1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 221 I told you to sign your name a long time ago!

Detective Riley glanced at Bernie, his expression softening slightly.

Deputy Superintendent Doherty hesitated for a moment, then called his assistant and arranged a meeting room.

The questioning location was moved from the interrogation room to the conference room.

After consulting with Theodore, Bernie did not proceed with separate questioning but instead asked Detective Murphy to sit next to Detective Riley for joint questioning.

This move earned him considerable favor from the two detectives.

Their bodies were no longer tense, and their faces were no longer long.

The two men sat opposite Theodore and his two companions, took off their hats and casually placed them on the table, their posture relaxed.

Deputy Inspector Doherty sat between the two groups, opened his notebook, and began to write.

Bernie glanced at Deputy Superintendent Doherty and asked Detective Murphy and Detective Riley about the call they made on the morning of May 20.

The two detectives did not answer immediately. They exchanged glances, remained silent for a few seconds, and then Detective Riley spoke:
“It was a Saturday, and Murphy and I were patrolling the streets.”

“We received a report that a body had been seen near Cape Haynes Park and Cape Greenleaf, and the dispatcher asked us to go to the scene to investigate.”

Theodore interrupted his statement and asked a question:

"Aren't Haynes Point Park and Greenleaf Point in DC?"

Haines Point Park is on a small island in the middle of the Potomac River, while Greenleaf Point is at the southern end of DC.

Deputy Inspector Doherty looked up, seemingly wanting to say something but then hesitated, remembering his promise to Theodore, and swallowed his words.

Detective Riley shook his head:
"That's right, both Haynes Point Park and Greenleaf Point are indeed in DC."

"But the body was not stranded at the time; it was still floating on the river. It could only be seen from these two locations."

Detective Murphy, standing next to Detective Riley, chimed in:
"Although the state border between DC and Virginia is clearly defined as being close to the land edge of Virginia, namely the coast of Alexandria, the ownership of the Potomac River is complicated."

He explained in detail to everyone the confusion surrounding the ownership of the Potomac River.

This is a legacy issue.

In the early days of America's founding, before the District of Columbia was established, Maryland and Virginia signed the Potomac River Agreement on a series of issues concerning the Potomac River.

The agreement stipulates that Virginia has sovereignty over the area within the low-water mark line on the south bank of the Potomac River.

Maryland has full ownership of the river and sole, exclusive jurisdiction over navigation in any part of its riverbed and the construction of any facilities on it.

This peculiar division has directly led to ongoing disputes between the two states over the ownership of the Potomac River.

Virginia argues that, according to the agreement, it possesses sovereign territory within the South Bank Lowwater Marker and therefore has the right to build and manage on its own territory.

It argues that Maryland's "exclusive jurisdiction" refers primarily to shipping control, rather than all forms of riverbed use.

But Maryland doesn't see it that way. They insist that "exclusive jurisdiction" is a comprehensive set of powers that they refuse to budge on.

Later, DC was established, inheriting all the rights and obligations of Maryland in that section of the river, as well as the disputes between Maryland and Virginia, and carried them forward, even extending them to disputes with Maryland.

After all, the agreement only covers Maryland and Virginia, and DC is not included in it.

Thus, the dispute between the two parties became a dispute between the three parties.

The dispute has now been appealed to the Supreme Court and has been ongoing for over a year.

The current dispute among the three parties regarding the ownership of the body and the case is merely an extension of this series of controversial issues.

DC is a large city, and its neighboring Prince George County and Alexandria are also populous.

Amidst this chaotic mix, there are always people who like to throw things into the river.

Do these things that sink to the bottom of the river fall under the jurisdiction of the riverbed or the river channel?

If something that once sank to the bottom floats up, should it return to the riverbed or the river channel?
The three law enforcement agencies have had numerous disputes over this issue, and have even resorted to physical altercations.

Detective Murphy steered the conversation back to the case itself:
"According to regulations, jurisdiction over criminal cases is usually determined by the place where the crime occurred."

"But we only saw the body on the river and didn't know where it had been thrown into the water."

