1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 134 The Miraculous Third Precinct
Theodore nodded and handed the Third Precinct report to Agent Lombardi.

Agent Lombardi glanced at the screen and gestured for him to wait a moment.

He first sent his team members away, instructing them to deploy according to the previously established group assignments, and appointed the bald detective to take command.

After all the agents left, only three people remained in the small conference room.

Agent Lombardi tossed the report onto the table and commented:
"That's their style."

Bernie asked him curiously, "What style?"

Agent Lombardi laughed: "That's the style of the Third Precinct."

"They practically need an FBI agent to help them even to issue a parking ticket."

He wasn't surprised at all that the Third Precinct could produce something like this.

Their budget fluctuates annually depending on the performance of the FBI's investigation department.

The investigation department demonstrated its remarkable capabilities, and the case closure rate of the Third Precinct skyrocketed.

If the investigation department performs poorly, the case closure rate of the Third Precinct will be abysmal.

Some officers in the third precinct knelt down readily, while others in the fourth precinct maintained their dignity and self-respect.

The Fourth Precinct's jurisdiction is in the Northeast. The detectives in this precinct are known for their tough style and rarely seek help from the FBI.

If you stay there for a while, you'll find that the seven precincts of the DC Police Department have distinct characteristics and different styles.

Agent Lombardi gave the two a brief introduction to the styles of each precinct, which was quite eye-opening.

Theodore steered the conversation back to the case and invited him to the scene.

If the deceased was indeed pushed out of that room on the fifth floor, Agent Lombardi would have been the first law enforcement officer to enter the scene.

It was also the one closest to the murderer.

Detective Lombardi was initially hesitant, as he was too busy with his case to leave.

When he learned that it was just a trip to the site and would take no more than an hour, he readily agreed.

On the way, Bernie talked to Agent Lombardi about Anne Halleke's case.

According to Agent Lombardi, the case occurred ten years ago.

That was a sexual assault case, and the victim was the deceased, Anne Hallecker.

Anne Halleke was working as a typist at a law firm at the time.

She worked late that day on a document and was followed by Robert Miller on her way home.

Robert Miller followed her home and assaulted her.

Anne Halleke was home alone that night; her husband was away on a business trip, and her two children were at her parents' house.

After being assaulted, Anne Halleck did not remain silent like most assault victims, keeping it a secret forever.

She chose to call the police and did not wash away the marks of the assault.
When the detectives arrived, she had only put on a nightgown to cover her body.

The third precinct quickly secured the evidence and took her to undergo a rape test.

That's a $15 testing kit, which you have to pay for yourself.

At the time, factory workers earned $1.60 per hour; legal consultations cost $10 per hour.

Robert Miller is neither a first-time offender nor a last-time offender.

The Third Precinct received several more reports afterward, but by the time the detectives arrived, the victim had already cleaned up the evidence of the assault.

They captured Robert Miller based on Anne Halleck's description of the perpetrator's appearance.

It was only by relying on the evidence of the assault preserved by Anne Halleck that Robert Miller was successfully brought to court.

Agent Lombardi's tone was somewhat somber:

“I met with at least six victims, and none of them were willing to appear in court to identify the perpetrators.”

"To avoid appearing in court, they all withdrew their charges against Robert Miller."

"Only Anne Halleck testified against Robert Miller."

"Because there was only one victim, Robert Miller was only sentenced to ten years."

Pennsylvania Avenue was clear in the morning, and the Department of Justice building was not far from the Riverside Hotel.

The three quickly arrived at the Riverside Hotel.

The Riverside Hotel is a mid-range hotel. Room prices vary considerably.

The cheapest single room facing the street costs only $5.5, while the most expensive penthouse suite costs $87.5.

The Riverside Hotel is far from the city center but is easily accessible, and its guests are mostly state government officials or congressional support staff.

The hotel offers long-term weekly packages, and many parliamentary stenographers and company interns also use it as an apartment.

The deceased's room was on the fifth floor, the cheapest single room facing the street.

Theodore and his two companions showed their identification to the front desk and explained their purpose. The front desk then summoned the hotel manager.

He was a kind-looking middle-aged man, slightly overweight but not excessively obese.

