Chapter 341
Detective Bureau.
Two dead people were found in one morning, and Luke’s days of happy groping were over.
The information on the two dead men was also summarized in Luke’s hands.
The first dead man’s name was Bart Ramos, the owner of a used car dealership, who had been sniped from a distance while driving his BMW.
The second victim’s name is Garrett Swann, a real estate agent who was shot to death inside the Patto apartment building.
Two seemingly unrelated deaths at the hands of the same man.
At three o’clock in the afternoon, Luke called a case summary meeting.
Luke scanned the crowd and said, “From the known clues, these two cases should be somewhat related, and the two victims were most likely killed by the same gunman.
This gunman’s sniper rifle and pistol were both fitted with silencers, and from the professional way of killing it is likely to be a professional killer.
In addition, the real target of this killer should be the first victim, Bart Ramos.
This can be seen from the fact that he was carrying a sniper rifle.
If his real aim was to kill the second deceased, there was no need to carry a sniper rifle, let alone shoot at the cars on the highway.
One more thing, the second victim also had a female companion who most likely had seen the shooter’s face.”
“I checked the apartment elevator surveillance and did see Garrett Swann and the female ride the elevator up to the sixth floor.” Porter walked over to the projector and played a video of Garrett Swann walking into the elevator with a blonde woman, a white woman wearing a long red dress, khaki camisole, and a red high heel, identical to the one Luke had found in the stairwell.
Porter changed to another photo, “This is a frontal shot of the woman with the red shoes, no sign of her whereabouts or her identity at this time.”
The lieutenant asked, “Why would Garrett Swann go to apartment 611?”
Raymond said, “Apartment 611 rooms are being rented out and Garrett Swann is the realtor in charge of the rentals.”
The lieutenant pressed, “Could the woman with the red shoes have been a client renting the apartment?”
Raymond shook his head, “I don’t think so, I contacted the real estate agency Garrett Swann works for and Garrett Swann didn’t have a client appointment that morning.”
Luke summarized, “From the available evidence, this is most likely a murder for hire.
We’re focusing our investigation on three areas, the first being to line up the peripheral connections of the first deceased, especially those who have had large amounts of money exchanged in the recent past.
The second aspect is to track the whereabouts of the gunman to prevent him from continuing to commit crimes.
The third area is to find the female witness who saw the gunman.”
After Luke finished speaking, he continued to arrange the tasks, “Marcus, you are in charge of tracking down the whereabouts of the female witness, starting with the cell phone call records of the deceased Garrett Swann.
Lieutenant, you’re in charge of contacting the investigating shooter’s whereabouts.
Jenny, contact the family of the deceased.”
“YES, Sir.”
Camoes Hospital.
Luke and Jackson came to the hospital to visit the people who were injured in the car accident, these people were not only victims, but equally witnesses who might be able to provide some valuable clues.
Ward 309.
“Knock knock.” Jackson knocked on the ward door.
“Come in.”
Jackson and Luke pushed the door and walked in, on the hospital bed lay a man of Mexican descent, the same man who was in the car with the deceased Bart Ramos.
The man of Mexican descent had a bandage on his arm and a number of scratches on his face and body, and saw Luke and the two of them showing a nervous look, “Who are you guys?”
Jackson introduced, “I’m Detective Jackson from Squadron One of the Robbery and Murder Division, and this is Captain Lee.
Your case is under our investigation.”
“God, I can’t believe this is happening.” The Chicano man sighed.
Luke yanked a chair and sat next to the hospital bed, “What’s your name?”
“Casti Torres.”
“Mr. Torres, what was your relationship to the deceased Bart Ramos?”
“Partners, we jointly operated a used car dealership.”
“Can you describe to us how the accident occurred?”
“Bart was driving the BMW 740 and I was sitting on the passenger side, we weren’t going too fast and everything was normal ……
Until the ‘bang’ when the front windshield cracked, Balt was injured and the car went out of control and the sky turned over ……
Our car went into the reverse lane and collided with another car, and there were several more collisions after that.
At the time, I thought I was going to die, but luckily I was wearing my seatbelt and only suffered minor injuries ……
It was so sudden.
It was horrible.
Poor Bart …… I didn’t even get to say goodbye to him.”
“Where were you guys planning on driving to?”
“Long Beach, Bart wanted to open a branch there, we were there on a scouting trip and we didn’t expect this to happen halfway there.
Was he shot?”
“Yes.”
“Did you see the shooter at the time?”
