When Arthur went to the police station to handle the bail procedures, following all the steps, he received some unexpected news.
"What did you say? Why won't you let me post bail? This is clearly the normal bail process!"
A burly, bearded police chief gave a helpless smile.
"It's all orders from above, sir. Direct orders from the federal government. Mr. Blake can only be released after the commissioner's investigation is complete."
Arthur frowned.
"Which law states that?"
The big, bearded police chief scratched his head, picked up a document, and started looking through it.
"Let me see... I remember it being written here... Ah, found it. According to Executive Order 51 signed by the President, cases involving the influence of special powers will be handled by the Federal Emergency Agency..."
The big, bearded police chief rattled off a bunch of complicated and hard-to-pronounce clauses of the executive order as if reading gibberish. Jennifer felt her head spinning, but Arthur and Niddy listened very carefully.
After listening to the whole thing, Arthur continued to question the big, bearded police chief.
"Why haven't I ever heard of this presidential executive order?"
As a lawyer, Arthur was very sensitive to current political news. It was impossible that he wouldn't know about a new executive order, especially since he'd never even heard of the Federal Emergency Agency.
"Maybe it's a secret executive order? Anyway, it was on the fax they sent over, so there's nothing I can do about it."
The big, bearded police chief shrugged. He just wanted to get through the day and collect his paycheck, not cause any trouble.
Arthur's expression was a bit unpleasant. He mainly felt like he'd lost face in front of his daughter, but he had no other choice. He could only leave with a harsh remark.
"You wait. I'll find out if this executive order is real! If it's fake, I'll definitely sue you! Niddy, Jennifer, let's go!"
"Dad, I want to talk to Roy for a few more minutes."
"Go ahead."
Niddy and Jennifer immediately went back to the cell to explain the situation to Roy.
"Bail was denied?"
After listening to Niddy's explanation, Roy felt a little strange.
Generally speaking, unless it involved treason or espionage, as long as you could afford it, you could post bail, even if the amount was higher.
"Roy, don't worry. We all believe in you, and Dad will find a way to get you out!"
"I wasn't really worried about anything, just a bit embarrassed. It's Christmas Eve tonight, and you still have to worry about my problems."
Hearing this, Niddy was a little touched. She took Roy's hand.
"Roy, you've always helped me before. Now it's my turn to help you!"
At this moment, Jennifer also reached out a hand.
"Count me in too!"
The three held hands, feeling the warmth, and no one wanted to let go.
Until Arthur coughed impatiently.
"Ahem, we should go!"
"Roy, wait for our news!"
"I will."
After leaving the police station, Niddy quietly asked her father Arthur.
"Dad, Roy's case is really weird. There must be something hidden going on!"
"I think so too. I'll call a few old classmates who work in government departments later. Maybe they know about this Executive Order 51 thing."
"And then?"
"And then what?"
Niddy glared at Arthur. Usually a - well-behaved girl, she rarely showed her father any dissatisfaction.
This gave Arthur a somewhat chilly feeling, like his padded jacket was getting more and more holes.
"If it's confirmed that the executive order is real, are we just going to do nothing?"
"Honey, if this executive order is real, the only thing we can do is go to the Supreme Court. By then, Roy might have already been released."
Niddy was very dissatisfied with Arthur's answer, but she didn't know how to argue against it.
When it came to legal matters, Niddy definitely couldn't compete with her father Arthur.
After returning to the rented holiday home, Niddy immediately pulled Jennifer back to her room, slammed the door shut, and drew the curtains.
"Niddy, what are you doing?"
Jennifer found Niddy's secretive behavior a bit strange.
"Jennifer, we can't just rely on my dad. I said I'd help Roy!"
Seeing Niddy take out her laptop and plug in the internet cable, Jennifer immediately understood.
"So you've decided to use your hacking skills to help Roy?"
"Mmhmm! I might not be as good as my father when it comes to legal stuff, but he's not as good as me at finding classified information!"
As she spoke, Niddy had already started typing rapidly on the keyboard, her slender fingers almost a blur.
Jennifer stood curiously behind Niddy, instantly feeling a bit dizzy looking at the lines of code on the computer screen.
"What do you want to investigate?"
"Dad went to ask about Executive Order 51, so I'll look into this so-called Federal Emergency Agency! If the government really has such an organization, even if it's secret, there must be some trace of it! Jennifer, keep an eye on the outside for me. I'll first create some hacking software, and I'll call you when I find something."
"No problem."
After Jennifer helped keep watch for a while, she heard Niddy's surprised voice.
"Jennifer, I found it!"
"Let me see!"
Jennifer immediately returned to the screen and saw a simple government website with small and dense text.
"Why is the text so small?"
"This website doesn't allow you to adjust the font size. I'll read it to you. Federal Emergency Agency, abbreviated as FEA, established in 1991, directly under the President, responsible for handling special cases... It looks like a top-secret organization with very high authority!"
As everyone knows, the more ambiguous the powers and responsibilities, the greater the discretionary power in between.
FEA was such an organization with ambiguous powers and responsibilities and very high authority.
"There really is such a department! Niddy, is there any more information?"
Niddy scrolled down the website and clicked on a few more links.
"No, this is all the information on the government's internal website. Detailed information about FEA might be highly classified and not connected to the external network."
If the network was physically disconnected, even Niddy's excellent hacking skills wouldn't be able to do anything.
"Niddy, if this is all the information we have, it doesn't seem like it can help Roy much!"
"I'll look again. As long as this department is really operating, it will always leave some traces in society."
Niddy opened another browser and directly logged into the dark web to start searching for information.
"Here, someone's house was haunted, and an agency called FEA bought it at a low price. And here, a strange serial murder case was taken over by FEA for investigation... This agency seems quite active!"
However, FEA information couldn't be found on mainstream media or even the regular internet.
Niddy and Jennifer exchanged a look.
"This agency has big problems!"
As native-born Americans, Niddy and Jennifer both knew that the American government was quite capable of underhanded dealings. After all, the darkest place is often under the brightest light, and only those at the top truly benefit.
"Niddy, we have to think of a way!"
(End of this chapter)