1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 105 Hoover was very satisfied

Theodore has always been very confident in his profiling.

Ronald called the Third Precinct and quickly got the police department's response time for the two robberies.

The response time at the DuPont Roundabout Post Office is usually around six minutes, but this morning the response time was a whopping thirteen minutes!
This is the actual response time, which differs greatly from the expected response time.

The Third Precinct explained that poor road traffic at the time of the robbery affected the police response time.

The estimated response time is calculated under good road traffic conditions.

The inconsistent response times of the two robberies, ironically, became evidence of Theodore's suspicion that "the robbers were testing the police response time."

If the response times are the same, then what's the point of testing?
Theodore looked at Ronald.

Ronald didn't hesitate much and decided to temporarily adopt Theodore's idea.

Theodore analyzed this morning's robbery separately:

"During this morning's robbery, the robbers actively requested to trigger the alarm, which is a clear indication of an escalation of their strategy. They are simulating the most realistic scenario."

"The robbers may have already conducted a test and are preparing to make their move on their final target."

This means they may only have less than 24 hours at the shortest.

Ronald spread out the map and began assigning tasks.

He first named Mike and Andrew:

"Go and communicate with the Third Precinct and request their cooperation."

"Mark all possible targets as Theodore requested."

He looked at Theodore and repeated, “It’s easily accessible, about 1.2 miles from the Third Precinct.”

"Banks, post offices, government warehouses, gold shops, jewelry stores, exhibition halls, museums—all possible high-value targets, none can be missed."

Ronald then pointed to Theodore and Bernie:

"You're coming with me to the Federal Bureau of Prisons."

Before setting off, Theodore felt that Ronald's list was too broad and reminded him, "Post offices, government warehouses, exhibition halls, and museums are not their targets."

Ronald looked at him: "Why?"

Theodore: "The robbers didn't touch the package during either of their two rehearsals; their target had nothing to do with the package."

"The robbers targeted stamps and banknotes, and did not show any obvious tendency to transport complex goods. Strategic metal reserves or energy reserves stored in government warehouses should not have been their targets either."

“Exhibition halls and museums mainly contain artworks and cultural relics, which are quite different from the practice targets chosen by robbers, and these should not be their ultimate targets either.”

"Moreover, most exhibition halls and museums are not open at nine o'clock in the morning. This contradicts the robbers' most recent rehearsal."

"The focus should be on high-risk, high-return targets such as banks, gold shops, or jewelry stores."

Ronald did not heed Theodore's advice, reminding Theodore and Bernie: "We are the FBI, and we have access to far more resources than a single local police department."

“Saving resources isn’t something we should be thinking about.” After a pause, Ronald pointed across the street: “They’ll take that into account for us.”

"Preventing these two rats from causing a big commotion is what we should be thinking about."

Theodore looked at Ronald with a slightly puzzled expression. He felt that he and Ronald were talking about two different things.

He tried to explain: "Banks and jewelry stores usually complete their cash operations as soon as they open in the morning. They have plenty of cash reserves at the counter, but security is not yet fully in place. It's easier to succeed then."

“Precious metals and paper money are also more in line with the targets that the robbers planned to steal in their two rehearsals.”

Ronald glanced at him and instructed Mike and Andrew to prioritize the locations that Theodore had excluded as secondary targets, and banks and gold shops as primary targets.

Theodore hesitated for a moment, then asked Ronald, "Do criminals in DC always clean up their crime scenes to avoid leaving fingerprints?"

This leap in thinking left Ronald and the others puzzled.

He paused for a moment, then explained to the group, "The robbers cleaned the scene very thoroughly, leaving no physical evidence."

"This could be part of an investigation specifically targeting the FBI."

Ronald recalled the cases he had handled: "In recent years, many criminals have become more cautious. Although fingerprint technology and other methods have not yet been widely adopted, many criminals already know how to clean up crime scenes."

He shook his head, rolled up the map, handed it to Mike, and urged everyone to get moving.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons is not far from the Department of Justice building, just six blocks away.

