Luke and Selina could only console John McClane, and they said they would buy him a drink when they were free. They then left for last night’s crime scene.
When they left the parking lot, Selina couldn’t help but sigh. “How did he and his wife get together back then?”
Luke said, “It’s easy to get married, but you have to persevere after that. I can only say that they do love each other, but they can’t get along.”
Selina nodded thoughtfully, then turned to the file in her hand.
A moment later, she exclaimed in surprise. “Who did this? This is so ruthless.”
Luke said, “John Wick is still holed up in the Continental Hotel. It can’t be him. Let’s talk about it at the scene.”
For the past two days, they had been keeping an eye on the Continental Hotel. John was recuperating, and hadn’t come out at all.
That was the reason why the two of them had immediately confirmed that the new case wasn’t the work of John Wick.
Selina said, “The M.O. isn’t right either. The assailant used intense firepower through the window and turned more than ten Irish gang members into sieves. This is very different from John Wick’s M.O.. This is what mercenaries do.”
Luke took some time to look at the CCTV images and nodded. “It’s a typical mercenary M.O.. It’s simple and straightforward. What’s more troublesome is that he didn’t clean up the bodies. That’s why it has left a bad aftertaste.”
It would be strange if NYPD wasn’t nervous about such a massacre.
When they arrived at the crime scene in Clinton, Luke looked at the warehouse by the river. He got out of the car and said, “These guys are smart. They hid here at the docks. It’s possible that they snuck over here by boat. No wonder I hadn’t seen them recently.”
Selina shook her head and sighed. “Why all the trouble?”
These Irish gangsters were the ones they had beaten up before.
It was a pity that while they had managed to escape V’s poetic kills, they hadn’t managed to escape the rain of bullets from a battlefield slaughter. These unlucky sods were even still wearing bandages and plaster as they lay in pools of blood.
They could have gone into hiding to recuperate in New Jersey or something, but snuck back here. They had definitely been up to something, but now they were dead! Selina roasted these unlucky sods in her heart.
They flashed their badges at the police officers outside and entered the scene.
The two of them were shocked to see the mess inside.
As Selina avoided the debris and blood on the ground, she asked, “How many bullets were fired?”
The file only contained a preliminary report, and the exact number of bullets hadn’t been tallied up.
She had initially thought that the forensic scientists were slacking off, but she now understood that it was because they were too busy.
The number of bullet holes which Luke’s sunglasses scanned continued to increase, but soon slowed down.
He looked at the number and curled his lip. “More than three hundred shots.”
Selina said, “There were a dozen gang members, and each was shot several times. So, the assailant fired more than 500 bullets in one go? Does he think this is the Middle East?”
Luke said, “The assailant used a 5.56mm rifle. With that firepower, he was really treating this as a war.”
He shook his head.
This was Manhattan, New York, the center of the world. Doing something like this would cause big trouble.
Selina said, “Is that why we ran into a super killer, and now a violent mercenary?”
The AI program had reconstructed part of the scene, showing that the assailant had most likely acted alone, hence her words.
Luke left the warehouse and walked toward where the assailant had been. “After all, anything can happen in Manhattan, New York.”
As he said this, he couldn’t help but think of a particular scenario.
Manhattan was the “treasured feng shui land” favored by the “free extraterrestrial demolition company.”
Only guns had been used in the last few years. When the energy cannons and alien warships joined the demolition company in the future, it would be lively.
After patrolling the area, Luke didn’t find much.
The assailant had attacked from outside the warehouse. They were by the river, and the strong wind had long blown away all scents.
He wasn’t in a hurry.
There were many cases where haste made waste. What was most important was time and a meticulous investigation.
They returned to HQ and went to Elsa.
After listening to what they needed, Elsa just told them to wait for a moment. After making a call, she called them over to take a look at her computer less than half an hour later.
Entering the database, she quickly opened up a few numbered documents. “Based on the characteristics you provided, I had Liz check similar cases in the past two years, and found these cases from the second half of last year. Take down the file numbers; you can check them yourself when you go back.”
Luke said with a smile, “We’re already here. Boss, why don’t you give us an analysis?”
Elsa rolled her eyes at him, but she knew that he wanted everyone to keep in contact so that they wouldn’t drift apart. “Alright, since you brought me snacks.”
She briefly summarized the common points in the cases before she said, “The cases happened at different times, and not just in New York City, which is probably why no one made the connection. But you’re right, it might have been done by the same group.”
Luke said, “Maybe it’s just one person.”
Elsa was stunned. “One person?”
She couldn’t help but look at the files on the computer screen. The death toll was more than twenty people. Could this be done by one person… Huh, wasn’t there a person in front of her right now who could take down a dozen people on his own?
She simply nodded. “Apart from the common points you mentioned, they also have one clear thing in common: the Mexican cartel, the Irish gang, and the Dogs of Hell are big, long-term players in the drug trade, and engage in both mutual competition and cooperation.”
After a pause, she suggested, “You can investigate from this angle. After all, it isn’t strange for drug traffickers to have provoked someone. They’re too dirty, and have many enemies; it’s just that most victims don’t have the power to take revenge.”
Luke nodded. “They would be in trouble if they provoke someone more unreasonable than they are.”
Elsa nodded.
What Luke said made sense and was the most likely scenario.
After hearing this simple and precise analysis, Luke got up and stopped taking up Elsa’s time. “Dinner tonight? Liz can join us, and we can talk about what everyone did for Christmas.”
Elsa pointed at him. “You can scram now. Send me the time and place. I’ll let Liz know.”
Luke and Selina laughed and left.
Elsa didn’t get a holiday. She had worked overtime through Christmas, and hadn’t gone back to Miami at all.
A certain someone’s words were simply rubbing salt into the wound for this old iron lady.