A website filled with Arabic appeared on the screen. On the page Alice opened, a photo of Lieutenant Colonel Barnes was prominently displayed, marked with a red targeting mark.
"Operation Raul Merion? What is that?" Clay read out the content on the webpage. He was the one who knew the most languages among the group except Jack.
"Good question." Alice tapped the keyboard. "This was a secret multinational counter-terrorism operation in Morocco, North Africa, six months ago. The leader of a local jihadist organization, Benham Bolsa, was captured.
According to the NSA's announcement, a month after the operation ended, the identities of several participating Navy SEALs were leaked, including Lieutenant Colonel Barnes, the commander."
"So, is this the jihadist organization's assassination list?"
Jubal's eyes were slightly cold. "Send a request for assistance to the NSA. We need all the information on this website, the identity of the website administrator, who uploaded the photos, and a list of people who visited the website."
"I'll help too." Hannah sat down next to Alice.
"Then I'll keep an eye on the morgue. When Lieutenant Colonel Barnes arrives, please have Jiejie bring him here," Jack said, and left the police station.
The local medical examiner, an elderly black man with a slight limp, reminded Jack of the disrespectful retired CIA agent, Joe Mason.
Over two years had passed since the nursing home case (Chapter 366) where the veteran agent's mishap nearly cost him his family.
Later, during the bombing incident when Jack first arrived in New York, he successfully collaborated with the DEA to imprison Roman Lunyoff, the financier behind Marla Grayson (Chapter 516). However,
the IRS has been unable to apprehend Marla Grayson, the culprit. She remains on the FBI's wanted list, though not a high-ranking one.
I'll have to talk to Jubal later to see if we can find a way to bring her to justice.
In the original series, this woman's evil deeds were meted out to her, shattered by a bullet, much like the recent death of a certain health insurance company tycoon. It made no sense that she should be allowed to remain unpunished in this world.
Jack, his mind wandering, kept busy piecing together the bullet fragments under a magnifying glass.
Lead is soft, especially when used as the core in small-caliber pistol rounds. It can easily rub against bone upon impact, causing deformation or even shattering.
"I haven't seen a bullet so completely shattered in ages," the elderly black medical examiner exclaimed, donning his reading glasses and leaning over the magnifying glass.
"That can only happen with a bullet that's been stored improperly and has aged considerably."
After repeated attempts, Jack gave up on the idea of reassembling the bullet and placed all the fragments in an evidence bag, which he then stuffed into a manila envelope.
"We can only ask the CSI lab for help. They should be able to scan it and reconstruct a three-dimensional model, and then conduct a ballistic comparison. I hope there will be results."
The old black forensic doctor raised his long eyebrows, which could already be called longevity eyebrows, and muttered, "The speed of development of modern science is really astonishingly fast."
"Your skills are equally amazing." Jack gave him flattery without hesitation, "If it were me, it would be almost impossible to remove all the bullet fragments while trying not to cause serious damage to the body."
"Aha, young man, speaking of damage," the old forensic doctor proudly raised a finger, "I found something strange."
He pulled out an X-ray and clipped it to the light board. "I've found fractures on the victim's face, including the right cheekbone and eye socket."
"Pre-mortem?" Jack looked puzzled. He couldn't have missed such obvious injuries during his previous examination of the body.
"No, no, no, much earlier, at least ten years ago." The old medical examiner pointed at the X-ray and shakily pulled up the medical records of the deceased, Valerie Barnes, on his computer.
"But strangely, her medical records never mentioned this."
"It's indeed strange." Even a relatively minor facial fracture would reveal itself as a noticeable bruise on the skin, making it virtually impossible for it to be overlooked or concealed.
The Barnes family was quite well-off. Under what circumstances would a woman, even with her face, so swollen like a pig's head, refuse to see a doctor?
Jack pulled out his phone, briefly described his findings, and sent it to Jubal. Just as he was about to put his phone away, Jiejie's number suddenly popped up on the screen. It was Lieutenant Colonel Barnes.
"
My condolences." After accompanying the lieutenant colonel to view his wife's remains, Jack bid farewell to the medical examiner and, along with Jiejie, escorted the middle-aged officer, whose face was frighteningly gloomy, out of the morgue.
"Bang!" Lieutenant Colonel Barnes smashed the hallway door open with a powerful punch, leaving a gruesome streak of blood on the stainless steel frame.
Compared to Team B's captain, Jason Hayes, the lieutenant colonel was younger, barely in his early forties.
"I know my job puts my life in danger at any moment, and I've always been aware of it. But that shouldn't include my family, right?"
Jiejie calmly reassured the lieutenant colonel. "Everything is still under investigation, Lieutenant Colonel. At this point, it seems there's more than just one possibility."
Ryan Barnes's eyes glared. "What do you mean? Are you suggesting this could be a premeditated murder of my wife?"
"Perhaps. At least based on the scene, we believe there might be other possibilities," Jack replied. Although he couldn't recover the bullet fragments, he was virtually certain it was from a small-caliber pistol.
A terrorist who used a small-caliber pistol to break into the home of a Navy SEAL commander and attempted to assassinate him? This behavior is too extreme.
"Has your wife ever had conflicts with others? Has there been any unusual changes in her behavior recently?" Jiejie asked.
"I don't know." A trace of confusion flashed in the lieutenant colonel's eyes. "I'm sorry, but to be honest, I can't answer this kind of question. I'm away from home for almost ten months a year.
Maybe I'm an excellent soldier in my file, but I'm definitely not a competent husband or father."
Tears couldn't stop flowing from his eyes as he spoke. "Although I don't know why the FBI instead of NCIS took over this case, I beg you to catch the murderer as soon as possible."
He paused and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "At least get ahead of me."
Jiejie's voice was still gentle. "Lieutenant Colonel, I think the only thing you need to do now is to focus your time and energy on your daughter. We will handle the rest. The FBI is also professional in handling cases like this."
(End of this chapter)