Chapter 153 - Folly In the Competition for Credit

Luke wasn’t bothered. He never took the big shots’ chumminess seriously, since it was only routine behavior for them most of the time, and weren’t their true feelings at all.

The interrogation that followed, however, was quite interesting. He was questioned by two parties, namely the FBI and LAPD.

What was interesting was that the FBI tried to prove that Luke hadn’t played an important role, while LAPD’s questions highlighted his contribution.

For example, the FBI’s people would ask, “Why did you let the hostages run amok until our men saved them, instead of protecting the hostages until they left safely?”

Then, LAPD would immediately ask, “After escorting the hostages to the roof, what forced you to leave them to return downstairs and take down the criminals, ultimately ensuring the hostages’ safety?”

Most of the time, Luke simply enjoyed the show that was in fact a squabble dressed up as an inquiry.

When he was asked a question, he would answer in support of LAPD.

The FBI hadn’t contributed to the case at all last night, and had almost shot Luke.

Now that Luke thought about it, the FBI might have even indirectly helped the criminals a lot.

He simply told the truth about what he did last night, and slightly exaggerated John McClane’s contribution.

For example, he claimed that he and Detective John finished off the last twenty criminals together, which made more sense.

He spoke highly of Detective John since the latter had blown up the second floor of the building last night, which would require loads of money to fix.

So, John would definitely be punished if his contribution to the case was deemed subpar.

After all, he was an officer from New York, and didn’t have law enforcement power in Los Angeles.

Luke wasn’t sure if Nakatomi Corporation would appreciate what John had done. Wouldn’t it be terrible if John had to pay for the damages he caused?

John’s wife made a lot of money, so he could probably afford it, but as long as he could justify his actions, he wouldn’t need to pay a cent.

And through it all, the FBI still didn’t have any part in it.

Detective John was from NYPD, not the FBI.

Luke grew impatient as the FBI agents bombarded him with questions again.

One of them asked yet again, “How did you kill those criminals? Can you tell us one more time?”

Luke rapped the table and said, “I’ve already told you twice. Don’t question my abilities.”

The agent insisted, “We’re just trying to confirm…”

Luke waved his hand. “If you have clearance, read your classified files on me. Last September, I worked with an FBI team in Shackelford in Texas and killed thirteen armed Mexican gangsters, which was verified by the FBI. Furthermore, I killed nineteen and injured twelve armed criminals on a highway between Queens and Nassau last month. You can look up the case at NYPD. Now, do you still doubt my capability?”

The FBI agent was stunned.

If what Luke said was true, taking down the criminals in Nakatomi Plaza wouldn’t have been impossible for him. After all, Detective John had helped him out.

According to Luke, John killed a dozen people, so Luke killed slightly more than thirty, which was similar to the number of criminals he killed in the gunfight in New York.

Given that there was precedent, it was impossible for the FBI to argue that Luke was incapable of doing what he had done.

The two examples that Luke had given were endorsed respectively by the FBI and NYPD, a third party, and couldn’t be discredited at all.

After Luke’s counter, the FBI agents finally gave in.

One of the agents left the room and spoke to their chief, and the FBI agents lost interest in questioning Luke after that.

They had finally pulled Luke’s file from the FBI’s system by then, and it contained all the details.

This young officer was only eighteen, but had already cracked several major and dangerous cases after just half a year on the job as a police officer.

It was estimated that he had injured or killed roughly a hundred criminals in half a year.

Furthermore, almost all these criminals had been moving in groups when Luke wiped them out.

Even a ten-person FBI squad would barely be able to achieve the same feat, let alone a single detective.

Luke was capable, and he didn’t have a very high rank. He wasn’t scared of the FBI at all.

So, the FBI could only give up on the idea of coercing Luke, and talk to LAPD’s leadership instead, hoping to earn something from last night’s case.

Luke and John had killed most of the criminals before the FBI agents arrived, but it would be too embarrassing for the FBI agents to report that they hadn’t done anything except take the hostages away.

Luke was free to go after that.

He was here not because he was important, but because he could be used against the FBI.

Deputy Director Duane, for one, was angry at the FBI robbing him of command during the operation, and wanted to get back at them.

However, Luke accidentally learned that it was Duane who had instructed the eight SWAT members and the armored car to charge into the building before they did any reconnaissance.

He felt lucky that the man wasn’t his boss, and that the man wasn’t in charge of field operations all the time given his high position; otherwise, plenty of SWAT members would perish because of the deputy director.

It was 5pm when Luke left Park Center.

He had received a call from Selina earlier that morning. He told her what happened last night, and she complained that he hadn’t called her when something so big happened.

She had been watching a soap opera instead of the news last night, so she hadn’t known about the gunfight at Nakatomi Plaza at all.

Jimena also called Luke and told him that she was still waiting in line at the police department to give her statement, and that there was no telling when she could leave.

Luke asked if she needed his help, but she refused.

Everyone in line were employees of Nakatomi Corporation; she would draw too much attention if an intern like her cut the queue.

They had to cancel their plans for that night. Jimena told Luke not to wait for her, as a co-worker would send her home.

Dustin had taken Luke to Park Center that morning in his car, so Luke could only take a cab back to the police department before he drove his own car home.