Chapter 155

The shooting case was more complicated, involving multiple victims and gunmen, with a greater social impact and a longer time to close the case.

The second half of the month the first squadron was mostly busy organizing the closing procedures and files.

Taking advantage of this period of time not to be busy, Luke left work at the whole time every day and used up all three of the newly drawn study cards.

They were the profiling card, observation card and micro-expression analysis card.

These three skills were also refined quite a bit, and Luke felt very fulfilled.

Soon, entering June, the weather temperature was also slightly higher than the previous two months.

Clothing also became cooler and cooler, and Luke started to wear half sleeves.

In the morning, Luke drove his Harley into the Detective Bureau, causing quite a crowd.

The modified Harley was even cooler, with a more perfectly streamlined body, wider tires, and flashier colors.

The stylish and domineering fit Luke’s temperament.

“Hey, the Harley modification is good.” Captain Jones walked over and patted the back of the motorcycle.

Luke laughed, “You have a good eye too.”

“Got a minute? Let’s chat.”

“I thought you simply liked my bike.”

Jones laughed, “There’s no conflict.”

The two went to the smoking area and Jones handed Luke a cigarette.

“Captain Jones, what did you want to talk to me about?” Luke was genuinely unable to guess the reason why Jones was looking for him.

Jones took a drag on his cigarette, “Can we talk about David?”

“What about David?”

“I know that David’s investigative style is rather hardcore, he hasn’t offended many people, and he hasn’t been investigated by the Ministry of the Interior, I don’t think he’s very suitable to stay in the Robbery and Murder Division, it might be more suitable for him to come to our Gangsterism and Drug Enforcement Division, and I have a good position for him.

But I’d like to get to know him a little better before I make a formal invitation, you’re his partner, you should know him best.”

Luke frowned slightly, “If David goes to the Gang and Narcotics Division, what position can he hold?”

“Lieutenant.

The previous vice squad transferred out and there is no suitable candidate in the team, I have a recommendation for qualification, of course, whether or not the transfer will be successful depends on his personal ability.”

“Sounds good.” David was already in his thirties and had been in the Robbery and Murder Division for seven or eight years, so he did have the qualifications to be promoted to vice squadron.

A squadron usually had one or two lieutenants, the Robbery and Murder Division’s First Squadron already had Lieutenant Vince, and it was only a matter of time before Luke was promoted, so David could only continue to suffer if he wanted to be promoted to lieutenant in the First Squadron.

Either Luke will be boiled away, or the vice team boiled back, transferred to the black and narcotics division is an opportunity, of course, the key is still to see how he himself think.

As for Luke, it didn’t matter much.

Blackmail and Narcotics Division in the robbery and murder division downstairs, commuting to and from work can often meet, and at night you can go to the bar to drink together.

In addition, the two were very close, being in different departments, they could also exchange news, which was good for each other’s future development.

Luke described David’s situation very objectively.

This time there is no need to over-glorification, David even if the transfer is successful, but also in the past when the vice team, if the words and actions are not consistent, the top boss Jones heart will not be happy.

The two chatted for ten minutes, Jones almost all understand: “Luke, first do not tell David, wait for my side has the exact news, and then talk to him.”

“OK.”

Jones patted Luke’s shoulder again, “I’m leaving first, next time I have a chance to buy you a drink.”

Luke smiled.

I’ll believe the hell out of you, if you want to buy me a drink, go to a bar at night to chat, why carry me out early in the morning to chat.

However, this is a good news, wait for a suitable opportunity, Luke will find a letter to David.

As for Jones, he didn’t care.

The relationship is close to Luke can not have a little pussy.

Back to the office.

David pointed out the window, “Your motorcycle is really flirty.”

Luke laughed, “This belongs to the hard man standard, you are just envious.”

David raised his chin and pointed to Blacky’s desk, “Our squadron has already fallen a tough guy, maybe you’re next.”

Blacky held his chin in a listless look.

Luke shook his head, couldn’t care less, one tough guy in this office was enough.

Matthew walked into the office and greeted, “Luke, there’s someone outside?”

“Who?”

“A fat white guy, kind of cute looking.”

“What the hell?”

A fat white guy, kinda cute? Luke was a bit puzzled as to who could be looking for him.

Luke went downstairs and saw a familiar figure, Uncle Val.

“Uncle, what brings you here?”

“I just happened to pass by and stopped by to see you, nice work environment, wow…… this your modified Harley? Super cool.” Val yawned and patted Luke’s motorcycle.

Luke took a step back and frowned, “You been drinking?”

“One beer.”

Luke didn’t believe it, the smell of alcohol was killing him.

“Uncle, can I help you?”

Val scratched his cheeks, “Uh, I’ve been buying a lot of stocks lately, and they’re all hedged …… you know.”

