1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 206 From Arsonist to Water Thief?

Bernie and Billy Hawke did not accompany Theodore to court for the trial.

The court summons only Theodore as a witness.

They remained at the Department of Justice building to communicate with two internal affairs agents about the arsonist case.

This case involves two murders and nineteen arson cases, many of which were wrongly convicted by the fire department, making the case extremely complex.

According to the two internal affairs detectives, the arsonist's case report could be over 500 pages long and would take at least two months to complete.

No sooner had they left than the two internal affairs agents went to find Dawson, the head of the personnel department.

Bernie returned to his office, wrote another application, and submitted it along with the keys.

He hopes to pass the FBI's internal review as soon as possible so that he can bring his wife and children over and reunite with his family.

Around noon, Theodore returned to the Department of Justice building from the courthouse to brief Chief Inspector Rosen on a series of cases involving the arsonist.

Of course, Bernie was the main person giving the report, with Billy Hawke as a supplement.

Theodore, however, remained lost in thought, composing his essay.

His article is in its final stages and is expected to be completed this week.

If approved, it will be published in the Enforcement Gazette next month and seen by almost all law enforcement agencies in Emilyca.

This is his first article to be published, and he attaches great importance to it.

The Enforcement Gazette is a monthly publication, published without fail on the 1st of each month.

Occasionally, when a major event occurs, a supplementary "Red Alert" will be published.

The Red Alert Supplement is usually printed within 24 hours.

On April 19, it was confirmed that the government's secret operation had failed, and a supplement was published the following day.

Although the Enforcement Gazette is touted as an internal FBI publication, it is not limited to internal circulation.

Many law enforcement agencies have subscriptions.

By the time Theodore came to his senses, the report was already over.

Supervisor Rosen was glaring at him.

Theodore hesitated, then turned to look at Bernie and Billy Hawke.

The two then silently looked away.

Theodore then looked at Supervisor Rosen.

Supervisor Rosen waved his hand, dismissing the man.

…………

In the afternoon, Theodore and his two companions went to the Veterans Affairs Bureau to investigate the case.

There are still four cases left from Supervisor Rosen's assignment, and Theodore plans to temporarily suspend taking on other cases and finish these first.

They are now investigating a case of an individual misappropriating federal property.

At the beginning of last year, the Veterans Affairs Bureau specifically designated a dozen or so parking spaces on the outer edge of the parking lot as dedicated parking spaces for injured veterans visiting the area.

The parking space is clearly marked and is specifically for disabled veterans.

Eligible veterans can obtain a special paper parking ticket from the parking lot attendant.

In mid-June last year, the Veterans Affairs Administration's Logistics Director's Office was bombarded with unsigned whistleblower letters for a week.

The complaint alleges that a parking lot attendant abused his position by improperly using parking tickets.

Given the current international context, the Veterans Affairs Administration did not want to bear the potential liability of concealing the case, so it reported the case to the FBI immediately after it occurred.

The Veterans Affairs parking lot, where the incident occurred, is federal property.

The suspect, a parking lot attendant, is a federal employee.

In terms of its nature, the employee's actions constitute theft and misappropriation of federal property, which is suspected of violating federal criminal law and indeed falls under the clear jurisdiction of the FBI.

But the FBI didn't want the case.

Even the previous detective assigned to the case didn't even bother to investigate, leaving the case briefing to gather dust in a corner.

If it hadn't been assigned to Theodore, this case would probably have remained unsolved for a long time.

Upon arriving at the Veterans Affairs Bureau, they went directly to the parking lot attendant.

The parking attendant, a middle-aged man in his forties, was leaning against a small booth at the parking lot entrance listening to the radio.

The radio was analyzing the differences between the manned spaceflight experiments of the two countries.

The building manager was so engrossed in listening that he didn't notice someone had arrived until Bernie knocked loudly on the window.

He turned the radio volume down, greeted them warmly, and asked if they needed any help.

Bernie filled out the visitor registration form, turned around, pointed to a special parking space not far away, and asked the attendant:
"Can I park my car here?"

The administrator looked Bernie up and down, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded:
"of course can."

He turned around, opened the drawer, took out a parking ticket and a pen, and handed them to Bernie.

"Put this parking ticket on your car window."

