Chapter 154: Making a Plan

Chapter 154: Chapter 154: Making a Plan

Still unwilling to let the matter drop, Pierce Miller asked another question. Even though he couldn’t go free, he had provided a lot of intelligence. Surely that was worth some money!

Evan Keller frowned and exchanged a look with Heath Hale. "What do you want?" he asked.

’I need to find out what trick this Pierce Miller is trying to pull before I can make a decision.’

For the first time, an embarrassed look appeared on Pierce Miller’s face. "I have a sister who married and moved away. If the intel can be exchanged for money, could you give the money to her?

My brother and I... we’ve really let her down."

Evan Keller nodded. "As long as the information you provide is authentic and reliable, you won’t be shorted on any reward you’re due. How you distribute it after that is your own business."

Getting the answer he wanted, Pierce Miller stopped hesitating and told them everything he knew. "Old Man Dex found a powerful backer somewhere. This party is supplying him with a large quantity of high-powered bombs and has demanded that he plant them in places with heavy foot traffic.

Like schools, banks, malls, hospitals, and so on. When the time comes, the other party will even send people over to help him."

If the police station itself hadn’t been such a difficult target, Old Man Dex probably would have chosen it for his first location.

Listening from outside the door, Zoe Sawyer and the others couldn’t help but gasp.

’High-powered bombs?’

’And they’re being planted in places with heavy foot traffic?’

’This is practically a terrorist attack!’

Evan Keller and Heath Hale had obviously reached the same conclusion, and their expressions turned grim.

"We can’t wait any longer. We have to bring them in immediately," Evan Keller said, his tone grave. "If they actually manage to plant those bombs, the ensuing trouble and panic would be immense."

Aside from the lack of leads and manpower, there was another important reason they hadn’t arrested Old Man Dex right away: they were trying to bait a bigger fish.

They wanted to see if there were other powers backing him.

But now, after learning something this major, Evan Keller and the others could no longer sit still.

’Forget about baiting a bigger fish. The most important thing now is to catch them and stop this operation.’

"How credible is this information?" Heath Hale took a deep breath, his gaze returning to Pierce Miller as he asked in a low voice.

"If Old Man Dex wasn’t lying to us, then it’s at least ninety percent credible," Pierce Miller said, slapping his chest confidently.

At that time, Old Man Dex hadn’t yet ordered Wyatt Ford to kill them all, so he must have still trusted them.

That meant what he said was very likely true.

Evan Keller and Heath Hale clearly thought of this as well. Heath Hale stared at the pen in his hand and continued his questioning. "How much do you know about Old Man Dex’s operation? How many men does he have, and have you already placed other bombs in those buildings?"

’We can’t wait any longer!’

’We need to get the details straight and bring them in, fast.’

"I only know Old Man Dex’s surname is Lu. I don’t know anything else. As for manpower, there are probably a dozen or so of them, all in that house.

Didn’t I tell you to grab a document earlier? It’s all written down in there." Having said this much, Pierce Miller had no desire to hide anything else, so he just came clean with everything.

After speaking, he thought for a moment and added a helpful suggestion. "I’m just a small fry. Ford—the other guy you just arrested—is one of Old Man Dex’s most trusted men. He knows more. You should ask him."

Evan Keller opened the document that had been recovered from the sofa.

It was a map of Varden. Several locations on it were marked with large red X’s, with numbers written beside them.

According to Pierce Miller, the numbers corresponded to the explosive packs they had planted.

Evan Keller and Heath Hale had no more time for Pierce Miller. Leaving him alone in the interrogation room, they took the map back to their office to hold an emergency meeting.

"There are five locations in total, but they’re not malls like we assumed. They’re all old residential complexes with somewhat lax security, which is how they snuck in with their things." Evan Keller marked the locations of the pedestrian street and the elementary school on the map, discovering they lay along a straight line.

After leaving the first site, they could quickly reach these other locations.

Regardless of their starting point, they could get to the other bomb sites quickly.

"From the very beginning, we’ve been stuck in a fixed mindset," Heath Hale said, rubbing his tired eyes. "We assumed they would definitely place the bombs in locations like malls, where a detonation would cause widespread panic."

Zoe Sawyer looked at the map on the table, then back at Pierce Miller’s testimony. Suddenly, inspiration struck, and she pieced the entire thing together.

"Do you think this could also be a misdirection?" Zoe Sawyer spoke up, capturing the attention of everyone in the office. She then continued with her analysis. "First, they use the pedestrian street, the elementary school, and the other locations to draw our attention.

Normally, we’d be focused on high-traffic areas like malls. After we search every possible location and come up empty, we’ll get tired. We’ll let our guard down.

Then, they’ll use that opportunity to plant the really powerful, destructive bombs in the malls, and then detonate the ones in the old neighborhoods.

After our attention has been drawn over there, they’ll detonate the bombs in the malls."

By then, the bombs at both sets of locations would go off, causing massive casualties and property damage.

The public’s trust in the police department would hit rock bottom.

If this really was the plan Old Man Dex and his crew had cooked up, they might have actually pulled it off if not for the capture of Pierce Miller.

"You’re making progress." Evan Keller gave Zoe Sawyer an appreciative glance. ’Looks like all that recent studying is paying off.’

Immediately, Evan Keller’s focus returned to the case. "Zoe Sawyer has a point. We must prepare ahead of time. The nature of this case is too heinous and severe; the chief has to request backup from the provincial bureau.

Once reinforcements arrive, we’ll surround Old Man Dex’s location and arrest them all! We’ll cut this thing off at the source!"

The others all nodded in understanding.

Officer Lee, sitting at his workstation and staring at his computer screen, asked, "What about Boss Thorne? Should we bring him in?

Or should we wait until after we’ve caught Old Man Dex?"

Heath Hale shook his head, rejecting Officer Lee’s suggestion. "For now, there’s no need to waste police resources on him. Let’s focus on apprehending the main group first."

It won’t be too late to bring him in after all is said and done.

As the team was discussing their next course of action, a female officer knocked on the office door, drawing everyone’s attention.

"Captain Keller, the other suspect is awake, and he’s raising hell."