Luke got right to the point, “How much?”

“Two hundred dollars.”

Luke sighed softly, still took out two hundred dollars from his wallet and handed it to him.

“I’ll pay you back later, double.”

Luke didn’t get his hopes up for that, “Why didn’t you call when you were looking for me?”

“Cell phone was out of service.”

Luke “……”

Val slipped the two hundred dollars into his pocket, “I won’t always be like this, trust me.”

What could Luke say, “Get a job first.”

Val said, “I have a job, I’m recording a song …… In fact, at the last family gathering, I wanted to play my song for you guys to hear. But I was afraid your mom would beat me up.”

Luke nodded, “That’s a possibility.”

“Man, thanks, I’ll send you the songs when I record them.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“GOOD,” Val said and turned to leave, taking a few steps before admonishing, “Don’t tell your mom I came by, she’s super annoyed.”

Luke “……”

With such an odd uncle, what could he say?

Just then, David and the others came down the stairs, “Your friend is here?”

“That’s right, an unreliable friend.” Luke made a perfunctory remark, “Why are you all down here?”

“There’s a case.”

“What case?”

“Get in the car and talk.”

Luke, David, and Blackie then got into the Ford Explorer.

David drove, Luke sat in the passenger side, and Blackie wilted in the back.

David said, “A woman’s body was found on the beach.”

“David, honestly do you like working on cases?”

“Most people would choose to be unemployed if they could live a rich life without working.”

“That’s not what I’m saying, I’m saying, have you ever thought about transferring to a different department other than staying in the Heist and Murder Division?”

David shook his head, “Marcus is quiet, is it your turn to talk shit now?”

Luke didn’t say any more, although Blackie wasn’t an outsider, this was after all David’s personal matter and he didn’t directly point it out.

This matter is not something that will come to fruition overnight either.

Soon, the group arrived at the scene of the crime, and the patrolmen had already drawn a cordon around it.

The body is located on the beach not far from the highway, it is likely that the body is directly dumped in the sea and washed back.

Luke approached to check, is a white female body, does not look old, estimated to be more than twenty years old, blonde hair, the body decomposition is not serious, estimated that the time of death should not be long.

Wearing a short blue one-piece dress that had been rolled up to her waist, exposing her light blue bottoms, there were quite a few signs of abrasions on her body, and in Luke’s experience, there were both injuries caused in life as well as after death.

Among them, the wound that attracted Luke’s attention the most is in the neck, there are teeth marks on the left part, at first glance it looks like an animal’s teeth marks, there are two round holes left by fangs, but on closer inspection it looks like a human’s teeth marks.

Luke’s mind can not help but be a little puzzled, what the hell is this thing bites?

Other than these things, there were not many traces left at the scene, this was definitely not the first scene, and the body had been washed away by the sea, there was not much evidence that could be left behind.

It might not even be possible to prove her identity?

As for the cause of death, that was a matter for the coroner.

The survey team and coroner who arrived later took over the scene.

Ramon, David, and Jenny went to walk around the neighborhood.

Luke took Blackie to give a statement to the informant.

The informant was a white man in his forties, wearing a baseball cap and a big beard, looking a bit scruffy, and smelling like a mixture of stench and alcohol.

Luke asked, “Are you Jamie Andari, the reporting party?”

“That’s me.”

“Jamie, we’d like to take your statement.”

“Sure, but it better be quick, I’m ready to go back to sleep.”

Luke thought he’d heard wrong, it was ten o’clock in the morning, it didn’t look like bedtime by any stretch of the imagination, “You mean sleep?”

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“No, your free.

Can you describe, how you found the body?”

Jamie, the informant, recalled for a moment and said, “I had just finished breakfast today, a fried egg and ham burger that I made myself. After eating, I wanted to come down to the beach to get some water and brush my dishes.

I ended up seeing a body right on the beach, at first I thought I was mistaken, I walked in and realized it was real, I freaked out and called the police.

Now I’m not even scrubbing the pots and pans. I’m not going to brush it again either, I’ll just carry on using it at night.”

Luke was a little confused at what he heard, “Brush the pots and get water? You don’t have water at your house?”

Jamie, the informant, pointed to the right, “My home is right there, I live in a tent, and yes, I’m a bum.

Exactly, I’m a bum now, I wasn’t before.”

Luke nodded and followed up, “Did you know the dead man?”

“No, I don’t, this is the first time I’ve seen it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“What time did you see it?”

“About nine o’clock in the morning?”

“Please be more specific.”

“Around nine-forty.”

“What time was the police called?”

“Less than two minutes after the body was found.”

“Did you get close to the deceased?” Luke kept watching his expression, sensing signs of a lie.

“Yes. I wanted to make sure she was okay and see if she needed assistance. I called the police as soon as I realized she wasn’t breathing.

