Chapter 80: Baby Girl and Maury
"The target sent a text message late last night to an unknown number," Garcia's voice rang out. "It's an unregistered, disposable phone, so it can't be tracked, but the call originated from California."
"It's him!"
Director Kate's face darkened.
He was, after all, someone from her field office.
"What do we do now?"
Morgan glanced at Chuck and Gideon. "We can't confront Agent Damon Garrett because we don't have authorization to monitor his private communications. He can deny everything, and it won't hold up in court."
"Let's confirm it's him,"
Chuck said calmly. "Garcia, pull up 20 years of records for law enforcement officers traveling between California and New York on official business."
"..."
Everyone's expression shifted slightly.
"Sorry, what did you call me?"
Garcia, nearly falling out of her chair on the other end of the line, asked in disbelief after a moment of stunned silence.
"I meant Garcia. Agent Morgan called you baby girl."
Chuck said matter-of-factly. "I was simply being formal."
"Pfft!"
JJ and Elle burst out laughing.
Morgan's already dark complexion grew even darker.
The nickname "baby girl" was his and Garcia's thing, a way for him to charm his way through requests and build rapport, making their working relationship smoother.
Whenever he needed help from their technical analyst, he'd use that endearment and lay on the charm. Garcia, in turn, thoroughly enjoyed the special attention from the handsome Morgan. Whenever Morgan called, she'd drop everything to help him immediately. It was a playful, flirtatious dynamic that benefited both parties.
But hearing it from Chuck's mouth completely changed the context.
"Just call her Garcia,"
Gideon said. "Garcia, follow Dr. Wolfe's instructions and begin the search."
"Yes, sir."
Garcia straightened up and began typing rapidly. "I've got the data, but the list is extensive. Hundreds of law enforcement officers have traveled between those locations over the past twenty years."
"Cross-reference that with people who've traveled between the locations since Agent Garrett started working, then narrow it down,"
Chuck said.
"Copy that!"
Garcia continued her rapid keystrokes, accessing various databases. "After cross-referencing, the list is significantly shorter, but we still have 63,869 entries."
"Cross-reference those individuals with the locations where Red John committed his crimes,"
Chuck continued.
Silence from the other end.
"Garcia?"
After a moment, Morgan was the first to sense something was wrong.
"What?"
Garcia asked, sounding distracted.
"Are you okay?"
Morgan asked with concern. "Dr. Wolfe asked you to cross-reference those individuals with Red John's crime locations."
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Searching now,"
Garcia said, covering quickly. Another burst of typing, her tone noticeably lighter. "List is narrowed down, but we still have 1,693 people."
As an elite hacker recruited by the FBI after her cybercrime conviction, Garcia's technical skills were undeniable. Using her clearance to access data was child's play. So while following Chuck's instructions, she also had the bandwidth to look up Chuck's information.
After all, Chuck's formal approach had nearly disrupted her flirtatious dynamic with Morgan, which both annoyed her and piqued her curiosity. She wanted to know who he was and why he could be so... thorough.
She casually pulled up Chuck's profile and decided there was absolutely nothing wrong with his formal approach.
"Send me the files on those 1,693 people,"
Chuck said.
"Right away!"
Garcia smiled as she typed. "Done!"
"..."
Morgan's jaw tightened.
As Garcia's frequent flirt partner, he knew exactly what that reaction from a woman like Garcia meant. He didn't need video—he could practically see her expression.
He immediately guessed that Garcia must have looked up Chuck's profile and seen what he looked like.
Glancing at Chuck's stoic, chiseled features made him feel slightly uncomfortable.
Although he was always considered handsome and often received compliments from suspects—things like "If I looked like you, I'd never lack for female attention and wouldn't have turned to crime"—he was confident in his appearance.
But deep down, he knew that classically handsome white men like Chuck represented the mainstream ideal.
Garcia's reaction proved it.
"What's our next move?"
Director Kate asked. "How do we narrow down these thousand-plus people? And how can you be certain that Red John is a law enforcement officer on business travel?"
"I can't be certain,"
Chuck acknowledged. "But if it's personal travel requiring credit card records, it becomes much more complicated, and given their sophistication, they'd likely use cash, making it impossible to track.
So we start with official business trips that leave paper trails and provide cover, making them less careful about concealment. As for narrowing down these thousand-plus people, you should all remember basic genetics—the principles of familial resemblance between blood relatives."
"Are you saying you want to find Red John by comparing his appearance to that girl's?"
Garcia's voice became excited over the phone. "Dr. Wolfe, can you actually do that?"
"Do you watch the Maury Show?"
Chuck said casually as he quickly flipped through the files.
"You mean that paternity test show that just started?"
JJ chimed in. Seeing Reid's confused expression, she smiled and explained, "It's a daytime show about determining paternity. Deadbeat dads who won't acknowledge their kids, or men who suspect their partners of cheating and question whether the child is theirs. They go on the show and have the production team pay for DNA tests. It's become quite popular recently."
"Right,"
Elle said with a grin. "I know what Dr. Wolfe means. There's that classic segment where they do visual comparisons. The production team projects photos of a child and potential father on a big screen, side by side, and lets the audience guess if they're related. Usually, the mother comes up and excitedly points at the images, talking about how similar they look."
"The concept actually came from a pediatrician,"
Chuck explained. "He used to make bets with colleagues about which families in his practice involved non-biological children. Subsequent DNA tests proved his accuracy. The Maury Show creators were once his patients, and after witnessing this, they developed the idea for the show."
(End of Chapter)
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