1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 219 The FBI really needs someone like you!
The bald firefighter told everyone that he could only stay for half a day, as he had to go to the DC Fire Station in the afternoon.

When asked why he went to the fire station, the bald firefighter shook his head.

He hasn't been doing well lately.

The confession of arsonist Terence Cowan involves numerous fire incidents.

Many of these fires were concluded as accidents in the fire department's investigation reports.

These accidents have now been claimed!
This put everyone who signed these investigation reports, from frontline investigators to supervisors who approved and filed them, in an extremely awkward position.

Because the case involves a clandestine struggle between the CIA and the FBI, no well-connected media outlet has dared to report on it yet.

The media only know that the Fourth Precinct, with the help of the FBI, solved a series of cases, but the details are still classified.

However, with the completion of the case report, the case was officially transferred to the prosecutor's office, and it was only a matter of time before the details of the case were leaked.

At that time, everyone in DC and even in Emily will know the incompetence of the DC Fire Department.

The media will definitely not miss this explosive opportunity and will certainly report on it extensively.

The DC Fire Department is now in an extremely awkward position.

This case involves the FBI, and the fire department has no way to stop it.

The case has already caused quite a stir within the fire department, and many frontline firefighters are discussing it.

The bald firefighter, as an expert consultant hired by the FBI, was deeply involved in the case investigation and was not in a good position within the fire department.

A considerable number of people viewed him as a traitor, including some of his former colleagues with whom he had a good relationship.

They believed that the bald firefighter was airing his dirty laundry in public and was a traitor to the fire department.

Even at fire station number 13, many people were dissatisfied with the bald firefighter.

They even clashed violently with another group of colleagues who supported the bald firefighter during training.

Last Friday, the fire department conducted a surprise inspection of the area under the jurisdiction of Fire Station No. 13, citing a fire safety inspection.

Fire Station No. 13's jurisdiction has a large number of old apartments and terraced houses, and it is impossible to meet the standards unless all the residents are evicted.

The bald firefighter was temporarily suspended from duty that afternoon due to work-related reasons.

This afternoon, he needs to go to the fire department to give a work report and explain the situation regarding the approval of fire safety inspections of buildings in his jurisdiction that do not meet fire safety regulations and have fire hazards.

If his explanation fails to convince the public, he may face severe punishment, or even imprisonment.

After listening to the bald firefighter's story, the office fell silent.

In fact, a significant reason why the DC Fire Department has waited until now to take action against the bald firefighter is due to the FBI and Theodore.

They didn't want the FBI to misunderstand, especially not Director Hoover.

Theodore looked at Bernie, then at the bald firefighter.

Bernie couldn't understand the meaning in Theodore's eyes and looked puzzled.

They've never had any unspoken understanding when it comes to eye contact.

Theodore withdrew his gaze and decided to extend the invitation himself.

He asked the bald firefighter earnestly:

"Perhaps you could join the FBI."

"You performed exceptionally well in the arson case, and your expertise in fire incidents is beyond question."

"I believe you can provide expert advice to the FBI on fire incident cases."

The bald firefighter was somewhat taken aback, then politely declined.

Theodore was somewhat disappointed, but not surprised.

He was prepared to be rejected before he even opened his mouth.

So far, from Felton to DC, from Senior Superintendent Flores to the bald firefighter, his invitations have all been unsuccessful.

Even Bernie initially refused, but later he changed his mind.

A brief silence fell over the office.

The atmosphere was a little awkward.

Bernie quickly tried to ease the tension by asking the bald firefighter about his plans.

The bald firefighter glanced at Theodore, somewhat hesitant.

After Bernie's repeated persuasion, he took a report out of his bag.

The report has some rough edges, showing that it has been read many times.

The bald firefighter handed the report to Theodore:
“I learned a lot from you in the investigation of arsonist Terence Cowan.”

As he spoke, he took out the notebook Bernie had given him, unfolded it, and showed it to the three of them.

This book contains numerous case analysis notes, ranging from the six categories of arsonists to the definitions of psychological compensation and learned helplessness, and the psychological development of Terence Cowan, among others.

