Red butter seethed in the hot pot, its enticing aroma enticing pairs of chopsticks as they flew up and down the hot pot, carrying a variety of beef and mutton rolls, yellow throat and tripe.
Ma Xidao's eyes widened as he watched a group of foreigners skillfully wielding their chopsticks, vying for the food. He felt something was amiss.
"Is this really your first time in Korea? Have you been to Japan or China before?"
Jubal scooped up a piece of lotus root and blew on it. "This is our team's first time going abroad on a mission. I've been to the Philippines before, Jack and Jiejie have been to Singapore, and Clay has probably been to the most places, but he can't tell me."
Aubrey's face was covered in sweat from the spiciness, and he hurriedly opened a bottle of cold beer for himself.
"Jack has made us this kind of Sichuan hot pot, which tastes even better than this. His cooking skills are the best I've ever seen, and he can cook food from any country.
But he rarely makes us this kind of spicy hot pot, saying that frying chili oil is likely to attract complaints, and most of the ingredients have to be airlifted from Los Angeles or Austin to New York, and they will easily spoil if they are not handled in time."
"Huh? Let me count." Ma Xidao broke off his carrot-thick fingers, "Jack's shooting is the best, Jack's crime-solving skills are the strongest, and Jack's cooking skills are also the best. Hey, special forces, can Jack beat you?"
Clay paused slightly, and he and the people in the wanted criminal team sitting around him showed a strange smile, "Jack can fight any one of us to a draw, even Alice, the weakest one."
Seeing Ma Xidao blinking with confusion, Clay continued to explain, "That is to say, during training, he can spar with any one of us very well, allowing us to give full play to our skills while ensuring that none of us get hurt."
"Ah, I don't believe it, Jack. Are you Superman?"
Seeing Jack, whose arms were more than a circle thinner than his own, Ma Xidao's curiosity was piqued. Clay's words were a veiled admission that he couldn't beat Jack.
"Just some talent." Jack, not wanting to be delved into, clinked his beer bottle with his, changing the subject.
"Sorry, this is all we can drink until the case is over. We owe you the promised drinks. Once everything's over, we'll have a good drink."
Ma Xidao waved his hand dismissively. "I'm not sure if I can help yet. Besides, you're guests, how can I ask you to pay? I'll treat you to the hot pot."
The hot pot was a delightful feast, though thankfully, no one drank much. The FBI returned to their quarters to rest, but before dawn, they were awakened by a call from Prosecutor Kim Junho.
It was just before 4 a.m. when they arrived in Itaewon. A dark alley was cordoned off, and a group of oddly dressed men gathered at the entrance, watching the excitement.
Upon seeing the FBI, Prosecutor Kim Jun-ho, with a sullen face, waved away the two officers who were reporting to him and approached them with a notepad in hand.
"We've confirmed the victim is Elsa Byquist, 23, from Stockholm, Sweden, who worked at a nearby store."
After everyone helped to form a makeshift human fence around the area, Jack put on gloves and lifted the plastic bag on a shopping cart next to the trash can. "A young white girl with blonde hair. The suspect's target type has been identified."
Prosecutor Kim Jun-ho raised his hand and pointed to a man in his seventies or eighties who was taking a statement from a detective not far away.
"According to your reminder, we've just increased nighttime patrols on several streets around Itaewon. The body was discovered by patrol officers at 2:45 a.m.
The guy over there is an employee of the convenience store next door. He said that when he came to work at the convenience store at 11 o'clock in the evening, he hadn't seen the cart yet, but when he came out to smoke at 2 o'clock, the cart was already there. "
Hannah frowned and looked at the convenience store employee he mentioned with a strange expression. Although Europeans and Americans are somewhat face-blind when looking at Asians, just looking at the deep wrinkles on the employee's face and the hunched back, he should be of retirement age.
Jiejie noticed her confusion and explained to her in a low voice that a quarter of the elderly over 70 in South Korea have to continue working because their pensions are not enough to cover their expenses.
The poverty rate for the elderly in South Korea is 43.4%, because the most widely used basic annuity pension for this group is only 300,000 won per person per month, which is less than 220 US dollars.
It is actually quite rare for an old man like this to be able to work as a convenience store employee on night shifts. It's a relatively easy job. South Korean subways are frequented by people over 65, who use their senior citizen cards to ride the subway for free and run intra-city express delivery services.
Consequently, it's common to see elderly people sprinting through Seoul's subway stations. These aren't "unscrupulous" elderly people waking up early to buy fresh produce and competing with younger people for public transportation; they're just trying to make a living.
Meanwhile, the prosecutor confronted Jubal, "You told us we were looking for a serial killer, but why did your people release that highly suspected American? It's very possible he did it."
Jubal was taken aback by this baffling accusation, but before he could respond, Jack intervened.
"We ruled out Grayson Faber as a suspect based on the time of the first victim's death. He wasn't in Korea at the time. Furthermore, we took him to the embassy this afternoon and he's already on a flight back to the US." "
Kim Junhao was speechless for a moment, and finally he snorted coldly and walked to the side, pointing fingers at several police officers, as if to save himself.
"Should we consider changing the liaison officer?" Aubrey was a little unhappy with this guy's attitude.
Jubal shook his head, not wanting to cause trouble, "Forget it, although his attitude is not very good, at least he is doing his best. I guess he has a lot of pressure from above."
"I guess the pressure will be transmitted to us soon." Jiejie said dimly.
Three deaths in three countries, the diplomatic pressure on South Korea will not be small. If the FBI did not come to assist, it would be fine, but now that the FBI has taken over the investigation, the blame will probably be thrown to them soon.
"That is a problem that the embassy needs to consider. We just need to do our own work." Jubal was not worried about these things. It has not been two days since they got off the plane. Unless the case drags on for a month or two, the blame cannot be put on them.
"Now there is a problem, how did the murderer find them? Since the three victims share some physical similarities, are there any other similarities or connections, including a connection to the murderer?
Jubal looked at Hannah and said, "Go back and work with Alice to collect and compare information on the three victims, including their daily work and entertainment, travel habits, and so on.
Jiejie and I will stay at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to provide remote assistance. They have promised to open all their criminal databases to us."
Jack waved to the others, "Clay and Aubrey, come with me to the morgue with the body. We need the autopsy results as soon as possible, and the fastest way is to stay with the medical examiner."
(End of this chapter)