1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 201 Theodore Dixon Hoover!
Bernie is helping Terence Cowan build a perception of himself as a “good father.”

The atmosphere in the interrogation room was relaxed, and the two chatted happily.

Theodore stood outside the interrogation room for a while, listening, before the bald firefighter and Detective O'Malley came in.

The bald firefighter is holding a fire accident investigation report.

This report is quite thick, and it contains many photos and very detailed text.

He handed the report to Theodore:
“1957年11月24日凌晨01：15左右，托马斯街1633号一栋排屋发生火灾。”

"After the fire started, it quickly spread to nearby houses and set them all on fire."

The bald firefighter gave Theodore a brief account of the fire.

This was a relatively famous fire, and many firefighters in the Northeast region still remember it vividly.

The fire occurred late at night on Thomas Street, a densely populated area.

If discovered even slightly late, the fire could quickly spread throughout Thomas Street, making the situation uncontrollable.

Thanks to a few workers who had gone to a bar to drown their sorrows, they saw the fire on their way home late at night and called the police in time.

Firefighters arrived at the scene and began extinguishing the fire as soon as it spread to neighboring houses.

Nevertheless, the fire still destroyed a large number of houses.

Firefighters battled the blaze until dawn before it was finally extinguished.

The DC Fire Department subsequently launched an investigation and found traces of a large amount of accelerant at the scene.

The fire was initially determined to be arson.

The report concludes that the arsonist poured accelerants and then ignited them with an open flame. The flames rapidly expanded under the influence of the accelerants, engulfing the entire row house and spreading to the surrounding area.

The fire incident was handed over to the Fourth Precinct.

After investigation, the Fourth Precinct identified the owner of terrace house number 1633.

Detective O'Malley, looking serious, handed Theodore a case report:
"The owner of house number 1633 was a gambler who had lost all his assets the night before the fire."

"This includes the property at the center of the fire."

“We investigated other gamblers involved in the betting.”

"According to them, he has a bad gambling habit and believes that others are colluding to cheat him and trying to renege on their bets."

Theodore looked at Detective O'Malley:

Who runs the casino?

Detective O'Malley flipped through the report and found a transcript:
“A local street family.”

"They beat him up and gave him two days to move out."

Street families are the smallest type of gang organization. As street families grow and expand, they form criminal gangs.

After a pause, Detective O'Malley flipped through the pages again and found an autopsy report:
“We found his body quickly, and the autopsy report showed that it was suicide, and the time of death was the night of the fire.”

The Fourth Precinct believes that he did not want to pay the gambling debts and was powerless to resist the street family that organized the gambling, so he chose to burn everything down and end his own life.

The case was thus closed.

The bald firefighter picked up the conversation:
“When Patrick (referring to Detective O’Malley) gave me the date, I immediately thought of this fire.”

"I carefully compared the points of origin of the fire."

"Arsonists like to disguise fires as accidents caused by short circuits. Look here."

He opened the fire accident investigation report, found the photo of the fire's origin, and pointed it out.

However, the photo shows a completely blackened area, indicating that the burning was far more severe than in the basement of apartment 209 due to the presence of accelerants.

Theodore looked closely, but couldn't see anything.

The bald firefighter flipped back to a previous section and pointed to a report description.

The electrical distribution box is located directly above the point of origin of the fire.

During the investigation of this fire, the presence of accelerant components led investigators to instinctively assume that the fire was deliberately ignited, without considering the possibility of a short circuit.

…………

It was already dark outside at seven o'clock in the evening.

Most of the detectives in the precinct had left, leaving only the officers on duty and those working overtime.

Interrogation room of the Fourth Precinct.

Bernie is talking to Terrence Kwan about Sean Kwan.

Guided by Bernie, Terence Kwan recounted several harrowing experiences of Sean Kwan being rescued and how he dealt with them.

He also recounted how he balanced his work and time caring for Sean Cowan.

Bernie exclaimed in genuine admiration:
“You did it, Terence.”

"For more than three years, you did nursing work all by yourself, day after day, which even professional nurses find difficult to endure."

"The airbag is compressed 17 times per minute, ready to suction phlegm and adjust the ties at any time."

"Sean is alive today entirely because of your meticulous care. You are an amazing father."

