Chapter 133
Malik’s dental office.
In a black Dodge.
Blackie sat in the driver’s seat and leaned back, “I still like our big Ford.”
Luke lowered the seat and half reclined, “Peter’s seen us in that car, it tends to alert him.”
Blackie glanced in the direction of the dental office, “You’re just going to keep watching?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“Why don’t we just get a search warrant?”
“Search on what grounds? Just because he took off his car recorder, which is his freedom and not illegal, the judge certainly won’t sign a warrant.”
“Ringing ……”
A cell phone rang.
“Hello.”
Matthew’s voice came from the phone, “Guys, I found out something about Peter, is it convenient to talk now?”
“Go ahead.” Luke tapped on the external speaker.
Matthew continued, “Peter has no recent auto accident insurance records. However, I found that he made a cash withdrawal of three thousand dollars this morning.”
Blackie said, “This guy is rich, isn’t it normal to withdraw three thousand dollars to spend? I occasionally withdraw three thousand dollars to use.”
Matthew said, “I checked Peter’s bank account, he mostly uses credit cards and electronic payments, and rarely uses cash.”
Luke said, “A sudden cash withdrawal by someone who is not accustomed to using cash, most likely not wanting the use of the money to be traced, suggests that Peter is probably on the move.
That’s good news, Matthew, any other leads?”
“How so? I don’t know if it’s a clue, but when I was looking into Peter’s finances I found that he was transferring money to Courtney every month, no less than twenty thousand dollars at a time.”
Marcus grinned widely, “Wow wow, this chick is going to empty him out, why do so many people love being the Arrow?”
“Matthew, that was a useful lead you picked up, thanks.” Luke hung up his cell phone.
Marcus said, “You know what? I envy Matthew sometimes, not having to be on field duty, not having to worry about getting shot at, just sitting there and getting the job done.”
“While you’re envying others, they’re envying you, sitting around every day is not a good thing. If it were you, I don’t think you could last two days.”
“Maybe.” Black spread his hands, “Why do you think Peter took the money? What can you do with three thousand dollars?”
“I don’t know, after all, I’m not the Arrow, it’s hard to figure out what they’re thinking.”
The two men kept watch at the dentist’s office for the rest of the day, and since Matthew had said that the other man had withdrawn cash today, that meant that there might be action after hours.
Luke hadn’t had a long stakeout in a long time, and how can I put it?
It did get boring.
“Jingle bell ……”
A bell rang in his hand.
Luke took a look at it and saw that it was Fatty’s cell phone number, he was supposed to be off school.
“Hello ……”
“Dear old brother, are you busy now?” Little Fatty’s concerned voice came from the cell phone.
“It’s okay, what’s there is to say directly?”
“Have you been busy lately? Haven’t been home, mom has been chanting about you all day.”
“It’s true that I’ve been a bit busy, you know, it’s all about the case.”
“I just want to remind you not to work too hard or put too much pressure on yourself.”
“Where are you?” Luke felt something was wrong, Fatty usually rarely called himself, and even if he did, he wouldn’t say shit like this.
Could it be that he was in danger?
“I’m at the creamery on the community square with the charming Maggie, and it’s the happiest time of my day. I’m definitely the luckiest boy in all of L.A.”
“Anything else?” The chubby little man was actually showing his love, and Luke felt like he was worrying blindly.
“Ah …… almost forgot to get down to business. I want to consult with you about something.”
“Say.”
“I’ve recently wanted to buy a bike, but I don’t know much about it, and I wanted to ask you for advice on which brand is good, and since you’ve bought two bikes, you should be able to give me a good recommendation.”
“Didn’t Dad give you a bike for Christmas two years ago?”
“That’s right, but now I want a mountain bike, wider tires, better stability and cushioning, you know, every boy wants a super cool mountain bike.
Like your Harley.”
“I see, I’ll look into it sometime and let you know when I do.”
“OK, I’ll leave you to your work then, remember to come home and visit when you can, mom and I miss you.”
Luke hung up his cell phone and muttered, “Nasty little fatty.”
Xiao Hei revealed an envious look, “You brothers are so affectionate.”
“You eavesdropped again.”
“I didn’t eavesdrop, it’s just that my ears are better, I can hear that your brother respects you a lot, and will specially call to ask for your opinion.
I long for that kind of brotherly love.”
Luke smiled, “He just has a birthday coming up.”
Blacky “……”
Luke was a rich man now, and didn’t mind buying his little old brother a birthday present.
Grossly la.
An hour later.
The dentist’s office was off duty.
Luke reclined on the chair, “Follow up, be careful, don’t let the other side find out.”
“Don’t worry, my nickname is Black Paul, no one knows more about cars than me.”
Luke shook his head, full of shit.
The two men followed behind for some time and realized that Peter wasn’t heading home.
Luke called David and asked him to bring backup.
Peter parked his car in front of a detective agency and observed the surrounding situation while entering the detective agency.
Blackie said, “There’s definitely something wrong with this guy.”
