Chapter 274

Suter Park.

There were more and more tourists gathered around the crime scene.

Earlier, the old man of Mexican descent was frightened by the headless female corpse and ran while shouting, many people were attracted by his shouts.

Shootings are not uncommon in Los Angeles, but headless female corpses are rarely seen.

People are curious, and with the less stressful life of Los Angeles people, the curiosity is even greater.

Crowds aren’t a bad thing, and it’s convenient to ask for clues about the headless woman’s body and look for possible witnesses.

After another ten minutes or so, the medical examiner, Sheila, completed the preliminary autopsy and came over and said, “Captain Luke, although this is not the right place to say thank you, I still want to say congratulations.”

“Thanks.” Luke nodded his head in greeting, “What’s the condition of the body?”

“The victim was a young girl of about 16 years of age, supposedly asphyxiated, removed from the neck up, likely sawed from the incision in the neck.

The victim was assaulted prior to her death and no DNA was found for the suspected killer.”

Black frowned slightly, “She was underage?”

“Yes, unfortunately.” Sheila sighed softly and continued, “The height of the deceased is between 168 and 172cm, and the time of death is estimated to be between nine and twelve o’clock last night.”

Luke pursued, “Can the time of death be more precise?”

“Yes, but further autopsy is required.”

What Luke lacked now was time, the sooner the first dumping site was discovered, the more clues could be found, “Medical Examiner Sheila, with your speculation about the approximate time, it doesn’t need to be too professional, nor does it need accurate data, I just want to hear your judgment from experience.”

Since further autopsies would take time, play with probabilities.

Focus the investigation on places with high probability, and wait for the results of further autopsies to come out, and then investigate precisely.

If one was lucky, there was no chance that the first dumping site would already be found without waiting for the results of further autopsies.

Forensic doctor Sheila pondered for a moment, “Assuming that the victim was killed and thrown into the water within an hour, I estimate that the time of the crime should have been around 11pm last night.

However, this speculation is arbitrary, there are many temperatures that affect the autopsy, such as temperature, humidity, and the state of the body.”

Being able to speculate an approximate time of death, Luke was already satisfied.

“Any clues to the identity of the deceased?”

“She has a tattoo of the Statue of Liberty on her right arm.” Sheila sent Luke a photo of the right arm.

Luke scrutinized the photo and nodded, “Tough, I’ll have someone look into the tattoo.”

“I’ll let you know as soon as further autopsy results come out.”

“Thanks.”

Not long after Sheila left, the people from the technical team also finished the scene investigation, just as Luke guessed, this was not the first dumping site, the technical team did not find any valuable clues at the bottom of the river.

There were no clothes, no identification, no cell phone or jewelry, and the only thing on the victim’s body that might prove his identity was DNA.

However, it is yet to be known if the match will be successful.

There are too few clues for the police to utilize at this point; they don’t know the identity of the victim, they don’t know the site of the first dumping, let alone the scene of the crime, and they can’t find any witnesses to the case themselves.

Luke was limited in what he could do now, the case was tricky.

He thought about it for a while and divided the case into three directions of investigation.

The first direction, have Matthew investigate the missing persons of the last two days.

The second direction, investigate the Liberty tattoo on the female victim.

The third direction, led by Luke himself, was to find the first dump site.

The crowd then split up.

The task of searching for the first body dump site was not simple, and it involved some specialized knowledge that required the assistance of the forensic and technical teams.

For example, measuring the speed of the current, changes in the sinking and floating of the body, the body touching the bottom will definitely affect the drifting speed and so on.

The forensic pathologist provided some data, and after considering all the possibilities, it was handed over to the specialized analysts of the technical team to make a projection, which ultimately resulted in a flow distance of 3 to 3.5 miles.

Is this projection accurate?

Not accurate.

This is because there are too many issues to consider, for example, the coroner can only speculate on the approximate time of death, but cannot determine the exact time of dumping.

It’s only possible to speculate on the most likely time period based on police experience and come to a comprehensive conclusion.

Compared to other sections of the river, this section of the river is more likely to dump the body, the probability is higher.

Then it is definitely necessary to prioritize the investigation of this section of the river, so as to save as much manpower, material resources and funds as possible.

Otherwise, the unfocused exhaustion of the entire river will not only waste time and affect the progress of the investigation, but also waste a lot of manpower and funds.

And the reason why some cases cannot be solved is because of insufficient funding.

