At seven o'clock in the morning, the sky was gray.

A faint white light shines through the glass windows in the conference room, illuminating the ashtrays piled high with cigarette butts on the tables.

The police officers who stayed up all night looked sluggish, Kruger yawned in a blanket, Carl smoked a cigarette around the conference room, and Holden stared at the tree diagram on the whiteboard with bloodshot eyes...

Someone pushed open the door to the conference room.

"Thank you, let's have some breakfast."

Dean and Rust take out the burgers, coffee, toast, donuts in the package... A whole bunch of them were placed in front of everyone.

"How do you know what I like?" Kruger grabbed the doughnut with a serious excess of calories and sugar and took a big bite, the cream splashed, and the irritability on the tough guy's rough face suddenly turned into satisfaction.

Holden took the hot coffee and took a sip, and there was a hint of blood on his oily face,

"After analyzing the clues, we have several discoveries." Carl snuffed out his cigarette butt, picked up the hot dog and took a bite, and stroked the sparse and shiny Mediterranean Sea with his other hand.

"Many hotel staff have seen this man pestering Grace, but unfortunately no one knows his identity, and Grace never reveals it."

"In addition, Grace is very popular at the hotel, there have been no arguments with colleagues or guests, everyone regrets her resignation, and some people spontaneously organized to search for her whereabouts after hearing that she was missing."

Karl threw several confessions to the two men,

"At the moment, it seems that this group of former colleagues has little to do with Grace's disappearance."

Holden continued, "We searched all over the surveillance of the neighborhood where Grace frequented, and found her in the surveillance video of a gas station..."

A few somewhat blurry photos were placed in front of the two of them.

In the photo, a woman is sitting in the driver's seat of a Ford F-150, with red hair, heavy makeup, and a blue blouse on her upper body.

"Grace, where is she going?" Rust holds up the photo,

"I-15 Freeway." Holden wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth, "I'm leaving Las Vegas and heading for Southwest Los Angeles." ”

"And the time was around 8 o'clock in the morning the day before yesterday, that is, she prepared breakfast for you, changed into work clothes, left home, and drove directly onto the highway."

Rust's face was dumbfounded,

"Grace would have told me in advance if she had gone far away, she was forced, right? The scar-faced man also threatened her in the car? ”

"There are no other passengers." Holden regretfully clicked a few photos to get a glimpse of the inside of the car from multiple angles—only a person in the driver's seat, "Grace left Las Vegas completely voluntarily, with no signs of kidnapping or threats." ”

Rust was silent.

Dean rubbed his temples vigorously, how the case was not going the way he had imagined.

Holden asked, "Rust, think about it, did Grace tell you that she was going to California to visit a relative or friend?" ”

Rust held his face with both hands, rubbed it red, and shook his head,

"As far back as I can remember, there were no acquaintances in California, and there was no reason for her to go there. And in the past ten years, Grace has never left me alone and gone out alone. ”

Dean patted him on the shoulder and turned to the officer again, "No video of Grace's return?" ”

Holden shook his head, his face serious, "There is no record of returning. So Grace left Las Vegas 100 percent, which means that we were out of the scope of our LVPD investigation, and we couldn't track her down unimpeded. ”

"What do you mean?" Rust was taken aback, "You want to stop the investigation?" ”

"Listen to me," Carl knocked on the round table next to him and explained, "Each police department has its own jurisdiction, and we at the LVPD can only manage cases that occur in downtown Las Vegas, and if the disappearance happens outside the jurisdiction, but it is still in a town in Nevada, then we need to coordinate with our brothers in the local police department." ”

"But Grace is on the highway, which does not belong to any local police department, and can only be tracked down with the help of the Nevada State Police and the Highway Patrol."

"Well, the bureau has contacted the patrol team to track the whereabouts of this F-150, and there will be news back in the next day or two."

"So we're just waiting?" Rust now understood, and the incident on the highway depended on the state police patrol.

"So far, but there's a worse scenario," Carl said with his hands on his hips, looking at Rust with a look of disapproval, "Grace drove into California, and the case became a transstate case. ”

"Each state in the United States has different laws, and the police are independent of each other. As a result, local police can't enforce the law across state lines, and we can't just go to California to find people. ”

Dean and Rust's faces turned ugly.

"We can only apply to the FBI, which has nationwide law enforcement powers, to send someone to California to investigate," Carr continued. ”

"Isn't Holden the FBI?" Dean said,

"Then you have to apply with the above first, otherwise he can only investigate in a private capacity, and he will not be able to get the support of the local police department."

Karl shook his head,

"In addition, there are tens of thousands of missing cases in our country every year, and the police resources are limited, so you have to wait for a few days to apply."

The entire office fell silent.

"I can't go to California, and the FBI has to apply again, why is it so troublesome?" Rust hung his head and muttered to himself, a look of absurdity and despair.

Will Grace be one of the tens of thousands of people who are unaccounted for every year?

Dean looked at Carl,

"Even if Grace was safe, you may become unsafe if you drag it out like this!"

"No way, you have to pay attention to the rules in everything." Carl turned his head sideways and thought about it, straightened his face, and showed a rare sincere expression, "But we will keep an eye on this case for you in Las Vegas, urge over there, and notify you immediately if there is any progress." ”

Dean could only sigh and stop pressing, the guys in the Carl group worked tirelessly to help him find someone It was a love, not an obligation.

"Grace's destination is unknown." Dean mused, "Let's investigate Scarface first and figure out what happened between him and Grace, and maybe we can understand where Grace has gone." ”

"Guys haven't heard anything from Scarface yet." Carl stared into Dean's eyes, "And according to the surveillance video, he didn't appear in Grace's car, and the suspicion of his crime is actually not big." ”

"I understand." Dean said a perfunctory sentence and looked at the progress of the investigation, and after this discussion, the progress jumped from 25 percent to 30 percent.

