1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 259 This is no ordinary competition
Tolson pulled the latest issue of the *Enforcement Gazette* from his briefcase, flipped to Theodore's article, and handed it to Chief Hoover:
"Theodore's article takes a budgetary approach, using cases he solved during his time in Felton as examples to compare the budgets required for traditional investigative methods with those required for the special investigative methods he invented."

“The most extreme case is the one Theodore solved in Felton, where a neighbor accidentally killed someone during an argument, and then her daughter avenged her mother by killing the murderer along with her son.”

He flipped to the back and pointed to the first two cases in the table for Chief Hoover to see:

"These were two cases. Theodore only went to the scene twice, used up a few fingerprint plates and some toner. Even in DC, it didn't cost him more than $10, and the cases were solved smoothly."

“If other police officers were to investigate these two cases, it would cost at least several hundred or even thousands of dollars, and it would likely take at least two excellent officers one or two weeks to complete.”

“If we were to investigate the social relationships of these three deceased, we might have to mobilize patrol officers to conduct interviews, which would require even more manpower.”

Director Hoover could no longer laugh.

He already understood what Thorsen was trying to say.

"According to our crime statistics from last year, crime rates are rising in various regions."

"Most police stations are understaffed."

“Handing the case over to Theodore would not only reduce the required budget to a fraction of what it was, but also free up officers tied up in the case to use their time elsewhere.”

Tolson then pointed to Theodore's charter flight request report:
"Theodore said in his report that there could be a steady stream of cases coming from all over the country in the future."

"What he said might actually come true."

Director Hoover frowned.

Tolson continued:

"This first case had already been classified as a cold case by the Felton Police Department, but Theodore solved it very quickly after taking over."

"This is more attractive to local police departments that lack the capacity to handle cold cases."

He looked at Chief of Staff Hoover:
"If I were a sheriff in a small town, after reading this article, even if I wouldn't send over any current cases, I would at least send over those cold cases to try and see what happens."

"Even if it's not detected, at most we'll only lose a little bit of postage."

"If we can successfully solve the case, it will also improve the case-solving rate."

"I guess once the June Enforcement Gazette is sent across the country, Theodore will soon be receiving cold cases from all over the country."

"Especially in those remote places."

Director Hoover snorted.
"Isn't he just fond of cold cases?"

Thorsen hesitated for a moment before expressing his concerns.

He was worried that Theodore would suffer setbacks because of the Cold Case.

Only when an existing case remains unsolved and drags on until the lead officer determines that there is no direction for investigation will it become a Cold Case.

Cold cases often mean difficulties.

Theodore's previous crime-solving rate was 100%. If he encounters a difficult case and fails to solve it immediately, he may be severely discouraged.

Director Hoover tapped the report requesting a special plane:
"He dared to ask for a private jet; it's time to give him a good beating."

"Otherwise, he'll be flying to the heavens next time!"

He spoke rudely, but his brows were furrowed tightly.

A brief silence fell over the living room.

Director Hoover tapped the table and instructed Thorson:

“If a local police station sends him a case, let him go if he wants to.”

Tolson looked at Director Hoover with some surprise:
“But what about the White House, the CIA, and Matthew J. Darren…”

He clearly remembered why he insisted on bringing Theodore back to DC from Felton.

Director Hoover's expression shifted, then he let out a heavy 'humph':
"If I tell him not to go, will he just stop going?"

Thorsen couldn't help but laugh when he saw the helpless expression on his old friend's face.

Director Hoover looked at him.

Thorson quickly suppressed his smile, adopting a serious expression as he offered his advice to Director Hoover:

"Maybe you should give it a try first. What if he really listens to you and doesn't go?"

Chief Hoover glared at Tolson:
"Try what? Let him go back to those remote, impoverished areas?"

He slammed the Enforcement Gazette shut in displeasure and threw it, along with Theodore's report, at Tolson.

Tolson stuffed them into his briefcase and changed the subject, talking about the upcoming bowling league.

The FBI has been organizing bowling leagues for years, and Director Hoover was very familiar with it.

He usually only appears in the first match of the first round and the last match of the last round. Occasionally, when he has time, he will choose to watch a few matches that he is interested in.

