Hawk and Gwen didn't go directly to the apartment after leaving the hospital.
The two first returned home, then drove the audi a8 parked at the garage entrance, and only then headed towards Stacy Apartment.
Gwen had recovered by this point.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Gwen patted her chest: "Phew, that's great, Dad is fine, you scared me to death."
Hawk, who was driving, glanced at Gwen.
"Why don't you just die once?"
"What?"
Gwen's eyes widened, as if she suspected she had misheard.
Hawk said with a smile: "After Nirvana Rebirth, he'd be fully recovered, unlike now, George will have to lie in bed for at least half a month before he can get up."
It is well known.
After each Nirvana, the Phoenix's strength would surge by one level.
Similarly!
If George were to die once and then be reborn through Nirvana, he would also be fully revived.
Unlike now, where he would have to lie in a hospital bed for at least several days.
Gwen listened to Hawk's explanation, opened her mouth, then reacted, and gave Hawk an eye roll.
"Hawk."
"Hmm?"
"I don't want to talk to you anymore, you're too mean."
"I was wrong."
Hawk quickly admitted his mistake, his speed swift.
Soon.
The Stacy Apartment block arrived.
Upon sight.
Downstairs from the apartment, a patrol car was parked, with two patrol officers inside.
"It's from the 21st Precinct."
"Hmm, they're probably worried about the gunman coming to the house."
After all, the gunman who shot George hasn't been found yet, and the reason is still unknown. To be safe, it's normal for the precinct to send officers to the doorstep to prevent the uncaptured gunman from coming here.
However, Hawk's audi a8 was registered in the police department system, and Gwen was also familiar with the officers of the 21st Precinct, so when they saw Hawk and Gwen getting out of the car, the two officers in the patrol car did not appear.
Hawk and Gwen also didn't specifically go to greet them.
Top floor apartment.
Howard and Simon, who were usually very mischievous, were now sitting obediently on the sofa, watching TV, not roughhousing as before.
Even the takeout boxes that had been delivered earlier on the dining table had been neatly put away.
Howard, who was twelve, and Simon, who was eleven, already knew what had happened.
Dad was shot and was in the hospital.
Mom went to the hospital to accompany Dad, and the only thing they could do was wait for news at home and not cause trouble for Mom.
When Hawk and Gwen opened the door and walked in, Howard and Simon, who were sitting on the sofa somewhat distracted, immediately brightened up and stood up from the sofa.
"Sister!"
"Brother-in-law, how is Dad?"
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious."
Hawk looked at Simon, who was looking up at him, and smiled as he ruffled Simon's little head.
Howard also quickly looked at his sister, Gwen.
Gwen nodded.
"Dad's fine."
"Phew!"
Howard breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Gwen: "Can Simon and I go to the hospital to see Dad? We promise not to run around, move around, or talk nonsense."
Gwen chuckled: "After dinner, when we go to deliver food to Mom, you can come along, and then we'll come back."
Howard and Simon smiled happily at the words, and only then did they believe Gwen and Hawk's words that their father was fine.
They were young, not stupid. Their learning talent might not be as good as their sister Gwen's, but they were still the captain's sons, so they had basic judgment.
Soon.
The two little ones, completely relieved, sat back on the sofa, occasionally looking at the clock on the wall, with a sense of anticipation for the evening to arrive.
Hawk and Gwen then went to George's study, preparing to search it to see if they could find any useful clues.
But... "Huh?"
"The door is locked?"
Gwen, as usual, pressed the doorknob, and when she finally pushed the door down, she suddenly froze, blinked at the unmoving study door, and turned to Hawk: "Dad locked the door."
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
"Is that strange?"
"Of course, Dad never locks the study door."
Although George often worked overtime in his study after returning home, even so, George had never locked the study door.
Because even Howard and Simon knew that they were not allowed into the study without George's permission.
So George had never locked the study door.
Hawk listened to Gwen's explanation, and with a thought, he disappeared from Gwen's sight.
The next second.
The study door was opened from the inside by Hawk.
Gwen walked in, turned on the light, and looked around the study: "There are no photos on the wall either. Why did Dad lock the door?"
Hawk also looked around the study.
The study was simply furnished.
A desk, a computer, and a bookshelf, that was all there was to the study.
As Gwen spoke, she walked directly to George's computer and turned on the computer on the desk.
Hawk's gaze fell on a piece of paper on the desk.
Upon sight.
There was a timestamp on the paper, which was 9:30 this morning, followed by the two acronyms BU.
George had even drawn two horizontal lines under these letters.
