Legendary FBI Detective-Chapter 389: "Wildcat Bullet," A Talent for Prison

Special Investigation Team, office area.

"Kidnapping case?"

Luo An's eyes narrowed slightly as he asked:

"What exactly happened?"

"Obaid's daughter is a college student, just came of age."

Mona tapped the keyboard a few times to retrieve the case file from the legal system and responded:

"A few months ago, one evening, Obaid's daughter encountered a kidnapping on her way back to her college dorm after a part-time job.

Initially, the perpetrator only intended to extort money, but upon seeing Obaid's daughter's good looks, he had other designs.

Forty-some hours after the incident, the Victim Services Department found Obaid's daughter with many injuries on her body and her mental state quite unstable.

In court, the lawyer presented a report that the criminal had consumed cocaine and had pre-existing mental issues during the crime, so Judge Taylor Davis did not agree to Obaid's request for a death sentence or life imprisonment, and instead sentenced a few years of imprisonment."

After listening to Mona's narration and seeing the records of Obaid's daughter's several months of psychological counseling, and noting that her mental state still had not improved and she even withdrew from college, Luo An commented softly:

"An angry father would do anything for his daughter."

Michelle nodded beside him, while Mona pursed her lips and said nothing.

Just then, the landline phone beside them suddenly rang. Michelle picked up, exchanged a few words, then hung up and turned around:

"The trace evidence department says that the ballistic report for this case and the crime scene report are done, but the autopsy report will take some more time. I'm going downstairs to retrieve them now."

"OK, thanks for your hard work."

Michelle turned to leave, while Luo An patted Mona on the shoulder and headed towards the equipment room:

"Let's go, Mona, come with me to talk to this father."

————

Obaid's gun shop is located in Southern Los Angeles, a large store with simple and crude decor. As soon as Luo An pushed the door open, he saw several rifle barrels pointing at him.

The gun shop owner, Obaid himself, had a tough and intimidating presence, tall and burly, clearly not someone to be trifled with.

"FBI."

Faced with a clerk coming over to inquire about his and Mona's needs, Luo An promptly took out his gold FBI badge to show the clerk, then consciously ignoring Obaid's unfriendly gaze, he approached and spoke calmly:

"Hello, Mr. Obaid, We need to talk."

Mona casually glanced at Luo An, while Obaid stared at Luo An for a few seconds, then snorted coldly, tossed the gun he was cleaning back to the clerk, and walked toward a room in the back of the gun shop:

"Let's talk there. Don't disrupt my business!"

In a room meant for temporary rest, Obaid poured himself a drink and downed it in one gulp, with no intention of offering Luo An and Mona any. He went straight to the point:

"What do you want with me?"

"Just wanted to ask you about something."

Glancing at the somewhat dirty cup, Luo An dismissed the idea of pouring himself a drink and asked:

"Where were you this morning?"

"I was sleeping at home!"

Obaid was quick-witted. Immediately after answering, he pieced together many possible scenarios, then leaned forward abruptly with a stern face and said to Luo An:

"I don't know what kind of case you've stumbled upon, but whatever it is, it's got nothing to do with me!"

"OK."

Luo An nodded. On their way here, Mona had been checking the surveillance records of Obaid's neighborhood community, and indeed, it showed that since Obaid returned home, he had been with his wife and daughter the whole time and had not left the house.

At this point, they could temporarily rule out Obaid as a suspect, meaning Luo An and Mona didn't have to visit this gun store. But then they received a new message sent by Michelle.

Luo An took out a photo from his pocket, which was of the bullet head left behind at the crime scene.

Michelle indicated that according to the Forensic Sciences Division's analysis, they could confirm that it was a modified "wildcat round." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

"Wildcat rounds" are bullets created by federal shooting enthusiasts, usually by modifying existing commercial rounds to improve ammunition performance, such as higher kinetic energy and straighter flying trajectories.

Many people are capable of making these bullets, and a gun store owner is definitely one of them, especially since Obaid has been working in gun stores for over a decade.

"Our records show that Mr. Obaid, you have participated six times in the Los Angeles Gun Association, gun shows, and have even served as a judge for bullets once."

Luo An handed the photo to Obaid and said calmly:

"You can definitely identify whose workmanship is on this bullet, right?"

"I'm sorry, but with age, I couldn't see it."

Obaid took a quick glance at the photo and handed it back to Luo An in less than a second, responding:

"Can you leave now?"

Luo An, who had been observing Obaid closely, clearly noticed the unnatural expression that flashed across Obaid's face when he looked at the bullet in the photo. Therefore, Luo An did not take back the photo; instead, he smiled and glanced around, saying:

"The federal law stipulates that removing serial numbers from firearms is illegal. I just happened to see a pistol without a serial number in your store."

Obaid's face turned colder as he sneered:

"In the federal system, experienced people can simply buy parts from various stores to assemble their own submachine guns. Are you planning to arrest me over the serial number on a gun? To arrest me over such a trivial matter?"

"To us, indeed it's not a big deal, but for you, it might be.

Afterward, you could face a fine of 10,000 US dollars and 3-6 months of incarceration, and your gun shop might be closed for a while."

Before Luo An could respond, Mona, who had been silent next to him, spread her hands and gestured to the photo in Obaid's hand with a chin nod, saying:

"All of this, simply because you clearly know of a clue but deliberately chose not to tell us."

Upon hearing this, Obaid suddenly glared at Mona with rage on his face, while Mona also fearlessly met his gaze.

Luo An furrowed his brows slightly; he sympathized with the plight of Obaid's daughter and could understand Obaid's emotions and thoughts. The stiffness and hostility in Obaid's eyes were things Luo An could choose to overlook.

But that was not a reason for Obaid's refusal to cooperate. Who knows if the murderer, apart from targeting Judge Taylor Davis, still had other targets in mind.

If because of Obaid's refusal to cooperate, the murderer went on to kill others, on whose conscience would those lives weigh?

"Hmph!"

The air in the room grew quiet for a moment. Obaid, with an irritated look, snorted coldly and flipped the photo to write a string of letters on the back before stuffing it into Luo An's chest, saying coldly:

"This is his name and address. Go find him yourself, and from now on, stop harassing me, OK?"

Luo An chuckled, passing the photo to Mona, and they left the room together to get into the SUV, preparing to use a laptop to look up the person's identity information.

In the SUV's passenger seat, Mona quickly found the individual based on the information on the back of the photo:

"Heks Lawrence, 43 years old, had multiple prison entries in his youth, now an organizer of a gun club in the southeast of Los Angeles."

"Another ex-con talent."

Looking at the chubby middle-aged white man in the photo, Luo An started the SUV and headed towards Southeast Los Angeles, then asked:

"Do Heks or Heks' family or friends have any connections with Judge Taylor Davis?"