“No, not at all.”
“Who else knew about your trip to Long Beach?”
“Family, people at the store, that’s all I know, whether he told anyone else, I don’t know.”
“Has there been anything unusual about Bart Ramos lately?”
“Didn’t feel it.”
“Does he have any enemies?”
Cassidy Torres hesitated, “I’m not sure how to define that word?”
“Anyone who had a run-in with Bart Ramos counts.”
“We run a used car dealership, a very competitive business, and we do have had some disputes of interest with other people, and sometimes we’ve been threatened.”
“Has anyone ever threatened Bart Ramos?”
“Yes, a fellow named Norbert Collins, who is in the same business as us and also runs a used car dealership.
Because the two used car dealerships are relatively close to each other, it’s inevitable that there will be conflicts over customers and car sources, and Norbert Collins once threatened us.
If we went against him again and messed up his business, we would be killed.”
Luke asked, “Which of your two car dealerships does better business?”
“Our car dealership has the better business.”
“What was the name of Norbert Collins’ car dealership?”
“Collins’ car dealership, he’s a cocky, mean guy.”
Luke took down the name of the car dealership and asked a few more questions.
Marcus and newcomer Porter take charge of the investigation of the female witness in the red heels.
The two checked the surveillance video outside the apartment and spotted the female witness in a parking lot near the apartment and saw the other driving a white Ford sedan.
The two quickly pulled up information on the license plate number.
Name, Arness Snow.
Gender, female
Height, 173cm
Weight, 118 lbs.
Eye color, blue
Hair color, blonde
Date of birth, March 12, 1994
Cell phone number, 626 496 3412
Address, Torium Apartments, Room 307.
After finding the address of the female witness, the two did not contact each other directly.
The female eyewitness had been analyzed earlier in the case summary meeting.
According to common sense, if the female witness had escaped successfully, she should have called the police, but the police delayed receiving the call.
This suggests two scenarios. In the first scenario, she was not out of danger and could not call the police, and might even have been controlled by the gunman.
The second possibility, she has escaped, but for some reason is unwilling to call the police.
Regardless of the reason, a phone call at this time would not be of much use.
So after getting the address of the female witness, the two of them, Marcus and Porter, headed straight to the female witness’s home.
In a Ford Explorer.
Black sat in the passenger side, glanced at Potter, who was driving next to him, and laughed, “Man, I’ve read the Harry Potter books, the whole set.”
Potter smiled, “That’s a good book, my daughter likes it too, you can discuss it with her some day.”
“I’d rather not, the last Harry Potter book I read was ten years ago and I can’t remember the plot.” Black shrugged and wondered, “Man, what brings you to the Heist and Murder Division?”
Potter asked rhetorically, “What LAPD cop wouldn’t want to join the Heist and Murder Division?”
“Ooooh, I like that answer from you.
You’ll realize after a while that you made the right choice.”
The two made small talk as they drove.
Twenty minutes later, arrived near the Torium apartment where the female witness, Arness Snow, lived.
Porter parked the car in the parking lot behind the apartments, and the two men circled the parking lot and spotted the white Ford sedan driven by the female witness, Arness Snow.
The two men then accessed the parking lot’s surveillance and found that the female witness, Arness Snow, had gotten out of the car alone and was not being coerced or tailed.
In other words, Arness Snow was now in no danger and out of the shooter’s control, and she was supposedly reluctant to call the police.
Unwillingness to call the police means that the other party is weak-minded and doesn’t trust or dare to deal with the police, and either has something to do with Garrett Swann’s death or has a criminal record of her own.
Blackie then brought Matthew to investigate the details of Arness Snow and learned that Arness Snow was indeed out on bail.
After figuring out what was going on, the two of them, Blackie and Porter, went up to the 3rd floor of the apartment and knocked on the door of the room in apartment 302.
“Knock knock.”
There was no answer.
Black shouted, “Arness Snow, I know you’re in your room and I know you’re on bail.
You are now involved in a shooting and we would like to ask for your assistance in the investigation.”
The apartment room remained silent.
“We know that you have been to the scene of the crime and we know that you were with Garrett Swann when he died. You’d better cooperate with the police investigation and tell us what happened, otherwise, you’ll be listed as a suspect in the shooting as well.
You should know what that means.”
After a while, the door to the apartment room slowly opened, and a blonde woman slowly revealed her head, “Are you really the police?”
“If we were the shooter’s accomplices, you’d probably be dead by now.”
