American comics: I am full of martial virtues and I love to be kind to others.

“I’m fine,” Lynn said, taking off her coat and walking to the sofa. “Just a little tired.”

He sat down next to Gwen and then noticed the worried look on his sister's face. "You look troubled. What happened?"

Gwen bit her lip. "Actually... there's something I'd like to ask you for help with, but I'm not sure if it's worth bothering the FBI with something so small."

“What’s wrong? Tell me,” Lynn encouraged. “No matter how small it is, if it’s bothering you, it’s worth paying attention to.”

Gwen gathered her thoughts and began her story: "You know I work at 'Moonlight Cafe,' right? It's that little coffee shop near the school."

Lynn nodded. Gwen had been working at that coffee shop for over a year, mainly to earn a living and gain work experience.

“Things have been going missing from the coffee shop lately,” Gwen continued. “At first, it was just a few coffee beans going missing occasionally, and we thought it was a miscalculation. But then it got worse.”

"What did you lose?" Lynn asked, his professional instincts prompting him to start gathering details.

"It's mainly the ingredients: coffee beans, condensed milk, milk, syrup, and sometimes we run out of cups or cutlery," Gwen listed. "Although each lost item isn't expensive, the cumulative effect makes a significant loss for the shop."

“How serious is it?”

“Last month’s inventory showed that we lost about $300 worth of items,” Gwen said. “That’s not a small amount for a small coffee shop like ours.”

Lynn began to understand the seriousness of the problem. For a small coffee shop, a monthly loss of three hundred dollars would indeed affect its business.

"What did the store manager and the boss say?" Lynn asked.

Gwen's expression turned dejected. "This is the most frustrating part. The manager suspects someone inside is stealing, and the boss is starting to question the integrity of us employees. The atmosphere at work is very tense now; everyone is suspicious of each other."

Are there any security cameras installed?

“Yes, but very limited,” Gwen replied. “There are cameras only at the cash register and the entrance; the pantry and kitchen areas aren’t covered. And the images from those cameras are terrible; you can barely see anything at night.”

"When do thefts usually happen?" Lynn continued to ask, his FBI training making him instinctively begin to analyze the case.

“It’s strange,” Gwen said, frowning. “Sometimes it’s during business hours, sometimes it’s at night. We find things missing when we come to work in the morning, but there are also times when we suddenly discover the inventory is wrong during the day.”

"Have you noticed any signs of forced entry or other damage, such as the door lock being pried open?"

“No, that’s the strangest thing,” Gwen shook her head. “All the locks are intact, and there’s no sign of forced entry. It’s as if those things just vanished on their own.”

Lynn's detective instincts told him that the case might be more complex than it appeared. The theft without any signs of forced entry suggested either an inside job or that someone had mastered the method of entering the coffee shop.

"Do you think it was a colleague who did it?" Lynn asked cautiously.

Gwen hesitated for a moment. "I really don't want to suspect anyone. We have five employees: me, Jack, Lisa, Tommy, and the new guy, Ellie. We all get along very well, and stealing these things just doesn't make sense."

Why doesn't it make sense?

“Because our employees enjoy free coffee and meals,” Gwen explained. “If they really need these things, there’s no need to steal them; they can just ask for them. Besides, coffee beans aren’t very useful to the average person unless they have a professional coffee machine.”

That was indeed a reasonable point of view. Lynn continued to consider other possibilities.

"You said a new employee has joined?" Lynn seized on a detail.

“Yes, Ellie only started working last month,” Gwen replied. “She’s a very quiet girl, looks about eighteen or nineteen, doesn’t talk much, and is very hardworking.”

When did the thefts begin?

Gwen thought for a moment, "It probably started shortly after Ellie arrived, but I don't want to suspect others lightly. Maybe it's just a coincidence."

Lynn nodded, understanding his sister's kindness. But as an agent, he knew that coincidences in timing were often not true coincidences.

“Any other suspicious circumstances?” Lynn asked.

“There’s something,” Gwen suddenly remembered, “I heard strange noises last week when I was on the night shift organizing the inventory.”

