Chapter 162
Nine o’clock at night.
Detective Bureau, interrogation room.
August Tokar was handcuffed to the interrogation chair.
Blackie laughed, “Mr. Vampire, how do you like it here?”
August glared at Black, “I don’t want to talk to a liar.”
“Hey ……,” Blackie gave a cheap laugh.
Luke asked, “August, any idea why you were arrested?”
“I …… probably know, I had a bit to drink that night and was planning on making a little joke, but went a bit overboard.”
“What night?”
“The night of June 1st.”
Luke spun his pen out of habit, “You call that a little joke?”
“I admit it was a little over the top, and I’m willing to make amends and apologize to her face and hopefully earn her forgiveness.”
Luke pulled out a picture of Nicole, “You mean her?”
“Yes, I am sorry.”
“What did you do to her?”
“I bit her and it freaked her out. I didn’t expect that, the braces were too sharp and the vibe was so easy to feel like a vampire.
If you’ve ever been to that bar, you’d understand.”
“Have you bitten anyone else?”
“No, that night was the first time, and to be honest it didn’t feel very good, it was crazy, and I felt sorry for the woman, how is she doing now?”
Luke asked back, “You didn’t look at your own warrant?”
August glared at Black, “I was also intimidated by a black …… colored vampire. Didn’t pay that much attention.”
Blacky said, “Did you just mean to say black vampire?”
“No, black vampire.” Augus was a little crestfallen, “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.
What are you arresting me for? Negligent assault?
Luke asked instead of answering, “You start by describing the crime.”
August froze for a moment and seemed to sense that something was wrong, “What are you arresting me for? If you guys don’t tell me, I won’t tell you either.”
“Willful homicide.”
“WHAT? You guys aren’t kidding! How could I have killed someone, I just bit her, the wound wasn’t even deep, how could she be dead.”
Luke said, “She died of fright.”
“Even Karma, are you guys reading this as a joke? How can a person die of fright?”
Blackie said, “It’s already after nine o’clock, instead of lying in a comfortable bed and sleeping, we are accompanying you, a fake vampire, to joke here, do you think it’s possible yourself?”
“Even buy Karma’s, even buy Karma’s, how could this be? She wasn’t even dead at that time, she just fainted.” Augus kept shaking his head.
Blacky corrected, “You’re the one who thought she fainted from the shock, she was actually scared to death.”
“No, it’s impossible for a person to be scared to death, I won’t believe it. Don’t you guys try to frame me.” August got more and more emotional.
Luke took out a picture of Nicole after her death, “See for yourself, did we lie to you.”
August looked at it and revealed a horrified look, “NoNoNo, how can this be.
It’s none of my business.
She just fainted at that time, she didn’t die at all.
Someone must have killed her after I left.
That must be it, someone must be trying to frame me!”
Luke smoothly asked, “Who’s trying to frame you?”
August’s voice trembled, “I don’t know, but there has to be such a person, and there is no way I could have killed anyone!”
Luke said, “From the available evidence, the victim was scared to death by you.
If you think someone is setting you up, then show me the evidence.”
“I don’t know, I’m not a police officer, isn’t it your duty as police officers to investigate cases? Why are you asking me to get evidence.
I have paid taxes.
You can’t do this to me.” August took a deep breath as if remembering something, “The victim is really dead?”
“That’s right.”
“Since she’s dead and she can’t talk, what proves I scared her to death?” The more Augus said, the more the bottom line grew, “You guys are mistaken, I’m not a murderer, I just made a little joke.”
“You’re right, it was indeed just a little joke. It’s just that your little joke just happened to be caught on camera.” Luke took out another screenshot of the video of Augus committing the crime and put it in front of him.
“Even the ……” August saw the video and froze again, his face had a somewhat complex look of shock, surprise and confusion.
“I want to see a lawyer.”
“Bang,” closed the door to the interrogation room.
Xiao Hei complained, “Who has the time to call a lawyer for him, it’s already ten o’clock at night.
Are we going to stay with him all night.
I guarantee he’s the killer.”
Luke patted his shoulder, “Go back to sleep.
Wait for the results of the dental impressions to come back tomorrow and then take him down in one fell swoop.”
