The old man, Linden Schneider, and the big guy, Dix, were now wanted criminals, and naturally, Josh couldn't take them back to his own home.
That would be irresponsible to Margot and irresponsible to himself.
So, he took them to the small apartment his parents had owned.
Although he had been thinking about selling it for a while, it hadn't been sold yet.
Bringing them here meant that, even if they were caught later and turned him in, he would have a solid reason to deny it.
For instance, Linden Schneider only knew his father and had the keys to the place, so him going there had nothing to do with Josh Kane.
As long as Josh stuck to this story, even if they tried to implicate him, the police and the courts wouldn't be able to convict him.
Moreover, unless the two of them were complete idiots, they would have little incentive to turn on Josh.
Despite the fact they had stolen a huge amount of jewelry, from the details in the newspaper earlier that day, it seemed there had been no casualties from the theft other than one guard who had been injured.
And as long as there had been no murder, even if the two were caught, they wouldn't be facing a serious charge, according to the laws of the time, especially since both were white.
At worst, they'd get a few years in prison.
If they played their cards right and built a relationship with Josh, they might even get him to help them get out sooner.
And what was the point of turning on Josh?
Once they arrived, Josh approached the building manager, pretending to ask about the apartment for sale, while Linden Schneider and Dix took the opportunity to slip past his line of sight and go upstairs.
Then Josh followed up, opened the door, and let them in.
Luckily, no one was encountered during the entire process.
"I asked the building manager, and the police only searched this place this morning, so you should be safe here for now," Josh said, closing the door behind them.
"Thank you so much, kid!" Linden Schneider once again gave Josh a stiff bow.
"Don't thank me yet. Let's hear what's going on. According to the papers, there should be more than just you two. The gunfire I heard earlier in Lakeside district—was that your people too? And what's your relationship with my father?" Josh waved his hand and asked.
Linden Schneider and Dix exchanged a glance, and without hesitation, they told him everything.
It turned out that the robbery was indeed related to the high-profile lawyer Emery, as Josh had suspected, and he was one of the masterminds.
Of course, Linden Schneider himself was also a mastermind.
This whole thing started about a month ago, when Linden Schneider had just gotten out of prison.
Yes, the wanted criminal expert had only recently been released from jail.
The first thing he did after getting out was to come to Chicago, where he met with a local underground broker named Colby, saying he had a big business deal that required some manpower and a buyer.
The deal was to steal the Leibler family's jewelry vault.
Since Linden Schneider was well-known on the streets for his high intelligence and trustworthiness, Colby was very eager to help him and introduced him to one of his big clients.
That big client was none other than lawyer Emery.
Emery not only agreed to fund the operation but also promised to buy the stolen jewelry at a price higher than the black market rate.
Tempted by the lucrative offer, Linden Schneider agreed to the deal.
He quickly recruited a team, including Dix and his other three companions: Louis, Goss, and Cody.
The entire robbery went smoothly at first but after the theft, things took an unexpected turn.
As they were leaving, a guard happened to appear in their path.
Although Dix successfully knocked out the guard, unfortunately, the guard's backup weapon fell to the ground and went off by accident.
One of their group, Louis, was shot.
To avoid being caught all together, they had to split up.
Goss took Louis back to his house to seek help from an underground doctor.
Linden Schneider, Dix, and Cody took a separate route to meet Emery, where they planned to exchange the jewelry for payment.
This is also why, the night before, Emery had quietly left after John Leibler had left, in a hurry to meet them for the handoff.
What they didn't expect, though, was that Emery had never intended to pay them.
From the very beginning, he had planned to double-cross them.
Emery's financial situation had been terrible for years, and he was on the verge of bankruptcy. There was no way he could afford to buy the jewelry.
Instead, he planned to take the jewels and flee to Mexico.
He also had an accomplice, a thug named Bob Branno.
The problem was, they had picked the wrong opponents.
Linden Schneider was a non-violent criminal who relied on his brains.
Dix and Cody, on the other hand, were not.
As a result, Emery's plan to double-cross them failed, and his most trusted henchman, Bob Branno, ended up becoming Dix's victim.
Just as Dix and Cody were preparing to kill Emery, Linden Schneider stopped them.
Their situation was already bad enough. They had lost the buyer, couldn't get the money, had nowhere to run, and disposing of so much stolen jewelry was not going to be easy.
So Linden Schneider came up with a plan—he suggested Emery contact the insurance company.
In such a situation, insurance companies would often agree to buy back the jewels privately to cover their compensation for the losses to the Leibler family.
Emery agreed to this and disposed of his accomplice's body.
At that point, it seemed like everything would pass.
However, Linden Schneider had become a prime target for the police ever since he was released from prison, due to his reputation as a notorious criminal expert.
Add to that the pressure from the Leibler family and the local government…even without direct evidence, the police issued a warrant for Linden Schneider's arrest.
Soon after leaving Emery's mansion, they were spotted by the police.
During the escape, their companion Cody deliberately drew the police away, allowing Linden Schneider and Dix to escape and run into Josh, who was trying to take a different route home.
During this recounting, Linden Schneider once again emphasized that he had a very good relationship with Josh's father.
In fact, it was because of him that Josh's family had come to America.
Josh didn't comment on this, as he had no way to verify it.
However, since Linden Schneider was able to mention his father's name so easily and handed him a large bag of diamonds, it seemed that there was some truth to it.
In any case, since Josh had the ability to help, he figured there was no harm in offering some assistance.
There was, after all, a lot of room for negotiation in this situation.
"If you trust me, you might as well turn yourself in now," Josh said after a moment of thought.
"Why?" Linden Schneider asked, confused.
"Because, as you said, Emery is a major part of this. Why don't you get together, put all the blame on him, and I'll help. I know John Leibler. If he finds out that his lawyer is behind all this, I'm sure he won't hesitate to help you pin Emery as the inside man. That way, you'll only be considered accomplices, and with the right lawyer, you won't get more than a few years in prison. I can even help with parole or house arrest. Wouldn't that be better than being on the run?" Josh explained. "Anyway, you haven't caused any serious injuries other than killing one of Emery's thugs in self-defense."
Linden Schneider fell silent, pondering.
Indeed, Josh's suggestion was very reasonable.
But, tightening his grip on the bag of diamonds, he still felt reluctant to part with it.
"Sir, I'm afraid it's not that simple," Dix suddenly spoke up, interrupting Linden Schneider's thoughts. "We haven't caused too much harm in this case, but I don't want to hide anything from you. Half a month ago, we accidentally killed a tennis player, and we have a few other criminal records. This might not be as easy to resolve by just turning ourselves in."
Josh was caught off guard by his words and choked, coughing loudly.