[Chapter 390: Case Closed? Obviously Someone's Taking the Fall]
Three days after Link was shot, the New York police held a press conference to announce that they had found the body of one of the assailants while the other remained at large.
The police had leads indicating that the suspect would be caught in the shortest time possible and provide the public with an explanation.
The New York police's efficiency earned public support, and Police Chief William Bratton's reputation noticeably increased.
...
On the fifth day after the incident, the police announced they had found the second assailant; however, during the capture, the assailant was shot dead by the police when he resisted arrest, and key evidence was found in his home, leading investigators to preliminarily conclude that there was a mastermind behind the incident.
The police decided to continue pursuing the case until the culprits were caught, promising not to let any bad person slip through their fingers.
The police's actions drew praise from the media and the public.
---
"William, what leads have you found?"
On the set of Primal Fear, Link spoke via phone with William Bratton between takes.
"Link, based on the clues you provided, we traced Sean Combs' recent activities and discovered he had contacts with a gang in the Bronx, from which the two assailants originated. That's our first lead. The second lead is that we found out Sean Combs had been pursuing Miss Jennifer Lopez. Link, is Miss Lopez your girlfriend?"
"Yes, I know about this. Jennifer once said that Sean asked her out, but she turned him down. Does this relate to the assassination attempt?"
Link asked.
"Our investigation suggests that after being rejected, Combs was furious and publicly stated he would take you out so that Miss Lopez would have to depend on him, leading us to suspect that Combs is the mastermind behind this case," William Bratton said firmly.
Someone would go after him for Jennifer? Link found it hard to accept this conclusion but, without clarity on the motives of the mastermind, could only trust the police's judgment for now.
...
"Link, did the police find the assailant?"
Seeing him hang up the phone, Jodie Foster inquired.
They were filming a courtroom scene today, where Jodie played the role of prosecutor Janet. She wore a black suit paired with a straight skirt and had her honey-colored hair loosely hanging, looking sharp and intellectually attractive.
"The investigation is ongoing, and we're still not sure precisely who it is."
"Well, take care. Don't do anything risky in the future," Jodie Foster said, holding his hand.
Link smiled, saying, "That might be difficult. As far as I know, the ones coming after me must be from the film industry.
My films have been performing well at the box office, and Guess Pictures has been thriving, hitting their interests. If I stop taking risks, it means I'd have to give up on filmmaking or my company, and filmmaking is my life; I can't give that up easily."
"Even if others want to harm you, you still won't give up?"
"Yes, as long as I can breathe, I will never give up on making films."
Link said firmly.
Jodie Foster blinked, her eyes filled with admiration and deep infatuation.
...
Nearby, Julianne Moore smiled slightly at Link; he was not only talented but also dedicated and brave, treating his career as life itself.
Even knowing someone targeted him for it, he wouldn't give up -- there were hardly any men like him in the world.
Julianne Moore also held his other hand tightly.
"All sets ready!"
"Take 61, Scene 3, Camera 1. Action!"
---
Three weeks after the release of The Net, its box office had been somewhat impacted by the assassination attempt on Link, dipping slightly to $35.31 million across 2,107 theaters, bringing its North American total to $124 million, making it the third film of the year to breach the $100-million mark.
It placed second for the week.
The top film was Universal Pictures' comedy The Nutty Professor, starring black comedy superstar Eddie Murphy and Jada Pinkett Smith; it was also Eddie Murphy's latest work after Beverly Hills Cop and Vampire in Brooklyn.
The film opened to $42.33 million, with a production budget of $54 million.
Based on first-week box office figures, it was a hit, which also allowed Eddie Murphy to return to the A-list.
The third place went to Eraser, earning $26.61 million this week.
Batman Forever ranked fourth with $21.37 million, totaling $238 million in North America.
The continued success of The Net and Batman Forever amplified Link's reputation in the entertainment industry, but attention remained focused more on the progress of the shooting incident rather than his filmmaking.
---
In late June, amid urgent public anticipation, the New York police announced further progress in the case.
They claimed to have gathered sufficient evidence to conduct a raid on the main suspect, Sean Combs, also known as the renowned musician 'P. Diddy,' on Friday.
The police confiscated a large amount of evidence from his home, indicating that Combs was involved not only in Link's shooting but also in drug charges, rape cases, illegal gun possession, murder, and more.
The police were currently investigating this case, with specific details and further progress to be disclosed later.
...
The revelation of a music industry figure like P. Diddy being behind the shooting shocked the media and the public, leaving them bewildered.
Link was a Hollywood tycoon, a celebrated director, while P. Diddy was a record company owner and music producer. The two had no intersecting work paths or conflicting interests.
Why would P. Diddy order a hit on Link? It just didn't add up.
Many black celebrities publicly questioned the police's statements, claiming it to be an unjust case.
...
The New York police held another press conference to respond to the media's doubts.
They stated there had been conflict between P. Diddy and Link.
Back in early 1992, they had reportedly clashed on a plane, a story previously covered by the Los Angeles Times, leading to animosity between the two.
