Chapter 223

Blackie laughed, “You’ve got some nerve to bring your lover to the house for a date.”

“We haven’t lived in this house, my wife hardly ever comes here, and I’m not familiar with the surrounding neighbors ……,” Mastin Cage gave a you-know-what expression.

Luke craned his head to look at Mastin Cage’s wife, “Are you sure your wife doesn’t know about this?”

Mastin frowned, “I’m sure, what do you mean?”

Luke didn’t answer, “Contact your lover, Gail Thompson.”

“Do you really need to contact now?” Mastin Cage looked over at his wife with some concern.

“Yes, it is now, indeed to check on her safety and whether she still has that key?”

“You will not tell my wife about this, will you?”

“As long as you cooperate with the police investigation, as long as this matter doesn’t affect the police investigation, we won’t ask questions.”

Mastin nodded taking out his cell phone and dialing a number.

Luke reminded, “Put on the outside voice.”

Mastin was a little reluctant, “My wife will find out.”

Luke snatched the phone straight away and held it in his own hand, if the murdered man was really Gail, then Mastin was also a suspect.

The phone rang a voice, “SORRY, the phone is unanswered at this time and the owner has not set up voicemail, please dial again later.”

“Is there another way to contact you?”

“No,” Mastin was a little nervous, “Gail suddenly shut down during the day, could something really have happened?”

Luke handed the phone back, “When was the last time you saw or contacted each other?”

“Yesterday morning, we spoke on the phone.”

“At that time, was there anything unusual about her?”

“Not that I could hear.”

“Has she been in any trouble lately?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is she married?”

“Yes.”

“Does her husband know about your relationship?”

“How could he, we’ve been very careful.”

“Do you have a picture of her?”

Mastin tapped on an app on his phone, manipulated it, and handed it to Luke.

Luke took a look at it; it was a white woman in her mid-forties, brown hair, not exactly pretty to look at, but with an infectious smile that spread across her face.

“Where’s her house?”

“203 in the Dilmore neighborhood.”

Luke said, “Keep calling her and remember to let us know if you reach her.”

“I got it.” Mastin answered and asked with some concern, “If …… in case …… it’s really her, will you guys tell my wife?”

“What do you think yourself?” Luke dropped a comment and then rushed to Gail’s house.

The last time he captured Dometic James, it gave Luke a heart attack, and considering the safety, he also called up Jackson.

Luke couldn’t afford to drive his Mercedes there, in case of a shootout, it would be heartbreaking.

Jackson drove the police car, Luke sat in the passenger side.

Black slouched alone in the back, “Who do you guys think killed Gail if she really was the victim?”

Luke yawned, “Isn’t it too early for you to say that when you haven’t even mapped out the victim yet?”

Black stroked his chin, “Sometimes more clues can cause trouble or even confuse the investigators, instead, the initial intuition is more accurate.”

This is the first time Jackson has heard this argument, although it doesn’t feel like it makes much sense, but it’s quite bluffing, “Who do you think it could be?”

Blackie said with a serious face, “I think it could be Mastin’s wife.

Perhaps, she already knew about her husband’s cheating, and when she saw that her husband actually dared to openly bring another woman home for a date, her anger filled her chest and she felt greatly insulted.

Then, she directly took out her husband’s lover.

She definitely had enough motive to do that.”

Jackson thought for a moment, “I don’t disagree with you that she had a motive to kill, but why kill someone in her own house and burn it down, it’s her own loss.”

Xiao Hei shook his head, “Don’t you forget that there is something called insurance, many are the houses of rich people have insurance against fire, even if the house is destroyed, it is still the same compensation by the insurance company, she herself has no loss.

Moreover, seeing her husband and that woman dating in the house, she must have felt sick inside, she might not have wanted the house a long time ago, burn it clean and get a compensation, the best of both worlds.”

Jackson seemed to be convinced by him, “That’s a bit of a reasonable analysis.”

