Chapter 377
At night, a full moon hung in the sky, and the bright moonlight shone on the road.
On the streets of Kelma, a teenager wearing headphones rode his bicycle from east to west.
The teenager had darker skin and was carrying a brown school bag behind him that looked heavy.
The wind was a little cooler at night, and there were no longer any pedestrians to be seen, with an occasional car passing by.
Ahead is an intersection, there is no street light, the teenager observes the left and right two car highway no car, directly through the intersection.
Suddenly, there was a black Volkswagen sedan coming from behind, directly hitting the teenager on the bike from the side and rear.
“Bang!” The sound, the teenager was directly knocked away and fell heavily on the ground.
Robbery and Murder Division Squadron One.
Luke held his usual morning meeting and stood by the whiteboard, labeling the newly acquired clues.
At this point, the whiteboard was labeled with two tree diagrams, with the names and photos of the victims at the top of the tree diagrams.
The first victim, Yoshimi Hashimoto.
The second victim, Ma Jiehui.
Also labeled are several people involved in the case.
This kind of tree diagram helped the police analyze the case and made the relationships of the people involved clear at a glance.
Luke sat on the chair next to the whiteboard and said, “Everyone, tell us about the clues you’ve investigated.”
Jenny said, “We searched the car of the second deceased, Jiehui Ma, and checked his car recorder; he stayed at the restaurant most of the time and didn’t drive much.
Nor has he been near the streets and apartments where the first victim, Yoshimi Hashimoto, prostituted himself recently.”
Previously, Luke had speculated that the second victim, Jiehui Ma, might have been a customer of Yoshimi Hashimoto’s so that the two were connected, a speculation that now seemed likely to be unfounded.
“Anyone else have any new developments in the investigation?”
Black said, “We investigated the deceased Yoshimi Hashimoto’s assistant, Melanie Hickman, who went to see a psychiatrist some time ago.”
This coincided with Luke’s speculation, before, he gave a statement to Melanie Hickman and found that the woman was a bit paranoid.
She was the deceased Yoshimi Hashimoto’s assistant, and when she didn’t finish the work that Yoshimi Hashimoto had arranged on time, a normal person would usually tell the leader directly, which was nothing more than a reprimand.
But Melanie Hickman was different, she lied about the office being burglarized in order to hide the incident, and this way of handling the matter made Luke feel a bit abnormal.
The vice squad said, “If Melanie Hickman really has mental problems, then her behavior can’t be understood with a normal person’s mind.
Even if there is not enough motive to kill, she may still kill.
Judging from her previous behavior of filing a false police report, she belongs to the type of person who is completely reckless in order to cover up a minor incident.
Hypothetically, her mental problems became severe and she became more paranoid.
This time, after failing to complete the work that Yoshimi Hashimoto had explained to her, and she couldn’t tell Yoshimi Hashimoto frankly, or even face her, would she kill Yoshimi Hashimoto in order to escape from the situation?”
Luke frowned in thought, killing someone because she didn’t finish the job and couldn’t face her leader?
It was impossible for a normal person to do such a thing, but was Melanie Hickman’s mental state still normal?
Guess only a psychiatrist would know.
“Marcus, check out Melanie Hickman’s psychiatrist.”
“YES, Sir.”
“Knock knock ……”
The office door slammed and the medical examiner, Sheila, pushed her way in, “Good morning, any progress on the case investigation?”
Luke said, “We’ve investigated the peripheral relationships of the two victims, and so far we’ve found no direct connection between the two victims, and the people involved have no clear motive for the crime.
We have now found out that one of the people involved may have mental problems, which may be a direction for the investigation.
Any new findings on your end?”
Sheila tugged a chair and sat down, “The autopsy on the second body has been completed, the autopsy report form will have to wait until this afternoon, however, I’ve discovered something new, a new body to be exact.”
“What do you mean?”
“Last night, there was a hit-and-run on the streets of Kelmar, and the victim, a twelfth grader, was stabbed in the chest and had the letter ‘m’ carved into his face by the blade of a knife.
Thinking of the two previous victims who also had letters carved into their bodies, I felt that this case might be related to the two previous cases.
Of course, this is just my guess.”
“Was the deceased run over or stabbed to death?”
“I’m not sure, the body was autopsied by another medical examiner, and we just exchanged some ‘tidbits’ of information.”
Luke asked, “Who’s in charge of this case?”
“Old Jeff.”
Jeff Brandi, Captain of Squadron Three of the Robbery-Murder Division.
“OK, I’ll talk to him.”
Luke didn’t go straight to Jeff Brandi after sending off the medical examiner Sheila.
