1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 119 Theodore's Specialized Course

Hayes ultimately chose to confess that he killed Hattie Earl.

Because it was late, Hayes was temporarily detained at the Fifth Precinct. Theodore and Bernie will come tomorrow to close the case.

The deputy superintendent of the fifth precinct watched the two leave and immediately called Detective Ross into his office.

Although Theodore and Bernie had been investigating for some time last week, this pace was still shockingly fast for this cold case.

After listening to Detective Ross's report, the deputy policeman instructed Detective Ross to prepare a report and submit it, while he went to the detention room to see Hayes.

Hayes was completely outmaneuvered by Theodore and Bernie's interrogation tactics and was in a state of utter despair, answering whatever the deputy commissioner asked.

Leaving the detention cell, the deputy police commissioner was somewhat questioning his existence.

He thought the case was being closed so quickly to fool people, but it turned out that not only was the case closed quickly, but the real culprit was also caught!

The deputy superintendent then thought of Detective Coleman.

The fact that Coleman colluded with Hayes is not a big problem in itself.

He had seen far too many similar situations.

The problem is that the FBI agents caught them red-handed!

And this agent is the FBI director's nephew!

The deputy police commissioner reported the situation to the chief.

The head of the Fifth Precinct sat in his office for a long time, pondering, before dialing his neighbor's number.

…………

Shortly after entering the Northwest District, the two were blocked on the road.

Since the snow, traffic in DC has gotten worse every day. Pennsylvania Avenue, especially northwest of the Capitol, is particularly bad.

In the car, Theodore systematically introduced Bernie to criminal profiling and criminal psychology research.

Because the journey was long, Theodore explained it in great detail.

He emphasized the identifying marks and common methods used by criminals.

Conventional methods are necessary actions taken by criminals to successfully commit crimes, with the aim of ensuring the success of the crime, reducing risks, and evading investigation.

It can change with experience, environment, or technological improvements.

Identification markers are unnecessary behaviors undertaken by criminals to satisfy deep psychological needs. They are characterized by personalization and ritualization, and their purpose is to satisfy fantasies, emotional needs, or psychological compensation.

Its high consistency across different cases reflects the stable psychological patterns of criminals.

Conventional methods are practically oriented, addressing the question of how to commit a crime; identification markers are psychologically oriented, addressing the question of why a crime is committed in this way.

Most law enforcement agencies adopt an investigative approach that focuses on investigating common methods used to identify criminals.

Profiling, on the other hand, directly identifies criminals by investigating and recognizing key evidence.

Seeing that Bernie was completely confused, Theodore summarized:
"Common methods are things that criminals must do to accomplish their crimes."

“Identification marks are unnecessary actions taken by criminals during the course of a crime.”

He used the Earl family massacre as an example in his analysis:

"Hays's intention to assault Hattie Earl does not in itself guarantee a successful debt collection."

“Even if Hayes successfully assaulted Hattie Earl, Clarence Earl would not be able to obtain money from the process to pay off his debts.”

"But Hayes did it anyway. This is similar to his choice of easily controlled families as tenants; he was trying to satisfy his desire for dominance and control."

“After Hattie Earl was strangled, Clarence Earl and Mabel Earl fought back, and it was necessary to shoot them both at that time.”

"Only by killing them can we prevent Coleman and Hayes' crimes from being exposed."

"But Coleman fired several shots at Clarence Earl and shot Mabel Earl from a high position."

“He was reinforcing his sense of racial superiority through the execution gesture and releasing his anger at the out-of-control situation through multiple shots.”

After pausing to make sure Bernie understood, Theodore continued:

“If we use a single method to investigate a case, we should analyze the crime scene to obtain the killer’s identifying features, and then screen suspects according to those features.”

Using the Earl family massacre as an example, Theodore simulated:
"We should be looking for two criminals."

"One of them was the leader, armed, with a strong sense of racial superiority and a strong desire for control; he dominated the entire criminal activity."

"The other person is the executor, who is dominated by the leader and is dissatisfied with the leader, but dares not show it. He can only temporarily satisfy his sense of control by aggressing against the weaker Hattie Earl."

At this point, Bernie felt an unusual sense of familiarity.

This is consistent with the approach they used in Felton.

Seeing that Bernie understood, Theodore began to teach advanced courses:
"However, due to various factors, such as the artificial increase in difficulty by Detective Coleman in this case, we often have very little information to obtain from the scene."

"This requires us to combine statistical data with logical thinking to reason."

