Chapter 289

Early the following morning.

Robbery and Murder Division, 1st Squadron Office.

Ramon knocked on the door and entered Luke’s office, “Captain, you wanted to see me.”

“Yes, I’m going to give you and Jenny a task.” Luke made a gesture of invitation, signaling for Ramon to sit across from him.

“What assignment?”

Luke placed a picture of Henry Rogers on the table, “This guy is highly suspected of the crime, but we don’t have enough evidence to make an arrest at the moment.

He could commit another crime at any time and we need you guys to keep an eye on him.”

Ramon picked up the photo and looked at it, “I see.”

“Listen, although we haven’t met with him, from the three previous cases, this person is very cautious and has a strong sense of counter-surveillance, we must be careful when following him.

You can lose him, you can’t be detected.

If he gets suspicious, immediately give up tracking.”

“Understood, we won’t get too close to him.”

Ramon was not talkative, but he was more reliable in his work, which was the reason why Luke gave him the tracking task.

Luke gave a couple more instructions and walked out of the office with Ramon and said to the others, “Guys, ready?”

“Sure.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“OK, let’s go.”

Coral neighborhood 402.

Lorna Post’s house.

Luke paid enough attention to the clue provided by Henry Rogers’ wife Marta.

He had gotten Rona Post’s information from Marta and had tried to contact the other party, but the cell phone had been unreachable.

Therefore, Luke personally led a team to Rona Post’s house to investigate the other party’s situation.

The neighborhood was average, and the lawn in the yard hadn’t been taken care of in a while.

Luke told the others to sit in the car and wait, and only he and Blackie got out of the car.

Luke stood guard while Blacky went to the door and knocked, “Knock knock.”

No one responded.

He continued to knock on the door.

Still no answer.

Luke righteously said, “Lorna Post’s cell phone is unreachable and no one is opening the door when she knocks, I suspect she may be in danger and I am prepared to take emergency measures out of concern for her personal safety.

Marcus, open the door.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Marcus pulled out his lock picking tools and began to pick the lock.

Luke alerted over the intercom, “We’re going to force our way into the house, Lieutenant, Jackson, be on guard.”

“Copy that.”

The door lock wasn’t complicated and after about a minute of Blackie backing up the door with a ‘click’, it opened.

The two men entered the house cautiously with their guns.

“Living room secure.”

“Toilet secure.”

“Bedroom secure.”

The house was not big, with only two bedrooms, the two men quickly finished searching the house and found no suspicious people.

Luke took out his walkie-talkie, “Confirm house is secure.”

“Copy that.”

The lieutenant stepped out of the police car and looked around, “Jackson, go get the tools from the trunk.”

The two men entered the house with their toolboxes.

Luke and the vice squad didn’t communicate, but both of them subconsciously thought that the homeowner, Lorna Post, was in a bad way.

With the experience of the last time, they focused their search on the restroom.

Jackson opened his toolbox and took out a spray can of detection reagent and sprayed a burst of it into the toilet, closing the door and covering the window, the light in the toilet dimmed and blue fluorescence appeared on the floor and walls.

The lieutenant looked as if that was the case, “Looks like Lorna Post’s head was sawed off as well, Captain, we can notify the tech team and forensics.

I’m going to call in the surrounding patrols for backup and seal off the scene.”

Luke hesitated, “Wait, don’t notify the patrols and you don’t have to cordon off the scene.

I don’t want this scene to alarm too many people, and the scene investigation needs to be low key.”

The lieutenant responded, “You’re worried about alerting Henry Rogers?”

“That’s right, and if I’m right, he should now think that the police are ready to close the case by treating Herson Sweeney as a murderer.

That would make him let his guard down and make it easier for him to reveal himself.

Once he knows that the police found the scene at Lorna Post’s house, he’ll also guess that the police are suspecting him, which will be bad for the rest of the investigation.”

The lieutenant said, “How do you know he’ll mistake the police for closing the case?”

Blackie bristled, “Vice Squad, don’t you even watch the news? There was a similar report last night.”

Vice Squad laughed, “Luke, did you get someone to put out the fake news?”

“Those reporters aren’t stupid, they won’t report fake news, they’ll only report the ‘real news’ they’ve investigated.

Don’t worry about it, as long as they’re happy.” Luke said to the vice squad and Blackie.

“You guys inform the surrounding neighbors that whatever you see or hear, don’t say anything.”

Blacky bristled, “That’s not a good idea, the more you don’t let them talk, the more they’ll talk instead.

I know these guys too well.”

“Then tell them that there is a dead person in the house, if it becomes public knowledge, not only will this house become a murder house and can’t be sold, the surrounding houses will also be affected, no one wants to be neighbors with a murder house.” Luke believed that as long as it was linked to their own interests, these people would naturally shut up.

