Chapter 571
Lilith asked, “Are we going to talk to Mary the cleaner now?”
“Since she lied, she won’t change her story easily, and we don’t have any proof that she stole the necklace.” Luke thought for a moment and continued, “Moreover, Mary cleaned the room yesterday morning and should have seen the necklace at that time as well, if the necklace was really stolen by her, she should have moved it yesterday.”
Lilith said, “I just checked the work schedule, because the auction was held last night, a part of the staff needed to work overtime, and Mary was also in the list.
After the late shift, it should be after eleven p.m. According to the rules, they would have stayed in the dormitory last night, and Mary would only be on vacation after the shift was turned in at noon today.”
Luke said, “If Mary hasn’t left the club yet, that means the necklace probably hasn’t been transferred.”
Lilith asked, “Should we call the police and search Mary’s quarters?”
“You could, but I wouldn’t recommend it.” Luke explained, “Although the staff quarters are club property, the right to use them has been given to the employees, and a warrant is needed to search the quarters as well.
Although I could tell that Mary lied, there is no evidence to prove that she stole the necklace, and a search warrant may not be applied for.
Moreover, even if I get someone to help me apply for a search warrant, once the police enter the dormitory to search, it will be hard to hide this matter anymore, are you mentally prepared for this?”
“No, I still want to keep it as secret as possible, the club has already had a burglary, if there is another burglary, the impact will be too bad.
One plus one equals two is just a theory, in reality one plus one has a far greater impact than two.” Luke’s ability to consider things from Lilith’s point of view made Lilith trust him more and more, “Luke, what do you think would be a better way to handle this.”
“What time does Mary turn in?”
“Eleven-thirty at noon, with the shift completed by eleven-fifty.”
Luke said, “Then we’ll wait until she leaves the club and we won’t need a warrant.”
Noon.
Mary finished her shift and went back to her dorm to change, while going to the employee parking lot and leaving in a red Toyota.
As the car pulled out of the club, Mary stepped on the gas and the car sped up a few more points.
Mary breathed a sigh of relief in her heart as she passed the intersection ahead, and a smile appeared on her face.
“Whoops ……”
Suddenly, a police car came out from the side, catching up with Mary’s car and honking its siren behind Mary’s car.
“Fuck, these damn cops are fishing again.” Mary was pretty sure she hadn’t seen the police car earlier, the guys must be hiding somewhere hidden again.
She did drive a little fast just now, and wasn’t sure if she was speeding, but in the usual fashion of these cops, she would probably get a ticket herself, cursing, “These damn vampires.”
Mary, though exasperated, swerved right and pulled over.
The police car behind her stopped as well, and two officers stepped out of the police car, a white man in the driver’s seat and an Asian policewoman on the passenger side.
The white man touched the rear of the red Toyota out of habit and stepped outside the driver’s side, “Ma’am, please open the window.”
Mary had no choice but to lower the window and squeeze out a smile, “Sir, what can I do for you?”
“You were speeding, give me your papers and move a little slower.”
“Sorry, my daughter is sick and I’m in a hurry to get home.” Mary handed the white officer her driver’s license.
“Whatever the reason, be safe.”
“YES, Sir.
I’ll pay attention in the future, can you give me a chance?” Mary said in a curt tone.
The white officer sniffled, “Ma’am, please step out of the car.”
“Why?”
The white officer looked serious and repeated, “Ma’am, please turn off the engine and step out of the car.”
Mary had no choice but to step out of the car, “I need a reason.”
“Have you been drinking?”
“I haven’t, I just got off work, there’s no way I’ve been drinking.”
“I need to search your car?”
Mary resisted a little, “Why? You have no right to do that.”
“I smell contraband, please cooperate.”
“Oh my God, you are simply being unreasonable, there is no contraband in my car.”
The Asian female officer also approached, “Ma’am, please cooperate.”
“I feel like you guys are purposely targeting me? Just because I’m a black man?”
“No, no one is targeting you.
I smelled contraband, so I’m going to legally inspect your car.
This is my authority, so please cooperate.
This is the third warning and I won’t say it a fourth time.” The white officer looked serious and said in a commanding tone, “Open the trunk.”
Mary had tears in her eyes, “You are discriminating and I will file a complaint against you.
I’ve never done anything illegal, never ……”
“That’s your right, but right now I’m going to fulfill my duty.” The white officer looked aside at the Asian policewoman, “Lucy, search her.”
Mary glared at the two men with an aggrieved gaze, but due to the authority of the police, she still didn’t dare to resist.
Lucy, the Asian policewoman, was responsible for searching Mary.
The white officer, on the other hand, searched the car.
White officers first searched the trunk, and did not find contraband, and then began to search the interior of the car, in the passenger side of the seat under the discovery of a black bag, white officers opened the bag inside is a tin box containing cookies, open the lid, inside is a gorgeous necklace, necklace in the center of a blue gemstone, the two sides inlaid with white diamonds.
The white officer put on his gloves and held the cookie tin and asked, “Ma’am, is this your item?”
“Yes.”
