FBI's Move

At the FBI Los Angeles Office, several agents are compiling statements from the arrest operation and indictment files for all those arrested.

The criminal gang, led by Andrew Saxon, basically had everyone, from top to bottom, carrying several wanted notices.

There are minor fights and brawls, and major incidents of murder and arson; no one is innocent.

Some people can be turned into Immunity Witness to expose the villain Andrew Saxon. Others are already proven guilty and can be handed over to the prosecutor for prosecution as soon as possible, and sent to prison quickly.

What's particularly noteworthy is that a group of unlicensed medical personnel with prior criminal records or revoked licenses were apprehended at the scene. These individuals were the ones assisting Andrew Saxon during the surgery.

What If...? they were merely assisting in illegal medical procedures, they might be fined or even given a verbal warning and released. Compared to Saxon criminal gangs, these individuals are simply not worth wasting time on.

Unfortunately, a batch of illicit funds, amounting to over thirty to nearly forty cubic meters, was seized from them! In order to legally confiscate these illicit funds, these individuals had no choice but to be prosecuted.

The Saxon gang's crimes may not be related to this group, but they could use the pretext of the gang's illegal medical practices to extort money from them before the gang relinquishes ownership of the illicit funds.

Whether they admit to the crime or not, the only difference is whether to skip the formalities and let them go, or to prosecute them.

Send them to jail. Anyway, they're not going to get that money back.

However, there is one person who cannot be ignored in everyone's testimony: the surgeon who performed the operation on Andrew Saxon, codenamed "The Tinkerer."

"Have you caught the Tinkerer? Or has anyone identified him as the Tinkerer?" Detective James asked. The young detective shook his head and said, "No. We only have the clue that the Tinkerer is a white male with a noticeable scar on his face, and he dresses like a 19th-century France. We haven't caught him."

"Damn it." Agent James knew this would be the outcome, but he couldn't help asking if there was any different information from the new recruits. "Has the LAPD asked? Could it be that they're after the money in the other person's possession, so they're not talking about it even after arresting them?"

"I asked, and the result was the same." The young detective's answer was not only disappointing, but he himself was also somewhat disappointed. "You said that the doctors and nurses who were arrested said that the Tinkerer also had a bag of money, two bags totaling one million. Is this true or false?" Detective James asked unwillingly.

"It should be true, right? Those Saxon gang henchmen confirmed it too. Their boss did indeed take out one million in cash as the surgery fee."

"So, that fat old man really did perform a highly complex operation in that godforsaken place?" Agent James asked again.

Recalling the inflatable mobile operating room we saw at the investigation site, it was actually a fairly high-end medical device. But compared to the filth, stench, and appalling conditions of the warehouse, it was like heaven and Hell coexisting in the same place.

The young agent stated, "Testimony from the Saxon gang, as well as confirmation from doctors at the Los Angeles hospital, confirms that Andrew Saxon has indeed undergone major surgery and requires post-operative care."

"What If...? we don't want him to get infected and die, he has nowhere else to go but the hospital."

"Maybe it's just a matter of removing the appendix?"

"To remove the appendix, you don't need to make a nearly 50-centimeter incision in the abdomen. That's what the doctors at the Los Angeles hospital said."

Having just answered his colleague's question, the rookie detective cautiously asked, "Actually, it's not that we don't know where the Tinkerer's clinic is. Why don't we go and arrest him, or shut down that illegal clinic? What are your superiors worried about?"

Seeing the newcomer acting like a clueless greenhorn, like a fool running into a wall, and not wanting to get implicated, the veteran James could only advise, "Don't you know how the department treats people like him?"

"What kind of person?" the young detective asked, puzzled.

James lowered his voice and said, "He's a waiter at the Continental Hotel."

"Is that the place where the director privately warned us to be careful on the day we were officially hired?"

"Yes, that's the place."

The young agent asked, puzzled, "We represent the United States. Why are you being so cautious about an underground organization?"

Agent James said, "Because they represent a different world order, just like we wouldn't clash with the CIA overseas. The CIA, domestically, can only keep a low profile."

"Unless we have solid evidence that someone in the Continental Hotel has committed a federal felony, not investigating or filing a case is the bureau's usual practice."

"Otherwise, we would have arrested a nobody like Tinkerer long ago; it's not like we only found out about his clinic's location today. But even if you arrest him, how are you going to prosecute him?"

"Practicing medicine without a license isn't a federal felony; he only violated Section 2052 of the California Business and Professions Code. The maximum penalty is a $10,000 fine or 16 months in state jail. It's not under our jurisdiction."

"Then—should we report it to the IRS?" the rookie agent suggested.

But this only elicited a chuckle from veteran agent James, who said, "Do you have some misunderstanding about the IRS? Just because they arrested Al Capone, you think they can handle all the world's criminals?"

"Al Capone's money laundering ledgers were flawed, which gave the IRS the opportunity to catch him. As for those criminals who pay taxes, they are usually convicted or about to be convicted, in order to avoid being charged with tax evasion during the prosecution process and adding an extra charge."

"Unless someone is arrested and there are no accounting records or tax returns, the IRS cannot prosecute and fine someone simply based on the statement 'I heard someone has a million-dollar income.' Conviction requires evidence. Didn't you learn that in school?"

The rookie detective asked, "You don't even know how to conduct an investigation?"

"Whatever principles we have in our department, they have the same ones." The veteran agent said something the newcomer found hard to accept. But James then changed the subject, saying, "However—"

"But what?"

"What If...? we conduct a raid and manage to find that illicit fund, the situation will be different. As long as we have evidence linking the Tinkerer to the money," Detective James said.

Then the young detective suddenly remembered and said, "That's right, the seized handbag. According to others, that large bag was originally carried by the Tinkerer. There might be fingerprints on it."

Detective James, however, held little hope, saying, "What fingerprints can you find on the woven fabric handle? As for other areas, you can have someone investigate the fingerprints that can be collected. But I don't think you'll find any useful evidence."

Although that's what he said, James was actually considering another possibility: whether he had an opportunity to earn extra money.