Luke didn’t say anything, just watched quietly, according to his previous speculation, Peter shouldn’t be the murderer, but his behavior was also very weird.
Ten minutes later, Peter came out from the detective agency.
In order to avoid exposure, the two Luke didn’t follow anymore, but let David and Jenny drive and follow.
Luke and Blackie instead entered the detective agency to poke around.
“Hi, what can I do for you?” Upon entering, there was a buxom black girl, about thirty years old, sitting at the front desk.
Blackie habitually looked up and down, “Hi beautiful, we want to check something, can you introduce us to some detectives here?”
The black girl said, “There is only one detective in the detective office today, George Dandis, and the best detective in our office.”
Luke said, “That’s him.”
The black girl then led the two men to an office on the right hand side.
In the office sat a man in his forties, the office was a bit messy, the man looked unkempt, but he was quite handsome, kind of an old bacon.
The man took the initiative to introduce himself, “I’m George, how can I help you?”
“We’d like to ask you to help us look into someone.”
“In what way? Work record, criminal record, marital status, or financial status?”
Luke flashed Peter’s picture, “It’s him I’m looking into.”
George looked at it and smiled, “Who are you guys?”
Black flashed his badge, “LAPD, we’re investigating a major criminal case, this guy is involved, and we need to know his every move.”
George was in a bit of a bind and sighed, “I have a detective’s license and this place is run legally, I don’t want to get in trouble but I don’t want to rat out my client either.”
Luke intoned, “George, you’re not selling him out, you’re helping him, he’s involved in a major criminal case, he himself may not be aware of the dangers involved, we’re saving him.
Moreover, you should understand the police, since we have set our eyes on him, we must find out what he is here for, if you don’t tell us, we will keep an eye on this detective agency until we get to the bottom of it.
If you don’t want to see us again, all the more reason to say so sooner.”
George asked rhetorically, “What will you do if I don’t tell you? Send a police car to patrol in front of the detective agency 24/7?”
Luke nodded, “Good idea.”
George was silent for a moment and took out his cell phone and tapped on a photo, “He asked me to look into this man’s profile.
Marital status, financial status, work life, everything.”
Luke took a look at the photo and immediately recognized the man in it, Boris.
“What all did you find out?”
“The guy’s name is Boris, grew up in Los Angeles, now works as a casino executive in Las Vegas, is doing well financially, was recently arrested by the Detective Bureau for a homicide, and was just released on bail this morning.
You guys are right, Peter did mess with a vicious guy. It’s not easy to deal with this guy just by looking at him.”
“When did Peter come to ask you to investigate him?”
“He came in the day before yesterday, paid a one thousand dollar deposit, and the final payment of three thousand dollars today.”
Black raised an eyebrow, “You guys are pretty profitable.”
“I spent a lot of money to get this information too, I don’t have much left over for myself, so I’m just making a living. And not all clients want Peter to be so generous.”
Luke said, “Send me that picture.”
“OK,” George said as he sent the photo to Luke.
Luke felt a little strange looking at the photo of Boris.
The photo was obviously processed, except for the headshot, all around it was defocused, as if it was intentionally hiding some kind of information.
Luke’s heart had an extra layer of surprise, how did Peter know Boris, the two should not know each other.
Why is Peter looking for Boris, is it to take revenge on him?
Or, Peter was the hidden Boss, he knew about Boris and Courtney’s relationship and killed Courtney?
Luke feels the need to revisit Peter?
This guy might not be as simple as he seems to think.
Luke then reported the investigation to Susan.
Susan also rearranged the tasks.
Susan divided the investigation into two directions, one direction was dominated by Luke, investigating Peter’s situation.
The second direction was her responsibility, Peter left at twelve in the evening, Boris arrived at Courtney’s house after one in the morning, it was likely that there were other people who had been to Courtney’s house in the nearly one hour time difference.
The four of them, Susan, the lieutenant, Raymond, and Matthew, were responsible for finding this possible third person.
Late Night.
Near Peter’s house.
In a black Dodge.
Luke and Blackie are on stakeout.
Since Peter had inquired about Boris, he must have made a move, so the focus of Luke’s investigation was still mainly on the stakeout.
Because Peter and Luke two people have more contact, in order to avoid being found by him, Luke and Blackie night stakeout. The two stood guard for the night, and nothing happened all night.
In the morning, David and Jenny switched shifts.
The next night was another night without incident.
Susan’s side spotted a few vehicles that had been seen around the neighborhood, and the lieutenant and Ramon took charge of the lineup.
Soon it was the third night.
At 8:00 p.m., Black sat in his car yawning.
To avoid being spotted by Peter, this time they switched to a Chevy.
“Luke, it’s already the third day, do we have to keep watching?”
“Sure.” Luke sounded certain.
From what was available, there was definitely something wrong with Peter, and his investigation into Boris was likely to lead to further action.
Stalking this kind of thing is very bitter, Luke really did not do less before, three days are considered less, before ten days and half a month are very normal.
