Chapter 129

Detective Bureau.

Interrogation room.

Elizabeth was handcuffed to the interrogation chair with an angry look on her face and hatred in her eyes.

Susan and Luke and the others were watching her through one-way glass in the observation room.

Susan asked, “Do you think she’s the killer?”

Luke said, “According to the confession of the assistant director, Crapo Hino, Abu Ghra was with a young woman the night she died, white, brown hair, big silver earrings, she fits the bill.

Also she had bite marks on her arm, same as our previous speculation.

It’s highly probable that she’s the killer.”

Susan asked, “Any chance of getting her to confess?”

Luke also thought about this question, the police now have three pieces of evidence, the first is the eyewitness Crapo Hino, who was the one who gave the clue about Elizabeth.

Second, the victim was suspected of leaving teeth marks on the killer before she died.

Third, the blood of the suspected killer was found in the victim’s mouth.

These three points are important evidence to point out the suspect.

But the problem now is that these three pieces of evidence have not yet been verified and we need to wait for the identification results.

There is a more important problem, the lack of key incriminating evidence.

What killed Abu Ghra was a prop dagger, and the fingerprints on it have been erased.

And the previous three pieces of evidence could only prove that Elizabeth and the deceased had met and had a conflict, and could not prove that it was she who killed the victim.

This was the biggest problem facing the interrogation.

Luke carefully considered the matter and divided the interrogation into two stages.

The first stage was condescension.

With the suspect’s guard down, get her to say some confessions that could be proven false, causing inconsistencies in the confessions.

The second stage confessed to the crime.

When the appraisal results came out, Luke laid out all the evidence, forcing the other party to accept a prosecution and defense deal and take the initiative to plead guilty.

If both of these tactics were ineffective, then the only option was to choose the dumbest method, collect more evidence, form a better chain of evidence, and ask the judge and jury to convict in court.

After hearing Luke’s thoughts, Susan pinched her forehead, “Go to trial, I’ll have the technical division compare Elizabeth’s DNA to see if it’s the same as the blood found on the deceased’s teeth.”

“Yes, captain.”

With those words from Susan, Luke’s heart was in the right place.

“Cackle ……” Luke and Blackie both walked into the interrogation room.

Inside the room, in addition to Elizabeth, was a white woman in her forties, her mother.

Elizabeth’s body trembled, and her angry look turned to panic as she choked out, “Why are you doing this to me, targeting me the last time I got a driver’s license, and now this?

Where exactly did I offend you.”

Luke laughed, “Elizabeth, this is the Detective Bureau, we only arrest felons, put away your play-it-safe routine. It’s only child’s play here.”

Elizabeth’s mother looked at Luke and Blackie angrily, “Why are you arresting my daughter? Give me a reasonable reason.”

“What is your name?”

“My name is Sima Linden, I am Elizabeth’s mother. Now tell me, why are you arresting my daughter?”

“We suspect Elizabeth of being involved in a murder, here’s the warrant.” Luke flashed the back-up arrest paperwork.

Thelma Linden looked at the warrant, “That’s impossible, what evidence do you have that my daughter was involved in the murder.”

“The wound on her arm is evidence,” Luke pointed to Elizabeth’s arm, “How did you get it?”

Elizabeth’s eyes rolled, “Bitten by a dog.”

Luke laughed, the more false she said, the easier it would be to cause logical errors back and forth in her testimony, the more ironic it would be to the jury’s ears and the more likely a conviction would be.

“Bitten by what dog?”

Elizabeth’s eyes rolled, “It was nighttime, it was dark, and I didn’t see what kind of dog it was. I freaked out and just ran.”

Luke said, “When you were first brought into the Detective Bureau, you were examined for wounds by the Technical Division.

Your wounds weren’t even dog bites, they were human bites, and that excuse sucks.”

Elizabeth argued forcefully, “How about even if it was a human bite? It was too dark at the time, I didn’t see if it was a human or a dog.

And in my eyes, there’s no difference between some people and dogs.”

Luke shrugged, “I’m sure the jury will love that reasoning of yours.”

