1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 180 is actually very simple.

Bernie asked him, "Have you seen Alan Brennan?"

Ed Warren shook his head without hesitation:

"No."

Bernie was somewhat disappointed and asked him again, "Do you remember which number you were when you went out?"

Who was outside when you went out?

Ed Warren thought for a moment:
There was a woman outside with a child.

"The others all seem to be firefighters."

This surprised everyone.

Bernie asked him to confirm, "You were the first ones to come out? Are you sure?"

Ed Warren corrected him:
There was a woman with a child in front of us.

He thought for a while longer, then said uncertainly:
"We came out a short while later, Allen's family came out."

“They had that dog with them; I’ve seen that dog before.”

"I don't know what happened after that."

“I called my supervisor and told him that my house had burned down and asked him for a day off.”

"When I got back, I heard from them that Allen still hadn't come out."

"Several firefighters tried to rush in to find the person, but the fire was too big and they couldn't get in."

"After they put out the fire, they went inside and found Allen's body."

"Then the police arrived."

Detective O'Malley asked him in a deep voice, "Why didn't you say so before?"

Ed Warren looked at him: "You didn't ask."

Bernie adjusted his position, separating the two of them again.

He glanced back at Theodore, then shook hands with Ed Warren, ending the conversation.

As Billy Hawke left the apartment, he said:
"He said he saw a child with a woman, it must be Evelyn Shaw and her son Frank Kowalski, right?"

Detective O'Malley shook his head.

He believes Ed Warren's claims are unreliable.

He pointed to the apartment behind him:

According to him, he and the widow Cecilia Flynn were among the first to be rescued.

"But they live on the fourth floor, which is the top floor of the apartment building."

"The fire started in the basement."

"How could they have been the first to go out?"

Billy Hawke looked back at the apartment, somewhat hesitant:
"You mean, he's lying?"

Detective O'Malley explained:

“The scene was chaotic at the time. He probably only saw Evelyn Shaw and her son and didn’t see anyone else, so he thought he was the first one to come out.”

Billy Hawke was skeptical of this claim, but he couldn't find a good reason to refute it.

Bernie asked Theodore, "Where do we go next? The fire station?"

Theodore nodded.

The fire station isn't far away; it only takes a few minutes to get there.

Firefighters are training.

The bald firefighter stopped the training when he saw them and came over:
"Have you caught anyone?"

Detective O'Malley shook his head.

The bald firefighter was a little disappointed, but he still hugged him and greeted Theodore and the other two.

Theodore asked him:
Were you at the scene of the fire on April 23?

The bald firefighter shook his head:
"It wasn't my shift that day."

He explained to Theodore that, due to concerns about the lack of experience among young firefighters, the duty roster he and Allen set up was to ensure that there was always at least one experienced firefighter at the fire station.

Although shift changes often occur, the veteran firefighters are very careful about this, and no matter how many shifts are made, they will not replace all the veteran firefighters.

After explaining all this, he emphasized again that everyone loves Alan Brennan and no one here would hurt him.

Theodore stared at him, wanting to refute him.

Bernie preemptively took over the conversation:
"Carter, are Paul and Reed there?"

The bald firefighter was not very willing:

"Yes, they are..."

Theodore added on his behalf:
"They started fighting."

The bald firefighter didn't react for a moment.

He stared at Theodore for a few seconds before turning away.

Behind him, the firefighters who had been resting, some sitting and some standing, were now huddled together, chattering away.

The scene was very chaotic.

But with his extensive experience, he could tell at a glance that a fight was taking place behind the crowd.

These people outside are not only watching the spectacle, but also covering for those inside, and serving as lookouts.

The bald firefighter, like a bulldozer, strode forward, shouting "Hey!" as he ran.

Then came a rapid and urgent string of classic East Coast swear words.

Billy Hawke seemed excited; he leaned closer to Theodore, craned his neck to look, and gave a live commentary for everyone:

"They are hitting people."

"The person who was beaten has angered the public."

He pointed to the group of people walking towards them and explained to Theodore:
"They were specifically assigned to stall for time."

When those people encountered the bald firefighter, they actually surrounded him and started explaining things to him all at once.

