Chapter 291

The following morning, the office of the Robbery and Murder Division.

Luke walked into the office, “Guys, drop what you’re doing and let’s have a meeting.”

Generally speaking, Susan would choose the conference room for most of her meetings, which was more formal.

Luke, on the other hand, preferred to meet in the office area, where everyone was more casual.

The lieutenant asked, “Captain, when are you going to interrogate Henry Rogers?”

“After the meeting.” Luke scanned the area and didn’t see Blackie, “Where’s Marcus?”

Jackson replied, “He went to wash his hands.”

Luke laughed, “It’s been all night and you’re still washing?”

Jackson spread his hands, “He has to wash every half hour, he thinks it makes him feel better inside.”

The lieutenant suggested, “He should see a psychiatrist before he leaves a shadow.”

“I will.” Luke’s tone became solemn, mental health was a big issue that couldn’t be ignored.

Jokes aside, he was still concerned about Blackie.

“Lieutenant, in a moment, Jackson and I will be in charge of interrogating Henry Rogers, and you lead the people to collect evidence for closing the case.”

“OK.”

The vice squad was experienced and didn’t need Luke to give more orders.

“Knock knock.” The office door slammed, then the door to the room pushed open from the outside and Black walked in with a white woman.

“Guys, do you see who’s here?”

Luke looked up, it was a familiar and unfamiliar woman, unfamiliar because it was the first time he had seen her, familiar because he had seen a picture of the other woman.

“Marta, what are you doing here?”

“I remember your voice, Officer Lee?”

“It’s me, formally introduced as Luke Lee, Captain of Squadron One, Robbery and Murder Division.

This is Lieutenant Vince, Detective Raymond, Detective Jenny, Detective Jackson, and Detective Matthew.”

“Thanks for everything you guys did for Lorna, I …… picked up some donuts on the way over …… hope you’ll like them …… ”

The lieutenant smiled, “Of course, there’s no better gift than donuts.”

“I’m glad you guys liked them. I hope my arrival hasn’t interfered with your investigation.”

Luke squared his shoulders, “Marta, I was just about to call you, we’ve got Henry Rogers.”

“Friggin’ hell, you’ve found evidence that he committed the crime?”

“Yes, the man was caught in the act.”

“Uh …… I have mixed emotions, but I wanted to say thanks.

Lorna was my best friend …… only to be killed by my husband.

It’s really hard for me to want to do something for her ……” Marta couldn’t control her tears.

“Marta, I am surprised that you have returned to Los Angeles.

By returning to L.A. without knowing that Henry Rogers had been captured, you’ve gone out of your way to help Lorna.

It’s not easy, and I can feel your feelings for Lorna.

She’ll understand too.”

“Thank you, thank you for understanding.”

Luke gestured for Marta to sit down and handed the other woman a packet of tissues, “Henry Rogers has been captured, but we haven’t interrogated him yet.

He’s very smart and cunning, and will probably evade the law in various ways.

I would like to know more about him before the interrogation.”

“No problem, I’ll tell you everything I know.”

Luke had investigated quite a few cases, there were suicides, J-love killings, interest killings, and revenge killings, but this one was different from the past, Henry Rogers not only killed people, but also cut off the victim’s head, which belonged to the typical psychopathic murderer.

Usually when a murderer kills a person, the purpose is achieved, but a psychopathic murderer often destroys the victim’s body to satisfy some kind of pathological psychological needs.

And this kind of pathological psychology is not formed in a day, often with a tragic experience, figure out these for the next interrogation is very important.

Luke had a cup of tea poured for Marta and spoke up, “Has Henry Rogers ever been violent before?”

“He’s usually very nice, but he gets very violent when he’s drunk, stares at you with very scary eyes, and sometimes hits people.”

“Since when did he get like that?”

“We had an argument not long after we met, I can’t remember exactly why, after the argument I went to Rona’s house for a while, and that’s when I sensed that there was something wrong with his mood, and he grabbed me by the neck and questioned me loudly as to why he was leaving him.

It was scary, I was scared and cried and kept begging him to leave me alone.

He made me promise never to leave again.” Marta covered her eyes and said remorsefully, “I should have left him then.”

Black wondered, “Then why didn’t you leave?

Henry Rogers has shown violent tendencies and I can’t figure out why you continued to date him and even got married.”

“I also thought about leaving him, but some of his …… experiences made me soft. Now that I think about it I feel ridiculous that I would feel sorry for a pervert, I’m such a brain-dead idiot.”

