Chapter 121

Detective Bureau.

Mr. and Mrs. Lucas Souster were brought back to the station for interrogation.

This matter had such a bad impact that it alarmed the top management of the city council.

Reed also rushed to the First Squadron at the first opportunity.

As soon as they met, Reed took the initiative to greet them, “Luke, great job. If you hadn’t discovered Lucas, the police would still be deceived by these two damn guys.”

Luke pointed aside to Marcus, “I was working overtime with Marcus, he found out first.”

Reed nodded, giving him another high rating, knowing that sharing the credit with his subordinates was the only way to go higher and farther.

Stretching out his right hand in a fist bumping gesture, “Marcus, you’re doing a good job too, follow Luke’s lead.”

Marcus finally waited for the heartfelt fist bump and grinned with big white teeth.

Reed was a little worried, “Can you confirm that it’s Lucas we caught today? Don’t get it wrong again.”

David replied, “I’ve seen his movies and can confirm that he is Lucas.”

Reed asked rhetorically, “Then why was the identity of the deceased mistaken? Even if the suspect intentionally deceived, don’t you have any responsibility?

Of course, this is not the time to pursue responsibility, I just want to confirm the true identity of the deceased.”

The vice squad concurred, “I agree with Reed’s words, we first need to figure out why we misidentified the deceased in the first place, and only after clarifying the true identity of the deceased can we proceed to the next step of the investigation.

Otherwise, there’s still the possibility of making another mess.”

David said, “The responsibility lies with me, I’ve seen the dead man’s body and he resembles Lucas.

When I say resemblance I don’t just mean looks, but hair style, clothing, and height.

At that time the deceased had wounds left by resistance on his forehead and left cheek, large blood stains, plus the fact that people’s appearance will change a bit after death.

To a certain extent, it affected my judgment.”

Luke continued, “I don’t think the blame lies with David, I was the first to arrive at the scene.

I asked the informant, the assistant director, about the identity of the deceased.

He told me the deceased was Lucas Souster, which in itself was a form of entrapment.

And he wasn’t the only one, the entire cast and crew thought the deceased was Lucas Soest.

I think that before the police arrived, the main people in the crew had reached a consensus ‘that the dead man was Lucas Soest’.

The person who played the most crucial role was Lukas’ wife, Enosha Soest, who went to the coroner’s office to identify the deceased and confirmed his identity before the police had no more suspicions.

Therefore, I think the people involved in the crew should be held accountable, and none of these bastards should be allowed to escape, one for each.”

Susan spoke, “I agree with Luke, I suggest splitting into two investigation directions, one investigation direction is to confirm the identity of the deceased.

Another, interrogate Mr. and Mrs. Lucas Souster, they might be the murderers of the deceased.”

Reed said, “GOOD, let’s do it, it doesn’t matter if they’re stars, or celebrities, there’s a price to pay for daring to cheat the LAPD.

Now take these two assholes into the interrogation room and interrogate them plainly.”

“YES, Sir.”

There were so many people who cheated the police that the suspects more or less lied.

But Lucas was a star, and not only did the police think he was dead, but fans throughout the United States, and even other countries, knew he was dead.

The repercussions of this are too great, and if it’s not handled well, the LAPD will become a laughingstock.

Susan goes to the coroner’s office to re-test the dead man’s identity.

Ramon and Jenny investigate the situation of the movie double Abu Ghra.

The Lieutenant and David take care of the interrogation of Enosha Soest.

Luke and Blackie interrogate Lucas.

In the interrogation room.

Lucas has been handcuffed to the interrogation chair.

Luke asked him his name again, “What’s your name?”

“Lucas Souster.”

Luke went straight to the point, “Why did you kill your movie double, Abu Ghra?”

“I didn’t kill him! I had nothing to do with his death.”

“It’s hard for me to trust your word anymore because you’ve failed the police, even the whole of America thinks you’re dead. My mom is a fan of yours and was telling me about you last night and how she wants to support your new movie.

That’s how you repay your fans, by lying to them like they’re stupid.

WHY?”

“I never wanted to cheat the movie fans, it was all a misunderstanding, an accident. I didn’t expect this either.”

Luke pressed, “So you admit to accidentally killing the stand-in Abu Ghra?”

“NoNoNo, I really had nothing to do with his death, swear to God.”

“God is too busy registering Abu Ghra to bother with you.”

“What I said is true, we just wanted to use his death to promote the movie but that doesn’t mean we are his killers.

PLEASE, please believe that I really had nothing to do with Abu Ghra’s death.”

Luke had been watching him, the look was genuine, it didn’t look like he was lying.

But then he remembered the last time he’d given a statement to his wife, just as weepy and sad.

The actor’s mouth lied to a ghost.

“When did you know Abu Ghra was dead?”

“I can’t be sure that the person who died was Abu Ghra, I’m guessing.

