023 Unable to Resolve Hidden Danger

Jimmy returned to the police station, handed back his equipment, and prepared to head home.

"Jimmy, come in." As Jimmy walked into the hall, the chief called out to him, and Jimmy entered the chief's office.

"Are you ready to go home now? Any plans for tonight?"

"Nothing, chief, what do you need me to do?"

"Come with me; let's solve your problem."

"Okay."

Jimmy followed the chief to the parking lot, got into the chief's car, and they drove in silence.

Half an hour later, Chief James parked the car in front of a club.

"Follow me." Chief James was obviously a regular, as the doorman didn't attempt to stop him and they walked straight into the club.

In a reception room, Jimmy met the man who had created his identity documents.

"Tom, I've brought the man. You guys talk," said the chief, and then he left the room right away. Jimmy glanced around the reception room; it had only one door, no windows, no apparent back door. Two single sofas, with a coffee table in between, bearing two cups of coffee.

"Sit, I already know about the issue you mentioned. It was my mistake, and now let's rectify this loophole."

Jimmy sat on the sofa opposite him.

"Right now, you have two options to choose from; both are troublesome and require sufficient funds to operate."

Tom took a sip of his coffee then pulled out a stack of documents from a bag next to him.

"This is from the Judicial Department's Federal Witness Protection Program. If you sign this agreement, you'll be placed on the Judicial Department's witness list. We need to find a suitable case to insert you into the witness list. Since the program itself assigns a whole new identity, one could say that once the witness program starts, everything from the previous identity is unrelated to you, and this agreement can solve your earlier problems."

"What's the problem with this plan? There must be a downside, right?"

"Correct. Entering the witness list means your identity will be exposed to some extent to everyone; it also requires finding a suitable Judicial Department federal case. If someone traces this back, it can be very troublesome and might even implicate others. Additionally, you'll need to prepare a substantial amount of money."

"What about the second option?"

"The second option is also troublesome. It requires finding a small bank to forge your previous salary records, finding a suitable fund to handle the donation records, and finally, finding a trusted insider to contact the IRS state chief—at least an action team leader."

"Is this option very costly?"

"Yes, the expenses will be very high. However, it won't affect any of your other records. If you plan to rise up later, these won't become scandals that get exposed at a critical moment."

"I suppose you've investigated me in advance, you know I can't come up with a large sum of money right now. The second option is entirely out of the question. Isn't there a simpler and more direct way?"

"If you want to avoid all the repercussions, then no, there isn't another way, unless you have direct access to someone influential at the IRS to handle it."

"I can't do either of those two options; no money. Can I ask a question? When you made my identity before, did you use an existing identity or create a new one entirely?"

"This is the last question. Don't pursue the matter of identity again. This identity already existed."

"Is there a real person behind it then? Does he have any relatives?"

"No, I can be sure of that, this identity is clean."

"Then there's nothing I can do; I'll give up on both options and figure something out later."

"Hmm, don't contact me again in the future. Your new ID has been deleted from the database, and no one will be able to reach you afterward. You can rest assured. Goodbye."

Tom packed up his stuff, finished the coffee in his cup, and left the room.

Jimmy sat on the sofa, going over all the details since he had entered the room, hoping to discover something.

Although Tom hadn't said much, Jimmy could discern some information from his words, especially the last part about the new ID being deleted from the database, which certainly wasn't the public database—it had to be an internal institutional database. What kind of institution would have such an identity then?

Furthermore, the solutions he provided, the first involving the Judicial Department and the Federal Witness Protection Program, sounded familiar; it should be handled by the FBI. This, combined with his mention of a database, suggests this man is likely from the FBI.

He must also have a high position, or else he wouldn't have the authority to control such confidential information like personnel data.

It also seemed evident that there wasn't much interaction between the FBI and the IRS, or else a person with high clearance wouldn't have difficulty contacting a reliable IRS action team leader. This probably had something to do with the way departments operate independently in the United States.

Can his words be trusted? Not necessarily, but there's a good chance they're accurate. He had said earlier that the identity was pre-existing, not brand new. That implies there must be some records of it in other systems, indicating the possibility of discovering previous information. It would be wise to figure out a way to access the relevant documents.

One last thing, although he didn't mention it, it could be inferred that this identity wasn't the kind that could be easily discarded. Otherwise, they wouldn't need to arrange someone to take it over. After all, so many people go missing in the United States each year—a person of Asian descent should logically not be on their radar, considering the extremely low overall status of Asians in the US.

Therefore, it's reasonable to conjecture that there must be something special about this identity, whether the individual is unique or involved in something exceptional, there must be a reason why they can't just handle the information by declaring a disappearance or death.

Another possibly significant observation was that Tom carried the same type of briefcase, both to the police station last time and today, with no discernible badge, brand, or unique patterns. It appeared to be a very ordinary black briefcase, but considering he always carried it, it might be issued by the institution he worked for, not personally purchased.

His clothes and shoes were similarly nondescript and unbranded; he must be highly conscious of protecting his identity, to the extent that even the name 'Tom' might be fake.

This information might not mean much, but Jimmy meticulously recollected and recorded everything, just in case he would encounter the same individuals again and perhaps identify their affiliation.

After finishing his coffee, Jimmy left the reception room. Chief James hadn't mentioned his whereabouts, and Jimmy wasn't sure whether he should look for him. He found a server and asked them to inform Chief James that he was leaving, then had the club call a taxi for him to go straight home.