What kind of sound was it?

“It sounded like someone was moving inside the wall, but when I went to check, I didn’t find anything,” Gwen described. “At the time, I thought it was noise from upstairs or next door, but now it seems very strange.”

This detail piqued Lynn's interest even more. The sounds coming from the walls might mean someone had entered the coffee shop through unconventional means.

“Gwen, how would you like me to help?” Lynn asked directly.

“I know this kind of petty theft case might not warrant the FBI’s involvement,” Gwen said somewhat embarrassedly, “but I really don’t know who to ask for help. The police say the loss is too small to meet the criteria for filing a case. We just want to find out what really happened and clear everyone’s name.”

Looking into his sister's expectant eyes, Lynn had already made up his mind. Although he had just finished a major case, and although this was just a small coffee shop theft, it concerned his sister's job and reputation, and he had to help.

“Of course I can help you,” Lynn said gently, “but this time I will conduct the investigation in my personal capacity and will not use FBI resources.”

"Really?" Gwen's eyes lit up with hope. "You're willing to help us?"

“I’m your brother, it’s what I should do,” Lynn smiled. “Besides, a good detective should pay attention to all types of crime, big or small.”

Gwen hugged Lynn happily, "Thank you, brother! I knew you would help me!"

“But I need more details,” Lynn said. “I’ll go to the coffee shop tomorrow, can you arrange that?”

“Of course! I have a shift tomorrow afternoon, you can come as a customer, and I’ll introduce you to my other colleagues,” Gwen excitedly planned.

“Also, I need to see the security footage to understand the layout of the coffee shop,” Lynn added. “If possible, I’d like to speak with the manager or owner.”

“No problem, the manager’s name is Mike, he’s a very nice guy, just under a lot of pressure lately,” Gwen said. “The owner’s name is Mr. Rodriguez, he doesn’t come to the store often, but I heard he’s very angry about this theft.”

Hearing the surname "Rodriguez," Lynn frowned slightly. It reminded him of Victor Rodriguez from the case that had just concluded. Of course, this might just be a coincidence; Rodriguez is a very common Spanish surname. "What's the boss's full name?" Lynn asked.

“Uh, let me think,” Gwen tried to recall, “I remember Mike called him Carlos Rodriguez, a middle-aged man who looked very serious.”

Lynn memorized the name. Although it might just be a coincidence, his professional instincts kept him alert to any possible connection.

"You said Ellie is a quiet girl?" Lynn returned to the previous topic. "Has she ever talked about her background?"

“Not much,” Gwen shook her head. “She said she had just moved to New York from another city and needed to work to support herself. Her English had a slight accent, so she probably didn’t grow up in the United States.”

What kind of accent?

“It sounds like an Eastern European accent, but I’m not so sure,” Gwen replied. “She doesn’t talk much, and rarely chats with anyone except for necessary work-related conversations.”

These details began to form a preliminary picture in Lynn's mind. A new employee, with a foreign accent, speaking very little, and the thefts starting right after her arrival. Although more evidence was needed, it was certainly a lead worth paying attention to.

“What about the other employees?” Lynn asked.

“Jack is a 25-year-old art student who has been working here for over two years and is very cheerful; Lisa is a single mother in her thirties and is very responsible; Tommy is just over twenty, a college student, a bit mischievous but very honest,” Gwen explained in detail.

“They all sound like nice people,” Lynn commented.

“Yes, that’s why this is so upsetting for everyone,” Gwen sighed. “We were like a family, and now we have to doubt each other.”

Lynn understood his sister's feelings. Once trust is broken in the workplace, it's hard to rebuild. That's why he had to resolve this case as quickly as possible.

“Could you draw a floor plan of the coffee shop?” Lynn pulled out a piece of paper. “I need to understand the internal layout.”

Gwen picked up her pen and began to draw. "The cashier is by the door, the seating area is over here, the kitchen and preparation area are in the back, the storage room is at the very back, and the boss's office is upstairs, but he rarely uses it."