It was horrible.”

Luke tried, “Did you see anyone suspicious before you found the body?”

“No.”

Lies!

“Think again, did you forget something yourself?”

“No.”

Lying!

Through the transcript just now, Luke obviously saw that the other party had a lying expression.

The preliminary autopsy was not yet completed, Luke was not in a hurry, so he just had a good chat with the informant to figure out the reason why he lied.

As the informant, since he lied, he must be hiding some important cases, may become a breakthrough point in the case.

Luke also did not reveal the other party right away, and said as if making small talk, “Jamie, why did you move to live in this neighborhood?”

“It’s cleaner here, it’s closer to the sea, I like the sea, when I’m not doing anything I can play guitar to the sea, that’s a great feeling.”

“You play guitar?”

“That’s right, I wasn’t always this down and out …… exactly I just went bankrupt not long ago, last year I was a middle class man with a house and a car, then I lost my job, my wife got divorced, my credit cards blew up, and everything I had became the bank’s.

Even my daughter’s college tuition I couldn’t get.

I had to move into a tent, and at first I was a little uncomfortable, but now I think it’s good, I have more free time to do what I want to do, isn’t that the ultimate human pursuit?”

There are a lot of homeless people in the United States, the number of roughly more than half a million homeless people, accounting for the total population ratio of 1.7 per thousand, the main source of homeless people have three kinds.

The first one sucks solitude and alcoholism.

The second, illegal workers.

The third, the middle class.

Americans talk about early consumption, do not care if it is useful or not, just buy it.

In addition, most people use credit cards, they don’t have much cash, and once they have financial problems, they can easily go bankrupt.

With a bad record, it will be more difficult to find a job, and it will be hard to rent a cheap apartment, and landlords will not be willing to rent to people with bad credit.

Once the middle class goes bankrupt, many men will be reduced to vagabonds.

It is not that they want to be vagabonds, but they have to be.

Huge debts are hard to turn over.

America is very unfriendly to the middle class.

“Jamie, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Luke comforted.

“Thanks, I’m having a good time too.”

Luke stared at him as his words changed, “I sympathize with what you’re going through, but that’s no reason for you to lie.”

Jamie leaned back and swallowed, “I …… didn’t lie.”

Luke’s tone was sure, “I’m a cop and I deal with criminals every day.

Those of them are good at lying, but you’re different, you’re not like them.

I know you’re a good person who just couldn’t think straight for a while, and I’m willing to give you a chance to make it right, tell me what happened.”

Jamie froze, a look of embarrassment on his face, and lowered his head.

His right hand trembled slightly, and he didn’t know if it was from being scared or from drinking too much.

Seeing that the other party didn’t answer, Luke changed his question, “You just said that you have a daughter too, are you close to your daughter?”

“Yes, I used to have a great relationship with my daughter, I would drive her out every week, along with her mom, we were a happy family, at least I thought so.” Jamie nodded at Luke.

Luke pointed to the body not far away, “That female victim is not much older than your daughter, she has a father as well, and at this point is most likely anxiously waiting for his daughter to come home, I’m sure you should be able to understand how that feels.

But he …… can no longer wait.

All we can do is to check the case and find the girl’s murderer, and perhaps bring his father some comfort.

Can you help us? To be exact, help a father who is anxiously waiting for his daughter’s return.”

“I will.” Jamie looked up, perhaps thinking of his daughter, his eyes a little red, “I …… am sorry, I shouldn’t have lied.”

“Everyone makes mistakes, you still have a chance to correct yourself, and it’s not too late.”

Jamie nodded and took a deep breath, “I saw it, last night …… no, around two this morning to be exact, I saw a black pickup truck pull up to the beach.

Two burly men stepped out of the vehicle as if they were carrying something to throw into the sea. I was sitting at the mouth of my tent drinking a beer, and because I was far away and it was dark, I couldn’t see what they were throwing, and instinctively thought it wasn’t anything good.

But I didn’t bother, I was mixed up like this, what was there to be afraid of.

When they finished throwing things, it seems that they also found me.

The two of them exchanged a couple of curses and then came over to my side, and I realized that the situation was not good.

I tried to run, but I was so drunk that I couldn’t run fast at all, and was soon chased by the two men.

One of them put a gun to my head and loudly questioned, “What did you see?”

I just said no.

After a stalemate, they pulled out a thousand dollars and threw it on the ground, telling me to take the money and keep my mouth shut, and to kill me if I dared to talk nonsense.

Also, if I told the police the truth, the money would be confiscated.

I was scared by them.

They left and the body disappeared.

It wasn’t until this morning when the body was washed back to shore by the waves that I decided to call the police.

SORRY, I shouldn’t have hidden this information.”

