Chapter 101
Half an hour later.
Susan arrived at the scene with a survey team.
The survey team entered the house to collect physical evidence.
Susan inquired, “You guys elaborate on the investigation.”
Luke said, “We went to Poe’s mechanic store and met the owner, Carus Poe.
Learned a few things from him.
According to Carus Ball, the homeowner, Benjamin Naci, had a conflict with the Mexican-American victim, Santos Mendin.
So we came over to investigate.
David smelled the odor of blood and, considering the urgency of the situation, went right in and searched the house.”
Susan nodded, “Good job.”
David said, “The homeowner had motive, there was a large amount of blood in the house, and this is probably the first scene of the murder of Santos Mendin.”
The lieutenant frowned, “Isn’t that too smooth?”
Susan asked rhetorically, “What do you think?”
The lieutenant was silent for a moment, “You guys talked to Carus Ball, the garage owner, how do you feel about him as a person?”
David asked rhetorically, “You suspect he has problems?”
The lieutenant shrugged, “I make the assumption of suspicion whenever someone is involved.”
David thought for a moment, “He’s good for Santos Mendin, at least for now, and doesn’t appear to have a motive.”
The Deputy said, “Criminals don’t show their evil side.”
Susan said, “Lieutenant, if you have any doubts about Carus Ball, then talk to him directly.”
“Are you sure you don’t need me there?”
“It’s enough to have me.”
“OK, you’re the captain.” A little depressed, the lieutenant called Marcus and drove off.
Susan pointed at Luke and David, “Don’t watch the fun either, you two.
Matthew found out the whereabouts of Santos Mendin’s car through the security cameras.
Around seven o’clock in the evening of the 28th, Santos Mendin left the car repair store where he worked.
But instead of heading home, he drove to the city center.
At about 7:20, the car disappeared into the neighborhood of Keweenaw Plaza.
It reappeared already at 12:35 a.m. on the 29th, and disappeared for five hours in between, so go find out what he did.”
“Ramon, you look into Benjamin Nasi’s profile.”
“Yes, captain.”
Half an hour later, Luke and the two of them drove to the neighborhood of Cadwell Plaza.
David looked around as he drove, “This place is huge, where are we going to look?”
Luke asked rhetorically, “What do you think Santos Mendin is doing over here after work if he’s not going home?”
David thought for a moment, “Santos Mendin’s wife left home, could he be here looking for his wife?”
Luke smiled, “I don’t know, but downtown is not the suburbs, and the narrow roads can’t be good for parking.
We just went around the neighborhood and only found one parking lot.
Go over and ask.”
“Good idea.” David pulled into the parking lot.
Luke got out of the car and said to the middle-aged black man guarding the parking lot, “Hey, are you in charge here?”
The black guard swept Luke off his feet, “Weekday, one dollar an hour. Non-working days, two hours for a dollar.”
“Thanks for the reminder.” Luke flashed his badge, “But I’d like to get some information from you.”
The black guard was slightly stunned, “What kind of information? I only pay for parking, the rest is none of my business.”
“On the night of March 28th, have you seen a Nissan Skyline, license plate number 8Ceb383.”
“Yes, I have seen it.”
Seeing how quickly he answered, Luke recoiled in surprise, “How do you remember it so well?”
“He works in this neighborhood and comes to park almost every night and has a monthly pass, there’s no reason why I wouldn’t know him.”
“Where does he work?”
“Cadwell’s Bar, right out front, just ask around.”
“Thanks.” Letting out the car, Luke walked the two of them to the Cadwell Bar.
The bar was already open, it just wasn’t very crowded at this time of day, just enough to make it easy to ask questions.
Luke walked up to the bar.
The white bartender inside the bar took the initiative and asked, “What would you like to drink?”
Luke simply flashed his badge, “I’d like to ask you about someone.”
“This is a bar, a lot of people come in every day, I may not remember everyone. Don’t get your hopes up.”
Luke took out his cell phone and pulled out a picture of Santos Mendin, “Recognize this guy?”
“Santos Mendin, he’s a bartender here too, but hasn’t been here in a couple days.”
“How long has he worked here?”
“Three or four months, why?”
Without answering, Luke continued, “What time does he usually work from?”
“Between seven-thirty and twelve-thirty at night.”
“Every day?”
“That’s right, is there a problem?”