This reason sounds a bit cruel, and some people may have never thought that funding would become a shackle for solving cases, but this is a very realistic problem.

The police department’s funds are limited, pay the officers, buy equipment all need money, it is impossible to put unlimited investment in a case, the citizens of Los Angeles will not agree, without moderation police department are bankrupt.

Luke decided to line up a location 3 miles to 3.5 miles upstream of the body first, and if no clues were searched, then expand the search on that basis.

Soon, Luke led the men to a location 3 miles upstream of the river.

This area was no longer part of Sutter Park; the south side of the river was mountainous and the north side was more level.

Considering that transportation was needed to move the bodies, Luke felt it was more likely that the bodies were dumped on the north side of the river.

Half a mile is not a short distance, probably about eight hundred meters, the difficulty of the exhumation is also not small, but compared to the whole river has been much easier.

The sweep was divided into three directions.

In the first direction, the technical team sent people to dive to the bottom of the river to search.

In the second direction, Blackie and Jackson led the patrols to look for witnesses in the neighborhood.

In the third direction, Luke led a team to search on the north side of the river.

The scope of the riverside search was about one hundred meters from the river, the river surface, trees, and all suspicious items on the ground.

The search was boring, but it was an important part of police work.

After about five hundred meters of searching, Luke felt his eyes a little sore and stopped, closing his eyes to rest and look into the distance.

“Captain.” Just then, Blackie walked over.

Luke yawned and asked and answered, “What have you found?”

Blackie said, “I’ve been around the neighborhood a lot, there are no houses and very few people coming this way.

However, there were a few vagabonds found over there, and I talked to them for a while, and none of them saw anything out of the ordinary last night.

They should be the only residents in the neighborhood.”

“Good job.”

Black swept a glance at the team members lining up around them, “Anything on your side?”

“No, but you’re just in time to line up forward in my direction.” Luke gestured with his hand in the approximate direction of the search.

“I’ll do the search?” Black froze, “What about you?”

“I’m going to debrief Chief Reed, do a good job.” Luke broke away from the search party and returned to the car to blow the air conditioning and drink mineral water.

Since he had become a captain, it was only natural to enjoy some small benefits.

If there were no benefits who would want to be a captain, everyone would stop working hard.

Luke was young and strong, cooled down for a while, and soon came back to life, taking a bottle of mineral water out of the car.

He found the platoon, waved at the lieutenant and called out, “Lieutenant, I have something for you.”

The lieutenant pounded his old back and moved a few steps somewhat reluctantly, “Captain, what are your orders?”

Luke handed over the mineral water, “It’s too hot today, go to the car and rest for a while, I’ll search for you.”

This old man is old, Luke is afraid that he will sunbathe in a good way.

“Thanks.” The lieutenant’s face was a bit complicated as he unscrewed his water bottle and took a sip of water.

Just as the lieutenant was about to say something, Jenny’s voice rang out from the side, “Hey guys, I’ve got something on my side.”

The crowd gathered around.

Luke walked over as well.

Only to see that a pit had been plowed next to a short tree, looking at the color of the soil the plow wouldn’t be too long, the diameter of the hole should be about fifty centimeters, and the depth was about seventy to eighty centimeters.

Xiao Hei asked, “Is there nothing in this pit?”

Jenny shook her head, “No.”

The vice squad held out three fingers, “The first, this pit is just a coincidence and has nothing to do with the case.

The second, this pit was dug by someone involved in the case, just not used.

The third, someone buried something in the pit, but it was dug up.”

Luke thought of the few vagabonds in Blackie’s mouth, and if it was the third possibility, they would be the ones most likely to have dug something up.

“Lieutenant, you continue to lead the search. Marcus, come with me.”

Blacky came over with his ass in the air, “Captain, what are your orders?”

“Where are the few bums you just found?”

“Just to the south, why?”

“I want to go talk to them.” Luke finished and headed in the direction of the car.

Black shouted, “Luke, you’re going the wrong way, not that direction.”

“That’s right, get some beer first.”

Blacky instantly understood, no hobo could say no to beer.

A few minutes later, Luke and the two of them walked near the hobo camp with a few bottles of beer.

It was an open field with several tents set up, each separated by about a few meters.

Luke walked over to the first tent and asked a black hobo, “Man, want one?”

The black hobo gulped, “I don’t have any money.”

“It’s on me.” Luke tossed him a beer.

