Jack, far away in Los Angeles, did not escape either. The LAPD went straight to the hotel where he was staying. Jack was having breakfast with his three children. They were heading to college today, and afterward, Jack would take his other two children back to New York!
"Are you Jack Jenkins?" A group of police officers surrounded them. Jack had expected this and calmly looked up at them. His three children grew a little nervous.
"Officer, what is this about? Showing up like this has frightened my children!" Jack looked thoroughly displeased.
"We need you to come with us to assist in an investigation," the captain leading the group said directly.
"Assist in an investigation? Did you need this many people? You look like you're here to arrest me. So, do you have an arrest warrant?" Jack remained seated as he asked.
"No. We only need your assistance with the investigation." The captain frowned. The NYPD had requested assistance, but they had no evidence to apply for an arrest warrant, which put them in a difficult position. The suspect in a bank robbery was an extremely dangerous individual, so they had no choice but to send more officers. Under normal circumstances, two plainclothes officers would have been enough.
"Then I'm sorry, but today I need to take my daughter to register for college. School is about to start for her, and afterward I'll be taking my family back to New York. As for assisting with an investigation, I'm afraid I can't. I've only been in Los Angeles for a few days and can't possibly help you investigate anything. As far as this city goes, I've only visited Hollywood and Beverly Hills." Jack smiled, then looked at the children. "You three, hurry up and eat. Jennifer has to register today."
"Okay, Dad!" The three children did not dare say much and hurriedly ate their breakfast.
"Jack Jenkins, I hope you will cooperate with us. Every citizen has an obligation to cooperate with a police investigation!" The captain refused to let it go.
"Of course they do, provided it doesn't interfere with their lives. My daughter is starting college today. It's an important day. Besides, I'm unfamiliar with Los Angeles, so I can't help you at all."
"I'm referring to the Bear Stearns Wall Street Bank robbery in New York. You should know about that very well, shouldn't you?"
"I know about it. Every New Yorker does. But does the LAPD handle New York cases now?" Jack looked genuinely curious.
"So you don't intend to cooperate?" The captain's gaze turned vicious.
"That's right, Officer. Is there a problem? Or are you threatening me? Do I need to find a lawyer here to speak with you?" Jack met his gaze head-on, and the captain backed down.
Lawyers were a profession that gave police headaches, and Jack had every right to hire one. Besides, this was a luxury hotel with cameras everywhere. If the captain did anything improper, he would be finished in court.
"Fine. We'll be watching you. Let's go!" The officers left in a noisy rush, having failed to overwhelm him.
Jennifer looked at her father worriedly. "Dad, what's going on?"
"How would I know? It's probably because we suddenly became wealthy. That's American law for you. They do nothing while banks sit on compensation money, but the moment workers on the verge of bankruptcy become rich, it becomes a crime. That's America. So, Jennifer, you need to seize this opportunity and study hard, understand?" Jack used reality to teach his daughter a lesson, then looked at the two younger children. "The same goes for you two. Don't spend over twenty years as workers like your father did, only to end up with almost nothing."
A seed was planted in the hearts of all three children. Their father's lesson left a deep impression on them. After breakfast, Jack took the whole family to see Jennifer off at school. Someone followed behind them, but Jack did not care in the slightest. They had no evidence, and Ghost had already made them destroy everything connected to the robbery, including the more than four million dollars. Luckily, he had not been greedy.
Jack then took his other two children directly to the airport and boarded a flight back to New York. The LAPD breathed a sigh of relief. "George, they've returned to New York. Sorry we weren't able to detain him."
"Thanks. I'll buy you a drink next time you come to New York. This isn't your fault. We have no evidence. Even though we know it was them, we can't arrest them." George Stacy had not a shred of evidence in his hands. They had failed to catch Roy yesterday, and Los Angeles had failed to catch Jack today. The good news, however, was that Jack had returned. This time, George was preparing to act personally.
In the main server room of the traffic monitoring center, Tony Stark was asleep with his head on the desk. The technicians from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s New York branch looked equally exhausted. "Agent Coulson, we did everything we could, but we couldn't find even a trace of him. We're very sorry."
Phil Coulson fell silent for a moment before asking, "Not even any trace that he was there in the past?"
"That's right. We used every technique and method available, but found absolutely nothing. The other party is like a Ghost. Of course, that would only explain this if he had never appeared at all. Are you sure he appeared?"
"He did. Right in front of me. Every traffic light turned green along the way, allowing the target to move without obstruction. Isn't that enough to prove it? To control so many consecutive traffic lights, it could only have been done from the monitoring center," Phil Coulson said.
"In that case, the only explanation is that the gap in technology is too vast. We're no match for him. In the virtual world, someone like that is practically a god. It's terrifying." The S.H.I.E.L.D. technician's description sent chills down the spines of George Stacy, Phil Coulson, and the others.
"If that's the case, then he shouldn't have robbed a bank at all. He could have simply hacked into the bank and transferred the money into his own account. Why contact three workers on the verge of bankruptcy and have them rob a bank?" George Stacy raised his question.
"That is actually easy to explain. Bank account management systems are changing. Everyone is introducing computerized management now, but banks have not abandoned some of their traditions. Written records on paper are still the safest form of documentation, and banks reconcile their accounts regularly. If someone hacked directly into the system and transferred funds, it would be easy for irregularities to surface. They might not be able to find any evidence, but it would not be an absolutely safe or hidden method," the technician explained.
"So robbing a bank and then laundering the money through the financial market is comparatively more discreet?" Phil Coulson asked.
"You could say that."
George Stacy looked deeply troubled. "So does that mean we can't get anything on them?"
"No..." Phil Coulson's eyes lit up. He continued, "They're laundering money through the financial market. That can be traced. But they left on the day of the robbery, so the stolen money must have been hidden away. All we need to do is watch them and see when they use it. Four point eight million dollars is an enormous temptation. Now we just need to see when they make a move."
"So we stop questioning them and switch directly to surveillance?" George Stacy asked again.
"Of course not. Keep pressing them until we have no choice but to give up. That will lower their guard and make them think they're safe. Then we switch to covert surveillance." Phil Coulson had found a solution.
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