Under Luke’s auspices, all the survey operations were conducted in a low-key manner.

Traces of cleaned blood were also found in the living room ……

Jackson dug up the red quilt in the yard, which was wrapped around a headless female body ……

The crime scene roughly matches what Luke guessed.

Four o’clock in the afternoon.

Robbery and Murder Division, 1st Squadron office.

Evidence from the scene was summarized to Luke one after another.

Luke called for a meeting and first recounted the identification results from the technical team and the forensic division.

“After the preliminary autopsy by the forensic pathologist, the headless female body dug up in the yard of Rona Post’s house was around 35 years old, the cause of death was blood loss, the fatal injury was most likely in the head, the time of death was around September 10th, the right arm was once fractured, and a gold ring was found in the middle finger of the left hand.

Although it is not possible to fully identify the deceased, it can be roughly deduced that she is most likely the homeowner, Lorna Post.”

Luke pulled out another piece of information, “There was also a discovery on the tech team’s end, they found a saw around the body with obvious blood stains and badly damaged teeth, no DNA identification has been completed yet, but the murder weapon is highly probable.

Unfortunately they did not pick up fingerprints on the saw.

The brand of the saw is ‘Greely’, available in most supermarkets and hardware stores, and the serial number is damaged, making it difficult to investigate the origin of the saw.

Also no other biopsies of the suspected killer have been found at this time.”

The lieutenant lamented, “This asshole is so cautious, it’s almost like it’s not his first time committing a crime. He most likely has other cases on his record.”

“That’s right, although we found the crime scene, we still don’t have enough evidence to charge him.” Luke threw the information onto the table and swept his eyes around.

“Guys, tell us what you think.”

Jackson said, “We all know it’s him!

First his friend was killed, and now his wife’s friend is dead, and while there’s no direct evidence linking the case to Henry Rogers, it at least creates an indirect connection.

The way I see it, the thing to do now is to convince the judge to issue a search warrant.

With a warrant, we can just search his home, which is better than waiting forever.”

Luke wasn’t the pedantic type, if it was really just a matter of a search warrant, Luke would have found a way to get it done a long time ago.

Although he wasn’t familiar with the judge, he didn’t have much face with the judge, but the vice squad had been doing this for so many years, there were always familiar judges, and even if the vice squad didn’t have one, Reed surely had one, and Luke begged to go to Reed’s place, never mind using any method, he believed that Reed would be able to get a search warrant.

But the problem was that none of the three crime scenes and one body dump site that the police had already discovered had found evidence that could incriminate Henry Rogers, which showed that Henry Rogers was a very careful and cautious man.

Even with a search warrant, who can guarantee that evidence will be found in his home.

If nothing can be searched, there will be a series of adverse reactions.

First of all, how to explain to Reed?

Secondly it would also leave a bad impression on the judge.

More importantly, Henry Rogers knew that he was being watched and started to hide and seek with the police, so how could the police have so much funding to spend with him?

If it were before, Luke might have raised a direct objection, but now he, as the captain, didn’t want to take a direct stance, “Lieutenant, what do you think?”

The old man took a comb and gathered his hair, “I think it’s not about the search warrant now, but how to disrupt Henry Rogers.

Although the police have continuously discovered his crime scenes, they have not found any valuable evidence, showing that he is very stable and everything is under his control.

Even if we apply for a search warrant, will it still be within his calculations.

I think the key now is not how to investigate.

Because we have already investigated enough, it should be to let him mess up.

Only when he’s disorganized can we find a breakthrough.

Otherwise, it’s useless for us to find more crime scenes, we’re just following his footsteps unnecessarily.”

“Makes sense.” Luke agreed, “What do you think we should do?”

The lieutenant didn’t answer directly, “Ramon, did you guys make any progress today?”

“No, like you said, the guy was steady, just went out to lunch, bought two bottles of whiskey at the convenience store on the way back, and went home after that.

He’s dashing around and doesn’t see any problems.”

Raymond added, “Captain, if we’re going to continue the surveillance at night, I’d suggest switching to another member of the team, this guy is very wary and may already have an impression of us.”

“I see.” This was what Luke was worried about, the suspect was very cautious, short term tracking was okay.

If he followed for a long period of time, he would definitely be noticed by the other party.

However, if he didn’t follow, he could commit a crime at any time and a new victim would appear, which made Luke torn.

The lieutenant smiled, “Captain, I know how to make the suspect lose his mind.”

“Go ahead.”

“Even the sanest man can lose his mind when faced with his wife.”

Ramon said, “I agree.”

“True enough.” Blacky concurred.

“Hehe ……” Luke smiled, even Ramon broke the rules and took the initiative to open the golden mouth, this idea was 80% okay.