After saying that, Jimmy pulled ten crumpled green bills out of his pocket, “This is the money they gave me, I was going to buy something for my daughter …… uh …… but apparently they don’t belong to me. ”

Luke thought for a moment and glanced in Susan’s direction again, “Put them away, they belong to you now.”

“Really?”

“The police department has rules, but rules are dead, people are alive and warm, take this money and buy something for your daughter.” The LAPD wasn’t short on funds for that, and instead of dropping like a stone, it would be better to give it to someone who needed it more.

Of course, Luke wouldn’t be able to make up the money out of his own pocket, as long as he said hello to Reed and Susan, there were multiple solutions to the problem, it wasn’t a big problem.

“Thanks.” Jimmy put the money away, visibly relieved.

“Jamie, did you get a good look at the body dumpers?”

“It was dark and far away, so I didn’t see them at first, and when they chased me, I didn’t dare to look back, I only knew it was a black man and a white man.

Among them, it was the black man who pointed a gun at me.”

“Was there anything peculiar about the way they were dressed?”

“No, just dark colored t-shirts, it seemed.”

“What about the car?”

“I just remember it was a black pickup truck, I couldn’t see much else.”

“Which way did the car come from and which way did it go?”

“From the east, I didn’t dare look when it left, I didn’t check until much later, and by then the car was long gone.”

Luke made a note in his book of the direction the car came from, “Was anyone else present at the time?”

“No.”

Luke thought for a moment, “Why didn’t they kill you?”

“I don’t know, and I was worried they were going to kill me and throw me in the ocean too, but they didn’t.

To be honest, I was kind of grateful to them afterward.” Jamie’s expression was a little complicated.

“Did you ever see the body up close when they dumped it?”

“No. I was terrified myself at the time. And the body had been swept away by the sea, and it was so dark, so dangerous to go into the sea at this time of day, that I didn’t dare to look for it nearer.

It wasn’t until I saw the body again in the morning that I dared to look closer.”

Luke sighed, it was true that this was just a dumping site, after the body was washed away by the sea, many clues would have disappeared, if Jamie had seen the body before it was washed away by the sea, he might have been able to provide some valuable clues, but now it was obviously impossible.

Luke made a few more inquiries and then left a business card and left.

Luke suddenly thought of his uncle, if he didn’t have a reliable dad and sister, he probably would have been sleeping on the streets and become part of the homeless.

Luke briefly reported the case to Susan.

The technical team also quickly completed the task of investigating the scene.

They didn’t find any valuable clues or items that could prove the identity of the deceased.

The forensic pathologist Sheila’s side did find something.

Sheila completed the preliminary autopsy, called Luke and the others over, pointed at the body and said: ”The deceased was washed by seawater during his lifetime, which to a certain extent affected the judgment of the time of death, roughly estimated to be between 9:00 pm and 2:00 am.

For the time being, no features that can prove the identity of the deceased have been found.

The age of the deceased is about 25 years old, height 165CM or so, there are a lot of abrasions on the body, both defense wounds caused in life, and scratches after death, but none of them are fatal injuries.

One of the more specific injuries is on the neck.” Sheila pointed to the teeth marks on the neck, “As you can see, there are obvious bite marks here, but unfortunately it’s hard to extract valuable biopsy material after it’s been washed away by the sea.”

Luke looked at the neck wound again and asked, “She was bitten?”

David said, “I don’t think so in my experience, there’s no way a human could have bitten two bloody holes, that’s more like an animal’s fangs, longer and sharper.”

“You’re both right, and not all right.

Most of the dead man’s bite marks have the same characteristics as human teeth marks, but those two bloody holes really aren’t what human teeth could have made, they’re more like animal fangs.

So …… “Sheila also seemed to have some difficulty in judging.

Jenny said, “This one is very much like the legendary …… vampire.”

Sheila nodded, “Yes, it does look a bit like that.”

“Come on, there is no such creature in this world, and even if there was, it was wiped out by humans long ago.” The lieutenant was a bit dismissive.

Susan asked, “What was her real cause of death? A bite wound to the neck?”

Sheila shook her head and sighed, “No, there were no fatal wounds on her.”

“Then how did she die?”

“Scared to death.”

Luke thought he heard wrong, “You’re not kidding?”

Sheila explained, “No, when a person is in a state of extreme panic, the adrenal glands suddenly release a large amount of catecholamines, prompting a sudden increase in heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, and a dramatic increase in oxygen consumption for myocardial metabolism.

The excessively fast blood circulation hits the heart like a flood, causing the heart muscle fibers to tear and the heart to bleed, leading to sudden cardiac arrest and death.

It’s the same condition as her autopsy, so she should have been scared alive.”

Jenny took a deep breath, “How can a person be scared to death …… Is there really a vampire?”