Chapter 1116 The Corpse Hanging on the Tree

Chapter 1116 The Corpse Hanging on the Tree

Jubal also enjoyed the VIP treatment of riding alone on a Bombardier, but unlike Jack before, he flew from New York to Las Vegas alone, and there was no such good thing as a beautiful female flight attendant serving him alone.

Jack, who had just seen Beckett and the Cassel family off on their flight back to New York, turned around and came to the private apron at the airport. The other team members had already boarded the plane.

"OK, where is our destination this time? And who is the victim?" Jack opened the refrigerator in the wine cabinet and poured himself a glass of ice water to moisten his throat. He sat down next to Hannah and looked at the computer screen in front of her.

The photo shows a body hanging from a tree, with its hands forced open in the shape of the crucifixion of Jesus.

Because the body was covered in red paint, Jack was unable to discern the victim's age or other characteristics. He could only barely tell that he was a thin man.

However, the architectural style around the photo looked very familiar to him. After all, he had been in and out of it three times. "Are we going to Mexico? Is this kind of work also assigned to the International Department?"

"Maybe it's because of your relationship with Clay that they assigned this task to us." Hannah smiled. She was the one who knew the most about what Jack had done in Mexico.

After all, there were some overly thrilling details that Jack would often intentionally or unintentionally omit when telling Jiejie about them, in order to prevent her from worrying too much.

Hannah is different. She likes to hear these things and always wants to get to the bottom of them.

Jubal knew about Jack and the Seal's operation and the big fuss they made at the time, so he explained it casually.

“It’s a criminal case transferred from the DHS (Department of Homeland Security), but they’re worried that it might be related to drug cartels, so they did consider the possibility that our team has the relationship between Jack and Clay.

CBP (Customs and Border Protection under DHS) said it would fully assist us. Let’s talk about the case first.”

The prototype of the Bombardier Challenger 850 they were riding on was a medium-sized jet that could seat 50 people. After being converted into a private business jet, it naturally had an extremely spacious interior space.

The interior of the cabin not only has independent office areas, meeting areas and rest areas, but the dining area in the middle can even accommodate a small round table. After rotating the four sofas on both sides, sitting around to eat and play mahjong is no problem.

Of course, it was a bit difficult to fit all seven members of the group in the conference area, but the plane had already entered the stratosphere, so it was the same to stand and listen.

"The plane will land at the San Diego airport later, and then we will go to Tijuana by land. The body was found next to the local Delgado Plaza early this morning.

The preliminary time of death was determined to be around 10 o'clock last night. In addition, the Mexican police also found his mobile phone and personal belongings in a nearby alley. "

As Jubal spoke, the identity information of the deceased appeared on the main screen of the conference area opposite the sofa: Lee Kern, an American citizen, an 18-year-old high school graduate, living in San Diego.

An 18-year-old teenager, no wonder he looks so thin, Jack suddenly realized.

Just like El Paso to Juarez, San Diego in the United States is only 20 kilometers away from Tijuana in Mexico, and is also separated by only a border wall.

The San Diego here is the birthplace of the famous fertilizer "Jin Ke La" (different translations), an important anchorage for the US Pacific Fleet, the only recruit training base for the Marine Corps on the West Coast, and also the home of three Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers:

Home port of USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), USS Roosevelt (CVN-71), and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76).

Aubrey squinted at the picture of the body on the screen for a long time, and asked puzzledly, "What was the cause of death?"

Jubal replied, "The preliminary diagnosis is that the throat was cut, but the autopsy report has not been issued yet. You know how busy the Mexican forensic doctors are. Given that the deceased's body is covered in red paint, I hope someone can go and see the body with their own eyes when the time comes."

Jack was naturally the first to take charge of this matter. "Leave it to Hannah and me. You guys go ahead and set up the base of operations."

Jubal nodded in agreement. "Considering the local security situation, I suggest that we operate in groups of at least two, male and female, and try to keep a low profile."

Because of its proximity to California, Tijuana's tourism industry is quite developed. It has legal red-light districts and casinos, and its consumer prices are relatively low, attracting a large number of American tourists.

However, the overall security situation in this city is not much better than that in Juarez.

In tourist-populated areas, gangs are more restrained and consciously maintain certain tacit agreements, but outside these areas, drug and gun crimes are still prevalent, just like in other cities in Mexico.

It is for this reason that Jubal requires men and women to travel in groups of at least two.

Given the outstanding looks of the girls in the group, even if they appear in a group of two in a downtown area, they can easily be targeted by gangsters who run the flesh trade.

After all, they are here to solve the case, not to fight with the local gangs. If they make the scene too ugly, they might be escorted out of the country by the local police.

"No matter who the murderer is, this behavior is not low-key." Clay hinted that although the body was not beheaded or hung under the overpass, DHS's concerns are not unreasonable.

Aubrey agreed, "Although this is not a common method used by drug cartels, hanging the body in a public place and dyeing it red also means that the murderer wants to attract other people's attention and can be regarded as a warning."

"The question now is who does the murderer want to warn?" Jiejie asked, "The police, the locals or the tourists?"

"We can make this a priority for investigation." Jubal had just written this down in his notebook when Alice's computer beeped to indicate that a new email had been received.

"CBP just sent a surveillance video." Alice projected the downloaded video directly onto the main screen in the conference area, which showed a young blonde girl.

"Rosie Bantal, also 18, a classmate of the deceased Lee Kern, was photographed crossing the border into the United States at 11:43 last night."

"Are they boyfriend and girlfriend?" Hannah frowned.

"Wait a minute. Uh. Got it." Alice typed on the keyboard very quickly, and various social media pages popped up and disappeared at a dazzling speed.

"From Lee Kern's WeChat Moments, the two are at least friends. They arrived in Tijuana together last night to celebrate Lee's 18th birthday."