“Thanks.” The black hobo couldn’t wait to open the beer cap and take a sip with an intoxicated look on his face, “I haven’t had a drink in two days, thanks.”

Luke said, “Man, can I ask you a couple questions?”

The black man pointed to Blackie next to him, “I know him, he says he’s a cop, he already asked earlier.”

Blacky introduced, “This is our captain.”

“Wow wow, such a young captain, you must be good.”

Luke smiled, “Last night, did you see anyone suspicious in the neighborhood?”

“No.”

“Did you ever dig up anything in the pit?”

“I’m not a gopher, why would I dig a hole in the ground, I don’t do that kind of boring stuff.”

“Thanks man.”

“Thanks for the beer too.”

Luke walked over to another somewhat scruffy bearded white homeless man and handed him a beer, “Man, can I ask you a couple questions?”

“For the sake of the beer, why not?”

“Thanks, did you stay in the neighborhood last night?”

“Yes, I’ve been living over here for two or three months now, and I really like the view, with the woods and the river, it’s a nice setting.”

“You’re good at picking places.” Luke smiled and continued to ask, “Did you see anyone suspicious in the neighborhood last night?”

The white homeless man hesitated slightly, “No.”

Luke watched his expression and felt there were signs of a lie.

Luke inquired the second question, “Last night, did you dig anything out of the pit?”

The white hobo laughed, “Oh, I don’t farm, so why would I dig anything out of the pit.”

The bastard didn’t answer positively and Luke pressed, “Yes or no?”

“Nope.” The white hobo shook his head and pointed to a couple of nearby hobos.

“You’d better go ask them, maybe those guys have seen it, of course beer can’t be missing, a few of them are the real alcoholics, haha ……”

Luke didn’t let his words divert him from his goal and continued, “Do you want to make money?”

“Sure, who wouldn’t want to?”

Luke took out fifty dollars in cash, “Tell me what you found out last night and the fifty dollars is yours.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I know you just lied, last night, you must have seen something. We are investigating a major criminal case and are looking for witnesses to the case, if you can tell me some valuable clues, this fifty dollars is yours.”

Compared to the overtime pay of many police officers, fifty dollars was nothing, and it was a bargain any way you looked at it.

The white homeless man licked his lips and looked a little embarrassed, “Uh ……”

Luke asked, “What’s your name?”

“Jim.”

“Jim, we found the body of an underage girl downstream from the river, she was violated before she died and her head was chopped off, poor thing.

Can you help her?”

“Even buy the Karma! This is horrible!” Jim took a deep breath and showed hesitation.

Luke struck while the iron was hot: “You’re the only one who can help her now, what you saw will probably be a key clue to solving the case, it’s important.”

Blacky chimed in, “I’ve seen that body, it’s really pitiful.”

“Uh ……” Jim took a long breath, as if taking a doctrine, “Can …… you give me a hundred dollars? ”

Blackie “……”

Well, Luke’s heartfelt words were for naught as he pulled out another fifty dollars and handed both bills to the other man.

“Say, what exactly did you find out last night?”

The white homeless man put the hundred dollars away, “Can I have all these beers too?”

Now, Luke was also a bit speechless, but after giving all the money, what do you care about a few bottles of beer? He directly put it next to the other party’s tent.

At the same time, Luke also had a hint more vigilance, this is a greedy guy.

The white homeless man opened a bottle of beer and took a sip, revealing a look of enjoyment, “Thank you, these few bottles of beer are enough for me to drink for two days.”

“You’re welcome, tell us what we’re interested in.”

“No problem.

Last night, I woke up with piss.

I’m in good health, not often, just occasionally.

A few of us had agreed together that we couldn’t urinate or defecate within a hundred meters of the tent, so I would try to walk as far away as possible.

Then I saw a man sneaking over from the river with what looked like a bag in his hand.

I stood still and didn’t move, and he didn’t notice me.

I saw him start digging a hole next to a tree, digging it pretty deep, then throwing the bag into the hole and burying it, leveling the ground before leaving.”

The white homeless man took another sip of his beer and said, “I was curious and wondered what he was up to.

Then when he left, I went over and dug up the pit and removed a black bag from it, which contained a blue ladies purse, which was kinda nice.

That’s what I saw last night.”

“Describe the man’s appearance?”

“It seemed to be a white man, a little far away, I couldn’t see his face and I was afraid to get close. He was wearing jeans and a baseball cap, I can’t remember much else.”

Luke made a note in his book, “Was he the only one?”

