I bought a prison in the United States.

The next morning, Lin Ge was awakened by a knock on the door.

To be precise, it was the sound of banging on the door. The sound was very loud, and you could clearly hear the impatience in the voice outside.

He opened his eyes and found himself still wearing yesterday's shirt, with the collar open.

The sky outside the window was just beginning to lighten, and the gray-blue light shone through the gap in the curtains, drawing a thin triangle on the wall.

"They're here."

Lin Ge walked to the door in a daze.

The door opened, and Betty stood outside, holding a steaming cup of coffee.

She was wearing a pink bathrobe, her hair was a mess like a bird's nest, and her expression was somewhere between "concern" and "you owe me money."

"You didn't turn off the lights last night."

She shoved the coffee into his hand. "What a waste of electricity."

"Didn't I turn it off? I'll turn it off now."

Lin Ge took the coffee and took a sip.

It tasted as bitter as Chinese medicine, but it was very hot, just enough to pull him back from the brink of drowsiness.

He looked up and saw that the light was indeed on, but he forgot when he had turned it on.

After a good night's sleep and regaining his energy, Ringo could see the "dissatisfaction" on Betty's head.

"What time is it?"

"6:20."

Betty leaned against the door frame:

"You were tossing and turning all night; I could hear you downstairs. Were you having a nightmare?"

"No, I'm thinking about something."

"What are you thinking about?"

"I miss the man who lived in room number three."

Betty raised her eyebrows slightly:

Which room number three?

Ringo yawned. "He came last night, driving a McLean County Power Company pickup truck, wearing an orange reflective vest."

Betty's expression was one of relief, like "You finally asked."

She glanced back down the corridor to make sure no one else was there, then lowered her voice.

"His name is Roger Mitchell. He works for the power company as a lineman."

"You're right to pay attention to him, because he's also Dennis Crawford's brother-in-law, the former warden of your prison."

Lin Ge's coffee lingered at his lips. No wonder people say that motels and intelligence centers are not much different.

Ms. Betty loves to chat, so she must have found out a lot about the customers.

"Crawford's wife is named Karen, and Roger is her brother."

Betty continued:

"After Crawford resigned, Roger stayed in Tulsa and would come here for a night every few weeks."

"He told me it was a business trip, but let me tell you, the travel allowance from the power company usually doesn't allow him to stay in places like this."

"He must have had another reason for coming here."

"What's the reason?"

"How would I know?"

Betty shrugged:

"I'm not a detective, but if you want to know, you can ask him yourself."

"He leaves home at seven every morning, first goes to the donut shop on the corner for breakfast, and then goes to the construction site. If you go now, you can still catch up with him."

"Thank you so much, Miss Betty."

Lin Ge looked at the coffee in his hand, then at the sky outside the window.

He planned to get dressed before seven o'clock, put on the only other shirt he had, walk to the street corner, and pretend to bump into someone who might know the inside story of the former warden's corruption. How brilliant!

……

The streets of Tulsa were spotless in the early morning, and the aroma of frosting wafting from the bakeries was carried by the morning breeze to every corner.

Lingo arrived at the corner donut shop at 6:45.

This is a single-story brick building with a faded pink neon sign hanging above the facade.

The following is a sticker on the window glass:

[Breakfast Special: A cup of coffee and a donut for 75 cents]

When Lin Ge entered, there were only three customers in the store.

A Black man in overalls was reading a newspaper in a corner, while an elderly woman with white hair was slowly sipping coffee at the counter.

Ringo immediately locked onto his target: Roger.

He sat by the window, a cup of black coffee and a half-eaten donut in front of him, with the word "bored" floating above his head.

Ringo bought the same thing as him and then sat down at the table next to Roger.

He didn't choose to strike up a conversation; there was one thing he learned very quickly in the logic of prison management.

Don't rush to speak.

Get the other person to notice you first; let curiosity guide you.

Sure enough, Roger's gaze turned to him in less than a minute.

"I don't think I've seen you around here?"

Roger's voice was deeper than he had expected, and as soon as he spoke, Lin Ge smelled smoke.

His face was ordinary, with a broad forehead and a slightly crooked nose.

He looked like someone who had been through many trials in life, but there was still something in his eyes that hadn't been completely extinguished.

Lin Ge quickly made a preliminary judgment, and followed the other party's words:

"I just moved in about two weeks ago, in room number two."

"I'm in room three." Roger nodded. "What do you do?"

Men talk about their careers, and women talk about their clothes; these are two topics that have been unavoidable in social situations since ancient times.

Ringo hesitated for a moment. He could choose to lie and say that he was a waiter, a worker, or any profession that wouldn't arouse suspicion.

But he remembered a principle:

"If you want to get information from someone, the best way is to give them some information first."

Not all of them are necessary, but they must be true!

"I just bought the McLean County Correctional Center."

Roger had only asked casually, but upon hearing Lingo's words, his hand immediately froze in mid-air.

The donut dangled from his lips, as if frozen in time.

"You bought that prison?"

His voice was noticeably louder, and even the old lady drinking coffee next to him turned her head to look at him.

"Yes, two days ago."

Lin Ge smiled slightly, "Please don't make a fuss, I'm legal."

Roger slowly put down the donut and wiped his fingers with a tissue.

His movements were slow, as if he was deliberately stalling for time to think:

"Why would you buy a prison?"

"Because I went bankrupt, and that prison was cheap, I planned to use it to make a comeback."

Lin Ge took a sip of coffee.

Roger stared at him for a long time, then let out a sigh of relief.

"Dude, are you serious? Do you know why that prison is so cheap?"

"Because it's a pit!"

Roger's "frustration" quickly turned into "anger," but the "frustration" did not disappear; instead, it became a lighter, smaller print.

Ringo kept this detail in mind, while Roger continued to complain:

"You think you've gotten a bargain by opening a bottomless pit, but in reality, you've bought a hole that can never be filled."

"My sister's husband worked there for three years, and finally left in disgrace."

"When he left, the prison already owed its suppliers more than 200,000 yuan."

Lingo took another sip of coffee, letting the bitterness slowly spread on his tongue, and then he began to guide the conversation:

"Do you hate him?"

Roger's changing expression confirmed this; his lips twitched slightly, his eyes narrowed, and his fingers tightened around the coffee cup.

"Of course I hate him. That bastard got a woman pregnant in Tulsa and then just packed his bags and went to Texas."

"My sister is raising two children alone, and she doesn't even have the money for divorce proceedings!"

Lin Ge memorized this information: the former warden had an extramarital affair, an illegitimate child, and was in Texas.

"Did you know that he was manipulating the purchasing process?"

Ringo didn't beat around the bush because he judged Roger to be someone you didn't need to beat around the bush with.

Roger immediately became alert, realizing that he had inadvertently revealed too much information to a stranger.

He quickly realized that the other person sitting next to him was not a coincidence, but a way to lure him.