The parking voucher is not for deducting parking fees; the Veterans Affairs Bureau parking lots do not charge parking fees.

It is an access permit; only by holding a parking ticket can a car owner park their car in a special parking space.

The special parking spaces are designed to provide priority parking for disabled veterans.

There is a high demand for parking spaces in this area, and it is often difficult to find one.

When Ronald took Theodore and Bernie to investigate the post office robbery, he simply parked the car on the side of the road.

The three looked at each other, their expressions strange.

Billy Hawke couldn't help but ask the administrator:
"Hey buddy, did you offend someone?"

The administrator was completely bewildered and looked at him blankly.

Billy Hawke shook his head and patted the administrator on the shoulder.

The three parked the car and entered the Veterans Affairs Bureau.

They went directly to the logistics manager to find out what was going on.

The logistics supervisor didn't even remember such a thing.

He only remembered when Bernie placed the parking ticket in front of him.

The logistics supervisor remained silent for a moment, then had someone bring the administrator over.

The administrator was very cooperative and readily admitted to misappropriating the parking tickets.

Theodore asked him for the exact number.

The administrator said somewhat awkwardly that he couldn't remember either.

Theodore asked if he had resold the goods.

The administrator hurriedly shook his head in denial.

He told Theodore that he only occasionally kept one or two parking tickets, mainly to give to acquaintances.

Special parking spaces are close to the entrance and exit, making them convenient to enter and exit.

The administrator looked uneasy and repeatedly assured that he had never resold the products.

…………

After leaving the Veterans Affairs Bureau, they drove to Capitol Hill.

The car fell silent for a moment.

After returning, briefly explain the case to the internal affairs detective. Once the internal affairs department produces the case closure report, the case is considered closed.

A federal case was solved in less than an hour.

But none of the three felt any sense of accomplishment.

Billy Hawke looked completely bewildered.

He seemed to be wondering what he had just done.

Bernie broke the silence and asked Theodore:
How did the court hearing go?

Theodore thought for a moment and then recounted the proceedings of the trial, leaving the two men speechless.

Bernie has several years of experience as a police officer and has attended countless court hearings.

During his internship after the selection and training, Billy Hawke was even arranged to attend court hearings for several consecutive days.

This was the first time they had ever heard of a judge so lenient towards the defendant's lawyer.

Bernie asked Theodore:

Do you know Judge Bezeron?

"Before, before I went to Felton."

He suspected that Theodore had offended Judge Bezzeron in the past. Theodore gave his answer with certainty:
"do not know."

Bernie thought for a moment, then asked:

"Does he know the bureau chief?"

Theodore gave him a strange look and shook his head:

"I do not know."

Bernie fell silent.

He now suspects that Judge Bazelon may have some kind of grudge against Chief Hoover, which in turn has affected Theodore.

When Prosecutor Bradley last visited Theodore at the Department of Justice building, he mentioned Judge Bizeron's style.

Judge Bezeron is more concerned with the rights of the defendants, especially in cases brought by prosecutors.

He believes that individuals are too weak in front of prosecutors who represent the government, and are in an absolutely vulnerable position during the investigation, interrogation, trial, and subsequent imprisonment stages.

The defendant's rights may be violated at any time.

This sounds very un-Hooverian and very un-FBI-like.

This type of judge is the kind that all law enforcement agencies and law enforcement officers hate.

The car quickly drove into the northeast section of Constitution Avenue in the North District of Capitol Hill and stopped on an unnamed side street near the intersection with 1st St NE.

This is a secluded alley, and a middle-aged man in a DC Water Authority uniform is standing by the roadside.

The man had deep nasolabial folds, which made him appear somewhat rigid. Coupled with his unsmiling expression, he gave the first impression of being difficult to get along with.

After Bernie got out of the car, he exchanged a few pleasantries with the man and learned that his name was Bill and that he was a late-night inspector for the DC IRS.

Bill is a responsible but somewhat rigid person.

Last summer, during his routine street patrol to check water meters and pipes, he caught sight of someone using the water from a fire hydrant to wash a truck at an intersection.

Bill confronted the water thief, who immediately put away his tools, apologized with a grin, and then slipped away.

Bill found a public phone booth on the side of the road and called the police.

"The DC Police Department operator told me that if a fire hydrant is on federal land, it's considered theft of federal property, and that they can't do anything about it. They suggested I report it to the General Services Administration."

