Chapter 353
Marriott Hotel, room 712.
The curtains were drawn in the room as Danny Carter sat on the couch and poured a glass of whiskey, draining it in one gulp.
He sighed and stood up, walking around with some annoyance.
“Ding dong ……” the doorbell rang outside his room.
Danny Carter walked to the door and peered out through the cat’s eye before opening the door to his room, “Come in.”
Luke and Daisy walked into the room one after the other.
The room smelled of alcohol, and Daisy couldn’t help but frown slightly, and then she looked at Danny Carter, who already had more than a little bit of drunkenness on his face.
Danny Carter led the two Luke’s over to the couch, “Make yourselves comfortable, I hope you’ve brought good news.”
Daisy asked, “Mr. Carter, you look agitated, what happened?”
“I just got a call from Stan Kroenke, he inquired about the progress of the case and said that the other players are upset because of my negative press, and that he wants me to put this to rest as soon as possible and get back to training with the team.
Although he didn’t say it explicitly, it should be that he wants me to take the initiative to contact Attorney Jarvis …… to talk about a settlement.” Danny Carter poured another glass of wine and took a sip.
“Daisy, you’re the lawyer I hired, I trust you more, what do you think I should do?”
Daisy asked rhetorically, “Kroenke wants you to minimize the negative impact on the team?”
“Yes, that’s probably what it means.”
Daisy thought for a moment, “Actually, it was Luke’s idea to come to the hotel today, so why don’t we listen to his advice.”
Danny Carter looked over at Luke, “OK, got any new leads?”
Luke pulled out a bag and handed it to Danny Carter, signaling him to open it himself.
Danny Carter opened the bag, his face was first puzzled, and then revealed a surprised look, “This is my driver’s license, it should be in the car, why would it be in your hand?” Then, his eyes widened, revealing a joyful look, “You found my Porsche 911.”
“Yes, I’ve found the car and retrieved the ID and the backup video from the CarLog.”
“Where is my car?”
Luke glanced at his watch, “The police should be calling in half an hour to let you know the car has been found.”
Danny Carter pressed, “If you found my car, why didn’t you just drive it back?”
Luke didn’t just drive the car back because of two reasons, the first being that he didn’t want to be directly involved with the theft of the car before contacting John to find it.
John and Luke had a good relationship and having him find the stolen car would be a chance to give the other man credit.
Also with the relationship between the two men, Luke could learn about the Porsche 911 and keep the car indirectly in his hands.
The second reason, this car is very important, the car recorder video has a decisive impact on Danny Carter’s rape accusation, Luke wants to make sure that this piece of evidence is handed over to the hands of the police officers handling the rape case.
Of course, some of it is not necessary to say too clearly, say something in favor of the client’s situation can be.
Luke simply explained, “The car’s tachograph could be a key piece of evidence in a conviction.
If I drive the stolen car back directly, the car recorder evidence can only have a lawyer to submit to the police.
When the video is obtained, the first thing the police will consider is not the content of the video, but rather, they will be skeptical of the authenticity of the video.
On the contrary, it would have been better if the stolen car was found by the police officer and the key evidence, the CarLog, was found inside the car.
Although the content of the video is the same, the police will be more favorable to the clues and evidence that they have found.
This will be more favorable to you.”
Danny Carter nodded, “Sounds reasonable, with this video isn’t it enough to prove my innocence.”
Luke said, “That depends on the content of the video, Counselor Ellis, don’t you think?”
Daisy nodded, “That’s right.
Mr. Carter, I’d like to see that backup video.”
“OK, watch it, what I said is true.”
Luke pulled out his tablet and started playing the video.
The video captured a view of a driveway followed by a man’s voice, “Billie, may I call you that?”
A woman replied, “Sure, Mr. Carter.”
“Hey, just call me Danny, I like it when my friends call me Danny.”
The woman said, “That makes me feel a little weird, never thought I’d be in a car with a big star like you.
Do you often offer to drive women home?”
“I only give rides to women I like, do you have a boyfriend?”
“No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Danny Carter laughed, “Neither do I.”
In the car, Danny Carter and Billie Warwick were talking and laughing, the atmosphere of chatting at this time was friendly, with a hint of ambiguity, like a pair of youngsters who had a crush on each other.
As the car slowed down and the view in the car recorder stopped, Danny Carter asked, “Is this your home?”
“It is. Thanks for the ride home.”
“It was nice to meet you too, it’s been a long time since we’ve talked this much.”
After a moment of silence, the woman said, “I’m going home.