“Is the necklace in the box yours as well?”
With tears in her eyes and looking a little helpless, Mary slowly nodded, “Yes, it’s mine. What’s the problem?”
The white officer asked, “Ma’am, what is your name?”
“Mary Larson.”
“Ms. Larson, may I ask where you work?”
“The Baggs Club.”
“Coincidentally, we just received a call from the Baggs Club that one of the club’s guests is missing a sapphire necklace.” The white officer said, tapping his cell phone to check, “The missing necklace looks exactly like the one you have.
Ma’am, I ask again, is this your necklace?”
Mary Larson couldn’t hold it in any longer and cried, “Oh my God, you guys came here specifically to get me?”
The white officer said, “Ms. Mary Larson, we suspect that you are involved in the theft of the necklace from the Baggs Club, and we are now asking you to assist the police in their investigation.”
The neighborhood of the Baggs Club.
A racecourse had been built here, and near the racecourse was an antique wooden house, somewhat similar to a western style bar.
Whenever a horse race was held, the place would be packed with club guests.
However, very few guests would come here at this time of the year, and the area around the wooden house was cold and quiet.
A police car drove up and slowed to a stop on the side of the road, two officers stepped out of the car and escorted a black woman towards the cabin.
Luke heard the commotion and stepped out of the cabin, greeting the two officers, “John, Lucy, is she the burglar you caught?”
John said, “Yes, we searched her car and found a necklace with a sapphire hanging from it, identical to the photo of the lost property that Ms. Finn called the police about.”
Mary looked at Luke with a slightly complicated gaze and hurriedly lowered her head again.
Luke said, “Lucy, take her into the house first.”
“YES, Sir.”
Luke handed John a cigarette and asked, “Did it go well?”
“Of course, I’m not the rookie I was back then.
What just happened was no difficulty for me.”
John described the capture and handed Luke the necklace that had been recovered from Mary’s car.
Luke opened the tin box with the cookies and examined the sapphire necklace, the style was very similar to the one in the photo.
After finishing their cigarettes, Luke and John both entered the cabin as well.
Luke pulled up a chair and sat next to Mary and asked, “Hey, we meet again.”
Mary looked up at Luke, “You’re a cop?”
Luke nodded and pointed to the tin box of cookies next to him, “Where did you get that necklace?”
“I …… “Mary pursed her thick lips, “I picked it up.”
“Hey, I hate being lied to, you’ve already lied to me once, I don’t want it to happen again.”
“I didn’t lie to you, I did pick up this sapphire necklace, I told both officers the same thing, I really didn’t lie.”
“Where did you pick it up?”
“In the bedroom trash can in Miss Cheryl Ganassi’s room.”
“The trash can?”
“Yes.”
Seeing no obvious signs of lying on the other man’s face, Luke pressed, “When did you find it?”
“Yesterday morning when I was cleaning up, I removed all the trash, and there was a black bag in the trash, and when I opened it, it contained this necklace.”
“Your job shouldn’t be easy, why are you going through the trash?”
“Trash is relative, what the rich would throw away is likely to be an unimaginable luxury for the poor.” Mary laughed to herself, “I’ll go through all the guests’ trash, and as far as I know, I’m not the only one who does that, a lot of cleaners do.
And, we did find some valuable items.
Of course, a sapphire necklace as valuable as this is a first.
I swear, I found it, I didn’t steal it.
I put it away because I thought the customers didn’t want it, so, I didn’t break any laws.”
Lucy said, “A sapphire of this size is very precious even to a rich person, and it’s impossible for the other person to just throw it away in the trash.
Your argument doesn’t hold water, and besides, if the other party had intentionally discarded it, why would they have called the police?
We wouldn’t have come to arrest you.”
Mary Larson shrugged, “I don’t know, but what I said is true.”
Luke said, “Even if what you say is true, you picked up this sapphire necklace. I asked in the villa this morning if you had seen the sapphire necklace, why did you lie?”
“I …… “Mary Larson was silent for a moment, “This sapphire necklace is so beautiful, it’s the first time I’ve seen and touched it, I ……
I don’t think it would have been possible for anyone else not to be moved.”
“Ta-da ……”
A footstep sounded outside, Lilith pushed the door and walked in, “Luke, did you find that sapphire necklace?”
Luke didn’t answer and simply handed her the cookie cutter box.
Lilith opened the box and revealed a flash of joy at the sight of its contents, reaching out to pick up the sapphire necklace, Luke stopped her and handed her a pair of gloves.
Lilith put on the gloves, picked up the sapphire necklace to look carefully, curved willow eyebrows slightly knit, and opened the cell phone light on the sapphire, after a long time, said, “Luke, this sapphire necklace seems to have a problem.”
Luke nodded, “I see it too, that sapphire has signs of breakage.”
Mary Larson hurriedly said, “Ms. Finn, I didn’t break the necklace, it was like that when I found it.”
Lilith glared at Mary Larson and pulled Lukas aside, “That’s not the only problem I’m talking about, I have a feeling ……
this necklace looks like a fake.”