This is the first time Terence Kwan has received recognition.

This made him very happy.

But then he thought of Sean Cowan and began to feel ashamed of himself for feeling happy.

How could he be happy?

The satisfaction he derived from Bernie's recognition that he was a good father vanished.

A familiar sense of frustration surfaced.

Terence Cowan was somewhat agitated.

He shifted his position, looked at Bernie, and asked:
"Can I go back now?"

"Sean is still waiting for me."

He paused for a moment, then his tone turned low:
“You heard it at the hospital too, he could leave at any time, and I want to be with him in his final moments.”

Bernie maintained his gentle smile and stood up:
"I'll go ask for you."

He casually took the water glass from the table.

Terence Cowan had already drunk all the water in the glass.

After leaving the interrogation room, Bernie waved to Detective O'Malley, who wanted to talk to him, and headed straight for the restroom.

A few minutes later, Bernie returned looking refreshed.

Detective O'Malley also hung up the phone:
"I just confirmed with the hospital, and the final date matches up."

Detective O'Malley had been observing the interrogation from the sidelines.

Whenever Bernie managed to get a date from Terence Cowan that Sean Cowan had been treated, he would contact the hospital to check the nursing logs to confirm.

Once confirmed, the date will be sent to the bald firefighter to find the fire accident investigation report for the corresponding time.

Including this one, Terence Cowan has recounted a total of thirteen dates when Sean Cowan was taken to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Detective O'Malley looked at Bernie with admiration.

Even if you hear it with your own ears, it's still hard to believe that someone could make someone repeat a similar thing 13 times.

Bernie asked again:

"Where is the fire accident investigation report?"

Detective O'Malley glanced at him:
"We found corresponding fire accident investigation reports for all the dates after his wife left."

"These fires all occurred on Thomas Street or Brentwood Road, and the cause of the fires was basically a short circuit in the electrical wiring."

"But before that, we found a man-made fire that used accelerants, similar to the fire on November 24, 1957."

Bernie recalled Theodore's explanation for using gasoline when Evelyn Shaw was burned, and asked him:

"What is an oxidizer? Gasoline?"

Detective O'Malley nodded reluctantly.

Bernie didn't look too good.

Both were experienced detectives and knew perfectly well that while they seemed to have a lot of cases and could potentially link Terence Cowan more closely to the arsonist, they were essentially making no progress.

The number of cases cannot compensate for the fatal flaw of the lack of direct evidence.

The bald firefighter was examining the thirteen reports with a magnifying glass, trying to find a connection between Terence Cowan and the arsonist.

But Theodore did not want to place all his hopes on the arsonist's negligence.

He glanced at Terence Cowan, who was growing increasingly agitated in the interrogation room, and prepared to continue the interrogation.

Detective O'Malley stopped Theodore, staring at him without saying a word.

Theodore met his gaze, not understanding what he meant.

Detective O'Malley looked around and whispered a reminder to Theodore:

"We don't have many cards left. Are you confident?"

He glanced at Bernie: "Do you really think your suspension bridge effect will make him confess?"

"If you're not sure, just wait and see."

Bernie sensed something was wrong and asked:
"What are you waiting for?"

"When?"

Detective O'Malley didn't answer, but simply avoided Theodore's gaze.

Bernie's face began to look even more grim.

All three of them have the answer to this question... or perhaps it's two of them.

Once Sean Cowan dies, and Terence Cowan's emotional cycle is disrupted, he will head towards destruction.

At that time, he might have readily admitted to being a spy for the North if the police accused him of it.

It was precisely to avoid confusion about whether the interrogation was self-punishment or a genuine confession that Theodore began the interrogation overnight.

Bernie couldn't understand what had happened during the hour or so he'd been in the interrogation room, or how Detective O'Malley's attitude had changed so drastically.

Theodore stared at Detective O'Malley for a moment, then looked away at the deputy commissioner's office at the end of the corridor.

The office door was closed, but you could see through the crack that the lights were on inside.

The deputy police commissioner rushed back just before the end of his shift.

When he returned, he didn't ask Theodore any questions or talk to him. He just came over for a quick look, then went back to his office and didn't come out again.

Theodore asked Detective O'Malley:
"What did the deputy commissioner say to you?"

