~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 40 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With damage of this scale and such heavy loss of life, there was no way the matter could be quietly brushed aside. Moreover, it involved a multinational corporation, elevating it directly to the federal level. The LAPD didn't even have standing to intervene—everything was immediately taken over by the FBI.
As one of the parties directly involved at the explosion site, Sony America's president, Mickey Schulhof, naturally couldn't just leave at will. Still, given his status, he was treated with considerable courtesy.
In hindsight, that courtesy turned out to be a blessing. Escorting him to a quiet place not only kept troublesome reporters at bay, but also ensured that his unrestrained outbursts weren't overheard by too many people.
The moment Owen Davis, head of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, met Mickey Schulhof, the latter blurted out his first sentence:
"Arrest Henry Brown, that damn sour radish! He's the one who blew up my company and got so many people killed!"
"Mr. Schulhof, please choose your words carefully," Owen Davis replied coolly. "Without concrete evidence, statements like that can be construed as defamation."
"How can there be no evidence? I got that equipment from you people—that equipment is what exploded and caused me such massive losses! What kind of job are you doing? You didn't even detect explosives and just handed it over to me like that!"
"Mr. Schulhof!" Owen Davis raised his voice. "The FBI has committed no illegal acts. If you insist on pushing this narrative, then we will have no choice but to open an investigation into you for making false accusations. I believe that is something neither of us wants to see."
Having exchanged initial pleasantries, Owen Davis decided on the spot that there was no point continuing to engage with this old white man. He summoned a young agent and instructed him:
"You'll take Mr. Schulhof's statement—strictly regarding what he personally witnessed at the explosion site. Nothing extra. Don't say more, don't write more. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Yes, sir," the young man replied, wearing a confident leave-it-to-me expression.
Did Owen Davis feel reassured?
Today's entire mess had been created by his own troublesome subordinates.
What was even more tragic was that whenever the most troublesome person left, another one would immediately rise to take their place. The worries never decreased—there would always be a new worst offender.
For example, the agent now walking toward him, who had already been promoted to first place on Owen's internal troublemaker list.
"Sir," the seasoned agent who had previously sat in on Henry Brown's interrogation and personally escorted that walking disaster out of the building stepped forward to greet him.
Even though Owen wanted to sigh deeply—or strangle the man—he maintained his superior's demeanor. "Any results from the scene investigation?"
The veteran agent spoke smugly. "The fire investigation unit still needs to file their report, but I took a look myself. Based on the blast center, debris patterns, and staff testimony, the explosion did originate from the batch of equipment we seized from Henry Brown's residence.
"This time he's finished. With casualties and losses on this scale, branding him a terrorist wouldn't be a stretch. He'd be looking at a hundred or two hundred years in prison, minimum."
"Oh?" Owen Davis replied dryly. "And then all of us go to prison with him for abuse of authority. I'd probably get more than ten years. You wouldn't escape either—five to seven years at least."
The seasoned agent frowned. "So… this can't be made to work?"
Owen Davis said coldly, "Don't forget what we just did today. We just convinced Mr. Brown—who was wrongfully detained due to 'administrative error'—to sign a settlement agreement.
"At the same time, he waived any claims regarding the missing seized property. We even issued compensation and officially defined the status of that equipment. You know what that means."
"It means the chain of association between that equipment and Henry Brown was broken, from his possession to Sony's lab."
"Exactly!" Owen snapped. "Any first-year law student knows this is grounds for reasonable doubt. When seized property is lost or stolen, how do you prove no one tampered with it before assigning liability to the original owner?
"But we all know that equipment came from his place. No one else could've done this."
Owen Davis sneered. "You haven't been in this line of work for just one day. You should know that once evidence passes through an illegal third party, outside notarized custody, it becomes invalid.
"No one can prove that the unauthorized third party didn't alter or contaminate the evidence—unless you trace the entire chain and verify every step. And tell me, do you dare?
"Especially when there's nothing here that can't be fabricated, and all the physical evidence has been burned to slag, making forensic analysis nearly impossible. Under these conditions, it's extremely difficult to directly link the bomb to Henry Brown.
"If we hadn't already finalized the conclusion regarding the loss of the seized property, we might have been able to designate Sony's lab as an authorized forensic facility.
"Then—from seizure, to transfer, to examination—all through legal channels. If that were the case, Henry Brown would never escape. But now? With your professional knowledge, do you really think this is still feasible?"
Even this normally sharp agent showed hesitation. "What if we claim another 'administrative error'—retract the earlier conclusion about the missing evidence?"
"You think Stark Industries' legal team would just let that slide?" Owen shot back. "Let you stitch together this case with lies? If this gets dug into, everyone in the LA office goes down with it. Do you think the others would agree?"
"But we know it was him. Otherwise, how could this happen right after he signed the agreement?"
Owen Davis replied icily, "Yes, he's the prime suspect. So what? I'll ask you one thing—how did he detonate the bomb? The timing was too perfect.
"He'd just left our office."
"Maybe he went and set it off immediately after leaving?"
"I already checked with his attorney," Owen said. "He was with the lawyer the entire time, on the way to the impound lot. At no point did he leave the lawyer's sight. Don't even mention breaking into Sony's lab."
"The phone! He specifically mentioned a mobile phone—maybe he used that to trigger it!"
"The lawyer confirmed he didn't make any calls. And how exactly would a phone detonate a bomb?"
At this point in time, using mobile phones to remotely trigger explosives wasn't common practice at all. Owen Davis hadn't even considered that angle.
Mobile phones were expensive, subscriber records were clear, and only after cheap prepaid phones became widespread did such detonation methods become common among bombers.
Even if they investigated the phone, Henry could account for it. The detonator had used a custom circuit board and cloned chips—once everything was melted down, there was no way to prove that phone had ever rung inside Sony's building.
As for telecom logs and switching station records, Henry had made sure to delete those afterward. Years of honing hacking skills were meant for moments exactly like this.
"Then maybe it was a timed bomb," the agent ventured. "That's why he was so quick to agree to compensation—he just wanted to get the agreement signed."
Owen Davis let out a snort. "Do you have any idea how many uncertainties there are in that theory?
"And from the beginning, the reason we wanted to resolve the wrongful detention through a settlement was because he'd clawed his way up from the bottom.
"His cautious, conflict-averse personality matched our expectations. Even with a lawyer present, he didn't want prolonged contact with us. After he signed the agreement, who wasn't laughing at him back in the office?
"And now everyone feels differently? Besides…"
Seeing his superior hesitate mid-sentence, the agent pressed, "Besides what?"
"Think back carefully. We weren't the ones who seized the equipment initially. We took over another 'FBI' unit's case.
"What happened during the gap before we arrived—can you say with absolute certainty that Henry Brown was the one who did this?"
"Then what about Mickey Schulhof? How do we explain this to him?"
"Explain?" Owen Davis let out another nasal scoff. "If he can't deal with the Japanese side, then he's nothing.
"Does he think he can take it out on us? And if Sony has any sense, keeping this quiet is the smartest move."
The seasoned agent was confused at first, then suddenly understood. "A commercial dispute?"
"Exactly. Compared to lawsuits over corporate espionage, a few dead people barely matter," Owen Davis replied.
What he was truly considering, however, was this:
How is Stark going to respond?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
🎉 Power Stone Goal Announcement! 🎉
I'll release one bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones we hit!"
Let me know what should I do
Your support means everything—let's crush these goals together! Keep voting, and let the stones pile up! 🚀
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~