Black smiled and turned to Luke, who was off to the side, “What do you think?”

“It’s fine to analyze the motivation, but it’s not easy to do in practice.

First of all, Mastin has said that he didn’t ask Gail to meet him at the house last night.

Then why would Gail show up at the house?

Also, Mastin’s wife is a woman, and it’s not easy to kill and set a fire.”

Xiao Hei said, “What’s so difficult about that, as long as she knows about her husband and Gail, she can find a chance to use her husband’s cell phone to send a message to Gail, and trick Gail into coming to the house is all.

Or just hire an assassin to take out Gail and then finally destroy the body.

Being able to leave a house vacant without renting it out, their family was definitely rich, and she was a rich woman with the ability to hire a hitman.

You can check her bank account, maybe you can get a lead on the killer.”

Luke thought about it, Blackie’s reasoning made sense in theory, but he still felt it was unlikely.

Because theory and practice are two different things, many plans are easy to say, but complicated to operate, full of too many uncertainties.

Jackson came up with a new idea: “If the deceased was Gail, could the murderer be her husband.

Her husband found out about Gail’s cheating, wanted a divorce, and didn’t want to pay alimony, so he simply killed the other person without a second thought.

Somewhat similar to the motive of the previous car robbery killer.”

Luke said, “It makes sense in terms of motive, but we’ll have to go and investigate to find out what actually happened.”

It didn’t take long for the group of three to arrive at the neighborhood where Gail’s family lived.

With the experience of the previous two shootouts, Luke no longer dared to be careless.

Although they were just learning about the situation, they were prepared for a firefight.

Luke and Blackie were in charge of calling the door, and Jackson stayed in the car with his rifle in hand, ready to back up at any time.

“Ding-dong,” Blackie rang the doorbell.

Luke stood to the right of the door and held his right hand down on his gun.

A few moments later the door opened a white man stood in the doorway looking at Luke and Blackie with some confusion, “Who are you looking for?”

“Is this Gail Thompson’s house?”

“Yes, what do you guys want with my wife?”

“We’re LAPD, we’re investigating a criminal case and would like to find out something about Gail Thompson.”

“Learn about what?”

“Don’t be nervous, we’re just making a routine inquiry, is she home?”

“Yes, I’ll go in and get her.”

“We’ll go in with you. “Black was worried about the place taking advantage of the opportunity to escape, after all, if it was like Jackson’s analysis, Gail’s husband was also under suspicion.

Gail’s husband was a bit resistant, “No, I don’t like strangers coming into my house.”

Blackie suggested, “Then call her out.”

Gail’s husband was a bit upset: “What do you mean? Are you guys suspecting me?”

“No, we’re just making a routine investigation.”

“OK, if you guys don’t give me a satisfactory answer in a while, I’ll file a complaint against you.” Gail’s husband was a little disgruntled, “Gail, come out for a moment, a police officer is looking for you.”

Luke and Blackie both gave a wary look.

A moment later, a woman came out of the house, “What did you just say? Why are the police looking for me?”

Upon seeing the woman, Blacky froze, wasn’t that Gail?

She wasn’t dead!

The person who was charred wasn’t her.

Luke didn’t have too many mood swings, investigating a case was itself a process of eliminating false clues.

Even if Gail was fine, she had the key to the Mastin’s house in her hand, just as much as she belonged to the people involved in the case, the police had enough reasons to come to the door to line up an investigation.

If the police do not go to the door to investigate, instead, there is a suspicion of malpractice.

Gail’s husband pointed at Luke and Blackie: “These are the two men, they said they were police officers, did you call the police?”

“No, I didn’t call the police. What did you guys want to see me about?” Gail also looked puzzled.

Luke asked, “Do you know Mastin?”

“Yes, I do, why?” Slightly flustered, Gail turned to her husband, who had stepped aside, and said, “Honey, could you excuse us for a moment? I’ll talk to the police.”

