Volume 1: First Arrival Chapter 86 Taboo Boundary
Adrian: ??? It's actually possible?
Kirk, "A little bit of wind is enough. I think the assistant should apologize immediately and deeply realize that you are not a soft persimmon that can be easily taken advantage of."
"you are vicious."
"It's called reciprocity. They are big people with big ambitions, trying to change the world; we are just small people who care about what we can see and change, but sometimes, changing the world starts with changing ourselves."
Those understated words lingered through the phone signal like smoke and fog. Kirk did not speak, and Adrian also fell into a brief silence.
In recent times, Adrian has thought more than once whether the exposure of the "homeless case" is a good thing or a bad thing?
Judging from the current situation, it is a disaster, a complete disaster.
But at least, Kirk was right about one thing. The public opinion frenzy became a talisman. The obstacles to their investigation were significantly reduced. Things seemed to be finally going smoothly. Steve Gallagher seemed to temporarily invisible. No one was sure whether this was the calm before the storm or the real calm.
Of course, there are no extra staff and resources.
In fact, other colleagues in the Special Investigations Division kept their distance. In their eyes, Adrian and Stephen already had one foot in the grave. Even if they wanted to help, they were powerless. The best option was to protect themselves. The looks they cast at them were as if they were the god of plague.
However, Adrian was already satisfied without any sarcasm, disruption or hindrance.
So does this mean Kirk is also right about this year’s election?
Is there a political purpose behind the "homeless man case"? Is the murderer's motive related to the election trend? Is the intertwined interests behind the election an obstacle for the NYPD to get closer to the truth? Have they never been able to see the true face of the senator?
Going further, did you cast the wrong vote?
I have many thoughts.
However, Adrian still couldn't figure it out.
Now, the only thing he can believe in is justice.
As the investigation progressed and public opinion fermented, Adrian became more and more certain that he needed to find out the truth.
In the midst of this chaos and turmoil, only the murderer who killed the seven homeless people is real and certain. This becomes a ray of light guiding him to move forward in the darkness. He needs to arrest the murderer, he needs to uphold justice, and he needs to believe that he is still doing the right thing.
He didn't want to be "an accomplice in killing those homeless people."
But what should he do?
"..." Adrian was speechless for a while.
He knew he was not good at speaking, and was far inferior to Kirk. "But this still does not mean that I agree with the behavior of private detectives."
Although Kirk never admitted that he was the one who leaked the information to the New York Times, there was no doubt about it in Adrian's opinion.
"Ha, are we still on that page?" Kirk laughed happily, "Look forward, detective, we should look forward."
After a pause, Kirk keenly grasped Adrian's thoughts and got to the point, "So, do you need my help?"
Those five boxes of information.
"Get lost." Adrian responded subconsciously, out of professional habit.
However, after the words came out, Adrian himself fell silent, inevitably a little shaken, helpless and struggling——
Reason and emotion are in tug of war.
"You know I can't." Adrian explained, inevitably sighing.
"You don't belong to the NYPD. If I leak the investigation information casually, it will be illegal and I will lose my job."
"If Gallagher knows, he'll have an excuse... No, even if Gallagher doesn't know, you shouldn't get involved. Including this call we're having now, I shouldn't..."
As Adrian was speaking, he felt a sense of powerlessness dragging his ankles, slowly sinking, speaking incoherently, and he didn't even know what he was saying.
But he knew that this was a forbidden line. Once he crossed it, he could never come back. It was completely different from the previous sharing of information and exchanging of what they had. It was a completely different level of situation. And now he was standing in front of the line, testing it dangerously.
Then, Kirk's voice came from the other , "Okay, I got it."
Adrian reflexively said, "I said no..."
"I said, I know."
"...What are you planning, man?" Adrian immediately became alert.
"You're a masochist. I asked for help, but you didn't want it. I said I wouldn't help, but you doubted me? Shit, so you called me just to chat?"
Adrian: ...
"Come on, Adrian, this is not a psychological counseling hotline. You called me because you and Stephen are both exhausted. You can't find any more effective clues from the pile of garbage evidence. You can't even build a timeline of the case."
"The senator's line is the greatest hope now. You also hope to solve the case and end this suffering as soon as possible. You need my help."
"Admit it, Adrien. You. Need. My. Help."
Each word was pronounced with emphasis, yet it was not as heavy as a thousand pounds, but rather as light as a breeze. All the power and sharpness in the tone were drained away.
Adrian was stunned, with a breath pent up in his chest for a long time, and finally he let out a long breath, revealing a little frustration and helplessness.
But after exhaling all the foul air, the tense lines of his shoulders drooped.
Every cell in his body was screaming, "Wrong, wrong, wrong." His reason kept sounding the alarm, and he was making a decision that he might regret; however, his emotions still pulled his thoughts forward, rushing forward towards the dawn of truth regardless of anything else.
"I'll send you the electronic version of the information now."
Then, without saying anything else, Adrian hung up the phone, and before he could regret it, the matter came to an end.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Looking at the busy tone on his phone, Kirk smiled, got up and went to the kitchen to boil some water.
He knew that it would be an extremely long night, and caffeine was a must, as were midnight snacks. He was ready for the challenge.
A full forty-five gigabytes of data.
Including the content of Senator Graham's multiple participation in relief center activities over the past two months, which is much more detailed and comprehensive than the reports by television stations and the media.
Adrian packed them into five compressed packages and sent them over in batches.
Kirk didn't have the patience to wait for all the files to be transferred. After the first compressed package was transferred, he directly unzipped it and opened it, starting with the video.
Compared with static photos, he needs to first grasp the atmosphere of the scene through dynamic videos, especially the way the Senate team and the homeless people get along with each other.
Eyes. Actions. Words. And so on.
Even if this is just a performance, there are still clues; what's more, some people perform better and some don't.
First, grasp the basic situation from the video, especially the atmosphere of the scene, and then start with the photos to confirm the details of each scene one by one. This requires patience.
"Um?"
"Just now... I seemed to see something?"
