Peter took out two sketches from the files on the desk. "There are two statues he remembers, one is a long-bearded, man-headed, bull-bodied statue, with the beard shaped like a cone and a pattern formed by grids on it, and the second one is a ram-headed statue. In the cleaner's words, the others are just some broken stones, and he had no interest in remembering them."
"These sketches are based on the description given by the cleaner, and from the sketches, they appear to be in Middle Eastern style. Now we'll split up. I need you all to check with various galleries and museums to see if these two statues have appeared, and if anyone is trying to sell them."
"Jimmy, you come with me, Jones and Diana, you two pair up. Be careful, this time the suspect is a professional assassin. Never act alone. If anything unusual is spotted, notify immediately."
Just from the case described by Peter, Jimmy knew why they had called him back. Among the three of them – besides Jones, who had military experience, neither Peter nor Diana had served in the military. This time they were dealing with a professional assassin, not the usual art thieves they investigated. If they were to separate for investigations, they at least needed to ensure that each group had a strong combatant to protect their own people.
Peter was not the type who was inflexible; on the contrary, his mind was very clear. For someone like Jimmy, he was indeed not a good fit for his group, but under these circumstances, there was no one more suitable than Jimmy. He had been a police officer for over two years, he was ruthless and physically strong. Even if he was disliked, he still had to be used.
But for safety's sake, it was better to have Jimmy follow him, and Jones go with Diana. If Jimmy went with Diana, who knew what might happen.
Jimmy boarded Peter's car, and Peter had also purposely placed a couple of bullet-proof vests in the trunk, which made it even clearer to Jimmy why Peter had called him back. Peter started the car and they began heading to well-known museums and galleries for the investigation.
Peter's team had a list of New York's museums and galleries of all sizes. After all, this was usually the type of cases they handled. Dividing and investigating both areas simultaneously could save quite a bit of time.
Peter had been handling art cases for several years now. He seemed to have connections or had cooperated with these museums and galleries before. Jimmy simply followed along; before reaching a museum or gallery, Peter would start calling to arrange meetings, and once on the scene, a quick word with the security was all it took to get them inside. Jimmy never saw him flash his Federation badge.
This network was truly impressive and also demonstrated indirectly that Peter, as the team leader of this elite group, definitely qualified, and he handled personal relationships quite well.
When Peter was chatting with the museum staff, Jimmy was mostly using 'Heart Eye Observation' to monitor the surroundings, watching for any unusual people, spaces, or anyone hiding.
Jimmy looked somewhat more like Peter's bodyguard than an FBI agent, wearing a suit with sunglasses, a pistol at his waist under the suit, another under his left arm, plus being 6 feet with a strong build. The only difference from a typical bodyguard was Jimmy's short hair, instead of a crew cut or buzz cut.
Why did most of the people Peter knew happen to be beautiful women? Were there some unwritten rules with the women in charge or the on-site managers of these museums and galleries? They definitely looked good and had outstanding taste. It was hard to say how Peter maintained his professionalism.
Jimmy made some irreverent guesses. With sunglasses on, no one could see what he was actually looking at.
After running through several museums, Peter told Jones and their group that they would stop for the day and continue tomorrow. Jimmy checked the time; it was already past 6 PM, and many of the museums and galleries and the like were already closed.
Peter drove Jimmy home first, since it was already past working hours and Peter seemed much more relaxed. He chatted casually with Jimmy during the drive, mainly about Jimmy's past and also subtly brought up a few topics about faith.
Based on the report given by Dr. Mary Walter, Peter and Hughes had a discussion. Hughes also explained the arrangement from the academy's side, hoping to try and save Jimmy, whose operational capabilities were exceptional. When arranging positions for new agents at the FBI academy, they made sure to place Jimmy in a team that faced numerous cases and required more intellectual efforts. They had already fully acknowledged Jimmy's physical capabilities, and now it was just a matter of when his investigative skills would be developed.
Peter could understand. A capable young man with certain flaws in some areas was something the Federation agency definitely hoped to remedy as much as possible, so they could reap the benefits of a well-rounded senior agent in a few years. Even if the short-term training failed, they could still transfer him off the position and put him into an action group without much loss.
But Peter still had some concerns. Jimmy's propensity for violence was indeed a bit much. Apart from the records and previous kills, Jimmy seemed just like any ordinary Asian youth, showing no hint of cruelty. In his own team, this could also be considered a ticking time bomb. It was just unknown when it might explode.
Fortunately, Jimmy had been lucky. He had just visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, and when Peter asked about it, Jimmy was still able to answer without giving anything away.
Peter dropped Jimmy off at his apartment door, then drove away. Jimmy didn't go upstairs but went directly to have dinner nearby before heading back to rest. After a full day that started with a morning hike followed by running around for investigations with Peter, he was really quite tired.
The next day, Jimmy arrived at the office where Peter and Diana had discussed the investigation from the previous day, then each called up Jimmy and Jones to leave and continue the investigation.
Although Jones was more senior than Diana, it was evident that Diana was the one Peter was focused on grooming in his team, with Jones's role being mainly to monitor and also as a physical enforcer.
As for Jimmy, he was completely a physical enforcer as well, only just having started, still in his probation period, and just observing how Peter and his team handled cases. He was not likely to be assigned any special tasks.
Just like yesterday afternoon, Jimmy, working partly as a bodyguard, followed Peter as they hustled to various museums and galleries, continuing to engage with art professionals using the two sketches, yet without any results.
Jimmy and Peter had lunch at a street-side restaurant, preparing to leave in the car when Peter's phone suddenly rang. He answered it, spoke briefly, then hung up.
Peter said, "There's news. Let's go; we're meeting an agent." With that, he started the car and merged into the traffic.