Chapter 150

Malaboia High School campus.

Herman walked through the familiar yet unfamiliar campus, and from time to time, people around him greeted him.

After this shooting incident, his popularity in the school had risen by a large margin.

If it was before he would have been happy.

American university admissions have three main criteria, the first is the SAT or ACT scores, the second is the candidate’s short application essay, various specialties and leadership skills, etc., and the third is all kinds of policy plus points.

Being well known in the school and influential among the students is still helpful for going to college.

But after being recognized by Luke’s lies, it made his heart palpitate again, and he always felt like he was being watched, and his heart was inexplicably a bit unsettled.

“Hey Herman, you really came to school, how’s that shoulder injury?” A white male student came over to greet him.

“Hey Benson, I was looking for you.” Herman walked up next to the male student and whispered, “Honestly it still hurts a little, don’t tell anyone.”

“I get it, you want to be a tough guy.” Benson smiled and asked rhetorically, “What’s it to me?”

“It’s that thing we were talking about on our last video call, and I’ve been thinking hard about it …… I should step up and do something on behalf of the injured students.

The shooting should be taken seriously and not just glossed over.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“I know you’ve gotten an offer of admission to UCLA, and you’re experienced in this area, and I’d like to ask you some questions about it.

If I stand up and speak out, will I get extra points in college admissions?”

Benson thought for a moment, “Sure, as long as your remarks are appropriate it certainly helps, and you really should be thinking about that aspect.”

“Will you help me write my speech?”

“Yes, but …… you’ll have to buy me dinner.”

“Haha …… don’t worry man, I’ll buy you a big meal.”

Benson snickered, “As long as it’s not a burger?”

“I’m not that stingy …… At least it’ll be a double burger, huh ……”

In fact, Herman had originally dispelled this idea, went home and talked to his parents, who felt that this matter as long as the operation is good can get the wider attention of the community, it is possible to be blessed by the disaster to go to a better university.

Even if it does not work, there is no bad influence, why not try?

There are chicken parents everywhere, and there are rolled children everywhere.

Luke and Blackie were still staking out the school entrance.

At this point, school police officer Seltzer Polis was no longer at the door.

Luke’s butt hurt a little from sitting there, and not wanting to stay cooped up in the car, he got out of the car to smoke a cigarette.

Blackie also came over and asked for a cigarette, “It’s already after school hours, do we have to keep waiting?”

“Go have a coffee.” Luke took Xiao Hei to the open air cafe next to him.

Xiao Hei glanced in the direction of the school entrance, “This is a good location, it’s just that the coffee flavor is a bit bland.” Blacky said, adding another bag of sugar to his cup.

Luke shook his head, “Eat less sugar, it’s not good for your health.” After this period of time, Luke found that Xiao Hei’s diet was very unhealthy, consuming too much sugar, that is, he is young now with a fast metabolism, he will definitely become a big fat man when he gets older.

“Nothing replaces the joy of carbohydrates, no.” Blackie was a little unimpressed.

Luke was too lazy to be persuaded.

A yellow minivan pulled up in front of the gate, a man in a yellow engineering cap and blue uniform stepped out of the passenger side, chatted with the doorman, and the vehicle was released.

Blackie wondered, “What do they do?”

Luke looked sideways, “Go over and ask.”

Blacky, “……”

“If you don’t go, should I?”

Under Luke’s gaze, Xiao Hei finally compromised and ran over to strike up a conversation with the school’s doorman.

A BMW car parked on the east side of the school entrance, the car came down a white man, blond hair, tall and thin, quite handsome, the man took a bouquet of roses and put it next to Josie’s picture.

He didn’t leave right away, but stood silently beside it ……

Luke got up from his chair, the man he was waiting for was here.

Cheerleader Josie’s mystery boyfriend.

Luke crossed the street with a cup of coffee in hand and greeted him in a very casual tone, “Hey Pete.”

The white blond man turned around and shot Luke a look, “Did you just call me?”

“Your name isn’t Pete?”

