America: The Gear-Up Detective

Recalling the conflict at the bar two days ago, and the look in the eyes of the burly black man as he left at Jackson and the woman beside him, Rod felt increasingly uneasy.

Hank half-squatted on the ground, looking at the tire tracks.

Rod looked around, trying to see if there were any cameras or anything like that near the trash can.

Unfortunately, there weren't many security cameras in the community, and most of them were located at the corners and bends of the community roads. Rod didn't see any cameras in that area.

Rhode instinctively activated his [Scan] skill, hoping to find some clues here.

With the keen insight granted by his skills, Rhode quickly noticed something amiss.

On the street to the right of the entrance to Jackson's house, there is a patch of ground that is far too "clean" compared to the surrounding street within a meter or two.

Rod looked at the area, then at the trash can.

He turned to Hank and said, "Hey, Hank, look at this."

He then pointed to the color differences on the ground and offered his speculation: "I think that trash can across the street from Jackson's house might have originally been in front of his house."

But someone moved the trash can to the other side of the road, so Jackson had to cross the road to throw away his trash. Could someone have taken this opportunity to abduct Jackson?

There was a security camera installed outside Jackson's room; the perpetrators may have been afraid of being filmed committing their crime.

Hank thought for a moment, then nodded: "But the premise is that we have to find concrete evidence of Jackson's disappearance, whether it's witness testimony or physical evidence, otherwise the police department won't take the case if it's just a matter of not being able to contact him."

Just then, across the street, diagonally opposite Jackson's room...

A black boy, about six or seven years old, came out.

The boy, holding an orange water gun and wearing a white vest and shorts, stood in front of his yard, looking at Rod.

Are you looking for Uncle Jackson?

Hearing the little boy's question, Rod walked to the gate, looked at the boy through the fence, and said, "Yeah! Do you see him?"

The little boy didn't answer immediately. Instead, he stared at Rod's face and asked, "Who are you? Are you here to cause trouble for Uncle Jackson?"

He's a policeman!

Rod was amused by the little boy's innocent tone, then took out his police badge. "Have you seen this before? We're police officers, Jackson's colleagues."

Do you know where he went this morning?

"I've seen this before." The little black boy stared at the police badge in Rod's hand, revealing a set of neat, white teeth. "Uncle Jackson had one too."

He then tilted his head, thought for a moment, and continued, "It seems that Uncle Jackson was taken away when he took out the trash this morning."

"They were taken away?" Rhodes was overjoyed to find a witness, and then pressed on, "Who was it? Did you see them clearly?"

"They were also Black. Uncle Jackson had just finished throwing out the trash when a car sped out, stopped behind him, and almost hit him. Then Uncle Jackson got in the car and drove off with them."

"them?"

Rod caught the key phrase in the boy's words and continued, "Are there several people?"

There are two people.

Hank, who was listening nearby, chimed in, "You said Jackson 'went with them,' but didn't anyone force Jackson? Did he leave voluntarily?"

The little boy probably didn't understand Hank's question, shook his head, and didn't say anything.

Just then, a well-proportioned Black woman, also wearing a tank top and jeans, came out of the house behind the little boy and said sternly, "Jackson, I told you not to talk to strangers!"

The little boy named Jackson turned around and looked at the woman with a grin: "Mommy, they're not strangers, they're Uncle Jackson's friends."

Rod looked at the Black woman, showed her his badge, and said, "Hi, ma'am. We're Jackson's colleagues at the police station. Did you see him this morning?"

Upon hearing that Rod said he was Jackson's colleague, the Black woman's expression softened, and she became less wary.

He then shook his head. "I didn't see him, but..."

"What?"

"I did hear a car brake suddenly this morning, but there was no impact, so I didn't pay any attention to it."

Rhodes nodded. Hank, who had been observing from the side, looked at the surveillance camera installed in the upper right corner of the woman's room and tentatively asked, "Is that surveillance camera working properly?"

The woman looked back as well. "Yes, Jackson helped us install it back then."

"Can we take a look?" Hank asked.

The Black woman hesitated, "Have we gotten ourselves into some kind of trouble?"

It's no wonder she was so cautious. Black people have to be careful about everything they do when they're with the police, let alone something like directly looking at their own home security camera footage. Who knows if they might be falsely accused of something?

Seeing her hesitation, Rhodes thought for a moment and said, "ma'am..."

"Just call me Elena, Elena Winster."

"Elena, your son shares the same name as Michael Jackson?"

"Yes, he really likes Jackson and always wants to play with him, so I changed his name." Elena looked at Jackson, who was hugging her leg, and patted his head.

"Where is his father?"

Seeing Elena's stiff face, Rhode knew he had chosen the wrong topic, and smoothly changed the subject.

"We suspect Jackson was coerced, or even kidnapped, but we need sufficient evidence." Rod paused, looking at the little boy. "Your son says he saw Jackson leave with two people this morning, but he didn't describe Jackson's condition at the time. So we want to check the surveillance footage, just to help Jackson?"

Elena was still somewhat hesitant.

Just as Rhodes was contemplating whether to activate [Bewitchment], little Jackson, who was clinging to Elena's leg, swayed and whispered, "Mommy, is something wrong with Uncle Jackson?"

Looking at Little Jackson, Elena thought for a moment, then turned and went into the room. When she came out, she was holding a tablet.

"This is the surveillance footage from this morning. I looked at it and it didn't capture any video content, but it did record some audio, which should be useful."

Rod took the tablet and began to "listen" with Hank.

First came the sound of tires screeching against the ground.

Immediately afterwards, indistinct sounds began to appear.

"Get the hell in the car!"

"Don't make me shoot!"

After a few chaotic sounds, the car started up again.

Rod and Hank exchanged a glance, both seeing the seriousness in each other's eyes.

Rhodes handed the tablet back to Elena. "Can we download this audio file?"

......

Half an hour later, at the police station.

Meeting room of Team Six.

Everyone sat together, and even Evan and Anna, who were on vacation, came to the detective station.

Rod played the audio again, now clearer after it had been processed by the police department's technical department.

Connor said in a deep voice, "The chief has officially classified Jackson's disappearance as a kidnapping case with extremely serious consequences."

The entire police department's detectives will help us find Jackson.

He paused, then said with barely suppressed rage, "Whoever it is, anyone who dares to mess with the LAPD will regret ever being born!"