A swift and decisive victory in the early stages, a post-apocalyptic survival story in America!

"Ms. Barton, this..." Laura asked, voicing her doubts.

"Call me Margaret, or Maggie," Margaret said gently. "I've done a background check on you. You're an honest person. You may have killed Nick, but you certainly weren't involved in his dirty work."

"Until everything is certain, treat yourself as a key witness, not a criminal suspect."

Lola was a little surprised, nodded, went upstairs, randomly found a room, and lay down on the bed.

The FBI has clearly been operating here for a long time; the sheets and blankets are brand new, the room is in excellent condition, and the doors and windows have been specially reinforced.

Clearly, this is not a temporary requisition, but has been used as an FBI outpost all along, so its security is very secure.

With her phone confiscated, Lola had nothing to do, so she simply closed her eyes to rest and take a nap.

After an unknown amount of time, someone knocked on the door. After being given permission, the person pushed the door open and entered the house: "Agent Thorne, Ms. Barton requests your presence."

Lola washed her face and went downstairs. In the restaurant, they were already set up for a conversation.

At one end of the long dining table sat a middle-aged man with a laptop and folders on it. Margaret paced back and forth with her hands on her hips. When she saw Lola, a smile bloomed on her pretty face, which had been furrowed with worry, and she became charming.

"I heard you took a nap, that's good, that's a very good start." Margaret gestured for Lola to sit down, and after Lola was seated, she sat down next to the middle-aged man.

"My partner, Cameron Douglas." After a brief introduction, Margaret cut to the chase: "I've seen the ICE files; you were kidnapped by Nick and your freedom was restricted, right?"

Lola nodded.

Margaret continued, "Then he had a fight with his accomplices, and you took the opportunity to escape. Later, you and the ICE agent returned to the scene and found Nick had been shot and killed?"

Lola nodded again.

"Please answer my question directly." Margaret remained amiable, but her tone became noticeably firmer.

Lola gave her a deep look and replied helplessly, "Yes."

"Please briefly recount what happened."

Lola gathered her thoughts and began to recount the whole incident, from how she was discovered while following Nick, how Nick knocked her unconscious and kidnapped her, how, after being imprisoned for several days, Nick and his companion suddenly arrived, how the two disagreed on how to deal with their own problems, leading to a fight, how she took the opportunity to escape, and how she contacted Maeve to go to the private storage to investigate...

All the details are true, except for the crucial part about the internal strife.

Maeve helped to complete this story. The shrewd ICE regional manager clearly guessed part of the truth, but instead of revealing it, he chose to help Lola cover it up.

After that, due to the change in their relationship, Li Qi also offered constructive suggestions on the matter, so when Lola talks about it now, it's as if it really happened.

Yes, in her mind, it seemed to be true.

Generally speaking, if a person can lie to themselves, then lying to others can be said to be a piece of cake.

But it's clear that Margaret was no ordinary person.

She flipped through the folder in her hand, which contained Nick Grant's autopsy report.

"Ballistic marks indicate that Nick was first shot in the shoulder, and then shot in the head..." Margaret pondered. "The shoulder wound is festering, which means someone was repeatedly firing at this spot, as if trying to cover something up."

"Judging from the blood clotting patterns on the wounds, the two incidents occurred at different times. You're a professional detective, so tell me, what conclusions can you draw from this?"

Laura, already prepared, shrugged and said, "My conclusion is that Nick was injured after the shootout with his companions. After a period of stalemate, he lost the ability to move due to excessive blood loss, was subdued by his companions, and then executed."

Margaret narrowed her eyes, like a lioness ready to devour someone: "Then how do you explain the erosion on the shoulder window? Who would shoot someone else in the same spot where they've already been shot?"

Lola pouted, "I will! That would cause double the pain, and the humiliation would be even more obvious. Or perhaps, the spread of this erosion wasn't caused by a bullet, but by stabbing it directly in with the muzzle of a gun?"

Margaret's serious face suddenly broke into a smile, and she nodded in admiration, "You truly are an excellent ICE agent. I admire your knowledge and experience. That's enough about that question. Next question: Why did Nick kidnap you? Did you discover his secret? What was your initial motive for contacting him?"

Laura told the truth: "Yes, we discovered unusual expenditures on the books, as well as fictitious flight expenses for illegal immigrant deportations. Because of these, Chief McCallister assigned me to partner with Nick to gather relevant leads on his misconduct."

Margaret waved her hand: "No, no, no, that's not it. I'm asking what problem you discovered in Nick that led you to begin the investigation?"

"Maeve told me..." Lola stopped mid-sentence, stunned.

Yes, how did Maeve initially discover that Nick had a problem?

At the time, I was still working at the Washington headquarters when Maeve came to me, handed me a stack of documents, and said that Nick had problems and that the situation in the Los Angeles area was complicated. She said she couldn't handle it alone, so she needed me to go to Los Angeles to help with the investigation. That's how I ended up leaving Washington and being parachuted into Los Angeles...

How did Maeve discover this stack of documents in the first place?

She had never been to Los Angeles before, and yet she was able to obtain these documents that showed Nick was problematic. If she really had this ability, why would she bother herself?

If she didn't have this ability, where did she get these documents from?

A cloud of doubt rose in Lola's mind, but she tried to keep her expression calm and continued, "Maeve told me that there were serious problems with the use of funds in the Los Angeles area. Many of the deportations Nick handled had gone wrong. Knowing Nick's capabilities, she knew they shouldn't be happening so frequently and in such a concentrated manner, so..."

Margaret smiled knowingly; clearly, she had keenly caught Lola's slight surprise just now.

"Under what circumstances were you ambushed by Nick?" Margaret changed the subject again.

Lola knew perfectly well that this was a common conversation tactic used during the investigation phase: jumping between topics to prevent the suspect from immediately using the prepared script, and after a few rounds, the suspect would inevitably reveal many flaws.

But Lola is no ordinary criminal suspect; she's an expert in this field, and she has her own techniques for dealing with such questioning.

Relying on facts means lying at the most crucial moment. If you have a plan in mind and repeat it a thousand times until it becomes so real that even you believe it, then it is not lying, but the truth.

The highest level of lying is deceiving yourself.

"Looking back now, Nick didn't kidnap me out of anger after I found out; he set a trap and was just waiting for me to fall into it..." As she recalled the past, a touch of shame appeared on Lola's face.

Margaret nodded solemnly and said softly, "I understand. After all, he's been operating in Los Angeles for many years; he's certainly no mediocre person..."

Then, changing the subject, he asked, "Now, tell me, who exactly is the person who has been helping you in the shadows all along?"