The collection of evidence on the police force’s corruption was progressing quickly, much faster than Lance and Prosecutor Dean had imagined.
Under Charlie’s management, the judicial system of Golden Port had long ago clumped together like wet flour, sticking firmly together.
You are in me, and I am in you.
Perhaps in the past, someone had tried to report it or do something similar to seek justice.
But the final result was not necessarily a good one. Their attempt to have Charlie and his group investigate themselves to solve their problems was a systemic joke.
Over time, these subordinates of Charlie found that no matter how outrageous their actions were, they would not become a problem for themselves, and they would become even more unscrupulous.
The more unscrupulous they were, the more difficult it was for them to hide during interrogation.
For example, the simplest item, the source of large sums of money being unknown—they didn’t hide these things at all, just left them there.
These few precinct chiefs almost all lived in large detached houses or villas, and also drove luxury cars worth thousands or tens of thousands.
No one tried to hide the fact that “I shouldn’t be this rich.” They generously displayed their wealth, which also became one of the reasons for the rapid collapse of their psychological defenses.
In addition, there was also Lance’s deterrent force here. Under the threat of having their whole family “disappear,” under the huge pressure, people simply couldn’t hold on for too long.
When one person speaks, it means that more people will speak.
In the past, they had used these tricks against those suspects and criminals, but now this set of tricks was particularly effective when used on them.
Soon, a series of cases were confessed. Originally, Prosecutor Dean thought this was just a low-level “purge.”
And what he had to do was to provide ammunition for this “purge.”
Someone wanted to get rid of Charlie, so he was arranged to come over to investigate Charlie.
He was even considering whether he should help Lance fabricate some evidence and cases if these people didn’t confess enough to directly pin Charlie down.
In terms of ability in this area, Prosecutor Dean was also outstanding.
After all, this job was assigned to him by Attorney General Terry. Whether it was for his own work performance or to satisfy Attorney General Terry’s instructions, he definitely had to do this beautifully.
But the more things these people confessed, the more shocking they became. He increasingly felt that he didn’t need to do anything extra. On the contrary, he became a little nervous and disbelieving because of the things they confessed.
As a prosecutor from the State Prosecutor’s Office, the cases he usually came into contact with were definitely of a relatively high level. These cases might have a great impact and might cause great losses, but they would not be too shocking.
And these cases…
“I don’t know what to say…” Prosecutor Dean looked at the transcript in his hand, his expression unexpectedly complicated. “I thought it would be sorted out in three to five days, but now it looks like it may take longer.”
He was holding the phone receiver in his hand, and with the other hand, he was flipping through the organized file.
For example, the one he was looking at now, a precinct chief confessed to the investigation team that Charlie had once instructed him to find trouble with a small businessman.
For this kind of small vendor with no ability to resist risks, the police were one of the most lethal natural enemies.
He just used a very simple method, a temporary spot check of the small vendor’s goods, saying that someone had reported that he was selling Maple Iris Grass. Then, while inspecting his goods, he put a small bag of Maple Iris Grass into his goods.
This was a little trick that almost all police officers knew.
There is a not-so-funny joke that says if you are driving a good car on an interstate highway, you are not speeding, not overloaded, and have not committed any possible illegal acts, but a police car still comes up and signals you to stop.
Then you’d better keep a close eye on those highway patrolmen, because you don’t know what those officers can find in your trunk.
It could be a small bag of Maple Iris Grass enough to send you to prison, or it could be a bloody handgun directly related to a certain murder case, or even a kitchen knife stained with someone’s blood.
The precinct chief at that time just put a small bag of Maple Iris Grass into the small vendor’s goods, then refused to listen to the other party’s defense and arrested the small vendor.
Subsequently, this small merchant was arrested for “transporting and selling contraband” and was quickly sentenced.
Later, less than three months after this small merchant was imprisoned, he had a conflict with the gangs in the prison. During one of the yard times, he was stabbed in the heart with a self-made sharp object by those gangs and eventually died in prison.
There were many such things. Some even confessed that Charlie or Hunter would sometimes have them dispose of some bodies—put these bodies in gasoline barrels and then sink them into Angel Lake.
Just the description of these cases by these people was enough to make people feel terrified. Charlie, as the chief of the Golden Port City Police Department, was supposed to uphold justice and fairness for the people.
But now, he had instead become a hidden executioner in the shadows, which was chilling.
To know more details of these cases, including whether they were real, would take time to investigate, a lot of time.
They were different from cases of accepting bribes to provide convenience for others, where the nature of the case itself was simple.
As long as you check the flow of funds in the bank, you can largely restore the true situation of these cases.
