1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 247 Asking Sincere Questions
Theodore suspected that old Tom didn't understand what a confidentiality agreement was.

He rummaged in his bag, pulled out a portion, and handed it over:

"This is just a standard confidentiality agreement."

"The agreement only requires information related to this case. As long as you do not disclose the contents of this case to the public, this confidentiality agreement will not have any impact on you."

"This is just a standard legal document and does not contain any special clauses that apply to individuals."

"Many people have signed the same agreement."

Old Tom simply pushed the confidentiality agreement back, and scoffed:

"Who knows what's written in your agreement?"

"Who knows what you guys will do after you get the autographs?"

No matter what Bernie said, old Tom seemed to have made up his mind and just shook his head.

In the end, Bernie could only shrug, shake his head at Theodore, and step back.

He was at his wit's end.

This is a very rare case of Bernie's communication failure.

Theodore stared at old Tom with curiosity.

A brief silence fell over the office.

Old Tom was about to end the conversation; he was going to Shipyard No. 1 later to check on the workers' production safety.

There are always some bastards who, when they haven't done something stupid themselves, always take a chance and, no matter what the union says or how many times they emphasize it, never tie a safety rope in order to save trouble and for convenience.

Moreover, the number of people in the office is severely unbalanced.

The relationship between the union and the shipyard capital was becoming increasingly tense, and it was easy for the workers to become suspicious when these people walked in and stayed alone with him in his office for so long.

Theodore couldn't understand Old Tom's choice.

He put away the confidentiality agreement and asked sincerely:

"How can we access the files?"

"Is a court-ordered enforcement action required?"

He glanced at the time, silently calculated for a moment, and felt somewhat troubled:

“If we go back and apply now, it could take at least three hours to get a court order.”

“If you’d like, I can call the legal counsel’s office right now and have them apply for it. You can lend us the files first, and the court order will be provided later.”

Old Tom shook his head, not intending to say anything more.

He succinctly expressed his position:
"This has nothing to do with the court order."

“Even if the court orders us to produce the workers’ files, we will not comply.”

“These files represent the workers’ trust in us. Giving them to you would be a betrayal of that trust.”

"No matter who it is, don't even think about taking the workers' files away from the union."

He waved his hand:
"Alright, you guys should leave now, I still have a ton of work to do."

Theo realized and confirmed with old Tom:
"So it has nothing to do with who borrows the files?"

Old Tom glanced at his assistant and nodded.

Theodore pointed to his assistant, then pointed in the direction of the administration building:

"So it has nothing to do with Mr. Vaughn, the Security Director, receiving us and cooperating with our investigation?"

Old Tom was silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

Theodore turned to Bernie and mimicked his shrug:
"I guessed wrong. He said it had nothing to do with the internal struggles at the shipyard."

Everyone present fell silent.

Theodore then looked at old Tom:
"So you just don't want to show it to us, right?"

Old Tom denied it:
"It's not just you, it's no good for anyone."

Theodore's gaze toward him began to turn strange:
"So are you protecting workers' privacy, or are you protecting the power that workers give to the union and to you personally?"

This sentence was a bit convoluted, and Old Tom didn't understand it at first glance.

He blinked, looked at the others with a puzzled expression, then looked at Theodore, completely bewildered.

The assistant immediately understood and looked at Theodore with some surprise.

Billy Hawke first looked at Theodore, then at old Tom, his gaze scrutinizing him.

Bernie simply turned his head away, his lips twitching.

That familiar, sincere face!
That tone sounds so familiar!

This is a question that leaves one speechless and unable to refute!

Theodore calmly continued to ask questions:

"Are you protecting the workers' trust in the union and in you, or are you exploiting the workers' trust in the union and in you?"

Old Tom finally realized what was happening.

His eyes widened, and his breathing became heavy.

He raised his thick arm and pointed at Theodore, unable to find a rebuttal for a moment, and couldn't utter a single syllable for a long time.

Theodore continued to shrug:
"If you continue to delay like this, you'll only be buying more time for the murderer; you won't be able to do anything else."

“The Coast Guard’s salvage boat was operating on the river a few days ago, which must have attracted the attention of the murderer.”

