Chapter 248

“Marcus, you take Martha to our car to rest while Peck and I talk alone.” Luke was going to ask questions separately.

“OK Martha, I’ve got some yummy snacks in the car that you’re going to love.”

“No, I’m not going anywhere, I want to be with my brother.” Martha held onto Peck, the little black boy, and looked at Marcus with a wary look on her face, as if she were looking at an unsuspecting, strange uncle.

“Martha has to stay with me, I don’t want her to get scared again.” Peck hugged his sister, his tone firm despite his small size.

Luke didn’t like to ask questions of children; a lighter tone didn’t work, and a heavier one didn’t either.

As it was, Peck had definitely broken the law by hitting someone with his car, but he was a minor, and interrogating him required the presence of a guardian.

Peck and Martha’s situation was unique in that their mother was a suspect in custody, their father was unknown, and the man suspected to be their father was a wanted man.

It was difficult to find a guardian for a while.

Of course, rules are dead and people are alive, and the presence of a guardian is required to give a statement and interrogate a minor.

But chatting is not required and is neither a violation nor illegal.

If you can find clues through chatting, that’s your skill.

“Marcus, go get some goodies.” Luke said in as light a tone as he could, “Peck, I’ve heard your mom talk about you a lot, she says you’re good at crafts and has shown me pictures of the handmade models you’ve made.”

Peck, a young black boy, asked back, “Are you a cop?”

“Yes.” Luke responded and asked back, “Can you tell me where you’re driving to?”

“To find my mom.”

“Do you know where mom is?”

“I don’t, but I know where the hospital is where she works.” Peck scowled at Luke and asked rhetorically, “I don’t remember meeting you, so why do you know me?”

“Actually, your mom was the one who approached me and asked for my help in locating your siblings, she’ll be happy to see you.”

“Can I borrow your cell phone to call my mom?”

“SORRY, it’s a complicated situation right now, and there’s no way I can help you contact Maria until things are clear.”

“Mom is our guardian, she has a right to be present.”

“Normally that would indeed be the case, but she’s not in a position to fulfill that right right now.”

“Why?”

“Man, respect is mutual, I asked you first, shouldn’t you answer me before I answer you?”

“Here’s the goodies.” Black came over with snacks and handed them out to the two kids, cookies, chocolate, and nachos.

The two kids seemed to be starving and opened the packages and chowed down.

The two ate and their guard was down quite a bit.

Luke inquired again, “Peck, who owns this car you’re driving?”

“It belongs to an uncle.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jamie.”

“Jamie Brady?”

“You know him too?”

“Yes, he’s your mother’s boyfriend, how was your relationship with Jamie?”

“It’s okay, he’ll buy me food and toys, and occasionally he’ll play with me.”

“Do you know where Jamie is?”

Peck hesitated and nodded, “I know, in a gray house a few blocks from here.”

“Have you guys been with him before?”

“Yes. We wanted to find our mom, but he wouldn’t let us leave, saying that there was an outbreak of an infectious disease out there, and if we left the house we’d be infected too.

My mother, being a nurse who needs to take care of the sick, couldn’t take care of the two of us and told us to stay with him and said that if we didn’t listen, we would never see our mom again.”

“If he wouldn’t let you leave, how did you get out?”

Peck showed a horrified look, “He …… I …… saw blood all over him, he’s probably dead.”

“Who killed him?”

Peck seemed to be terrified, and still kept shaking his head.

Luke comforted, “Don’t be nervous, relax.”

Peck’s eyes were red and his voice trembled, “There’s blood everywhere, I don’t dare to go near ……

I want to find my mom, please take me to my mom.”

Luke looked at Peck and Martha, “Did you two see the killer?”

Martha didn’t seem to fully understand and shook her head as she cried.

Peck calmed his sister as he said, “Martha didn’t go to that house, she didn’t see anything.

I saw Jamie covered in blood and I freaked out, then I took Martha and left.

