The NYPD's Three Detectives (Seeking Collection, Seeking Recommendations!)

Even...

In the end, the Internal Affairs Division didn't dig up anything else, but they did clear one thing: Lake not only had no illicit income, but he also regularly donated a sum of money to various social welfare agencies every month.

By the end, even some of the female investigators couldn't bear to keep looking into it.

These...

were quietly leaked to him by a soft-hearted female investigator.

Lake felt like laughing.

He wasn't surprised at all that Internal Affairs couldn't find a single lead.

After all, Lake didn't become a detective to play dirty—he became a detective so he could play dirty while building his own intelligence network.

That was the key order of things.

In short.

Lake came prepared, not empty-handed.

And...

those so-called regular donations to the orphanage were definitely the work of the system. After all, any shady or dirty money was handed over in cash directly to the system. Last time, during the lottery, he even dipped into his salary—that part was on the books and couldn't just vanish.

But that wasn't the point.

The point was, with Lake's preparation, the Internal Affairs investigation had hit a dead end.

That's exactly why the commissioner assigned Lake to give the opening speech at the Police Academy. If Internal Affairs had even a shred of evidence, that wouldn't have happened.

Too bad they had nothing, but they still refused to close the case.

The reason...

Lake had some personal beef with the lead investigator on this case.

Let's put it this way.

It's a story about a hat.

Lake wasn't proud of it, and God could be his witness—that woman had clearly said she was single.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

"Come in!"

On the top floor of the NYPD headquarters, Lake pushed open the office door and greeted the man sitting behind the desk, now the NYPD commissioner: "Commissioner."

Chief Burt looked up at Lake as he entered, gestured to the chair in front of his desk, and waited until Lake sat down before saying, "Good speech. Curtis said the new recruits were fired up. Even I got pumped watching the video."

Lake replied, "Thank you, Commissioner."

Humble?

What's that, edible?

Chief Burt clasped his hands together and pointed to a file on his desk. "The Internal Affairs investigation report is out. What do you think the result is?"

Lake said, "I've never taken a dime of dirty money."

He always played dirty—taking dirty money wasn't his style.

Chief Burt didn't even open the report. He grabbed it and, under Lake's gaze, tossed it into the trash can beside him. "Congratulations, Detective Edwin. Your suspension ends today."

Lake stood up. "Thank you, Commissioner."

Strictly speaking, this announcement shouldn't have come from Chief Burt, but from Inspector Montgomery of the Major Crimes Division.

But...

Chief Burt shook Lake's hand. "This is what I can do for you within my authority. If it weren't for you, Jonathan wouldn't have come home alive from the battlefield."

Jonathan, Lake's squadmate from his military days. During an overseas operation, Lake saved his life. Lake only later found out that Jonathan's father was Chief Burt.

Lake said, "It was my duty, Commissioner. Jonathan and I were brothers."

Chief Burt nodded and sat back down.

Seeing this, Lake said, "Commissioner, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

Chief Burt nodded and said nothing more.

Lake turned and left.

The Major Crimes Division floor.

Occupying an entire floor, the Major Crimes Division was on the third level of the headquarters, ensuring the fastest response time. All three squads were stationed here.

Ding!

As the elevator doors opened and Lake was about to step out, a woman he'd never seen before—dressed in plain clothes, with the unmistakable air of law enforcement—said, "Excuse me," and brushed past him.

She walked straight into Inspector Montgomery's office.

Lake blinked.

"Hey, brother!"

"Esposito!"

Esposito, who worked in Major Crimes Unit 2 under Detective Beckett and had a hint of Mexican blood, walked out of the break room with a coffee cup. He greeted Lake, then eyed the back of the woman in plain clothes heading into Inspector Montgomery's office, asking curiously, "Who's that?"

"No idea."

Lake shrugged as he said so, then sniffed the air and stepped back. "Jesus Christ, man, what's that smell on you?"

Sure, Westerners had stronger body odor, but shouldn't that mean more attention to hygiene? Lake himself had bought deodorant in all sorts of flavors—orange, apple, and banana.

"We staked out in the car for three days and just caught that Afghan driver who was working with the terrorists. What do you think?"

"...You really ought to go take a shower."

"It's work hours."

"Trust me, if the Inspector catches a whiff of you, he'd rather you go home and shower than let you stay here and pollute the air."

"..."

Lake said this to Esposito with a sincere face, then pointed to an empty spot in Unit 1. "George and his team not back yet?"

Esposito replied, "Not yet. They wrapped up the evidence gathering on the Dacia Crime Family and probably went to make the arrests."

"Impressive."

Lake praised.

The Dacia Crime Family was a small criminal organization—there were at least twenty-something like it in New York—but the Dacias had some serious backing.

Rumor had it...

The Dacia Crime Family was one of the many underlings of Hell's Kitchen's top dog, Kingpin.

Kingpin's name echoed across the entire New York law enforcement world. After all, any rookie joining the force, once they learned who Kingpin was, dreamed of arresting him someday.

Too bad...

Everyone knew Kingpin was evil and ruthless, but the guy had money. A few years back, people had tried to nab him, but every time the evidence seemed rock-solid, Kingpin's million-dollar lawyers would find a loophole in court, and the judge would toss it out.

Kingpin might not kill cops, but he had no problem going after jury members, and he had all sorts of connections with City Hall and even the New York State Hall.

Most detectives from other precincts avoided Kingpin like the plague—except for the three lead detectives at HQ.

Maybe that was why Lake, Beckett, and George were the three heads of the Major Crimes Division at HQ.

Lake said to Esposito, "The Dacia family is small, but taking them down should sting Kingpin for a while."

Esposito replied, "Isn't that what we planned with Operation Hair Removal?"

Lake laughed out loud.

Last year, when Lake, George, and Beckett were drinking together and talking about the ultimate prize in New York law enforcement—Kingpin—they'd kicked around ideas and eventually cooked up the so-called Operation Hair Removal.

PS: Unit 1 George—from "Marvel," George Stacy!

PS: Unit 2 Beckett, Esposito—from "Castle"!