Most of the content even shows dots made by pen tips, while some parts are circled, and some have annotations next to them, which are probably the bald firefighter's own analysis.

He really took the notes very seriously.

Theodore was pleased with this, glanced at him, then opened the report and quickly skimmed through it.

The bald firefighter explained from the side:
“I’m reminded of our initial screening of past fire accident investigation reports.”

"If we could create a fire accident archive similar to a fingerprint database to categorize fire accidents, wouldn't it be much easier to investigate cases like Terence Cowan's?"

Theodore remained silent, flipping through the report.

The bald firefighter also shut his mouth, staring at Theodore with some trepidation, waiting for Theodore's decision.

This was a pivotal moment for him to save his career and even his life.

The report wasn't thick, and Theodore finished reading it quickly.

He looked up at the bald firefighter, his eyes filled with surprise.

Theodore had asked Director Hoover for internal affairs agents, and made the following requirements: the agents needed to be familiar with paperwork, able to help them liaise with various departments to coordinate investigations, and also have a certain level of mathematical ability.

Because of his additional requests, the internal affairs agent was delayed in arriving.

Director Hoover and Deputy Director Tolson have carefully selected two qualified candidates, who are currently undergoing rigorous selection and training at Quantico.

Theodore made these requests in order to compile statistics on all closed and pending cases in the FBI's possession and establish a database containing all cases.

This archive has a common name: the National Violent Crime Analysis System.

It also has a professional name: the Violent Criminals Arrest Program (VICAP).

The violent criminal arrest plan complements the criminal personality analysis, maximizing the power of profiling.

VICAP is a national data information center that collects, consolidates, and analyzes detailed information related to serial violent crimes, particularly homicides, sexual assaults, missing persons, and unidentified remains.

The system aims to identify a series of violent crimes committed by the same criminal by comparing crime patterns, methods, and signatures across different jurisdictions. This will help identify the criminal's behavioral characteristics and provide investigative support to local, state, federal, and international law enforcement agencies, enabling them to solve cold cases.

Crime is often geographically specific, and local police departments may only focus on cases within their own jurisdiction. With this system, cases from different regions will be linked together, and criminals committing crimes across states will no longer be able to continue to evade justice due to a lack of information sharing between police departments in different regions.

By comparing new cases with decades-old cold cases, the violent criminals arrest program can also help law enforcement reinvestigate and crack long-dormant cases. Everything Theodore has previously used in his investigations is essentially a microcosm of the violent criminals arrest program's methods.

The bald firefighter's proposal to establish a fire accident archive database is essentially very similar to the plan to arrest violent criminals, differing only in scale and scope.

Theodore thought the bald firefighter had excellent judgment, and that such talent was a waste in the DC fire department.

He should come to the FBI, join his investigation team, and then stay in the office, dedicating himself to developing plans to arrest violent criminals.

After returning the report to the bald firefighter, Theodore extended the invitation again without hesitation:
"You should reconsider joining the FBI."

The bald firefighter politely declined and inquired about the feasibility of the report's contents.

He is currently focused entirely on salvaging his career and is not considering anything else for the time being.

Theodore shook his head, somewhat disappointed.

“Your idea is feasible. Establishing such an archive would make hidden arsonists obvious.”

After a pause, he asked the bald firefighter again, unwilling to give up:
"Are you really not going to think about it?"

Theodore reminded the bald firefighter:

"Establishing the archive requires cooperation between the DC Fire Department and the DC Police Department, which requires them to fully open up access to the relevant reports."

“The FBI can do that.”

The bald firefighter shook his head and refused again.

Theodore glanced at Bernie beside him and secretly resolved that he would make Bernie ask him to do it next time.

After much hesitation, the bald firefighter did not invite Theodore to join.

With Theodore on board, he will almost certainly get through this afternoon's difficulties unscathed.

But after repeatedly declining Theodore's invitation, he couldn't bring himself to speak.

He packed up the report and left the office.

He will head to the DC Fire Department to fight for his future with this report that Theodore approved.

…………

in the afternoon.