“Good idea.” Blackie smiled and his eyes twinkled, “By the way, can I stay over at your house today?”
Luke laughed, “My home bed is too hard for you to sleep in.”
Are you kidding me, he wouldn’t take in a man.
Detective Bureau, break room.
A little after eight in the morning.
“Ha……”
Xiao Hei yawned and slowly sat up from the sofa, “Damn sofa, it’s hard to sleep.”
Last night, Xiao Hei didn’t go home, he slept in the lounge.
The couch was soft, but he had a hard time sleeping.
It was hard to get used to.
Tossed and turned until most of the night before he fell asleep.
Black got out of the lounge and Ramon and the lieutenants were already there.
“Good morning guys.” Black greeted getting ready to go to the bathroom to wash up.
The lieutenant frowned, “Why are you boys out of the lounge? You kid didn’t go home.”
Blacky nodded, “I didn’t go back last night when I was too late investigating the case.”
The vice squad shook his head, “This is not like your kid’s style …… You broke up with your girlfriend?”
“Boring old man.” Blackie shook his head and went to wash up.
“Hey ……” out the door, he couldn’t help but sigh and muttered, “Why do you have to get married, isn’t falling in love pretty good?
Why?”
Xiao Hei looked distressed, washed his face with cold water before he was refreshed some.
When he returned to the office again, he found that there were a few more people in the office, among them there was also a nasty white man in a suit, “Wow wow …… if it isn’t Barrister Potter, why are you here?”
Porter had been Boris’ killer’s attorney when he had investigated the actress’s murder earlier.
“Detective Marcus, it’s good to see you, I’m now August Tokar’s lawyer.”
“Why you again?”
Porter asked rhetorically, “Why are you on this case again?”
“This is the Robbery and Murder Division, homicide is supposed to be what we look into, is there a problem?”
“No, I’m a professional criminal lawyer and happen to be a little known in the field, people are willing to trust me. So we’ll be seeing a lot of each other from now on.”
Porter waved his hand and smiled, “I’m going to meet with my client, I’ll see you later.”
Witnessing the other man out of the office, Black shook his head, “This guy is so fake, he’s actually smiling at me.”
The vice squad said with a serious face, “I think, his smile is from the bottom of his heart, he does want to see you.”
Blackie bristled, “What do you mean by that? Does he have any special hobbies?”
The vice squad explained, “He’s a lawyer, to be here means he’s received a big case, big money beckons to him, how could he not be happy.
I’ve seen a lot of lawyers like that, and they are genuinely happy to see me.
More genuine than any of my first few wives.”
Blackie asked, “Are you okay with your ex-wife?”
The lieutenant gave an odd look, “Know why I refuse to retire at my age?”
“To avoid them?”
“No, we rarely see each other anymore, so you’ll understand when you get divorced.
Of course, hopefully you’ll never get divorced.”
Blackie bristled, “Staged old man.”
Luke handed Black a burger, “Yours.”
“Thanks.” Blacky took a sip of his coffee and took a big bite of his burger.
“You’re not planning on staying in the lounge all the time, are you?”
Blacky asked back, “You’re going to take me in?”
“Don’t even think about it.” Luke refused dryly.
“Cluck ……”
The office door pushed open and Susan walked in from outside.
“Guys, there’s a new case.”
The lieutenant reminded, “The vampire case isn’t over yet, why are we being given a new case.”
“This case is also vampire related.” Susan answered and briefly introduced, “The victim’s name is Angela Chael, a female rock singer who was found dead in her dressing room this morning.
Two bloody holes were found on the left side of her neck.
The reporting party was her manager.
That’s all we know right now, get ready, we’re going out to the scene.”
Black finished his burger in six bites and took a sip of coffee to smooth it out, “Didn’t we already have the suspect, August Tokar? Why is there a new victim?”
Susan nodded, “That’s what we’re looking into.”
The lieutenant said, “What about August’s case? His lawyer has arrived.”
Susan said, “The vice squad and Ramon stay behind and continue to take care of interrogating August.
The others follow me to the scene.”
Ten o’clock in the morning.
Luke and his group arrived at Kamala’s Bar.
This bar was larger than Dracula’s Bar.
