American variety show: Sniper Elite

Chapter 84 Situation

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French security services.

Charlie placed his hands on the table, his eyes fixed intently on the progress bar on the technician's computer.

French security services quickly identified the perpetrator of the Indian businessman's assassination, as legendary figures always leave clues in their actions.

This assassin, codenamed β, displayed astonishing sniping skills. He not only successfully evaded the effective detection range of anti-sniper radar at 3 kilometers, but also completed the mission with just two shots from an incredible distance of 4332 meters. One shot missed because the target suddenly stopped, but this did not affect the assassination in the slightest, making it a classic case in sniping history.

Investigators started with the β disguised as "Franklin" and traced his movements in reverse.

They located the hotel where he was staying, but found no valuable information in the room. The security bureau then reviewed street surveillance footage, but to no avail, until an agent noticed a security camera at a coffee shop's cashier. Through the glass door, the camera captured a fleeting, blurry image of "Franklin."

Following this lead, the investigation team rediscovered his profile in an automatically captured image from a bank ATM. After searching outwards from this location, all surveillance footage failed to capture any further trace of him. Even more problematic was the fact that, due to β's extremely convincing disguise, witnesses on the street had no recollection of him, bringing the investigation to a standstill.

French security services had to temporarily shelve this lead and instead investigate β's other identity, "Michael."

All the evidence suggests that β, just like the real Michael, left his home and drove his vehicle to the security company without any apparent abnormalities. Even more bizarrely, the security agency was completely unable to determine how β infiltrated Michael's home and perfectly assumed his identity. This lead had also reached a dead end.

Investigators turned their attention to the disguised "Bertrand" when β returned to the scene for the second time.

Due to the hasty operation, he left more traces this time. Investigators discovered that the location where "Bertrand" first appeared highly overlapped with the location where "Franklin" appeared.

Using triangulation, the security agency located an apartment situated between two buildings.

This safe house was extremely well-hidden, with all windows facing away from the street to ensure no one could see inside. The apartment rooms were completely destroyed by fire, with clear signs of arson. If the landlord and other tenants hadn't used fire hydrants to control the blaze in time, the entire building could have been burned to the ground.

The landlord had no recollection of the apartment's tenants.

The investigation revealed that β used forged identity information when renting the apartment. Following the trail, the security services located the real citizen whose identity had been stolen in the suburbs of Paris; he was completely unaware that his identity had been compromised.

Thus, all three lines of investigation—Franklin, Michael, and Bertrand—pointed to this burned-down safe house, only to come to an abrupt end there.

Faced with a deadlock in the investigation, the French security services decided to start with the weapons used by β.

The investigation proceeded unexpectedly smoothly. β obtained the sniper rifle almost openly from the Continental Hotel in Paris.

However, when the security agency attempted to delve deeper into the weapons supply chain, it encountered unprecedented resistance.

The dispatched intelligence agents went missing one after another, only to be safely returned to the Security Bureau headquarters in a courier box. This was clearly a definite warning from the Mainland Hotel. They didn't harm the agents, but they also drew a clear line: any investigation into the hotel's internal intelligence would not be tolerated.

Due to the unseen obstruction from various forces, the security bureau had no choice but to halt this investigation.

The only breakthrough in the case lay in the evidence β retrieved from the scene. The investigation revealed that the missing piece of evidence was the warhead β had taken while disguised as "Bertrand." In order to retrieve this warhead, β engaged in a direct firefight with the Security Bureau, resulting in multiple casualties among the agents.

Forensic experts extracted trace amounts of biological samples, suspected to be blood, from around the point of impact. The security agency's technical department is working diligently to analyze these substances, attempting to extract β's DNA information. If successful, this will allow for comparison and screening in a global DNA database.

These traces of biological evidence became the last hope for uncovering the true identity of β.

In the Security Bureau's gene lab, technicians are racing against time.

The progress bar on the computer screen slowly advanced, finally completing the reading with a "beep" sound, and displaying a fluctuating line graph.

Charlie frowned and leaned closer to the screen: "What does this mean? Did they successfully extract the DNA?"

The technicians carefully compared several trough data points and shook their heads helplessly: "Unfortunately, no valid DNA information was detected."

"This is impossible!" Charlie slammed his hand on the table. "There are obvious bloodstains on those pieces!"

The technicians patiently explained: "The on-site environment was severely damaged. First, there was the intense heat from the fire, followed by secondary contamination from the firefighting water. These extreme conditions completely destroyed the integrity of the biological samples."

The technician continued to explain, "More importantly, the sample you collected was extremely small. With current technology, it is simply impossible to extract valid DNA information from such a tiny contaminated sample."

He paused for a moment, then added, "It's like trying to separate the original color components from a cup of contaminated ink; not only is it technically difficult, but the sample size is also far from sufficient."

Charlie pressed on, unwilling to give up, "Is there really no other way?"

The technician helplessly spread his hands: "Unless we can find more uncontaminated original samples, otherwise..." He shook his head and didn't continue.

"Damn it!" Charlie cursed, hands on his hips, unwilling to accept defeat.
-

Medvedeva leaned against the railing on the banks of the Seine, watching the cruise ships slowly passing by. She looked down and dialed her supervisor's number; the call was answered after only two rings.

"Is the call secure?" the supervisor's voice came through the receiver.

“Safe, sir.” Medea’s gaze lingered on the shimmering surface of the river.

The manager on the other end of the phone spoke in an unusually serious tone: "Meva Lake, you must fully understand the importance of what I'm about to say, understand?"

"Understood, sir." Medusa unconsciously straightened her back.

The supervisor said, enunciating each word clearly, "Repackage the 'jackal' as 'β.' The Downing Street case must be closed, and it must be handled together with the Munich case. Both cases must be the work of the same person. Do you understand what I mean?"

Medvedeva gripped the railing tightly, the wind blowing across the river making her blonde hair flutter before her eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, Medvedeva said, "Understood, sir."

(End of this chapter)