Thelma Linden said, “Inspector, isn’t it too arbitrary to say that my daughter is the murderer based on the wound on her arm alone.

Why do I get the impression that Elizabeth was bitten and she was the victim.”

Luke didn’t bother with her sophistry, “Elizabeth, I would like to ask a few questions related to the case. As long as you answer honestly, you can prove your innocence.”

“Go ahead and ask.”

“Where were you on April 25th between the hours of ten p.m. and two a.m.?”

Elizabeth pursed her lips, “It’s been over a week, I can’t remember.”

“That’s okay, take your time to think, we’re in no hurry.”

Sima held her daughter’s hand, encouraging, “Baby, think hard, it’s important to you.”

Elizabeth lowered her head, “I really can’t think about it.”

Luke jotted down in his book, “Second question, have you ever been on the set of Vanishing Lovers?”

“No.”

“Third question, has there been any contact with the Vanishing Lovers crew?”

“No.”

Luke pulled out a picture of the dead man, Abu Ghra: “Have you seen him?”

“No.”

Elizabeth continued to deny it, only to look more nervous as more sweat stains appeared on her forehead.

“Elizabeth, since we are arresting you, we have enough evidence, since you have this attitude, I don’t think there’s any need to talk about it, I’ll see you in court.” Luke had already reached the first stage, Elizabeth was obviously lying about these few questions and got up to leave the interrogation room.

Elizabeth’s mother recoiled, “Inspector, please wait. My daughter was just answering the questions normally, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with her attitude.”

Luke stared at her, “You really believe she’s innocent.”

“Yes, I believe her.”

“That means you don’t know her.”

Sima Linden said with a sincere look on her face, “It’s you who doesn’t know, I’m her mother, I’ve watched her grow up and no one knows her better than I do.

I have begged you as a mother to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible and clear my daughter’s name.”

“OK.

For your sake, I can give her another chance.

I will question her again tomorrow morning. While you’re at it, talk to her.” Luke finished and turned to leave.

“My daughter is not guilty!” Sima Linden shouted.

The next day.

The identification report from the Technical Division came back.

Elizabeth’s DNA was identical to the blood found in the dead man’s mouth.

The teeth marks on Elizabeth’s arm matched those of the deceased.

These two pieces of evidence were Luke’s bottom line.

At 10:00 a.m., Luke arraigned Elizabeth again, with her mother still in tow.

As soon as he came up, Luke still asked the same questions as yesterday.

“Elizabeth, where were you between ten p.m. and two a.m. on April 25th?”

“I really can’t remember.”

“Have you ever been on the set of Vanishing Lovers?”

“No.”

“Liar.

A witness saw you on the set on the night of April 25th, and he would be happy to identify you in court.”

Elizabeth blushed a little.

Luke pulled out the picture of the dead man, Abu Ghra, again, “Look at it again, have you seen him?”

Elizabeth didn’t answer immediately this time and hesitated for a moment, “No.”

“Lie.

After the technical division’s identification, the wound on your arm matches the dead man’s teeth marks, so how could you not have seen him?

Why lie?”

Elizabeth scowled.

Sima Linden defended, “Inspector Luke, there are many look-alikes in this world, and it’s not unlikely that there are people with similar teeth marks.

Besides, the wound on my daughter’s arm is almost healed, I’m afraid the identification result may not be accurate.”

Luke took out the DNA identification report again, “We found your daughter’s blood in the deceased’s mouth. How can this be explained? It’s always not a coincidence.”

Luke organized the report while saying, “Ms. Sima, we have a large amount of evidence in our hands, enough to convict Elizabeth without a trial.

I saw her as young and was willing to give her a chance.

Instead, she lied over and over again, and I am disappointed.

I don’t see the need to talk anymore, I’ll see you in court.” Luke stood up and made to walk away, “Just a reminder, the prosecution will charge Elizabeth with felony first degree murder.

Under California law, juveniles are tried as adults for serious offenses.

You guys should know what that means.”

“Wait.” Sima called out to Luke, “What happens if, I mean if, we plead guilty?”