My cell phone was taken from me by Jamie and I had no way to contact my mom, so I was going to drive to the hospital to find her.

I didn’t think I was going to hit anyone, the glass in front of me was broken and I really didn’t look.”

“Peck, remember carefully, did you see anyone suspicious or hear any suspicious movements before Jamie’s accident?”

Peck was silent for a while and said, “Last night, I so wanted to hear him talking to someone else, but I couldn’t hear them very well, it felt like the two were arguing, and I didn’t dare go out.”

“What did they say?”

Peck fell into a flashback, “I only remember bits and pieces of words, George …… is dead …… fake money …… LAPD wouldn’t think I was still in Los Angeles …… continue to work together ……

I can’t remember the rest.”

“What happened after that? Hear any other sounds?”

“Bang bang …… I thought I heard a gunshot, but it was so small and didn’t sound like a gunshot that I freaked out ……”

“Can you still find the gray house?”

Peck nodded, “I think I can.”

“Good. I want you to take us to that house now.”

Mollyville neighborhood, 304.

With Peck’s guidance, Luke found the gray house he had described.

Luke stopped the car and looked around for a few moments, noticing no suspicious people or hearing any movement.

There were four accompanying patrolmen at the scene in addition to Luke and Blackie.

Luke had two of the patrolmen keep an eye on Peck and Martha, and two guarded the back door while he and Blackie entered the house from the front to search.

The door was ajar and not closed.

Luke gently pushed open the door, perhaps out of professional sensitivity, perhaps out of the heart, he vaguely smelled a smell of blood.

Luke and Blackie, one on the left and one on the right, one in front and one behind, crosswise search the room.

Because they already knew the situation in the house in advance, the two of them moved relatively lightly and did not make too much noise.

The house wasn’t too big, there were only three rooms, and Luke had already learned about the house from Peck before searching.

Luke and Blackie first searched the study and the room where Peck and Martha lived, both rooms were empty, finally, Luke and Blackie entered the master bedroom to search.

In the master bedroom, a black man collapsed beside the bed, shot twice, blood flowing all over the place, both eyes open, it is the suspect Jamie Brady who is wanted by the police.

Blacky put away his pistol, “Would you say this asshole got what he deserved?”

“Maybe, I’m more concerned about who killed him now?”

Black guessed, “Could it have been a robbery and murder triggered by theft?”

“Unlikely, if it was a burglary, the killer would have searched all the rooms and alerted the two children as well.” Luke moved closer to the body to take a closer look and realized that there was a gunshot that hit the location of the heart, most likely a fatal wound.

Other than the gunshot wound, no other injuries were seen on the dead man’s body, it was clean.

Luke could vaguely still smell a smell of alcohol, and there was a bottle of rum and glasses on the nightstand.

Xiao Hei said, “Is it possible that after the suspect killed someone, he himself was scared and didn’t continue the burglary, but just escaped.”

Luke nodded, “This speculation makes sense, but would it be a little too coincidental.”

“Then what do you think?”

“From the motive of the crime, I’m more inclined to it being the fake banknote organization’s extermination, as long as he dies, the clues of the entire fake banknote group will be broken.” After Luke finished speaking, he took out his cell phone to report to Susan.

Half an hour later, Susan led a team to the scene.

Visit the neighbors.

Checked community surveillance.

The survey team and forensics took over the murder scene.

The vice team checked around the house and said, “I found cash and some belongings in the house, it shouldn’t be a burglary.

There are no signs of a break-in either, so it’s probably an acquaintance.”

Raymond said, “We visited the surrounding neighbors and no one heard a gunshot last night, so I’m guessing the killer probably used a silencer.”

Jackson said, “There’s also the possibility that this wasn’t the first scene.”

The lieutenant countered, “Based on my decades of experience as a police officer, this is definitely the first scene of the crime.”

Susan said, “I just talked to Peck, and from what he described, Jamie’s death is most likely connected to the organization that prints counterfeit bills.”

