Chapter 307

As Luke drove, he also thought about the capture plan.

If Luke’s guess was correct, then the two robbers might be hiding in the Maserati car with the purpose of finding an opportunity to escape.

It wouldn’t be difficult to lay out an arrest if he was facing ordinary robbers, but these two robbers were different, they were most likely carrying bombs.

Even Muriel Baldini had a remote control bomb strapped to her body so that they could better control Muriel Baldini.

The Maserati was not driving fast, and Luke guessed that the robbers should also be watching, waiting for an opportunity to escape.

As a precautionary measure, Luke also called for backup, he didn’t transfer the 2nd Squadron’s men and still let the 2nd Squadron keep an eye on Muriel Baldini’s house.

There were two robbers, Luke wasn’t sure if they would split up, if the robbers split up, one in the car and one in the house, the robber hiding in the house after transferring the 2nd squadron might escape.

Ramon and the others continued to check the surveillance and Luke didn’t call it in, new clues might be found in the surveillance.

Luke calls directly to the neighborhood patrol for backup, and the LA patrol is still very helpful.

The Maserati crossed a few more intersections and pulled onto Carlos Avenue.

This was one of the busiest shopping streets in Los Angeles.

The Maserati lowered its speed, and on the right hand side was a three-story building with a steel frame structure, clear floor-to-ceiling windows, and a modern look.

The Maserati turned on the right turn signal and drove into the garage on the first floor.

The Mercedes-Benz Big G also followed closely behind.

By this time the robbers should have known that the police were following, Luke in turn was not worried about being discovered.

The Maserati car was parked in a lean-to parking space.

Not long after, Muriel Baldini stepped out of the driver’s side and looked back at the car before walking quickly in the direction of the elevator.

Luke pulled into a nearby parking space and kept watching the Maserati and Muriel Baldini for movement.

Until Muriel Baldini got on the elevator, the Maserati still did not react.

At this point, Jenny couldn’t help but be skeptical: “Captain, are we guessing wrong?

Muriel Baldini has already gotten on the elevator, why are the robbers still not moving?

Even if there is a bomb on Muriel Baldini, aren’t they worried about Muriel Baldini calling the police?”

Xiao Hei suggested, “Should we go next to the Maserati and take a look.

Previously it was all our guess could we have guessed wrong, the robbers didn’t hold up Muriel Baldini.”

Luke did not answer, if the robbers did not hijack Muriel Baldini, then naturally there was no need to rush.

Assuming, the robbers did hijack Muriel Baldini, then thinking differently, what would he do if he was the robber?

This office building is different from domestic office buildings, which are up to dozens of floors high, and the remote control may be beyond the effective range.

But this office building is only three floors, the area is not very large, as long as Muriel Baldini does not leave the building, no matter in which corner of the building, the bomb remote control is effective.

In other words, although Muriel Baldini is out of the robbers’ sight, but not completely out of danger, still in the robbers’ control.

Luke still felt that there was a high probability that the robbers were hiding in the car, and the reason why they were hesitant to come out was probably because they were also worried about the police.

Luke pondered for a while and made a decision, “Jenny, get out of the car with me.

Marcus, you continue to stay in the car to covertly observe the Maserati’s situation and report back to me in time.”

At the same time, Luke once again communicated with the supporting patrolmen, telling them to keep a low profile, organize themselves into small groups, and not to alarm the robbers.

Luke and Jenny stepped out of the car, turned off the engine and locked the doors, and also walked straight to the elevator and rode it up the stairs.

After a couple of minutes, the door on the right rear side of the Maserati opened, and a man in a baseball cap poked his head out and slowly stepped out of the car, a black backpack behind him, and waved at the car.

The door on the other side also opened, a white man with a blue backpack stepped out of the car and grumbled, “Almost bored me to death, these stinking cops are simply better than a dog’s nose, finding the door so quickly.”

The man in the baseball cap urged in a low voice, “Cut the crap, let’s get out of here.

The police could come down at any time, and that group of FBI assholes, neither of them is a light.”

The man with the blue backpack took a look at the Mercedes Benz, “Where did those stinking cops get a Mercedes Benz G500, I’ve always wanted to buy a car like this, is being a cop so rich?