Luke replied, “If Elizabeth is willing to voluntarily plead guilty, the police could consider charging her with second-degree murder, and with her status as a minor, the sentence would be much lighter.”

Thelma Linden glanced at her daughter and grabbed Luke’s arm as if she was afraid he’d run away, “Can you give us a minute to think about it?”

“You have one minute to think about it.”

“That’s too short, please, give us more time.”

“Only one minute.” Luke started to look at his watch.

Thelma Linden walked over to her daughter and whispered persuasively.

Elizabeth looked agitated and whimpered.

Luke urged, “I’m leaving.”

“Wait ……,” Elizabeth called out to Luke, her eyes red and pale, “I …… plead guilty.”

Luke let out a secret sigh of relief and sat back down at the interrogation table, “You admit to killing Abu Ghra?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“He cheated me.”

“Cheated you out of money?”

“Tricked me into clapping with him for love.”

Intrigued by this, Blackie snaps, “Describe the crime.”

Elizabeth began to recall the crime.

Elizabeth was Courtney’s fan, she knew that Courtney was filming in the theater group, so she tried to find Courtney for an autograph with the attitude of a stargazer.

At that time, it was already late.

The cast and crew were getting together near the filming set, and since there were no residents in the neighborhood, the music was turned up and the atmosphere was great.

Elizabeth was at a fun-loving age and wanted to blend in with the cast and crew at the party, thinking that she might meet a star at the party, or maybe even get picked up by a director or producer and become a star herself.

She was at the age of chasing her dreams and thought well of herself.

However, just as she approached the theater group, she was stopped by the staff and a conflict broke out between them.

Just then, a tall and handsome man helped her out, and even though it was a bit dark, she recognized the other party, Lucas, the male lead of Vanishing Lovers.

She had read the news and knew that the other was filming opposite Courtney, the two should be familiar with each other.

Elizabeth went up to thank him and the two chatted.

Lucas also invited her to visit the set and have a chance to spend time with a big star, which she gladly agreed to.

At first the two were talking about Courtney, then they started talking about movies.

Lucas has a lot of experience in movie making and is also very good at chatting about some of the interesting stories and hardships of the movie making process, and Elizabeth is quickly attracted to him.

He was mature, attractive, and rich.

At her age, she had no resistance to the stars and dreamed of being Cinderella every night.

She had also seen a movie Lucas had made, Brazilian Lovers, and thought she knew something about Lucas.

Lucas also took a bottle of red wine from the campground and the two went to the cabin on the set to drink and chat, and the atmosphere got better and better.

Lucas is very sophisticated and quickly lulls Elizabeth into submission.

The two then played poker in the cabin.

When they were done, Elizabeth went to the bathroom and heard Lucas’ cell phone ring.

She was afraid of disturbing the other woman from answering the call, so she stayed outside and waited.

Lucas took the call seriously, spoke politely, and let go of the outside voice of his cell phone because the party music was so loud.

Elizabeth could also hear the two conversing.

Listening, Elizabeth felt something was wrong.

Lucas wasn’t feeling well.

Shoot the footage of the understudy first.

Who is Abu Ghra?

Elizabeth’s face became more and more ugly, she took out her cell phone and searched for Lucas’s video, carefully comparing it, and found the difference.

The man in front of her looked a lot like Lucas.

But a careful comparison revealed that there was something different.

Elizabeth knew she had probably been duped.

She was angry and felt insulted.

She thought of calling the police.

But would calling the police help?

The man had never said he was Lucas, he was the one who thought he was Lucas, he just didn’t retort, didn’t refuse, didn’t explain.

Besides, she didn’t like the police and she didn’t trust them.

She decided to take her revenge herself and teach the man a lesson, so he could feel what it was like to be lied to as well.

Elizabeth was a smart girl and quickly made a plan.

She went back to the cabin once again and smoothly tied up Abu Ghra with a rope on the pretext of having a little fun and found the prop dagger from the locker.

Just as ‘Lucas’ was enjoying himself, Elizabeth pulled out the dagger and forced him to identify himself.

