1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 8 Bernie's Cup Makes a Great Contribution
Sometime later, three heads huddled together, three pairs of eyes fixed on Theodore's fingerprint card.

"Look."

Theodore showed the two fingerprints to Bernie and Wenner.

On the two fingerprint cards, one black and one white, they gleamed under the light. Their curves, intersections, and triangular areas were exactly the same, as if they were copied.

Wenner tilted his head and examined the lamp repeatedly, glancing at Theodore from time to time with shock in his eyes.

Bernie was even more shocked.

Wenner had witnessed fingerprints being used to solve cases, but Bernie had only heard about it during training, when their training supervisor told him something like this—

"These are all just wild ideas concocted by those nerds in the lab. You won't see them until a member of Congress is murdered."

Bernie had always thought he was right, but now...

Bernie thought that if they combined Theodore's ability to hear messages from ghosts with this fingerprint technology, they could make targeted fingerprint comparisons, which would be an amazing tool for solving cases!
Thinking that all I need to do in the future is lie in my office and wait for the fingerprint comparison results, and with a wave of my hand, the murderer will be brought back. Solving cases is so simple!
His gaze toward Theodore grew intense, then he turned to Wenner, "Boss, I'm missing a partner. We've been practicing together for a day, and we're working well together, you see..."

If we don't act quickly, we'll be doing a disservice to all those worn-out shoes he's worn out!

Wenner gave him a warning glance and immediately got up and opened the office door.

"Everyone, put down what you're doing and come here! There's been a major breakthrough!"

The bustling office fell silent for a moment, then became noisy again as the team members quickly gathered around.

"You tell me."

Wenner gave the opportunity to Theodore.

Theodore was not intimidated; he had been to such occasions countless times, and even those much larger ones.

He first produced the fingerprints and passed them around for everyone to see. Then he traced the origins of the fingerprints, explaining how he deduced the killer's actions from the scene, created a profile of the killer, and finally identified Anna as the perpetrator.

After he finished speaking, the fingerprints were examined and returned to his hand. However, the crowd's reaction was not one of praise.

They remained silent, watching Theodore with complex expressions.

Like Bernie, they had only heard about solving cases with fingerprints during training, and this was their first time experiencing it firsthand. It would be a lie to say they weren't excited, but how this fingerprint came about seemed quite bizarre to them.

Those without religious beliefs summarized Theodore's long speech into one word—lucky.

For those with religious beliefs, the situation is more complicated; they shared Bernie's thoughts.

This is a lucky kid; he can guess the murderer with a snap of his fingers! / This is a medium; he can communicate with ghosts!
Wenner clapped his hands to keep the atmosphere lively and bring everyone back to their senses. "Alright, let's get started."

He began by ordering, "You guys go and bring back the suspect, Anna Bryan."

"You two prepare the written materials."

“I will call the prosecutor, and you two go and get the arrest warrant.”

“The rest of you continue collecting and analyzing data. You two come with me.” He finally called on Theodore and Bernie.

After everyone had left, Wenner said, "You two will preside over the interrogation after bringing them back."

He instructed, "Bringing her back is only half the battle; we still need to get her to confess."

Bernie confidently replied, "Don't worry, boss!"

Wenner nodded and laughed heartily, "Okay, let's try to close the case today. Tomorrow morning I'm going to wait for the chief to come to work with the report in hand!"

“Then the director will have to come early.” Bernie laughed.

…………

Anna was quickly taken back to the police station, along with Sit.

Anna was taken to register by a designated person, and then her fingerprints were collected. The bureau would send copies of her fingerprints to the state and the FBI for filing.

Sit was taken to the detention room and held there.

According to the person who brought them back, although he seems like he's about to wet his pants now, he's incredibly reckless at home. When he heard they wanted to take Anna away, he immediately objected, blocking the door and refusing to let them in. When he couldn't stop them, he grabbed their legs and yelled for Anna to run out the back door.

Although the detective kept saying that Sit was like a woman, he actually admired him and specially chose a clean little detention cell for Sit to be held in solitary confinement.

Then, while locking the person up, he kept saying, "Don't wet your pants, there's no one here to change them for you."

Anna was quickly taken to the interrogation room. But the interrogation did not begin immediately.

Theodore and Bernie are waiting for the medical examiner's report.

The wait is two hours.

At 2 a.m., the report they were waiting for arrived. After reviewing it, the two immediately began interrogating Anna.

Anna, who had been left hanging for more than two hours, was starting to break down. After all, she was still just a young girl who had just come of age.

After seeing Theodore and Bernie, Anna even had a sense of relief in her eyes.

Theodore and Bernie were both very experienced, and they knew the interrogation would go smoothly after just a glance.

After a simple attempt that unsurprisingly met with silent resistance, Theodore picked up a paper bag and poured out a peeled apple.

Then he picked up a paper bag and poured out several steaming hot baked cakes.

Bernie pushed the apple and cake in front of Anna.

The sweet aroma of baked cake, the refreshing scent of apples.

"Ugh~"

Anna covered her mouth and gagged.

This is a subconscious association with the scene of the murder.

Theodore handed her the paper bag containing apples. Anna was about to take it, but when she noticed it was indeed a paper bag for apples, she started gagging even more violently.

Bernie kicked the trash can over, and Anna immediately bent over, hugged the trash can, and vomited.

They had to pause the interrogation and have someone take her to the restroom.

A dozen minutes later, Anna returned, and the interrogation continued.

Theodore picked up another paper bag and poured the ashes and scraps of cloth inside onto the tray. A faint smell of burning filled the air, but Anna didn't react.

Bernie started presenting evidence.

“We have your fingerprints on the murder weapon, the clothes you wore when you committed the murder, and the wounds you left behind.”

He pointed to Anna's bandaged hand. "It's nothing like what I imagined, is it? It takes a lot of force to both insert and pull it out."

"Once it gets covered in blood, it's hard to hold. You might accidentally slip onto the blade and cut your palm."

"When it's pulled out, warm blood sprays onto your face, and you can feel that warm liquid rolling down..."

Anna trembled slightly, and Bernie stopped describing what he had just done. He took out a forensic report, spread it out, and pushed it towards her.

"We compared the red porcelain plate found at Diane's house with the wound on your mother's head. The results showed that they matched."

"You killed Diane to avenge your mother, didn't you? You knew it was Diane who killed your mother."

"Admit it, it's understandable. Anyone would have made the same choice as you."

Theodore whispered from the side, "You lied to us. You heard Diane arguing with your mother that day, didn't you?"

“We used Officer Sullivan’s voice for the test that day. Male voices have less penetrating power than female voices. I could only hear muffled sounds that day, but if it were a woman, I should be able to hear what she was saying clearly.”

Anna lowered her head and began to cry softly.

Theodore got up, poured a glass of water, and pushed it towards him, saying, "Have some water."

Anna held the water glass in both hands and sipped it slowly.

Silence fell in the interrogation room.

Bernie and Theodore didn't ask any more questions, quietly waiting for Anna to speak first.

After drinking about half a glass of water, Anna put down the glass and whispered, "She wants me to marry her son. My mother said my father wouldn't agree to me marrying a disabled person. Then she started saying really nasty things, saying I'd end up as a prostitute on Rose Street sooner or later, saying I..."

She started crying again, saying between sobs, "My mother said that what she said was too harsh and asked her to take it back. She said that my mother is just like me and will be abandoned by my father sooner or later, and that we will eventually end up working on Rose Street."

“My mother said she wasn’t welcome at home and told her to leave, but they started arguing again once she got outside.”

(End of this chapter)