Theodore was called to Rosen's office.

After a few days apart, Supervisor Rosen appeared visibly aged and haggard.

The attacks on Judge David Bezerlong in the newspapers continue.

The CIA is still sending in damaging information.

The director of the CIA is still the same person.

The White House appears calm on the surface, but behind the scenes, it is constantly making subtle moves.

Matthew J. Darren and the Darren Court and Darren-affiliated judges remained silent, as if nothing had happened.

It appears that this struggle, which was sparked by the CIA, has come to an end.

But the files on Supervisor Rosen's desk piled higher every day, and he became busier and busier.

He hasn't been home for almost a week.

Supervisor Rosen stared at Theodore for a few seconds, then took a document from his drawer:
"Last Saturday, a body floated down the Potomac River and became stranded on the beach at the southernmost point of Jones Point Park."

"The Virginia State Troopers, the Maryland State Troopers, and the DC Police Department's 7th Precinct argued for two days over ownership of the case, and eventually the case was sent to us."

"This case is yours."

The document was very thin; it contained only two pages when opened.

Theodore glanced down. The first page was a procedural document, and the second page said that a body was stranded on the beach south of Jones Point Park.

There was no autopsy report, no eyewitness statements, and no scene description.

There was nothing else besides that one sentence.

Supervisor Rosen pointed to the two pages in Theodore's hand:
"This contains a case briefing."

"This is all the case descriptions the FBI has received from the three parties so far."

Theodore waved the documents in his hand:
Where is the autopsy report?

Supervisor Rosen shook his head:
"The body is currently being held by the forensic lab at the 7th Precinct in DC and has not yet been autopsied."

There was no abnormality found during the autopsy.

Theodore looked at Supervisor Rosen with some surprise:

"Where are the photos from the scene?"

Supervisor Rosen continued to shake his head.

Thinking about what the three law enforcement agencies had done over the past two days, Director Rosen couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth.

He tapped the table with his finger:
"They argued for two days over the ownership of the case, but since the ownership wasn't determined, no one even started investigating."

"We do not know the identity of the deceased, nor do we know whether the death was an accident, suicide, or homicide."

"Just treat this as a completely new case."

Theodore closed the file and asked Supervisor Rosen:
"Where was the first person to discover the body? Who was the first officer to arrive at the scene? I need to ask him about the situation."

Supervisor Rosen thought for a moment:
"On Saturday morning, the 7th Precinct received a call and dispatched officers to the scene, where they discovered the body."

"Go directly to the 7th Precinct and find the officer on duty to get the details."

"As for the call to the police and the person who called, they are busy passing the buck on the ownership of the case and haven't had time to investigate yet."

He checked the time, waved his hand, and started to shoo people away.

After leaving the supervisor's office, Theodore returned to his basement office and gave Bernie and Billy Hawke a brief summary of the new case in two sentences before heading to the Seventh Precinct.

Following Bernie's advice, Theodore first went to see the deputy commissioner of the 7th Precinct.

They received a warm welcome here.

They were even more enthusiastic than the third precinct.

Charles Ambrose Dougherty, the deputy superintendent of the 7th Precinct, is a typical Irishman.

After meeting, he warmly greeted Theodore and his two companions, and accurately mistook Bernie's ethnicity based on his name.

Theodore guessed that Deputy Commissioner Doherty must have a lot in common with Commissioner Hoover.

After being corrected, Deputy Commissioner Doherty showed no embarrassment and, with a smoothness that even Bernie found surprising, steered the conversation back to the case.

Deputy Superintendent Doherty sincerely stated that it wasn't that their Seventh Precinct was deliberately shirking responsibility; the body simply wasn't located within their jurisdiction, and according to regulations, the case didn't fall under their jurisdiction.

He told the three that, out of a sense of responsibility to the deceased, the Seventh Precinct had taken the initiative to preserve the body.

However, the Seventh Precinct had no law enforcement authority over the case, and launching an investigation prematurely could cause unnecessary trouble. Therefore, they simply kept the body and did not conduct an autopsy.

(End of this chapter)