The information Diana received from the NYPD made no sense, the deceased gunman was not a gang member. Records showed he had served in the National Guard, worked as a security guard after retiring, and had been unemployed ever since, with no clues to connect him.
Now, the NYPD had dispatched people to investigate the gunman's family and residence in hopes of finding something. Diana could only wait for news from the NYPD.
It seemed unlikely to find any leads from the gunman's side any time soon, now all they could do was wait for Jones. But until quitting time, no news had come from Jones.
Peter was ready to leave work, and Jimmy decided to hitch a ride.
Jimmy, "Peter, can you take me? I don't feel like walking back."
Peter nodded, and the two went downstairs together. Jimmy got into Peter's car and said, "Peter, this case might be dangerous. Should we ask Ruiz and his team for some people?"
Peter shook his head, "No need, our target is those artworks. Let them handle the investigation into the assassin and Nathan Bird. We don't need to get involved in that part."
Jimmy, "Today's incident made me a bit worried about safety. That underground broker was just trying to leak information and got shot dead. The suspects are too vicious this time."
Peter, "Are you scared?"
Jimmy, "Me? Scared? I'm not afraid, on the contrary, I'm looking forward to meeting them. I'm more worried about you guys. If these hidden enemies really want to take a shot in the dark, no one can escape."
Peter, "We are the targets of what we do, get used to it."
Jimmy, "Then don't forget your Bullet-Proof Vest, it's not convenient to fetch it from the trunk."
Peter, "Don't worry. You're here."
Jimmy got out of the car and returned to his apartment, while Peter drove home.
After parking his car, Peter reached the door, thought for a moment, then went back to the car, opened the trunk, and took a Bullet-Proof Vest back into the house.
Elizabeth, "Peter? Why are you carrying a Bullet-Proof Vest?"
Peter kissed Elizabeth on the cheek and then said, "Just taking one to keep at home as a precaution, don't worry."
Elizabeth didn't say much. She never interfered with Peter's job. The couple had been married for many years, deeply in love, and she never meddled in Peter's work, so she just asked about the Bullet-Proof Vest.
Elizabeth, "How's the new guy in your department?"
Peter, "Jimmy? He's fine, just new to the FBI, hasn't fully adapted yet."
Elizabeth, "Hmm, we should invite him over sometime. We were guests at his place last time. It's only proper we invite him here."
Peter, "Uh, we've got a lot of cases recently. We'll have him over when things quiet down a bit, I'll remember."
Peter took off his gear and joined Elizabeth on the couch, watching TV and chatting together.
Jimmy had ordered pizza delivery and hadn't gone out. Today's incident with the gunman had Jimmy worried. When they were communicating with the underground broker, had anyone else seen them? If the mastermind behind the scenes also knew about Jimmy and Peter, then other dangers might occur, like being tailed or shot in the dark.
"It's best not to go out unless necessary," Jimmy thought, not that he was afraid of being followed, but it was better not to stir up trouble. The fact that he had killed the shooter today and that Peter had not arranged a psychological intervention for him probably meant that Peter was also pretty shaken up; he might have forgotten. If Jimmy stirred up more trouble, it would just make Peter remember, causing more issues for himself.
The next morning, Jimmy woke up to find a text message on his phone: Jones had not gone home to rest yesterday; instead, he worked overtime to finish the road surveillance and informed them to discuss it at the office in the morning.
When Jimmy arrived at the Federal Square office, Jones was already in the meeting room, still asleep on a folding bed, in the same clothes as yesterday's.
Since no one else had arrived yet, Jimmy didn't wake Jones, considering Jones had obviously worked very late the previous night.
Peter and the others also arrived, and Jimmy went to wake Jones. While Jimmy cleared away the folding bed, Jones went to the bathroom to wash his face and freshen up, then returned to the meeting room to start playing the surveillance footage.
Jones said, "I started backtracking from the Williamsburg Bridge yesterday. This car first appeared on the surveillance video yesterday morning near Central Park, with no record before that. The day before yesterday, the car traveled quite a bit, from Brooklyn to Queens then to the Upper East Side, finally ending up in Manhattan near Central Park, where it disappeared.
From the two days' surveillance records, he probably stayed overnight near Central Park, but that cannot be confirmed yet."
Peter asked, "Dian, has the NYPD gotten back to us on the shooter's information from yesterday?"
Diana replied, "Not yet, I'll contact them again to confirm."
Peter said, "Jones, go back and rest this morning, and this afternoon, you and Diana head over to Central Park to investigate where that car was parked last night."
Jones responded, "No need to rest; I'm fine, I can head out right away."
Peter said, "No, this time it's different. You must rest well. Stay alert to your surroundings during the investigation. You can go later; make sure you rest. Go back, Diana will join you this afternoon. Dian."
Diana said, "No problem."
Peter concluded, "OK, Jimmy, you're coming with me to the Metropolitan Museum. Meeting dismissed."
Jimmy grabbed his suit and followed Peter out, asking, "Peter, why are we going to the museum?"
Peter explained, "I arranged with Dr. Chase last night to help us examine those two sketches, to determine the period and style."
Jimmy questioned, "Is that necessary? Can we really make identifications just from sketches, without the actual objects?"
Peter affirmed, "Of course. Dr. Chase specializes in Middle Eastern and African artifacts. If he can pinpoint the origin of these artifacts, it will help us clarify the source of Nathan Bird's collection and facilitate further investigations."
Peter drove Jimmy to the Metropolitan Museum. This time Jimmy was even more unfortunate; Peter took him into the museum's office area. Jimmy didn't even get to see Dr. Chase but had to sit in the lounge area drinking coffee because Dr. Chase was in the lab, so only Peter could go in.
About fifteen minutes later, Peter came out with Jimmy, "It's pretty much confirmed. That small ram-headed sculpture is in the style of the Iraqi Hittite Dynasty from the Arabian Peninsula, about 1800 years old.
According to the current data, if it appeared in Nathan Bird's house three years ago, it seems that someone discovered a new historical site in Iraq, excavated artifacts, as that area has always been quite lax about protecting traditional artifacts."
Jimmy asked, "What's next?"
Peter replied, "I'll contact several major museums to see if anyone is selling artifacts from the Arabian Peninsula, and ask them to notify us. Next, we wait for Jones's results."