Gail’s husband also saw what was going on, “Are you hiding something from me?”

“No, how could I possibly have something to hide from you.”

“Then why did you ask me to recuse myself? The police didn’t even ask me to recuse myself.” Now it dawned on Gail’s husband that the police weren’t at the door for no reason, his wife had something going on, or something she didn’t want him to know about.

“You go in first, I’ll tell you later.”

Gail’s husband looked at the two Luke’s, and then at his wife, and finally went into the house a little depressed.

Gail closed the door to her room and lowered her voice, “What the hell do you guys want with me? What happened to Mastin?”

“Last night, there was a fire in the Mastin’s house, the whole house was burned to the ground, and according to him you had a key, and we wanted to make sure you were safe.”

“Just because I have a key, you guys came to my house, do you know how much this will affect me?” Gail sounded very upset.

Black explained, “Did you think we wanted to come? The Mastin’s house wasn’t just on fire, it had burned a woman to death, the body was so disfigured that the skin had finished charring.

We called you, but your cell phone was turned off, and we came to check it out because we were concerned for your safety.

Don’t you understand? We were worried that you were the one who got burned.”

Gail shook her head, “I haven’t been to that house lately, I had nothing to do with this.

My husband was home today and you guys think I can answer the phone?”

Luke pressed, “Do you still have the key?”

“Yes, I’ll get them.” Gail went into the house and an argument ensued.

After a while, Gail came out with red eyes and threw a handful of what was to be to Blackie, “You can go now, I don’t want to see you again.”

Blacky asked back, “Can I get a statement?”

“I don’t want to say anything right now.”

“We don’t want to either, we just want to make sure you’re safe.”

Gail’s voice choked, “Should I thank you guys?”

“Bang!” Gail slammed the door to her room.

The two of them exited the courtyard, Black lamented, “Human emotions are so fragile, did we break up another couple?”

Luke shrugged, “Our intentions were good, God will forgive us.”

While Luke went to Gail’s house to canvass the area, Susan and the others were not idle, splitting up to visit and canvass the surveillance.

At two o’clock in the afternoon, Susan called a case conference at the detective bureau.

“Guys, tell us what you’ve investigated.”

Luke said, “We went to Gail’s house to canvass, met her in person, and retrieved the key to the Mastering house from her.”

Raymond said, “We walked around the area and according to the neighbors around the area, the fire started around 2:00 a.m. and was so strong that they were too late to rescue it.

Many neighbors claimed to have smelled gasoline.

The reason the fire was so strong was that someone had spilled gasoline in the house.

By the time the fire trucks arrived to put out the blaze, around 2:40, the house had burned to the ground.”

Susan continued, “Raymond was right, the scene investigation team did find traces of burning gasoline in the house, but because most of the contents of the house were burned, it was difficult for the tech team to investigate in the usual way, and all of the biopsies were destroyed.

They are investigating the cause of the fire.”

The lieutenant spread his hands, “That’s why the killer set the fire to destroy the body.

Of course, that doesn’t rule out some pervert who simply likes fire and sets it.”

Susan continued, “The coroner’s side has also completed a preliminary autopsy, the deceased is a black female, between about 43 and 48 years old, 167 in height, type A blood, with traces of rope binding on her hands and legs, and her mouth gagged with a piece of cotton cloth.

Sleeping pills were found in her system and she died of asphyxiation from smoke poisoning, time of death was between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. on July 10th.” Susan walked over to the projector and put up a photo of the

“The cotton cloth that was gagged in the deceased’s mouth, some of the outside was burned off, some of the oral cavity was saved, and written in blood were the words ‘lowlife, should not live in this world’.”

Jackson said, “Looking at the body, I thought she burned to death.”

The lieutenant said, “Eighty percent of people who die in fires are killed by smoke and only twenty percent are burned.

The deceased should have been smoked to death and then burned the body, in any case, the suspect has achieved the purpose of destroying the body.”

