Chapter 180

Detective Bureau.

People are returning to the Detective Bureau one by one.

The cases were summarized in the office area.

Susan hung up her cell phone, “I contacted the teacher at Betty’s school and Betty didn’t attend school today.

Amy Ma’s cell phone messaged the teacher to excuse her, so the school didn’t contact Betty’s father.

From the way things are going, this case may not be a simple robbery, it’s probably a home invasion and kidnapping.”

The vice squad thought for a moment and said, “Generally speaking, if it’s a kidnapping case, the suspect will make a ransom call at the first opportunity after the kidnapping is won.

On one hand, it’s to let the family raise money as soon as possible, and on the other hand, it’s because they’re worried about the family calling the police.

Now the case has been over for almost twelve hours, but Mr. Kenneth doesn’t know about it, much less received the ransom call.

That’s a little out of the pattern of a regular kidnapping case.”

“Don’t forget that Betty has more than just one dad.” Susan said, looking aside at Jenny, “Have you contacted Betty’s mother?”

“Yep. It’s already headed this way, so I guess it should be here soon.” Jenny nodded and added, “From the tone of her voice, it seems she doesn’t know about her daughter’s kidnapping either and is very anxious.”

Luke asked, “Did you find out anything more about Amy Ma?”

Matthew said, “She is cell phone number is currently out of contact, the last message was to Ms. Betty and the last call was to Mark.

At the moment, not too many valuable clues have been found, she immigrated from China, and there is very little official information, and no immediate family can be traced.

Only a white Toyota sedan with license plate number, 7qeb332, was found in the name.”

After summarizing the clues, Luke began to recall the whole case.

Although the scene was viewed and the informant was interviewed, the entire case was unclear.

The purpose of the suspect’s crime was also unclear.

If it was a robbery, why were Amy Ma and Betty also missing?

If it was a kidnapping, the scene was too messy and the family did not receive any ransom calls.

Could it be that the suspect’s real target was not Betty, but Amy Ma?

Amy Ma is a person who has some problems of her own.

She disguises herself as Mrs. Kenneth to hook up with Mark, a young white guy, and is not a simple-minded person by any stretch of the imagination.

Although giving Mark’s statement, Luke feels that he’s not too suspicious.

But Mark may not be the only one being deceived.

There are other suspicions on Amy Ma.

For example, the expensive clothes and cosmetics found in her room.

People depend on their clothes, and if it wasn’t for these expensive clothes, Mark might not have been fooled so easily.

Luke looked up a piece of the same clothing on the internet and it was worth over fifteen hundred dollars, which an ordinary babysitter couldn’t afford.

“Knock knock ……”

The office door slammed, interrupting Luke’s thoughts.

Reed pushed his way in.

He was followed by a middle-aged Asian woman with a competent demeanor, dressed in a professional skirt suit, and with looks that were somewhat similar to Betty’s.

Reed opened the door and said, “Captain Susan, have you found out Betty’s whereabouts?”

“Not yet.”

Reed pointed to the Asian woman on the side, “This is Betty’s mother and the deputy mayor of Los Angeles, Ms. Lee.”

Jenny’s mouth dropped open and she muttered in a low voice, “No wonder I thought it looked a little familiar.”

Blackie’s eyes widened as well, obviously not realizing that the victim had such a connection.

“My name is May Lee, I’m Betty’s mother, how is she doing? I’d like to find out how the case is going.”

Susan nodded, “Please come with me to the conference room.

Luke, you come in too.”

Then, the four of them, Luke, Susan, Reed, and Li Mei, entered the conference room.

Once in the conference room, Li Mei couldn’t wait to ask, “Is Betty missing? What’s going on?”

Luke recounted the case briefly.

Li Mei shook her head and sighed, “Even buy Karma, how could such a terrible thing happen.”

Luke said, “Ms. Li, I can understand how you feel, but this is a rather urgent situation and we need to give you a statement.”

Li Mei took a deep breath to calm herself, “OK, go ahead and ask.”

Luke got right to the point, “Have you received any blackmail calls?”

“Nope. I didn’t know anything had happened to Betty until you guys called. It was horrible and I felt so guilty that I wasn’t a good mother.”

“When did you and your husband get divorced?”

“It’s been over a year, does that have anything to do with the case?”

“We need to learn as much as we can in order to find a breakthrough in the case as soon as possible.”

Li Mei nodded, “Go ahead and ask.”