"The discovery of the killer's 'secret base' will put him under tremendous pressure."

"At the time, the salvage operation was still underway, and the murderer dared not commit the crime against the wind, so he could only silently endure the pressure."

"Now that the salvage operation is over, the perpetrator is in dire need of stress and could commit a crime at any time."

After a pause, Theodore asked old Tom:
Are you buying the murderer time to commit the crime?

Old Tom was so angry that his face turned bright red.

He was anxious, feeling like he had a million things to say to Theodore, but he couldn't utter a single complete word.

The more you can't say it, the more anxious you become; the more anxious you become, the less you can say it.

Soon the redness spread to his neck, and the veins on his neck bulged.

Theodore looked at him with some concern, hesitated for a moment, and decided not to continue.

He was worried that if he continued talking, old Tom would get so excited he'd die.

He then asked his assistant:

When does Mr. Vaughn plan to speak with the union council members?

The assistant was already quite shocked by Theodore's sincere question. Hearing Theodore's question, he quickly came to his senses and responded, afraid that if he was any later, he would be the one being sincerely questioned.

He looked around, pointed to an old telephone on the table, looked at old Tom with a questioning gaze, and simultaneously responded to Theodore:

"Mr. Vaughn had originally planned to have formal negotiations with the union directors tonight or tomorrow morning."

“I’ll contact Mr. Vaughn right now and see if he has time to come over.”

Theodore nodded.

The assistant hurried over to dial the number, and as he passed Old Tom, he patted him on the shoulder with a look of sympathy.

Bernie stepped forward, pulled the agitated old Tom aside, and resumed communication. The call was quickly connected, and after the assistant explained the situation, Richard Dick Vaughn arrived shortly afterward.

By this time, Old Tom's emotions had stabilized.

His mind was filled with Theodore's questions, sometimes thinking about the workers' trust in the union, sometimes about what he had seen on the Potomac River a few days earlier, and the rumors circulating among the workers.

He glanced at Theodore, then at Richard Dick Vaughn, and fell silent for a moment.

Richard Dick Vaughn first apologized to Theodore, then said that the union's attitude was firm and that communication with the union was really difficult.

Old Tom couldn't stand it anymore and retorted, saying that if the shipyard hadn't always exploited and deceived the workers, they wouldn't have distrusted the shipyard so much.

Richard Dick Vaughn just smiled and didn't say anything.

He has his own assistants to fight for him.

Old Tom's breathing soon became heavy again, and his face showed signs of turning red.

Theodore was fed up with this pointless and fruitless argument.

He interrupted their argument, tapped the table, and looked seriously and intently at Richard Dick Vaughn and old Tom, whose neck had turned red.

He told the two men that he had no interest in the struggle between the shipyard and the union; he just wanted to get the workers' files as soon as possible, or have the union screen the files to narrow down the list of suspects.

He will not interfere with anything outside of his investigation, as long as it does not hinder his investigation.

Richard Dick Vaughn and Theodore looked at each other, and the politeness gradually disappeared.

He listened attentively, thought for a moment, nodded, and glanced at old Tom:
"Please give Tom and me five minutes."

"We will come up with a result as soon as possible."

Theodore reminded the two:
“Please list the required written documents, and we will contact the legal counsel’s office to complete them as soon as possible.”

Richard Dick Vaughn's expression changed slightly.

He nodded solemnly in agreement, gestured for them to leave, and then ushered his assistant out after Theodore and the other two had left the office.

Theodore had no idea what the two talked about inside.

All he knew was that five minutes later, the warped wooden door to the office opened precisely on time, and Old Tom had changed his attitude and agreed to let him borrow the workers' files.

This document is for reading only within the union office and may not be copied, transcribed, or taken out of the office.

Theodore was very satisfied with the result and immediately handed over the list.

Old Tom took the list, went out for a few minutes, and returned with the union representative at the door and the workers who were smoking outside.

The union representative, carrying the list, led the workers upstairs, where they quickly brought down bulging document bags.

The seal on the document bag was frayed, and the bag was slightly damp with a faint musty smell.

The bag had the worker's name and employee number written on it, in bold, conspicuous handwriting.

Theodore and his two colleagues immediately got to work, opening up the files and comparing them with the profiles of the killers.