“Can you tell us what experiences made your heart soften?”

“Henry was originally born into a happy family of seven, with four older siblings above him, but it didn’t last long, when his father died unexpectedly when he was three years old, her mother worked several jobs to support the family, waitressing, bartending, and food truck driving almost all year round, and was rarely able to be there for the children, having to place them in foster homes.

At first, Henry was attached to his mother and cried and begged her not to leave him, but it didn’t work at all, and Henry was placed in a foster home anyway, which made Henry begin to loathe his mother.

When he was thirteen, his older siblings were grown and his mother took him home, but he had lost the ability to be close to his mother and she was no longer the image he remembered.

He began to give up on himself, not wanting to go to school, and under his mother’s incessant nagging and lecturing, Henry chose to leave.

He preferred the company of vagabonds rather than in returning to the place he called ‘home’ …… “Marta let out a long sigh, “When I first heard about this experience of Henry’s, I was …… felt shocked and sympathized with him.

He also said that the reason for his rage was the fear of being abandoned again.

Just like his mother abandoned him back then.

He was scared.”

Black asked smoothly, “You believed his bullshit?”

“Yes. I was foolish and young and was so moved by what he said that I even began to pity him.

I was naïve enough to think I could change him, warm him up, and give him back his ability and courage to love.

And for that reason forgave him over and over again, which ultimately got my friend killed, I should have left him, if I had left him earlier, maybe it wouldn’t have gotten Rona killed.

My heart aches now when I think of Rona, there won’t be a better friend than her.

There won’t be any more.”

Luke asked, “When did you decide to leave him?”

“After I learned of his unfortunate experience, I’ve tried to tolerate him, change him, and have been hurt by him time and time again, but I’ve endured it all.

I had a belief at the time that if I touched him with love, I could heal the hurt inside him.

But I was wrong.

Some things can’t be changed.

The birth of our child was a turning point, she brought us a lot of happiness and I could sense that Henry loved the child.

But he doesn’t care when he gets drunk and angry, and he hurts not only me but the baby as well.

I tried to get him to stop drinking, but it didn’t work.

Every once in a while, he would sneak off for a drink, and after a big drunken bout, he would start cursing and hitting me whenever I dared to resist.

I could tolerate it, but my children were still young, and seeing them cowering under Henry’s rage hurt my heart in more ways than I can say.

I knew that it couldn’t be like this anymore.

If the child grows up in such an environment ……

I can’t imagine, I’m afraid she will become “Henry”, I have to be responsible for my child’s life.

So I chose to leave Henry, preferring to leave my child without a father, rather than have a bad example for her to follow.

I can afford to raise my child, I have a stable job now and will be able to get some benefits in the future. I will never send my child to a foster home and will let her grow up in a loving environment.

Lorna also kept urging me to leave Henry to pursue a new life.

I did.

Unfortunately, she never saw …… again.”

After learning more from Marta, Luke was also more confident about arraigning Henry Rogers.

Although the evidence was now enough to convict Henry Rogers, Luke still hoped that he would voluntarily confess to the crime.

This was the first case since he was promoted to Acting Lieutenant, and he also wanted to do it beautifully.

Robbery-Murder Division, Interrogation Room One.

Luke sat across the interrogation table and Henry Rogers had changed into an orange suit.

Jackson bristled, “That’s a pretty new outfit you’ve got there.”

“Where’s the lucky guy?”

“The lucky guy? Who are you talking about?” Jackson gave a puzzled look.

Henry Rogers waved his right hand, “That black egg.”

“He doesn’t like you.”

“All the more reason to have him, I’d like to see him upset.”

Luke laughed, “A pervert indeed.”

Henry Rogers gave Luke a sidelong glance, “You’re in charge?”

“Captain of Squadron One, Robbery and Murder Division, Luke Lee.”

“I’m not interested in your name, but you’re younger than I thought, how did you catch me?”

“The process was a little complicated, but it turned out well.”

“Let me guess, it was you who instructed Marta to make the call, told her to irritate me with the divorce, and brought up a guy named Paul, despicable.”

“Not even close to you.”

“So Marta had no intention of divorcing me, you guys made her say that.”

“It’s a fact that she wanted to divorce you.”

“Where did Marta go?”

“She has gone back to Los Angeles.”

“Oh, trying to trick me again, uh huh.

Once again pulling your dastardly trick of making me think Marta is here, and then when I believe it tell me it’s not true to break me down emotionally so you can achieve your interrogation goals, am I right?”

