Jimmy quickly finished his lunch and began walking out of the park; if even holidays were being canceled, it meant the case was significant. Moreover, Jimmy had a bad hunch that since he was called in, the case likely involved violence, and it was not merely a simple art-related case.
Although it wasn't the end of the workday, Manhattan's traffic was frustrating. Jimmy felt that listening to James and not driving over was a wise decision. In this traffic, riding a motorcycle, or even a bicycle, would be faster than driving a car.
However, motorcycles were truly unsafe, a concern Jimmy had considered before ultimately deciding against it. On one hand, it was unsafe; on the other, Jimmy had now become a man who wore suits daily, making riding a motorcycle inconvenienced.
He would decide what car to buy once he had a clear budget. Anyway, it wasn't too necessary at the moment. Once he was through with his probationary period, the FBI would issue a company car, and he might not even need to buy his own.
When Jimmy returned to the office, he found that Peter and everyone else were there. Seeing Jimmy return, Peter gathered everyone in the conference room.
Peter said, "Okay, everyone is here. Now let me recap the situation. This is a home invasion murder case that happened in the Upper East Side. There are only two CCTV footages from the mansion's gate."
Peter first played a video. It was a surveillance video positioned at the top right corner of the gate. A black SUV could be seen driving up to the left of the gate, and two individuals emerged at 12:40 AM.
These two took two black travel bags out of the vehicle and threw them on the ground, apparently full of items. One of them also took two bundles of rope from the car. Each grabbed one bundle of rope, which appeared to have hooks, and they threw them over the wall. They then each shouldered a bag, climbed over the wall, and then disappeared from view.
The video continued with a second clip, at 1:25 AM. The gate opened inward, and two individuals, carrying several bags and lifting something that looked possibly like one or two stacked large boxes, emerged. They opened the rear door of the SUV, placed the boxes inside, retrieved the ropes from the wall, and drove away.
After the video had finished playing, Peter started showing photos.
Peter explained, "Nathan Bird, the owner of B.Z. Club, a gun enthusiast club in New York based in Orange County with a large forested shooting range. The club is a collaborator with multiple enforcement agencies and also participates in local police training. Nathan Bird, a former Seals member who opened this club after his discharge in 1994, had over a thousand paying members."
Peter displayed another image. "Nathan's body was found by the cleaning staff he employed. The cleaners came every other day, and when they arrived at Bird's house in the morning, they discovered Nathan Bird had been shot dead in his bed, presumably while he was asleep, showing no signs of struggle. Also, his two dogs were found dead in the yard's lawn."
Peter continued showing the exterior of the house, the condition of the lawn, and inside the room where numerous picture frames and broken glass were strewn about.
After finishing the presentation, Peter addressed the room, "There's no doubt this was a home invasion murder. After being alerted by the cleaning company, the NYPD inspected the scene. Since there were no cameras inside, we don't know what these two did inside the house.
The two suspects are absolute professionals; they left no trace inside the house, no shell casings, no fingerprints, no hair. The surveillance footage shows both wore hood and gloves and sported sneakers. We only found several clear footprints on the lawn, and other surfaces barely yielded any traceable marks."
"Our current theory is that the two climbed over the wall, encountered the dogs on the lawn and shot them both; the bullets in the dogs matched those in Nathan's body.
After killing the dogs, they likely used a key to enter, as they didn't trip the electronic alarm, probably having prepared a key and obtained the alarm code in advance.
Nathan was a former Seal and continued firearm training post-service. A person like him would have reacted to gunshots. However, he was shot dead in his bed.
We suspect the killers used silenced weapons with subsonic ammunition, supported by neighbors' testimonies. It was very quiet at night, yet nobody heard any shots."
According to the cleaner's testimony, Nathan Bird was an art enthusiast. He had bought many pieces of art, sculptures, and paintings, which once filled his mansion. However, from the photos just shown, the paintings on the walls and the small sculptures in the rooms had vanished. Based on the CCTV, the boxes the suspects carried out likely contained the missing art pieces."
The NYPD escalated the case to the FBI for assistance. After checking the data, we identified some irregularities.
Nathan Bird was not just a club owner; he also had another identity as a War Broker."
According to the available data, Nathan provided intermediary services at his club for other organizations or mercenaries. Previously, the DEA suspected Nathan of providing intelligence to a Mexican guerilla group, which undermined one of their decapitation operations; however, there was no direct evidence, so he was never prosecuted."
This case has thus evolved from a simple murder to an organized crime investigation. It has been transferred from the NYPD to the FBI's Organized Crime Division, led by Ruiz."
"As for our role, we are not directly handling this murder case, but we are to assist by locating these missing art pieces. Considering the great lengths the suspects went to remove paintings from their frames and transport sculptures, they will surely attempt to sell these items. If we can trace the art sales, we could work our way back to track them."
But there is a problem. Although Nathan Bird had a house full of various paintings and sculptures, we have no photos or names of these items because Nathan disliked taking photos, so there are none of these art pieces in his room. Additionally, he wasn't listed as a client by several auction houses and galleries we checked, so the origin of the artifacts is highly questionable."
Our only known fact is, according to the cleaners, that Nathan didn't have these art pieces when they first began working for him, appearing suddenly about three years ago."