Chapter 281

Robbery-Murder Division Office.

Luke escorted McKell Arthur back to the station and put Jenny in charge of checking him into custody.

Upon returning to his office, the lieutenant rushed to ask, “I heard that Marcus and Jackson were attacked by the suspect, are their injuries serious?”

“Not really serious, I had them checked out at the hospital.” Luke took out his teacup and made a cup of Longjing to weigh him down.

The lieutenant guessed, “Was the suspect difficult?”

“Whew……,” Luke blew out, taking a sip of his tea.

“Yes, his combat skills, experience and awareness are far beyond the norm, if we catch suspects half as good as him, I might quit my job.”

Luke handed Matthew McKell Arthur’s social security number, “Look him up, all of it.”

“It’s not often I hear you praise someone like that.” The lieutenant gave a curious look, “How did he injure Marcus and Jackson?

Held them hostage with a gun?”

“He didn’t use a gun, that’s what’s scary.”

“Then what weapon did he use?” The lieutenant was even more curious, what other weapon was more powerful than a gun?

Luke clapped his hands together, “He didn’t have a weapon, just a pair of hands.”

“You’re kidding?” The lieutenant could hardly believe it.

“Funny?” Luke looked serious.

The lieutenant’s eyes widened, “Whoa whoa, four of you armed cops get beat up by an unarmed suspect who calls for backup!

And two were injured?”

“As much as I hate to admit it ……, it happened.” Having said that, Luke was also a little embarrassed.

“I can’t figure it out, were you four holding burning sticks?

Even a burning stick could have injured him, so why were Jackson and Marcus injured instead?”

Luke didn’t answer, it wasn’t something honorable and he didn’t want to go into detail.

“What did that suspect do?” The lieutenant grew more and more concerned.

It wasn’t so much gossip as it was more worry.

People wouldn’t be afraid of animal corpses, but were terrified of human corpses; in fact, it wasn’t necessarily the corpses themselves that people were afraid of, but the things that could kill them.

The vice squad was also a police officer, just as likely to encounter dangerous suspects.

Seeing the old man’s stance of getting to the bottom of the matter, Luke knew that there was no way to avoid it and explained, “Uh, the situation was a bit complicated at that time, and the suspect adopted the tactic of attacking from all sides.

He should have known the surroundings in advance, and was very good at using the terrain to lurk, attacked Marcus and Jackson at close range, and also snatched the pistols of the two men, the suspect’s skills in close combat were very impressive, Marcus and the two men were no match at all.”

“Empty-handed gun grabbing!”

The vice squad had been in the police force for many years, and had rarely heard of similar situations, let alone two occurrences at the same time, which indicated that the other party was not relying on surprise, but rather their own superior abilities.

“What the hell is this guy?”

Luke shrugged, “That’s what I want to know.”

“He’s just a regular guy.” Matthew sat down at his desk and stretched.

“I looked him up, ordinary as ordinary can be.”

The lieutenant asked, “Has he ever served in the military?”

“No.”

“Police or other special services?”

“Neither.”

Matthew pointed to the computer screen, “He worked as a chef and real estate agent when he was younger, and now he works at a supermarket, and he has no criminal or drug records, and his taxes are normal in every way.

Family ties are simple too, parents deceased, unmarried.”

“Impossible.”

Luke still didn’t believe it, from the ability the suspect showed, he must have received special training, if he was an ordinary person, then ninety-five percent of the police officers belonged to the wasteland.

“See for yourself if you don’t believe me.” Matthew stepped aside.

Luke walked over to check it out, and the suspect, McKell Arthur, was just as plain as Matthew said he was, without even a single violation on his record.

Luke checked the ID photo again and it was indeed the same person.

“Any chance of forgery?”

Matthew shook his head, “This is police system data, it’s impossible to fake.”

“It’s indeed abnormal.” The vice squad said thoughtfully.

Just now, he listened to Luke’s words and thought that Luke was exaggerating, in his opinion the suspect most likely had some military training, had experience in the military or the police, and was a bit stronger than ordinary suspects in terms of counter-surveillance ability and combat prowess.

But this man had no similar experience, which was rather unusual.

It’s too clean.

It wasn’t a bad thing for a person to have a clean profile, and no one would suspect it if they got along normally, but it was bizarre for the suspect to be unarmed and injure two armed police officers without the slightest bit of military training experience.

Luke sought advice, “Lieutenant, you’re experienced, what do you think is going on?”

The vice squad grunted, “What’s real and what’s fake? What’s done by illegal means is false, and what’s done by means consistent with the law is true.

And the nature of the law is just a tool used to restrain ordinary people.

This guy’s background is definitely not simple, and probably has the backing of some powerful department.”

Luke agreed with the lieutenant’s idea.

He had asked Matthew to investigate McKell Arthur’s information, originally wanting to find out his bottom line, know the enemy and know yourself, and prepare for the next interrogation.

But now it seemed that official information could not be counted on.

Luke didn’t give up either, and instructed, “Lieutenant, you and Jenny go to the place where the suspect works, and inquire about his daily behavior to see if there are any abnormalities.”

“Matthew, you’re in charge of checking the suspect’s cell phone.”