The Robbery and Murder Division had a total of four squadrons, of which Squadrons One and Two were under Reed’s direct responsibility.
Squadrons Three and Four were run by the Division’s Deputy Chief, Magna Mette.
According to the Vice Squad, Magna Mette and Reed did not have a very good relationship.
Although this rumor was not accurately answered, he felt that there was still some basis for it.
After thinking about it, Luke thought it would be better to find Reed first and ask him to coordinate ……
It was close to noon.
A white man walked into the First Squadron office.
He looked to be around fifty years old, tall, with a short beard, slightly red cheeks, and pulled a loud voice: “Ladies, come out and pick up.”
The lieutenant fanned his right hand, “How long has it been since you’ve brushed your teeth, you look like you’ve been eating shit, you asshole.”
“Not long either, like the last time you got divorced, haha ……” the white man laughed out loud.
Luke heard the commotion and came out of his office, seeing the lieutenant’s face look a little hard, he advised, “Jeff, I was just about to find you.
Come in and talk.”
“No, I’m safer standing in the doorway.” Jeff Brandi directly threw a piece of information onto the table, “Here’s the dossier for that case last night.
I’ll also get a copy of the dossier for the two letter cases you’re in charge of, so we can each investigate our own.”
Luke instructed Jenny to make copies of the files of the other two cases and turned to Jeff Brandi, “Communicate any new developments in the case.”
“Depends.” Old Jeff shrugged, “I’m not in the habit of doing that, to be honest.”
Luke walked over, “Sit down and have a cup of coffee and talk about the case.”
Old Jeff glanced at the vice squad and sat a little farther away and said, “The first to discover the body was the patrolmen, at that time they thought it was a traffic accident or an accident, they approached to check on the deceased only to find out that the deceased’s face was carved with letters, and he was stabbed in the chest by a sharp blade, then the case was handed over to our Third Squadron.
The intersection where the crime occurred has no traffic lights, no surveillance, and no witnesses have been found for the time being.
The victim’s belongings were not lost, and it looks like a premeditated vendetta.
The deceased is only 17 years old, he attends a private high school, he is of Indian descent, according to the deceased’s mother, the deceased is a good student with good character, and no clear suspects have been found so far.”
Luke then briefly described the two previous letter cases as well.
Old Jeff listened noncommittally, and when Jenny had copied the dossier, he picked it up and prepared to leave.
Luke politely escorted him to the door.
Old Jeff tapped Luke on the shoulder, “Man, want to make a bet to see who catches the killer first?”
“What’s the bet?”
Old Jeff said, “The loser buys the drinks.”
“Shouldn’t the winning side buy the drinks?”
Old Jeff shrugged, “I’ve been a little short on cash lately.”
Luke laughed, “Then you might want to consider taking credit.”
“See you at the bar.” Old Jeff smiled and walked away.
Luke wrinkled his nose, closed the office door and turned to the lieutenant, “Does this guy drink a lot during the day?”
The lieutenant shook his head, “If this asshole could quit drinking, he’d be head of the Robbery and Murder Division already.
Incorrigible guy.”
Luke opened the file and began to look at the suspected third ‘Alphabet Case’ victim.
Name, Amir Murdy.
The time of death was around 10:00 p.m. The fatal wound was a stab wound to the chest, which was why the case was transferred to the Robbery-Murder Division, or if it was just a traffic accident it would have been the responsibility of the patrolman.
The dossier recorded some of the crime scene, and there were also photos and videos of the crime scene.
Luke got a general idea of the case, but there were no obvious leads.
Luke decided to split the investigation and the vice squad led the way to the crime scene.
He goes to the family of the deceased to find out what happened.
Gilmore neighborhood.
At two o’clock in the afternoon, Luke and Porter drove to the home of the deceased, Amir Murdy.
Luke got out of the car and faintly heard a cry.
Porter went ahead and went to the door of the deceased’s house and knocked: “Knock knock.”
The door opened and at the door stood a man of Indian descent with red eyes and a mournful look on his face, asking, “What can I do for you?”
Porter flashed his badge, “LAPD, I’m Detective Porter of the Robbery-Murder Division, and this is Captain Lee.”
The Indian-American man froze for a moment and took a good look at Luke and Porter, “Officers, I don’t think I’ve seen you this morning.”
Luke said, “The one in charge of investigating the case this morning is the Third Squadron, we are from the First Squadron.
We also investigated two murder cases before, and the dead had letters carved on their bodies, so I suspect that the three cases may be connected in some way.”
“Have you caught the murderer?” The Indian man blurted out, after asking, he revealed a touch of sadness, “Definitely not, if you guys caught it, my son wouldn’t have died.”
“Sorry …… we also want to catch the murderer as soon as possible.”
