Legendary FBI Detective-Chapter 325: The Los Angeles Central Library Theft Case

Hearing Reesi's words, Mona rose from Luo An's embrace, and Luo An, unflustered, straightened himself and calmly asked:

"What phone did you call Michelle on?"

Since that Tuesday when the Special Investigation Team was given a break, Michelle had been living a homebody lifestyle.

Michelle had three phones: one for dealing with non-urgent matters like insurance companies and landlords, another for contacting daily acquaintances, friends, and former colleagues, and the last one for receiving mission calls from Luo An's Special Investigation Team.

Most times, Reesi would call Michelle on the second phone, but both of the first two phones could easily be ignored by Michelle when she was absorbed in reading, hence Luo An asked Reesi this question.

"I called both the second and the third one."

Reesi explained over the phone:

"Michelle ran out of food these past few days, she asked me for help to deliver some food to her.

But when I got to her door, I found nobody home, and couldn't contact her through the phone either."

Lately, to spend more time reading, Michelle had been consuming ready-made meals that she bought beforehand.

"OK."

Luo An frowned slightly upon hearing this; although Michelle was obsessive about reading, she was usually clear about priorities and rarely unreachable.

After pondering for a few seconds, Luo An said into the phone:

"Reesi, check Michelle's room and the building's surveillance carefully, I will go..."

Luo An did not finish his sentence when suddenly Mona's phone rang.

Mona picked it up and saw it was Michelle calling.

Seeing this, Luo An immediately stopped speaking, and Mona, with a serious expression, pressed the answer button and her facial expressions turned odd after a few seconds.

After hanging up, Mona, looking at Luo An's puzzled face, said with a mix of laughter and tears:

"Michelle is now at the LAPD, the Los Angeles Library's books have gone missing, and the LAPD suspects Michelle is the thief."

"..."

————

Half an hour later, inside the LAPD police station.

After showing their IDs, Luo An quickly got a clear picture of the entire incident from a chief of police.

Last night around eleven o'clock, the LAPD received a report from Los Angeles Central Library, saying their security system had been sabotaged, and then they discovered that some priceless original books were stolen.

The original works of those books were very valuable, and upon hearing this, the LAPD immediately dispatched officers and quickly pulled surveillance from both inside and outside the library.

They then found in the library's surveillance and borrowing records:

Two weeks ago, Michelle had frequently visited the library to borrow copies of those books, hadn't come to the library a week ago, and then visited again three days ago to borrow copies of those books.

The timing was a bit too coincidental, so the LAPD considered Michelle as a suspect and asked her to come to the LAPD station to assist with the investigation.

After understanding the situation, along with Reesi and others vouching for her, Michelle was soon allowed to leave the LAPD station.

"Michelle, you really gave us quite a fright!"

Mona's car slowly moved forward, Reesi slapped Michelle's arm firmly, laughing and saying:

"I thought someone had kidnapped you!"

Michelle expressed her apologies:

"I'm really sorry."

"It's fine as long as you're safe."

Luo An, sitting in the passenger seat, glanced at the rearview mirror and casually asked:

"By the way, which specific books were stolen from Los Angeles Central Library?"

"Mainly books and original manuscripts on European and American themes from around 1000-1500 AD."

Speaking of these, Michelle's eyes lit up:

"Those are all very valuable books. After I arrived in Los Angeles, I submitted a request to the library to view the originals, but it was never approved. I was about ready to use the FBI's case handling as a reason."

...

Upon hearing this, Luo An and the others cast a peculiar look at Michelle.

Had it not been for the fact that they knew Michelle had been staying at home these days, and that Michelle had an average physique, simple social relations in Los Angeles, and was not good with computers, they might have started suspecting that Michelle was the thief who stole those books.

Seeing their gazes, Michelle was slightly startled and then a bit embarrassed:

"Sorry."

"No worries."

Luo An casually responded, and Mona, who was driving, thought for a moment and asked:

"Michelle, you just mentioned those books are very valuable. Are you referring to in terms of knowledge, or monetary value?"

This case belonged to LAPD, and the library wouldn't seek FBI's help, nor would the FBI get involved on their own. Even if the FBI did intervene, there was no need for their Special Investigation Team to step in, so Mona was just a bit curious.

"Both aspects."

Hearing Mona's question, Michelle thought for a moment and explained:

"There's no need to elaborate on the knowledge aspect. Many federal experts and professors rely on those original books and materials to complete their research.

As for the monetary aspect..."

Michelle scratched his head, paused for a few seconds before saying:

"If it's someone who really loves this kind of books, they are likely to offer a very high price."

Reesi, curious, leaned in and asked:

"How high is it?"

"From two hundred thousand to eight hundred thousand dollars."

Michelle said:

"It might even exceed eight hundred thousand dollars."

"Wow."

Reesi opened her mouth in amazement, and Luo An laughed:

"That's the value of knowledge." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

The four chatted and laughed all the way back to Michelle's house. Mona and Reesi had visited before, but it was Luo An's first time.

Upon entering the room and glancing around, then hearing about it from Michelle herself, Luo An raised his eyebrows, realizing that the Michelle at home was completely different from the Michelle at work.

At work, Michelle was serious about her duties, never procrastinating and diligently completing each task.

She wore no unnecessary jewelry, dressed properly, and was in great spirits.

At home, Michelle said her schedule had been quite chaotic these past few days; she would read until she was sleepy, then sleep, and upon waking, she would continue reading. With the curtains drawn and the lights on, she couldn't tell whether it was day or night outside.

She ate pre-made fast food, but the room wasn't as messy as one might imagine; instead, it was orderly:

To the left of the living room were several stacks of books and a desk where Michelle read and took notes.

To the right was the bedroom, which only had a folding bed and a long clothing rack.

Michelle slept and changed clothes here; the rack mostly held clothes Michelle wore to work, and her casual clothes were few, not even a tenth of Mona's.

Besides that, the room was very clean, with trash neatly organized outside the door, and food stored within easy reach. Michelle herself was a bit disheveled in terms of clothes and hair but otherwise very tidy.

Seeing this Michelle, who had minimized her desires for food and amusement to the bare minimum, Luo An had nothing to say besides admiring her. He casually fixed a broken lamp, then prepared to leave with Mona and Reesi.

Reesi shook her head, indicating she'd stay a bit longer as she had some questions to ask Michelle.

Her secretive demeanor piqued the curiosity of Luo An and Mona, but since Reesi steadfastly refused to divulge more, Luo An and Mona didn't inquire further and turned to leave.