“My name is Pete, but …… I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

Luke flashed his badge, “I’m Detective Luke, I’m in charge of the shooting investigation, can I talk to you?”

Pete froze slightly, “What do you want to talk about?”

“Did you know Josie well?”

“We’re friends, we see each other occasionally, I know something happened to her and came by to pay my respects.”

“How did you meet?”

“I work at a dance training studio and Josie was a student there.

She worked hard, practicing at school and sneaking in dance lessons after school, and her original dream was to make the cheerleading squad.

She did, and it was better than expected.”

“You’re a dance training teacher?”

“Yes.”

“So you were her dance teacher too?”

“Ah …… actually I only taught her a few classes, not really a teacher or student, it was just a training facility, not really a school in the strictest sense of the word.”

“Uh huh, I wouldn’t admit to dating one of my own students either.”

Pete blushed a little, “If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving.”

“Wait, I have something else to ask.”

Pete glanced at his watch and turned to leave, “SORRY, I’m afraid I can’t today, I have class later.”

“OK, go ahead and go to class, I’ll meet you at the dance studio later.”

Pete stopped in his tracks and turned back, “I don’t want to talk about personal issues where I work …….”

Luke took a sip of his coffee, “Then let’s get it straight now.”

Pete was helpless, “What else do you want to ask? Just get to it.”

“Are you Josie’s boyfriend?”

“Sort of.”

“What do you mean sort of? Yes it is, no it isn’t.”

“Yes.”

“Do you guys talk on the phone a lot?”

“Hardly ever, Josie’s still a student and we’re very conscious of our influences, usually chatting on a dance app and meeting up at the dance studio.”

Luke made a note in his book, which explained why Matthew couldn’t check their communication records, “Why did you break up?”

“For more complicated reasons.” Pete sighed softly and looked at Josie’s last picture, “The two of us were so different in age and ideas that there was no way we could even go out together openly, which often resulted in minor conflicts.

She was young, and I was usually the one who coaxed her.

Of course, these things I can accept, people are not perfect.

Prompted us to separate the direct cause is she and other men have come together, I bumped into, they eat together, watch movies together.

Afterward, I talked to her about it and instead she got angry and said I shouldn’t have stalked and that I was horrible.

I was also angry at the time, it was obvious that she was with another boy, how it was my fault instead.

Is it wrong for me to look at what they did?

If I didn’t follow, how did I know they went to the movies, and how did I know they had dinner together?

What should I do then? Rush up and beat that man up.

Come on, I’m an adult, so I chose to break up with her.”

Luke pressed, “Who was the man Josie was dating?”

“I don’t know him, Josie didn’t admit it at first, just said he was a regular friend.

I told her that the whole thing about going to the movies with a regular male friend made it harder for me to accept.

It was only then that she told me the truth, that the guy was a student council member and had done her a huge favor, and in return she agreed to go on three dates with the other guy, and if she didn’t feel anything the two would leave each other alone.” Pete laughed angrily.

“I was dumbfounded, am I too old to be an old codger?

Why do I find this pact that was made outrageously ridiculous.

If three dates and they see eye to eye, what am I?

If the date applauds love, what difference am I from a fool.

I really couldn’t understand what Josie was doing and was even more determined to break up with her.”

“You said the man Josie was dating was from the student council?”

“She said it herself, probably from the same school as her.”

“What was the other guy’s name?”

“I don’t know, it’s not my business anymore, people are dead, what’s the point of pursuing that.”

“When did you two break up?”

Pete thought for a moment, “Three weeks or so.”

“What happened to Josie and the guy she was dating?”

“We ran into each other at the dance studio once and she reached out to me, apologized, and said that she’d cleared it with the guy and that the two wouldn’t be seeing each other anymore.

She didn’t say it explicitly, but I knew she wanted to get back together.

Reason told me that there would be no future for the two of us …… I didn’t respond to her.”

Luke pulled out a picture of Herman, “Recognize this guy?”