Luke pulls out his phone and flashes a picture of a woman’s back, “This was taken with Marta’s permission, the background is right there in the Heist and Murder Division, you should be able to recognize it.”

Henry Rogers shook his head, “It’s ps, I’ve already guessed your trick.”

“You know it’s real, you just don’t have the guts to admit it.”

Henry Rogers closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “Is this …… your backup plan? If I didn’t fall for it, let Marta be the bait.

You guys knew I would kill her and you went with this despicable method, that’s how you LAPD does it.”

“Marta came back on her own, unbeknownst to me beforehand, to pick up Lorna and take her home.

She was very brave and didn’t know about your arrest before she came back.

She appreciates what we do at the LAPD.”

“I need to see Marta.”

“She doesn’t want to see you.”

“I know why you’re here and I’m willing to plead guilty as long as I’m allowed to see Marta.”

“OK, but in a different order, confess first, then see Marta again.”

“I want to see Marta first.”

“Plead guilty first.”

“I want to see …… first.”

Luke interrupted, “Hey, you don’t seem to have figured out who’s in charge here?”

“I don’t believe you.”

Luke assured, “I never lie.”

Henry Rogers stared at Luke with a shadowy gaze and after a long moment, sighed, “You win, I’m willing to plead guilty.”

“It’s the smartest decision you’ve ever made.” Luke pondered briefly and asked, “How many people have you killed in total?”

“A few is as many as you find out.”

“I’ll let you speak.”

“Four.”

“Who were they all?”

“Lorna Post, Gretna Sweeney, Herson Sweeney, and a stand-up girl.”

“Who was the first one you killed?”

“Lorna Post.”

“Why did you kill her?”

“This bad woman had been compelling Marta to leave me.

She was destroying our family.

I warned her many times, but she continued to disobey, and eventually Marta left me under her spell.

I was furious and questioned her about Marta’s whereabouts, but she refused to talk.

So, I killed her.”

“Describe the crime?”

“I strangled her, then cut her throat with a saw, sawed off her head, and buried the body in the yard, with the head soaked in an embalming reagent, which you should have found.”

“Why did you saw off her head?”

“Did Marta ever speak of the misery of my childhood?”

“Your father died young and your mother was too busy working to put you in foster care.”

“True, but that’s only part of it, there’s another part I didn’t tell Marta.

I was young and didn’t really want to go to a foster home, and my mother even sent the family cat to my foster home so that I would have some company.

But the cat didn’t want to stay in the foster home and ran away several times, only to be recaptured by me.

At the time I was devastated that my mother had abandoned me and now it was going to abandon me too.

Why was it doing this to me?

What did I do wrong?

No one could answer me, I had to find the answers myself.

The last time, it ran away again and I killed it.

I was in pain and sad. I didn’t really want to kill it, but I wanted it to stay with me.

So I cut off its head and hid it.

But I was too young to know what embalming was, and it didn’t take long for that cat’s head to break.

That was the first time ……

Later, I kept the habit.

I’ve also had a few pets …… but I don’t think those are any of your business.”

Luke asked the second victim, “Why did you kill Gretna Sweeney?”

“She was a little more complicated.

I was friends with her husband, Herson Sweeney, and we shared the same hobbies, the same encounters, he was separated from his wife, and Marta left me.

These similar experiences gave us a lot in common, he was a good drinking buddy, I’d feel a lot better about having a drink with him and complaining about my wife, he understood me and was a rare confidant.”

“Then why did you kill your soulmate’s wife?”

“Since Marta left, I’ve often lost control of my emotions, and I’ve been looking for ways to relieve myself, such as drinking, looking for a streetwalker, and killing, and I’ve found that it’s the latter that works the best.

After killing Lorna, my emotions were released, it was exhilarating, exciting, and felt like my whole body was relaxed, it was a great feeling.

But it’s time-sensitive, and I need to find new targets from time to time.” Henry picked at his fingernails in a slightly agitated manner.

“As I said earlier, Herson Sweeney’s situation is very similar to mine, and his wife is a great target, a bad woman like Marta, no, she’s worse than Marta.

Marta at least didn’t use my money to pay the rent.

And this woman, who rents a house apart and still spends her husband’s money, is a standard bad woman.

I think of her as a replacement for Marta.”

Luke said, “It’s a risk to pick an acquaintance’s wife as a target.”

“You’re right, I had that concern at first, hesitating to choose Gretna Sweeney as a target, but after much deliberation, I decided to go after her.