This indicated that it seemed to be important information.
After Hawk got Gwen's phone, he glanced at Gwen, who had already opened the computer and skillfully entered the password to access the desktop, and raised an eyebrow: "You know the password to George's study computer?"
Gwen shrugged: "Of course, I even know my dad's ATM password, it's my birthday."
That's right.
A doting father, very normal.
Hawk thought to himself, then called Detective Mahoney.
Detective Mahoney, who had already met up with Detective Hale and found a store that might have captured the entrance and exit of the multi-story parking lot, was now retrieving surveillance footage, and frowned.
"BU?"
"Yes, it should be the initials of the informant George was going to meet, or something."
Hawk and Detective Mahoney exchanged information, then Hawk looked at the timestamp on the paper: "By the way, what time did the 12th Precinct report the shooting?"
"9:35 AM, the call center received the shooting code."
"Then that's correct."
Hawk's eyes lit up: "No matter what George went there for, it must be related to BU."
Detective Mahoney frowned: "BU, I can't figure it out right now. Did George leave any other clues?"
Hawk said to wait a moment and looked at Gwen.
Gwen shook her head.
She had just searched the computer and found many files, but they were basically all files based on daily operations.
For example, the precinct's budget, monthly crime data reports submitted to headquarters, major incident reports, and some meeting minutes.
Hawk understood: "No, what about you?"
Mahoney said: "There's no surveillance on the third floor of the multi-story parking lot. Hale and I found a store with surveillance that might have captured a photo of the gunman, and we're currently retrieving the footage."
Just as he was speaking.
Hale's voice came from behind him.
Mahoney turned to look, then said into the phone: "Hale might have found something, I'm hanging up now."
Hawk hummed.
"Okay."
After hanging up the phone, Hawk returned it to Gwen, then looked at the study once more.
But this time, he wasn't looking with his five senses.
But with his sixth sense!
George, who had never locked the study before, locked it this time, which could only mean one thing.
There must be a secret in this study that George didn't want anyone to discover.
Not even his family.
However, this might not be to guard against his family, but rather to protect them.
Sure enough.
When Hawk's gaze fixed on the bookshelf against the wall, he raised an eyebrow, then smiled.
The next second.
Under Gwen's gaze, he walked to the bookshelf, opened it, looked at the third row of shelves, then found "The Constitution" and pulled it forward.
Instantly, a creaking sound came from the bottom of the bookshelf, and the bookshelf, which had been pressed against the wall, began to move to the other side.
Gwen, who was sitting on the chair, her mouth slightly agape, walked to Hawk's side, looked at the moving bookshelf, and gasped: "Hiss, how did I not know this bookshelf could move?"
Hawk didn't speak, looking at the safe that was exposed after the bookshelf moved.
He glanced at Gwen beside him.
"This one isn't also using your birthday as the password, is it?"
"Try it."
Gwen reacted from her shock, walked to the safe, turned the old-fashioned safe dial, and entered her birthday password.
Click!
The safe opened with a click.
Hawk raised an eyebrow.
Once again.
A doting father.
The contents of the safe were not bad.
Several pieces of Stacy family heirloom jewelry, a loaded Glock 17 pistol, and a fully loaded magazine next to it.
Underneath the magazine was a file.
Gwen skillfully checked the pistol, said, "It hasn't been fired recently," then stood up with Hawk, watching Hawk open the file.
Upon sight.
A photo of a charred body appeared prominently.
Hawk's expression was calm.
Gwen, on the other hand, was stunned for a moment, but she didn't react much, instead, she frowned?
"This body, why do I feel like I've seen it somewhere?"
"The New York Times, Ottos, that reporter."
Hawk responded to Gwen's question.
Gwen also remembered: "Is it the reporter who was found tied to a cross and burned to death on the banks of the Hudson River before Christmas last year?"
Hawk nodded.
It was this case that prevented George and Helen from being able to return to Waterfall Town with them for Christmas.
The burned body was named Ottos, a reporter who was quite famous within the New York Police Department.
But Ottos's fame wasn't due to his professionalism.
Well.
It was also his professionalism, because his profession was to go against the police department, especially fond of digging up dirt on the police department, especially the dirt on corrupt officers.
This was also why Detective Mahoney would say that George was under some pressure.
Because Ottos was unpopular.
At least unpopular with the New York Police Department, so for most of the New York Police Department, the death of such a reporter who specifically opposed them was actually a good thing.
But George was different.
He was a detective, a very pure one.
See?
George was indeed secretly investigating this case in private...
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