If your annual income is only 1,000, and you’ve worked for forty years, you would have at most 40,000. But now you have 400,000, and you can’t explain where the other 360,000 came from. Then this is evidence of bribery.
But these cases were different. These cases were very complex, not just simple official crimes. They involved many people, many things, and many mysteries.
If they wanted to bring all these cases to court, then they had to investigate these cases clearly, at least figure out the cause and effect and the motive, before they could be used in court.
And to investigate these old cases clearly, it would definitely not be possible in three to five days.
Lance frowned when he heard this. “How long will it probably take?”
Prosecutor Dean casually flipped through the file bags on his desk. “It might take two or three months, or even longer. A year or two is also possible.”
“The cases they confessed to span about thirty years. We can choose not to deal with those that are too old, but we must deal with the cases that happened five to ten years ago.”
“So in the short term, we are not likely to be able to use the confessions of these people.”
Like the case of the small merchant, if they wanted to investigate it clearly, they had to figure out the motive and what benefits Charlie ultimately gained from it.
They needed to investigate many things, and some of the investigation content could not be done openly.
In short, this matter did indeed require a long time and a lot of manpower.
However, Prosecutor Dean didn’t really want to investigate these cases in his heart. The impact of these cases was too bad.
If it was a group of vicious gangsters who had killed them or done those outrageous things, then investigating these cases clearly, arresting those who should be arrested, and sentencing those who should be sentenced would be a victory for justice and the law.
But now the creators of these cases were themselves law enforcers, the people who maintained the law and justice. The breaking of these cases would not make people feel comfortable, but would instead make them feel uneasy.
What he could do now was to explain the problem clearly and then let Lance make the decision.
Lance thought for a moment and changed his wording. “What if we only consider using some relatively simple and straightforward cases first, and try to send him to prison first?”
Prosecutor Dean was not a novice who knew nothing. He had been a prosecutor for a long time and was very clear about some of the unwritten rules of the Federation’s political arena.
He understood the meaning behind Lance’s words—
Strip him of his “politician status,” and then use other methods to deal with him!
Prosecutor Dean thought for a long while before asking, “I don’t think there’s a problem with your idea.”
“The issue of bribery alone is enough to make him lose his politician status, but you have to tell me how you plan to deal with him in the end.”
Prosecutor Dean lowered his voice a little. “If you just want to find trouble with him, but he will still be alive, or if you hope to make him disappear through legal means, then we still have to continue our investigation.”
“But if you plan to… you know, use your own way to shut him up, then some of our investigations are no longer necessary.”
“You should be able to understand what I mean?”
Lance immediately said, “Yes, I understand what you mean.”
“You just prepare to go through the motions. As for those other cases…” he paused for about four or five seconds, “…you don’t need to worry about them.”
Prosecutor Dean understood his meaning. “Okay, I’ll have someone arrange it right away.”
If Charlie died for various reasons, then they would not waste time investigating meaningless cases. With no defendant, the investigation could only be a waste of time.
Prosecutor Dean had encountered this kind of thing many times. For example, the suspect under investigation couldn’t bear the huge psychological pressure and committed suicide.
There were also some suspects who were silenced by certain forces during their detention.
Or, when playing basketball with gangsters, they were shot eighteen times on the basketball court.
As long as these suspects died, the investigation would all be terminated, and then it would go through the judicial process.
After confirming that the prosecutor’s office was not at fault, the files would be sealed. Whether to continue the investigation of the case would need a comprehensive evaluation, but it was highly likely that it would not be touched again.
After all, someone had already sacrificed their life to prevent the investigation of the case. If they continued to investigate, who knew what would happen.
The two reached an agreement. Lance said with a smile, “Alright, I’ll trouble you to pay more attention to this matter.”
“You’re welcome. This is what I should do.”
Prosecutor Dean hung up the phone. He looked at the more than ten thick file bags on his desk for a while.
He dialed Attorney General Terry’s number. After the two chatted for a while, he let out a heavy sigh of relief and threw a portion of them into the file box.
This also meant that these files and archives were highly unlikely to be used again.
Prosecutor Dean and his men quickly took action. The easiest thing to do to investigate whether Charlie had accepted bribes was to investigate his financial situation clearly.
This required the cooperation of the banks.
Previously, Prosecutor Dean had called Attorney General Terry for this matter. When they arrived at the bank, the bank’s people were already prepared to cooperate.
It wouldn’t take long to investigate these things clearly.
But regardless, this case would definitely have a huge impact, even if they tried their best not to let it escalate.
Charlie’s bank fund flow was very healthy, but he must have used other accounts, which would require a little bit of tracing.