Detective Riley continued:
"After discovering the body, we plan to use a boat to retrieve it."

He pointed to his partner beside him: "I contacted the ship and asked him to find two more people."

He explained to everyone:

"Retrieving a body is a very strenuous task; it's impossible for just the two of us to retrieve it."

“I found the boat, and he contacted Daniel and his crew who were nearby.”

"We had just steered the boat up to the body to begin the retrieval when those Virginia bastards stopped us!"

Detective Riley gritted his teeth:

"They accused us of pushing the bodies over to their side!"

"They do this all the time, and they assume we're the same as them and will do it too!"

Theodore wasn't interested in hearing about a conflict between two law enforcement agencies, he interrupted Detective Riley:

"Where exactly did you find the body?"

Detective Riley replied:

"It's located between Cape Haynes Park and Greenleaf Point, near Cape Haynes."

He recalled for a moment and said with certainty:
"The body was less than five yards from the land at the time."

Theodore pressed for details about the origin of the body and the course of the river.

Detective Murphy pointed northwest:
"The bodies came from the northwest."

He then added:

“The Potomac River does not always flow outward from the northwest; sometimes it flows inward as well.”

"When we saw the body, the river was flowing from northwest to southeast, which doesn't necessarily mean the body came from the northwest."

Detective Riley nodded in agreement:
"That's right, the river flowed backwards that noon, and the bodies that should have floated into the sea were washed back."

Bernie and Billy Hawke looked at the two detectives with suspicion.

They had never heard of rivers flowing backwards; it defied common sense.

Theodore did know that the flow direction of some rivers near their estuaries is affected by tides, and sometimes backflow can occur.

He just didn't expect that the Potomac River would be it.

This means they are temporarily unable to pinpoint the location where the body entered the water, and they cannot even determine whether the body belonged to a stranger who had crossed the sea or a local.

The two detectives then recounted the thrilling and exciting rafting race.

In their accounts, the Virginia and Maryland State Troopers were so heinous that their crimes were comparable to those of the evil Soviets.

But God help it, despite the best efforts of both state trooper teams, they were unable to get the body to completely cross the border.

Billy Hawke couldn't help but ask them:

"You've been following me on the water all morning?"

Detectives Murphy and Riley nodded in succession.

Billy Hawke looked on with admiration.

Theodore questioned the two men about the condition of the body when it was found.

The two answered hesitantly and ambiguously.

They simply described the appearance of the body from memory and then stated that they were not forensic doctors and could not make any further judgments.

Theodore was disappointed.

He even wanted to ask how the two men had passed the police force's selection process.

Daniel, Byrne, and Vincent have returned.

Theodore asked them the same question again, and the answers were largely the same. They either couldn't remember the bodies or said "maybe" or "it seems," but they were very familiar with the reactions of the other two law enforcement agencies and had clear memories of them.

Their attention did not seem to be on the corpse.

After leaving the 7th Precinct, the three contacted the Virginia State Police.

Bernie intervened.

Virginia State Police have a long history of cooperation with the FBI and have a very welcoming attitude.

Bernie asked to speak with the officers who had followed the body that day, and the state troopers did not hesitate and brought them over immediately.

There are five people here too.

Theodore questioned them about the body, and they behaved much like detectives from the Seventh Precinct.

The five people looked at each other, stammering and speaking vaguely.

They remembered things very clearly that involved the other two law enforcement agencies.

Their account was largely the same as that of the 7th Precinct in DC, though there were some differences in the details.

According to Virginia State Police, they were patrolling the river when they happened to see the "thieves" from the 7th Precinct secretly pushing the body toward Virginia with sticks.

They gave them a stern warning, but the officers from the Seventh Precinct continued to do as they pleased.

Virginia State Police could only block them by boat.

Fearing to damage the body, they did not poke or shove it with sticks and prevented the officers from the Seventh Precinct from doing so.

The Virginia State Police's account was later refuted by the Maryland State Police.

