I bought a prison in the United States.

"May I know your name?"

"Lingo Chen".

Roger Mitchell.

The radio in the donut shop is playing a country song, and the singer is singing a story about "lost love and broken dreams".

As dawn broke outside the window, sunlight streamed through the glass and shone on Roger's face, making his features appear even more somber.

"You want to investigate him?"

Roger lowered his voice.

Lin Ge put down his coffee and said in a deep voice:

"Since you also know about the problems with that prison, let's be frank and speak openly."

"If he rigged the purchase, we might be able to get that money back."

"Even if I can't get it back, I need to know how he did it so I don't make the same mistake again."

Roger stared at the dark brown liquid in his coffee cup, as if searching for some answer. After a while, he looked up and said:

"Let me tell you something: Crawford and County Judge Hammond were college classmates."

"Hamond got him this position, and in exchange, Crawford did some things for Hammond."

"What's wrong?"

"For example, keeping some prisoners in jail for a longer period of time."

Roger lowered his voice because what he was about to say was not something that should be known by more people:

"Hamond has a nephew who killed someone in a drunk driving accident. He should have been sentenced to ten years, but Hammond only got three years and was then sent to McLean County."

"Crawford arranged the most comfortable cell, the lightest job for him, and even granted him parole six months early."

Lin Ge's eyes immediately lit up. This was not as simple as embezzling procurement funds; it was judicial corruption.

If verified, he would have leverage over the state government.

Lin Ge immediately pressed for an answer:

Do you have any evidence?

Roger shook his head:

"There's no evidence, and even if there were, who would dare to produce it?"

"Hamond served as a judge in this county for fifteen years, and his connections extend throughout the entire judicial system."

"If you lay a finger on him, the entire legal community in Oklahoma will be against you."

Lin Ge quickly assessed the value of this information as leverage in his mind.

Judge Hammond, a man with a weakness, could be his ally, but he could also threaten his plans.

Lin Ge put these aside for the moment and asked:

Why are you telling me this?

Roger looked up and met his eyes.

"Because you are the successor to my sister's ex-husband, that prison ruined my sister's marriage and ruined her life."

"So I have no choice but to advise you to give up on that prison, sell it as soon as possible and leave. Any business you do is better than being in prison."

Lingo didn't believe the whole answer.

Roger must have had other reasons for telling him all this.

He might want to get revenge on Crawford, or get something from Ringo, or perhaps he just needs a listener because he's been holding it in for too long.

But whatever the reason, this information was very valuable to him.

"Thank you."

Lin Ge stood up and took a crumpled business card out of his pocket.

That was printed by him at the county government yesterday; it only had his name and a phone number on it.

"If you remember anything, just call me. I'm willing to pay for your information."

Roger took the business card, glanced at it, and then put it in his shirt pocket.

"Mr. Chen."

Just as Ringo was about to walk out the door, Roger called him back.

"Be careful, everyone here, whether judge, businessman, or politician, has their own interests and secrets."

"The more you try to change it, the more it wants to devour you!"

……

After leaving the donut shop, Lingo did not go straight back to the prison.

He dropped a coin into a public phone booth on the street corner and dialed Ray Carson's office number.

The phone rang six times, and just when he thought no one would answer, a hoarse female voice came through the receiver.

Carson Capital Management.

"I am Ringo Chen, looking for Lei."

The female voice responded:

"He hasn't arrived yet, do you want to leave a message?"

"Tell him to give me the private investigator's phone number, and also, have the investigator investigate someone, a judge in McLean County named Hammond."

"Okay, I'll pass it on."

Lin Ge hung up the phone and leaned against the glass door of the phone booth.

The morning in Tulsa is starting to get lively, with more and more cars on the streets.

A yellow school bus drove past, and several children poked their heads out of the windows, throwing something out.

In the distance, a refinery's chimney was emitting white steam, looking like a giant cotton candy against the blue sky.

He recalled a saying he had once heard:

"The secret of capitalism is not exploitation, but information asymmetry."

The more information one has, the better decisions one can make.

Within the closed system of prisons, information is an even scarcer resource.

The prisoners know the guards' weaknesses, the guards know the prisoners' secrets, the suppliers know the inside story of procurement, and the politicians know who is pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Lin Ge knew nothing yet, so he needed to learn.

He took out a small notebook from his pocket and began to record the information he had collected that morning:

1. Roger Mitchell, a power company lineman, and the brother-in-law of former warden Crawford.

2. Crawford had an extramarital affair, fathered a child out of wedlock, and now runs a building materials company in Austin, Texas.

3. Crawford and Judge Hammond were college classmates and had a relationship of mutual benefit.

4. Hammond used his position to reduce the sentences of his relatives and sent them to McLean County for special care.

Looking at what he had written down, Lin Ge smiled wryly. The private investigator hadn't even arrived yet, but he had almost finished the investigator's work.

Each piece of information here is a piece of a puzzle.

He didn't yet know what pattern these puzzle pieces would eventually form, but he knew that one day he would need to use them.

……

Ringo arrived back at McLean County Correctional Center before 8 a.m.

The prison looks much the same as it did yesterday, with its gray walls and rusty iron doors.

But in his eyes, the building was already beginning to take shape.

It is a spire built of power and interests, where whoever stands there holds the power over whom, and the latter are the pawns of the former.

Harmon was waiting for him at the door. He didn't comment on Ringo's lateness, but simply asked:

Where did you go?

"I always ate breakfast outside before the prison food conditions improved."

Ringo didn't lie, but he omitted who he ate with.

"The right choice, but you missed the morning shift handover."

The two walked and talked, with a hint of dissatisfaction in Harmon's tone:

"The guards need to see you there. If you're not there, they'll think you don't care about this place."

Lin Ge remembered this feedback:

"I'll be on time tomorrow, but Harmon, I have something else to ask you. You should know the former warden, Crawford, right?"

"Of course I know him. I was his deputy throughout his tenure."

"Are you aware of the last procurement order he signed with the prison before he left?"