As the vice squad’s words fell, Matthew, who was at the side, said, “Guys, I may have found out the identity of the deceased.”

Blacky was a little disbelieving, “Whoa whoa, you’re fast, how did you do that.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Matthew’s words turned to a positive note, “I entered the deceased’s physical description into Missing Persons, black female, between the ages of 43 and 48, height 167, blood type A.

There’s only one person missing in Los Angeles in five days who matches all of these characteristics.”

Missing person, Nancy Cole.

Sex, female

Date missing, July 7

Age, 46.

Address, 302 Kalia neighborhood.

Height, 167.

Blood type, A.

Reported to the police, Andersie Cole.

There is also a picture of Nancy Cole in the upper right corner of the profile.

302 Kalia neighborhood.

“Oooh ……”

A black girl, eight or nine years old, lies on the couch crying.

Next to her sits a middle-aged man in his forties with a despondent, dull gaze.

“Oooo…… mommy, I want mommy……” the girl cried.

The man sighed softly, patting that still shoulder: “Baby, don’t cry, mom will come back.”

The girl raised her head and looked at her father, “When will she come back?”

“Soon, it will be back soon.”

“Bang Bang!”

Just then, there was a knock on the door from outside.

“Mom, it must be mom coming back.” The black girl ran in the direction of the door, her tone full of anticipation.

The man also hurriedly followed, looking out through the cat’s eye.

The girl grabbed the man’s arm, “Daddy, open the door, it’s mommy, it must be mommy.”

The man shook his head, “Baby, you go back first.”

“It’s not mommy?” The girl skimmed her mouth and ran back to the living room crying.

The man looked at his daughter’s back, revealing a look of intolerance, before opening the door and seeing two men standing outside, a handsome young brunette and a black man.

“What can I do for you guys?”

The young black man flashed his badge, “LAPD, I’m Detective Marcus from the Robbery Murder Division and this is Lieutenant Luke.

We’re here about the disappearance of Nancy Cole.”

The man said with some displeasure, “Learn about it, can you do anything other than learn about it?”

Luke said, “Who are you?”

“My name is Andersi Cole I’m Nancy’s husband, why haven’t I met you guys before?”

“It was the patrolman who worked on Nancy’s case before, we’re with the Robbery and Murder Division, it’s not the same department.”

“SORRY, I shouldn’t have lost my temper earlier, have a seat.” Andersi stepped aside and gestured for both of Luke to come in.

Luke entered the foyer and surveyed the house, it was an ordinary bungalow, the house was a bit shabby, far less than the Chinese community Luke lived in.

The living room was very messy, a girl lying on the sofa crying, looked up at Luke and Blackie and continued to lie on the sofa crying.

There was a photo on the coffee table, besides the husband and wife, there were three children, this girl should be the youngest one.

Andersi’s voice was low, “Officers, please have a seat.”

Luke sat on the sofa and opened the door, “Andersi, we are here to learn about the case of your wife’s disappearance, can you tell us about the situation?”

Luke just said that he came to learn about the missing case, and did not say that it was suspected that Nancy’s body had been found, the reason was very simple, Nancy had been burned beyond recognition, the so-called ‘identification of the body’ was almost impossible, and the only way to determine the identity of the deceased was to do a DNA appraisal.

However, before that, Luke still need to know more, save Gail that kind of embarrassing situation again, tossed half a day, investigated half a day, the results of the investigation of the person is not the deceased at all.

Andersi revealed a look of reminiscence: ”Around four o’clock in the afternoon of July 7, I received a call from a neighbor, saying that after my youngest daughter left school, there was no one at home, and that he would help take care of her for the time being.

I then thought something was wrong because it was my wife’s down day and she should have been home.

I called her number, her cell phone was off and I couldn’t reach her.

I was worried about my daughter, so I rushed home.

As soon as I entered the house, I felt something was wrong, the house was a mess and the drawers were pulled open.

I knew something was wrong, so I double-checked and found that the cash and jewelry were gone.