Pete took a look, “Yes, that’s the kid, I recognize him. Had dinner with Josie, went to the movies with her, tried to put his arm around Josie’s waist, a handsy kid.”

Luke asked, “Did you go up and beat him up?”

Pete shrugged, “No, I thought about that afterward, why didn’t I punch him, scared? Wimped out? Or didn’t care, it seemed like neither.

I felt more guilty about not having the right to do that than any of those reasons.

That’s the underlying reason I’m breaking up with Josie.

I don’t think she belongs with me.”

“Do you hate her?”

“No. We had a great time and that was enough.”

Luke pulled out the picture of the black man who died on the rooftop of the science building with poisoned rice, “Recognize him?”

Pete took the photo and looked at it closely, “No.”

“What were you doing between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. on May 10th? Don’t think much about it, this is just a routine inquiry, just answer truthfully.”

Pete thought for a moment, “I was teaching the students at the dance studio, they can all attest to that.”

“What is the name of the dance studio?”

“The Motogi Dance Training Center.”

Luke handed him a business card, “Call me if you remember any new leads.”

Pete took the card, “I will.”

Without meaning to leave, Luke reached out to him.

Pete responded then, handing Luke his card as well.

“Don’t go out of the city lately, the police may still want to talk to you.”

Pete nodded and glanced at the Josie photo again before getting into the BMW and driving off.

Blackie walked over, “Who’s that kid, looks like you guys had a nice chat.”

“Josie’s ex-boyfriend Pete.”

“Ex-boyfriend?” Blacky muttered, “Could he have killed someone in anger because he was broken up with?”

Luke nodded, “It’s a possibility, let’s check his alibi later.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Go talk to Herman.”

“What’s wrong with the kid again?”

“He lied and hid his date with Josie.”

“Why would he do that? Dating a cheerleader is a very dignified thing to do, and if it were me, I’d hate for everyone to know.”

“You’re right, that’s the problem, that’s why I think there’s something wrong.” The two entered the campus and Luke subconsciously asked, “What took you so long? What do those people do?”

“I talked to the janitor for a while, the old man was chatty and liked me.” Blacky sold himself a bit before getting down to business, “They were repairing the surveillance, to be exact, they were modifying the circuitry of the surveillance and replacing some of the old surveillance facilities to prevent another power outage from causing the surveillance to go out.”

Malaboa High School had installed surveillance early on, and it was for this reason that the surveillance equipment and wiring was relatively old and hadn’t been updated in a long time, and some of the features were rather outdated instead.

It was because of the shooting that the school made the change.

Luke stopped in his tracks, “That means the surveillance is not working now?”

Blackie said, “I didn’t ask in detail, but it sounds like it.”

Luke showed a stony look, he felt like he had guessed something, but it was like there was a layer of window paper between them.

First the campus police lie, and then the encounter with Pete, then finding out that Herman lied, and now the surveillance is not working?

What was the connection between all this information?

The reason for the school police officer’s lie is unclear for now, but from the results, the cause of death of Kyle Torres, the poisoned meal victim on the rooftop of the science building, is likely questionable and may not be to what he says.

So let’s rule out this victim for now?

Then the whole shooting case becomes clearer and clearer; the three shooting victims are Barbara, the school bully’s girlfriend, Josie, the cheerleader, and Herman, the student council member.

Luke speculates that the killer’s real target is not Barbara, otherwise there would be no need to leave her alive, and that his purpose in shooting Barbara was probably to create chaos.

The killer’s real target would have been Josie.

After killing Josie, according to the statement of the school police, the gunman went to the Music Building to kill Kyle Torres, the poisoned rice, assuming that the school police lied and the murderer didn’t go to the Science Building, but went straight to the Music Building.

Then the killer’s purpose is obvious, kill Josie and then kill Herman.

Before, Herman lied and the police didn’t know there was a close relationship between him and Josie; the clue wasn’t obvious.

Now after eliminating other possibilities, the murderer’s motive becomes clearer and clearer.