Taking this case as an example: "The perpetrator had long been dissatisfied with the leader, and this dissatisfaction had even reached the point where it was manifested in front of the leader when committing crimes together with him."

"This suggests that the implementer is likely to express dissatisfaction at other times as well."

"Hays's choice of tenants fits this reasoning. He seeks a sense of control from those who are weaker than himself."

"Just like Coleman's control over him, he could tear a tenant's family apart with a single word."

"This is not only a pursuit of control, but also a replication of Coleman's mode of manipulating him."

At this point, Theodore paused, stared at Bernie who was yawning for a moment, and asked him bluntly, "Don't you understand?"

Bernie looked a little embarrassed and gave an awkward smile.

Theodore didn't feel embarrassed at all; he had just been trying to cram the research findings of countless people over the past few decades into Bernie's brain in just one hour.

It's normal that he doesn't understand.

Theodore stopped discussing personality profiling and criminal psychology and began thinking about future plans.

He originally planned to form a group to directly engage in practice, summarize experience from practice, and form a systematic theoretical basis.

However, judging from Bernie's reaction, theoretical research is also very necessary.

Theodore opened his notebook and wrote it down.

Bernie glanced at him and thought: This is definitely not a simple skill that can be learned.

He could understand everything he heard before, such as identification marks and common methods, and he could easily verify them with several cases he had solved in Felton.

But later on, he couldn't understand anything at all.

What else could this be but a special ability?
Bernie felt he had found irrefutable evidence. He even suspected that Theodore himself was unaware of this, which was why he kept emphasizing that it was just a skill that could be learned.

The next day.

The two first went to the Department of Justice building to report the progress of the case investigation to Director Rosen.

Supervisor Rosen had already gotten a general idea from the Fifth Precinct Chief last night.

He arrived early today, specifically waiting for Theodore and Bernie's report.

There was a specific reason why Director Rosen showed particular interest in Theodore's rapid crime-solving methods.

As the year draws to a close, not only local police departments need to calculate their case closure rates, but the FBI does the same.

The case closure rate of the investigation department this year is not good.

When Director Rosen compared the data from recent years, he found that the case closure rate for all types of cases had been declining across the board.

Despite the continuous expansion of the investigation department, the constant improvement in the quality of the detectives, and the continuous stream of achievements from the laboratory, the case closure rate just can't seem to improve.

The criminals seemed to have been trained, becoming smarter and more cunning.

Not only is the case closure rate continuing to decline, but the number of cases is also increasing year after year.

Law-abiding citizens seem to have been tempted by the devil, and many have embarked on the path of crime.

Supervisor Rosen didn't know what went wrong; all he knew was that if he didn't find a way to improve the case closure rate, his job as head of the investigation department would be over.

Under Hoover, not only loyalty was required, but competence was also very important.

Bernie even wrote a briefing last night when he returned to his apartment, which he then dictated to his supervisor, Rosen. With Theodore's systematic explanation and a review of the investigation process, it's easy to understand Theodore's purpose at each step.

This made Bernie's report well-structured, and he felt he had explained things very clearly.

However, Supervisor Rosen still only seemed to understand half of what he was saying.

Upon hearing the report again, Supervisor Rosen still felt that this was not solving a case, but rather fortune-telling.

With that in mind, Supervisor Rosen instructed the two to close the case as soon as possible and submit the case report.

After leaving the supervisor's office, the two headed to the Fifth Precinct.

The deputy superintendent of the Fifth Precinct personally intervened to assist them in wrapping up the case, which made everything go exceptionally smoothly.

Two days later, Bernie finished writing the closing report.

Theodore offered to help, but Bernie refused.

The FBI's case closure report differed from that of the Felton Police Department.

Many of the FBI's procedural documents differ from those of the Felton Police Department.

There is a dedicated manual that specifies the format, writing procedures, and signing process for different documents.

Very professional.

The same applies to the case closure report.

The manual stipulates that case closure reports must include the case number, case summary, arrest details, list of physical evidence, and the basis for federal jurisdiction.

The case summary must provide a clear timeline, key evidence, and the process of identifying the suspect.

However, in Theodore and Bernie's hands, the only crucial evidence was the murderer's confession.

The process of identifying suspects relies entirely on deductions from outsiders.

This is all thanks to Bernie's long-standing habit of taking notes; otherwise, even the reasoning process wouldn't have been able to be reconstructed.

Bernie was at his wits' end. In the end, he went to the archives and borrowed Ronald's case report on the post office robbery, copying it exactly as he wrote it.