“Who here knows him better?”
“You’re asking the right person, he’s not very talkative, we talk occasionally when we both work together.”
“What kind of trouble has he been in lately?”
“He’s been a bit moody lately, it seems to be something to do with his wife, but I’m not sure exactly what’s going on. He’s not an easy guy to make friends with and never drinks.
A bartender who doesn’t drink, have you ever seen one?” The white bartender laughed and asked rhetorically, “What’s wrong with him? He didn’t strike me as someone who would commit a crime?”
“He’s dead.”
“Are you kidding?”
Luke held up his badge, “What do you think?”
“It’s a little hard for me to accept, it’s unfortunate that someone I worked with just a few days ago is suddenly …… so dead. How did he die?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
“OK, then don’t tell.”
“Were you able to contact his wife?”
“I think he mentioned that his wife worked somewhere, but …… I can’t remember.”
“Recall carefully.”
The white bartender thought for a while, “Still can’t remember, SORRY, I have to work.”
Luke left a business card, “Call me anytime you remember, thanks.”
Exiting the bar, David lamented, “This guy works harder than I do. Nine in the morning to six-thirty in the afternoon fixing cars.
Working as a bartender from 7:30 p.m. to 12 a.m. He works fifteen hours a day, and with the commute, the guy pretty much sleeps and eats and works.”
“That’s why I’m not getting married.” Luke had thought of a lot of possibilities, the only one that hadn’t occurred to him was that Santos Mendin came here to work.
“Even if you wanted to get married, you’d have to have a woman willing to marry you, and in my experience that lawyer doesn’t stand a chance.”
“What about Santos Mendin? He works so hard, why did his wife leave him?”
Luke thought to himself, what kind of experience do you have, your wife ran off with someone.
David grunted, “Hell knows what these women are thinking.”
The following morning.
Detective Bureau.
At nine in the morning, Luke entered the office on time.
David frowned, “Do you have to be so punctual? Doesn’t the thought of Santos Mendin working fifteen hours a day strike a chord?”
“Feelings run deep, he’s dead and I don’t want to die.”
David “……”
Luke put a cup of soy milk on the table, “For you.”
David rubbed his hands together, “Beans make a white drink, I like it.”
Luke raised his glass in a gesture, “Drink more of this, it’ll ease your tantrums.”
“Really?” David was skeptical.
“A thousand percent true.”
“WHY?”
“Just try it.” Luke wasn’t going to tell him that too much soy milk could increase estrogen.
Susan came into the office from outside with the information, “Come to the conference room for the meeting.”
The crowd walked into the conference room.
Susan turned on the projector and put up a file, “The report from yesterday’s scene investigation is out.
There was indeed human blood in the house, but it didn’t belong to the deceased Santos Mendin, and it wasn’t the first scene of Santos Mendin’s murder.
After DNA matching, the blood on the floor matched the DNA of the third finger and the blood came from the fourth victim.
The amount of blood is enough to kill an adult.”
The result was another bit of a surprise to Luke, “Who was the identity of the fourth victim?”
Susan pushed up her glasses and continued, “The survey team collected some DNA samples on the comb and toothbrush in the bathroom, most likely from the homeowner, Benjamin Nasi, and the biological samples matched the blood DNA perfectly.
Of course, given the rigor of the identification, we’ll contact Benjamin Nasi’s immediate family for another DNA test.
But from what we have, the fourth victim is most likely the homeowner, Benjamin Nasi.”
David took a sip of his soy milk, “Santos Mendin is dead, and Benjamin Nasi, who had a grudge against him, may have been killed as well, who could the killer be?”
The lieutenant said, “These two men crossed paths, the suspect is likely an acquaintance of theirs.”
Luke asked rhetorically, “Lieutenant, do you suspect Carus Poe, the garage owner?”
The lieutenant shook his head, “I don’t know. I talked to him yesterday and didn’t see anything wrong with it. Of course, it doesn’t completely rule him out.”
Luke laughed, “That’s the same as not saying anything.”
“What do you have to offer, kid?”
Luke thought for a moment, “The owners of all three fingers checked out, Bardman Pool, Santos Mentin, and Benjamin Nasi.
With the exception of Bardman Pool, the other two had no direct interaction with the first victim, Riley Hari.
But I found one thing they had in common.
Married, but none of them were on very good terms with their wives.”