Empire of Shadows

Allen tried his best not to show any abnormality on his face.

Earlier, Elvin had told him that there were still moles within the family, possibly even right beside him.

About fifteen people had been to the temporary warehouse recently, and now that the warehouse had been discovered, the problem most likely stemmed from these fifteen individuals.

Deresi was from the second batch of their own people. They had all done life-threatening things together, and Lance had always treated them very well, never lacking in money or status, so they basically wouldn't actively defect to Lucar.

Captains like Allen had their identities thoroughly investigated, so they wouldn't act rashly either.

That left only eleven people as potential suspects.

This damned number meant that there was a three in eleven chance that there was a mole among Allen's men.

All three of them were his closest friends, whether it was Beno or the others, he really didn't want the problem to originate from his side.

But now, he had to be vigilant and start paying attention to these people.

The group walked out, and two guys wearing baseball caps walked in from outside.

Beno's gaze quickly lingered on their faces before he revealed a smile.

The two also smiled at them. After all, they were a particularly popular team recently. Beno noticed some splattered bloodstains on one of the baseball caps, not knowing what they had been up to outside.

Everyone knew each other, exchanged greetings, and then went their separate ways.

Standing at the door, Beno turned to watch the two push open Lance's office and Elvin casually close the door behind them.

He turned his head and continued walking out with Allen.

Inside the office, the two young men handed the brown paper bag in their hands to Lance, and also briefly explained the whole process of how they dealt with Lucar.

After listening carefully, Lance praised them with considerable appreciation, "A very outstanding decision, even more excellent than I imagined!"

"You didn't use firearms, but used readily available baseball bats. To the higher-ups, although the nature of the case is terrible, the means of committing the crime have been reduced by two levels of intensity, which can also make the coincidence seem more real."

"Go to Melo's place to collect your bonuses, and take a break for the next two days."

The two young men put down their things, put their arms around each other's shoulders, and left with beaming smiles. Taking down Lucar would at least allow them to get a bonus of more than two thousand.

With this money, they could live a carefree life for a long time!

In the room, Lance opened the brown paper bag and dumped the contents onto the table.

"Wallet."

He opened the wallet and glanced at it. There were about thirty dollars in cash inside, as well as some loose change.

He poured out the money and checked it. There was also a photo in the wallet. It looked like an old photo and didn't resemble Lucar very much. It should be someone like his parents.

Inside was his driver's license, vehicle registration, and his police badge.

Lance actually quite liked this police badge. The federal government had obviously put some thought into the production of the law enforcement department's badges.

The top was an eagle representing the Federation, and the bottom was a triangular shield with the full name of the Hazardous Materials Administration on it.

In the middle were two dolphins surrounding a pair of crossed swords representing law enforcement power, and above the swords was a balance representing law and fairness.

Finally, there was the agent's level and agent number.

The difficulty of counterfeiting such a badge was actually not low, so it was itself a kind of anti-counterfeiting mark.

However, this also led to the current situation of people impersonating it, and definitely more than one person.

Besides this, there were also a few keys, a pistol, a spare magazine, and a notebook.

He picked it up and glanced at it before putting it back. It was worthless; it was all written in cipher.

The large number of letter and number combinations made people dizzy at a glance. Without any reference, even a master of codes couldn't crack it, let alone the fact that there was no master of codes here.

With everything laid out, Lance pressed his fingers together like a steeple.

"There's nothing we want here, maybe it's in his office or home."

He picked and chose among the keys, classifying them, and put two of them aside.

"These seem like they should be the keys to his house, the front door and the garage."

Then there were the other few, "These look a little smaller in size, very much like the keys to filing cabinets or drawers, they should be for his office."

Besides that, there was also a key that seemed a little different, not like an ordinary key, a bit "out of place."

"I can't figure this out, I'll find someone to ask about it later."

Lance picked up the phone and dialed Ponda's number, "Come to the old place later, I have something I need you to do."

"Got it…"

Ponda immediately hung up the phone. Although he had begun to accept this kind of life, he still felt a little uneasy when Lance's phone rang on his desk.

Lance bundled the keys separately and sent the other trash into the trash.

Half an hour later, Ponda left the Hazardous Materials Administration after work. He drove his car and didn't go straight home, but went to a roadside restaurant he often frequented.

He chose a position further inside, and after waiting for the food to be served, he ate for a while before getting up and heading towards the restroom.

He didn't go to the restroom, but left directly from the back door and came to the back alley.

Lance's car was here.

The operator of this restaurant was an Imperial, so the boss was very cooperative.

Ponda opened the car door and got into the car, "Mr. Lance, you should try not to call me directly. If I don't answer, and someone who knows you answers the phone, I might be exposed!"

