The real life of an American police officer: Winning over others with virtue

Chapter 275 Lock
Will and Weston walked over from the other side and asked, "How is it?"

Eric shook his head, and Darren answered.

“He’s not here. He ran away, and he came from the northern mountains.”

Darren repeated Eric's analysis of the tire tracks, causing Will and Weston to exchange a glance, looking at the calm Darren with suspicion and awkward expressions.

When did this guy become so awesome?

"How do you know all this?" Will's gaze lingered on Eric for a moment before finally turning to Darren and asking.

“The tires tell the whole story,” Darren said calmly, giving him a look that said, “You’re so naive.”

Will's lips twitched slightly. Ignoring Darren, he turned to the pensive Eric and said:
“I contacted those informants, and none of them saw anything suspicious.”

Eric nodded and said, "He has accomplices to meet him, so he doesn't need to buy any other means of transportation."

Then Eric looked at Weston and said, "There's no need to steal cars."

Weston frowned and said, "This is going to be more difficult."

"still have a chance."

Eric shook his head and said, "Darren is right. It doesn't make sense for him to come from Camarillo but go around into the northern mountains unless there's a reason he has to stop along the way."

Will chimed in, "Accomplices? Supplies?"

"Hmm." Eric analyzed, combining all the information elements:
"The most likely scenario is that he has a safe house in this area, and the person who can provide this safe house is his local accomplice, which is why he risked coming to Los Angeles."

Compared to Darren, Weston and Will followed Eric's line of thought, exchanging a glance: "So, we're not looking for a person, we're looking for a point."

Eric nodded and said, “That’s right. This spot needs to meet several conditions: ① It needs to be far from the main road; ② It must be passable by vehicles, otherwise he won’t be able to drive the impala over there and get it covered in mud; ③ It needs to be habitable and have a place to hide vehicles, providing basic living conditions; ④ It is likely to be located in a geological area with this kind of red soil and vegetation.”

Upon hearing this, Will and the others felt as if they had been enlightened, their minds cleared, their eyes lit up, and they became more and more excited as they spoke.

"As long as we narrow down the areas Darren mentioned to a certain range, and then find points within that range that meet these conditions, we can find this guy!"

Eric nodded. If he still couldn't find it this way, then he would have to give up.

Without the obvious information of a target vehicle, it is still quite difficult to find someone deliberately hiding in a big city.

"What about this car?" Darren asked.

Will was speechless. He couldn't understand how Darren could analyze so much from the tires: "Of course, it was reported."

Eric and Weston exchanged a glance, shook their heads, and walked towards the police car.

Will caught up a step too late, leaving behind his last words: "It's up to you, buddy, since you were the first to find it."

Darren gave the three people the international hand gesture as they walked away, then pressed the intercom and said, "Calling dispatch center, this is 10-A-16, urgent report! Wanted vehicle 5AOJ230 has been found in the old textile factory warehouse. The vehicle is abandoned and the engine is cooling down."

Repeat: The suspect is no longer in the car; requesting backup.

-

"What do you think they're doing?" Jonah's voice rang out from the police car, where the rookie officers on guard duty were gathered. He was looking at his superiors, who were talking amongst themselves, completely baffled.

Benny, the rookie trainee under Weston's supervision who had just been promoted to a full-time position, shrugged and said he didn't know.

Lucy glanced at Jonah but didn't say anything.

"To be honest, do we really need to get involved in this?" Jonah asked again.

“If you have any objections, you can talk to Commander Will. He should let you go back first,” Lucy said.

"Anyway, I don't mind taking a vacation if I have the chance."

“I don’t mind either,” Benny said. “Four days of paid vacation plus rest days is great.”

"Ahem!" Jonah coughed, wanting to say something, but suddenly noticed his superiors approaching and quickly shut his mouth. Under the watchful eyes of these rookies, Eric opened the door and got into the police car he had driven.

"Get in the car!" Will and Weston said to the students they were in charge of.

Benny and Jonah exchanged a glance and quickly ran to the passenger seat.

Lucy stood there waiting for Darren, but her gaze involuntarily drifted towards Eric in the car, and she subconsciously pursed her lips.

At this moment, Eric was marking the area he had previously identified through clay analysis on a map on the police computer.

Then filter according to those four conditions.

The investigation revealed that there was only one hiding place in the area that met all the requirements: the old residential area within the Topanga community, which is located within the city limits of Los Angeles.

Because the hideout where a wanted criminal ultimately seeks refuge must be a private property that can meet the basic needs of human habitation.

The old houses and cabins scattered in the valley, at the end of the driveway, and shaded by oak and pine trees in the old residential area perfectly fit all the clues.

It looks like this is the place.

Eric took out his phone, took pictures of the map of the circled hiding place area, and sent them to Will and the others.

He then switched to a private channel and said:

“Guys, this place is quite big, so we’ll just have to go and take a look and see what happens. I’ll be in charge of searching the most remote property areas in the community.”

"OK!" Will's voice came through.

"I am in charge of the main roads and streets in the core residential areas."

Weston said, "Then I'll take charge of the main entrances and exits."

“Guys, he has accomplices, be careful,” Eric warned.

"be careful."

“Don’t worry, Eric, we’re not newbies, we know what to do,” Weston interjected.

Eric thought about it and realized that Will and his men had over a decade of service experience.

Thinking of this, Eric began to slowly steer the car away from its original position, speaking to Darren who hadn't gotten in yet.

"Darren, I'll leave things here to you for now."

Darren waved his hand and said, "Don't forget me! We're a team."

Eric smiled, drove up to Will and Weston's police car, exchanged a glance with them, and then drove away into the deep night.

-

Topanga is a bohemian mountain community that straddles the city of Los Angeles and an unincorporated county.

This also means that the composition of communities varies drastically.

Here, you can see modern mansions worth millions of dollars with unbeatable mountain views, as well as simple shacks, converted trucks, and cabins far from the power grid deep in the canyon.

Four o'clock in the morning.

Eric drove into the most remote area of ​​Topanga, slowly maneuvering the police car along the route, observing the houses along the edge and the vehicles parked outside.

Unfortunately, without the car as the most important target, we had no choice but to use a crude method to investigate.

You either try your luck or wait patiently for something to happen; those are the only two options.

(End of this chapter)