Chapter 857: Law Firm with a Booming Business
Luke nodded with a smile.
He had initially been joking, but not entirely.
One had to consider their physical strength when using a bicycle, but they didn’t need to do so for a motorcycle. At most, he could modify it?
As Luke was pondering various means of transport, Selina alerted him: “Walter’s turned on the lights.”
Luke casually turned on their police lights and squeezed onto the bus lane. “The inspector’s in a hurry. Let’s catch up.”
Selina smiled. “They sure are impatient.”
Luke said, “It’s a gridlock every day. How can they not be anxious?”
In the end, the cars hadn’t gone 500 meters before they stopped again.
Ricky got out of the car and deftly wrote out a fine before giving it to the young lady in the driver’s seat. He then had the lady, who had a twisted expression on her face, move her car so that the police cars could pa.s.s through.
Luke and Selina clicked their tongues as they went past the young woman, and even heard her curse. “B*stard, I’m going to file a complaint. I already got out of the lane, and you still gave me such a huge fine?”
Selina burst out laughing. “Don’t tell me that the Detective Bureau also has a ticket quota to meet?”
Luke, however, nodded solemnly. “You can go give out tickets later.”
Selina said, “Huh?”
Luke gestured at the long line of cars next to them and said, “In this sort of traffic, giving people tickets is absolutely more useful than police lights.”
Selina understood.
The ticket was just a prop for scaring people, but she could write one whenever she needed to.
While the Detective Bureau’s main order of business didn’t include infringement notices, the detectives had the authority to issue tickets.
This way, relying on their lights and fines, it took the two cars forty minutes to get to their destination.
Selina stayed back to watch the cars. It wasn’t safe to leave police cars unattended here.
Looking at the old apartment building and the rundown units, the three of them didn’t have good expressions.
Finding Room 307 on the third floor, Ricky knocked on the door. n.o.body answered, but the door fell to the ground.
Ricki felt his head hurt. “Don’t tell me I have to pay for the repairs?”
Walter said helplessly, “If you were that strong, why would you become a police officer? Go and become the world boxing champion. Ask the neighbors and see where she’s gone.”
Ricky could only lift the door, and with Luke’s help, put it back in place.
Ricky knocked on the neighboring door, and a wary Latino man asked through the crack, “What do you want?”
Ricky pointed at his badge and said, “NYPD. It’s fine, relax. We’re just here to talk to Elena Cardenas.”
Sweat broke out on the Latino man’s forehead. “She… she probably went to the lawyer.”
Ricki asked, “Where’s the lawyer?”
The Latino man said, “Nelson and Murdock Law Firm. Just turn left and follow the road for 200 meters.”
The three of them soon arrived at the law firm.
This time, Selina got out of the car as well.
They were familiar with the environment since their new place was 20 meters away, and they knew that there was a much lower chance of theft here.
Also, the law firm was on the third floor, and they would be able to see anything that happened below.
When they got to the third floor, they looked inside the old unit and saw all kinds of people sitting around. Walter was stunned. “This law firm’s business is so good?”
Ricky was also puzzled. “The people here have money to hire a lawyer?”
Luke and Selina didn’t say anything.
Many people in the room couldn’t afford a lawyer, but a lawyer who was willing to help them was another matter.
When the four of them walked in, everybody looked at them.
Both Walter and Ricky were wearing suits and ties, but they didn’t look like office workers.
Luke and Selina were young and good-looking, but they were dressed casually.
When they saw the badges on their chests, many people got strange expressions on their faces.
Two men wrapped in b.l.o.o.d.y bandages had already straightened nervously and slipped out.
Ignoring them, Walter scanned the room and focused on a young woman nearby.
He walked over and showed her his badge. “h.e.l.lo, miss. Are you the receptionist here?”
The young woman had long, straight blond hair and a delicate face. She was wearing a blue dress and a black jacket.
Hearing Walter’s words, she stood up with a smile. “h.e.l.lo, Lieutenant. My name is Karen Page. I’m a clerk here. How can I help you?”
Walter said, “We’re looking for Elena Cardenas.”
The young woman named Karen nodded with a smile. “Please wait a moment. I’ll see if she’s still here.”
A moment later, an old lady in her sixties followed her out of the room. She looked at Walter and said something in Spanish.
Walter asked, “Can you understand English?”
All Elena said was, “A little.”
Walter felt a little helpless.
They were going to ask questions, but their words could be ambiguous, and sometimes it was troublesome.
More and more people were speaking Spanish in the United States, and most police officers needed to know a little.
Walter could understand everyday conversation, but he struggled to speak it himself.
Selina said in a low voice, “I know Spanish, sir.”
Walter nodded. “You translate.”
After a few words, they followed the old lady to a quiet place in the corridor and started talking.
It actually wasn’t complicated at all.
The case that Walter was investigating was, of course, the series of explosions in the Clinton area a few days ago.
The old lady’s apartment was across the street from the explosion site. Half the place had been turned upside down that night, and the door that Ricky knocked down with one fist was the result of the explosion.
Previously, the old lady had reported that someone had come to threaten her, and even smashed up her apartment.
The 15th Precinct’s conclusion: The old lady had misunderstood! It was just an apartment renovation dispute.
The matter was settled.
However, Walter clearly wanted to make an issue of the explosions.
If he could obtain enough merits, it would put more pressure on Dustin.
He was just short of becoming a captain.
As long as he made great contributions during this period of time, whether it shook Dustin’s footing and he was forced into another department, or Walter was promoted to another department, it wouldn’t be a bad outcome either way.
That was why he had been very reluctant when Dustin put Luke and Selina on the same case.
If there was a breakthrough, Luke and Selina would get a share of the credit.
Everybody knew that Luke and Selina, who had transferred from Los Angeles, were Dustin’s people, which meant that Walter wouldn’t be able to put pressure on Dustin even if he solved the case.
This was the sly way in which leaders worked.