The police are not fortune tellers, how can they predict which day the suspect will do it, in order to avoid missing the opportunity, long-term stakeout is the basic operation.
Blackie pointed ahead with some excitement, “Hey, look, Peter’s door is open.”
Luke knocked down his hand, “Be careful tracking, don’t let him find out.”
Peter’s car drove ahead.
The two Luke’s trailed behind.
Peter pulled into a public parking lot while walking into a bar.
Luke and Blackie also trailed behind, however, when Luke walked near the bar he felt a different atmosphere.
It was a gay bar.
Blacky exploded, “FUCK, this Peter guy is okay with this?”
Luke patted Blackie on the shoulder, “Protect yourself.”
“Can I not go in?” Blacky, despite his flowers, was a standard straight man.
Luke shook his head, “You can go in alone.”
“No, let’s just go in together.” Kuro took a deep breath, the thought of a group of gay men surrounding them and tasting them gave Kuro the creeps.
“Bounce ……”
The two entered the bar, rock music blaring inside.
The bar wasn’t very large, and it was almost all male clientele, all of whom were very effeminate from the way they were dressed.
There was also a stage in the middle of the bar, and a man was dancing on it, drawing cheers from those on the stage.
Luke stood to the side of the bar and searched for Peter.
At the moment, Peter was sitting in a booth at a card table near the stage, drinking and watching with interest.
Blackie said, “I didn’t really see that he was actually a pervert.”
Luke scanned around and warned, “Watch what you say if you don’t want to get your ass kicked.”
A few minutes later, the man finished his dance, with only a bow tie remaining on his clothing.
Luke thought it was hot, too, and if Peter just had a hobby in that area that had nothing to do with the case, he really didn’t need to be here.
Just then, Luke saw a familiar face.
Paul.
The owner of a strip club he’d met while working on his first case.
“You stay here and keep an eye on Peter, I’ll go say hi to Paul.” Luke said to Blackie who was beside him.
Blacky remembered the other man as well, “Paul, that creep is here too, why am I not surprised.”
Luke walked over to say hello, “Hi Paul.”
Paul crossed his orchid fingers and wiggled his way over, “Hey, Detective Luke, what are you doing here? I didn’t realize you had this kind of interest last time I saw you.”
Luke pointed at Blackie, “Remember that dude? He’s the one who wanted to come over and meet him.”
“Of course, can’t tell he’s got any taste.”
“Paul, what are you doing here?”
“I’ve got a bit of a stake in this bar, and I do the occasional guest act on stage, you’re not here today, I usually play on Wednesdays, it’s pretty kick ass, the crowd loves me.”
Luke nodded, “Of course, you have a talent for that.”
Paul was amused, “Would you like a drink, I’ll buy you one.”
“Thanks, I don’t really feel like drinking today, just enjoy the show.”
“OK, then if you’ll excuse me, have fun. Maybe you’ll make new friends and get to know a different version of yourself.”
Luke blushed a little and resisted the idea of punching him, pointing to Peter at the side of the stage, “Paul, have you seen that guy in the brown leisure suit?”
Paul looked at him, “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“If you’re interested in him, you can just buy him a drink, no need to be too formal here.”
“Thanks for the suggestion.” Luke sighed darkly.
Just then, another man went up on stage, drawing a cheer.
The man was a balding, fairly well built man with a bow tie on top and pants on the bottom.
The audience began to cheer from the stage, “Take it off, take it off ……”
Luke looked over, a surprised look on his face, he recognized this man who was getting ready to dance on stage.
It was none other than Courtney’s other boyfriend, Boris.
Courtney was dead.
Two of his ex-boyfriends showed up at the gay bar.
What the hell was going on here?
Boris then stripped down to just the bow tie around his neck and started dancing on stage.
The dancing was hot and Luke couldn’t watch.
The crowd on stage was excited though, especially Peter who was yelling excitedly and still tipping the ring.
It was a really weird scene.
“Paul, do you recognize the bald guy on stage?”
“Sort of, a new guy who just auditioned for the job, average looking, okay build, but he’s very sincere in trying to get the job.
I decided to give him a chance.”
Luke pressed, “Does he look gay to you?”
Paul shook his head, “Not like that, I’ve met too many gay guys, he’s certainly not.” Then pointing to Luke, “Neither are you.
And that little black guy, that one is a standard color blank.
Why don’t you tell me what you guys are here for.
Maybe I can help.”
Car recorder, detective agency, altered photos, striptease ……
Connecting the dots, Luke vaguely guessed what was going on.
Peter was sitting next to the stage, waving his hands, looking excited.
Peter felt something behind him and his body stiffened, “Hey, what are you doing?”
The muscular man looked innocent, “I’m just trying to make friends with you.”
“FUCK, don’t ever touch me again.” Peter said and walked right out of the bar, “Disgusting.”
Peter exited the bar and lit a cigarette, taking a few puffs before his mood soothed.
He then gave a wry smile.
“Hey Peter, hello again.”
Peter froze and turned his head to see a young brunette next to him.