The World of American Drama: From the Los Angeles Patrol

Chapter 1052 Division of Labor and Clues from New York (Double Last Day for Monthly Tickets)

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Jack and Old MUTO returning safely with a weird expression on his face.

There was another jeep nearby than before, and two local policemen wearing the same uniform as Detective Pollino were collecting the bodies.

They spread a large piece of waterproof cloth on the ground and lowered their heads to carefully examine the remains scattered around.

"Did you find anything on it?" Jubal asked as he sprayed mosquito repellent on himself.

Mosquitoes are the most notorious and deadly killer on the African continent. A series of deadly viruses such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever and West Nile virus are transmitted and infected by mosquitoes.

Tanzania generally has two rainy seasons each year. November to December is the light rainy season, and March to May is the heavy rainy season. The rest of the year is naturally the dry season. There is less rain in the dry season, and there are relatively fewer mosquitoes.

It's still February, but Jack still requires everyone to wear long-sleeved shirts and tuck in their trouser legs when going out, and to spray mosquito repellent on time.

Malaria here is as common as the common cold. The locals may have gotten used to it and can just endure the malaria, but when outsiders experience malaria for the first time, they may be admitted to the ICU due to liver failure.

It is extremely difficult to find a bed in the ICU in this country.

"It has nothing to do with those people. There are only 12 of them in total. They are not organized enough to carry out such a large-scale kidnapping. There is no space on the hill to hide so many people."

Jack does not describe his experience in detail, but gives his conclusion directly.

It is obvious that old Muto and his militia are the real controllers of this area. The Somali armed forces, which consist of only 12 people, half of whom are just teenagers, are more likely to be seeking refuge.

In Jack's opinion, they are a bit similar to the Naxalite (Maoist) armed forces entrenched in Nepal and eastern India, but they are smaller and less powerful.

Simba, the "Lion King" in the old Mutos's words, is a young man with a hideous scar on his forehead. When he received the two people in the dilapidated "bunker", lying beside him was an adult male African lion with thick mane and a majestic and domineering look.

Apparently his nickname comes from the lion he calls his brother, and his name was inspired by a Disney cartoon.

After some "explosive" trials, Jack finally exchanged 4 Type 1000 rifles and rounds of ammunition for a piece of intelligence with the mediation of old Muto.

Of course, the actual supplier is Old Muto, and Jack is only responsible for paying the dollars.

According to one of the "Lion King's" men who was on guard duty, more than a dozen militants armed with AKs escorted a group of people wearing red T-shirts passing through the valley below in the early hours of yesterday morning.

They rested for a while on the way, and at dawn, several militants took the two people in red T-shirts who looked like the leaders to the edge of the woods in the distance.

Because the distance was too far, the subordinate did not see clearly what happened, but he was sure that when the few people came back, only the man in the red T-shirt was left, and he did not seem to be afraid of the armed kidnappers.

"According to the pastor in the town, there were two leaders in the Brunswick Mission. In addition to the deceased Jacob Bruce, there was another one named Elijah."

Jubal took out a tablet from the car and opened a photo. It was a photo they had received just before they set off. Garcia found it on the social account of one of the missing female tourists.

The photo was uploaded at 23 o'clock the night before, a few hours before the tourists disappeared.

The photo was captured from the middle part of a large group photo. In addition to the uploader himself, there were three people standing in the middle. The local black pastor was standing in the middle, with Jacob Bruce and Elijah on both sides.

"It looks like we need to investigate Elijah." Aubrey suggested while looking at the photo. "As for the pastor, we need to verify his statement and learn more about the relationship between Jacob Bruce and Elijah."

Jubal said as he looked at Detective Pollino, who nodded knowingly, "No problem, I'll send someone to town right away."

"So what do we do next? Continue following the trail?" Hannah asked.

Jack looked up at the sky, then looked at Old Muto. The sun was setting now, and without him and his militia, Jack had no confidence that he could spend the night safely with everyone else in this wild land.

Although he had confidently taken the little girl Isabel on a trek across the Mexican Gobi Desert before, at that time he only had to take care of one person, and the most he would have to do was stay up all night.

The situation in the wilderness of Tanzania is much more complicated than that in the Mexican Gobi Desert. The number and variety of wild animals alone are on a different order of magnitude.

Fortunately, Old Muto took the initiative to take on this difficult task. "Leave the tracking to my people. I will contact you tomorrow morning."

So everyone said goodbye to old Muto and his militia and returned to Arusha, and stayed in the most expensive hotel in the area.

The advice on choosing a hotel comes from Rossi, who had been to Africa and was severely tormented by a local bug-like creature.

It turns out that if you have money you can live a comfortable life anywhere, with a clean mattress, 24-hour water and electricity, and food that tastes pretty good.

The staple food of the locals is a kind of corn dough called "Wu Curry", which is dipped in sauce when eaten. The taste is a bit strange but not unacceptable.

Rice is also a common staple food in the local area, but it is seasoned with oil and salt when it is cooked, which makes Jack a little uncomfortable.

After a simple dinner, everyone contacted Alice who stayed in New York and the BAU members who rushed to support them. After some communication, they found more suspicious points.

First of all, the identities of the 23 kidnapped people were needed. Of course, after receiving the fingerprint photos sent by Jack in New York and confirming that the body belonged to Jacob Bruce, the number of kidnapped people has now been reduced to 22.

Hotchner and Reed flew to Texas and found that the Brunswick Mission headquarters there was deserted. Based on their investigation, they confirmed that Jacob Bruce and Elijah Ward were the leaders of the mission.

They contacted Jacob Bruce's estranged wife, who was on a flight to New York.

Garcia investigated the mission's financial situation and found that they had raised at least $30 in funds. Jacob Bruce used all of the funds to purchase various supplies and sent them to Tanzania in recent months.

"$30 in charity? Maybe this is why Jacob Bruce became a target?" Aubrey is well aware of the fact that money can move people's hearts.

As soon as he got off the plane, he exchanged US dollars for some Tanzanian shillings to pay tips, but was surprised to find that the largest denomination of banknotes here was 1, which was equivalent to less than 4 US dollars.

When he just gave two bills to the hotel waiter who opened the door for everyone, the other party's surprised reaction fully demonstrated the purchasing power of the money in the local area.

"These charitable materials were sent to Tanzania in the name of donations. I found out that the person who signed for these materials was a local pastor named Tumo Makanni."

Garcia sent a photo, and when Jubal saw it, he circled the previous photo. He was the black pastor standing between Elijah Ward and Jacob Bruce.

(End of this chapter)