The décor was also more modern, and it was not a specialized vampire-themed bar.
However, the bar was also decorated with quite a few vampire elements, vampire posters, crosses, and a large coffin on the stage.
Compared to Dracula’s Bar, it was more of a temporary setup, not as refined as Dracula’s Bar; rougher, more profligate, blood-starred, and also more direct and impactful.
If Dracula’s Bar was more purely vampire, this place was a bit vampire plus zombie.
Black pointed to a poster of a female vampire, “Hey, I’ve seen this woman ……
Come to think of it.
No wonder I thought the name of the victim, Angela Chael, was somewhat familiar, I’ve heard her rock songs before.”
Luke asked, “How does it feel?”
“I haven’t heard much of it, her music is very specific, not that pure rock, with a lot of vampire elements added, more blood star, horror, and profiteering.
It should be considered niche music.
I’m not really into it, but I have friends who love it and call her ‘The Vampire Queen’.”
“OK, let me go see that vampire queen.” Walking through the lobby of the bar, the group entered the backstage dressing room.
The police had already set up a cordon, and the dressing room was small, looking to be only twenty to thirty square meters, with a huge mirror, a few swivel chairs, a cabinet leaning against the wall, a coffee table and a row of sofas.
A woman collapsed in the empty space between the mirror and the coffee table.
It was a white woman with red hair, pale cheeks, blood red lips, dark eye shadow, two bloody holes and teeth marks on her pale neck, and a pool of blood on the floor.
The woman was wearing a short black one-piece dress and black stockings, very sexy.
There was also a pair of blood red high heels under her feet.
The whole picture looked a bit bizarre.
Xiao Hei examined it carefully and lamented, “The vampire queen, actually bitten to death by a vampire!
It’s incredible!”
Luke viewed the corpse and then observed the situation in the room, which was very messy.
There were various kinds of clothes that looked like performance clothes.
There was also a bottle of red wine and whiskey on the coffee table.
Combined with the strong odor of alcohol on the dead body, she should have drunk a lot of alcohol before she died.
The coroner and the survey team went into the dressing room, which suddenly looked cramped, and Luke and the others were kicked out.
A fat white man came over and looked into the dressing room.
Black shouted, “Hey, what are you doing?”
“I’m Angela Chael’s agent.”
Luke sized up the other man, short, very fat, with self-curling hair, “You’re the reporting party?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the name?”
“Kim Kadara.”
“I’m Detective Luke.” Luke flashed his badge, “You were the first to find the dead man’s body?”
“That’s right.”
“We’d like to take your statement.”
“No problem. Angela was like family to me, and I’d like to catch the killer sooner rather than later.”
“GOOD,” Luke asked as he turned on the law enforcement recorder, “You should know her well since you’re her agent.”
“I made all the arrangements for her schedule.”
“Why was she here last night?”
“Angela will be releasing a new album soon, and last night there was a promotional party here, with a lot of fans and followers, as well as music critics, it was kind of a small album launch.”
“What’s the name of the new album?”
“Immortality.”
Blackie praised, “Nice name.”
Kim, the manager, said, “Thanks, I picked the name, and of course Angela is happy with it.”
Luke heard the name and knew it might have something to do with vampires, “Were there any songs from the album performed at the party last night?”
“Yes.”
“I assume there’s a video?”
“Yes, I’ll get it.”
It wasn’t long before agent Kim came over with a tablet, clicked on a video, and introduced herself, “This is the live recording from last night.”
The video began, the stage was pitch black, and all that could be seen was a silver light bar bobbing in the audience stage.
Then the lighting hit the stage.
The lights weren’t the kind that were particularly bright; instead, they had a reddish glow that added a bit of a spooky atmosphere.
Suddenly, a shriek came from the audience.
Only to see that there was a coffin slowly dangling down above the stage.
“Matt Batfac Squid …… How did this happen?” Blackie’s eyes widened and his mouth gibbered without knowing what he was saying.
Broker Kim replied, “There are wires hanging around the coffin, the thin kind that are hard to spot in dim light.
It’s barely visible in the video.
My thoughts.”
The coffin fell to the ground.
There was a long moment of silence.
The cheering in the audience intensified.
“Poof!”
“Poof!”