The manager looked like a lump of dough and spoke in a very gentle tone. On the way to the crime scene, he kept asking when their room would be open again.

The room in question is currently under lockdown.

And this room will remain sealed off until the case is solved.

This was requested by the Third Precinct.

The Third Precinct has extensive experience working with the FBI. While they may not be adept at solving cases, they excel at supporting tasks such as crime scene protection and maintaining order.
Agent Lombardi knew what was going on and told the manager to ask the Third Precinct.

The manager pursed his lips, looking like a lump of dough that had been wronged.

The group arrived at the room door, the manager handed the key to Bernie, and stepped back.

After the door opened, the three of them took out gloves and shoe covers, put them on, and went into the room.

Because the windows were blocked by wooden boards, no light could enter, and the room was pitch black, like a cave.

Bernie fumbled around on the wall for a while, found the light switch, and turned it on, allowing everyone to see what was happening inside.

The room was very cramped, about the size of a bedroom in a typical house.

There was a bed against the wall on the left side of the room. The bed was a bit messy, with the blanket half-lifted and hanging over the side of the bed, revealing a wrinkled sheet, and the pillow was also thrown on the floor.

The bed is next to a wardrobe on the side facing the hallway. The wardrobe must have been used a long time ago, as it has some mottled marks on it.

The wardrobe was open and empty.

There was still some shiny powder on the wardrobe door.

That must have been the powder applied by the forensic doctor from the Third Precinct when extracting fingerprints.

The forensic doctors from the Third Precinct were very meticulous; they took samples from seven or eight places just from the cabinet door.

On the other side of the bed is a bedside table with a lamp on it. The lamp shows obvious signs of having been dropped and has shiny powder on it.

There is a mirror hanging on the wall opposite the bed, and behind it is the bathroom.

The bathroom may be small, but it has everything you need.

The toilet, shower, and sink are all included.

Theodore pointed to the wardrobe, then turned to Agent Lombardi and asked:
Was it open when you came in?

Agent Lombardi didn't think much of it and nodded: "Both doors are open."

He needed to help Theodore recreate the original scene. That was the purpose of his presence at the scene.

Theodore stood in front of the wardrobe for a while, then went around to the other side of the bed.

Agent Lombardi walked up to him and introduced himself:
"When I came in, the lamp was here, just like it is now."

"But there were many pieces on the ground."

He pointed to the area beside the bed:

“Anne Halleke’s clothes are piled up here.”

Theodore asked him, "Are the clothes intact?" Agent Lombardi nodded, then pointed to the floor at the foot of the bed:

There's a broken wine bottle here.

Theodore waited a while, but when he didn't hear him continue, he looked over in confusion.

Agent Lombardi looked around, shrugged, and said with a somewhat helpless expression, "That's about how it was when I came in."

"Apart from these fingerprint powders, it's pretty much the same as it is now."

He explained, "The forensic team arrived shortly after I came in, and I handed the scene over to them and left."

Theodore looked away, feeling that it made little difference whether Agent Lombardi was there or not.

He walked around the room twice, then asked the hotel manager who was peering in through the door, "Isn't there a trash can in this room?"

The hotel manager was about to enter the room when he stopped and took a step back under the watchful eyes of the three people.

He stood in the doorway and pointed under the bed: "The trash can is under the bed."

"It's usually on the other side, in front of the bedside table."

Theodore looked down, then bent down and lifted the sheet.

There was nothing under the bed.

Agent Lombardi suggested that he might have been taken away by the medical examiners from the Third Precinct.

Just like the broken lamp shards on the ground and the deceased's clothes.

Theodore went into the bathroom and found it covered in glittering powder.

It's unknown how many fingerprints the forensic doctors from the Third Precinct collected or how many boxes of fingerprint powder they used.

Agent Lombardi followed, wanting to explain something, but he hadn't even gone into the bathroom yesterday.

Emerging from the bathroom, Theodore waved to Bernie and walked out of the room.

The hotel manager immediately stepped forward and asked, "Can the room be opened now?"

Theodore didn't answer, but instead asked him, "When did the deceased...the homeowner, Anne Hallecker, move in?"

The hotel manager shook his head: "Harrington is on duty Monday night; he's downstairs. He should know."

He led the group to his office, called over an employee to call Harrington over, and had coffee brought over to serve him.

