Chapter 179
Brown Kenneth’s marital status is divorced.
And who was Mrs. Kenneth?
Luke recalled that there were pictures of a total of three people at the villa.
One of the white men would be Brown Kenneth.
A little girl of mixed Asian-European descent.
And an Asian woman.
The Asian woman was most likely the ‘Mrs. Kenneth’ that Mark was talking about.
And who exactly is this Mrs. Kenneth? What was the relationship with the homeowner, Brown Kenneth?
A divorced ex-wife? And why would she lie about not being divorced?
A babysitter for the little girl? It’s a possibility, and judging from the photos and the women’s belongings, she would have lived on the first floor.
Luke had just checked out the rooms on the first floor and none of the clothes in the rooms were cheap, not like a nanny could afford them.
The third possibility Brown Kenneth’s new girlfriend? Judging from the little girl’s lineage, her mother should be Asian, Brown Kenneth divorced his ex-wife and found a new Asian girlfriend?
Then he’s too keen on Asian women, why did he get divorced in the first place?
There’s also something suspicious about the fact that this woman is dating Mark the plumber as Mrs. Kenneth, and the two have been getting along since last year as well, and the other person hasn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary?
Luke turned to Jackson Beech in the doorway and said, “Your name is Jackson?”
“Yes, Lieutenant Luke.”
“You talk to the neighbors around here and ask about the Kenneths and their family connections.”
“I got it.” Jackson answered and went out with John.
Susan asked, “Luke, what did you find out?”
Luke recounted Mark’s statement briefly.
The lieutenant laughed, “The story of Mrs. Elegant and the plumber was a delight to many.”
Jenny shrugged, “So who is this woman anyway?”
Ramon came from the side with his cell phone, “Captain, Mr. Brown Kenneth was contacted.”
“Maybe Mr. Kenneth can answer that.” Susan took the cell phone, “Hello, this is Captain Susan of the Robbery and Murder Division.”
“This is Brown Kenneth. What can I do for you guys?”
Susan turned on the outside voice and asked rhetorically, “Is it convenient for you to talk now?”
“Yes, what’s the problem?”
“Are you in Los Angeles?”
“No, I’m out on business, you just said it was the Robbery Murder Division, I can’t figure out why you guys are calling me?”
“Mr. Kenneth, don’t you own a house in the Kalea neighborhood?”
“Yes, I do live there, what are you getting at?”
Susan shot ahead, “Mr. Kenneth, what I’m going to say in a moment may be disturbing to you, I hope you’re somewhat prepared.”
“What the hell? You guys aren’t crooks, are you?”
“We’re not crooks, we’re LAPD and we’re at your house right now.”
“Why are you guys at my house?”
“We responded to a call about a suspected robbery at your home, when we arrived we found your home in disarray and a pool of blood at the top of the stairs, was it like this before you left?”
“The home was fine before I left, what happened? What about Betty? Is Betty okay? I need to talk to her on the phone?”
“Who’s Betty?”
“Betty is my daughter, she’s twelve years old and she’s attending Burweton Middle School. Have you not found her?”
“Not at the moment, we’ve just been called in and are finding out what happened, is there anyone else in the house apart from Betty?”
“There’s Amy Ma, she’s the babysitter I hired.
She’s been taking care of Betty for the past few days while I’ve been traveling, isn’t she home?”
“Do you have a picture of Amy Ma?”
“No. However, she lives in the first floor bedroom, and I think there’s a picture of her in that room as I recall.”
“I’ll have someone video confirm that with you in a moment.”
“Captain Susan, please make sure you find Betty, she’s only twelve years old and I shudder to think what might have happened to her.”
Susan asked back, “Where are you now?”
“I’m in New York, I’ll buy the nearest plane ticket and go back immediately.”
“Have you gotten any suspicious phone calls?”
“No.”
“What is Amy Ma’s cell phone number?”
“626 376 2528.”
“Can you tell us a little bit about Amy Ma?”
“Uh, she’s hardworking, loves to dress up, gets along well with my daughter, and was kind of dedicated during her babysitting stint, which is why I felt comfortable leaving my daughter with her.
Is she involved in this robbery?”
“We’re not sure yet. Were you able to reach Betty?”
“No, I didn’t get her a cell phone, although she asked for one, but I don’t think she’s the right age to have her own.”
“Can you reach her teacher?”
“Yes, I have the teacher’s cell phone number, 626 321 4522.”
Kenneth worried, “Is Betty going to be in danger?”
“It’s unclear at this time, we’ll make sure she’s safe as soon as we can. Also, I’d like to know about Betty’s mother.”
“Uh, I don’t think that’s necessary, Betty’s mother and I are divorced, Betty has been living with me and she doesn’t have much contact with her mother.
Her mother cares more about her job than Betty.”
Susan squared her shoulders and said, “Mr. Kenneth, I’m not negotiating with you, I need to know about Betty’s mother.
Even if you don’t tell me, the police will investigate just the same.”
Kenneth said with some reluctance, “May Lee.”
“Cell phone number?”
“She may not pick up even if you call.”
“Then it’s out of your hands.”
“626 224 3525.”
“If, and I mean if, you get a blackmail call, make sure you contact me first.”
“Even if I do, are you saying Betty’s been kidnapped? Can you be sure?”
“I’m just saying that if …… we will look for Betty’s whereabouts as soon as possible.”
“How could this happen? When you guys find Betty, you must tell me first, PLEASE!”
“I will.”
Jenny frowned slightly, “Mae Lee, does that name sound familiar to me?”
Susan asked back, “You recognize it?”