Prosecutor Dean personally led his men to search for some clues among the countless accounts—
The villa that Charlie bought was a clue. They found the account that paid for the villa, and then based on this account, they traced the flow of each fund, and finally they could lock onto some of the things they wanted.
This was a meticulous and tedious job. When he lowered his head, it was still broad daylight. When he looked up, the sky was already a little dark.
A subordinate with a strange look on his face walked to Dean’s side, bent over, and said a few words in a low voice. Prosecutor Dean looked back at him with an unusual expression on his face.
This subordinate nodded again and again to confirm. Prosecutor Dean picked up the phone and called Lance.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” Lance asked.
Prosecutor Dean lit a cigarette. He licked his lips. “I’m at the bank. I’ve already had some success, but we’ve run into a problem.”
“What problem?” Lance raised his hand to signal the others to go out first.
There were many people in his office, all of whom Morris had found, operators of private casinos.
The first moment they heard that Lance was going to take their money, their minds were blank. Then they wanted to curse, but soon a smile appeared on their faces!
Taking money meant that Lance had to take care of them. They could be unlike in the past, like a mouse, hiding everywhere!
So all the operators who knew about this came. They were discussing these things.
Prosecutor Dean didn’t know how to start, but this matter definitely needed Lance’s help. “Charlie and his family have disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” Lance didn’t react at first. “You mean, he and his people are no longer in Golden Port?”
Prosecutor Dean nodded in agreement. “I arranged for people to monitor them, because our work here has already reached the stage of actual evidence collection.”
“And we also hoped to see if we could find any additional supplementary evidence through his family’s consumption and actual situation.”
“But the people we arranged did not find them in the places where he and his family appeared.”
“They may have already absconded.”
“Escaped?” Lance couldn’t help but laugh a few times. “I see. I’ll arrange for people to look for them.”
As he spoke, he laughed a couple more times. “I’ll let you know if I have any news.”
He had thought of many possibilities, for example, Charlie proactively seeking peace with Councilman Williams.
Now that Lance and Councilman Williams were on the same side, it was not good for him to seek peace with Lance, but it was much easier to seek peace with Councilman Williams.
As a qualified politician, Councilman Williams considered not just simple likes or dislikes. He had to consider many other things, and it was possible that he would accept Charlie’s surrender.
He had also considered that Charlie might be able to persuade some people in the Bay Area to avoid the investigation from a higher level, for example, by finding people like Mr. Hoff, who had a certain influence in the state government, to suspend the investigation.
This possibility was relatively high. This was also what politicians did most often, the exchange of interests.
He had even considered that Charlie might burst out with unprecedented courage in the face of a desperate situation, for example, he… would come to his door alone with a weapon, ostensibly to say something to him, and then, while he was not paying attention, give him a shot!
Lance had many speculations, but the only one he hadn’t guessed was that he would run!
He had too many interests in Golden Port. Was he really willing to give them up?
He had worked hard his whole life, been a dog for almost forty years, to have everything he had now. Did he really just give it up so easily?
Lance didn’t think he was that kind of person. He couldn’t do these things!
But as it turned out, the person was nowhere to be found now.
He shook his head.
Then he made a call to Chief Bruce.
“Lance?”
“Yes, it’s me. There’s something you need to do.”
“What is it?” Although Chief Bruce had already become the police chief, he had not become arrogant.
At least not in front of Lance. He still looked like he could be dispatched by Lance at any time.
“Charlie is missing. Get your men moving. After you find him, don’t alert him. Just send the news back.”
“You should know how to find him, right?”
Chief Bruce quickly said, “Find his car…”
Golden Port is a big city. If you don’t drive in such a big city, it will be very troublesome. Charlie has his own car, and the entire police force knows the license plate number.
No matter where he went, as long as his car was found, then he must be nearby.
After hanging up the phone, Lance also had Bolton and Morris go and look. Then he called the people outside back in.
“Where were we just now?” he asked.
One of the slightly obese gentlemen with a protruding belly said with a fawning smile, “You were saying that we can expand our business…”
Lance recalled for a moment, then nodded and said, “Yes, expand the business.”
“This is the main reason I asked you here today.”
“You should have all heard that I’ve been going at it with the Kodak Family lately…”
The small casino owners in the room all nodded, and many even praised and flattered him. “Mr. Lance, the Kodak Family is no match for you at all. Their demise is only a matter of time.”
Lance smiled and raised his hand to quiet them down. “The fight between gangs is like this. As long as I can weaken their strength a little, it’s the best choice for me.”
“When your business expands, their business will be affected, and it can also weaken their influence.”
“I can guarantee that their tentacles will not reach my territory, and that your business will not be affected.”
“And you, you just need to pay 30% of your income…”
(End of a Chapter)