‘Lucas’ denied it at first, biting out that he was Lucas himself.

‘Lucas’ had a genuine look on his face, and for a moment Elizabeth thought she had misunderstood.

She took out her cell phone and turned on the illumination, which gave her a thorough look at ‘Lucas’.

He resembled it, very much so.

But he wasn’t Lucas.

By this time the dead man knew there was no hiding it and admitted that he was Lucas’s double, Abu Ghra.

Elizabeth was enraged and ready to take further revenge on Abu Ghra.

Then she threatened with a dagger and forced Abu Ghra around the big pit.

Elizabeth was in a rage at the time and didn’t think clearly about what exactly she was going to do with the liar, but just wanted to drive him into the big pit and scare him by burying him alive.

Abu Ghra thought that this crazy woman really wanted to bury himself alive, naturally, he would not honestly wait for death, and fought back at the edge of the big pit, biting Elizabeth’s arm.

Elizabeth, in pain, instinctively used the end of the dagger to strike Abu Gera’s head, the other party still refused to let go, which stabbed the other party’s neck.

Blood spurted out.

Elizabeth freaked out and realized she had made a big mistake.

Regret.

Although the man was not the real Lucas from time to time, and although he had deceived himself, he did look quite handsome.

Luckily, the music from the party in the distance was loud and didn’t startle the party crowd.

Elizabeth decided to bury Abu Ghra alive as a ruse.

At the same time, a bracelet she found in the cabin was thrown in.

In this way she hoped to interfere with the police investigation.

After burying it, Elizabeth found a performance room in the cabin to put it on and quickly fled the crime scene.

After recounting the process of the crime, Elizabeth has cried uncontrollably, in the end, after all, it is only a seventeen-year-old girl, she belongs to the murder of passion, not a premeditated murder, there is no too deep city.

Sima hugged her daughter and cried, the entire interrogation room was shrouded in tears.

Luke and his two men left the interrogation room, and Susan, the vice squad, and the others also exited the observation room.

“Luke, good job.” Susan was satisfied with Luke’s recent performance.

Not only did he catch people fiercely, he was also very good at interrogation, an object that could be cultivated.

Susan still had room to rise, if she didn’t want to be just a captain in this life, she had to have a suitable successor, the people in the Robbery and Murder Division’s 1st Squadron, although all of them were good in their abilities, had their own flaws, and only Luke was a bit more normal.

David is essentially an asshole.

Blacky is unreliable.

The lieutenant’s age is one thing, but crucially, his temper stinks.

Ramon is shorthanded.

Jenny is average in her abilities.

Matthew is a geek.

Luke had the strongest overall ability and was the only one she could look at for cultivation.

She suddenly felt that the team should bring in some new talent.

The vice team also came over and patted Luke on the shoulder, “Young man, you’re great, you have the style I had back then.”

The Vice Squad loved to take advantage of others to praise themselves, and this was his greatest recognition of others.

In his words, it was in this kind of passive compliments that Deputy Reed gradually grew up to become the top level of the Detective Bureau.

David put his arm around Xiao Hei’s shoulder, “This case is also a wake-up call for you, don’t fool around with women in the future.”

Blackie said in a serious manner: “That’s old news, I’ve changed now.”

David didn’t believe it, “A dog can’t change its ways.”

Blacky retorted loudly, “I’m not a dog, I only love Julianne as a woman now.”

David nodded, “Good, I’ll remember your words, if you break up with Julian or cheat on her, I’ll beat you up.”

Black was disgruntled, “Why, it’s not like you’re familiar with Julianne, much less her brother and dad, why are you threatening me like that?”

“You’re right, I’ll be looking at Julianne as a sister from today on.” David pointed his right index and middle fingers at Blackie, “Keep an eye on you for her.”

“Whoa ……,” Blackie, a little upset and not daring to get tough with David, took a few steps behind and turned to Luke, “Why is he doing this?”

Luke shook his head, “Don’t think too much, he’s just looking for an excuse to simply want to beat you up.”

Blackie bristled, “How do you know that?”

Luke laughed, “I thought about it too.”

Blacky “……”