The Indian man flashed aside, “My name is Nirmala Murdy, please come in and talk.”
In the living room, a woman in Indian dress was holding her head and crying, “Oooh ……”
“This is my wife ……” Nirmala Murdy patted the woman’s shoulder and comforted her, “Don’t cry, Vishnu will bless Amir.”
Nirmala Murdy escorted his wife into the room, closed the door and sighed, “My wife can’t get over this now …… It’s so sudden.”
Luke asked, “Why did Amir Murdy come home so late last night?”
“He had gone to an extracurricular tuition class.”
“Does he often come home this late on his bicycle?”
“Usually I would pick him up in my car and if I don’t have time, he rides his bike and that extracurricular tuition class is not far from my house.
I had something to do last night ……” Nirmala Murdy showed remorse, “I was the one who didn’t take care of him ……”
“Has there been anything unusual about him lately?”
“No.”
“Has he offended anyone?”
“No, he’s a very obedient kid, most of his energy is focused on his studies, every day is just studying, participating in club activities, extracurricular tuition classes, and then going home.
He has a very regular life.”
“Does he have a girlfriend?” In Luke’s experience, when a teenager at this age has problems, the probability is that it has something to do with a woman.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure, if he had a girlfriend he would have told me.”
“Do you have a suspect for Amir Murdy’s killer?”
Nirmala Murdy thought for a moment and shook his head, “No, my son was a good student and always good to people, I can’t think of anyone who would kill someone.”
Luke took out a picture of the first victim, Yoshimi Hashimoto, “Do you recognize her?”
Nirmala Murdy took a closer look, “No.”
Luke pulled out another picture of the second victim, “What about him?”
“Not recognizable.”
Luke then took out photos of the other people involved in the case, but Nirmala Murdy still didn’t recognize them.
At this point, Luke was also a bit confused, the third deceased Amir Murdy was still a student, and there was no obvious intersection with the other two deceased.
Could it be that he had guessed wrong, and that the three cases were not connected?
Porter said, “I have children, too, and as far as I know parents can only know one side of their children if they have a good relationship with them.
Sometimes they would rather tell their peers about things than their parents.
Does Amir Murdy have any closer friends or classmates?”
In Porter’s opinion, children in the eyes of their parents are like the rays of the sun and it’s hard to see the dark side.
Nirmala Murdy replied, “Shakru Khan, he was my son’s friend and classmate.”
Luke asked, “Do you have his contact information?”
“His family also lives in this neighborhood and we are neighbors.”
Then, with Nirmala Murdy’s guidance, Luke and Porter found Shakru Khan’s house.
Shakru Khan’s family also lived in this neighborhood, and the house was a bit larger; Luke stood at the entrance to the yard and watched while Porter rang the doorbell.
The visual phone screen lit up and a woman asked, “Who are you looking for?”
“Is Shakru Khan home?”
“What do you want with him?”
Porter flashed his badge, “LAPD, we heard he’s a friend of Amir Murdy’s and we’d like to talk to him.”
“Come on in.”
The courtyard door opened.
Luke and Porter entered the courtyard and an Indian woman opened the door, “Come in, both officers.”
“Thank you ma’am, are you Shakru Khan’s family?”
“Yes, I am his mother.”
Luke entered and saw an Indian-American teenager standing near the foyer, clothes and shoes on, seemingly ready to go out.
“Are you Shakru Khan?”
“Yes I am Sir, what do you want from me?”
“I heard that you are a friend of Amir Murdi?”
“Yes, I heard about him, I’m sorry ……”
“Do you two spend a lot of time together?”
“Uh …… used to get together a lot, but not much coming and going these days.”
“Why? Did you have a conflict?”
“No, I’ve just been busy with my credits lately and haven’t had time.”
“You and Amir Murdy are at the same school?”
“Yes.”
“Has he been in any trouble lately?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Has he had any run-ins with anyone?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Does he have a girlfriend?”
“No.”
Luke felt that this friend wasn’t very trustworthy either, and was ready to pull out the photos of the people involved in the case so that the other man could identify them ……
Shakru Khan glanced at his watch and urged, “Sir, can you hurry up? I have something to go out.”
Luke smiled and said, “Where are you going? We can give you a ride.”
“No need.”
“We can talk on the way and save you the delay.”
“I have an appointment with my psychiatrist ……
Just go by yourself.”
“A shrink?” Luke surveyed Shakru Khan, “Is there something wrong?”
Shakru Khan’s mother said, “NoNoNo, he’s just under too much pressure from school.
I want him to talk to a therapist to take the pressure off his studies.”
Luke waved his hand, “Come on, let’s get you there.”