The moment Helen's sobbing voice came through the phone.
Hawk, who was driving, was already moving.
Screech!
The black Audi A8, with tires instantly grinding against the ground, made a tail spin at Palm Street No. 521A and, using inertia, quickly crossed the lawn at the entrance, rumbling to a stop in front of the garage door.
And Hawk and Gwen had vanished inside the car.
New Amsterdam Hospital.
Gwen felt a blur in front of her eyes, and when she came to, she saw Helen waiting at the emergency room entrance, still on the phone.
"Mom!"
"Gwen."
Helen, usually gentle and composed, now looked visibly disoriented as she saw her daughter Gwen appear before hanging up the call. She evidently lost judgment and, without thinking, stood up and embraced Gwen.
Helen's voice trembled.
"Your dad is fighting for his life."
"What happened?"
Gwen, holding her mom Helen, also sounded somewhat shaky.
Hawk glanced at the brightly-lit operating room. Through 'Sixth Sense - X-ray Vision,' he clearly saw George, now anesthetized and intubated, receiving emergency surgery on the table.
His Sixth Sense delved into George's body.
Upon entering.
George's abdomen, shoulder, and neck had all been shot.
The neck suffered just a graze, it seemed.
But the abdomen was pierced, as was the shoulder.
Good grief.
One shot to the abdomen, one to the shoulder, and the final shot to the neck.
Tsk.
A professional, indeed.
Sensing George's devastating state, Hawk took a deep breath, withdrew his gaze, and joined Gwen in looking at the female detective accompanying Helen.
The female detective was named Hale.
True to her name.
She was a black-and-white mixed race, though Hale was one of Chief George Stacy's best detectives at the Twelfth District, and had a good relationship with Helen, so Hawk had no prejudice against Hale.
Just as Hawk always believed.
His moral bottom line had a certain flexibility.
Also, out of concern for George, Hale, overlooking why Hawk and Gwen had arrived so quickly, explained the unfolding situation to them.
She had also rushed here upon receiving the news from the Twenty-First District.
What happened exactly wasn't very clear to Hale.
Because the incident didn't occur within the jurisdiction of the Twenty-First District but happened in the Twelfth District's territory.
Earlier, two patrol policemen of the Twelfth District were patrolling within the territory. As they passed a multi-story parking lot in the area, planning to stop for a coffee, gunshots suddenly rang out from the parking lot.
The two patrol officers didn't hesitate, reporting the gunfire code.
Then...
By the time backup arrived at the scene, responding to the gunfire code, the shooting had ceased, and both patrol officers lay in pools of blood.
George Stacy was also lying in a pool of blood.
The arriving forces immediately called out the 999 code.
There were countless pre-set codes in the police radio call system.
Each code represented an incident.
For example, 221 corresponds to a robbery.
999!
This is the most serious code, signaling an incident where an officer is shot.
All nearby police forces immediately responded, and an ambulance from New Amsterdam Hospital rushed here the first moment.
After loading the three onto the ambulance, one doctor recognized George, and only then did the Twenty-First District receive news that their leader had been shot and was in critical condition.
Indeed.
An officer rushed to Helen, who had reached the hospital.
And with a good rapport with Helen and being a detective, Hale arrived promptly to accompany Helen.
However...
"Mahoney has already headed there."
"The deputy chief is negotiating with the Twelfth District chief, trying to secure jurisdiction over the case."
But it's likely challenging.
Because the scene was within the Twelfth District's territory, and the Twelfth District's two patrol officers had already been pronounced dead, unlike George who is still being rescued.
The Twenty-First District would be furious over their chief being shot, and the Twelfth District would be enraged over the death of their fellow officers.
Thus, while speaking, Hale looked worried.
Hawk frowned.
"Detective Mahoney?"
"Yes."
Hale nodded.
Hawk asked Gwen for the phone, then stepped aside and found Detective Mahoney's number, dialing it.
Hale was one of the best detectives in the Twenty-First District.
Detective Mahoney was as well.
Because Hawk had seen both Detective Mahoney and Detective Hale at Stacy's apartment before, they were the only detectives Hawk had met.
It can be said that these two are like George's right-hand men.
The high case-solving rate of the Twenty-First District is largely due to these two detectives.