Harrington arrived quickly.

This is a young man, still somewhat immature, his face full of the marks of youth.

Harrington stood there nervously, fidgeting with his hands on his trousers.

The hotel manager helped inquire: "What time did the woman in room 511 check in on Monday?"

Harrington nervously swallowed and answered in a low voice, "A little after nine o'clock in the evening."

The manager turned to look at Theodore.

Theodore asked Harrington, "Herself?"

Harrington nodded.

Theodore then asked, "After her, did anyone else enter room 511?"

Harrington glanced at the hotel manager instinctively, then shook his head blankly.

The hotel manager spoke up to explain on his behalf:

"We will not interfere with how guests use the rooms."

“Once the guest receives the key, the room is their private property until the room fee runs out, and we will not interfere.”

Theodore ignored the manager and asked again:
"Was the deceased's room... booked by Anne Halleke?"

Harrington nodded, looking at Theodore with a puzzled expression.

Theodore asked him to confirm, "Do you remember her going to the counter to pay and check into the room?"

Harrington nodded twice, then hesitated, shook his head, and whispered:

"There were a lot of guests yesterday, so I'm not sure."

Theodore asked a few more questions, and seeing that Harrington could not provide any more information, he turned to the hotel manager.

He asked the hotel manager if any other staff members had seen anyone other than the deceased enter room 511 on Monday night.

The hotel manager called over the staff from the fifth floor and questioned them one by one.

Everyone said they did not see anyone else enter room 511.

Theodore finally got the registration information for room 511 next door that night and left the hotel.

Agent Lombardi was already checking the time frequently, and immediately took his leave after leaving the hotel.

He's keeping watch over them and could take action at any moment, so he really can't leave.

After parting ways with Agent Lombardi, Theodore and Bernie drove to the Third Precinct.

The case was handled by Detective Thomas from the Third Precinct.

Detective Thomas, a middle-aged man with slightly graying temples, first led the two to the medical examiner's office.

The forensic lab at the Third Precinct is very large, occupying the entire basement level.

Unlike most police stations where the forensic lab is divided into only two rooms—an autopsy room and an office—this forensic lab has a more rudimentary departmental division.

According to Detective Thomas, this place was built entirely to resemble an FBI laboratory.
The forensic team from the Third Precinct took a lot of things from the scene and are currently very busy.

The first task was to produce and compare more than fifty fingerprint cards.

These fingerprints were all extracted from hotel room number 511.

Cases that occur in hotels tend to involve a lot of fingerprints.

Only a small portion of these are related to the case; the majority belong to either hotel employees or former guests.

These fingerprint cards will undergo initial screening at the Third Precinct's forensic lab to remove duplicate fingerprints before being compared to the FBI's fingerprint database.

Secondly, there were the deceased's clothes.

Besides the floral cotton pajamas the deceased was wearing when she fell, there was another set of women's clothing in the hotel room.

This outfit is very complete, from underwear to outerwear, from pants to tops.

After being identified by hotel employee Harrington, the clothes were confirmed to be those worn by the deceased on Monday night.

Unlike tattered pajamas, the buttons on this outfit were undone, the zipper was open, and there were no signs of tearing, damage, or violence.

It looks as if the deceased took it off voluntarily.

The forensic team also found a wallet in the victim's pocket, containing several banknotes and coins.

The forensic experts also brought back the trash can from the hotel room.

The trash can was quite full; there were four small umbrellas in it.

The forensic experts found four different packages in the trash can, each belonging to a different brand.

Besides the small umbrella, there was a pair of underwear, two wads of tissues, a small piece of pizza, and a glass Coke bottle.

The forensic experts also pieced the broken bottle back together and confirmed that it was a cheap brand of red wine.

They also provided Theodore with freshly developed photos of the scene.

The forensic doctors from the Third Precinct were incredibly professional at taking photos, far surpassing the detectives from the Fifth Precinct.

The photos are divided into two sets: one set inside room 511, and the other set outside in the middle of the road.

The outdoor photos were consistent with what they saw that day, with no discrepancies.

The interior photos also closely resembled what Theodore saw and Agent Lombardi described.

Detective Thomas eventually took the two men to the autopsy room.

(End of this chapter)