My wife couldn’t be reached either and I haven’t seen her since.”

Luke pulled out his notebook, “Any signs of vandalism on the doors or windows?”

“No.”

It could have been an acquaintance who committed the crime.

“How was your relationship as a couple?”

“Pretty good.”

“Do you think Nancy’s missing, or has something happened?”

The man was about to say something and said to his daughter, who was off to the side, “Baby, you go back in the house.”

The girl looked up at Luke and said, “Are you the police?”

“Yes.”

“Are you guys here to help me get my mom back?”

“Yes. Go to your room, we need to talk to your dad alone.”

“Please help me get my mom back early and tell her that I’ll never make her mad again, I’ll never peek at the TV or play with her cell phone, I’ll brush my teeth on time at night, and I’ll never be a picky eater again. …… oooooh …… “With red eyes, Andersi sent her daughter inside, choking back a sob.

“She’s too young to accept what happened to my wife ……”

Luke sighed softly, “Why do you think Nancy went missing?”

“My wife isn’t missing, she’s been kidnapped, yes, that’s what I’ve always thought.”

“Kidnapped?” Luke frowned slightly, “Did someone demand a ransom?”

“No, I just have a feeling she’s been kidnapped.”

“Then why did you report her missing.”

“I didn’t file a missing person report, I filed a report that my house had been robbed and that my wife might have been kidnapped by the robbers as well.

After that, two patrolmen came to my house to investigate.

But they didn’t believe me and the conclusion of the investigation was that my wife had run away from home and taken the family’s belongings with her.

They treated me like a criminal, thinking that my wife had left because of me.

I will never forget that tone of their voice.” Andersi gave an angry look.

Luke asked back, “Why would they think that?”

Andersi sighed, “A while back, my wife and I were arguing at home, a little too loudly, and the surrounding neighbors called the police.

They think it’s the same this time.

But it’s clear to me that we may fight, but my wife would never run away from home.”

“Why?”

Andersi looked at the picture on the coffee table, “Because we have three lovely children and my wife loves them and would never leave them.”

“Do you two fight a lot?”

“No, we used to argue only occasionally, but during this period of time, there was something wrong with Nancy’s mood, I always felt that she was hiding something from me, we argued twice, and one of them was more serious.

I still say that even if we had quarreled, she wouldn’t have run away from home.

Something must have happened to her.”

“What do you think happened to her?”

“I don’t know.”

“Has she ever left home before?”

“Never.”

“Can she get through on her cell phone? Have any friends or family been questioned?”

“Can’t get through, I’ve asked everyone I can and no one has seen her.”

“Is there any blood or signs of a struggle in the house?”

“Not that I could find.”

Luke swept his gaze around, “What specifically is missing from the house?”

“Eight hundred dollars in cash, a gold ring, a necklace, a car, and a rug.”

Luke made a note in his book, the first few items were things of value that were understandably stolen, what about the reason for stealing the rug?

“Was the rug valuable?”

Andersi shook his head, “My wife has always wanted a rug, for her birthday last year, I ordered one for her online and she loved it, but it wasn’t very expensive.”

“Then why was the rug stolen?”

“I have no idea.”

“Where was the rug kept?”

“Right in front of the couch, under the coffee table.” Andersi pointed to the floor.

Luke then took a closer look and said to Blackie, who was off to the side, “Bring the luminal reagent from the trunk of the car.”

Blacky got up and left, then came back with a spray can in his left hand and a lamp in his right.

Luke picked up the spray can and sprayed the spot where the rug had originally been placed.

Andersi, looking a little nervous, stepped aside and asked, “What are you doing?”

Without saying a word, Luke pulled the curtains in the house closed, turned on the lamp, and found a large number of blue spots on the east side of where the carpet had originally been placed.

Andersi pointed to the blue spots on the floor and asked, “What are these?”

Luke pulled out his cell phone and snapped a few pictures, “Blood.”