Luke then dialed the cell phone number of the suspect’s wife, Marta.

“Hello, Officer Lee.”

“Marta, I went to your friend Lorna Post’s house to investigate.”

“Did you find her?”

“Uh …… I don’t know what to tell you.”

“What does that mean, something happened to her?”

“We found a highly decomposed body in her backyard ……”

Before Luke could finish, he was interrupted by an agitated Marta, “Send the picture, she’s my best friend, I’m sure I’ll recognize it.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying …… Her head was cut off by the killer.”

“Oh No……why did this happen, why her……” Marta let out a pained cry on the other end of the phone.

After a while Luke advised, “It might not be as bad as you think, we haven’t identified the body yet.”

Marta choked out, “Did the headless woman murderer do this?

Didn’t he already commit suicide?”

Luke explained, “First of all, the body found at Lorna Post’s house died earlier than all the other bodies.

Secondly, the police never held a press conference and the so-called closure of the case was just the media’s way of getting traffic.”

Marta asked, “Did the body have a ring on the middle finger of her left hand? I once gave Lorna a ring and she wore it all the time.”

“The headless female body did wear a ring, I will send you a photo later.

Also, the body’s right arm was once broken, did Lorna Post have a similar condition?”

“F***ing hell, it’s really her, that’s from a fall while skydiving, or I took her with me to see it.

Why is that?

Oooh ……” Marta let out again.

When the crying subsided, Luke asked again, “Marta, have you been following the headless woman case as well?”

“I also watched the L.A. news after I talked to you on the phone yesterday, was Herson Sweeney’s wife a victim in the headless woman case?”

“Yes, they were murdered in the same manner.”

“And you suspect Henry Rogers did it?”

“What do you think?” This was the second time Luke had asked this question; the last time he had called, Marta had been reluctant to answer positively.

After a long silence, Marta sounded certain, “He did it, he’s a horrible person, that’s why I’m afraid to go back to L.A., but …… I didn’t think he would hurt Lorna Post, I got her killed.

I got my best friend killed.”

“It’s not your fault, the killer was Henry Rogers.”

“No, you don’t understand.

Lorna knew where I was? And she’s the only one who knows.

If Henry Rogers had gotten the address from her, he would have come looking for me.

If she had told Henry Rogers, she wouldn’t be dead. …… Whoops. ……

I’m the one who got her killed!

I killed my best friend with my own hands!” Marta was very emotional, “Have you caught Henry Rogers yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Why don’t you arrest him?

He must be the murderer.”

“Henry Rogers is very cunning, we investigated all the scenes and found no direct evidence related to him.”

“Officer Lee, what can I do for you?

I want to catch him, not only for Rona, but also for myself and my children!”

Ibanez Community No. 305.

In a two-story villa.

Henry Rogers was sitting on the couch, still drinking and watching TV, except that the TV had turned into a tinted pay-per-view program, and on the screen three people were clapping together for love.

Henry Rogers’ expression was flat, and his body didn’t have any reaction, as if the stimulating images and sounds couldn’t bring any emotional fluctuation to him.

Casually turning off the TV, Henry Rogers lay on the sofa in boredom, his eyes empty and his complexion numb.

The entire room was surprisingly quiet.

“Jingling ……”

A cell phone rang.

Henry Rogers picked up his cell phone and looked at it, sat up violently, the expression on his face changed again and again, and pressed the answer button, “Marta!”

“It’s me.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to come back to me.”

“Henry, you know that’s not going to happen, there’s no way I can stay with you.”

“Why? Do you have a new love?”

“No, I just simply don’t want to be with you, let’s get a divorce.”

“Marta, do you really have to be so desperate?

I’ve been waiting for you and all I get in return is a divorce?”

“SORRY, I really can’t afford to live with you anymore.”

“How about we meet and talk it over? I’ll change, become what you want me to be.”

“There’s nothing to talk about, let’s get a divorce.”

Henry Rogers clenched his fists hard, “You’ve decided?”

“Yes, divorce.”

After a moment of silence, Henry sighed, “When?”

“You agreed.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“I’ll make an appointment with my lawyer and let you know tomorrow.”

“Great, send me the flight number and I’ll pick you up.” The phone hung up and Henry Rogers gave a scathing look with a slightly hurt tone.

“I gave you a chance ……”

Henry Rogers took a sip of wine, closed his eyes, and slowly lay back against the couch.

After a while, Henry Rogers snapped to his feet and muttered to himself into the air, “Marta, why did you call for a divorce all of a sudden?

You haven’t contacted me since you disappeared.

Why this time?”

The corners of Henry Rogers’ mouth curved up, “The LAPD?

It’s getting more and more interesting.

But it’s useless.

Marta, no one can stop you from coming back to me, no one!”