The bald firefighter was very familiar with this routine; he used to do it all the time when he was young.

He quickly kicked away those who tried to stop him, angrily charged into the crowd, shoved people aside with both hands, and reached the very back.

Carter, Reed, and Paul were sitting awkwardly on the ground.

Carter's eye was swollen and his nose was bleeding.

He looked up and saw the bald firefighter, and was about to complain when Reed and Paul stopped him from the left and right.

The two looked extremely pitiful; one was missing two teeth, and the other was covered in shoe prints.

The bald firefighter asked with a grim face, "What happened?"

No one answered.

Ask again.

Everyone immediately started answering at once.

Carter and his two companions accidentally tripped and fell.

The surrounding area was filled with onlookers and people trying to help.

The bald firefighter's eyes swept across the crowd, and the chaotic scene quieted down.

He didn't pursue the matter further, but instead told Carter and the other two to wash their faces and then come with him.

A firefighter spat on the back of Carter and his two companions.

You can vaguely hear words like "traitor," "ungrateful wretch," and "I'll kill you next time."

As the crowd gradually dispersed, the firefighters sat together in twos and threes, continuing to chat and laugh.

Billy Hawke watched for a moment, then explained to Theodore:

“These people have a clear division of labor and don’t need to communicate at all; they know who should do what.”

"They must do this all the time."

He pointed to several people who were blocking the bald firefighters, who were being patted on the shoulder and thumped on the chest by their comrades like heroes.

Theodore nodded naturally, then asked him:

How do you know so much about this?

Billy Hawke turned his head and stammered.

Theodore answered for him: "You did that too?"

Bernie helps Billy Hawke out of a tight spot:
"This is very common in communal living."

After a brief treatment, Carter and his two companions were brought over by the bald firefighter.

Bernie was worried that Theodore might say something surprising, so he spoke first and asked about the situation at the fire site.

All three seemed a bit down and didn't talk much, requiring the bald firefighter to chime in. Fire rescue operations are typically conducted in two groups.

One team was fighting the fire outside, while the other team went inside to search and rescue.

The search and rescue team will send at least one firefighter to each floor to conduct the search and rescue, which can ensure that the search and rescue are carried out simultaneously and save a lot of time.

They also followed this procedure during the fire that occurred late on the 23rd.

The apartment building has four floors, and four firefighters were deployed to the scene for search and rescue.

Carter was in charge of the fourth floor.

He and Alan Brennan were like father and son.

Bernie asked him, "Are you sure Alan Brennan stayed on the third floor?"

Cardi nodded.

Bernie pressed, "How long did you stay on the fourth floor?"

Carter calculated: "About 4 minutes."

The bald firefighter explained that the normal speed should have been faster, but the rescued people were carrying this and that, which caused a little delay.

Billy Hawke asked curiously:
"Isn't the fourth floor the top floor? How come you were the fastest to come down?"

Carter did not respond.

The bald firefighter offered an explanation:
"The stairwell is like a chimney. Smoke rises up the stairwell, first filling the top floor, and then spreading downwards."

"People on the top floor will be the first to be awakened by the smoke and realize that there is a fire, while people on the lower floors will only realize that there is a fire when they see the flames or feel the heat."

He paused, then said in a deep voice:

"If everyone runs away immediately after discovering the fire, those on the lower floors will still be faster than those on the upper floors."

"But most people's first reaction is not to run away."

"They wanted to take away valuables."

"Some people even wish they could move their entire home away."

“We’ve encountered this many times. Some people have run away, but after seeing us, they go back to gather more things.”

“Some people will even shove their packed bags into our hands and tell us to save the bags first, then save them.”

"People on the top floor discover the fire earlier than those on the bottom floor, and have more time to pack up, so they can get out earlier than those on the bottom floor."

This reason was something no one had expected.

After a long silence, Bernie continued with his question.

When Carter came downstairs, smoke had already filled the third floor, and the fire had spread up to the third floor as well.

He was carrying one in his arms and dragging another behind him, so he had no time to pay attention to anything else. He only glanced at the third floor as he passed by.

All that could be seen was thick smoke and flames shooting into the sky.