After listening, Lance nodded, "You're right. Next time I call you, you say banana first."

"If you say that word, I'll know it's you, and I'll speak. Otherwise, I won't say anything."

"Okay…

then!"

Ponda was helpless about this, "What do you need me to do when you called me out today?"

"If you're asking about Lucar's matter, I'm not too sure. He might still have moles, but I don't know who it is. I haven't heard him mention it."

He had also heard that Lance had another warehouse investigated.

He thought Lance was asking him about this matter, and he didn't want to get involved. Now he and Lisa were living a happy life and didn't want to be disturbed by others.

Lance took out a set of keys and handed them over.

He looked at Lance with some confusion. Lance explained, "These are the keys to Lucar's office, and the keys to his cabinets. Find a way to go over and see if there's anything of value."

"This mole definitely couldn't have no records at all. He must have recorded it somewhere, maybe on a piece of paper, or maybe in a file."

"See if you can find it and bring it out."

Ponda looked at the keys in his hand in disbelief, "Did you steal them from him?"

"You guys are really crazy. He'll go crazy when he finds out the keys are gone!"

Lance didn't say anything, just looked at him in the carriage.

It was very dark here, but his eyes were very bright, reflecting the cold light of the night.

Being stared at by Lance's eyes, Ponda gradually held his breath, and his expression became a little frightened!

"Don't tell me…"

Lance interrupted him, "You will know. Now your job is to bring out anything suspicious, or anything I'm interested in."

Senior agents all had their own independent offices, and they weren't in the hall, which meant that as long as he sneaked in, no one would find out.

Although there was some risk, Ponda had no reason to refuse.

He was silent, as if using silence to resist Lance's request.

Lance put his arm around his shoulder and patted him, "We're friends, I wouldn't hurt you, right?"

"Look, you've already made several contributions. If I give you some more information, is it possible for you to move up again?"

"Ponda, you're not alone anymore, think about yourself, think about Lisa, I heard she's pregnant?"

Mentioning his wife, Ponda's expression changed a little, somewhat embarrassed, and even a little hateful!

Finally, he sighed heavily, "If they find out about me…"

"I'll help you get acquitted. If you really lose this job because of me, I'll find you another decent job."

"Ponda, we're friends, friends won't sit idly by and watch their friends live unhappy lives!"

Two minutes later, Ponda returned to the restaurant with a heavy heart. He quickly cleared up the remaining food and pushed the door open and left.

He drove his car back to the Hazardous Materials Administration again. The guard didn't find his return strange. There were also people on duty and working here at night.

Moreover, the bar usually only started operating after dark, so many people worked here at night. The guard just glanced at him and withdrew his gaze. He turned up the radio again, which was playing a vulgar story, making him feel excited!

Lucar's office was on the fourth floor. Most of the other people's offices were on the second and third floors. Ponda's own desk was in the hall on the third floor, with many people together.

He went directly to the fourth floor from the stairs. The corridor was quiet.

Many ordinary administrative offices had already closed their doors. These offices didn't need to work the night shift.

He found Lucar's office and easily opened the door with the key in his hand.

The moment he entered here, his heart, which had been hanging, was put down.

At the same time, he also began to have some curiosity, curious about what strange things were in the office of this senior agent?

Delving into other people's privacy is an evil thought that humans can never truly dispel. He sat in Lucar's chair, leaning back, and Blue Lance's promise inadvertently surfaced in his mind.

He also had the opportunity to become a senior agent, to have his own office, and for those in the hall to listen to his orders and commands!

At the same time, Blue Lance's motorcade arrived at the community where Lucar lived. With a luxury car leading the way, and Blue Lance presenting his credentials, the gatekeeper quickly granted them access.

He straightened his attire, looking at Elvin, "Do I look like an agent now?"

Elvin suppressed a laugh, "You look exactly like one!"

It was so hot, and only these "important people" would wear a suit.

He walked to the outside of Lucar's house and pressed the doorbell.

"Coming!"

A cheerful voice came from inside, and the door quickly opened. The hostess's smile immediately turned wary, "I don't recognize you. Who are you looking for?"

Blue Lance displayed Lucar's police badge, quickly putting it away. He wore a soft felt hat.

The dim yellow light bulb above the front door was blocked by the hat, and the light shining from inside the door could only illuminate his chin.

"I'm Lucar's colleague. He asked me to come and get a few things for him, from his study."

The hostess breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, "He said he didn't have any operations tonight."

Although she couldn't see Blue Lance's face, she could see the smile on the lower half of his face, "You know, emergency missions are always like this."

The hostess suddenly realized that it wasn't good to talk at the door, and she quickly let Blue Lance in, "What should I call you?"