If I had known I would have switched careers.”

“Don’t be envious, the money we earned from these two tickets is enough for you to buy ten such cars.” The two chatted for a few moments and said no more, lowered their heads and walked quickly towards the garage exit.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps faintly came from the surrounding, the man wearing a baseball cap sensed the abnormality, his eyes scanned the surrounding but did not find any problems, once again urged, “Run up, get out of here and we’ll be free.”

The two robbers had already seen the exit ramp, and the sun was already within reach.

“Ta-da-da-da ……”

A footstep sounded around them again.

Several gun-toting figures suddenly emerged from beside several parked cars, “Police, don’t move.”

“Put your hands where we can see them.”

“Get on the ground.”

“Told you not to move!”

“Bang, bang, bang!”

A burst of gunfire rang out.

Fire shot out in all directions.

The man with the blue backpack was shot several times and fell to the ground, blood bubbling out, his right hand was already in his pants pocket.

The man in the baseball cap shouted, “Mabry, Mabry.

Shit, you guys killed him.”

“Shut up and be honest.”

A police officer stepped forward and held down the man in the baseball cap, cuffed his hands, took off his backpack, and retrieved a pistol and a black hood from his body.

Luke walked over to the man with the blue backpack and checked his body, there was no life in him.

Luke yanked his hand out of his pants pocket and a small remote control fell out with it.

Luke was startled.

Luckily, after a few seconds everything was normal and there was no explosion, and he was secretly relieved.

Luke turned to Blackie, who was off to the side, and said, “Tell Jenny that the man has been captured.”

“YES, Sir.”

Luke walked over to the man in the baseball cap and recognized the other man as the case mastermind, Solstice, “What’s your name?”

Solstice looked at Luke and lowered his head, refusing to answer.

“Good, I like tough guys, we’ll have plenty of time to talk it over.”

Luke opened the black backpack he was carrying, “There’s cash, jewelry, diamonds, gold bars, and an Apple phone.”

“What’s the password?”

“I forgot.”

“I’ll help you remember it properly when I’m free, take it away.”

Luke didn’t interrogate the other party right away, he was going to find Muriel Baldini to understand the situation first, and interrogate him after he had enough evidence.

3rd floor of the building, president’s office.

Muriel Baldini was frowning tightly, walking around the office looking a little agitated, a far cry from her usual image of a strong woman.

“Knock knock ……” A knock sounded outside.

Muriel Baldini took a deep breath, stopped and looked at the door, “Come in.”

The door opened and Jenny walked into the office.

Muriel Baldini’s eyes widened in surprise, “Officer Jenny, what brings you here?”

“Ms. Baldini, I’m here to make sure you’re safe.”

“I’m fine, didn’t we communicate on the phone before?”

Jenny pointed to the right blouse, “Can you take your jacket off?”

Muriel Baldini seemed startled and opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out, forking her arms to gesture at her forehead.

Jenny soothed, “You don’t have to be afraid or in a hurry, the two robbers who hid in your car have been caught and you are safe now.”

Muriel Baldini froze for a moment, her eyes reddening, “God bless, oooh ……”

She whimpered and slowly removed the jacket she was wearing, revealing the bomb strapped to her back.

“Those two men kidnapped me and broke into my home to rob me and even strapped a bomb to my body.

Threatening to press the remote control if I dared to call the police or do anything else unusual.” Muriel Baldini pointed to the brooch on her dress.

“They also installed miniature cameras and listening devices on me, and what I see and hear, they can see and hear just as well, and have been watching me.

Last night, I saw you and wanted to ask for help, but I didn’t dare to say anything, I was afraid that they would see something unusual ……

They were very scary, just two crazy people.

God, I would have thought I was going to die ……”

Jenny sighed softly, “Ms. Baldini, it’s over, you’re safe now.”

“Can you take the explosives off for me?

I never want to carry this thing again, not for a minute.”

“Don’t you worry, the remote control is in the hands of the police and the bomb squad is on its way.” Jenny put away the brooch of the suspected miniature camera, but she didn’t dare move the bomb either.

She just comforted Muriel Baldini on the side and told him not to be too emotional in case he touched the bomb by mistake.