Progress has been rather slow.

……

The weary officers rested against the table, and Holden led the two out of the room

"Rules are dead, people are alive, I have some personal connections with police departments all over California, I'll help you find out."

"I knew you were different from Carl's old stubbornness." Dean patted him on the chest, and Rust was grateful,

"I'm going to have to doze off and get back to work, don't you two act rashly, understand?"

……

"Dean, let's drive to I-15 and look for it?" Out of the gate of the police station, Rust couldn't help but propose,

"No, there are already high-speed patrols walking this line, and we are definitely not as efficient as theirs." Dean shook his head,

"So now go find a local private loan company?"

The two discussed leaving the police station, but they didn't go far when they noticed a familiar figure striding towards them.

The Indian man was wearing the newly bought blue suit, with a bright smile on his vicious face, and said bluntly,

"Both, I have great news for you! An important clue was provided by one of André's friends, the scar-faced man named Tygen Fran, who frequented a 'Casino Royale' on Stewart Street in the Old Town. He worked for this casino and was responsible for soliciting guests and recovering debts. ”

"What kind of friend are you, you can find it faster than LVPD!"

Di An's head loosened and looked at the system,

The progress of the survey jumped from 30 percent to 35 percent

And a logical line in his mind was connected.

Teegan works for casinos.

Teegan pestered Grace several times and hired someone to beat her son as a threat.

And Grace was desperately short of money, and even sold the jewelry that she treasured at home.

Combining these facts, Dean came to a conclusion,

"Grace owes casino money for gambling, and Tegan pesters her to collect the debt!"

The progress of the investigation jumped from 30 percent to 40 percent!

"Grace hasn't been going to work early and late for the past month, presumably paying off her debts for Tygen's work."

"That's why I drove to California alone?" Dean looked at Rust, who was frowning, and reasoned,

"Impossible!" Rust shook his head firmly, "Grace is not addicted to gambling, and she will not be in debt for it. ”

Raster clenched his hands and said as if to comfort himself, "Her colleagues and I can attest that she never goes to the casino!" ”

……

"Rust, this is Las Vegas, drunk on money, and the desire and passion for adventure are pounding like the heart all the time." Paqui sighed with a look of a passer-by,

"Thousands of casinos sit around every corner, like a second mouth of a peerless beauty, as long as you don't control your curiosity to enter once, there will be a second time, a third time, until it completely falls."

"No, Grace never believed in these games of chance."

"But what if it's for your college tuition? Won't she go into the casino and take a risk? Do you understand? Sometimes a sudden thought can lead people into the abyss. ”

Rust's face turned pale, and his lips moved and he couldn't refute it,

"I've seen countless unlucky ghosts, and at first they only planned to gamble a few casually and make a few small profits to try their luck, but they lost red-eyed and lost their fortunes." Paqui's tone was a little heavier, "And the casinos are not clean, and there are many indiscriminate methods of slaughtering fat sheep." accidentally fell into their trap, and that life was ruined. ”

"I received news that this Tegan is black and clean, and several disappearances without a follow-up are inextricably linked to him."

"Find the police, we'll notify the police immediately," Rust turned anxiously, "go to the Casino Royal to arrest him and ask Grace's whereabouts!" ”

"Innocent!" As soon as Paqui heard the police, he looked distrustful, "If you can open a casino, even if it's just a small casino, the energy behind it is not ordinary." ”

"This guy is so dark, but he has been safe and sound." Pakui looked at the two of them with burning eyes, and said to them in a loud voice, "You think no one is behind him to protect him?" No one has a relationship for him? ”

"In Las Vegas, casinos represent money, and money can do anything."

"Even the police station building was built on the basis of money."

Dean nodded thoughtfully, his uncle asked his friend to find out the whereabouts of the scar-faced man for most of the day.

The dignified LVPD police found nothing, is it really a slow investigation, or is someone inside obstructing it?

……

Dean looked at a stunned Rust, "The existing surveillance evidence shows that Grace drove out of Las Vegas alone and had nothing to do with Tegan. ”

"Even if the police come to his door and confront him, he can pay a well-known lawyer to completely wipe him out, or even turn black and white upside down."

Dean thinks about what happened to him at the mall, where Gru Stone kidnapped the child in broad daylight and was acquitted, and he almost sent him to prison for his bravery.

His relatives, Leighton Stone's family, are even more unscrupulous, relying on power and money, hiding in the big city of Las Vegas for so many years, raising a nocturnal seed, and eating countless lives.

No!

The bottom line of this world is lower than you think!

……

As soon as the idea germinated, it flourished and flourished in Dian's head.

……

Rust looked up at the gloomy sky, tangled and confused, "Grace went to California, the disappearance case became a cross-state case, and it became a hassle to find her. ”

"Tegen Fran, who has something to do with her disappearance, has a deep background,"

"What can we do without calling the police?"

……

A cold glint flashed in Dean's eyes as he looked up at Paqui.

The other party was actually looking at him, his eyes were as sharp as arrows, as if he had penetrated his thoughts in an instant, grinning, revealing a fierce and tacit smile.

……

"Rust, what are you willing to give for Grace?"

"She is my only relative in the world, she must not have an accident, I am willing to give everything for her."

"Even if you break the bottom line and break the rules you've been honestly following in your past life?"

"I do!" Rast clenched his fists and yelled,

"So tonight, we're going to get this Tegen Fran back."

(End of chapter)