Detective O'Malley glanced at him and remained silent.

Theodore didn't ask any more questions, walked past him to greet Bernie, and went into the interrogation room.

Detective O'Malley stared blankly at the closed interrogation room door for a moment, then turned and knocked on the door of the deputy superintendent's office.

He first reported on the progress of the case investigation.

The deputy policeman frowned as he listened in.

I don't understand any of that talk about the suspension bridge effect or the compensation for a sense of control.

Detective O'Malley didn't understand either, and when it came to these matters, he simply repeated the words verbatim.

The deputy commissioner asked Detective O'Malley:
"Can those fire investigation reports find any connection between the arsonist and the electrician?"

Detective O'Malley shook his head:

"It's hard."

"The arsonist was very careful and skillful, leaving no evidence."

"The fire department's report concluded that it was all an accident."

He said with some admiration:
"If it weren't for Theodore's analysis, we would never have realized that these accidental fires were deliberately staged, let alone linked the arsonist to Terence Cowan."

The deputy superintendent nodded, acknowledging this as well.

Detective O'Malley continued:

"Although the early fires were determined to be arson, they left no clues other than gasoline, which is an accelerant."

After a pause, Detective O'Malley reported Theodore's attitude to the deputy commissioner.

The deputy police commissioner smiled:

"Theodore Dixon Hoover, huh?"

He instructed Detective O'Malley:

"Just cooperate with their work."

Detective O'Malley agreed, and after some hesitation, he mustered his courage and asked the deputy commissioner:
"Should we tell them about the newspaper..."

The deputy commissioner interrupted him:

Did the FBI inform us beforehand when they arrested our people?

Just yesterday, an officer who had been on the arsonist task force list was taken away by the FBI for endangering national security.

…………

trial room.

Terence Cowan asked Bernie somewhat anxiously:
"Can I go back?"

Bernie didn't answer, but looked at Theodore.

Terence Kwan also looked at Theodore.

Theodore ignored the question:

“1957年11月23日，肖恩·柯万因重症肺炎伴呼吸衰竭被送往医院抢救；1958年4月26日，肖恩·柯万因肺炎伴痰液潴留被送往医院抢救；1961年2月18日，肖恩·柯万被儿童医院拒收；1961年4月20日，肖恩·柯万因高热诱发呼吸衰竭再次被送往医院抢救。”

He looked up and met Terence Cowan's gaze:

“Shortly after each of these incidents, there are always some ‘accidents’ happening near Brentwood Road or Thomas Street.”

"A fire broke out on Thomas Street in the early morning of November 24, 1957."

"On April 28, 1958, a three-story townhouse at 1705 Thomas Street was burned down."

"Fire at 177 Brentwood Road on April 19, 1961."

"Fire at 121 Brentwood Road on April 23, 1961."

Terence Cowan's body tensed up, completely unlike his previous relaxed state.

He turned his gaze to Bernie:

What did he mean by telling me all this?

"What does this have to do with me?"

Bernie remained silent.

Theodore opened the fire accident investigation reports one by one and showed Terence Cowan the photos of the fire scene.

Finally, he took out the autopsy photos of Evelyn Shaw and Frank Kowalski and placed them on top of a pile of dark photos:
“Just days after Sean Cowan was hospitalized on April 20, on the night of April 30, nurse Evelyn Shaw was burned alive, and her son Frank Kowalski was strangled and his body dumped in the Anacasta River.”

Terence Cowan glanced at the photo, then immediately looked away.

He began to get excited:
"what do you want to say in the end?"

"What does this have to do with me!"

Theodore tossed the junk he'd collected yesterday from the basement of apartment 209—terminals, nails, wires, and other odds and ends—onto the table:

“These ‘accidents’ are all quite clever, and they look like they were caused by a short circuit in an old electrical wire, just like in apartment 209 last night.”

“But we found these at the scene.”

He picked up the terminal and explained the arson tips he had heard from the bald firefighter.

He put down the terminal and picked up the nail.

Terence Cowan, however, did not want to listen.

He rudely interrupted Theodore:
"What does this have to do with me!"

He looked at Bernie, his tone pleading:
"Can I go now? Sean is waiting for me."

(End of this chapter)