At the moment, Mahoney, who was at the crime scene in the multi-story parking lot, took out his phone, looked at the caller, frowned, then thought for a moment and walked to the side to answer the call.
"This is Mahoney..."
"Detective Mahoney, it's me, Hawk."
"Hawk..."
Detective Mahoney, hearing Hawk's voice, subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
He thought it might be Gwen or Helen calling, and if that were the case, he really wouldn't know what to say.
Because he had just arrived here as well.
"Hawk, have you and Gwen arrived at the hospital too? How's Helen? What about George? What did the doctor say?"
"Gwen and Helen are both very worried. George is still being resuscitated in the operating room."
Hawk didn't hide anything from Mahoney and briefed him on the current situation at the hospital, then asked, "What happened?"
Mahoney rubbed his eyebrows.
"I was afraid you would ask that."
"Why?"
"I've just arrived at the scene too, still trying to figure out why the Chief was in the Twelfth District's jurisdiction this morning."
"...You don't know either?"
"Yeah, I just got the Chief's schedule from his assistant. Originally, the Chief was supposed to attend a budget meeting today, but the assistant said the Chief called last night and canceled the morning meeting without explaining anything, just leaving the morning free."
"..."
Hearing this, Hawk frowned and seemed to think of something: "Could it be related to the case you're currently investigating? I remember George mentioned something about it when he returned from Christmas, said it was still under investigation."
Before he and Gwen went to Waterfall Town, George was already investigating.
When they returned from Waterfall Town, George was still on the case.
George wasn't a detective but a Chief, the Chief of the Twenty-First District.
As the Chief of the Twenty-First District, George had the highest authority and daily management powers of the district.
In fact, a district Chief doesn't need to be on the front line.
But George started as a detective, so even as Chief now, he still followed some major cases closely.
In George's own words, his career had reached its peak.
The role of a district commander was both the pinnacle and the endpoint of his career.
Mahoney was a bit stunned when Hawk mentioned the case.
"Wha...oh, you mean that case? That case has already been closed."
"Closed?"
Hawk was a bit surprised: "When was it closed?"
The Mahoney on the other end of the line hesitated in his tone: "I can't say much about specifics, you know the rules, Hawk, but the case was closed last month by the Chief."
Listening to Mahoney's tone, Hawk sensed something was off.
"Closed on the surface, right?"
"...Yes."
Mahoney hesitated, considering that Hawk was practically the Chief's son-in-law, and said quietly, "The Chief and I followed a lead for three whole months. Suddenly, a suspect came forward. All physical and testimonial evidence pointed to this person. And you know, there was a lot of pressure on this case, so the Chief decided to close it."
Speaking of which,
Mahoney paused, and then footsteps could be heard on the phone. After a while, having moved to a more secluded place, his voice came through again: "The Chief thinks there's definitely big fish behind this case, so he asked me to investigate privately."
Hawk frowned.
"But you don't know anything?"
"That's right, but I did hear George mention a contact a few days ago, seemed like he had an informant."
"An informant? Who?"
"No idea."
Mahoney shook his head: "We originally planned to meet during lunch every day to exchange some leads, but then..."
Hawk intercepted, "Then George was severely injured and ended up in the emergency room."
Mahoney confirmed with a hum, lowering his voice as much as possible: "I suspect the Chief might have been set up."
Hawk's mind was racing.
"That informant?"
"Yes."
"Yesterday around noon, the Chief said that the informant with inside information reached out to him. He was trying to get the informant's details."
"I initially suggested that I should go."
"But the Chief said the informant only trusted him."
"And then..."
"So, I suspect the informant. I checked the Chief's office when I got here but found no clues about the informant."
"Study!"
Hawk raised an eyebrow: "You said George called his assistant last night to cancel today's schedule. It must have been when he was at home that he got some information."
Mahoney's eyes lit up.
Hawk then said, "I'll check the study to see if I can find anything."
Upon hearing this, Mahoney pondered for a moment, then agreed: "Thanks. I'll try to negotiate with the Twelfth District's detectives to see if I can take over this case; if not, a joint investigation is okay."
"Alright, see you later."
"See you later."
That's how Hawk and Mahoney wrapped up the call and then Hawk walked back toward where Gwen was.
...