Chapter 288
Outside the Adama Bar.
Inside a black Honda, Pari Jones lowered her seat and reclined in the passenger compartment.
Her eyes, however, were staring out the window; there were no lights on in the car, making it difficult to see inside from the outside.
Two men came out of the bar, and Parley Jones lay even lower, as if worried about being seen by the two men.
Fortunately, the two did not notice, driving a black SUV left, Pari Jones also secretly relieved.
Another white man stepped out of the bar and walked over to the car with his head down and opened the driver’s door, “Pari, promise me there won’t be a next time.”
“You were spotted by them?”
“No, I was far enough away that they couldn’t have spotted me, but it was really intense, I’m just a photographer and never want to follow a cop again.”
Pari patted him on the arm, “George, you’re doing great, take a deep breath, you just went around the bar, you weren’t stalking anyone at all, L.A. is a free city, don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
“Does it help to keep an eye on them? That Captain Lee has a history with you, I don’t think he’s going to be able to tell you anything of value.”
Parley Jones took out her makeup case and touched up her makeup as she said, “I don’t trust him either, and I don’t want to rely on anyone. I just trust my own investigation.
Tell me, what did Luke do at the bar?”
“He sat at the bar, asked for a drink, and then kept talking to the bartender in the cowboy hat.
I was afraid to get close enough to know what they were saying.”
“He didn’t do anything else?”
“No.”
“What about the white rookie?”
“He chatted with the bartender at first, too, and then approached the bar patrons to ask about Herson Sweeney, which I have a feeling didn’t yield much.”
Pari put away her makeup case and turned to the photographer aside and asked, “How does it feel?”
“Beautiful.”
“You take a break in the car and I’ll take care of the rest.
Trust me, the scoop on the headless woman case will be ours for sure.” Pari stepped out of the car and wiggled her way into the bar.
The bar was filled with a few more patrons and Pari scanned it and sat straight down at the bar.
The cowboy bartender gave her a look, “What would you like to drink, beautiful?”
“Beer.”
The cowboy bartender neatly poured a beer and placed it in front of Pari, “Your beer.”
“Thanks, cowboy, I like your hat.” Pari picked up her glass and took a sip.
The cowboy bartender laughed, “I appreciate your eye, is this your first time here?”
“How do you know?”
“I know every customer here, there’s no way I wouldn’t remember if a young girl came in.”
“Wow. There are so many people in the bar every day, I can’t believe you know everyone.” Pari cocked her head with a you’re-bragging expression.
“Forget it if you don’t believe me.”
“Why are you wimping out so quickly, I thought you were a tough guy.”
“I am, but don’t want to have to play the ‘OK, let’s try it’ game again.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” The cowboy bartender shrugged and helped another customer pour a drink.
Pari brainstormed that it would be the bartender who had just bragged in front of Luke, who had smoothly asked him to identify Herson Sweeney’s picture, and then shaded the bartender’s question.
It’s the LAPD’s usual behavior.
Very obnoxious.
Unreasonable.
But it also made her envious.
“Cowboy, can you do me a favor?”
“Go ahead.”
Pari took out her cell phone and flashed a picture of Luke, “Do you recognize him?”
The cowboy bartender took a look and gave a wary look, “What do you do?”
“FBI.”
The cowboy spread his hands, “Even Karma, are you kidding me?
Just walked away from a LAPD and here comes an FBI, Jesus Christ, I’m in a bar!”
“Don’t be nervous, I’m just kidding.” Parley Jones flashed her press pass, “This is who I really am.”
“Look, it’s not funny.”
“SORRY, forgive me once.” Pari began to act pathetic.
“Seeing as you’re the first female guest tonight, I forgive you.”
“Thanks, you’re a generous man.”
“That’s right, that’s what everyone says.”
“So Mr. Generous Cowboy, can you tell me some little secret?”
The cowboy bartender scanned the area and said in a mysterious manner, “15cm.”
Pari “……”
“Don’t look at me like that, it’s lasting that counts.” The cowboy bartender shifted.
Pari rolled her eyes, “That’s not what I was going to ask.”
“I don’t care, that’s what I was going to say.”
Pari “……”
After a few moments of silence, Pari took a sip of her beer, “Do you want to make some extra money?”
“No, I’m happy with my current job and don’t have a huge need for money.”
Pari took a hundred dollars out of her bag, “Answer me a few questions and the hundred dollars is yours.”
The cowboy bartender looked at the hundred dollars and seemed a little impressed, “That easy?”
“That’s right, you can earn a hundred dollars just by chatting, it’s much more cost effective than you selling alcohol.”
The cowboy bartender took a deep breath, “What do you want to ask?”
“What did that LAPD just say to you?”
“Uh …… not much, just small talk.”
Pari was a little displeased with that answer, “Did he pay you after the chat?”
“No, the mean guy was thankful to pay for the drinks.”
“That’s the point, you get paid for talking to me, so don’t perfume me, for Franklin’s sake.”
“OK, he asked me about someone.”
“Who?”
The cowboy bartender waved.
Pari handed him a hundred dollars.
