Meet the father-in-law [Comprehensive]

-1998, Metropolis metropolis-

"Agent Hotchner, are you free now?"

Hodge, who was discussing the details with Detective Henderson, turned around and looked at the speaking female police officer with questioning eyes.

"What is it, Laura?"

"We, uh, ran into some trouble. The girl from Dylan's family didn't respond to our questioning. Considering you brought her here, I think—"

"I understand, I'll go right away."

Hodge explained a few words to Detective Henderson, emphasizing some precautions, and then followed Laura to the reception room.They found the little girl a small room surrounded by glass windows, which was quiet and transparent.Before opening the door, Hodge noticed that the little girl was still wearing his suit jacket.

"Didn't you find anything else for her, a blanket or something?" Hodge stopped Laura from opening the door and asked in a low voice.

Laura shook her head helplessly: "She doesn't want us to touch her, if you need urgently—"

"It's nothing, that's it. Laura, you will stand at the door later, don't talk, don't close the door, and don't let others get too close here, okay?"

After the man finished speaking, he unscrewed the door, and just like before, he slowed down and walked to the little girl.

"Hi, do you remember me? I'm Aaron Hotchner, we met before, you can call me Aaron."

The little girl's originally stiff and empty eyes gradually focused and settled on his face.She remembered him, was willing to meet his eyes, and would respond to his words—a good sign.

"Can you tell me your name, cutie?"

"...Lily, they call me Lily."

The little girl finally spoke, her voice was soft and cute, but Huo Qi's attention was not there.

— not "My name is Lily," but "They call me Lily."

——Has she been abused by her parents?Was there an accident before, or was it just because of the shooting just now?

Hodge let out a breath silently, keeping a smile on his face, and his voice was soft.

"Lily, I need your help, can you help me?"

The little girl blinked her blue eyes, hesitated for a moment, and nodded to Hodge.

"Do you remember the bad guy just now? For example, his appearance and the clothes he was wearing?" Hodge said as he stretched out his hand to straighten the coat that was draped over Lily, and looked at her with an encouraging look, " Don't be afraid, I'm here, right in front of you, and I'll protect you."

All five shootings took place in back streets in the dead of night with few witnesses.They also asked the first four children, but it is difficult for children of this age, after what they have experienced, to give a definite and useful description of them.

Hodge didn't want to force Lily to recall what happened at that time like this, but in order to solve the case as soon as possible, he had to do so.

The little girl pursed her lips, and after a few seconds of silence, she suddenly said, "Why?"

"Why?" Hodge couldn't help being surprised, but fortunately he quickly realized, "We want to catch that bad guy, but we don't know what the bad guy looks like, so we need your help."

"Are you the same as them?" Lily said, looking at Laura who was standing at the door. "The clothes you wear are different."

"You're so observant, Lily," Hodge praised her with a smile, "I'm an FBI agent, and I'm from a group called 'Behavioral Analysis', the behavioral analysis unit, or bau for short."

"Then do you arrest bad guys like the police?" Lily tilted her head curiously.

"We help the police catch the bad guy, Lily. We analyze the bad guy's behavior, deduce his identity, predict his next move, but first, we need some specific information - and you can help us find it."

"Then...you talk to me now, can you know if I have eaten candy before going to bed?"

"Oh Lily," even with a heavy heart, Hodge laughed from the bottom of his heart at this moment, "I know you must have eaten candy secretly, but your teeth are so beautiful, it's okay to eat a piece or two once in a while question."

Lily tilted her little head from one side to the other, she was still staring at Hodge with a serious expression, not knowing what she was thinking.

However, after a while, Hodge knew.

"The bad guy was about Papa's height, and he had a cowboy hat that hid his face. He had on a very dark coat with lots of pockets, one of which was bulging."

Hodge was terrified in his heart and couldn't control his expression.Lily described it in too much detail, as if she was describing a photo of an unknown suspect!

"Anything else, Lily? You're doing a great job. I've never seen a better little girl than you!"

"Well... there's a circular pattern on his clothes, it's a strange color, I can't tell, but I remember what it looks like."

Two children had also mentioned the "circle" pattern before, but their descriptions were different, one said it was a peace sign, and the other said it was two concentric circles.

Hearing Lily's words suddenly, Hodge immediately became excited and looked back at Laura.However, the policewoman also stared at Lily in shock, not noticing his movements at all.

"Laura," the man had to whisper her name, "bring paper and pen!"

Laura came back to herself as if waking up from a dream, and quickly brought a notepad and pencil.Detective Henderson followed, almost grabbing the paper after Lily put down the pencil.

"...Oh my God, I know what this is! This is the logo of the Daily Planet! The pattern must have been printed on with thermal transfer technology. It's not that the color is strange, but the pattern is peeling off!" Henderson said, unable to restrain himself Swallowing her saliva, she glanced at Lily who was sitting on the chair, "She actually remembers it so clearly..."

"Don't worry about this, take someone to the 'Planet Daily' immediately, and investigate according to the profile! The clothes Lily mentioned are probably their work clothes, and the focus is on people like cleaners and plumbers—we must speed up!"

>>>>>

Thanks to Lily, the Metropolitan Police Department quickly resolved the case.

The unknown suspect was a plumber working in the building of the "Daily Planet".His brother and sister-in-law were accidentally shot and killed in Gotham two months ago, and their father died of a heart attack after learning the news.As for the shooter?The person was under the age of 14, and was not punished in any "real sense" because of the law on the protection of minors.

This incident also became a "stimulus" for the unknown suspect, causing him to do many things he shouldn't do when he was on the verge of mental breakdown.

Even though the office was filled with a relaxed and happy atmosphere, Hodge's heart was not much relaxed.

On the one hand, the final outcome of the unknown suspect was to be shot dead in the street; on the other hand...

"Yes, Agent Hotchner, the Dylan couple adopted Lily from the Metropolitan Orphanage five years ago, but now Mrs. Dylan's mother refuses to continue to raise Lily... I am sorry. According to the regulations, we will re-adopt Lily Lily picks adoptive families."

Hodge twirled his fingers unconsciously while listening.This is his habitual action, he is thinking.But the irony is that he knows it's not a good solution, but he can't think of a better one.

"However, I can feel your concern for Lily, Agent Hotchner. I know a couple, very decent people, who want to adopt a child, but there have been some small problems with the formalities... I have just been I took the time to call them. Of course, according to the regulations, this information cannot be disclosed to outsiders casually, you understand what I mean. "

"Yes, I understand, thanks for telling me that."

If such a couple can adopt Lily, it would be a good ending.

"I'm going to take Lily back to the orphanage now, see you later." After speaking, the staff of the orphanage politely bid farewell to Hodge.

The man stood there in a daze for a while, and as soon as he came back to his senses, he found Laura standing beside him, with an embarrassed look on her face, holding his suit jacket in her hand.

When he rushed to the scene in the early morning, Hodge's suit jacket was still draped over Lily, and he was busy with the finishing work afterwards... If Laura hadn't brought the jacket over, he probably had completely forgotten about it.

"Thank you for bringing it here for me, I almost forgot." Hodge smiled gratefully at Laura.

"It's okay, but..." Laura pointed to the skirt of the coat, "I just noticed that a button of your coat is missing."

"Really?" Hodge looked at the bottom of the skirt, and shrugged at Laura indifferently, "It's okay, it's just a button, Hayley—that's my fiancée, she will take care of it for me."