All I could hear was Cecilia Flynn screaming.

Carter was the first one to come out.

Shortly after he came out, Paul, who was in charge of the second floor, came out as well.

Paul's rescue was the most successful of the four.

If Tommy hadn't insisted on bringing Rex and the full set of firefighting gear his father, Alan Brennan, hadn't been the first group to come out.

Reed was the slowest of the three.

He was in charge of the first floor.

His experience at the fire was almost identical to that described by Walter Reed.

The difference was that after rescuing Walter Reed, he returned to the fire scene to search for and rescue people in room 102.

After finding no one around, Reed left the fire area.

After he came out and counted the number of people, he found that Alan Brennan had not yet come out, so he, Carter and Paul went back into the fire to search upwards.

They met Henry Crawford and Robert Hayes on the second floor.

Once the person is sent out, the conditions no longer allow them to go back in.

They had questioned the two men while they were in the fire.

But both of them said they didn't see Alan Brennan at all.

Alan Brennan seemed to have vanished into thin air.

After the fire was brought under control, more people rushed into the apartment and quickly discovered Alan Brennan's body.

At the end of the conversation, Theodore asked Carter and the other two curiously:
Why did they beat you up just now?

There was silence.

Carter glanced back at the firefighters who were chatting and laughing:
"Because of your investigation, they believe that we killed Allen."

"When exactly are you going to catch that bitch you're keeping?"

The bald firefighter stopped Carter, preventing him from continuing.

After leaving the fire station, the group returned to the fourth precinct.

In the afternoon, Theodore rejected Detective O'Malley's offer to continue the investigation.

In his view, the facts of the case were already quite clear.

He found a small meeting room, pulled up a whiteboard, and began writing down the names of people in the order they left the fire:
"Ed Warren and the widow Cecilia Flynn were among the first to be rescued."

"Next up are Martha Brennan and Tommy Jr., and then Rex."

"Walter Reid is behind them."

"Then came Henry Crawford and Robert Hayes, who came to his house to fix the pipes."

He stopped, his gaze sweeping over the three of them, like a teacher waiting for students to take notes.

After they finished taking notes and he confirmed that no one had any questions, Theodore continued:

"Four firefighters entered the fire together, and the deceased was separated from Carter on the third floor."

"A few minutes later, Carter came down with the residents from the fourth floor."

"At that moment, firefighter Paul was rescuing the deceased's family."

"Firefighter Reed is trying to get through the fire in the corridor to rescue Walter Reed."

"The deceased was probably on the third floor trying to rescue Henry Crawford."

Bernie looked up:

"Then the firefighters rescued the people on their respective floors from the fire, leaving only the third floor."

He looked at Detective O'Malley:

"The others no longer have the opportunity to commit the crime."

"The only ones with a chance are Henry Crawford and Robert Hayes."

Having worked on many cases with Theodore, he was now able to keep up with Theodore's train of thought on many occasions.

Detective O'Malley raised the following questions:
"But why?"

"Even if, as you say, Henry Crawford felt that Allen disrespected him."

He found it hard to accept, and his voice involuntarily rose considerably:

"But after the fire broke out, Allen didn't even care about his own family; instead, he chose to save him!"

Bernie patted him on the shoulder:

"Henry Crawford was most likely just a witness and not involved."

He turned to Theodore, his expression becoming much more serious:
"Robert Hayes is the murderer."

Detective O'Malley shook his head, still finding it hard to accept:

"He just stood by and watched Allen get attacked and killed?"

“Every Christmas, Alan invites him to his home to spend it together! They also often have little Tommy come over to keep him company!”

"Is this how he treats Allen?"

Theodore looked at him and calmly analyzed:

"If Henry Crawford shows too much interest in the murderer's attack on the victim, he will certainly attract the murderer's attention and get himself into trouble."

"The killer will likely kill him as well."

"In fact, he made the right choice."

"This choice saved his life."

"Henry Crawford was old and sick."

He still harbored resentment towards the deceased, believing that the deceased had become disrespectful to him.

"At this point, the deceased was no longer family to Henry Crawford."

"In this situation, pretending not to see it is the best option."

(End of this chapter)