Edward Snow sat in a conference room. Three people sat across him. The men on the left and the right were the editor-in-chief and the deputy editor of a news network, and in the middle was the CEO of the network.
The thing that Snow brought was so shocking that the editor-in-chief and the deputy editor could not make a decision, so they invited the CEO.
The CEO stared at the investigation report provided by Snow. He looked stunned.
"Mr. Snow, can you guarantee the authenticity of this report?" the CEO asked first.
"Of course, I almost died for this report." Snow pointed to the sutured wound on his face.
The CEO took a deep breath and said, "Mr. Snow, the report you brought is really shocking. This may be the biggest scandal in the history of American sports. I hope to get the exclusive right to report this information."
"No problem," Snow promised.
"But I really don"t know how much we should pay for it. Shocking news is our business, but this kind of big news on sports... Well, it is our first time reporting something of this scale. Not to mention that we will have the Olympics this year. The value of this investigation is hard for me to estimate," the CEO said sincerely.
Snow smiled and said, "Actually what I care about is not the money. I hope that the public can know the truth."
The CEO nodded solemnly. "I understand. I will use your report as the focus of our work. I will follow up on this myself. I will let the public know the truth!"
Investigative journalism wasn"t a very profitable occupation. It could even be said that the income was meager. Most investigative journalists entered the industry because of their sense of justice.
The main source of income for many investigative journalists was from writing books. They would investigate a very important news topic, and when the news was trending, they would go on talk shows and write one or two books related to the investigation. To put it plainly, they took advantage of the heat of the news to make money.
...
Los Angeles Police Department.
A short, pudgy man with gla.s.ses walked in front of Dai Li and said, "Mr. Li, the procedure for bail has already been completed. After you sign here, you can go. A special reminder, before the trial, you need to report to the Los Angeles Police Department once a week, and you are not allowed to leave the country during this period."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Wilfrid." Dai Li signed the doc.u.ment and then walked out of the police station with the lawyer.
Wilfrid said as he was walking, "The injured person you hit has already accepted our compensation. He said that he will not sue us again. But he also revealed to me that the prosecutor asked him to appear in court to testify."
"So I can just wait for the court session. The only trouble is the prosecutor?" Dai Li asked.
Wilfrid nodded. "The prosecutor is Nick Reese. He is indeed very talented. He is the only prosecutor in California who has been able to maintain a 100% conviction rate. I"ve been up against him three times, so I guess we"re tied?"
Dai Li did not understand what the lawyer meant. In his mind, if it was four fights, it was possible to get a tie with two wins and two losses, but three showdowns would result in two wins and one loss. It was inevitable that one party would have two wins, so there should be no possibility of a tie.
"Mr. Wilfrid, what do you mean by a tie?" Li Dai could not help but ask.
"My client, although pleading guilty, was not sentenced severely. In truth, all three parties were guilty. All I could do to help them was to reduce the penalty. In this respect, the prosecutor and I each achieved what we wanted. I helped my client reduce the penalty, and the prosecutor was able to convict them." Wilfrid"s tone changed and said, "But Mr. Li, you are different. I don"t think you are guilty. You were trying to save yourself, and your intention was not to hurt people or a.s.sault the police. I think their charges of causing intentional injury and a.s.saulting the police are unfounded. I am sure I can help you win this lawsuit."
"Thank you for your trust," Dai Li said quite sincerely.
"You are welcome. As your lawyer, my job is to help you win the lawsuit!" Wilfrid said.
The two talked as they walked to the police station entrance, and Blake was already waiting outside.
Wilfrid said goodbye to the two, and Dai Li got into Blake"s car.
Blake started the car and said at the same time, "Wilfrid is the best criminal lawyer in the United States. We have a good chance of winning with him helping us."
"This really is a disaster! I"ve encountered these sort of situations even though I was just living my life honestly at home... I am a victim, but I have to pay a lawyer"s fee. This is really unfortunate." Dai Li sighed helplessly.
"According to the police, the people who took you are repeat offenders and have committed several large cases of kidnapping and blackmailing. For you to escape from them was no small feat. In fact, I really admire your wit; you were able to figure out a way to contact the police even in that sort of situation. If it were me, I"m afraid I could only have sat there and waited for death to come."
Blake turned to look at Dai Li and asked, "Do you need to hire one or two bodyguards? I had a friend when I was a boxer who opened a security company after he retired. A lot of his men are retired soldiers, including some who came back from the battlefield in Iraq. If you need to, I can ask him to find a few good bodyguards."
"Forget it, I am not an important figure. I am just a coach. But I really hope that I can install a security system in my home. I don"t want to be tied up at home again." Dai Li was looking at his phone when he spoke, but he never managed to find what he was looking for.
So Dai Li asked, "Has there been any big news recently?"
"There is all sorts of news every day. What kind are you specifically asking for?" Blake asked.
"Things such as scandals," Dai Li replied.
"Haha, you"re actually interested in these sort of things. It seems that your mood is not as bad as you said it was." Blake became jolly, and he continued, "A p.o.r.nstar is saying that the president once married her. Does this count as a scandal?"
"I am not talking about things like that. I wanted to ask about things related to sports. Were there any sensational scandals recently?" Dai Li asked.
"There weren"t any. Li, you couldn"t have heard of any gossip, right?" Blake asked.
"I am waiting for a piece of news." Dai Li nodded.
Just then, a phone number suddenly appeared on the car"s central control screen.
"My car has Bluetooth." Blake looked down at the screen. "It is Chris Payton."
Blake pressed the b.u.t.ton to answer the call, and Payton"s voice immediately came through the speakers.
"Blake, I just saw an incredible piece of news on the internet! This is probably the biggest doping scandal in the history of the United States!"
Blake smiled dismissively. "Is it really so amazing? Every year in the United States, there will always be dozens of cases where athletes are found to be using illegal drugs. Those are not unusual."
"But this time it involves thousands of people, including many well-known athletes and coaches, and 27 biological laboratories were said to be providing illegal drugs to athletes. More importantly, the mastermind behind it all was Blecher, the father of prohormone from a few years ago!" Payton said.
When Blake heard the news, he could not help but look at Dai Li.
Dai Li let out a sigh of relief. "The big news I"ve been waiting for is finally here!"