But this year is different from previous years.

He will definitely attend matches more frequently this year.

Because Theodore is also participating this year.

Since Theodore's school days, Commissioner Hoover had never missed any of Theodore's campus activities.

Director Hoover had obtained Theodore's team roster early on and had been closely monitoring their movements.

He analyzed each member on the list one by one.

He believed that Agent Lombardi was the only one who could fight immediately and was also the team's only scoring option.

Bernie and Billy Hawke look more like football players.

Agent Cronin is clearly not technically competent; the reason we're looking for him isn't for technical skills, but for that data model.

Director Hoover had also heard of the data model that the lab had developed.

But it took so many people several years to develop that, while Theodore only has two people on his side, so he's not very optimistic about it.

When it was Agent Bourne's turn, Director Hoover paused, revealing a clearly gloating expression.

Director Tolson couldn't help but laugh:
"Joseph Benedict Byrne was specifically assigned to them by their team."

"They even made a special call to Ronald Scott in Chicago for this."

Chief Hoover was dissatisfied with Theodore's performance:
"He doesn't even consider why the personnel, finance, and logistics departments would rather be at the bottom every year than hire people from other departments."

Thorsen didn't think it was Theodore's problem:

"Nobody told him, they kept it from them, and he didn't experience the competitions of the previous years."

Bowling leagues, and other competitions that require teamwork, were established with rules that allowed players to recruit teammates from other departments.

At the beginning, the FBI agents were very simple-minded; whichever team they joined, they would honestly give their all for that team.

Gradually, things started to go wrong.

Seeing that they couldn't win in the direct competition, some agents started to think of underhanded tactics.

In the beginning, the underhanded tactics were limited to mild methods such as letting the opponent win or finding an excuse to get someone drunk the day before the competition.

But thanks to the combined efforts of many agents, the underhanded tactics quickly escalated.

They used all the training and work-related methods they had employed.

Some agents simply stopped acting altogether and, during bowling matches, would just throw the ball to their teammates.

Those years of competition were practically comedic performances, with all sorts of bizarre and outlandish tactics emerging one after another.

Soon, the departments stopped recruiting teammates from outside.

Director Hoover snorted and then commented on Theodore's technique.

He had no hope for Theodore's performance.

As far as he knew, Theodore had only played tennis during his school days, and he was quite good at it.

In his final conclusion, Chief Hoover concluded that Theodore's team might not even make the playoffs.

June 1st is Children's Day.

Unfortunately, the FBI doesn't get holidays.

Today's newspaper is the same as always.

The front page was filled with heated debates about the "Government Employees Communications Security and Oversight Act".

Theodore glanced at it and realized that the verbal battle had deviated from the bill itself and turned into personal attacks.

He flipped to the second page of the newspaper, where the Apollo program was also embroiled in heated debate, and because of the political nature of the Apollo program, the arguments were even more intense than on the front page.

Turning to the third page, it was filled with celebrity gossip articles.

Theodore wasn't interested in that either.

He continued flipping through the pages, and the content became increasingly bizarre, its fantastical nature comparable to that of a third-rate tabloid he had acquired.

Thinking of the third-rate tabloids, Theodore glanced at Bernie.

Bernie was huddled with Billy Hawke, flipping through the "Law Enforcement Gazette".

The Enforcement Gazette adopts the standard binding format of a magazine, with a cover, table of contents, and page numbers. Its articles also include visual elements such as photos and charts.

This is a professional magazine in the field of criminal investigation and law enforcement. Its content mainly focuses on law enforcement technology research, case analysis, professional development, and policy interpretation, and it is highly professional.

Its primary audience is professionals such as law enforcement agencies, sheriffs, and police officers across the United States, rather than ordinary citizens.

Ordinary citizens have no way to subscribe to watch it.

Theodore's article is the first one; you can find it by looking through the table of contents.

The article wasn't long, and the two of them finished reading it quickly.

Bernie remarked:

"No wonder you said that cases from all over the country would be coming in soon."

He waved the magazine, showing Theodore the budget and manpower consumption charts at the end:

"If I were the sheriff, seeing this form, I would also send you the case to try and see what happens."