The archives are very comprehensive, covering almost every aspect of the workers' time at the shipyard.

It includes not only career details, but also detailed home address, family members, salary, and other personal information.

After reading the first file, Bernie looked up at old Tom and suddenly understood him a little.

After reviewing several files, Theodore asked Bernie and Billy Hawke to list the screening criteria, then took out several confidentiality agreements and handed one to everyone present.

This includes assistants.

The assistant, holding the confidentiality agreement, looked at Richard Dick Vaughn, somewhat bewildered.

Ever since Theodore began asking old Tom a series of sincere questions, the assistant has been trying his best to avoid having a direct conversation with Theodore.

After seeing that Richard Dick Vaughn was already looking for a pen to sign, the assistant flipped to the back, found the signature area, signed, and handed it back.

Old Tom was somewhat displeased that his assistant had access to Richard Dick Vaughn's files, but he only glanced at them and didn't say much.

He cautiously flipped through the confidentiality agreement, reading it line by line, fearing there might be some hidden traps, and finally signed his name in a crooked hand with his right hand.

After signing the confidentiality agreement, Richard Dick Vaughn glanced at it and remarked that it had gotten thicker over the years.

Theodore looked at him, puzzled, and stuffed a file folder into his arms.

Apart from the rustling of papers turning over, the only sounds in the office were old Tom's chuckling laughter.

The atmosphere was a little awkward.

Bernie explained the contents of the subsequent confidentiality agreement, easing the tension.

With the six people working hard, they completed the screening of 108 files in just one hour.

The list of suspects has been reduced to 57.

As soon as the screening was over, Old Tom immediately told someone to pack up the file and take it away quickly.

Bernie looked at the list and asked old Tom:
"Who here owns one of those small boats that can be rowed by one person?"

He gestured:
"A small boat that can be loaded onto a car and towed away."

Old Tom immediately understood:
"You mean a skiff, right?"

"Many people in the factory have it."

“I have one. We usually use it for fishing.”

He led everyone outside and stopped in front of a pickup truck in the parking lot.

The pickup truck was quite old, but well-maintained, with some abstract drawings painted on its body that Theodore couldn't understand.

Old Tom lifted the tarpaulin on the truck bed, revealing an overturned aluminum boat.

The small boat has an acute-angled shape, a shallow V-shaped bottom, and a low hull. It is also painted with abstract pictures, and the bottom of the boat is painted dark blue, but the paint has faded due to the passage of time.

Old Tom explained that he handcrafted the small boat using materials and equipment borrowed from a shipyard, mainly for fishing.

He also rummaged through the car and pulled out a bucket, fishing rod, fishing line, fishing hook and other fishing equipment. He pointed to the black vertical bars of different lengths on the inside of the boat and showed them to everyone. They were the ones he used to record his catch.

Long vertical bars represent big fish, short vertical bars represent small fish, and the longer the vertical bar, the bigger the fish.

Old Tom talked about these things at length.

Bernie had to interrupt him while he was catching his breath and hand the list to him again:
How many people on this boat own one of these?

"Things like yours, whether you made them yourself or bought them, all count."

Old Tom took the list and examined it carefully, somewhat disdainfully:
"We make them ourselves; nobody would buy them from a store!"

"That would be so embarrassing!"

"As far as I know, there's this one, him, and him..."

Old Tom pointed from head to toe, occasionally asking the union representative and other workers a few questions, quickly attracting the attention of the workers who were smoking and taking a break.

These workers trusted the union a lot, and with Old Tom and the union representatives there, they quickly accepted Theodore and his two companions.

They gathered around the center, chattering about who had a small boat, when it was built, who they had heard about it from, or who they had seen it with their own eyes, enthusiastically providing information.

Only Richard Dick Vaughn and his assistant were kept at the very edge of the crowd.

Bernie took a pen and marked them one by one.

Cross out anything you're sure you don't have, and circle anything you're unsure about.

Soon, there were only thirty-odd people left on the list.
-
I've tried adjusting it several times, but I don't know what's wrong with zzAI. It keeps generating small boats with a red background, even though I clearly specified that it should be blue. It just keeps generating red.

(End of this chapter)