After finishing the case report, Bernie told Theodore that if his investigation team was really going to be formed, he should remember to find a copywriting expert.

He had a feeling that there would be more and more of these headache-inducing moments in the future.

Theodore carefully considered Bernie's proposal and found it to be reasonable.

He opened his notebook, wrote this down, and carefully asked Bernie if he had any other suggestions.

Bernie waved him off and took the case report to the supervisor's office.

After receiving the report, Director Rosen immediately reviewed it carefully and then saw large sections of the analysis process.

This reminded him of the case report that Ronald had submitted.

Manager Rosen glanced at the statistics on the table, pondered for a long time, and made up his mind.

He went to the archives to retrieve the case report of the post office robbery, and then took both reports into the director's office.

With the New Year approaching, Jack is about to be inaugurated as president.

Hoover has been very busy lately.

The main reason is that the incoming Attorney General Robert is very busy, so he has to keep busy as well.

He and Robert haven't formally sat down to talk yet; they've had limited communication through Lyon, which has been ineffective.

Robert has made it clear that he will reform the FBI after taking office and is prepared to crack down on organized crime.

His two attacks hit Hoover squarely where it hurt.

For a long time, Hoover refused to acknowledge the existence of the Mafia in Emily.

Even though three years ago a group of Mafia bosses held the famous Appalachian Conference at 625 McFaul Road in Appalachian, New York.

Although the FBI was forced to acknowledge the existence of the Mafia, it has consistently maintained a passive attitude towards combating it.

Reforming the FBI is like digging into Hoover's old nest, while cracking down on organized crime is a direct accusation of Hoover's dereliction of duty.

If these two fires are really lit, Hoover will definitely suffer serious damage.

Hoover was furious that the other side ignored the bigger picture and mistook his concessions for weakness.

He was discussing with Thorsen how to quiet the two pretty boys down without affecting the overall situation.

Supervisor Rosen was a veteran under Hoover and knew Hoover's personality. After entering the room, he only glanced at the positions of the director and deputy director and knew that he had probably come at the wrong time.

He didn't exchange pleasantries or leave; instead, he went straight to the point.

Supervisor Rosen handed over two reports, briefly introducing the two cases and highlighting Theodore's involvement.

Then submit the application.

He was impressed by Theodore's high efficiency.

Although he still couldn't understand how Theodore had managed to solve the case through his actions.

But none of that matters.

Director Rosen hopes to formally transfer Theodore to the investigation department.

He lavished praise on Theodore and proposed setting up an independent investigation team to be directly responsible for him.

He also presented statistics from recent years, frankly admitting that the investigation department had not done a good enough job and hoping to gain support.

Hoover's furrowed brows slowly relaxed, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, but then he remembered that there was more than one person, Tolson, in the office, and suppressed his smile.

He waved his hand, indicating that Director Rosen's evaluation of Theodore was not objective enough.

He believed that Theodore was not as good as Director Rosen had described.

For example, he is still young, inexperienced, and lacks seniority.

Supervisor Rosen blinked and looked to Deputy Director Thorson for help.

He was really starting to lose control.

Hoover coughed and looked up at Tolson.

He didn't reply immediately, left the report behind, and sent the person away.

After Supervisor Rosen left, Hoover glanced at the table and snorted:
“If he knows how much Alex Rosen values ​​him, he'll be smug again.”

Thorson glanced at Hoover's smirking lips and asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Hoover glanced at the report and said without hesitation, "Alex can't control him."

"This investigation team is under the jurisdiction of the investigation department and will be directly under your responsibility."

Thorsen was not surprised by the decision at all and nodded in agreement.

He took the opportunity to retrieve some documents and handed them to Hoover.

These materials were selected from the trainees chosen in January.

Hoover carefully flipped through the documents one by one, while continuing to discuss the brothers Jack and Robert with Thorson.

Hoover and Tolson were experts at suppressing the president.

They quickly devised a strategy to use Congress to put pressure on the brothers.

Hoover checked the time; it was already noon.

He handed the information of the selected students to Thorsen, got up, picked up his coat and put it on, and discussed the Christmas holiday arrangements with Thorsen.

Hoover appeared to be in high spirits.

This is one of the few times of the year he can relax.

He was planning a vacation to Miami and intended to take Theodore with him.

Tolson reminded him that he should first clarify things with Theodore to avoid conflicting with Theodore's own holiday plans.

Hoover fell silent.

(End of this chapter)