Volume 1: First Arrival Chapter 026 Formal Conversation
"Hey!"
A lively greeting came from across the street. Adrian was about to cross the street when he paused. He looked at "Billy's" behind him, then at Kirk who was waving with a smile. Finally, his eyes fell on the two bagels in his hand. He felt a little embarrassed.
Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
Three questions of the soul.
After taking a deep breath, Adrian managed to regain his sanity and took another step forward. No matter how hard he tried to control himself, he still couldn't help but raise his doubts.
"Wait, tell me again, why do I need to compensate you with a bagel?"
Kirk ignored Adrian and took the salmon bagel directly, saying as if it was a matter of course, "This is called equal exchange."
Adrian: ??? What kind of gibberish is this?
Kirk couldn't wait any longer, so he took a big bite and filled his mouth.
"Ah! That's the taste, a little smoky and a little grilled, and the smooth avocado sauce makes the whole chewy texture rich."
“I thought salmon would be a bit weird, but the rich fat and rich texture are a big plus!”
"Wow...wait, what is this, crushed black pepper?"
"Hmm! Interesting combination!"
Adrian looked at Kirk, who had a very satisfied look on his face. He was stunned and surprised. He could feel the overflowing happiness without words.
Adrian himself didn't realize it, and he swallowed his saliva when he looked at Kirk.
Appetite seems to be stimulated.
"No! No, no, no!" Adrian quickly slammed on the brakes, controlled himself, refused to be caught up in Kirk's rhythm, and stayed awake.
"Hey."
"Hey!"
"Sir, we haven't formally introduced ourselves yet, have we? Who are you? Kirk Hull? Jeff Minghella? Or someone else?"
After the words were out, Adrian finally felt like things were on a familiar track. Whether it was yesterday's encounter or the collision just now, everything happened too fast, like a tornado. He was caught up in it without knowing what was happening, and he was in a daze the whole time.
Kirk's eyebrows slightly raised, "Are you sure you don't want to give it a try?"
"This is definitely one of the best bagels in New York. If you don't eat it, breakfast will become lunch. Although bagels are also a good choice for brunch, I always think that brunch should not exist. Breakfast is breakfast and lunch is lunch. How can they be mixed up?"
Blah blah blah——
Seeing that Kirk was about to change the subject again, Adrian quickly stopped and said, "Bagnes are not important now..."
"How can it not be important? Three meals a day are very important, whether for survival or for living." Kirk's expression was very serious.
Adrian was at a loss for words for a moment. Language games were indeed not his strong point. He felt depressed and helpless, and in the end he could only express his emotions calmly.
"Shut up."
With just these few words, Kirk's smile actually rose slightly, because he knew that both parties were finally on an equal footing to start a conversation. Those confused and complicated emotions still existed, but were effectively controlled. He no longer paid attention to the food and extended his right hand in a friendly manner.
"Kirk-Hull. Private investigator."
Adrian looked at Kirk's outstretched right hand with an expression of suspicion and rejection. He was still not sure what attitude he should have.
But Kirk didn't mind at all.
He chewed his food and cast his gaze over, remaining patient and just staring at Adrian with a smile on his face.
Baji, Baji.
In the end, Adrian finally gave in and perfunctorily patted Kirk's right hand as a handshake, but he couldn't help but complain.
"Are you sure? Mr. 007, is this your true identity?"
"That depends on how the detective defines reality. Especially in the Internet age, the boundaries between reality and virtuality are blurring."
Adrian: An eye roll.
"Haha. If the detective is asking about personal labels in the social structure, then the name registered at the DMV is indeed this. If you don't believe it, the detective can investigate and confirm it."
Adrian took a deep breath, "I will." There was a pause, "So, what do you want?"
Kirk, "Didn't I just tell the detective? One chance."
Bathed in Kirk's gaze, Adrian felt a little reserved. No matter what, the Macy's case was indeed solved within ten minutes.
So, should he express gratitude?
The police thanked the private detective, what's that?
The words were already on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them down. Adrian looked away, "That's what I mean. What do you want to talk about?"
"Detective, you know what I want to discuss." Kirk didn't beat around the bush. "'The Homeless Man Case', you need to solve the case, I need the truth, and I believe I can help."
Adrian responded reflexively, "The NYPD doesn't need any help."
"Heh." Kirk chuckled. "We all know that if the NYPD can do its job, it won't be my turn to interfere."
Adrian was a little depressed, "Who is your client?"
"The point is not about my clients, the point is about the NYPD not getting to the bottom of it. And even now, the NYPD is not prepared to get to the bottom of it."
Kirk did not respond to Adrian's question. In silence, the two of them continued to .
This time, Kirk succeeded in gaining the upper hand again. Adrian was slightly stunned.
"As far as I know, even though the news has become so popular and public pressure is still slowly increasing, the NYPD still has not taken it seriously."
"It was a highly publicized serial murder case with seven victims, all of whom were black, but in the end only two detectives were responsible. If the Times knew about this attitude, it would probably cause another uproar."
"Doesn't the NYPD know this?"
"No, they knew, but they decided to do it anyway."
"Ah, I don't know which two unlucky guys got into this situation."
These were the scraps of gossip that Kirk had heard while waiting in line at Billy's that morning , and although they were just hearsay and Kirk had no time to confirm them, office gossip often hides the truth, and it only takes a logical mind to find the thread in it.
Now, Kirk threw it out just to see Adrian's reaction.
From Kirk's prior investigation and research, Adrian is the kind of policeman who looks like a bastard but actually sticks to his principles. On the one hand, he is exhausted by life, but on the other hand, he still sticks to his bottom line and refuses to touch it. That useless "sense of justice" is precisely the reason why he continues to be a policeman.
In other words, no matter who is in charge of the case, Kirk can always guide Adrian to the truth, and use his identity as a policeman to ensure that all the evidence is legal and finally arrest the suspect and bring him to court to face sanctions.
However……
Kirk never expected that the bait he casually threw out would actually catch a big fish.
Adrian's expression was somewhat conflicted and struggling, revealing a sense of irritability and depression.
Kirk's eyes brightened slightly, the chewing sounds slowed down a little, and finally a smile slowly emerged in his eyes.
"Detective Guzman, you, aren't you one of the unlucky ones?"