The Maryland State Police District C supervisor, who looks very much like Bernie, remained enthusiastic, but when the Virginia State Police and the 7th Precinct were mentioned, the supervisor showed disdain.

Instead of defending himself, he brought in five people involved in the case.

The five individuals involved gave similar accounts of the river chase to the other two, except that the Seventh Precinct and the Virginia State Troopers were on par with the Soviets in terms of sheer malice.

Theodore asked them questions about the body.

They did pay attention to the corpse, but they arrived too late and only saw it floating on the river.

One of the state troopers even took a photo.

The photos match the description; what you hear is what you get.

After saying goodbye to the enthusiastic supervisor, they headed to the DC Police Department headquarters while they still had some time.

The supervisor at the central alarm center helped locate the operator from that day.

The operator was a young man, probably someone who had only recently joined the company, and he was very enthusiastic about his work.

He appeared nervous when questioned by the FBI, and even stammered when speaking.

Theodore remained silent, leaving the questioning to Bernie.

Bernie didn't get straight to the point. Instead, he chatted with the young man about various topics for a while until he relaxed before trying to get him to describe the person who called the police.

The operator recalled, replying slowly:

"His voice was low and nasal, and he coughed frequently while speaking, so he probably had a cold."

Bernie inquired about the specifics of the conversation.

The operator attempted to repeat the emergency call:
"He first asked me if this was a police station."

“I told him this was the Metropolitan Police Department’s central call center and asked him what he needed.”

He said he saw a corpse.

"I asked him about the time and place."

"He told me that just an hour earlier, he had seen a body floating on the river."

"I asked him for the specific address, and he only told me that it was northwest of the shipyard, on the south side of an island."

After a pause, the operator continued:

"Based on the geographical location of the confluence of the Potomac and Anacasta rivers, I judged that it should be near Cape Haynes Park and Cape Greenleaf."

"I asked him to confirm, but he seemed to have something urgent on his end and hung up the phone quickly."

He looked at Bernie with some trepidation.

Bernie patted him on the shoulder, glanced at Theodore, and asked when the call had started.

The operator brought the day's registration form, found the corresponding record, and handed it to Bernie.

The registration form shows that the emergency call was made at 8:43 a.m.

Bernie asked a few more questions.

The operator tried hard to recall every detail of the call in an attempt to help.

But it was only a call to the police that lasted less than a minute, and the information it revealed was very limited.

It was almost time to leave the DC Police Department headquarters.

They wasted most of the afternoon on the road, and gained very little.

Back in his office on the basement floor of the Department of Justice building, Bernie first contacted Detective Thomas of the Third Precinct.

Detective Thomas told him that the body had been received and that he had consulted with the medical examiner, who expected the autopsy report to be available by noon the day after tomorrow at the latest.

This is much faster than last time.

Bernie thanked Detective Thomas, which earned him a lazy laugh from Detective Thomas.

After ending his call with Detective Thomas, Bernie called AT&T's technical staff.

The first call didn't go through.

Bernie tried calling again, but still couldn't get through.

He then dialed a third time.

The other end answered immediately, but no one spoke.

Bernie didn't say anything either.

After a few seconds of silence, a weary voice came through the receiver:

"What's the matter?"

Bernie immediately exchanged pleasantries with the other party, then reported the time the caller made the call and asked them to help him check.

The technicians were somewhat helpless:
"I'll check for you, and we'll have the results before 9 p.m. tonight."

He paused, his tone pleading:
"Can you please stop contacting me in the future?"

"I'm afraid the boss will misunderstand."

He told Bernie that last week, General Services Administration officials stormed into AT&T with a communications security report and suspended business with AT&T, citing communications security risks.

AT&T suffered significant losses, and its CEO is actively seeking information.

The report is said to have come from an FBI agent.

Bernie glanced at Theodore.

Theodore met his gaze and innocently shrugged.

He had reminded the technicians earlier to sign the report, but they themselves refused.

Bernie chuckled twice and changed the subject.

He gave his home phone number to the technicians and reminded them to notify him once they found the results.

(End of this chapter)