1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 162 The largest illegal gun trading venue in the Northwest region!

The secondhand store had a "Closed" sign hanging on it.

There wasn't a single customer inside.

Theodore and Bernie entered, and Bernie casually turned the sign around to show "Open for Business".

The two men squeezed sideways through the narrow gap between the shelves.

The shelf wobbled, but didn't tip over.

Theodore suspected that they were only superficially rickety, but were actually very sturdy, and might even have been glued on.

Otherwise, why does it always look like it's about to fall but won't?

Walk across the shelves and come to the counter.

Theodore looked around and found that the store seemed to be unchanged from the last time he came.

Even those oddly shaped goods that Theodore didn't recognize remained obediently in place.

He began to suspect that the store might not have made a single legitimate sale since last December.

The owner, with his hair down, was leaning over the counter registering business.

He had obviously seen the two of them long ago, and only put down his pen when they came up to him, asking them what they had come for.

Bernie exchanged a few pleasantries with his boss before getting down to business, asking for the contact information of his agents at George Washington University and America University.

The boss looked up at Bernie several times, his expression not very pleasant.

He muttered to himself, "I knew it, you guys coming here wouldn't be anything good."

Then he shook his head and refused: "No, that's impossible."

Seeing the smile disappear from Bernie's face, the boss asked again, "What do you want to investigate? I can help you investigate right now."

"Their accounts are all compiled and submitted to me."

Bernie didn't say anything, but stood in front of the counter with a stern face, staring straight at the boss.

The scene looks like a street bully harassing an elderly person.

The boss explained to the two men that the agents for the two universities were not affiliated with him and that their backgrounds were complicated; selling them to the FBI would get him into trouble.

Bernie nodded, fully understanding his boss's predicament, and then expressed his hope that his boss could overcome the trouble.

He promised that he would only ask the agents for some clues and would absolutely not expose them.

When his boss still refused, Bernie asked him if he needed to contact Ronald.

The boss was silent for a few seconds, then flipped the ledger to the back, tore off a page, wrote down two names and addresses, and handed it to Bernie.

He looked at Bernie with a complicated expression, repeated Bernie's promise, and said that he hoped Bernie would keep his promise.

Bernie accepted the note with satisfaction, nodded, and his smile returned.

He asked his boss about the Ithaca .37 shotguns and Harrington Richardson revolvers that had been sold this month, especially near the university.

The boss handed Bernie the ledger in his hand, and then, limping, pulled out another ledger from behind him.

Bernie was somewhat surprised: "Is the gun business really that good lately?"

The shopkeeper nodded and pointed south: "Ever since the Soviets went to space, the number of people buying guns has increased several times over."

Theodore looked south in confusion, not understanding why the Soviets were pointing south.

Bernie flipped to the first page of the ledger and found that the ledger, which was already one-third full, had its first entry dated April 12th.

He put down the ledger in his hand and told the boss that they were looking for records before April 8th.

The Ithaca .37 shotgun and the Harrington Richardson revolver were guns already in use by the two criminals when they robbed the Esso gas station.

The boss quickly flipped through the ledgers and soon found the corresponding record.

The Ithaca .37 shotgun sold poorly, with only three units produced.

The Harrington Richardson revolver, on the other hand, has more than thirty of them.

Harrington Richardson revolvers are priced at only $5-10 here, depending on their condition, making them a prime example of low profit margins and high sales volume.

As always, the boss's ledger only showed the shipment volume, without registering the specific buyers.

Bernie copied down the sale date and gave his suggestion to the boss:
"In the future, when selling guns, we can try registering the buyer's information."

The boss wasn't appreciative and reacted the same way as last time.

He completely ignored Bernie's words, put away the ledger, and reminded the two of them not to forget to turn the "Open" sign back up when they left.

After the two finished their conversation, Theodore asked the boss:

"Is it true that your shop hasn't sold anything except guns?"

Upon hearing this, the shop owner looked up and said, "Yes! If you come here every day, who would dare to buy my goods?"

"If this continues, even gun buyers won't dare to come."