Ronald must come here often, as he encountered many people who greeted him along the way.

He contacted an acquaintance in the archives and, through personal connections, obtained a list of robbers who had been released in the past month.
They then took the list to the Veterans Affairs Bureau.

Ronald handed the list to an acquaintance to check the service records of the people on the list.

The acquaintance worked quickly, completing the review of the list of over a hundred people in just over an hour.

Three pages were reduced to one. They received a list of more than thirty people.

Ronald looked at the list and contacted the various precincts, asking them to help investigate these people.

Theodore's gaze toward Ronald changed.

He discovered that Ronald seemed to have acquaintances everywhere.

On the way back, Ronald told the two that this is what happens when you work in DC for a long time; you know people everywhere.

Even if you don't interact at work, you'll still have connections in your personal life.

DC government employees either live in Georgetown or Arlington. The former is suitable for singles, while the latter is suitable for settling down.

In the afternoon, Mike and Andrew returned with a map that was covered in circles.

After eliminating non-compliant target points marked out of caution, they obtained 37 potential targets.

This includes 13 primary objectives and 24 secondary objectives.

The five people stared at the 13 red circles on the map in silence.

Still too many!

If this case had occurred in Felton, reaching this point would likely have already identified the sole suspect.

But this is DC.

This place is much bigger and more bustling than Felton.

After hesitating for a moment, Ronald rolled up the map and pointed at Theodore: "You're coming with me to find the boss."

The two men approached their supervisor, Theodore, who recounted the previous analysis and listed indirect evidence such as the response time from the Third Precinct and the distance between the two robberies and the Third Precinct.

Ronald requested to immediately contact potential targets, alert them, and make arrangements around them.

After listening, the supervisor first pointed to Theodore, then to Ronald, and asked him, "Have you estimated the scale of this operation?"

Ronald spread out the map: "Initial estimates suggest there are 13 primary targets and 24 secondary targets."

The supervisor glanced at the map, which looked like a hornet's nest, and tapped the table: "I need a specific target, not a bunch of possible targets."

"We didn't even deploy this many agents when arresting Bonnie and Clyde!"

He rejected Ronald's application.

Ronald hesitated, his gaze drifting towards Theodore. The supervisor immediately shook his head: "No, no way."

"No one can do that."

"Come back when you have a specific goal."

Ronald still wanted to try: "But according to Theodore's analysis, the robbers will make their move on their final target as early as tomorrow morning."

The supervisor remained unmoved: "It's the police's business if banks and jewelry stores are robbed, but it's our business if the post office is robbed."

Ronald: "If we are actually robbed, the DC Police Department will still call us for help, and it will eventually become our case."

The supervisor remained silent.

Whether it's the Third Precinct or any other precinct, why are the DC police so cooperative with the FBI, even to the point of being obedient to them?
Over the years, the two sides have developed a tacit understanding.

"Then catch them before they make a move! Don't let them cause trouble!" The supervisor waved his hand: "What are you still standing here for?"

The two were kicked out.

Back in the conference room, Bernie, Mike, and the other two all turned to look at them.

Ronald shook his head, indicating that he had failed.

The group sighed and discussed what to do next.

The two obvious leads and the work clothes could not be investigated further, and Theodore's analysis also failed to make any breakthroughs.

The case appears to have stalled.

Theodore stared at the list of robbers that had just been copied onto the whiteboard for a while, then turned to the silent crowd and said, "There may be three robbers."

The others looked at him, puzzled.

Theodore: "A standard heist team would leave at least one person outside as a lookout."

"This person needs to take on the roles of observation, early warning, support, and driver."

“Given the professionalism of this group of robbers, it’s impossible that they didn’t have a ‘driver’.”

"In both post office robberies, the robbers left immediately after the robbery, which is inconsistent with their original intention of robbing the post office."

"After they left, they had no way of observing the police's reaction."

Mike objected: "They can remove the disguise and then come back."