The first reason, like I said before, is that she’s a badass woman like Marta and I’m interested in her.

The second reason, I knew I couldn’t control my emotions and might go on to kill someone, and I didn’t want to, but I really couldn’t control it.

The police would also notice sooner or later, so a scapegoat could be found in a time of crisis.

The third reason, and the most important, is that Herson Sweeney also wanted his wife to be killed.

Once when he was drunk, he kept complaining about his wife and said a lot of bad things about Gretna Sweeney, and I purposely pretended to be drunk and asked him what he could give me if I killed his wife.

He said he had some cash stashed away after he sensed that his wife was getting a divorce, probably about a hundred thousand dollars, and that he was willing to give that money to me if I could kill Gretna Sweeney.

So I went along with it and promised him.”

“You killed for money? That’s not like you.”

“It wasn’t all for the money, you know. I have very few friends, it’s lonely, and I wish I had a like-minded friend.

But there are some things I can’t tell people, and I’d like to create a like-minded helper for myself.

If we got the money from Herson Sweeney, our employment would be established and he would become a murderer.

I thought that would be fun, we’d have more in common, and I’d have one more true confidant.

I’m sure he’ll be a good help.”

“Then why did you kill Herson Sweeney?”

“After I learned that you had found Gretna Sweeney’s body, I knew that you would definitely be looking for Herson Sweeney, and I was worried that he would show his hand, so I took advantage of the night to go to him.

Wanted to warn him and try his attitude in the meantime.

At the same time, I also made two preparations, if Herson Sweeney is grateful, I will get the commission from him, our employment relationship is established, and I will be able to have more credible helpers in the future.

If Herson Sweeney tries to betray me, take him out as a scapegoat.”

Luke pressed, “Herson Sweeney chose the latter?”

“No. The asshole’s attitude surprised me.

He acted surprised.

He said he was drunk and had forgotten what he said that day.

He didn’t even know I’d killed the guy and urged me to turn myself in.

I was a bit dumbfounded, too, and decided to finish him off, considering the safety of the situation.”

“How did you trick him into writing a suicide note?”

“Simple, I took out my gun and said I was going to kill him.

He begged me for mercy.

I then told him that I didn’t want to kill him, I was just afraid he would turn me in to the police, and he said he promised he wouldn’t.

I told him to write a confession, and as soon as he denounced me, I would give the confession to the police, saying that he had hired me to kill him.

He didn’t want to die, so naturally he wrote it.”

“Did you force him to drink the sleeping pills too?”

“No. After the idiot wrote the confession, he was afraid that I would kill him, so he tried to get me drunk.

I went along with it, then slipped sleeping pills into his drink and faked the scene of the gas suicide.”

Henry Rogers sighed and lamented, “I’m kinda sad about killing him.

I was really hoping to gain a confidant, a friend I could make friends with, a good helper.

Unfortunately, he didn’t pass the final test ……”

“What about Novena Jones? Why did you kill her?”

“The streetwalker?”

“Yes.”

“She never told me her real name and was a bad woman.”

“Did you know each other well?”

“As I said before, I’ve been emotionally unstable since Marta left, and I don’t want to kill anyone, and I’ve thought of a lot of ways to vent my emotions.

Stand-up girls were one of the ways.

I approached Novena Jones a couple of times, she was great, very pretty, skilled, and I liked her a lot.

On September 15, exactly two months after Marta left me, I was depressed and wanted a break.

I approached Novena Jones, but she turned me down.

I was angry, it was normal for me to get money to spend, why did she reject me?

Did a stand-up girl look down on me and stay away from me?

I was so angry that I didn’t control my emotions and killed her.

Then threw the body into the river ……”

Luke said coldly, “You killed a flower girl who wanted to get out of the house.”

Henry spread his hands, “Wow, so she wasn’t rejecting me, she was rejecting everyone, I’m much more comfortable hearing you say that. Thank you for telling me that.”

“And thanks for the confession statement, I’m sure your death sentence will be coming down soon, looking forward to that moment.” Luke stood up and prepared to leave.

Henry called out, “Hey, aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Do you have another case to answer for?”

“No, I’ve already pleaded guilty, shouldn’t you fulfill your promise.”

“What promise?”

Henry showed an angry look and pointed his finger at Luke, “You promised to let me see Marta, and, you said you never lied!”

“You’re right, I do never lie.

But first, you have to be human.” Luke dropped the sentence and left the interrogation room straight away.

Jackson gave a scornful look, “Be a human being in your next life!”