Jimmy returned to headquarters, feeling awful about the recent shooting. The symbol involved had a specific meaning, and if it was what he thought it was, then this case was definitely not a simple shooting. It might be linked to a group of NC worshippers causing trouble.
Those left over from World War II are known to anyone familiar with World War II history as taught in Chinese schools for their harmfulness; they are primarily extreme racists whose wartime massacres shocked the Western world.
The victim this time was also Caucasian, and if it was determined that he belonged to that ethnicity, there would indeed be trouble.
Jimmy contacted Cage to ask if he had dealt with such a case before. Cage was a bit confused; there had been no recorded shootings with such symbols before, or he would have remembered, as this symbol was quite peculiar.
Jimmy also inquired with the officers on duty at the police station, and nobody recalled a similar case occurring nearby.
This case would have to be put on hold until the coroner's office released its report, after which they would look into it. If a crime against humanity had occurred in Little Rock, it certainly wouldn't be the only one, and perhaps tomorrow they would have to contact the LRPD and ASP criminal investigation departments.
Before Jimmy could decide how to proceed, Cage called him back.
"Jimmy, I just made a call to the LRPD to ask if they had seen anything like this case, and it turns out they found a shooting tonight as well—a Caucasian male, executed with a bullet entering the back of his head and exiting through the eye. The body was arranged in a triskelion, different from South District's. LRPD will be at South District tomorrow to copy the case files for reference."
"If you're going out tonight, be careful. I suspect this isn't an isolated incident."
Jimmy was truly baffled. The patterns in the two cases were different. He knew about the swastika, but what was a triskelion? Jimmy really had no way to look up such mysterious things.
The latter part of the night was relatively quiet. Jimmy didn't need to spring into action continuously but couldn't manage to lie down and sleep. He could only sit in his chair, reclining against the backrest to nap for a while.
The next day, Jimmy was notified that he could end his overtime and had the officer on shift drive him home. In his extreme fatigue, he didn't plan on driving himself; it was safer that way.
Jimmy slept until evening, roused by hunger, then got up to get something to eat. This nearly 24-hour intense overtime was not like those staying up all night at home or at internet cafes playing games. Police overtime required high spiritual power, especially during missions, keeping everyone on edge. Although it might not physically drain, the mental strain was significant.
After dinner, Jimmy lacked the mood to go out, just watching TV at home before going back to sleep to prepare for work the next day.
Upon returning to the police station, Jimmy immediately called Allen at South District to check on the case situation.
LRPD indeed had already taken the copies of the scene photos and autopsy report. Normally, the autopsy report wouldn't come out so quickly, and the coroner's staff weren't full-time. It was mainly because the two cases involved were somewhat eerie, and there was pressure from above to expedite the results, thus the reports were available the next day.
While the case was still in South District, the main efforts to solve the case had shifted to the LRPD detectives, who had more personnel, more resources, and could gather more clues.
However, Jimmy also learned from Allen what the triskelion meant, different from what he had initially thought. He thought it involved three legs, but it was just as contorted as the swastika.
The swastika is an NC symbol with special meaning, whereas the triskelion is a historical Celtic symbol that really exists, currently seen on flags in the Isle of Man in Britain and Sicily in Italy. This appearance didn't seem to have any sinister historical implications, and could likely just be local descendants venerating their ancestors.
Having roughly understood, Jimmy didn't plan to delve deeper into history or religion; knowing the basics was sufficient for recognition in the future.
After the busy Christmas period, Jimmy's workload finally returned to normal. He had already called Noah the night before; his condition wasn't serious, and with proper rest, staying at the hospital for a couple more days before returning home was fine. He would change the dressing in a few days, then rest at home.
Noah's injury served as a wake-up call for everyone. With headquarters' approval, the county office decided to recruit one or two more intern officers to avoid insufficient patrol staff in case of incidents, facilitating later replacements in understaffed districts.
Although the funds in Plaskey County's police department weren't abundant, they were far from poor. The financial strain of recruiting a few officers wasn't too severe, so unlike many county police departments, they hadn't yet had to impose a quota on ticket issuance per officer. If financial pressure did increase on the department, there would still be ways to subsidize the police's budget. Cats have their alleys, and rats have their ways.
Jimmy had already begun planning his agenda for the first half of the next year; his vacation plans for this year were ruined. Apart from a trip to Texas—excused under the pretext of a DEA exchange, he hadn't managed to go anywhere else. It was miserable. Next year, he definitely wanted to travel; after spending over a year in the United States, still sticking around his birthplace felt lackluster.