Looking at Luke’s unusual face, Blackie asked, “Man, what’s wrong?”

Luke made a bold guess, “I have a feeling that the murderer might create another shooting incident, and this time the target should be Herman.”

Blackie laughed, “You can’t be kidding. It’s only been a few days since the shooting incident, how could the murderer continue to commit crimes? I don’t think he’s that bold.”

“That’s right, the fact that everyone thinks he wouldn’t do it at this time also means that it happens to be the best time to do it, and let’s not forget that the cameras aren’t working right now, so he doesn’t even have to go through the power cuts.

And with the experience of the first time, he’ll be more skillful and confident in committing the crime this time.

If I were the murderer, I would choose this time to strike.”

Blackie also became serious, “Are you sure?”

Luke shook his head, “No.”

Blacky “……”

Luke said, “It’s better to believe in this kind of thing, it’ll be too late when it actually happens.”

“So what do we do?”

Luke thought for a moment, “Ordinary students probably won’t pay attention to the power outage of the cameras, but if the murderer is on campus, he’ll probably be consciously watching the cameras.

Once he realizes that the surveillance is not working, he will probably strike again.

However, the murderer may not be able to notice the camera’s abnormality in the first place, there’s a time gap here.

What we need to do now is to utilize this time gap.

You find the head of the school immediately and ask them to restore power to the surveillance.

I’ll find Herman.

As long as the power to the cameras is restored, Herman is safe for now.

Judging from the murderer’s first offense, he’s not completely crazy and shouldn’t be able to commit crimes under the cameras.”

“I know, I’ll go find the principal.” Black ran two steps and turned back, “Man, be safe.”

“You too.”

Complex building.

Student Council office.

Herman sat at his desk, straightened his shoulders and was writing a speech, although it was only a stray bullet scratch, it still hurt to tug on the wound.

As he wrote, he waved his hand in a gesture, he thought it would make the draft more imposing.

“Knock knock ……”

There was a knock on the door outside the office, and Herman held the speech down with a book.

“Come in, the door’s unlocked.”

“Cluck ……” came the door.

A white student walked in with a backpack.

“Hi Benson, I was waiting for you.”

Benson put his book bag on the desk and pulled up a chair and sat down, “How’s the speech coming?”

“You know, I’m not very good at this, I’ve only written a couple dozen words, if you hadn’t come I might have considered just copying the book.” Herman picked up the book on the table that specialized in teaching ‘speech’.

Benson swept his gaze around, “You’re the only one here who’s good for writing speeches.”

“Come on man, you know, I’m not that good at it, you’re the best at it.” Herman laughed.

“Herman, I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you, I’m not as good at it as you think.”

“What do you mean?”

Benson reached into his book bag with his right hand, “UCLA withdrew my offer of admission.”

Herman was a little surprised, “Why?”

“I had an anonymous account on the school’s Web site, and I would often post some of my innermost true thoughts, no lies, no hypocrisy, no so-called correctness, it was a personal space that belonged to me, a place where I could speak the truth.

But …… that account was reported by a beyotch to UCLA, and they felt that I Q-viewed black people and disrespected women, and decided to withdraw my offer.

I was devastated.

You should know what that means to me?”

Herman showed a nervous look, his forehead covered with fine beads of sweat, his voice shaking a little, “SORRY, man, I don’t know about you.

Actually, this speech will come later ……”

Benson said with a wry smile, “I couldn’t figure out how that bimbo knew the account was mine, she wouldn’t say until we had a friendly conversation in the restroom ……”

“Pfft.”

The words were not finished when two muffled sounds were heard.

Not too loud with the silencer.

The book bag broke through two holes.

Herman fell to the floor bleeding.

Benson dragged him to the office cubicle in the corner of the office where the miscellaneous items were kept; it was rarely visited and no one would notice anytime soon.

Using a dunnage cloth, he cleaned the blood from the floor and threw it all together into the utility room.

He did not waste too much time, and did not want to clean up the scene how perfect, as long as it can delay a period of time on the line.

