The world of American TV series: Starting with the L.A. Patrol.

Chapter 1197 Explosion, bad news from New York

"Cutting off the ears means not hearing, cutting off the tongue means shutting up because of the threat, then blinding the eyes means not seeing."

After listening to Jack's report, Jubal asked after a moment of silence, "Then why did they kidnap the mayor's wife? Although she is not completely innocent, she should have little to do with this matter, right?"

"I don't know, and Mayor Brad Smith himself doesn't know, that Greg blinded him and took his wife after he accused him of failing to do his job and turning a blind eye to the evil deeds of Griffin Coal and Electric."

Jack really couldn't guess what the Hammond brothers would do next, and Jubal could only continue to urge the state police and highway patrol to set up checkpoints on all main roads and search for the two cars from the mayor's house.

However, before he and Jiejie could get back to Griffin's house, they received another call from Jubal, informing them to go directly to a gallery in the suburbs of Birmingham where an explosion had just occurred.

By the time the two arrived at the explosion site, the ERT and bomb disposal team from the local FBI office had already cordoned off the scene.

After taking out his ID to show his identity, Jack entered the blockade and said hello to Jubal who had arrived earlier. "How bad is the situation?"

"Four people died on the spot, a clerk and two customers. The deceased wearing a bomb vest was confirmed to be Linda Smith, the kidnapped mayor's wife." Jubal's face had turned as black as the bottom of a pot at this time.

"No one injured?"

Jack was a little surprised when he got the affirmative answer. He had experienced many explosion cases and could roughly estimate the power of the bomb by just taking a quick look at the scene.

The gallery where the explosion occurred was located on the first floor of a three-story brownstone building, approximately only about 100 to 200 square meters.

Although the scene seemed to be in a mess and all the glass windows facing the street were blown away, the glass on the street side of a car parked at the main entrance was still intact, with only the side facing the direction of the explosion being shattered.

Combining the previous intelligence about the two raw materials used by the Raymond brothers to make explosives, plus the bomb vest that Jubal mentioned, the bomb they made could not be too powerful.

The situation at the scene also proved this point. The glass of other shops just across the street from the gallery was all intact, and the overall structure of the building where the gallery was located was not damaged.

It wasn't until Jack walked to the front of the store and saw the nuts and triangles inlaid on the door of the car facing the gallery that he realized what was going on.

In order to increase the power of the bomb, the Raymond brothers directly added extra fragments into the bomb vests. How insidious!

"What's the problem with this gallery?" Jack asked Alice who was walking towards him with a tablet.

The reason I ask this is that if the killing was simply to vent anger, he could have just killed his wife in front of the mayor. There was no need to make a homemade bomb vest.

"This gallery also belongs to the Griffin family. As we all know, investing in art is convenient for transferring assets and avoiding taxes." Alice handed the tablet to Jack.

"Aubrey and Hannah went back to Blue Springs to interview some of the plaintiffs who had gone to court, some of whom were former employees of Griffin Coal and Electric Company.

They complained in court that they didn’t get paid for their sick leave, while the Griffin family spent a lot of money on art.”

"So this is also a statement, but it is clear that the Raymond brothers' criminal methods have escalated. In order to achieve their revenge goals, they are no longer hesitant to attack innocent people."

Jubal said, looking at Jack who was looking down in thought, "Any ideas?"

"The explosive vest must have been detonated by remote control, right?"

Jack's question made Jubal slightly stunned. "That should be the case. They can force Linda Smith to walk into the gallery wearing a bomb vest, but they can't force her to manually press the detonation button."

He reacted immediately, "I immediately notified ERT to look for the remains of the mobile phone. They probably used the mobile phone to detonate it not far away."

"No need. I can directly use the nearest signal tower to find the phone that was connected at the moment of the explosion." Alice looked around and shrugged.

"Fortunately, this is not the bustling New York, otherwise this kind of investigation would not be faster than directly searching for the remains of the phone."

"Let me take a call first." Jack showed his cell phone to his teammates and walked to the side.

The call was still from Cassel, but his voice sounded a little sad this time. He told Jack the bad news that Beckett's immediate superior, Chief Roy Montgomery of the 12th Precinct of the NYPD, had died.

This news surprised Jack. Although he didn't have much contact with the serious-looking bald black police captain and they were just nodding acquaintances, he knew that the relationship between him and Beckett was extraordinary.

The relationship between the two of them is almost equivalent to that of Jack and Rossi. The reason why Beckett was able to become a detective in a male-dominated police station at such a young age is inseparable from the strong support of Commissioner Roy Montgomery.

However, before Jack could ask in detail, Jiejie came over and said, "Jack, Alice found the cell phone used to detonate the bomb, and the signal shows that they are on the other side of the city."

Everything was just coming together. Jack cursed inwardly and walked quickly towards the Subaru he had driven. At the same time, he told Cassel on the phone to keep an eye on Beckett and not do anything stupid. He could wait until he got back to New York to discuss everything.

"They are driving on Maple Leaf Road. It doesn't look like they are going to leave the city." Alice, sitting in the back seat, held a tablet in her hands and reported the location of the tracking phone from time to time.

Beside her, Aubrey was frantically putting on a bulletproof vest, still mumbling, "I don't understand, why didn't they turn off the phone?"

"Because it was an anonymous phone, they didn't expect us to find the number through the signal tower." Jack explained casually.

He was not in a very good mood at the moment and was trying hard to clear his mind of distractions and focus on the case at hand.

"Brother Raymond didn't leave the city. It's very likely that he is looking for other targets for revenge. Alice, take a look at the buildings in the direction they are heading."

"Uh, the next block has a dry cleaner, a supermarket, and the next block has a restaurant and a law firm." Alice's fingertips slid quickly across the screen.

"Wait a minute." Aubrey paused, "The lawyer defending Griffin!"

"Wait a minute." Alice switched the screen. "Andy Witherspoon, yes, that law firm."

"Notify the nearest patrol officer to block the intersection and ask people nearby to leave there." Jack simply turned on the siren and stepped hard on the accelerator.