Chapter 303
Five o’clock in the afternoon.
Blackie returned to the Robbery and Murder Division office.
“Hi, guys, I’m back.
Did you guys miss me?”
The lieutenant said, “You guys disappeared for a day, you better have found out some clues or I’ll advise the captain to give you a day’s absence from work.”
Blacky clenched his chin with his right hand, “Lieutenant, don’t doubt my abilities, ever.”
Luke heard the commotion and walked out of his office, “Did Marcus find anything?”
“Of course, I asked some of my friends in the gang to look for clues to the suspect vehicle, one of them was a black car market that sold a car of the same make, model, and color some time ago, and the engine serial number of that car was smoothed out.
I promised them that as long as they assisted the police with clues about the buyer of the car, they wouldn’t hold the black car market responsible.
Captain, what do you think?”
“No problem.” Luke responded.
As long as there was a market and a chain of interests, this black car market could not be broken, if they were arrested today, a new one would pop up tomorrow, so it would be better to keep an obedient one.
Xiao Hei continued: ”According to the person in charge of the black car market recalled, the one who bought the car should be a white man, more than one meter tall, wearing a baseball cap, mask, sunglasses, he did not recognize the other party and did not see the other party’s face.
Both sides pay in cash, one hand to hand over the money and the other hand to hand over the car, the whole process is less than half an hour.”
Jackson shrugged, “There’s no way we can find the suspect based on skin color and height alone.”
“Rookie, shut up.” Black disliked and continued.
“Black car markets like this are usually not open, most of the time they need to be introduced through a middleman, although the people in the black car market don’t know the buyers, there is a middleman between them.
This middleman is called Huff, and as long as we find him, we can find the whereabouts of the suspect.”
Luke smoothly asked, “Do you know where I can find Huff?”
Blackie was confident, “Of course, I’ve asked around and I’m just waiting for your order.”
“Knock knock ……”
Just then, a knock came from outside.
“Come in.”
“Cluck ……” A door slammed, and Anthony pushed the door and walked in.
Luke was a little surprised, “Shouldn’t you be staying at the hospital?”
“I’ve stayed long enough, I’m not in any serious physical trouble after my checkup. I’m only really going to get sick if I continue to be kept in the hospital.” Anthony pulled up a chair and sat down, “Any progress on the case?”
“Of course, you want to take over the case again?”
“No, I’m not in a good position to take over the case right now, but when I think of my coworkers who were blown up ……
I have to do something …… Just get me involved in the case.
The LAPD is the main focus and we, the FBI, will assist.”
“Deal.” Luke went over the progress of the case, briefly.
Eight o’clock in the evening.
Troy Bar.
This bar was small in size and was mainly divided into three areas, the bar, the booths and the dance floor.
Luke and Blackie walked into the bar one after the other.
The bar was predominantly black, and Luke couldn’t figure out why the name of the bar was called Troy: “Are you sure the middleman Huff is here?”
“I’ve asked around, he’s here almost every night to drink, talk business and pick up girls, this bar is kind of his home base.”
Blackie said as his eyes scanned around and pointed to a black man by the bar, “That’s Huff, I’ve seen his picture.”
Luke nodded and gestured for Blacky to walk ahead.
Blacky waddled over to the bar, sat down, asked for two whiskeys, and handed one of them to Huff, “Mate, on the house.”
Huff sized him up, “Who are you? Why are you buying me a drink?”
“I’ve heard great things about you and want to do some business with you.”
“But I don’t know you, who are you?”
“Have you heard of Blood Demon?”
Huff laughed, “Are you teasing me?”
Black opened his mouth, revealing two sharp fangs, “I’m Blood Demon Marcus, and it won’t be long before my great name resonates throughout Los Angeles.”
“That means you’re just out of the game.”
“No, I’m fresh out, but not fresh out.”
“Tell me, what kind of business do you want to talk to me about?”
“I want to buy a car, a clean car.”
Huff laughed, “This is a bar, not a car 4S store, have you come to the wrong place.”
“Look, I know you and what you do.
You should also know what kind of car I want, pain in the ass.”
Huff thought for a moment, “Sorry, I don’t do business with strangers.”
