Porter said, “They are all basically similar to your mother-in-law and had come to visit their relatives in the United States. Four of them have already booked a flight ticket back to Oskia and will be returning to Oskia one after the other over the next few months. However, there is an old lady who immigrated earlier, and Martha has the most call records with her among these six people.”
“An old lady?” Charlie asked curiously, “Is the old lady also a target to be a mule to transport their contraband?”
Porter said, “I’m not sure about this.”
Charlie said, “It would be easy for you to determine this. Investigate this old lady’s flight records in the airline companies over the recent years to see if she returns to Oskia often and when was the last time she returned to Oskia.”
“Okay!” Porter said immediately, “Please wait a moment, I’ll get the hacker to retrieve the information using the loopholes in the civil aviation system.”
Having said that, Porter then gave instructions to the people around him. In less than a minute, he said to Charlie, “Mr. Wade, I’ve already looked into it, but it’s a little strange. This old lady has not returned to Oskia for at least twenty years, and she hasn’t been on a plane at all in the past twenty years.”
“That’s strange...” Charlie frowned and said, “How can an old lady who hasn’t taken a flight for twenty years be of any value to Martha?”
“I’m not sure...” Porter hurriedly said, “I’ll send someone over to approach the old lady immediately and investigate her situation carefully.”
Charlie spoke up and said, “Don’t bother. Help me find out the composition of this old lady’s family.”
Porter said, “Mr. Wade, I have the information here. The old lady’s name is Brienne Zerbe, and she is seventy-three years old. She only has one son who is forty years old this year. Her son was a government-sponsored student many years ago, and he then immigrated to the United States. He brought the old lady to the United States from Oskia twenty years ago, but the old lady came here by herself, so her husband should already be gone.”
Charlie then asked again, “Have you found out their home address? Look up the location of their home in Providence and see what level of the community they belong to.”
Porter then replied, “Mr. Wade, the location where the old lady lives is a relatively run-down community in Providence. Most of the local Oskians do not live there, and the residents there are generally Hispanics and Africans.”
Charlie could not help but feel a little surprised as he pondered aloud, “This matter is a little strange. It stands to reason that this old lady’s family conditions should be average. She probably does not have any immediate family members in Oskia, so she can’t possibly return to Oskia. What do you think Martha’s purpose in approaching her is?”
Charlie was even more surprised. “Go to Mexico to work? That place is much poorer compared to the United States, and it can be regarded as a lawless place. How can a normal person head there to work from the United States?”
“I’m not sure either...” Porter then added, “My subordinate also found a record of her son’s medical checkup that he obtained last week which was done at a hospital in Providence. The medical checkup is for an entry physical examination, so I believe he must have gotten it done to find a job.”
Charlie hummed in response and did not think much of it at first.
However, he suddenly remembered something and said, “Porter, according to the information you gave me just now, many of the people who have been in contact with Martha disappeared into thin air and their whereabouts are unknown, right?”
“Yes.” Porter said, “These people are all registered as missing persons in the police system, and none of them have been found.”
Charlie frowned and suddenly said, “Look these missing people up quickly and check their files to see where they disappeared. Focus on checking whether they have been to Mexico before they disappeared!”
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