"Are you really willing to help?" Mrs. Chen suddenly stood up from her seat and pulled a postcard from behind her daughter's photo on the altar, where incense and candles were burning.
She handed it to Danny. "I don't know what exactly Stephanie was involved in, but she's been very anxious lately. Not long ago, she inexplicably sent me a postcard. I received it the day after she died."
Danny took the postcard and examined it. Besides the address, there was only a line of strange numbers. "What does this number mean?"
"I don't know. I thought it was a phone number, but it didn't go through," Mrs. Chen shook her head.
Jack took the postcard from Danny and saw that the number was divided into three groups. The first two groups were four digits each, and the last group was three, for a total of 11 digits.
US mobile phone numbers are usually 10 digits, but if you count the country code + 1, it's exactly 11 digits. The first digit of this group is 1, and there's a + sign in front of it. No wonder Mrs. Chen mistook it for a mobile phone number.
Could the order of the three groups of numbers be messed up? Or was it simply some kind of encryption?
Confused, Jack flipped the postcard over and saw a picture of a famous New York City landmark: the famous Arc de Triomphe-like arch in Washington Square Park, complete with a welcome message.
"Ms. Chen, which university did your daughter graduate from?" Danny asked.
"New York University, Officer," Mrs. Chen replied, a bit puzzled, not quite understanding the purpose of his question.
Noticing Danny's wink, as if he had discovered something, Jack wisely didn't ask immediately. Instead, he asked Mrs. Chen's permission and took the postcard. As
they left the herbal medicine shop, Jack handed the postcard back to Danny and asked, "Do you know what these numbers mean?"
"I think it's a university library index number," Danny said, his tone confident. "Are
n't book index numbers supposed to be letters and numbers?" Jack said, his expression as if to say, "Don't pick on me for not having attended college. Community college is also a university. Besides, he's been to many major libraries in New York City in recent years."
"You're talking about the Library of Congress classification system, but in the Harvard-Yenching Library classification system, index numbers are all numbers, which means the book we're looking for is in the Asian section."
The barely concealed smugness in Danny's tone made him seem like he was completely cocky.
"Wow," Jack said, his surprise palpable. Then, he pulled out his phone and did a search, only to discover that Danny was actually right.
The "Harvard-Yenching Library classification system" he was referring to wasn't just used at Harvard-Yenching Library; it was the most common classification system for Asian, or Chinese-language, books in most libraries in English-speaking countries.
After expressing his heartfelt respect for this seemingly unrefined guy, Jack pressed him on how he knew such obscure knowledge.
"I have a brother who graduated from Harvard Law School,"
Danny said, shaking his head with a smug, Indian-like air. It wasn't until Jack pressed him again that he finally revealed the answer. "Well, I had an ex-girlfriend who studied librarianship."
Well, that answer was both surprising and perfectly reasonable.
As they were talking, the two drove to Washington Square Park. Most of the buildings around here belong to New York University, including the Bobst Library at the south end of the square.
This library is the largest of New York University's eight main libraries, spanning 12 floors and reportedly housing 4.5 million books. It's also one of the largest university libraries in the United States.
Danny went up to the Asian literature section on the fourth floor, searching the corresponding shelf according to the number on the postcard. He easily found a notepad filled with names in a dictionary. After
picking
up Alexis and her grandmother, Jack returned to the Most Wanted Unit base with the notepad and was surprised to find Frank still hadn't emerged from the superbly soundproofed interrogation room.
He muttered to himself that the CIA was being inefficient this time, but just as Jack had gone upstairs to settle everyone and returned to the kitchen, the bald man, his hands covered in blood, approached him. "That guy spoke, but I forgot to ask. What exactly did you want to know from him?"
"Are you serious?" Jack, who was mixing the sweet and sour sauce for sweet and sour pork, froze in shock. Then he saw the bald man himself laugh.
"It was just a joke. That guy betrayed his employer. He's a real big shot. I hope you're prepared for this," Frank said, looking at the nervous female detective.
Beckett instinctively grabbed Cassel's arm, grabbing it so hard that the latter grimace, but dared not speak, forcing a gruff smile. "It can't be the current president, can it?"
Frank smiled at his silly son. "Not really, but close. It's Senator Robert Bracken."
Cassel's mouth formed an O, and his voice rose an octave. "The Bracken who was once Deputy Secretary of State?"
"Yeah, just two weeks ago, there were rumors that the Democratic Party was about to officially nominate Bracken as the next Vice Presidential candidate." Frank spoke casually, as if discussing what to eat tonight.
"That makes sense." Jack washed his hands, opened his tablet, and directly pulled up the person's resume on Wikipedia.
"Nineteen years ago, Bracken worked as an assistant district attorney in New York State. The timeline coincides with the time period when Montgomery and the other two kidnapped gang members.
This is consistent with the information we currently know. He must have learned of the three's actions through some channels, but chose not to accuse them. After all, it was unlikely that those gang members would testify against the police.
So he chose to go along with them and successfully got the lion's share of the ransom."
Cassel said, "Then he was able to rise so quickly, entering the House of Representatives in less than ten years, and then gradually climbing up to become a senator. This should be attributed to that money.
After all, this was millions of dollars 19 years ago, which is not a small amount of money."
"This also explains why he is keeping a close eye on your mother's case. This is a big scandal, and he must make sure that all those who know about it shut up before the election begins."
Frank looked at his future daughter-in-law with a burning gaze, "So we have to take him down."
Beckett didn't know the true relationship between the bald man and Cassel. He was puzzled by his strange look. At the same time, Cassel's phone suddenly rang.
(End of this chapter)