“Hey, I have a friend who said that there is always a process of getting to know people once they’ve met.”
As he spoke, Blackie took out a bunch of bills from his pocket and put them under his nose to smell them, “Are you familiar with it?”
Hu Fu picked up the wine glass and took a sip, but the corner of his eye stared at the banknotes.
Blackie smiled and pushed the bills in front of him, “As I said, the Blood Demon’s name will soon resonate through Los Angeles, this is the first deal, but definitely not the last.
Man, working with me will be the best choice in your life.”
Huff looked around, grabbed a handful of bills and counted them, putting them in his pocket, “Man, what kind of car do you want?”
Blackie asked back, “What kind of cars can you even get?”
Huff rubbed his hands together, “As long as you have this any car is not a problem.”
“Can you make sure the car is clean? I don’t want to get into trouble.”
“Don’t worry, the license plate number, engine serial number …… everything will be taken care of, you just have to pay for the car.”
“How to deal?”
“Cash, pay the money and pick up the car.”
“What about the price of the car?”
“That depends on what kind of car you want? Different cars have different prices, you should understand that.”
“I want a black Ford SUV.”
Huff froze for a moment, showing a slightly wary look, “Why do you want this car?”
“I like this car, what’s the problem?”
“No, I can ask around for you, consider this money as a deposit.” After Huff finished speaking, he stood up and prepared to leave.
However, just as he turned around, he saw a young black-haired man standing in front of him, “Hey kid, a little eye candy, get out of the way.”
Luke flashed his badge, “One more chance.”
“SORRY, Sir, I shouldn’t have gotten in your way.” Huff squeezed out a smile and prepared to leave from the side.
However, Blackie had already jumped ahead and blocked the way, “Man, my money isn’t that easy to take.”
“Uh…… “Huff looked at Luke and then at Blacky, and pulled out bills from his pocket, “Haha, I was just kidding, give it back.”
Luke squeezed Huff’s shoulder and sat him back down on the stool, “Look, we didn’t come here for a joke, did someone buy a black Ford SUV through you four days ago?”
Huff gulped nervously, “I don’t know what you guys are talking about? Did you guys get the wrong guy.”
Blackie reminded, “Dude, don’t be shy, you just said it was fine, if you don’t want to talk about it here, you can come back to the police station with us.
The police station has good coffee, warm beds, and kind police officers, I’m sure you’ll like it.”
“NoNoNo, please don’t, that’s not where I should be.”
“How do you know you won’t like it if you don’t go?”
“I’ve been there before and I never want to go there again, please don’t give me a hard time, I’ve changed my ways.”
Xiao Hei said, “That’s not what you said just now when you took away the banknotes, do you want to take a look at the video of the law enforcement recorder and remember it well.”
Huff slapped his forehead, “Jesus Christ, what do you guys want? I’m just doing a favor for a friend to earn some household ……”
Luke said, “We’re not interested in your shit, we just want to know the identity of the person who bought the black Ford SUV.”
Huff gave a difficult look.
Luke continued, “Why don’t you tell us? Could it be that you’re in cahoots with him.
Wow, that would be interesting.
That guy robbed a bank in a black Ford SUV and you were involved?”
“No, I’m just a car salesman ……” Huff gave a helpless look, “Well, I’ll tell you.
His name is Franco Murphy.”
“How do you guys know each other?”
“We used to be cellmates.”
“Do you know what he bought the car for?”
“No. I know the rules, I don’t ask buyers that.”
“Where were you yesterday morning between nine and twelve?”
“I was at home.”
“What for?”
“Sleeping.”
“Can anyone attest to that?”
“I live alone.”
“When was the last time you saw Franco Murphy?”
“I’ve only seen him once recently, when I bought a car.”
“Do you know where he is now?”
An hour later.
The Killiam Motel.
Luke and Blackie drove to the neighborhood of the motel.
After about ten minutes, two cars pulled up to the curb and one by one people stepped out.
Ramon, Jenny, Jackson, and Anthony.
“Anthony, what are you doing here too?”
“I want to see those assholes arrested with my own eyes.”
“OK, I’ll take the men in later, and you take the patrolmen and keep watch outside.”
Anthony asked, “Can you confirm that the suspect, Franco Murphy, is at the motel?”