“Why did you and your husband divorce?”

“Emotional discord.”

“Was there a third party?”

“No, both of us are more career-oriented, put too much energy into our careers, and neither of us is willing to give in to each other before we finally came to this point.

But we had an okay relationship and it was a relatively peaceful divorce.”

“Do you only have one daughter, Betty?”

“Yes.

“As I understand it, usually when a couple divorces the children stay with the mother, did you voluntarily give up custody?”

“Yes. I was too busy with my job, busier than my husband. So ……

I regret it, I really do. If Betty had followed me, this might not have happened.

If …… I would have re-fought for custody.”

Luke made a note in his notebook that wanting to fight for custody meant there was a motive.

“Where were you last night between nine and twelve?”

“Interviewed for a news segment between nine and ten, then went to a friend’s party afterward, and I got home a little after twelve.”

“What party, can anyone attest to that?”

“Frank was there, you can ask him if you don’t believe me.

I wouldn’t lie about something like that, you don’t need to doubt me, I want my daughter found sooner than anyone else.

Don’t put your energy into me, hurry up and investigate the other leads.”

Luke wasn’t happy with that answer, what do you mean Frank was there?

I can still fucking call Frank for verification?

Who has nothing better to do than look for excitement.

“Are you close to Betty?”

Li Mei sighed, “I love her, but rarely have time for her, so ……”

“Which means you don’t communicate with each other very often, and you’re not sure how she’s been doing in recent times?”

“Yes, I’m not a proper mother and I feel guilty, very guilty.”

“Do you know Amy Ma?”

“She’s been Betty’s nanny since before Kenneth and I divorced. She’s not bad, she’s relatively conscientious, and she can cook.

Betty is of Asian descent, but she usually has very little contact with Asians, so that’s how I hope to get Betty to learn more about Asian culture.

Where is Amy Ma?

Does Betty’s disappearance have anything to do with her?”

“It’s unclear at the moment, we’re in the middle of an investigation.” Luke responded and the conversation turned, “How are you and your ex-husband, Mr. Kenneth, doing financially?”

“Not too bad, my ex-husband is not only a college teacher, he’s also an outside consultant for a bio-experimentation company, and he gets paid more than I do.”

“What’s Amy Ma’s approximate salary a month?”

“Around five thousand dollars.”

This salary, while not low, was obviously not enough to support Amy Ma’s purchase of expensive clothing.

“If, and I mean if, Betty is kidnapped, do you have a suspect?”

Li Mei took a deep breath and said with a hint of a trembling voice, “Some time ago, I received a ‘threatening email’.

The content was, resign from your position as deputy mayor immediately, otherwise, prepare to say goodbye to your daughter.

After receiving this threatening email, I was also a bit worried at the time and hurriedly contacted Betty.

I relaxed when I saw that she was fine.

I thought it was a prank or a scare tactic and didn’t take it too seriously.

Now that I think about it, Betty’s disappearance is probably related to that threatening e-mail.”

Luke pursued, “If you received a threatening email, why didn’t you call the police at that time?”

Li Mei said helplessly, “At that time, I had just accepted the position of deputy mayor and had too many things to attend to.

I thought it was a petty tactic by my political enemies to distract me.

If I delayed my work because of this matter, my situation would be very passive.

So I chose to ignore it.

After a while, I had almost forgotten about it, but I didn’t realize that ……

Everyone, please make sure you find my daughter, and if there’s anything you need me to do, just ask.”

Susan said, “If the kidnappers demand a ransom, be sure to tell us first.”

“I will.”

Susan also asked a few questions, but Li Mei didn’t know much about her daughter’s situation and didn’t provide any clues that were too valuable.

The transcript ended.

Li Mei pleaded again to make sure her daughter was rescued.

Reed sends Li Mei out of the office, and before long, Reed goes and returns.

Closing the office door, “Guys, you should know the importance of this case, blackmail cases are different from other cases.

Other cases only require the suspect to be caught, it doesn’t matter if it’s earlier or later.

But a kidnapping case concerns the victim’s life.

So solving the case is important, rescuing the victim Betty is more important.”

Reed repeated his instructions before leaving.

There is no such thing as equality for all, in the United States different neighborhoods police patrol strength are different.

Not to mention that the kidnapped is the deputy mayor’s daughter.

The relationship is very important.

Of course, if he could successfully rescue Betty, he would also be able to obtain the same great benefits.