“Helson.” The cowboy bartender picked up the hundred dollars, looked at it, and kissed it.
“Herson Sweeney.”
“Yep, that’s the guy. He died last night, from what that cop said.”
“What else did the cop say?”
“I didn’t ask, and I don’t really care.”
“But he sat at the bar for a long time, you couldn’t have just talked for a couple of minutes, could you?”
“He spent most of the time talking to a sissy constable, I was just standing around.”
“What did they talk about?”
“I couldn’t hear very well.”
“Then tell me what you heard.”
The cowboy bartender frowned and thought for a moment, “Uh …… I think I remember something about …… a headless woman’s body …… a murderer who was afraid to commit suicide …… gas or something ……
Oh yeah, and it said to have the sissy cops collect evidence of the closing.”
Pari jotted it down in her little notebook, “Anything else?”
“No, it’s all trivial words, I can’t really remember. For money’s sake, I hope it helps.”
“Sure, you’ve been a big help, cowboy.”
The information seemed trivial, and an ordinary person might be confused by what she heard, but unlike Pari, she had learned about the headless woman case through other sources, and by connecting the dots, she could get very useful clues.
Moreover, she had been pitted by Luke before, although there was no evidence, but that was only normal, if she could easily find the evidence of Luke’s pitting, that would be abnormal instead.
Just like this time, if the bartender had just told her the whole clue, she might have been skeptical.
Instead, these seemingly trivial, inadvertent revelations were more valuable.
Pari had been following up on the headless woman case before, and quickly connected all the dots to get the news she wanted.
Herson Sweeney was likely the killer in the Headless Woman case, the police followed up on his lead, he chose to kill himself with gas before the police came to his door, and Luke was now ready to close the case.
Pari finished her speculation and combined it with information she had received from other sources, becoming more and more certain of her judgment.
This was definitely a front page story that would draw people in.
Detective Bureau.
Robbery and Murder Division Office.
Although it was already time for the end of the shift, the entire First Squadron was fully staffed and none of them left work on time.
Luke quickly found the owner’s identity through the license plate number he obtained from the bartender.
License plate number, 6yeb324.
Owner, Henry Rogers
Gender, male
Height, 186cm
Weight, 180 pounds
Age, 40
Cell phone number, 626 836 4322.
Address, 305 Ibáñez neighborhood.
Marital status, married with one daughter
Luke put Henry Rogers’ information on the projector, “According to the bar owner, he and Herson Sweeney have a good relationship, the two often drink together at the bar, and it’s likely that he’s the Henry we’re looking for.
And Henry is not on good terms with his wife, and is most likely in the middle of a separation right now as well.
In addition, his physical characteristics also largely match the suspect we’re looking for.”
Luke looked aside at Matthew again, “Tell us about your investigation.”
Matthew looked at the computer screen, “There are three police appearances related to Henry Rogers.
The first was ten years ago when Henry Rogers was involved in a confrontation and was charged with assault.
The second time was three months ago when a neighbor called the police to report a suspected domestic assault at Henry Rogers’ home, and patrol officers responded to the scene, but there were no visible injuries on the couple, and it did not formally proceed to a domestic assault case.
The third time was two months ago when Henry Rogers reported his wife and child missing.
The police contacted her wife after much searching, and she was not missing or in danger, but had simply gone to live in Iowa.
At the same time the other party requested that the police not tell Henry Rogers the address.”
The lieutenant rubbed his hands together, “It seems that this Henry has more marital problems than his friend Herson Sweeney.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he found his wife and chopped her head off.”
Jackson said, “That means he could be the real culprit in the headless woman’s body case and later framed his friend Herson Sweeney. But why would he kill Herson’s wife?”
Black replied, “If you ask me, there might have been some kind of agreement between these two men, and then they had a conflict and killed each other, and there are many such examples.”
Luke looked down and pondered, from the current situation Henry Rogers was highly suspected, but the problem was that there was no direct evidence linking him to the case of the headless woman’s body yet.
Luke could go door-to-door to investigate, but was worried about spooking the police and it would be difficult to apply for a search warrant based on the above clues alone.
“What’s Henry Rogers’ wife’s name? What’s the cell phone number?”
“Marta Rogers, cell phone number, 626 876 9485.”
Luke thought briefly, and then dialed the cell phone number.
“Hello, who is it?” A woman’s voice rang out from the cell phone.
“Hello, is this Marta Rogers?”
“It’s me, which one are you?”
“This is LAPD, we wanted to check on the situation earlier because you have a record of domestic abuse.”
“Oh, I’m fine now.”
“Are you in Los Angeles?”
“No, I live in another state, thank you so much for calling, it was very sweet. It makes me kind of miss my friends in Los Angeles …….”
“Is your husband’s name Henry Rogers?”
“Yes.”
“Have you been in touch lately?”
“No.” Marta responded, as if thinking of something, and said hastily, “Is he the one who reported me missing again?
Please don’t tell him about me, I don’t want to see him.”
“Why? You seem to be afraid of him.”