Two popping sounds, the lid of the coffin cracked and was directly toppled off, landing on the ground.
Several bats flew out of the coffin.
It drew another gasp from the surroundings.
Two white hands stretched out from the coffin, their long bright red nails were very scary.
“Bang!”
A red-haired woman sprang out of the coffin, her back to the audience, slowly turning her head, her white side face, blood red lips, and sharp fangs.
It was like a living, breathing vampire.
“Wow wow ……,” Blackie was watching with great interest.
Kim nodded, “I designed it.”
Then a powerful rock music played.
“As I wander around the corner of your house ……
Hoping that my bleak complexion won’t reveal my disguise ……
Just for tonight will you break away from the human race?
Our steadfast love shall last forever ……
When blood is poured into the soul ……
You!
Will be my first embrace.”
Kim whispered a reminder, “It’s called ‘First Embrace’ and it’s the title track of the album.”
After Luke listened to it, he had only one feeling, this song is so damn sick, normal people definitely can’t appreciate it.
Luke took the tablet from Kim’s hand and put it into Blackie’s hand, “See this first, let’s move on to the statement.”
Kim pointed with his finger: “I …… my tablet.”
Luke said, “The last image of the deceased’s life, which also belongs to the evidence, will be kept by the police first.”
Kim said, “This is very precious and meaningful to me, I hope you won’t destroy it.”
“No one dares to destroy the evidence, it will be returned to you after the case is solved.” Luke responded and the conversation turned, “When did you find the dead man’s body?”
“I hadn’t been able to contact Angela, went to her house and there was no one there, then thought that she might have been drunk and slept in the bar’s dressing room, so I let the bar’s staff open the door to the room, and as a result, I found …… Angela’s body.
Honestly, I had a hard time accepting it and still don’t want to believe it.”
“Were you guys close?”
“Yes, we’ve worked together for many years, best friends, more like family.”
“Tell us about last night.”
“The show started around ten last night and ended around one in the morning.
Angela was a little tired and said she wanted to get some rest before going home.
I didn’t agree at first, I wanted to take her home.
But she said no and told me to go ahead.”
“Were you the last person to see her?”
“I don’t know, but she really didn’t have anything planned after the show.”
Luke thought for a moment, “Why was the show so late?”
“To add to the atmosphere, around midnight is much better than eight at night.
You should know that a vampire-themed album is going to have a horror atmosphere.”
Luke asked, “Does Angela have any enemies?”
“No, she’s a very nice person to be around.”
“Has she ever been attacked in a similar way?”
“How so? Angela has a lot of fans who worship vampires, and sometimes it’s inevitable that they’ll act out of character.
I remember one show where a male fan ran onto the stage wearing a vampire mask and no clothes and hugged Angela in one fell swoop, freaking her out too.”
“Anyone suspicious lately?”
Kim thought for a moment, “No.”
“Is there anything unusual about Angela?”
“None to be found.”
Luke stared at Kim and asked, “Do you believe in vampires?”
Without hesitation, Kim said, “Of course I believe. This world is so big that it’s normal to have some mysterious creatures in the long history, isn’t it?”
“That’s all for today, thanks.” Luke handed the other party a business card, “You can contact me directly if you remember any clues.”
“I will.” Kim sighed and said sadly, “Inspector Luke, I hope you’ll let me know if there’s any progress in the investigation of the case as well.
I care about Angela, she’s very important to me.”
Mary from the survey team stepped out of the dressing room, “Gentlemen, we’ve completed a preliminary survey of the scene.”
The crowd gathered around.
Maggie continued, “The scene is a little complicated and messy, lots of biopsies and traces, it’s a shared dressing room and it’s hard to tell which ones are related to the killer.
We’ll have to go back for further analysis.
However, it’s safe to assume that this is the first scene and the blood should belong to the deceased himself.
We found a red backpack on the sofa with some of the deceased’s ID and cell phone, which basically confirms the identity of the deceased.
In addition, we also found a business card in the backpack that doesn’t belong to the deceased, it might be helpful to you.” Mary took out a clear plastic bag containing a white business card.
Luke scanned the business card and frowned slightly, the card read.
The Kervis Law Firm, Inc.
Attorney, Daisy Miller.