“We got Franco Murphy’s cell phone number through the middleman who bought the car, which is a bearer card, and the location shows it’s at this motel.
And his own cell phone card is no longer reachable.
So, I think it’s highly probable.” Luke explained, then laid out the arrest.
First, Luke took Franco Murphy’s photo to the front desk of the motel to confirm that Franco Murphy was indeed staying at the motel before further arranging the arrest.
Considering that the motel room was not big, it didn’t take too many people.
The injuries on Anthony’s body had not yet healed well, Luke did not want him to participate in the operation, and asked him to take the patrolmen to keep an eye on the outside.
Anthony was still a little reluctant, but now that the case was in Luke’s hands, he could only follow the arrangements.
The men of the First Squadron were responsible for the arrest.
Luke, Blackie, and Jackson rushed in through the front door to make the arrest, while Ramon and Jenny stood guard at the back door to prevent Franco Murphy from escaping from the back.
After everything was ready, Luke led the men to the second floor of the motel, next to Franco Murphy’s room.
Luke and Jackson hid on either side of the door, left and right, and Blackie stood in front of the door with his gun in both hands.
With a wave of Luke’s hand, the operation began.
Jackson swiped the door lock with his room card, and then Blackie raised his foot and kicked it.
“Bang!” The door was kicked straight open.
“LAPD!”
“Everyone freeze!”
The three of them rushed into the room with strong flashlights in hand, illuminating the room with bright lights, the strong flashlights also had a role to play in making the suspects unable to open their eyes.
The room was not big, it was just a room with a toilet.
“Clear.”
“Clear.” The three of Luke found no sign of Franco Murphy.
Luke then turned on the lights in the room and searched the closet and under the bed carefully, still no sign of the suspect, Franco Murphy.
Luke said over the intercom, “We have finished searching the suspect’s room and there is no sign of Franco Murphy.
Everyone stay safe.”
At this time, Luke was also a bit puzzled as to what went wrong.
The cell phone positioning location was indeed this motel, and after they arrived at the motel, the receptionist also said that she had seen Franco Murphy, and the other party hadn’t gone out after coming in.
In that case, Franco Murphy would be missing?
Xiao Hei also frowned tightly, this clue was what he had found out, if he couldn’t find the person it would be a waste of time, “Captain, what do we do now?”
“Call for backup, search the entire motel in detail ……”
“Stand still, don’t move!”
“Bang Bang Bang ……”
Just at this moment, a gunshot came from not far away.
Luke rushed outside to check and found two figures standing in the direction of the gunshot, one of which looked like Anthony of the FBI.
The other shadow was slowly falling down.
Luke yelled out, “Anthony, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I should have hit him.”
“Franco Murphy?”
“Yes, he tried to run away and I hit him square in the face.”
Luke rushed downstairs to check, and sure enough, Franco Murphy had collapsed on a patch of grass not far from the motel, covered in blood, shot several times, and no longer breathing.
“You killed him.”
Anthony spread his hands, “It was dark and I was taken aback when he suddenly appeared from there.
I warned him not to move, but I saw his hands go into his pockets, so, I shot him.”
“You did the right thing.” Luke crouched down to check, and Franco Murphy reached into his pocket with his right hand, revealing a half-loaded pistol.
Franco Murphy was also carrying a large bag in his outstretched hand, which Luke opened and found to contain dozens of stacks of cash and some jewelry, basically confirming that he had enough to be the suspect in the bank robbery.
The good news is that one of the robbers was caught and some of the loot was recovered.
But the bad news is that the person is dead, the clues will probably be broken.
Blackie also came over to check it out, “How did this load get out? Why isn’t he in the room? Could it be that he knew we were coming to arrest him, so he hid somewhere else in advance, waiting for an opportunity to escape.”
Xiao Hei finished, then shook his head, “That’s not right either, if he knew the police were coming, he should have escaped earlier, why did he wait for the police to come and then run?”
Luke was also skeptical, but as the captain he had to consider the whole picture, “Jenny, contact the forensic and technical teams.
Ramon, have the patrolmen seal off the scene.
Jackson, pull up the motel’s surveillance.”
“YES, Sir.”