He completely ignored the fact that he had just told the two of them not long ago that business had been exceptionally good since the 12th of this month.

Bernie pointed to the counter and asked the shopkeeper, "How much is this?"

The shopkeeper took a small, square metal flask out of the cabinet and handed it to Bernie.

He asserted with certainty that it was a wine jug used by a general during World War II, and that out of consideration for Ronald and their friendship, he would accept $50 from Bernie.

Bernie rolled his eyes, put the flask in his pocket, and then pulled out two one-dollar bills and stuffed them into the boss's hand.

The boss put the money in the drawer, pleased that he had made a sale.

The two then squeezed sideways through the narrow shelves and left the secondhand store.

Back in the car, the two didn't visit the second, third, or any other illegal gun trading venues, but instead headed straight to Emily College.

Emilyka University is located in Tanley, which is quite far from downtown DC, almost to the state border.

Theodore and Bernie were delayed at the secondhand store, and it was almost five o'clock when they arrived.

They first located the public phone booth that the female criminal had used to call the Maryland State Police.

It's located downstairs in an apartment building, across from a university campus.

Emily College and George Washington University do not provide accommodation for students; students at these two schools need to find their own housing.

Most students choose to share an apartment or house near the school with friends.

This apartment building is full of students.

When they arrived, someone was making a phone call, and two other people were waiting in line outside the phone booth.

The two parked their car on the side of the road and watched for a while. Then another student came out of the apartment and lined up behind the two. Meanwhile, the student in the phone booth was holding the phone between his head and his body, taking out coins from his pocket and stuffing them into the coin slot.

The student behind him knocked on the phone booth to remind the person inside to keep track of the time, but received no response, so he went back inside.

In the short time that followed, two more students came out of the apartment building and lined up behind the three of them, chatting and laughing.

They seemed to know each other, and the five of them huddled together and started chatting.

Theodore checked the time; it was close to the time the female criminal had made the call to the police.

It was the busiest time for the phone booths.

Bernie got out of the car and walked to the phone booth, where he was stopped by the students. They assumed Bernie also wanted to make a call, and pointed behind them with displeasure, telling Bernie to go and join the queue.

Bernie flashed his FBI badge, dispersed them, hung up the phone for the chattering students in the phone booth, and then called AT&T technicians to help him check the numbers dialed before and after the emergency call.

If the phone booths were as busy yesterday as they are today, the people waiting in line to make a call must have seen the female criminal, and might even know her.

Bernie plans to call back yesterday's number to get the identities of the people who used the phone booth before and after the female criminal made the emergency call, and then confirm the female criminal's identity with these people.

The AT&T technician complained to Bernie over the phone, but still agreed to help.

Bernie gave the office number to the technician and told him to call the office directly once he found it.

After ending the call, the two headed to Emilyka University.

They first contacted the campus security supervisor through the school security guards, and then the campus security supervisor contacted the principal.

The principal is not at the school.

According to the campus security chief, 12 people were arrested in the clashes that occurred yesterday evening in front of the State Department, including students from America University.

The principal has been dealing with this all day, trying to get the students back from the police station and minimize the impact of this incident on Emily College.

He simply couldn't get away.

The campus security chief conveyed the principal's apology.

Theodore asked him when the principal would be back.

The campus security supervisor said with difficulty that the principal hadn't said anything, but the matter seemed difficult to handle, and he probably wouldn't be able to come back today.

Theodore then asked him if the principal could authorize them to conduct an investigation at the school.

Emilyca University is a private research university founded in 1893 by the Emilyca Methodist Church. It received initial funding from the church but operates independently.

The school now has 23 board members, five of whom are from the Methodist Church.

This is a privately owned piece of land, and its owner is the school's board of directors. The principal is essentially an industry manager hired by the school's board of directors.

Obtaining the principal's authorization is equivalent to obtaining authorization from the owner of this private land.

Only with authorization can student information be accessed, including lists of students majoring in drama and literature, and cooperation from faculty and staff, and even students.

Then, a comprehensive screening was conducted based on Theodore's profile.