The blonde woman sighed softly before fully opening the door to the room, “Sorry, I was scared.”
Black asked, “What’s your name?”
“Arness Snow.”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t want the neighbors to hear us talking, so I suggest a different place to talk.”
Arness Snow hesitated and flicked aside, “Come in and talk amongst yourselves.”
Black stepped into the room and surveyed the apartment, it was a bit of a mess, clothes were randomly placed, there were two pairs of underwear on the couch alone, and the room smelled strongly of perfume.
“Sorry about the mess.” The woman said as she gathered up the clothes, “Make yourself at home.”
Black asked, “What kind of business are you in?”
Arness Snow asked back, “Sir, are you trying to understand the case or are you trying to pick me up?”
Black smiled, “SORRY, I’m afraid I’ve disappointed you, I’m married.”
“Look, I don’t want any trouble, like you said before, I’m on bail, I can tell you guys what I know, but …… I need to make sure I’m safe and free too.”
Blackie opened the door, “We’ve looked up your information and know your case history, we’re here to investigate a shooting case, as long as you’re not Garrett Swann’s murderer, what you’ve explained won’t be used as evidence to charge you with your own crime.
As long as you’re not guilty of anything serious, we can give you an immunity deal.”
“There will be no effect on my bail?”
“Yes.”
“OK, you guys ask.”
“What is your relationship with Garrett Swann?”
“He was my guest.”
“What kind of guest?”
“He pays and I accompany him to applaud for love, you know.”
Blackie said, “You’re still on bail and you’re out doing it?”
“Where else would I get bail?”
“Why daytime, isn’t this sort of thing usually done at night?”
“You’re right, most people come out at night to have fun.
But there’s a small group of clientele who prefer the daytime, men with families for example, who can easily be caught by their wives when they come out at night to have fun.
It’s different during the day, pretending to go to work and coming home at night as a good husband, not affecting the family and having fun at the same time.
Besides, some guests feel safer during the day.
That’s what I was thinking.”
“Why did you and Garrett Swann go to the Patou Apartments instead of renting a hotel?”
Arness Snow said, “Garrett Swann is a realtor, and in his words, he has a large number of unused properties on hand that are more restful than a hotel, still cost less money, and more importantly, are safer, so he usually makes an appointment at a house, and it’s a different house every time.
In his words, it’s more exciting to clap for love in other people’s houses.”
“Describe what happened at Patou’s apartment.”
Arness Snow thought for a moment, “We took the elevator up to the 6th floor and he opened the door to apartment room 611 to see a strange man, we were all a little surprised at the time.
Garrett Swann then asked, “Who are you? Why are you here?” Arness Snow showed a look of fear: “Then the strange man took out a pistol and just shot.
I was so frightened that I turned around and ran outside, into the stairway, and I lost my shoes so that I could escape the chase.”
“He did not pursue you?”
“I think he did, but then he disappeared …… and I got my life back.”
“What did the guy look like?”
“Like a Latino, male, black hair, medium size …… If I had a picture, I would have recognized it.”
The problem now was precisely that the police had not found a photo of the man suspected of being the shooter.
Black got up, “Come with us to the police station.”
Arness Snow showed a nervous look, “I thought you said you wouldn’t charge me?”
“Provided that you help us make a criminal investigation sketch portrait, when it’s done, the police won’t pursue you for applauding for love.”
“Can I not go?”
“That will only make the police more suspicious of you.”
Arness Snow hesitated slightly, “Give me five minutes, I’ll change.”
Five minutes later, Black, Potter, and Arness Snow exited the apartment door.
“You guys wait, I’ll bring the car around.” Potter said and went straight to the parking lot.
Arness Snow asked with some concern, “If I do a criminal investigation sketch portrait, you guys really won’t pursue me for selling silver?”
“Our Robbery and Murder Division specializes in homicide cases, and things like selling silver are out of our hands.”
Hearing Black’s words, Yanis Snow was visibly relieved and curiously said, “Why was that gunman at the apartment? Was he there to kill Garrett Swann?”
Black shrugged, “The case is still under investigation, so we can’t be sure for now.”
“Whoops ……”
A black Ford Explorer drove up.
“Get in.” Blacky led Arness Snow toward the curb.
Suddenly, a harsh wind whistled past Blackie.
“Bang!” With a sound, Arness Snow’s body leaned back and flew out, landing heavily on the ground.
“Watch out, there’s a gunman!”