Theodore shook his head: "It's December now. If the robbers take off their work clothes and come back, they'll be especially noticeable."

"They had nowhere to hide their guns and loot."

Andrew suggested another possibility: "What if the robbers parked the car somewhere else beforehand?"

Theodore: "It's certainly possible in these two robberies of the post office, but it's easy for things to go wrong when targeting their ultimate goal."

"It's December now, and the weather is getting colder. We need to consider the possibility that the car might suddenly not start, the possibility that the car might attract attention if it's parked on the side of the road for a long time, the possibility that it might be stolen, the possibility that the car might take the wrong turn in a moment of panic, and many other complex factors."

"That's why a standard robbery team has a dedicated driver."

Seeing that no one raised any further objections, Theodore continued:
"In these two robberies, the two robbers had a clear division of labor, but did not show a clear subordinate relationship. This is unusual in a robbery team that shows a high degree of obedience."

"Robbery is a high-pressure crime that requires robbers to commit the crime and escape within minutes. Any disagreement or unexpected event during this period could cause the robbery to fail."

"The possibility of accidents can be reduced through rehearsals, while disagreements need to be resolved by establishing clear hierarchical relationships among the robbers."

"This 'driver' who hasn't shown his face may be the core of the robbery team."

After Theodore finished his analysis, the conference room fell into a brief silence.

All four of them, including Bernie, were looking at Theodore, with the same question on their minds: How do you know so much about robbery?
Bernie didn't know much about the robbery and didn't have a deep understanding of it.

In Felton West, robberies are usually escalated into murders before the detectives are called in.

Mike and Andrew had worked on many robberies with Ronald, and upon reflection, they realized that Theodore's analysis was a highly insightful summary of those well-organized robberies.

Ronald pointed to the names on the whiteboard and asked Theodore, "You think this 'driver' is in here?"

Theodore shook his head: "He was probably on an earlier list."

The agent who had previously called Ronald to the phone knocked on the door and entered, interrupting the conversation.

He called Ronald to answer the phone.

Ronald returned quickly with new information.

The DC Police Department's investigation into the list of robbers is beginning to yield results.

The detectives cross-referenced information based on height, build, financial status, and alibis.

Either their height and build don't match, or they have an alibi.

The people on the list were excluded one by one.

When the last name was crossed out, everyone instinctively looked at Theodore.

Theodore carefully examined his profile, erasing those with alibis and leaving only those excluded due to discrepancies in height and build.

Ronald was equally baffled by his behavior.

Theodore: "I think we should go find those two people you know and get a list of robbers who will be released from prison within six months."

“And then there are,” he added, “unsolved cases similar to these two post office robberies that have occurred recently near DC, such as in Maryland or Virginia.”

Theodore's meaning is easy to understand.

He suspected that this group was committing crimes on the move and had done more than one case.

The group all turned their attention to the whiteboard, then looked at Ronald.

Ronald hesitated for a few seconds, then quickly made a decision.

He chose to continue to believe in Theodore.

Ronald reassigned tasks, pointing to Mike and Andrew: "Go to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Veterans Affairs and get the list of robbers released within the last six months."

Mike and Andrew looked at him in surprise, then at Theodore, and finally nodded in agreement before leaving the meeting room with mixed feelings.

They were both mentored by Ronald and know him very well. Ronald would never have agreed to this if someone else had done it.

Ronald then asked Bernie to find the detective who had been calling him to answer the phone and contact nearby police stations to send over the unsolved robbery case files.

After seeing everyone off, Ronald closed the door, stared at Theodore for a while, and hesitated to speak.

He felt like he had taken on a huge problem.

Theodore reminded Ronald, "The investigation into the shotgun and Colt pistol should also be moved forward."

Ronald gritted his teeth, grabbed his coat, and headed outside.

Theodore hurried to catch up.

The two had just left the investigation department when they bumped into Hoover, who had somehow returned from somewhere.

Hoover glanced at Theodore following behind Ronald, and his brow relaxed.

(End of this chapter)