Without the principal's authorization, they couldn't even tell who was a drama or literature major, and they couldn't just stand at the door and ask each student individually.

The campus security supervisor looked troubled and said that he was just a campus security supervisor and he couldn't make a decision on this matter. He had to contact the principal.

He returned quickly and told the two that the principal had just left and could not be contacted.

Theodore stared at him for a while, then asked him if he could provide the contact information of the Dean of the Liberal Arts College so that they could communicate with him.

Drama and literature programs are generally offered by liberal arts colleges.

Once you get the dean's contact information, you can communicate with the dean to obtain the contact information of professors in the relevant majors.

Since we can't contact the principal or get authorization for the time being, we can achieve the same goal by checking homework and asking the professor about his daily observations of students.

The campus security chief was again in a bind, stating that he also did not have the dean's contact information.

Today is Sunday, and there are no administrators to be seen at the school.

The only leadership on campus is probably the campus security director in front of you, who always seems to be in a difficult position.

Theodore reminded him that the criminals they were investigating were armed and could pose a significant threat to campus safety.

The slightly overweight campus security supervisor wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded repeatedly.

He sincerely expressed that, as the campus security director, he was deeply concerned about the security risks on campus and that he would do his utmost to cooperate with the FBI to eliminate them.

Theodore stared at him for a few seconds, then decided not to waste any more time there.

After leaving the school, the two followed the address provided by the secondhand shop owner and entered an apartment building next to the school.

The apartment building is in a bad location and it's dark inside.

The apartment building was a bit old, with some peeling paint on the walls, but the interior was very clean.

However, there was always a faint smell of urine in the corridor.

Following the address, the two knocked on the door of a room at the bottom of the stairs on the second floor.

The door was quickly opened, and a young man wearing a plain tie, a black formal suit, and leather shoes appeared in front of the two.

The young man had simple short hair and was slightly shorter than Bernie, about the same height as Theodore.

He had a serious expression, even looking somewhat solemn, like a pastor preaching on an altar.

He asked the two what they wanted in a tone that sounded just like a preacher.

Theodore and Bernie exchanged bewildered glances, thinking they had encountered a pastor preparing to go out and preach.

Unfortunately, neither of them were believers.

Bernie showed his FBI badge, verified the young man's identity, and asked him:
"Between April 1st and 8th, did anyone buy an Ithaca .4 shotgun or a Harrington Richardson revolver from you?"

The young man was quite composed and didn't seem intimidated by the FBI agents' visit.

He turned around, went inside, and came out with an account book.

This ledger was much thinner than the ledgers in the secondhand store, and the young man finished checking it very quickly.

He told the two that no one had ever bought an Ithaca shotgun, but seventeen Harrington Richardson revolvers had been sold.

Bernie asked him if any of the revolver buyers were women.

The young man gave him a strange look:
"Most of the buyers of this are women; men almost never buy it, unless they are middle school students."

Bernie then asked him, "Do you remember all these people? Can you still recognize them?"

The young man nodded, then shook his head:

“There are over five thousand students at Emilyka University, and young people around here who all buy guns from me. Even if I remember them, it's useless; I can't possibly know every single one of them.”

Bernie ignored all of that and proceeded to describe the female criminals' height and build.

The young man, recalling the events, asked him somewhat uncertainly:

"Was she wearing a red beret, a red polka-dot dress, and ankle boots?"

This outfit is definitely considered retro for this era.

The current trend is for the First Lady's outfit: a light yellow wool coat, a dress, and a pillbox hat.

But the timing doesn't match.

His clothing and appearance also differ from Theodore's profile.

According to Theodore's profiling, female criminals were not yet dressed in a retro style when they purchased revolvers, and they were likely better at concealing their identities and would not rush to show any unusual behavior in their daily attire.

Bernie and Theodore exchanged a glance and asked the young man for more specific details about the man.

The young man opened the ledger, looked around, and pointed it out to the two men:
"She came over on the night of the 4th and bought a revolver."

He flipped through the pages again: "She came again around 11 p.m. last night, dressed exactly as I described."

(End of this chapter)