Chapter 420 Visiting the Camp
"Alas!" Hotchner gave a rare sigh, "The suspect can live solely by pawning and stealing stolen goods, so why does he still follow those migrant workers around?"
Jack looked at the old men who were working hard under the scorching sun. They were wearing Mexican-style big straw hats and were covered in filth. They were men, women, old and young.
"He could go anywhere. This country has freight rail lines all over the country, but he never left California. Maybe there was something wrong with him."
"Wife, children, or other relatives?" Rhett followed Jack's gaze and saw that Jie Jie and Jane were holding a few pieces of chocolate and teasing a few seven or eight-year-old Mexican children.
There was a section of field ridge that was washed away by irrigation water and turned into mud. The children used it as a playground. They paddled on it and used it as a slide in an amusement park. They all turned into mud monkeys.
Seeing this scene, everyone couldn't help but smile, and no one noticed the deep compassion flashing in Jack's eyes.
He had read "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and learned about Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna's early experiences in Guatemala.
With the development of the times and a certain red ghost that came and passed, United Fruit Company has become the Chiquita Company that is full of social responsibility and humanistic care today.
But the nightmare of those poor people in Latin America is just to change from bananas to cocain. Compared with their peers who face the gunpoints of drug dealers and gangs all day long in their hometown,
These children who came to this country with their parents and can play in the sun without any worries are lucky after all. They don't even need to accept the ravages of exam-oriented education that can make people think rigidly and stifle genius.
——
Early the next morning, Jack walked into the Sacramento Police Station holding a glass of juice, a dozen coffees and a few vegetable pancakes on his fingers, and a few newspapers under his arms.
These newspapers all published the suspect's photo on the front page, and reproduced verbatim the public relations draft provided by Jiejie, reminding the people in the Central Basin to be careful of strangers.
Although everyone knows that they are only one step away from finding out the identity of the suspect, everyone in the BAU seems a little anxious, because the intervals between the other party's crimes are getting shorter and shorter, and it is very likely that in these few nights, another innocent family will be brutally murdered.
Jane Banner sat in the conference room all night with a pair of panda eyes. When she saw the breakfast in Jack's hand, she jumped on it with a cheer.
Jie was almost scared to death by her. She was not the only one who stayed up late last night to sort out the data. Jiejie stayed with her all the time, and Garcia's video was always connected there.
He coughed quickly and handed over the breakfast in his hand, barely blocking the other party's warm embrace. On the other side, Jie Jie, who was still sitting in her seat, stared at the two people with wide eyes and an unkind look on her face.
Not long after, the rest of the BAU arrived. Garcia yawned and began to report the results of the girls who had been busy all night.
“To clear things up first, those migrant workers from Mexico usually form teams, which they call ‘cuadrillas,’ which is a Spanish word meaning gang.
We found one of the 'cuadrillas', and from a chronological point of view, the place where they worked closely overlapped with the cities of Chico, Modesto and Vicaville where our suspect committed crimes. "
"What about Tehachapi? We suspect that's where the murderer first committed his crime." Rossi asked.
"That's the point." Garcia looked a little proud. "We compared the employee list of the apple farm near Tehachapi. Two days before the poor old lady was killed, I found out that this 'cuadrillas' used to work nearby. .
Among them was a guy named Armando Salinas, who once appeared in this gang list, but this name was never seen again in the subsequent lists.
Then Jane contacted the ICE officer Sisa again. Based on the information he provided, we found the record of this person being expelled from the temporary camp by ICE for theft and assault.
I also compared 17 sets of fingerprints found in the old lady's home, one of which was the same as that of Armando Salinas. "
Hotchner breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the picture of the thin-looking Latino man on the screen.
"Jiejie, immediately notify Detective Lyman to issue a wanted warrant, and then release the photos to the media. We will let the public see his appearance on the evening news today at the latest."
He paused, looked at the haggard faces of the girls, and then said, "Thank you for your hard work. You should rest early when you are done. Leave the rest to us."
"Ah, by the way." Garcia seemed to think of something before hanging up the video, "That 'cuadrillas' just arrived in Rockford the day before yesterday."
"Which of you knows Spanish?" Rossi looked at everyone.
Emily raised her hand first, then Jack. Everyone looked at Red, but they saw him looking away in embarrassment.
Red's language talent is average, of course, relative to his genius in other fields. He can speak French, Russian, Italian and even the unpopular Yoruba, but Spanish is not among his skills.
"Then Emily and Jack make an appointment with the ICE officer Cisa to visit the camp and see if they find anything. It would be best to find the suspect Armando Salinas who has been following this, uh, 'cuadrillas. 's reason."
——
It was late in the evening, and Jack and Emily were led by Sisa to the outskirts of Rockford. What they saw was a dilapidated camp consisting of townhouses spliced together with prefabricated wooden boards.
It’s not that they had something to do that delayed their time, but that only when the sun was about to set could we see these Mexican farmers who had worked hard all day here.
"So, they start working in the fields at 5 o'clock in the morning and finish work at 5 o'clock in the evening, but they can only get a daily salary of less than US$50?"
After listening to Sisa's introduction, Emily asked in disbelief.
“It’s actually not that much. After excluding visa, transportation and accommodation expenses, plus not having to work 30 days a month, their monthly net income is generally only over US$800.
Well, only for adult men, women's income is reduced by about one-third, even though they do not do much less work than male workers. "Sisa explained.
Seeing Emily looking at him angrily, Sisa felt a little aggrieved, "We have been helping them, providing them with clean accommodation and drinking water as much as possible, and also helping USDL (Department of Labor) to recover the arrears of wages.
In total, we recovered more than $15 million in back wages for these workers last year. "
"You did your best." Jack turned the steering wheel and parked the car at the gate of the camp.
Under these conditions, Lao Mo still had no choice but to head north. If they stayed in their hometown, they would be thankful if they could get a job with one-tenth of the income.