“Yes.”

“Did he have transportation?”

“I didn’t see any, I just saw him heading west, it was dark and soon he was out of sight.”

“What time was it?”

“It must have been about twelve o’clock at night.”

“Did he carry anything else?”

“I did not see it.”

“Did he have any water on him?”

“I don’t think so.”

Luke organized his thoughts, “Where’s that purse?”

“Uh …… that purse is pretty, it shouldn’t be cheap ……” the white homeless man meant to say.

Luke laughed, treat you a little better, just think that the old man is a wrongdoer, is it too good for me to talk?

“That blue purse in you?”

“Uh …… is that purse important?” A look of apprehension appeared on the white homeless man’s face.

“Give me that purse, that’s the evidence involved.”

“SORRY, I can’t remember where I put it.”

“How can you remember?”

“I’ve been wanting to buy a new tent, but I’m short two hundred dollars ……” The white homeless man gave a you-know-what look.

Having a hundred dollars and still wanting two hundred, sure is a greedy guy.

Luke’s heart was disgusted, this goods really don’t know how to die, no wonder he mixed into this.

However, if the other party dared to ask for it, Luke dared to give it, without changing his face, he took out two hundred dollars and handed it to him.

“Thank you, you’re really a good person.” The white homeless man took the money as soon as he could.

“Give me the blue purse.”

“OK,” the white hobo turned around and went back into the tent and came back out with a blue leather bag in his hand.

Luke took the purse with gloves on and examined the contents; there were a number of female items, a driver’s license, keys, and the only thing he didn’t find was a cell phone.

Luke stared at the expression on the white homeless man’s face, “Did you take anything from the bag?”

“No.” The white man shrugged.

Lying.

“I’ll ask you again, did you take any valuables from the bag?”

“I really didn’t, you’re insulting my character.”

Lying.

Luke turned to Blackie, who was off to the side, and said, “Arrest him.”

Without saying a word, Xiao Hei took out the handcuffs and chided, “Hands on your head, on the ground, don’t move.”

“Hey, hey, why are you guys arresting me, I didn’t commit a crime, I picked up that purse.”

Luke said, “That blue purse belongs to the stolen goods involved in the case, you are suspected of selling and buying stolen goods, we have to take you back to the police station for investigation.”

“I didn’t sell stolen goods.”

“You did, you just took my money.”

The white homeless man weaseled out, “You can’t do that, you’re the one who had to pay me.”

Blackie cuffed him with both hands, “Full of lies.

When I first came to question you, you clearly said that you didn’t notice anything unusual last night and didn’t see anyone suspicious.

That means you were trying to hide the stolen goods from the start.

This is the second time we’ve come here, and if we don’t give you the money, you simply won’t admit that you saw anyone suspicious last night.

As for the money for the blue purse, you asked for it of your own accord, you greedy ghost.”

Blacky pulled three hundred dollars out of his pocket and returned it to Luke in kind.

The white homeless man stared at the money dead in the face, “My money, that’s my money.”

“You won’t need it, it’s all free in prison.” Black smiled, “The good news is, you won’t have to change your tent either.”

“I don’t want to go to jail, you guys don’t want to arrest me, I don’t want the money, I’ll give it back to you.

For the sake of me telling you guys the news, just spare me once.” The white homeless man prayed.

The other officers heard the commotion and came over.

Luke waved his hand, signaling Blackie to escort him away.

And then, he instructed Jackson, who was on the side, “Search this tent and see if there are any suspicious items.”

Jackson frowned slightly, “Do we need to call the tech team?”

“As you wish.”

Jackson hesitated for a moment, put on his gloves, took a deep breath, and dug into the tent to rummage around.

After a while, Jackson climbed out with a disgusted look on his face, “It stinks to high heaven, this guy hasn’t showered in at least a month.”

“Any luck?” Luke didn’t care about his complaints, if he couldn’t even overcome this difficulty, then he shouldn’t be a police officer.

“I found an Apple phone with a pink case and diamonds on the back, which is a little out of place in this tent.” Jackson stood up and handed over an Apple phone.

Luke took the phone and put it in a clear plastic bag, “Good work.”

Blackie walked back and looked at the phone, “This greedy guy actually hid the key evidence, he’s really bad enough, it’s not wrong to arrest him at all.”

Luke swept his gaze over the remaining bums and instructed the officers, “Take statements from everyone present and see if they spotted any suspicious characters last night.”

“YES, Sir.”