A few moments later, the door opened a crack, revealing the small half of a cell phone.

The door then opened and Benson left the student council office at a quick pace.

He didn’t realize that Herman, lying in the utility room, had moved his fingers slightly.

Luke had been looking for Herman’s whereabouts and had inquired about the possibility that he might be in the student union office.

The student council office was in the complex with relatively few people.

He rushed to the complex first thing, and as he reached the stairway he saw a male student holding a backpack walking down the stairs.

Luke thought there was something odd about the way he was holding his backpack, “Hey, do you know Herman?”

“No.” The white male student dropped his sentence and walked away at a fast pace.

Out of police intuition, Luke felt more and more that the other party was not right, and seemed to faintly smell a smell of gunpowder: “Stop, LAPD, don’t move.”

The male student holding his book bag froze for a moment, turned his back to Luke, reached into his book bag with his right hand, and asked, “What’s your business?”

Luke drew his pistol and pointed at the other party, “Put your book bag on the ground, put your hands on your head, and don’t make any extra movements, understand?”

The male student was none other than Benson.

He took a deep breath, resigned to being arrested.

He was white, he was a student, this was a campus, and he was betting that the police wouldn’t dare to shoot arbitrarily without knowing what was going on.

As long as he hit the other guy, there was still a chance of escape, and he couldn’t wait any longer.

Instead of dropping it to his book bag as Luke had instructed, Benson slowly turned and aimed the gun in his book bag at Luke.

“Drop the book bag!” Luke shouted.

“Bang!”

Luke shot decisively when he saw Benson’s hand reaching into the book bag with two holes in the bottom of the bag.

With the addition of the precision card, he while a direct hit on the other’s arm.

The book bag fell, and the pistol wearing a silencer fell to the ground, Benson covered his arm and screamed ‘ah ah ah’ in pain.

Benson looked at the pistol that had fallen to the ground, knowing that he couldn’t run away and was no match for the police, he was tempted to wipe the fingerprints off the pistol.

Another glance at Luke, who was walking with a gun.

This time he didn’t dare gamble.

“LAPD, you’re under arrest!” Luke’s voice was muffled by the screams all around him.

The sound of gunshots once again disrupted the campus.

Because of the last shooting, the students and teachers had become birds of prey.

Even more panicked than the last time.

Luke took out his handcuffs and cuffed him to the stairs, “Where’s Herman? Did you kill him?”

Benson fought the pain in his arm, “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Luke took off his shirt and held it down on the wound in Benson’s arm, “Let me stop the bleeding.”

“Ah! That hurts ……”

“Where’s Herman?”

“You’re hurting me, I’m going to sue you.”

“I’m stopping your bleeding to prevent you from bleeding to death, and although you don’t understand it now, you’ll be grateful to me afterward ……”

Benson’s teeth chattered and spasmed in pain, “The student council office, he’s in the fourth floor student council office!”

That’s when Black ran over, “Luke, are you okay? Are there any injuries.”

“I’m fine, come and watch him.”

“I’ve called 911,” Blacky checked the scene and showed his surprise, “Wow wow, you caught the robber all by yourself.”

“I’m going upstairs to find Herman, keep an eye on him, don’t let the campus police get close, disarm him if necessary, and I’ll carry the load with you if anything goes wrong.”

“OK, I’m at your disposal.”

Luke finished and went up to the fourth floor, kicking open the door of the student council office.

The simply processed scene might be able to hide the scene from ordinary people, but it couldn’t hide it from a veteran criminal police officer like Luke, and soon he found the shot Herman in the miscellaneous compartment in the corner.

Luke touched Herman’s nose, there is still a weak breath, but has been due to excessive blood loss into a coma, the situation is very critical.

Luke ripped off the curtains and pressed on Herman’s wound to stop the bleeding.

In this case, all he could do was to stop the bleeding, and the rest depended on Herman’s will to live, if he kept his heart beating before the paramedics arrived, he might still have a chance to save his life.

It was unlikely, but Luke did his best.