“Ramon, come with me to the suspect’s house.”

The two Luke’s followed the address on the system and found the suspect, McKell Arthur’s home.

It was an apartment located in South L.A. The apartment was somewhat old and had no elevator, so they had to climb the stairs.

McKell Arthur’s home was on the fourth floor, Luke knocked symbolically on the door and no one responded before letting the professionals unlock the door and enter the apartment.

The apartment was not large, one room, one hall and one bathroom, the house was cleaned, the items were neatly stacked, the living room was placed with a three-meter wide bookcase, on which a lot of books were placed.

Other than that, the entire room could not be seen as special.

Luke and Ramon still scrutinized it once and still didn’t find any unusual items.

Back at the police station, the vice squad and Jenny also came back, they also didn’t find out any valuable clues, the suspect all of his colleagues thought he was very ordinary, very kind and good to get along with, almost no one said anything bad about him.

Matthew checked the suspect’s cell phone, the other party is using a non-smart phone, except for phone calls can not do anything else, call records are not much, are with a few better relations with colleagues contact.

Without checking any valuable clues, Luke was helpless.

He speculated that the other party either completely washed his hands of the world, or he was hiding very deeply and had another shelter.

If it was the former, there was little point in investigating.

If it was the latter, the difficulty of investigating was too great, and Luke didn’t have that time, energy, or manpower.

Therefore, he chose to travel light and directly interrogate.

This was also a helpless move.

The following morning.

The first interrogation room of the Robbery and Murder Division.

Luke and Xiao Hei walked into the interrogation room.

Xiao Hei looked at the black man across the interrogation table with a somewhat complicated look on his face.

There was resentment, celebration, and a hint of gratitude mixed in there as well.

He knew very well that at that moment, this man had the opportunity to just kill himself, and it might even be easier than knocking himself out, but the other man didn’t do it.

Luke also sized up the black suspect across from him and asked, “Name?”

“McKell Arthur.”

Luke tried, “I asked for your real name?”

The black man looked relaxed, “That’s my real name.”

“You’re facing serious lawsuits for three home invasions that will likely result in the death penalty, and it doesn’t worry you at all?”

McKell Arthur spread his hands, “Does worrying help?”

“Why would you want to hurt Sayid McCann?”

“As I said before, he’s a pervert and people like that should be punished.”

“What kind of perverted things has he done, tell me about them, and if the law has been broken, I may consider prosecuting him.”

“It’s no use, the people he hurt are already dead.”

“You mean Novena Jones?”

McKell Arthur sighed softly, “Yes, she was a poor girl ……”

“And it was for her that you hurt Sayid McCann?”

“Yes.”

“What was your relationship with Novena Jones?”

“Friends.”

“Boy-girl friends?”

“Just ordinary friends.”

“How did you meet?”

“We met once on the street when I saw a thief try to take her backpack, I helped her retrieve it and she bought me coffee out of gratitude.

That cafe was quiet and I liked the atmosphere there.

After that, when I got off work in the evening, I would go to that cafe and sit there.

She would also have a cup of coffee before she went to work.

Gradually, we became familiar with each other.”

“You knew she was a silver seller girl?”

“She never said so explicitly, but I did know.”

“Where were you between ten and twelve o’clock on the night of September 15th?”

McKell Arthur asked rhetorically, “Do you think I killed Novena Jones?”

“No, I don’t think so.

But investigating a case can’t be based entirely on my subjective sense.

You belong to the people involved in the case, and I need to routinely question you to rule you out as a suspect.”

McKell Arthur said, “My house is not far from the café, and I usually sit at the café until 10:50 p.m. and then go home, arriving around eleven.

Twenty minutes for washing and cleaning up, then bed after that.”

“What’s the name of the café?”

“Cafe Pamela.”

“How did you know about the murder of Novena Jones?”

“That night, on my way back home from the cafe, I saw a bracelet on the side of the road that looked a lot like Novena Jones’s, and I had a feeling that something wasn’t right.

But I didn’t know at the time that Novena Jones had been killed, and thought that she had just encountered a difficult customer ……,” McKell Arthur shook his head slightly, revealing a slight guilty look.

Luke said smoothly, “So, the next day you found Petrov and tortured him about the whereabouts of Norvina Jones.”

McKell Arthur asked instead of answering, “Captain Lee, you’ve been asking me questions, but it seems you haven’t answered my previous query.

How did you see that something was wrong with me?

If you didn’t see through me in time, just let me out of sight and don’t try to catch me again.”

Hearing this, Luke also got a bit lucky, if he hadn’t led the team yesterday, he would probably have let the suspect get away again.

If he was facing an ordinary suspect, Luke could make a casual remark, but telling a lie to McKell Arthur was likely to be seen through.

If the other party also told lies to Luke, it would not be conducive to the next interrogation.

“I’ve learned some micro-expression analysis.”

“I also know a little about micro-expressions, and as far as I know this is not very accurate.”

Luke laughed, after seeing the other party’s hands, he would not easily believe in any slight understanding, “I understand what you mean, whether micro-expression analysis is effective or not apart from one’s own experience and accumulation, what is more important is the observed person’s mental quality and emotional control ability.

