Chapter 62
Evening.
Detective Bureau.
Robbery-Murder Division conference room.
Luke reported on the progress of the case investigation and the arrest.
Susan swept her eyes over Luke and Marcus, “Which one of you two hit the suspect?”
Luke said, “Probably me.”
Marcus shrugged, “Could have been me too.”
It was a bit of a chaotic scene, all three of them were shooting in a flurry of shots, so no one could say for sure.
Susan was concerned, “Need a break?”
Luke was also an old cop, and the shooting didn’t affect him much, not to mention David had avoided suspicion, and if he took any more time off, the team would be understaffed.
“No.” the probate case was almost solved and Luke didn’t want to stop halfway through.
Marcus shook his head as well, “I roamed the streets of the ghetto when I could walk, the sound of gunfire was my lullaby, small potatoes.”
“GOOD, welcome back to the team.”
Marcus laughed, “Is there a welcome ceremony?”
“There are no funds for that at the moment, you can have one thrown for you if you want to pay for it out of your own pocket.”
“Captain, that’s very sweet of you, but forget it.”
“OK, pleasant homecoming ceremony over, let’s get back to talking about the case.” Susan turned the tables, “What’s the status of Logan Salwood? Can we get a statement?”
Marcus replied, “He was wounded in the arm by a bullet, and the guy is using the injury as an excuse to claim that he can’t give a statement at the moment, until he recovers from his injury.”
Susan summarized, “That means it’s unclear what these two have to do with Lawn?”
Luke continued, “I actually found a few more clues, I checked Logan Salwood’s cell phone and found a familiar number in the address book.
It was Lawn’s youngest daughter, Emma.
Logs of multiple calls between Logan Salwood and Emma, the last one being yesterday evening.”
Jenny frowned, “Emma’s only eighteen? I don’t think she could do anything to kidnap her father at that age.”
Susan analyzed, “Emma can only inherit one hundred thousand dollars, while her sister Sophia inherits up to several million dollars, and Emma expressed her dissatisfaction many times after she learned of the written will.
She had enough motive and reason to kidnap her father, Lawn.”
Luke said, “I called Emma’s cell phone number and no one answered, I’m afraid it won’t be easy to find her.”
Susan pointed aside to Marcus, “Marcus, can you find her?”
The following morning.
Luke drove his Harley into the Detective Bureau and had just parked when he saw three familiar figures coming down the stairs.
Ramon, Marcus, and Jenny.
“Hey, where are you guys going?”
Marcus dejectedly said, “I found out where Emma is.”
Luke was still a little envious of Marcus’ ability to be well-informed, “I’m coming along.”
Ramon said, “You and Jenny have other tasks in your group.”
After saying that, Ramon and Marcus got into the car and left.
Luke looked aside at Jenny, “Where are we going?”
“The bank.” The two got into the car and Jenny drove while introducing herself, “Matthew checked Lawn’s bank account and found out that Lawn’s bank account was withdrawn for one hundred thousand dollars yesterday morning.”
Luke laughed, “Good job, whoever withdrew the money is the one who kidnapped Lawn.”
The two rushed to the bank, showed their papers, and accessed the bank’s surveillance from yesterday.
Seeing the person who withdrew the money on the surveillance, the two revealed a surprised expression.
Lawn.
Luke scrutinizes the surveillance and confirms that it’s Lawn himself.
Lindsay hadn’t lied, this was most likely not a kidnapping, but Lawn trying to escape.
“Ringing ……”
Luke’s cell phone rang and pressed the answer button, “Hello.”
“How’s the investigation going?” Ramon’s voice came from the cell phone.
“We investigated the bank surveillance, it was Lawn himself who withdrew the money, he’s long since awakened, he’s just been lying around watching the show. Have you guys found Emma yet?”
“Yes, she got high at the hotel, still a little unconscious, and asked a few simple questions.
She doesn’t know the whereabouts of Lawn either.
Also, she admitted that she hired Logan Salwood to get Lawn out of the hospital.
However, she disavowed the kidnapping, saying that Lawn instructed her to do it, and promised to redistribute the estate.”
“How did she meet Logan.”
“The two met through a dating app.” Ramon said somewhat helplessly, “I’m going to help her sober up and bring her back to the police station for a statement, so I’ll talk to you later.”
The two of them briefly exchanged information, and basically had been able to determine the fact that Lawn had escaped.
But there was one thing that Luke still couldn’t figure out, if Lawn was trying to escape with the help of Emma and Logan Salmu.
Then Emma and Logan Salmu’s crime was not serious, even if they were caught, it would not be a big problem.
It stands to reason that Logan Salwood had no reason to shoot at the police.
It didn’t make sense for a misdemeanor to become a felony.
Luke guessed that Logan Salwood probably had other convictions to be so afraid of being chased by the police.
Then there was the thought of Emma’s relationship with Logan Salwood.
Emma said that the two had met through a dating app, but the two were twenty years apart, so it didn’t seem like they had anything in common in any way.
Nope.
The two shared a common hobby, getting high.
Luke vaguely guessed the reason for Logan Salwood’s shooting ……
“Luke, got the surveillance video, we should go.” Jenny greeted.
The two of them got into the car, and Luke said, “Jenny, let’s not go back to the police station first, let’s go to Logan Salwood’s house.”
“WHY?” asked Jenny, a little confused.
“I think Logan Salwood’s house might turn up clues about Lawn.” Luke needed a reason to search Logan Salwood’s house.
The two drove to Logan Salwood’s house, where the yard was cordoned off and the door to the house was sealed.
Luke had debriefed Susan on the way.
The seal was lifted and the two men entered the house.
The house was very messy, dirty clothes piled up all over the couch, beer bottles were scattered everywhere, and there were takeout boxes on the coffee table, emitting a rancid odor.
Jenny scanned the house and shook her head, “I really don’t understand why these guys are so alive?”
Seeing Luke rummaging around, Jenny couldn’t help but ask, “Luke, what exactly are you looking for?”
“You’ll know in a moment.” Luke didn’t say it explicitly, and it wasn’t a trick.
Some things could be done without being explicit.
A police investigation needed a reason, finding something was another matter.
If you wanted to look into that something openly, you had to apply for the appropriate search warrant, which wasn’t easy.
First of all, regardless of whether you can apply for it, after the best time to investigate, it is likely that everything will change.
Jenny was not idle, searching with Luke.
After ten minutes, Luke found a bag in the toilet’s cistern, “Jenny, I’ve got something over here.”
Jenny walked to the door of the toilet and saw Luke carrying a plastic bag in his hand containing small bags of what in her experience was likely hard solo items.
The amount was enough to sentence Logan Salwood to a couple years.
“Wow wow, how did you know Logan Salwood had a large stash of drugs?”
Luke smiled, “I was just looking for clues on Lawn, probably luck.”
Jenny didn’t press the issue any further, “Uh huh, lucky Luke.”
Luke would have guessed that Logan Salwood was harboring drugs because the last time he went to the hotel to find Emma, he noticed that Emma was showing signs of being high.
Logan Salwood is also an addict.
The two likely knew each other because of the solo product, considering the two were in frequent contact.
Luke guessed that Emma had likely purchased the solo product through Logan Salmu.
Coupled with the implausibility of Logan Salmu shooting at the police in order to escape, Logan Salmu could be in possession of a large amount of solo products and would go to jail if caught by the police.
Luke is neither the DEA nor the L.A. Narcotics Squad, and the best way to find out is to search on Lawn’s grounds.