“The night before last, after the scene where he was buried alive, I went back to the hotel to take a shower and almost fainted in the toilet.

Director Bell is very demanding of his actors, and during this time I’ve been shooting full time, almost day and night, and my body is very tired and has been in a sub-healthy state.

I felt I couldn’t go on like this, my body couldn’t take it anymore.

I called director Bell and explained the situation, and he knew how much I had put in during this time and agreed to recuperate for a few days.

First, I shot the footage of my understudy Abu Ghra.

After getting the director’s permission, I felt a whole lot more relaxed and turned off my cell phone so that I could relax completely.

The next morning, my wife woke me up and told me that director Baer had called.

I thought at the time that my vacation was a bust, but I didn’t dare to delay and rushed to answer the call.

On the phone, I learned that a body had been found in the big pit where last night’s shooting had taken place, and that it looked, haired, built, and dressed like me, and that they had mistakenly thought that the person who had died was me.

For a while I thought of Abu Ghra, who used to shoot movies at night in dim light and often people would misidentify us.

I wanted to rush to the scene at that time to set the record straight so that rumors would not arise and affect the investigation of the case and the work of the crew.

However, it was rejected by Director Beck, who told me to continue my vacation and not to contact the outside world for the time being.

I asked him why, and he asked me if I wanted to become popular again, and if I wanted the movie to explode.

I replied, yes, very much.

He told me to go into hiding and let things fester for a while, and then come forward after a while, so that I could give publicity to the movie without it affecting me too much.”

Luke questioned, “And you believed him when he said that? I don’t believe it’s that simple, don’t think you’ll be okay just because you took yourself out of the picture, the police want to hear the truth.”

“Everything I said was true, and I questioned it at the time, what if the police found out? What if the police arrest me? How would I explain myself to my fans.

Beck told me that he had made many detective movies and knew that the police usually don’t reveal the details of a case, and the fans wouldn’t know very much about it.

He also told me to go on a wilderness excursion, so that I could say that I was a person who was wilderness survival to evolve my mind, and when I came back in a few days, I realized that I had been ‘killed’ and took the initiative to go to the police station to report the case, and the police couldn’t do anything with me.

He set everything up and told me to follow his plan.

I knew it could be risky, but …… I needed the job and didn’t dare offend him.”

Luke made a brief note in his journal, “Who all knew about your faked death?”

“My wife and Director Baker.”

Luke put his pen down, “I’ll give you another chance, who else?”

As much power as the director had, Luke didn’t trust him to decide this matter alone.

Lucas Souster hesitated for a moment, “And the producer, Rosie Beal.”

“Who’s in charge?”

“I don’t know, Director Beal contacted me.

I knew it was wrong and didn’t want to oblige him at the time and was worried about the police.

But director Bell said it was producer Rosie Beale’s idea.

At that point, I knew I had no choice.

If I went against their wishes, the circle would not work and it would be miserable.”

Luke pressed, “Why did they ask you to do that?”

Lucas sighed, “Hollywood makes five hundred movies a year, but the ones that are really hits are only one tenth of one percent, and the rest of them are good enough to keep their money, and most of them will be money losers.

No one can guarantee that their movie will be a hit, no one can accurately predict the market and feel the audience’s heart.

So, they hope that by me faking my death to raise the heat of the movie, it’s like Fast and Furious 7, Paul died but the movie sold well, everyone made money except Paul himself.”

Luke said, “You’re right, Paul is dead, but you’re not, and you’re equally one of the biggest beneficiaries.”

Lucas covered his face with his hands, “SORRY, I didn’t expect things to turn out this way either.”

Luke stared at the other man, “Lucas, can I trust you?”

“Yes you can, I’m innocent.”

“The killer may have also been injured when he killed the victim, Abu Guerra, and we’d like to check your body for injuries.”

Lucas frowned, “Is that mandatory? Can I refuse?”

“Of course, it’s your freedom, and if it’s a suspect, he’ll refuse too.”

Lucas sounded certain, “I’m not a suspect.”

“That’s what everyone who sits in this chair says.”

Lucas was silent for several moments, “I’m willing to let you guys check my body because I’m innocent and have a clear conscience.”

“GOOD, my impression of you has changed somewhat.” Luke turned to Marcus, who was off to the side, “Take him to the rest room to be examined.”

Black frowned, a little reluctantly, “I’m a straight guy, I don’t really like seeing men naked.”

“So am I, but there’s always one to go around, and I’m sure you can.” Luke patted him on the shoulder.

“OK,” Black took a deep breath, “I’ll go.”

“Know what to check?”

“Sure.” Blacky opened his mouth and made a biting motion.

Luke examined the body’s injuries and surmised that the victim had probably bitten the murderer before she died and left teeth marks on the murderer’s body.

He gave a thumbs up, “Waiting for your good news.”