"John, just call me John."

She stood by the door, "Let me have your hat and coat, I'll hang them up for you."

Blue Lance shook his head, "No, I'll be leaving soon, so I won't bother."

The hostess was very warm and polite, "Can I get you some water, coffee, or juice?"

"Really, I don't need anything, thank you very much for your hospitality, but I'll be leaving shortly…"

He paused, "Can you lead me to the study?"

The hostess quickly nodded, "Of course, please come with me."

As she walked, she asked, "I don't want to inquire about his affairs, I just want to know… when will you be finished?"

"Is there something urgent?"

The hostess's face was slightly flushed, but she didn't say anything. It wasn't that she didn't trust this John.

He was trusted by Lucar and entrusted to come to the house to get things, so they must have a very good relationship.

She just hoped that the first person to know the news besides her would be her husband, so she smiled.

Blue Lance already had some speculation, but he didn't say it, "I'll tell him."

The two arrived outside a door, and she pushed it open, "This is the study. Call me anytime if you need anything, I'll be in the living room!"

"He doesn't really like me entering his study, so I probably can't help much!"

"It's okay, I can manage myself!"

Blue Lance entered the room, and the moment he closed the door and turned around, he was suddenly stunned, then couldn't help but laugh.

Lucar's study had a huge blackboard, and Blue Lance's photo was pinned in the middle, surrounded by many other people's photos and introductions, all connected by different colored lines.

The desk was also covered with scattered documents, mostly reports about the Blue Lance family.

Hanging on the wall was a map of Goldport City with many circles drawn on it, especially the Imperial District, which had many markings. Several of them had circled Blue Lance's warehouses.

He had been analyzing!

Blue Lance picked up a document at random, which listed the locations of Blue Lance's seized bars, and then, based on the statements of some customers, obtained the delivery intervals.

Then, he used these intervals to deduce where the warehouse might be.

Looking at the map, he had circled it correctly, but in reality, the city was very large, and a small circle here was a large area on the map.

Although the Dangerous Goods Administration had its own judicial office, it couldn't approve search warrants indefinitely.

So, even if he had a guess, it could only be a guess in the end.

He noticed that the seized bars had different characteristics.

Some of the seized bars only had newspaper clippings pinned to them, but for several of the seized bars, he used handwritten notes pinned with thumbtacks.

Seeing this, Blue Lance had a guess that perhaps the previous bars were not seized by his people.

Only the subsequent seizures of these few bars were through his personal contact with the undercover agent and the information obtained.

He took these notes off the blackboard and put them in a kraft paper bag.

Then, he turned around, roughly searched and didn't find anything like a safe, and returned to the chair behind the desk.

The things in the drawer were very messy and didn't have much value. After quickly looking at them, he selected several neatly and carelessly written documents and put them in a file bag.

These would be compared with the notes to confirm whether the notes were written by Lucar himself or by the undercover agent.

After doing all this, after scanning around and thinking that there were no problems, he reopened the door.

The hostess was walking towards him with coffee, looking at him coming out with some astonishment, "I thought it would take a while, would you like to try my coffee?"

Unable to refuse the hospitality, Blue Lance smiled, picked up the coffee, and took a sip, "Very delicious, that Lucar is really enviable!"

The hostess smiled happily, "You flatter me too much!"

Blue Lance took two more sips, put the coffee cup back, "Thank you for your hospitality, but I really have to leave."

She put down the plate and took the initiative to lead Blue Lance towards the outside, "I'll open the door for you."

Blue Lance stood at the door, holding his hat in one hand, "Goodbye, Madam."

"Goodbye, Mr. John."

She watched John get into the car before withdrawing her gaze.

It was strange, she didn't have a deep impression of this Mr. John, only knowing that he was polite and easy to talk to, but his appearance was vague.

He hadn't taken off his hat from the time he came in until he left.

What a strange person!

Sitting in the car, Blue Lance took off his hat and smoothed his hair, "Go to the Imperial Branch."

The driver quickly changed the route, and the car quickly merged back into the traffic and disappeared.

Twenty minutes later, Blue Lance appeared in the office of the Imperial Branch Chief. Interestingly, he was sitting in the position of the Imperial Branch Chief, while the Imperial Branch Chief was sitting in the position that should have been for visitors.

"Are there any handwriting experts here?"

"Someone who can determine whether handwriting was written by the same person."

From more than thirty years ago, the Federation has used handwriting trace evidence as valid court evidence, but at that time the identification and development of this evidence was very slow, and there were not many people who could do it.

In fact, there are not many now. There are only four handwriting identification experts in the entire Licarai State, but fortunately, there is one in Goldport City, who is a consultant to the City Police Department…