Danny, would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?”
“Sure …… I love coffee, huh?”
The video came to an end and Danny waved his hand excitedly, “Like I said, she was the one who took the initiative to invite me to her house for coffee.
And she also said she didn’t have a boyfriend, which was a total hint to me.
I wasn’t lying.”
Luke patted him on the shoulder, “Man, congratulations.
In my experience, as long as Billie Warwick lies on her testimony, odds are the police will drop the charges against you for lack of evidence.”
“So I don’t have to settle against my will anymore?” Danny Carter looked expectantly at Luke and Daisy.
Daisy replied, “That’s right, and that’s good news for you, a victory of sorts in stages.”
Danny Carter waved his fist vigorously, “I’ve been carrying a lot these days ……
A lot of people have been leaving messages online calling me a rapist ……
I don’t know what kind of mentality they have, but I really want to prove my innocence.
Thank you, you guys are the ones who gave me hope and that means a lot to me.
I can say out loud to my loved ones, friends, and fans that I didn’t do it.”
“Ringing ……” Just then, Danny Carter’s cell phone rings.
Danny Carter pressed the answer button, “This is Danny.”
“Danny Carter?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Carter, I have good news for you, your Porsche 911 has been found.”
“Wow wow, that’s a surprise ……” Danny Carter gave Luke a thumbs up.
The following morning.
Luke’s house.
Luke made a pot of tea and sat in the yard leisurely drinking tea.
He had found the key evidence to help clear Danny Carter’s name, and as long as everything went well, it wouldn’t be long before the police dropped the charges.
Luke would then receive a generous commission.
Yesterday, after Luke and Daisy left the hotel, they had a private exchange.
Daisy roughly estimated that as long as the police dropped the charges, Luke could receive about half a million dollars or so in commission.
However, in Daisy’s words, although the criminal proceedings were dropped, Billie Warwick could still file a civil lawsuit, so technically the commission was only half completed.
If Billie Warwick did file a civil suit, Danny Carter would probably ask Luke to help again in order to solve the problem as soon as possible, and by then, Luke would be able to get an additional commission.
Of course, the civil lawsuit was still just Daisy’s speculation, and it might not necessarily happen.
In this regard, Luke didn’t really care, based on the five hundred thousand dollars commission from the criminal lawsuit alone, he was already satisfied.
Luke sipped his tea while looking at the passing cars and pedestrians, and in his head he was thinking of buying himself something nice and treating himself.
It wasn’t his style to just make money and not spend it.
But when he thought about it, he didn’t seem to be lacking anything right now.
Moreover, he had just celebrated his birthday, his uncle had given him a lighter, his mom had given him a purse, Daisy had given him a Rolex watch, and his dad had given him a dagger, so there wasn’t much to buy for the time being.
Shouldn’t we buy another car?
Luke now had two cars, a Mercedes G500 and a Harley.
Normal life was enough for the time being.
But for this commissioned mission, Luke found a problem, that is, his car was too eye-catching, not at all in line with the detective’s low-profile guidelines.
Take stalking for example, if you drive a Mercedes G500, most people will look at it a few more times, and it’s easy to be exposed.
Luke planned to get a ‘Volkswagen’ car that was a bit lower-profile and cheaper to use for commissioned missions.
“Wooo……”
Just at this moment, a ‘broken car’ pulled up to the entrance of the courtyard.
It was an old black Chevrolet sedan that Luke estimated had been out of production for many years, with multiple scratches and collision marks on the body, duct tape wrapped around the reverse mirror, and the tread on the tires was almost smoothed out.
Luke felt that the age of this car may not be two years younger than himself.
Out of the car came a large and small fat man, none other than Luke’s uncle Val and the small fat man Jack.
Luke frowned, “What are you guys doing here?”
Val shook the bag in his hand, “We heard you were resting at home because of the shooting, we brought gifts to see you.”
The chubby little man held a large bottle of coke in his hand, “For you, old man.”
“Popcorn, chips, nachos, coke, you guys have some pretty special gifts.” Luke cried a little.
Val handed the bag to Luke, “I’m going to the bathroom.” With that, he walked quickly into the house.
Luke turned to the chubby little man on the side and asked, “What are you guys up to? Why don’t you even make a phone call?”
“Would you believe me if I said that we were kicked out by mom?”
“Convinced.” Luke put the bag into the chubby little man’s arms, these two livewires were here and his idea of enjoying a relaxing vacation was out the window.
Little Fatty went into the living room and looked at the fish tank on the table, “When did you buy the fish, old man?”