“Printing counterfeit money in Los Angeles and having the audacity to kill people at will, what a bunch of lawless assholes.” The lieutenant grunted and continued.

“According to our investigation, the counterfeit banknotes have most likely been circulating in the market for some time, and the FBI actually hasn’t found a single clue.”

Susan said, “Maybe the FBI has already found out about the counterfeit bills, they just don’t realize that they were made in Los Angeles.”

The lieutenant said, “You sound like you want to work with them?”

“Why not? Maybe they’ll provide a lead that will help find Jamie’s killer.”

The lieutenant shook his head, “I don’t want to work with a bunch of guys with no manners.”

Half an hour later, the tech team completed the scene survey.

Mary walked over with a copy of the scene investigation report, “Guys, I’ve completed the preliminary scene investigation.”

The lieutenant team asked, “Is there anything we need to know?”

“Sure, this would be the first crime scene.

We found two cell phones in the locked nightstand.” Mary handed Susan the cell phones in a plastic bag, and the lieutenant cut her off halfway and took one of them to check it out.

Susan didn’t say anything either and took the other cell phone to check it out.

Mary continued, “We also found some biological samples at the scene, which will be sent to the lab for testing afterward.

Also, we found two bloody footprints, most likely left by the killer.”

Luke reached out and received the photos of the two bloody footprints, subconsciously using the identification card, a set of data appeared in his mind.

[Shoes, thick-soled diamond-patterned leather shoes

Shoe number, 44

Gender, male

Height, 145-155CM

Weight, 40-45 kilograms

Age, between 8 and 12 years old.]

Seeing this set of data, two words came to Luke’s mind, contradiction.

The shoes that left the bloody footprints were size 44 leather shoes, proportionally the height should be between 180 and 190.

And according to the identification card’s speculation the owner of the shoe prints was around 150cm tall.

Luke from the police for many years, also seen the height and foot length does not match the example, some people’s feet are naturally longer, but this proportion will not be so big difference.

Then, there was only another reason that could be explained, ‘small feet wearing big shoes’.

According to the identification card’s speculation, the person who stepped on this footprint should be a teenager between the ages of 8 and 12.

There was a suitable candidate right in front of us, Peck.

Peck originally lived in the same house as the deceased, and there is no problem for him to appear at the crime scene.

What was problematic, however, was why he was wearing adult shoes and leaving bloody footprints.

Luke had observed that he had his own shoes, and there was no possibility that he was shoeless.

Also, if he did wear the wrong shoes, a blood-stained shoe should have been found at the scene, but the tech team didn’t find it.

That means that Peck lost the shoes that left the bloody footprints.

He was consciously faking the scene.

Luke shifted gears, why would he want to fake the bloody footprints of an adult?

He wanted to prove that an adult had been there.

Counterintuitively, that means there was no adult who came to the scene.

Luke thought about the conclusion of the previous investigation of the scene, that no belongings were missing and it was not a burglary, plus it was most likely an acquaintance.

Previously, according to Peck’s description, the murderer was most likely a member of the counterfeit money organization, and now it seemed that Peck was suspected of lying.

Suppose, Peck lied, and no one from the counterfeiters organization came.

Then who is the person with the most motive to commit the crime?

Luke’s mind gradually depicted the figure of the murderer.

Peck.

From Peck’s words, Luke could sense that he didn’t like Jamie very much.

He also didn’t know or think Jamie was his father.

As for whether or not the two of them were biological father and son, Luke felt it was up for consideration, and Maria’s words couldn’t be taken at face value.

Only knowing his mother and not his father was not an exception in the black community.

Regardless of the methods Jamie used and the type of relationship, it was a fact that he restricted Peck and Martha’s freedom.

Under the circumstances, Peck must have been resentful and overreaching behavior was not out of the question.

This was also evident in the fact that he drove his car to his mom, bold and reckless.

Luke had a guess in mind, but he didn’t publicize the idea.

Peck was, after all, a ten-year-old black boy with a natural protective coloring.