In 1993-94, while Link was filming Final Destination and Se7en in New York, P. Diddy had sent people multiple times to the set to harass, after which he served six months in jail for drug charges.
P. Diddy believed that his imprisonment was at Link's doing.
The enmity between the two deepened, with P. Diddy expressing animosity toward Link in public, even supporting O.J. Simpson during the trial, claiming that Link was the real murderer and urging the police to arrest Link.
The catalyst for this latest escalation was a woman.
Recently, at a concert in New York, P. Diddy became infatuated with the beautiful Latina Jennifer Lopez, enchanted by her alluring looks and fiery dance moves. He aggressively pursued her afterward.
Jennifer Lopez was Link's girlfriend, and she had undoubtedly rejected P. Diddy's advances.
Unwilling to give up, P. Diddy continued to harass Jennifer Lopez and even clashed with her bodyguard, resulting in police warning him.
P. Diddy became furious, publicly insulting Link and swearing he would get Jennifer Lopez.
...
After the police's explanations, the voices questioning the case gradually decreased, as those familiar with P. Diddy knew he was an arrogant figure with a criminal background, having once attempted to take out rival Tupac and now targeting Link was also hard to accept.
Media reports shifted from Link's shooting to "P. Diddy Sent People to Assassinate Link Out of Jealousy," a headline far more captivating that caught both fans of films and music's attention.
This news became one of the hottest stories in 1996.
...
"P. Diddy was behind the shooting?"
Michael Ovitz frowned as he read the news. Originally, he thought the culprit was Harvey, motivated by competition in the film market, but the police revealed it was P. Diddy, driven by a woman.
Ovitz found it hard to believe.
...
"Ha-ha, serves him right! Link's a bastard for stealing others' women, finally someone taught him a lesson -- too bad the bullets didn't kill him," Richard Gere shouted angrily from his wheelchair.
"How could this happen? How could the police consider Sean the shooter? Would Link believe this?"
Harvey Weinstein frowned, clearly displeased.
...
"Haha, Link, I told you not to be such a womanizer. Look where you are now?"
Quentin Tarantino excitedly called Link after seeing the news.
"Not much. I'm about to wrap my second film this year. How's your Kill Bill coming along? When are you starting to shoot?"
Beeeeep... Quentin hung up with Link.
...
Link chuckled and then looked at the New York Post on the table.
Before releasing these updates, the police had also given him a heads-up, claiming there was motive to believe P. Diddy was the shooter. The evidence found during the search also indicated his involvement, confirming P. Diddy was the mastermind behind the shooting.
This was far from the expected outcome, and he didn't believe the police.
He called William Bratton, asking if he was 100% sure P. Diddy was the mastermind. He needed clarity on this to feel safe. If they arrested the wrong person while the real mastermind was still at large, he wouldn't rest easy.
After a moment of hesitation, William Bratton told him the two shooters were undocumented immigrants with no identification, no registered weapons or motorcycles, and a simple network, making it impossible for police to find leads from them.
Meanwhile, P. Diddy had both the opportunity and motive, along with a significant criminal history, making his arrest not unwarranted.
However, William Bratton assured Link that the investigation would continue until they found the mastermind, and capturing P. Diddy early on might lead to the true mastermind revealing themselves soon.
Link didn't push back further.
On one hand, this matter was highly impactful, with complex internal circumstances and few leads, making thorough investigations challenging; on the other hand, his suspects were in Hollywood, but the existing clues weren't enough for identification or conviction.
Since that was the case, he thought it might be better to use this situation to deal with someone he didn't like.
He told William Bratton that since they were treating P. Diddy as the shooter, they should solidify the charges to ensure he spent several years in prison without parole. Bratton affirmed it wouldn't be a problem, as P. Diddy had multiple charges against him and would likely receive at least ten years.
"Sounds good," Link agreed.
Currently, P. Diddy wasn't a big name -- just an A-list producer in the music scene, far from what he would later become, making him easier to handle.
Given his current situation, after seven or eight years in prison, the music industry would have already moved on, and P. Diddy would find it hard to make a comeback.
This kind of person wasn't much of a concern.
...
Hanging up the phone, Link returned to filming.
With P. Diddy behind bars, the shooting case was officially concluded; however, the waves stirred up in Hollywood by the assassination of Link had yet to subside.
Rather than believing that P. Diddy had someone shoot Link for a woman, many thought the expose from Star Weekly was more plausible, asserting that Guess Pictures' exceptional performance attracted the ire of the Big Seven, and someone wanted to sabotage Link to halt the progress of Guess Pictures.
Unfortunately, Link's fate was too resilient; not only was he shot but he also didn't get hit.
Now, everyone was eager to know Link's thoughts -- would he accept the police's claim and let it go, or would he continue investigating the truth and quietly seek revenge against the Big Seven?
Everyone was waiting for Link to make a move.
...
"Cut!"
On set, Link glanced at the footage just filmed and told Edward Norton, "You played Aaron well, but the tension wasn't enough playing Roy; you didn't grab the audience. I need you to go a bit more extreme, depicting both sides of humanity -- one angelic, the other demonic."
Edward Norton nodded, heading off to ponder his role.
*****
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