“I don’t know, I just think I’ve heard it somewhere?”
“Then it’s up to you to reach out to her.”
Jenny nodded, “No problem.”
Mary from the tech team came over, “Guys, we’ve completed our initial scene survey.
The scene is a mess, and we’ve collected quite a bit of biological samples that need to be further characterized.
Judging from the coagulation level of the blood found at the scene, the time of the crime should be between nine and twelve in the evening, and it can be determined that it is human blood.”
As she spoke, Mary took out a set of photos, “In addition, outside the first floor bedroom is the lawn, the grass is a bit muddy, it may have been watered yesterday, we found a set of footprints on the window sill and on the first floor of the first floor bedroom, which is likely to be left by the suspect.”
Luke took the photos and examined them, secretly using the identification card.
Information about the footprints surfaced in his mind,…
[Shoes, diamond-soled leather
Gender, male
Height, 175-180cm
Weight, 70-80 kilograms
Age, 30 to 35 years old.
If the shoe prints were left by the suspect, then the suspect’s physical characteristics should be within this data range.
Of course, Luke couldn’t tell others that he had an identification card, and naturally, this set of data couldn’t be told to others either.
If, in the future, there was also a skill about footprint identification in the study card, it might be possible to publicize this skill, but not yet.
“Mary worked hard, let me know when the other appraisal results come out.”
“I will.” Mary finished and went back to her work.
Susan instructed, “Lieutenant, Ramon, you guys are in charge of collecting surveillance around the area.”
“Luke, Marcus, recheck on Mark the plumber and see if the Mrs. Kenneth he was dating was the babysitter, Amy Ma.”
“Yes, captain.”
Luke contacted Matthew and investigated Amy Ma’s information.
Name, Amy Ma
Gender, female
Date of birth, March 23, 1977
Residential address, 16 Kalea neighborhood
Social Security number, 623-52-7441.
Also passed along was a photo of Amy Ma’s ID, which is the same person as the photo in the first floor bedroom.
Most likely the Mrs. Kenneth that Mark spoke of.
Soon.
Mark was retrieved again, “What else do you want with me?”
Luke was ready to verify if he fit the suspect’s profile first: “Mark, how tall are you?”
“About 180cm.”
This matched the suspect’s characteristics.
“How much do you probably weigh?”
“Around 80 kilograms, why?” Mark was puzzled.
Luke didn’t answer and continued to inquire, “Age.”
“Twenty-five.”
Luke looked down, Mark was not wearing leather shoes, but a common casual shoes, in addition, his age and the suspect gap is large, it should not be the owner of the shoes.
Luke pulled out a picture of Amy Mar, “Who is she?”
“Mrs. Kenneth.”
Sure enough, this Asian nanny was the very person disguised as ‘Mrs. Kenneth’, in addition, the age difference between the two could be more than a dozen years, but a full twenty years.
Standard old cow eating young grass.
Luke asked, “Do you know Mrs. Kenneth?”
“How can I put it? Sometimes I feel like I know her well, but sometimes she’s like an enigma.”
“Did you ever ask any of your neighbors in the community about her?”
“No. She warned me as soon as we started dating that I wasn’t allowed to inquire about her, and that if the neighbors noticed anything unusual, she’d cut me off immediately.
Besides, I’m just a plumber, and I don’t know the neighbors around here, and I’m afraid they’d be suspicious if I rashly inquired …… about her, and I don’t want to lose Mrs. Kenneth.
It’s not worth the risk, and I don’t care about her past, as long as I have it now.”
“Where were you between nine and twelve last night?”
“Why do you ask? Do you still suspect me?”
“Routine inquiry.”
“I was at home, with my girlfriend.” Mark was a bit helpless but gave his girlfriend’s contact information and address.
Luke used micro-expression analysis and didn’t see any signs that Mark was lying, but Mark was the one who clearly had a motive for the crime.
That was the true identity of Amy Ma.
“Mark, how old is your girlfriend?”
“Same age as me.”
“Pretty?”
“Not bad.”
“Your girlfriend is younger than Mrs. Kenneth and okay looking, so why are you still with Mrs. Kenneth?”
“Uh, it has nothing to do with age, she has a special kind of charm that gets me all hot and bothered.”
“Is it the charm, or the fact that she’s a college teacher’s wife?”
“Probably both.”
“But according to our research, Mr. Kenneth is now divorced and single.”
“What do you mean?” Mark gave a surprised look, “Am I being lied to?”
Luke watched through micro-expressions and realized that he didn’t look like he was faking it, like he was just learning about it for the first time.
“Let’s talk about this for today.”
“NoNoNo,” it was Mark’s turn to be nonplussed, “Just to be clear, she’s not Mrs. Kenneth, so who the hell is she?
Has she divorced her husband?”
Luke said, “I’m not sure if she’s divorced, but her husband is not Kenneth.”
“Then who is she? Why is she in this house?”
Black didn’t like to hide things, he felt uncomfortable not telling, “She’s the nanny in this house.
Jesus Christ, I can’t believe you were kept in the dark all this time.”
“Nanny!”
Mark’s mouth opened wide as if he had been hit hard, “She’s just a nanny.
I’ve been cheating on you with a nanny?
How could that be possible.
You guys can’t be lying to me!”
Xiao Hei said with a straight face, “You have indeed been cheated, but it’s not us.
Man, you’re actually not at a disadvantage …… After all, you’ve had wonderful, exciting memories.”
“How can it be …… babysitting?” Mark was still in shock, feeling like he had been tricked.
The so-called good memories were also completely different.