, please come with me."

As she walked, she asked, "I don't want to pry into his affairs, I just want to know...when can you finish?"

"Is there something urgent?"

The hostess's face turned slightly red, but she didn't say anything, it wasn't that she didn't trust John.

He was trusted by Lucard and was entrusted by Lucard to come to his house to get something, so they must have a very good relationship.

She just hoped that the first person to know the news besides herself would be her husband, so she smiled.

Lance already had some guesses, but he didn't say them out loud. "I'll tell him."

The two of them came to a door, and she pushed it open. "This is the study. If you have anything, just call me at any time. I'm in the living room!"

"He doesn't really like me coming into his study, so I probably can't be of much help!"

"It's okay, I can do it myself!"

Lance entered the room. The moment he closed the door and turned around, he was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help laughing.

There is a huge blackboard in Lucard's study. Lance's photo is pinned in the middle, surrounded by many other people's photos and introductions, connected by different colored threads.

There were also some scattered documents on the table, most of which were reports about the Lance family.

Hanging on the wall was a map of Jingang City with many circles drawn on it. In particular, there were many signs on the Imperial District, some of which had circled Lance's multiple warehouses.

He is always analyzing!

Lance picked up a document that listed the locations of the bars that had been sealed off. Then, based on the testimonies of some customers, he obtained the delivery intervals.

These intervals are then used to infer where the warehouse might be.

Judging from the map, he has circled it correctly, but in fact the city is very large. A small circle here is a large area on the map.

Although the Hazardous Materials Administration has its own judicial office, it is impossible to approve search warrants without restrictions.

So even if he had a guess, it would ultimately just be a guess.

He noted that the bars that were closed had different characteristics.

Some of the bars that were closed down only had newspaper clippings of reports pinned on them, but in the case of a few bars that were closed down, there were handwritten notes pinned on them with thumbtacks.

When Lance saw this, he had a guess. Perhaps the previous closures of the bars were not done by his people.

Only the subsequent bars were closed down because he personally contacted the undercover agent and obtained the intelligence.

He took the notes off the blackboard and put them in a brown paper bag.

Then he walked around, gave a rough search and found nothing like a safe, so he returned to the chair behind the desk.

The things in the drawer were very messy and not of much value. After a quick look, he selected a few neatly and sloppily written documents and put them into a file bag.

These will be compared with the notes to confirm whether the notes were written by Lucard himself or by an undercover agent.

After doing this, he took a quick look around and decided that there was nothing wrong, so he reopened the door.

The hostess was walking towards him with coffee in her hand. She looked at him in surprise as he came out. "I thought it would take a while. Would you like to try the coffee I made?"

Unable to refuse such a generous offer, Lance picked up the coffee with a smile and took a sip. "It's delicious. That guy Lucard is really enviable!"

The hostess smiled happily, "You are such a compliment!"

Lance took two more sips and put the coffee cup back. "Thank you for your hospitality, but I do have to go."

She put the plate down and took the initiative to lead Lance outside, "I'll open the door for you."

Lance stood in the doorway, holding his hat in one hand, "Goodbye, ma'am."

"Goodbye, Mr. John."

She watched John get into the car before she looked away.

It's strange to say, but she didn't have any deep impression of Mr. John. She only knew that he was very polite and easy to talk to, but his appearance was vague.

He never took off his hat from the time he came in to the time he left.

What a strange person!
Sitting in the car, Lance took off his hat and smoothed his hair. "Go to the Imperial Branch."

The driver quickly changed the route, and the car quickly merged back into the traffic flow and disappeared.

Twenty minutes later, Lance appeared in Chief Blue's office. Interestingly, he sat in Chief Blue's seat, while Chief Blue sat in the seat that was supposed to be for visitors.

"Is there a handwriting expert here?"

“The kind that can identify whether the handwriting was written by the same person.”

For more than 30 years, the federal government has used handwriting evidence as valid court evidence. However, the identification of this evidence developed very slowly at the time and there were not many people who could do the identification.

In fact, there are not many so far. There are only four handwriting identification experts in the entire Likalai State. Fortunately, there is one in Jingang City, who is a consultant to the city police department...

(End of this chapter)