North American Detective: I am Proficient in All Kinds of Gun Quick Draws-Chapter 620 - 346: Fierce_2

"No problem."

Leia was a woman of decisive and swift action. She grabbed her briefcase and stood up to leave, looking like she was ready to pull an all-nighter.

Dean also stood up, roused the drowsy Lawrence, and they headed back to sleep.

...

「Early the next morning.」

Dean and a yawning Lawrence returned to the university campus. Under the pretext of reviewing case data, they hoped to obtain a list from the school of international students who had gone missing in the past six months.

However, the university authorities flatly rejected Dean and Lawrence's request.

More often than not, schools prefer to keep incidents occurring on their premises from outsiders.

Lawrence angrily stated this involved a vicious series of serial murders, but the school leaders remained disdainful. They offered cooperation but refused to provide the list of names.

As a renowned university, the title of the Homicide Division held no sway over them. A university is a small society with extensive networks and connections. You never know how many of its graduates hold significant social standing. If they really pushed things, Dean and Lawrence would be the ones to suffer in the end.

Left with no choice, Dean had to bribe international students, obtaining the list he sought only through the presidents of organizations like their hometown associations.

「By the time everything was collected, it was noon.」

"FUCK, those damn fat pigs! They don't care if students are threatened, all in the name of preserving the school's reputation. Once this is over, I'm going to make sure the media knows about the student pimping ring harming international students involved in this case," Lawrence muttered, taking big bites of his beef burger. He had been infuriated by the attitude of the school's leaders and teachers today.

Dean, flipping through the list he had bought, said calmly, "It's useless, Lawrence. Just like college girls who openly seek sugar daddies online, the schools simply don't care. I'll even bet you that some of the school's staff might be involved in this."

In United States universities, students have considerable independence, with teachers and professors primarily serving as knowledge providers. Closer student-teacher relationships typically only form at the graduate level. It's then that students can become even more exploited. Some of the more outstanding and talented ones eventually transition from being exploited to joining the exploiters, forming an intangible yet strictly hierarchical academic pyramid. This also explains why universities in the United States are often embroiled in academic sex scandals. Everyone wants to advance and climb higher, don't they? Therefore, the more prestigious the university, the less they care about the safety of their international student 'cash cows.' They're only concerned with the school's brand and reputation. As long as the brand is strong, they don't worry about a shortage of these 'cash cows' flooding in.

Lawrence swallowed the burger in his mouth and rolled his eyes at Dean. "Buddy, reality is tiring enough without you shattering my last beautiful illusions about college!"

"This is a capitalist country. Reality is just like this," Dean said as he tossed most of the lists aside and stretched lazily. "Guess how many international students have gone missing from this well-known California university over the past six months?"

"Five?" Lawrence asked hesitantly. He had initially thought the number would be lower. In his mind, the disappearance of an international student would typically be reported to their home country's embassy—a troublesome matter—so the school couldn't possibly suppress a large number. Five was already outrageous.

But Dean simply shook his head. "Multiply that by ten. A total of fifty-seven students, though only three cases were reported. The rest were either processed as voluntary withdrawals or were actively expelled."

"What?" Lawrence's eyes widened. "Impossible! Wouldn't the embassies of the students' home countries react in some way?"

"React how?" Dean looked at Lawrence curiously. "For example, if the school claims a student secretly ran off to work and earn US dollars, the embassies can't interfere with that kind of personal choice. And, in fact, many international students do this. Many come from economically developing countries where monthly salaries might only be a few tens of US dollars, and they often find it hard to stay and build careers in the United States after graduation. Consequently, every year, a large number of foreign students use their student visas to enroll in diploma mills. However, once they arrive in the United States, they frequently skip school entirely and start working illegally.

"Beyond that, quite a few international students pick up bad habits after arriving, prematurely spending all their tuition and living expenses. When their families can no longer support them, they are forced to drop out and work illegally. The embassies find it difficult to distinguish who is genuinely missing from who has chosen to disappear voluntarily. They can only judge based on what the schools report."

At this time, the United States, still the world's dominant power, had no comprehensive laws or systems in place for international students.

"But this is a globally renowned university, ranked in the top hundred! Are those embassies stupid?" Lawrence, who hadn't attended college, still held a sense of awe and fantasy towards such well-known universities.

"It's not that they're stupid; they just don't care, and it's difficult for them to care," Dean said, shaking the few remaining lists in his hand. "Among these missing international students, the majority are from South America and Africa. Many of them likely did end up working illegally, or perhaps family emergencies left them without money to continue their studies. These few are different, take a look."

Lawrence, disheartened by his shattered illusions, was in low spirits. He tossed his food aside and carefully reviewed the lists Dean handed him:

"Ronan Laza, Spanish, male, 21 years old..."

"Eletra Lachado, French, female, 22 years old..."

"Qian Mengmeng, Vietnamese, female, 19 years old..."

"Matsushita Keiko, Japanese, female, 21 years old..."

"Tan Jiantong, Chinese, male, 31 years old..."

These five lists contained basic information about each person: whether they were undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral students, their majors, and their living conditions.

It just goes to show that money makes the world go round. Tempted by Dean's money, the hometown associations of these five missing individuals had handed over their registered private information without reservation.

These five people had one thing in common: they weren't short of money. Their families were either in business, or back in their home countries, their parents were both government officials, placing them in the local upper class. Frankly, people like that came to study at prestigious schools in the United States purely to burnish their credentials. Even if they fell on hard times, they wouldn't resort to working illegally, let alone abandon their degrees and disappear without a word.

Lawrence shook the lists in his hand. "Two Caucasians, three Asians. Let's hope one of these five matches the information Agent Leia has found."

Dean nodded. "You pass this information to Leia. I'll go find out about Daisy's situation."

"Sure!" Lawrence nodded.

Neither of them noticed a cargo truck pass by their car and drive into the university campus ahead as they talked.

...

「At this moment.」

In a dark little room, Daisy's eyes were covered, and her hands were fastened to a strangely shaped chair, making it difficult for her to move. Her heart was filled with panic and anxiety. She had been brought here and held for a night, and now her whole body ached. But those two bastards hadn't come to question her or explain why they had kidnapped her. She wasn't a fool. Besides her fondness for dating girls, she couldn't think of any other way she might have made enemies. Even if she had inadvertently stolen someone's girlfriend, she...