They showed their IDs and left their luggage in the care of the janitor. After asking for directions, they headed for the Organized Crime Control Bureau office.
After wandering around the largest local police department in the country for almost an hour, Elsa and Luke finally found Berit Joel, the Organized Crime Control Bureau officer whom they were supposed to work with.
This Berit was only a sheriff, and just a tad higher in rank than Luke.
LAPD was paying attention to this case because the death of a famous star in their jurisdiction was too significant.
But for NYPD, Sergei Mazanov was just one of countless gangsters in New York, and wasn’t really a big deal.
Berit had been told to work with Luke and Elsa mostly because he had been investigating Sergei’s gang.
He wasn’t exactly friendly toward his colleagues from Los Angeles.
To quote Elsa when she had dinner with Luke, Berit was a piece of sh*t. He clearly didn’t like strangers meddling in his case.
Looking at them, Berit said coldly, “Let me remind you that you don’t have law enforcement powers here, so you better not use your guns, or things will become troublesome.”
Elsa didn’t respond. This wasn’t her first work trip, and she was used to hostility.
Luke wasn’t bothered, either.
The lack of law enforcement power just meant that he couldn’t be the first to use his gun.
If an enemy pulled a gun on him, however, he had the right to defend himself as a civilian.
Before they were dismissed, Elsa asked, “Can I ask, when will we get started on the investigation?”
Frowning, Berit said, “That’s confidential. I can’t tell you anything.”
Elsa, however, didn’t give up. “Excuse me, but are you planning to work the case yourself?”
Berit choked.
If he said yes, he would definitely be scolded.
The Los Angeles Police Department had paid a price to send Luke and Elsa here.
He didn’t know what the price was yet, but if Berit kept them off the case, it wouldn’t end too well for him.
After a brief silence, Berit said, “You can work at any empty desk here. I’ll let you know when there are updates.”
Elsa nodded.
All she needed to ensure was that Berit wouldn’t be stupid enough to try and catch Sergei without them.
They were about to leave, when Berit added, “It’ll take three to five days to plan the arrest. You can get some rest first.”
They nodded, showing that they got it. They then found an empty desk in the bullpen.
Elsa asked Luke, “How do you feel? Are you mad?”
Luke shook his head. “We’d treat them the same if they came over to our place. There’s nothing to be angry about.”
Elsa nodded with a smile. “That’s right. This case isn’t our call, anyway. Let’s just wait.”
Luke shrugged and rolled his eyes. “I’ll find us a hotel first. I can take your luggage with me while I’m at it.”
Elsa naturally agreed.
Other newcomers would’ve been obliged to do so, anyway, but after Luke’s astonishing performance on the plane, Elsa wasn’t planning on asking him to.
Now that Luke had volunteered, she certainly wouldn’t reject it.
Luke took their bags and called Bell, the black taxi driver. “Hi, is this Bell? This is Luke, I took your cab earlier. That’s right. I’m looking for a cheap and comfortable hotel near NYPD. What do you suggest? Okay. I’ll tip you a hundred dollars if it’s decent.”
Bell soon arrived.
She had obviously been in the area.
She greeted Luke warmly and invited him to take the passenger seat, which was unusual, because cab drivers were scared of robbers, too.
Luke gave her a high-five with a smile. “Hey, you’re truly a racer. How were you so fast?”
Bell was pretty happy.
Most people tended to be unfriendly toward a black female driver.
Luke was handsome and gentle, which appealed to Bell.
So, they had an enjoyable conversation on the way.
Bell was indeed familiar with New York. She claimed that she knew every corner of it.
However, it was Brooklyn and Queens that she knew best, while she was the least familiar with Manhattan.
Luke knew why.
Manhattan was a much richer area than Brooklyn and Queens, and few people in Manhattan would’ve called for her cab or used her previous cheap food delivery service.
Luke subtly steered the conversation toward drug dealers.
Bell was clearly nothing like the stereotype. She was a hard worker, and the only illegal activity she indulged in as a hobby was racing, which wasn’t worth mentioning compared with drug abuse and violent crime.
She spoke quickly and dumped a whole lot of information about drug dealers on Luke.
It was barely possible for Luke to remember all the names.
How many gangs had she mentioned? 27? 31?
And that was only Brooklyn. Bell hadn’t even started talking about Queens yet.
Luke couldn’t help but think that there were many fat lambs in this city waiting for him to feed on.
Suddenly, he heard something interesting.
“I heard that someone’s been sorting out the drug dealers in recent years, and many of them have been taken down. The big gangs are still around, but many of the smaller gangs were wiped out overnight,” said Bell excitedly.
Luke found that odd. “And you’re not angry?” He was certain that many gangsters in Brooklyn were African Americans.
Was it really alright for Bell to describe their misfortune so delightedly?
Bell glared at him and said, “Hey! Remember that these people are all corrupt scumbags. Besides, many Eastern European and Latino gangs were also wiped out for selling illegal drugs. Whoever did it doesn’t care about race.”
Luke raised his hands and apologized. “Sorry, my bad.” But he was curious about the person who had gotten rid of more than one group of drug dealers.
Bell snorted at his apology and added, “I heard that whoever it is might be a drug dealer, too, since they swallowed up all the goods and money of the dead drug dealers.”
Deep in thought, Luke wondered what he should do.
His plan had always been to eliminate a few groups of drug dealers.