"Especially those cold cases."

He recalled what Theodore had said before:

"It seems we'll really be dealing with cold cases quite often from now on."

Theodore shook his head:
"Not yet."

The two of them looked at him together.

Theodore pointed to the magazine in Bernie's hand:
“It takes at least seven days for the Enforcement Gazette to be mailed to Texas.”

“Some remote towns may take even longer.”

He did the calculations and made a judgment:
"It may take until next month to receive the cases sent from various places."

Billy Hawke asked Theodore curiously:
"Big cities like New York and Los Angeles should be quick, right?"

Theodore shook his head again:
Police departments in large cities like New York and Los Angeles typically do not request assistance from the FBI.

"Police stations in big cities have enough excellent detectives, as well as sufficient budgets and manpower."

“Only remote small towns that are short-staffed will send us Cold Case.”

Billy Hawke wanted Theodore to confirm:

"So, starting next month, we might have to make frequent trips to remote towns?"

Theodore nodded.

Bernie changed the subject, asking the two of them:

When are you two free?

"We should prepare for the competition."

"The first round of the competition is in seven days, and we should be scheduled for that day."

Billy Hawke interjected:

“Blake came over this morning and asked us if we had any cases on hand.”

He arrived early; when Blake came to ask, Bernie and Theodore hadn't arrived yet.

Bernie explained to the two of them:
"Blake is collecting statistics on the work of each team's players in order to make the schedule."

Billy Hawke suddenly realized:

"We just finished a case, and the rest is just some paperwork. They should schedule us for the 8th."

He was somewhat annoyed:
“We haven’t even had a single training session yet. I should have told him that our case is at a critical juncture and asked him to put us on the back list!”

"That's what all the other teams are saying!"

Bernie told the two that he had spoken with Agent Lombardi and Agent Bourne the previous night, and they all agreed that training should begin as soon as possible.

Agent Lombardi, like them, had just finished a case and was wrapping it up, so he had plenty of time and could participate in training at any time.

Agent Bourne has just taken on a new case that might be a bit tricky, but he confirmed that he will have time to attend training in the near future.

After discussing it, the three decided to go to the DuPont Bowling Centre for training that night.

Bernie went upstairs to inform Agent Lombardi, Agent Bourne, and Agent Cronin about the training session that would take place after get off work this afternoon.

Theodore then contacted Detective Thomas of the Third Precinct to inquire about the autopsy report.

A few minutes later, Detective Thomas called back, as unhurried as ever:
"I asked for you. The autopsy report came out yesterday afternoon and was mailed out this morning."

He paused, then asked Billy Hawke:
"I just saw the postman come to collect the package. Do you want to come and pick it up yourselves, or wait for it to be mailed to you?"

"If you come to pick it up, I'll get the report for you."

"However, I have to go out in a bit and may not be able to wait for you. The report is on my desk; you can come and take it yourselves."

Theodore didn't want to wait for the autopsy report, so he chose to go get it himself.

After Bernie returned, the three drove to the Third Precinct.

On the way, Bernie mentioned the bald firefighter:
“I ran into Michael upstairs.”

Billy Hawke assumed the conversation was with Coast Guard Major Michael Andrews, and then, considering the cases they were handling, his expression became somewhat strange.
"Could it be that another body has floated down the river?"

Bernie corrected him:
“I’m talking about Michael Francis Kelly.”

Theodore thought for a moment, remembered a bald man, and asked Bernie:
"Is he planning to stay with the FBI as a consultant?"

Bernie glanced at him:
"I'm afraid I'll disappoint you."

“He told me that the fire department’s investigation into him had ended.”

"He has returned to Fire Station No. 13."

Theodore was somewhat disappointed and asked again:

Is he still building a fire accident archive?

Bernie shook his head:

“I don’t know. He never mentioned it to me, and I didn’t ask.”

Billy Hawke asked about the bald firefighter's recent situation.

Previously, the bald firefighter had been ostracized by many of his colleagues because of the arsonist case.

Billy Hawke, with his experience in the Marine Corps, knew very well that this kind of exclusion wouldn't disappear just by ending the investigation.

(End of this chapter)