Mo Fei's Flaw

Mo Fei was working hard to make money, while Chief George Stacy had hit a dead end. Paul Green was currently being detained, and the situation did not look good. Yet George Stacy understood that Paul Green was not an inside man.

The flaw was far too obvious. If he had been an inside man and was ultimately convicted, he would face a long prison sentence. What would he gain from it? He was financially comfortable, his job paid well, and he had no bad habits. It was simply impossible for someone like that to rob a bank and get himself caught in the process—unless there was some unknown reason.

Chief George Stacy mobilized considerable manpower to investigate Paul Green, as well as the bank manager. Naturally, the police would not overlook anyone suspicious, and the manager was a prime suspect too. With the vault key and password, he could also have been the inside man. It was just that Paul Green was more suspicious for now, because the technical department had found no trace of intrusion, and both the landlines and mobile phones had been confirmed to be functioning normally.

The situation now appeared extremely complicated, and the case was baffling. If they could find Paul Green's motive, everything would be easier. But if they could not, even filing charges might not lead to a successful conviction.

The commissioner was facing a difficult problem as well. The person in charge of the New York Traffic Monitoring Center had been very cooperative, but when the police went to collect evidence, they discovered that the internal surveillance footage was gone. The traffic monitoring staff on duty at the time said that the feeds they had seen showed no signs of congestion whatsoever. As for the several landlines used to make the emergency calls, there were too many fingerprints on them to distinguish anything.

This was no longer something a single inside man could have done. The police switchboard had retained recordings of the emergency calls, but the voices included both men and women, some rough and some soft, with varying pitches and tones.

Ken Martin had been a police officer his entire life and had encountered plenty of bizarre cases, but he had never faced one like this, where there was simply nowhere to begin. Police technicians inspected the site, and the Monitoring Center's technicians conducted their own examination as well, but neither found anything. There was still not the slightest trace of intrusion. Even the operational logs showed no problems at all. Ken Martin realized they had encountered a formidable opponent.

Back at NYPD headquarters, he summoned George Stacy. "George, how is your side progressing?"

"Not at all. Paul Green, our prime suspect, has no motive whatsoever. We're still searching, hoping to find a breakthrough. How is it on your end?" George Stacy placed his hopes on the commissioner.

But he was destined to be disappointed. "Not a single lead. There isn't anything useful there at all, and the technical tests haven't found any issues either. Our opponent is like a Ghost," Ken Martin said helplessly. "After being a police officer my whole life, this is the first time I've encountered a case where I have no idea where to start, even with a suspect."

George Stacy was deeply disappointed after hearing that, but he seemed to have caught onto something. He immediately fell into thought and did not hear the commissioner's complaints. Ken Martin grumbled for a while, but his subordinate showed no sign of comforting him. Looking up, he saw that his most capable chief had fallen into deep thought. Sensing there might be hope, he quieted down as well.

The two sat there as an hour passed. George Stacy suddenly looked up and said to the commissioner, "Commissioner, what if Paul Green was telling the truth?"

"What do you mean?" Commissioner Ken Martin frowned. Based on the current evidence, that assumption did not hold up.

"If he was telling the truth, then it means these robbers possessed extremely advanced hacking skills. They infiltrated the bank's security system and locked the electronic locks. At the same time, they infiltrated the Telecommunications Company and cut off the landlines' and mobile phones' external communications. And if they could infiltrate the bank's security system, then learning that the manager carried the key and obtaining the vault password would not have been that difficult either. There were three cameras aimed at the vault." As George Stacy spoke, his tone gradually became certain.

"But our technicians found no traces left by them!" Ken Martin said.

"If they could do all that, then their skills are beyond what we can estimate. Especially at the New York Traffic Monitoring Center—the equipment there is extremely advanced, and its management procedures should be sound. Yet they managed to accomplish this. This is the only flaw they left behind." George Stacy had found Mo Fei's flaw.

The police had not found a single clue at the Traffic Monitoring Center, and that was how George Stacy spotted the flaw. This place was not ordinary. Could a group of people really run wild there without leaving behind the slightest clue?

George Stacy continued, "Have you noticed? Our clues have always revolved around the question of an inside man. But what if there was no inside man? What if everything was accomplished through hacking? Then everything makes sense. Our inability to find anything means our technology isn't good enough. Once we make that assumption, doesn't everything fall into place?"

Ken Martin froze for a moment. He was already in his fifties. Although the times had advanced rapidly, an old police officer like him did not have a deep understanding of technology. They preferred to rely more on experience.

Still, he had to admit that George Stacy's words made a great deal of sense. After thinking for a long time, he finally nodded. "That makes sense, George. But go to the technical department first and ask whether anyone's skills could truly accomplish these things. If necessary, I'll request support."

"Understood!" George Stacy hurried to the technical department. The moment he entered, he gathered all the technicians. No matter what they were working on, they were immediately called into the conference room.

"Everyone, I have some questions. Answer if you know the answer. If you don't, offer some hypotheses. This is extremely important." George Stacy had already organized his thoughts. As the chief with the highest case-solving rate in the NYPD, he possessed meticulous reasoning.

The technicians had no idea what was going on, but they understood the need to obey orders. Fortunately, as New York's police department, the NYPD had always enjoyed a generous budget, so the technical department was well equipped.

George Stacy looked over everyone before beginning his questions. "First: did the bank's surveillance system have any external devices connected to it for a system intrusion? You should have checked that."