Some people’s heart quality is poor, the real emotion is easy to be revealed.

As for you.

The expression was well controlled, and I didn’t find any obvious signs of lying on your part at first.

You supposedly learned from Petrov that the victim, Sayid McCann, liked white women, and deliberately mentioned a white girl in the living room to make us believe you were the victim.

But after a few conversations, I got the feeling that something was off about you.

There were signs of lying, though not obvious, but the probability of lying increased as the conversation went on.

I wasn’t so sure at the time, so I tried to enter the house with you.

The more you didn’t agree, the more I thought there was something wrong with you.

After that, you took the initiative to expose it.

To be honest, your acting skills are good.”

“Thanks, but it still needs to be strengthened, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been seen by you.”

Luke’s words changed, “I answered your question, now isn’t it your turn to tell us about Petrov.”

“You want me to admit to hurting Petrov?”

“He’s still alive to identify you.”

“It’s useless to have only human evidence, you need physical evidence as well, and he’s a gang member with a criminal record.

For a jury, my word is more credible.”

“The other victim, Eddie Ross, will also identify you.”

“Again, he has no evidence. Besides, one of the two was an organizer of prostitution and the other was a john, so it’s not likely that they conspired together.”

Luke said, “We caught you at Sayid McCann’s house with all the evidence.

And with Petrov and Eddie Ross having suffered the same fate as Sayid McCann, and with the two men’s identifications, the odds are that the jury will find you guilty.”

McKell Arthur laughed, “Captain Lee, you’re missing the point, the jury may know I’m guilty, but they may not necessarily find me guilty.

You know better than me what kind of goods these three people are, if the jury knows that they bullied an underage girl ……

I’m sure the citizens of Los Angeles have a great sense of justice.”

Luke changed his mind and said, “What was your purpose in interrogating Petrov, Eddie Ross, and Sayid McCann?”

McKell Arthur corrected, “I only interrogated Sayid McCann.”

“Okay, so what was the purpose of your interrogation of him?”

“To catch Novena Jones’ killer.”

“Did you catch him?”

“No.”

Luke pointed to himself, “I’m the only one who can catch that killer now.

And you know what? I’m also a man with a sense of justice.

I don’t want to catch you, but as a cop I have to.

It makes me conflicted, and catching you isn’t much of an accomplishment.

What I really want to catch is Novena Jones’ murderer.” Luke intoned, “I know you have some clues, and I know you really care about Novena Jones.

Spilling the clues you know may assist the police in catching the killer as soon as possible.

It’s what you’re doing that makes sense.”

McKell Arthur thought for a moment, “I could tell you everything I know about this case, but I want a waiver.”

“I can only get you a favorable plea deal, an exoneration is out of the question.”

“You don’t have to refuse, just apply for it for me.

I’ll make a hypothetical statement that will give you clues about the case, which will neither delay the investigation nor have any effect on me.

The statement is only legally valid if an exoneration agreement is reached.”

“I’m all ears.” The other man struck a professional pose, so what else could Luke say?

McCall Arthur recalled, “I was a little worried about Novena Jones after I found the bracelet she dropped.

Contacted her on the phone as well, but never got in touch.

The next day, I was going to visit her house and no one was home.

This was very unusual.

I saw Petrov as I was leaving and he didn’t recognize me.

After that, two of your colleagues went there.

I guessed that something might have happened to Novena Jones.

Just as you guessed, I found Petrov’s house, interrogated him, and learned from him about the guests who had assaulted Novena Jones, Eddie Ross and Sayid McCann ……”

McKell Arthur gave a complex look, “I have a way of interrogating people, and as much as I didn’t want to do that, I did it to them.

I can confirm that they are not lying, they have beaten and abused Novena Jones, but none of them are murderers.”

Luke recalled what had happened to the three suspects and still trusted McKell Arthur’s tactics enough to rule those three out for now, pursuing the question, “Where did you pick up that bracelet?”

“The intersection of Vios Street and Stavin Street, that neighborhood is relatively isolated, no surveillance, it is difficult to investigate.”

Luke made a note in his book, “Do you have any other suspects?”

“No, I don’t really know much about her work, she never talks about it and I wouldn’t actively inquire.”

“Does Novena Jones have any other close friends or family in Los Angeles?”

“She has family in Eastern Europe.

She has said she has close coworkers, most likely the girl she sells silver with, but I can’t say if they’re considered friends or not.”

“Has she been anything unusual lately?”

McKell Arthur pursed her lips, “She’s longing for America, especially the city of Los Angeles.

She wants to make enough money to quit.

She wants to study acting and become a Hollywood actress, it’s been her dream since she was a little girl, and whenever she talks about it her brow flutters with energy.”

McKell Arthur pinched her forehead, a little guiltily, “In recent times, she may have been influenced by me, and the idea of leaving the business grew stronger, and she kept trying to fight it.

I think that her death may have had something to do with that.”

“What do you mean by resisting? The control of the gangs? Or the demands of the guests?”

“I think it was both.

She was a child, and was simply unable to cope with it all.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have given her hope for freedom ……