1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 130 J-7 Malfunction Report
Marino Jenkins, carrying a toolbox and a portable line analyzer weighing over forty pounds, kept apologizing to his customers.

Despite apologizing verbally, Marino Jenkins felt a sense of pride.

This is a simple line maintenance job, which should normally only take ten minutes to complete.

But his circuit analyzer suddenly stopped working.

Marino Jenkins had to resort to the most primitive method, checking step by step, which took him more than an hour to complete.

That's already fast.

He was quite certain that there were no more than 30 people in the entire DC who could achieve that speed.

The client didn't give him a hard time. He signed a bunch of forms, waved to him, and closed the door.

Marino Jenkins paused outside the door for a few seconds, then turned and walked away silently.

If he hadn't been laid off by the General Affairs Bureau, and if he were still working in the Communications Technology Department, he might be the one in the house.

It was already past nine o'clock at night.

He planned to submit this order and then finish his work for the day. This was supposed to be his last order of the day, but now the equipment has broken down.

On the way, Marino Jenkins silently calculated his income.

The total price of this order is $7. The company takes a 61% commission, and after deducting the material cost of $0.8, he can receive $1.93.

On the way back, check if the burger stand near Union Station is still there; you can buy two burgers to eat.

Marino Jenkins thought so.

He hasn't eaten yet tonight.

Back at the dispatch company, Marino Jenkins handed in the order and quickly learned that his last order had been the subject of a complaint.

A 10% commission will be deducted from each complaint.

His dinner, and his breakfast for tomorrow, are both gone.

Marino Jenkins pursed his lips, didn't argue, and didn't even ask why he complained. He took the money, put it in his pocket, picked up the equipment, and turned to leave.

The staff member who was checking his new orders was a little surprised: "Aren't you taking orders anymore? Why are you taking a break so early today?"

Marino Jenkins held up the portable circuit analyzer in his hand and gave an honest smile: "Ah, the equipment broke down. It's good to go back and rest early."

The staff member said "Oh," with a hint of regret, "Here's a wiring repair order from the mall, it'll cost 30 yuan. At your speed, you can finish it in an hour at most."

Marino Jenkins paused, somewhat tempted. But after careful consideration, he shook his head and declined.

The staff member put down the form and gave a few more words of advice: "Then please be careful."

"Two FBI agents came over this afternoon and took your registration list. I guess something happened to someone."

Marino Jenkins stopped again, asking curiously, "What FBI agent? What's going on?"

The staff member glanced toward the boss's office and quietly recounted Theodore and Bernie's visit, embellishing the story with a lot of subjective speculation and personal inference.

In his account, the FBI was secretly investigating a major espionage case.

The fact that the FBI came to the company demanding the registration list indicates that they believe the killer was a telecommunications technician.

He suspected that the evil empire's spies had stolen the classified information with the help of communications technicians.

For example, research findings on extraterrestrials.

The staff member assured them confidently, "That's exactly it! I absolutely didn't mishear!"

Marino Jenkins, uninterested in aliens, asked, "Did the boss give them the list?"

Staff member: "Of course!"

"That's the FBI!"

Marino Jenkins paused for a moment, then asked, "What else did they say? Or did they just take the list and leave?"

The staff looked at Marino Jenkins with some odd expressions.

In his memory, Marino Jenkins had never been interested in such gossip.

He pointed towards the boss's office: "That's all I heard they were talking inside."

Marino Jenkins felt somewhat uneasy as he said goodbye to the staff.

He asked several colleagues downstairs about the situation, and they had different opinions.

Most workers weren't very interested in this; they'd exchange a few quick words before rushing upstairs to pass the gossip. Making money was far more important than gossip!

Saying goodbye to my colleagues.

Marino Jenkins walked slowly.

He felt his mind was a mess, and before he knew it, he had arrived at the entrance of Union Station.

The hamburger stand is long gone.

Marino Jenkins stood there for a moment, put down his equipment, and took a coin out of his pocket.

He inserted half of the coin into the coin slot, waited for the spring to click empty, then immediately pulled the coin out and quickly dialed the next number.

After a long wait, the call was finally connected:
"This is the FBI Investigations Department duty room. Who are you looking for?"

After a moment of silence, Marino Jenkins hesitated:
“I, uh, I’m looking for Agent Bernie Sullivan.”

"Agent Sullivan is not in the office. Please leave your name and contact information."

Marino Jenkins fell into a long silence.

He then realized that it was already past 10 p.m., and most government employees, except for those on duty, would have already gone home.

"are you still there?"

An inquiry came through the receiver.

Marino Jenkins snapped out of his daze and hung up the phone immediately.

He was a little bewildered.

There was a feeling of pent-up frustration with nowhere to vent it.

He turned and looked back at Union Station, his eyes filled with longing.

He was unwilling to give up the money, believing that it was rightfully his.

In particular, the portable circuit analyzer he was using was broken, which would directly affect his work efficiency.

He didn't dare go in to withdraw the money, fearing that there might be an ambush inside the station, waiting for him to walk right into their trap.

Regardless of what others thought, he was convinced that the FBI was after him.

Marino Jenkins paced back and forth at the station entrance several times, finally coming up with a way to verify his idea.

He returned to the phone booth and dialed the flight attendant's number.

180 seconds later, the call was automatically disconnected.

Worried that the flight attendant might be busy with something else and hadn't heard him, Marino Jenkins dialed again.

Still no one answered.

This time he didn't hesitate. He put down the receiver, picked up the equipment, and left in a hurry without looking back.

He felt like the whole world was against him.

Government departments are usually inefficient, but when it came to his department, efficiency suddenly improved.

Is it because it involves FBI agents?

Marino Jenkins walked along, making guesses as he went.

…………

There were only a few names on the list.

Most of them are just descriptions.

"Tall and smelled foul," "Blind in one eye and looked very old," "Wearing an unrecognizable cotton coat that reeked of a public toilet," "His glasses were taped back and he spoke incoherently," and so on.

This is more like a tip from an informant.

Bernie pulled out his notebook and compared the list of fourteen suspects with it, but found no duplicate names.

The two had just returned to their apartment when they received a call from the FBI Investigations Department.

"AT&T has just sent a notification that DC-1708 has reported a J-7 malfunction."

(End of this chapter)