Follow the Money

"I am your friend," Bob says.

"How come I didn't know you also work as a language translator?" Jack asks, still feeling upset.

"Jack, working at a police record department is not a lot of money, I am sure you know that as well. That is why you are trying to work for Keith to make extra money." Bob laughs.

"Well, I'm not asking why you take on a side job. I am asking you why you NEVER mentioned it. Friends talk to each other about stuff. I told you about Keith."

Jack feels frustrated. Bob is too good at steering the conversation away.

Bob is now trying to think on this topic. He understands why Jack is frustrated. Bob does not like to hold on to so many secrets, either.

Bob has to hide the fact that his real name is Robert B. Smith. And He has to hide the fact that he has never aged one bit since the day he ate the funny snow in China. And he has to keep a very, very big secret. A dangerous secret. That is, he has never died, and probably will never die. Unless someone creates something to cancel out his immortality one day, Bob/Robert will never die. And, Bob keeps a bottle that has Chinese ghosts living inside. Oh, and those ghosts kind of prefer to be called spirits. Those Chinee ghosts/spirits are also his secrets.

It is a miracle that Bob hasn't burst at the seams with all the secrets he is hiding. 

When Jie Ai said that a Chinese old man saw Bob walking near Chinatown and believing to have seen the living ghost coming back to life, Bob was extremely worried. The Chinese old man also reported that a man, whose appearance fits Keith Hutchins, threatens to know more about where this living ghost is.

Keith Hutchins wants to know where Bob is. Amelia, the Estonian secret agent, also wanted to know about Bob. Therefore, she gave Jack that picture of Robert/Bob years and years ago in Europe.

Bob is tired of hiding all these secrets. But he must continue.

Has he thought about telling Jack?

No. He cannot tell Jack. He cannot tell anyone.

The only friends Bob can talk to are the Chinese ghosts/spirits living inside the glowing bottle. It is a little sad. But Bob has to keep living like this.

"OK, fine," Jack suddenly says, "I hope you will tell me more about yourself one day. If you don't want to tell me, that is fine. Not everyone is as open as me, I guess. Maybe that is why everyone is trying to get me to do things for them."

Jack stands up and puts his police badge on. "Well, Detective Kasim Bashar wants to see you during lunch."

"That's fine. I have time. We can go together." Bob says.

In Staten Island, they walk into an old diner to meet with Detective Bashar. There are customers inside, but everyone seems to be quite engaged in their own conversation and their own food.

Kasim Bashar is sitting in a corner booth. He raises his right hand up a little to beckon them.

They sit down, "Hi."

Detective Bashar nods and skips the greetings. He says, "So, do you know anything about a radical group who might want to do some damage?"

"You are talking about the explosion threat, right?" Bob asks, making sure.

"Why are you questioning us?" Jack is curious. Jack is not really an investigator anymore. Why would he know.

"Jack, I will tell you why. But, first, I want to tell you both. Jie Ai says a Chinese man heard the same information. This is very suspicious."

Both Bob and Jack nod, "Yeah, we know. Jie Ai told us."

Kasim Bashar sighs, "Well, it can't be a coincidence if there are more than one person saying the same thing. So something is probably going to blow up."

"Can you do anything about this piece of information? No one else hears about it except for the translator. No offense to Bob or Jie Ai. It's just a funny idea to me." Jack suddenly says.

Kasim Bashar is glad to hear Jack say that, "That is exactly what I was worried about, too. But it's my job to look into everything. The philosophy is... 'better safe than sorry.'"

"So why do you need our help, Kasim?" Jack asks.

"Mainly you, Jack. Because you know Nitte and Keith, don't you?" Kasim says.

Jack is so surprised that he is sure his face also shows that. His eyes are very big right now.

"Jack, I work on organized crimes. Nitte and Keith both like to stop by New York all the time. You think they are not on my radar? Of course they are. I know them well."

"OK. You might know them better than I do." Jack says a little quietly.

"I'd like to ask you to pay attention to Nitte and Keith. See if you hear any chatter from any politician. Any strange flow of funds."

Jack smiles, feeling proud of himself, because he also predicts that following the money is the way to investigate this. Money? Money has to come to the surface to pay for things. That's not something you can hide forever.

"I see. Money flow, yes," Jack leans back, "I would have suggested that as well."

"For any radical group to pull off anything, they need to be funded. I want to know how they are being funded. And their plan is to occupy somewhere inland in the Midwest? Why? What's their connection there?"

"Well, that stretch of land in the Midwest is on a lot of politicians mind. Oil pipelines go through there." Jack says.

"Oh. So you thought about it." Kasim raises his eyebrows.

"Just my guess."

"That's some very, very specific guess." Kasim says.

"This whole thing is so stereotypical though," Bob now chuckles, "The report I help with comes from men with heavy Russian accent. And Jie Ai says, the Chinese old man hears two guys with heavy European accents talking about using bombs. The bad guys in movies always have heavy accent, especially Eastern European or Russian accent."

Jack then laughs, "What's next? Middle Eastern men turn out to be the mastermind of a radical group? That is too cliche."

"Don't say that," Bashar waves, "I hate that stereotype."

Bashar doesn't know, that's a deep-rooted stereotype that might come back to haunt him.

"Are you guys ready to order?" A waitress comes by to the booth, smiling.

"I...," Jack is super hungry, but he doesn't think Bashar wants to stay.

"Just get what you want, it's lunch time. My treat." Bashar points at the menu.

"Yeah! Free lunch!" Jack is so happy that he actually claps and says "Woohoo!"

When Jack puts his hands down after his clapping, he suddenly remembers Nitte. She likes to clap a lot.

"Another thing, Bob," Bashar suddenly looks a little serious.

"Yeah?"

"I have your city metro card number long time ago for another case. And I realized I still have it on file. Out of curiosity, I thought to see where you've been hanging out."

"OK?" Bob looks confused.

"I ran your metro card and got a hold of your account history. I was worried you may have switched the card. But, I believe you're using the same one, because I can see it goes to the subway station where you work and the station where you live. The same itinerary, 5 days a week." Bashar smiles.

"OK?"

"Obviously, you go to other places. One of those places that you go a little more frequently is Chinatown. Why do you go to Chinatown so much?"

Bob's face looks calm, but his voice turns stern: "I'm going to stop you right here. I have my private life. Maybe I have a secret girlfriend there. New York BCI doesn't have the right to know my private whereabouts."

"Hey, don't be upset. I was just curious, because I have looked into all the reports Jie Ai has filed, and I just think it's odd that it all seem to connect to you. And there is always this Mr. Lai." Bashar sees Jack is about to protest, so Bashar waves at Jack, "Let me finish. This old man, Mr. Lai, claims to have witnessed an undead man or a man who is supposed to die but still alive, walking near Chinatown. Mr. Lai is later threatened by a white male who fits the description of Keith. And then, you keep going to Chinatown area. I just wonder what is going on."

"Dude, Kasim Bashar, you watch too many detective shows. This is not Sherlock Holmes or whatever." Jack interrupts. Jack can't think of any detective show as a good example. But he is sure Kasim gets the idea.

"Let's enjoy the free lunch. Gosh. Don't suspect every little thing!" Jack laughs, trying to get this topic to change.

"I'm going to order a lot of food. You'd better be ready to pay for it. I'm going to eat so much."

Although, honestly, Jack feels a little nervous around Kasim now. He doesn't understand why Kasim needs to question that.

Jack is also nervous that Kasim knows about his connection to Nitte and Keith. Should he try to talk to them soon?