America, starting as a trainee police officer

"Okay, please take off your shoes and socks and hand them to me."

To be honest, this is the part of Li Wei that he dislikes most about being a policeman.

You never know how long a suspect's socks haven't been washed.

Ascari slowly took off his shoes.

"Can you make a call now? Is there anyone you want to contact? Obviously not your wife?"

It's unlikely that a married man would call his wife after being arrested for soliciting prostitution.

Upon hearing this, Ascari laughed and said, "At least my wife doesn't give me much of a headache."

"What do you mean?" Li Wei looked at the bald old man curiously.

"In my line of work, news travels extremely fast."

This piqued Li Wei's curiosity.

What do you do for a living?

"banking."

Hearing this, Li Wei finally understood where the old man's confidence came from in trying to bribe them.

These people are definitely high-income earners in the United States, and most of them are Jewish and dominate this industry.

Ascari then looked toward the office behind the glass window.

Li Wei followed the gaze and asked, "Do you know that person?"

"Yes, he's a lawyer, I mean, my lawyer."

...

Article 849 of the Criminal Procedure Law stipulates that if there is insufficient evidence to bring charges against a detained person, the official in charge of maintaining public order must release the detained person.

Ascari's lawyer stood before Inspector Anderson and Angela, smiling as he read the legal statutes aloud.

"The carry permit, issued by Judge Sather." Zoe looked at the gun permit in her hand and gave the opposing lawyer a meaningful look.

"How did you find out about his arrest? Did one of the prostitutes he hired call you?" Angela didn't understand how the lawyer could be so quick to respond.

Even if it's a temporary certificate, it shouldn't be issued so quickly.

Keep in mind that Ascari hadn't even made a single phone call yet.

"Who called me is none of your concern. You have no right to detain my client; please release him immediately."

Zoe looked at the lawyer; he was clearly well-prepared.

According to procedure, they really couldn't continue detaining him.

He simply nodded to Angela, signaling her to release the prisoner.

...

Detention cells.

Li Wei was pressing Ascari's hand to register his fingerprints.

"There's no need to take his fingerprints anymore; his lawyer has obtained a legal gun ownership certificate for the handgun."

"Is that so?" It wasn't Li Wei who spoke, but Ascari, who was clearly puzzled himself.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Ascari? Don't you want to go out?" Angela looked at Ascari's face, trying to glean something from it.

"No...no...I mean, I want to, I want to go out."

Ascari seemed distracted and flustered; the other party was clearly hiding something.

Seeing this, Li Wei used [Scout] on Ascari.

Peter Ascari

[Current Status: In the midst of panic following the failure of the plan.]

Is that all the information you have?

Li Wei suddenly felt that this skill was a bit useless, but it was also very likely that the skill level was too low and the information he could see was limited.

Thinking this, Li Wei remembered that he still had two blank skill books.

[Use "Blank Skill Book x2" to advance Scouting Lv1 to Scouting Lv3. Confirm? Yes/No]

After silently confirming, Li Wei used his reconnaissance skill on Ascari again.

Peter Ascari

[Current Status: In order to escape the control of Vigo Petrov (the Russian Mafia), Ascari meticulously planned this arrest by the LAPD in exchange for protection and a chance to escape. However, the plan has clearly failed.]

Goodness, Li Wei knew this guy was no ordinary person.

I never imagined he was arrested on purpose.

The goal was to break free from the control of the Mafia.

As a veteran police officer, Angela also noticed the panic on Peter's face.

However, without the [Reconnaissance] skill, she naturally didn't have a comprehensive understanding.

I just suspect there must be something fishy going on here.

"Could you please take the suspect to his lawyer?" Angela asked the officer beside her.

The other party nodded and left with Ascari.

"Let me guess, was his gun license recently issued?"

Li Wei watched Ascari being led away. Based on the information he saw with his [Reconnaissance] skill, he deduced that the gun permit must have been newly issued.

"True, this gun permit is only valid for less than an hour." Angela nodded, giving Levi an appreciative look.

"Your intuition is sharp, Officer Lee. It seems you're a natural for this line of work." Zoe was wearing a pinkish-purple suit with a gray wool sweater underneath.

Her hair was tied into a bun at the back of her head.

She looks very capable.

As soon as she came in, she heard Li Wei deduce from his intuition that the gun permit had just been issued.

I was very impressed by this.

"So here's the question: how could they produce a gun permit within an hour? Who's behind them?"

Levi couldn't say Vigo Petrov's name directly, but he had a feeling that if they caught this guy, he would definitely be a big fish.

"If you have enough connections and know key figures, it's not that difficult. But usually, this combination of a high-priced lawyer and a hastily prepared case often means we've run into an organized crime group."

"You've heard the saying 'cast a long line to catch a big fish,' haven't you?"

Zoe looked at Angela.

Angela shook her head.

Li Wei did know the meaning of this allusion.

I instantly understood what Zoe was trying to do.

We were thinking the same thing.

Next, Zoe will probably conduct a background check on Ascari to find out who the big fish behind him is.

"Don't you guys have a feeling that Ascari seems to be deliberately trying to get himself locked up here?"

Upon hearing this, Angela and Zoe exchanged a glance and agreed that what Levi said made a lot of sense.

"That's certainly very possible. Here's what we'll do, Angela, this afternoon you take Lee to keep watch near Ascari's house, and report any suspicious individuals immediately."

It's called surveillance, but it's actually another form of protection.

This is using Ascari as bait.

...

Across the street from Ascari's mansion.

Li Wei and Angela sat inside the police car.

Stalking is a long, tedious, and boring task.

Angela's phone vibrated.

"It's Inspector Zoe." Angela looked at the caller ID and then at Levi.

She then answered the call and put it on speakerphone.

"I've found out who the big fish above the banker is. Vigo Petrov, a high-ranking member of the Odyssey (Russian) Mafia. This gang has a long history of crimes, including drug trafficking, money laundering, and organizing prostitution. They're capable of anything."

Angela frowned upon hearing this: "How did this banker named Peter get involved with this man?"