After ten minutes, the bomb disposal team arrived at the scene and successfully defused the bomb on Muriel Baldini.

Muriel Baldini completely relaxed, the whole person sat down on the ground, breathing heavily.

The danger was removed and the police breathed a sigh of relief.

Luke also rushed over to visit, it was the first time he had dealt with Muriel Baldini, and sized up the other woman, a mature white woman, beautiful to look at, with no makeup on her face.

“Ms. Baldini, I’m Luke Lee, Squadron Leader 1 of the Robbery and Murder Division, how are you feeling physically?”

“Nothing serious except for some hunger, thirst and fatigue. Captain Lee, thank you for saving me.”

“It’s our duty, I’d like to take your statement.”

“No problem, I also hope that those two …… suspects will be brought to justice soon.” Muriel Baldini took a deep breath.

“Can you give me some time? I’d like to go to the bathroom.”

“Sure.”

Luke watched Muriel Baldini leave.

Ten minutes later, Muriel Baldini returned to the office again with a dramatically changed image.

She had changed into a long blue dress, with light makeup on her face, and except for some red circles under her eyes, she could no longer see any abnormality.

“Captain Lee, sorry to keep you waiting.”

Luke secretly deserved to be a strong woman with a good mental quality, “Ms. Baldini, can we start making a statement now?”

“Yes.”

“Do you recognize these two robbers?”

“No, they kept their hoods on.”

“How were you kidnapped by them?”

“I was riding my bike home after work yesterday when it was getting a little late.

A car suddenly drove up behind me and made a hard right turn to donkey my bike, luckily I braked in time and didn’t fall very hard.

I stood up and wanted to theorize, the car came down two men ……

Let me feel the aura of some wrong, then a man took out a gun, hijacked me into the car, another man threw my bike to the trunk of the car.

That’s how I was hijacked by them.” Muriel Baldini paused for a moment, holding her hand to her forehead as if reluctant to continue remembering.

“They took me home and then strapped bombs on me and forced me to ask for the whereabouts of my belongings …… I gave them everything in the safe, but they still weren’t satisfied and wanted more from me.

At this time the door slammed and Officer Jenny came to the door to investigate, they coerced me not to call the police or they would activate the bomb.

They also installed miniature cameras and bugs on me, and I could only do what they told me to do ……

You all know what happened after that.”

Luke asked, “Where is the car they were driving?”

“In my garage.”

“What kind of car?”

“A black SUV, I was so nervous I didn’t notice the make of the car.”

“Did the robbers plant a bomb in your house?”

“I don’t know.

I was too nervous to look or ask, I was afraid they would kill me.”

“You did the right thing, it would have been irrational to provoke the robbers in that situation.”

Muriel Baldini asked rhetorically, “Captain Lee, how did you find out the robbers were in my house?”

“We checked the neighborhood surveillance and found that the robber drove through the neighborhood yesterday, also, the fact that you didn’t ride your bike this morning and chose to drive instead made me feel even more suspicious.”

“Thank you, if it wasn’t for your due diligence, I would probably have …… by now.”

Luke didn’t reply, in fact it was unlikely that the robbers would have detonated the bomb even if the police hadn’t been there.

Of course, there was no need to say that.

Luke made a few more inquiries, and didn’t ask for any more clues.

Luke then returned to the underground garage to check on the scene, where the coroner and the technical team had already arrived.

As of now, three of the five suspects who had robbed the North Hollywood Bank had been arrested, two had been killed, and the case had entered the interrogation phase.

The interrogation is now focusing on Soest, who is the mastermind of the North Hollywood Bank robbery, as identified by Andres Downs and Jerron Gaddafi.

The planting of the bomb at Jerron Gaddafi’s house that resulted in the death and injury of the FBI agent was most likely at his behest as well.

Also, because the bank robbery didn’t go as expected, Souster and Mabry Carr kidnapped Muriel Baldini.

All that needs to be done now is to gather all the clues and evidence to get Souster to admit his guilt.

Solstice’s charges are serious enough to warrant the death penalty, and it won’t be easy to get him to plead guilty; Luke must be fully prepared.