Luke could investigate according to his own ideas, there was no need to publicize it too soon.

Investigating a case, after all, is still based on evidence.

Previously, Luke guessed that the murderer is likely to be the organization that prints counterfeit banknotes, and the transposition is also to consider the modus operandi from an adult’s point of view.

If his current speculation was correct and the murderer was a ten year old, then his thinking might be different.

As evidenced by the fact that he faked the bloody footprints of an adult, he had some counter-surveillance awareness, though he was ultimately inexperienced compared to an adult.

Luke began to think differently; if Peck really was the murderer, what would he have done after the killing? And what evidence of the crime would be left behind.

A pistol?

The bloodstained leather shoes?

The gunpowder left on his body after the shooting?

Luke began to search the house carefully, checking for places where he could hide the murder weapon and the shoes.

The fact that the survey team had already searched indicated that the murder weapon, even if it was hidden in the house, was in a very hidden, undetectable place.

Luke didn’t find anything like that after a closer look.

Luke then checked around the yard to see if there were any signs of digging, but again found none.

Luke recalled carefully, thinking of places where Peck might have been or hidden things.

Suddenly, he thought of Peck driving a car.

Luke had seen the car, and there was a car recorder on it.

Luke used his access to the investigation to get the video of the car recorder from the precinct.

Luke viewed the content of the video as the car started up and scuttled right off, driving crookedly down the road.

It was clear from the other driver’s skill that the subsequent crash was no accident.

The car exited the Mollyville neighborhood and continued to drive forward ……

Luke watched the video over and over until the car crashed into the crowd of demonstrators.

During that time, the car stopped once, not for long, probably only a minute or so.

Why did he stop?

Luke played back the CarLog video, and from a distance he could see a trash can near the stop.

A few minutes later, Luke and Blackie drove to the spot where Peck had parked.

Blacky was a little puzzled and curious, “Where are we going now?”

“Another chance for you to get some credit.”

“What chance to get credit?”

“This time may be a little difficult ……,” Luke wanted to say.

“I’m not afraid, I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.” A determined look appeared on Blackie’s face.

“Good job. Worthy of being my partner.” Luke lowered the window and pointed at the black trash can not far from the car, “If my guess is good, there should be evidence left behind by the murderer in that trash can.

Our chance to get credit is here.”

Marcus had a bad feeling, “Do we need to go through the trash?”

“Cut the crap and get to it.” Luke was worried that the trash would be or had been cleaned up, or perhaps damaged by contamination.

Black got out of the car and walked somewhat reluctantly to the trash can.

“Will you go through it with me?”

Luke rubbed his nose and tossed him a pair of gloves and a mask, “I don’t need to be promoted to Inspector.”

“Detective?” Seemingly encouraged, Black put on the gloves and mask and started rummaging through the trash cans, grumbling as he did so, “Why don’t you call Jackson?”

“Do you want to call him Detective Jackson?”

“No, it’s better to have Inspector Marcus.” Black stopped complaining and started rummaging through the trash cans for evidence.

Trash in Los Angeles was required to be sorted, and the items in this trash can weren’t very dirty, mostly miscellaneous items and no food waste.

After a rummage, Blackie found a black plastic bag, opened it, there was another white plastic bag inside, opened it again, found a black pistol and a pair of leather shoes with blood on the soles.

Having found the appropriate evidence, Luke’s speculation had some basis.

However, Luke remained silent and handed over the evidence he and Blackie found to the technical team for identification.

At the same time, Luke proposed to give Peck a gunpowder appraisal.

According to Peck’s rhetoric, he hadn’t fired a gun or come into contact with gunpowder, and it was impossible for him to have gunpowder residue on his body.

Once gunpowder residue was identified on him, it would prove that he was lying.

Of course, the most critical thing was the identification of the fingerprints on the pistol.

If it was an experienced adult, the probability was that he would wipe off the fingerprints on the pistol, and as for whether Peck would do so, Luke was not sure ……