“I just bought them a few days ago.”
“The little fish are quite pretty in flowery colors.” Little Fatty said and started to do it, picking up the bag of fish food next to the fish tank and pouring it into the tank.
“Alright, alright, pour less, don’t prop it up.” Luke hurriedly grabbed the fish food bag.
Little Fatty had a fat face pressed against the fish tank and looked, “Look how happily they are eating, I think we can feed them some more.”
“No,” Luke refused dryly.
Val also came over and stared at the fish tank for a while, “Are these gold coins real?”
“Of course, I’ll give you one when you get married.”
Val gave Luke a look, “You’re such a miser.”
The little fatty said, “Older brother, when I get married, will you give me one too?”
Luke laughed, “Don’t even think about it.”
The three men were each a dozen years apart in age, so what could they do when they got together?
Watching TV.
The three men sat on the couch in the living room and turned on the TV to a news channel that was showing Danny Carter.
Val despised, “I even cheered for him in the Super Bowl this year, who knew he was actually a scumbag.
If I met him, I would definitely beat him up.
Beat him up hard.” He said and waved his fist.
Luke said, “Don’t be so violent, he was probably framed, the two should be applauding for love out of their own free will.”
Val asked, “Are you involved in this case?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know about it?”
“Tidbits of information.”
Val shook his head, “I never believe in gossip.
Simple-minded, four-legged rugby players like that will do anything with a little drink.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see this news.”
Luke shrugged, “Too arbitrary, good guys and bad guys aren’t written on their faces.”
Fatty interrupted the two, “Stop arguing, this whole thing is pointless.”
Val was dissatisfied, “Why is it pointless?”
Little Fatty said with a serious face, “Because you can’t beat him at all.”
Val “……”
Little Fatty grabbed the remote control and looked for one of the more recent TV shows, Family of Dragons.
The TV show was a Game of Thrones spin-off and had a high following since it started.
The three of them watched it while discussing it.
The quality of the drama was really good, the special effects were great, but the female lead’s face value was a bit crotch pulling.
Overall, it was considered a good recent spin-off show.
It was nearing noon, and Luke was too lazy to cook, so he ordered pizza, fried chicken and fries.
All three were foodies and quickly swept up the fried chicken and fries, leaving only the last piece of pizza.
The three stared at the last piece of pizza, all wanting to eat it.
Obviously, all three were not full.
Little Fatty said, “I’m still growing.” After saying that, he reached for the pizza.
Luke pushed his hand away, “You’re fat enough already, you can’t eat any more.”
Val said, “That’s right, your stomach is catching up to mine.”
Two votes passed, kicking Little Fatty right out.
Little Fatty glared at the two and teased, “I’d like to know which one of you two will eat now.”
Val looked at Luke, “I’m your uncle.” Val gave a look like, you should let me eat.
“So what?” Luke wasn’t full either and wasn’t about to give up his last slice of pizza.
“I always took care of you when you were little, and now that you’re older ……,” Val gave a you-know-what look.
“Why don’t I remember being cared for by you when I was a kid.”
“You were little then, it’s normal that you don’t remember.”
“Is it? Then let me ask you a question, and if you can answer it correctly, I’ll let you have this pizza.”
“OK, go ahead.”
Luke thought for a moment, “What’s my middle name?”
“Middle name?” Val frowned, “Uh, can we change the question?”
Luke sighed, “Val.”
“What?”
“My middle name is Val.”
“Oh ……,” Val slapped his forehead, “SORRY, I’ve been working so much lately my brain is a mess.
I should have remembered.”
“But the fact that you forgot is sad.”
“SORRY,” Val apologized again, filled with guilt, “Last piece of pizza …… you eat.”
“I won’t say thank you.” Luke picked up the pizza and took a big bite, grabbing it just smelled good.
The little fat man sat next to him, his face clouded and his eyes dead set on Val.
Val was a little bit furious by his look, “I didn’t eat the last piece of pizza, why are you looking at me like that?”
The little fat man huffed, “Luke’s middle name isn’t Val.”
“What? This kid lied to me? Then what is it?”
Little Fatty said, “It’s Grandpa’s name, Robert.”
Val breathed a sigh of relief, “I told you, if his middle name is my name, how could he not remember it.”
The little fat man sneered, “And do you remember my middle name?”
“Come on, I’ve already made a fool of myself once, can I change the question ……” Val said, suddenly realizing the problem ……
Luke’s middle name was Dad’s name.
Could it be that the little fat guy’s middle name is the ……
“Val.”