Robbery and Murder Division, Interrogation Room One.

Luke and Jackson were in charge of arraigning Thorst.

Across the interrogation table Thorst was already handcuffed and shackled.

The police would also take as much care as possible with such a ruthless man suspected of killing an FBI agent.

Luke opened the file and stared at the somewhat slightly Mediterranean white man, “What’s your name?”

“I forgot.”

“Normal people don’t forget their names.”

“You’re right, I’m not normal, I suspect something is wrong with my head.”

Luke laughed, “Don’t worry about it, you’re just shaved, you can’t die.

I always thought you wore a baseball cap for concealment, now I realize there was another purpose.”

Jackson also laughed, “You made the right choice, wearing a baseball cap is a bit better, at least it doesn’t look so hot.”

Solstice sneered, “It’s been nice talking to you guys.”

Luke’s eyes swept over the information in his hand, “Thorst Victor, born in Alaska, 38 years old, once served in the U.S. Sixth Fleet and participated in the Libyan War.

Retired from the military in 2013.

Has since been in prison for robbery and willful injury.

Anything else to add?”

“No. You’re probably the person who knows me best in the world, and I’m a little flattered by the sudden attention to knowing.”

“You’re still pathetic.”

“You’re right, I don’t expect much from the world anymore.”

“Then it hurts to admit your guilt honestly.”

“OK, tell me.”

“At 9:30 a.m. on October 5, you robbed the North Hollywood Bank with an accomplice, taking $2.45 million from the vault and the contents of 76 lockers, and then had an accomplice, Mabry Carr, instructed to blow up the sewers, and a group of five of you escaped through the sewers.

Fearing that your accomplice, Jeron Gaddafi, would be exposed for stepping in the bank, you had Jeron Gaddafi go to stay at another accomplice’s house while planting a bomb in Jeron Gaddafi’s house, which resulted in the death of an investigating FBI agent and multiple injuries.

After that, because robbing the bank didn’t meet your expectations, you teamed up with Mabry Carr to kidnap Number 1 and take a large amount of belongings from her home, need I go on?”

Thorst Victor shrugged, “I don’t remember any of this from you.”

“Thorst put on some smarts, we have witnesses and physical evidence, it’s useless for you to weasel your way out of this.”

“See you in court then, I have nothing more to say.”

“Solstice, things aren’t as simple as you think, this case is investigated by the LAPD and the FBI together, with the police as the main focus and the FBI as a supplement.

But if you refuse to confess, the FBI also has the right to interrogate you.

You should understand what I mean.” Although the move was old-fashioned, Luke didn’t have much choice when facing a felon.

The corner of Thorsten Victor’s mouth twitched, “You’re threatening me.”

“No, on the contrary, I’m helping you.”

“Shit, I don’t need a cop’s help.”

“BANG!”

Just then, the door was pushed open from outside with force, “Luke, what are you bothering with this asshole for, just hand him over to me.

I guarantee he’ll even tell you the color of his own mom’s panties.”

Luke stood up, a little disgruntled, “Anthony, you should have stayed in the observation room, not here.”

“Hey, I’m doing you a favor, look at the way this asshole is hanging, he doesn’t give a shit.”

“This is the LAPD, I don’t need you, an FBI man, telling me how to try cases.”

“This guy killed an FBI agent, a couple of my men are still lying in the hospital, and I don’t even have the right to participate in the interrogation?” Anthony questioned loudly.

“Of course you do, but not now.”

Anthony glared angrily at Luke.

The latter was not to be outdone.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Anthony revealed a cold smile and looked at Luke, then at Soest Victor: “OK, I’ll wait for you guys, I’ve got all the time in the world.

I’ll be sure to take him.”

“That’s for later.” Luke waved his hand, “Jackson, ask Agent Anthony out.”

Jackson made a gesture of invitation, “Agent Anthony, please.”

Anthony pointed his right hand toward Thorsten Victor, “Hey, I’ll see you again.”

Anthony strides out of the interrogation room and Jackson follows.

“Bang!”

Closing the door to the interrogation room, Anthony laughed, “Hey, how did I do?”

Jackson a thumbs up, “You can consider a career in Hollywood.”