"The next day I went to the General Services Administration to report it. After looking through the property map, they told me that it was federal property and suggested that I report it to the FBI."

Bill explained the situation as he led the three inside:

"I submitted my application, but I didn't hear back until you contacted me this afternoon... This is the place."

He pointed to a fire hydrant by the roadside.

The fire hydrant is somewhat old, and you can still vaguely see the number FH-1127 painted on it.

Theodore crouched down to inspect and saw very obvious scratches at the outlet of the fire hydrant.

There are many scratches, some new and some old.

Bill walked over and first pointed to the way they had come:

"This area belongs to the General Services Administration (GSA)."

He then pointed to the road ahead:
“That area is federal property under the jurisdiction of the Capitol Police.”

Finally, he pointed to the path beneath their feet:

"This road falls under special federal jurisdiction."

Billy Hawke was stunned.

He looked back, then looked forward, and finally asked Bill:

"Dude, this road can be divided into three different departments?"

Bill nodded, his face serious.

Billy Hawke couldn't help but press further:
"How did you do it?"

Bill began to explain to Billy Hawke with a serious expression:

"This road is..."

Bernie's gaze couldn't help but dart back and forth between Bill and Theodore.

This was the first time he had met someone even more Theodore than Theodore.

Bill explained at length, and then summarized:

"This area is very close to the Capitol complex and is located in a highly sensitive federal core area."

"If the fire hydrants here are dry, a fire could have terrible consequences."

Bernie asked him:

"Did you see the water thief?"

Bill nodded and pointed northeast:

“His name is Jimmy, and he runs a car wash called ‘Flash Car Wash’ over there.”

"He often brings two or three young car wash workers here to wash their cars."

"They first used a special large pentagonal wrench to open the large valve of the fire hydrant. Then they connected a rubber hose and a water gun and aimed it at the car to wash it."

He pointed to the front and back of the road:
"Their cars were parked on both sides."

Bernie was somewhat surprised:

"You found him?"

Theodore then asked him, "Do you know Jimmy?"

Bill continued nodding:

“I used to get my car washed there.”

"Many taxi drivers like to get their cars washed at his place."

"After midnight, taxis change shifts, and many cars need to be washed, but the water pressure in the parking lot is low, and water is very expensive."

"It's better to go to Flash Car Wash than to wash your car at the parking lot. Jimmy's prices are cheaper. One wash at the parking lot is enough to get three washes at Jimmy's."

He then gestured to the fire hydrant:

"He charges less if you wash here."

Billy Hawke couldn't help but ask him:
"He charges a fee?"

Bill nodded earnestly:

"Yes, it costs more than half the price to wash your car here compared to his car wash."

Bernie patted Billy Hawke on the shoulder and asked Bill:

Are you sure it's Jimmy?

Bill confirmed.

Bernie shrugged and glanced at Theodore:

"Okay, now can you take us to the Flash Car Wash?"

"That water thief should be in the shop right now, right?"

Bill checked the time, nodded, and headed back the way he came.

Bernie lagged behind, whispering to Theodore and Billy Hawke:
"On what charges should we arrest Jimmy?"

"Stealing water?"

"Damage to federal property?"

Theodore wasn't quite sure either. He glanced back at the fire hydrant and hesitantly asked the two men:
"Shouldn't we first determine the ownership of the fire hydrant? Only if it does belong to the federal government can we get involved?"

Billy Hawke changed the subject, asking Theodore and Bernie:

"We just caught the arsonist, an arsonist who had been setting fires for five or six years without anyone noticing!"

"Now we have to catch a water thief."

The three of them looked at each other in silence.

Led by Bill, they quickly arrived at the Flash car wash and met Jimmy.

Jimmy answered all the questions honestly when faced with the FBI agents.

He admitted that he had been stealing water to wash his car since last summer, and with a mournful face, he said that he never expected that stealing water would attract an FBI investigation.

As it was nearing the end of the workday, the three drove back to the Ministry of Justice building.

Billy Hawke, still shaken, asked the two men:
"We won't take on cases like this again, right?"

Theodore and Bernie exchanged a glance and shook their heads together.

Today's experience gave them a feeling of returning to their days as rookie patrol officers after just finishing their police training.

(End of this chapter)