“Our life before wasn’t very pleasant …… personality, beliefs, lifestyle, I tried to work on the relationship, but it failed.
That’s why I left L.A. and left him.
I’m living a good life now and I don’t need him in my life.”
“Then why don’t you guys get a divorce?”
“I would like to get a divorce, but it’s a complicated situation, Henry is not a good person to live with, he has a short temper.
I mentioned divorce once and the situation got a little out of hand, he …… became horrible.
I don’t have the courage to face him again.”
“Ms. Rogers ……”
Luke was interrupted before he could finish, “Marta, please call me Marta, I don’t want to use that last name right now.”
“OK, have you heard of Herson Sweeney?”
“Uh, I well think it rings a bell, he drinks a lot with Henry, what’s the problem?”
“He and his wife were killed.”
“Even buy the Karma, that’s horrible! Does this have anything to do with Henry?”
“Given your husband’s relationship with Herson Sweeney, we wanted to make sure you were safe.”
“You guys suspect this was Henry’s doing?”
“Marta, we’re acting out of concern for you, the case is still in the investigative stage and we’d like you to keep it confidential.”
“I will, and even if you don’t, I will never contact Henry. It’s too scary.”
“Knowing what you know about Henry, does this have anything to do with him?”
“SORRY, we’re not on good terms, but we’re married after all, and he’s still my daughter’s father, so I don’t want to say anything bad about him.”
“Thanks.” For Luke, Marta’s attitude already meant everything.
“Marta, when did you leave Los Angeles?”
“It’s been two months.”
“Can you tell us the exact time?”
“It would have been July 15th.”
Luke made a note of the date: “Does Henry have a habit of visiting prostitutes?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Is there any other indirect connection between you and him?”
“No.”
“Well, good luck getting back to L.A. soon.”
“I hope so too.” Marta’s tone was a little mixed, “What’s your name, officer?”
“Luke Lee.”
“Officer Lee, can I ask you a favor?”
“Go ahead.”
“I have a good friend in L.A., but I haven’t been able to reach her, can you check up on her for me?”
“Sure. What’s her name?”
“Lorna Post. She’s my best friend, but I can’t reach her right now and I can’t get through on my cell phone.
I’m a little worried.”
“When was the last time you guys were in touch?”
“Probably around September 7th, that was the last time we spoke, and on September 13th, when I contacted her again, I couldn’t get through on my cell phone.”
“Has anything like this happened to her before?”
“Also, she’s a rather spontaneous person and has no routine, she loses contact occasionally but rarely for so long.
I’m not in L.A. right now, and there’s no way to find her.
Can you help me?”
“Did she and your husband know each other?”
“Yes.”
“How was their relationship?”
“Average. Henry wasn’t very fond of Lorna and they didn’t see much of each other.”
“Send Lorna Post’s cell phone number, address, and job to my cell phone and I’ll check it out for you.”
“Thank you, thank you so much.
Officer Lee, please don’t ever tell Henry about my situation, I don’t want him to bother me again.”
“I know.”
Luke, whose cell phone had been playing an outside voice, inquired to the crowd, “What do you think?”
The lieutenant laughed, “I thought Henry killed his wife too until you called.”
Luke said, “Maybe it’s not that he didn’t want to, he just didn’t find it.”
Blackie said, “If Henry is the real killer in the headless woman case, then Herson Sweeney probably killed him too.
And there was actually no evidence left at the scene, this guy’s is not easy to deal with.”
That was what Luke was now considering, to catch Henry he had to find direct evidence of his involvement in the case so that he could apply for a search warrant and arrest warrant.
305 Ibanez neighborhood.
In a two-story villa.
A white man in his forties, carrying a bottle of wine in his left hand and a glass in his right, sat on his butt on the couch and then turned on the television.
As he drank, he changed the channel and seemed to be looking for a program of interest.
He changed to a news program and saw a familiar backdrop that would have been filmed near Herson Sweeney’s house.
A black female reporter stood in front of the yard of Herson Sweeney’s house, “Hello everyone, this is CBF TV reporter Parley Jones, and I’d like to update you on the latest developments in the case of the headless woman’s body.
At present, the police have found the murderer of the headless woman case, and the house behind me is the residence of the real murderer of the headless woman case, Herson Sweeney, who is also the husband of the second victim.
According to the latest news I got, the murderer, Herson Sweeney, has now committed suicide in fear of committing a crime, and the police have collected a large amount of evidence in his house and are ready to close the case.
I interviewed the surrounding neighbors, and according to them, Herson Sweeney and his wife had not been on good terms, and the two were already in a state of separation, and may have even been going through divorce proceedings.
He had reason and motive to kill ……
I am here to strongly condemn his behavior, love is free and marriage is free and should not be tied down, Los Angeles is a free city.
Justice may be late, but it will not be absent ……”
The white man was drinking and watching the news with interest.
“Haha ……”
Suddenly, he sneered without warning, “The LAPD is a bunch of losers, you’ll never catch me.
Maybe …… it’s time to buy a new saw.
Marta!
I’m going to find you.
Already have a present for you.
Wait for me!”