Lynn carefully examined the floor plan drawn by Gwen and noticed that the storage room was in a relatively hidden location, making it an ideal place to commit the theft.

"Are there any other rooms upstairs?" Lynn asked.

“There’s a small break room where staff sometimes rest, and a storage room,” Gwen replied, “but we rarely go up there.”

"What about the other parts of the building? Like the basement?"

“There’s no basement, but there’s a small clothing store next door, and a few families live upstairs,” Gwen said. “The building is quite old, probably eighty years old.”

Old buildings mean there might be complex internal structures, or even secret passages connecting different rooms. Lynn began to think that someone might have entered the coffee shop through the building's internal passages.

"Which direction did the sound from the wall you mentioned come from?" Lynn asked.

Gwen pointed to one wall on the floor plan, "It starts roughly from here, that's the back wall of the storage room."

What's behind that wall?

“It should be the storage room of the clothing store next door,” Gwen replied, “but I’ve never been there.”

Lynn made this important information to himself. If the storage rooms of two shops were adjacent, there was a possibility of theft through the walls.

“I’ll be observing carefully tomorrow,” Lynn said. “For now, don’t let anyone know I’m conducting an investigation. Keep everything normal.”

"Why?" Gwen asked, puzzled.

“Because if someone is actually stealing, we don’t want to alert them,” Lynn explained. “I need to observe everyone’s normal behavior patterns.”

“Understood,” Gwen nodded. “I’ll keep it a secret.”

Seeing that it was almost ten o'clock, Lynn suggested, "Get some rest early tonight. Tomorrow I'll go to the coffee shop as a regular customer. Just do your normal job; don't act like anything special."

“Okay,” Gwen stood up to go back to her room, then suddenly remembered something, “By the way, brother, is your case finished for today? The news said there's a big operation.”

Lynn thought of the underground labs, the mutants, and the entire "Vulcan Project"—that complex and dangerous world. Then he looked at the current situation: a theft at a small coffee shop, with only some coffee beans and condensed milk missing.

“It’s over,” he replied simply. “Now I can focus on helping you solve the coffee shop problem.”

“Thank you, brother,” Gwen hugged Lynn again, “It’s so good to have you.”

Watching his sister return to her room, Lynn sat in the living room, continuing to ponder the case. Although it appeared to be just petty theft on the surface, his intuition told him that things might not be so simple.

First, the stolen items were strange. Coffee beans, condensed milk, and milk are not valuable to ordinary thieves and are difficult to resell. But for someone who owns a coffee shop, these are necessities.

Secondly, the fact that there were no signs of forced entry indicates that the thief either had a key or another way to enter.

Third, the timing of the new employee Ellie's arrival is noteworthy, although we cannot suspect her based on this alone.

Fourth, the sounds coming from inside the walls could indicate that someone entered through unconventional means.

Finally, the detail that the boss's last name was Rodriguez, though perhaps a coincidence, prompted Lynn to decide to look into the man's background later.

The next day.

At 2 p.m., Lynn changed into casual clothes—jeans, a white T-shirt, and a light jacket—looking like an ordinary office worker. He deliberately chose a time when Gwen wasn't on duty to scout out the place, wanting to observe the coffee shop's environment as a complete stranger.

Moonlight Cafe is located on a quiet street near Columbia University. The shop is small but cozy. Through large glass windows, you can see warm yellow lighting and a few small round tables inside. A handmade wooden sign hangs on the door, bearing the words "Moonlight Cafe" in an artistic font.

Lynn pushed open the door and entered, the wind chimes on the door making a crisp sound. The rich aroma of coffee filled the air, creating a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere. He looked around and noticed that the layout of the shop was indeed consistent with the drawing Gwen had made the night before: the cashier was on the right side of the entrance, the left side and the center were seating areas that could accommodate about twenty people, and at the back was an open coffee-making area.

“Welcome!” a young man greeted from behind the counter. This must be Jack, the one Gwen had mentioned. He was about twenty-five years old, with messy brown hair, wearing an apron with a coffee bean pattern, and a friendly smile. (End of Chapter)