Chapter 343
Forty minutes later.
The Vice Squad and Blackie returned to the Detective Bureau.
Luke asked, “Did you get a lead on the shooter?”
Blackie poured a cup of coffee and sat on the table and said, “The shooter is still sniping from a long distance, the shooting location is most likely on the roof of a five-story building in the southeast direction, the shooting location was cleaned up, and there were no valuable clues found, and no bullet casings were found.”
“How was it determined that the shooting location was on the roof of the building?”
The lieutenant replied, “We backtracked based on the location and position of where Arness Snow was shot, in addition, we gave statements to the people in the building, and by summarizing the contents of the statements, it seems that the shooter had the highest probability of shooting on the roof of the building.”
Luke continued, “How did the shooter find Arness Snow?”
Blackie said, “According to Arness Snow, realtor Garrett Swann approached her to applaud her love at that rented apartment house, which in Garrett Swann’s words was safe, money-saving, exciting, and she didn’t have to worry about her wife finding out.
When he came home tired of tossing and turning, his wife thought he was working hard, and was heartbroken, extra food, and a cheeky bastard.
The two Janice Snow’s walked to the door of their apartment, opened it and saw the Latino gunman, who shot Garrett Swann before she could react.
She freaked out and turned to run, dropping her shoes and backpack.
My guess is that the gunman picked up her backpack and obtained a residence address based on the papers in it.”
Luke asked, “Were there any witnesses to the shooter?”
The lieutenant said, “Not yet.
It’s also clear from this that the shooter is a meticulous person with a detailed plan.
If it wasn’t for the first accident, it would be hard for us to get exact information about him.”
Blackie asked, “What about Jackson and Jenny?”
“Ringing ……”
Luke’s cell phone rang and he glanced at the screen and pressed the answer button.
Jackson’s voice came from the phone, “Captain, we went to the Salipo car dealership and pulled up the records of the dealership’s recent receipts and sales, and found that around September 7th, the dealership sold a black Chevrolet sedan, the model and color of which is the same as the suspect vehicle.”
Luke asked, “Did you find out the information about the purchaser of the car?”
“Got it, I sent the purchaser’s driver’s license information to the chat group.”
Name, Darnio Gonzalez
Gender, male
Height, 181cm
Weight, 147 pounds
Eye color, brown
Hair color, brown
Date of birth, March 22, 1998
Cell phone number, 626 836 8492
License plate number, 2dib373
Address, 309 Odell Community.
8:00 PM.
O’Dell Community.
Luke leads the group to the O’Dell neighborhood, and the three cars drive at low speeds along the neighborhood streets.
Luke opened the passenger side window and looked out the window at the houses, this was a typical Latin American immigrant neighborhood, the houses were decorated with obvious Latin American characteristics, and the yards with small fiery red peppers looked appetizing.
However, what makes Luke a little puzzled is that most of the houses along the street are not lit, and there are cars parked outside the garage, which should be inhabited, and it’s only eight o’clock in the evening, so it’s reasonable that they shouldn’t go to bed so early, and where did the people go?
The suspect’s house lives in the community 309, the car drove by at a constant speed without stopping, but it does not affect Luke in the car to observe, the house is not lit, the door put a black Chevrolet sedan, and the suspect vehicle’s amount, the same color.
It was safe to assume that this was the home of the suspect, Dalnio Gonzalez.
However, from what’s available, it’s likely he wasn’t home either.
It’s normal for a neighborhood to have vacant homes or residents who come back late, but there’s something unusual about most of the homes not having lights on.
Luke was about to get out of the car and ask to find out more about the community when he suddenly saw lights in the distance, as if he was organizing some kind of event.
The car drove close to find that it is the community park, the scale is not very large, but there are a lot of people, it is estimated that there must be nearly a hundred people will be small park crowded full.
Outside the park, older people gathered together in groups of three to five drinking, children running around and playing, the center of an open space built a bonfire, many young people dancing around the bonfire.
Luke got out of the car, observing the happy crowd in the park, with dynamic music echoing in his ears, somewhat similar to Latin American folk music.
Blackie walked over as well, staring at the women dancing around the bonfire, “Jesus Christ, that chick’s ass is huge, it’s catching up to the Kardashians.”
Luke laughed, “Your type, huh?”
“NoNoNo, I’m a married man now, I’m just simply admiring it, and helping you with your counseling in the meantime.” Black finished and changed the subject, “What are they dancing to again?
Rumba? Cha-cha-cha? Or samba?”
Luke ignored Xiao Hei and searched the crowd with his eyes, quickly locking on to the target he was looking for.
Looking at the joyful crowd, Luke didn’t want to make too much of a scene, and set up a mission to his team members, dividing them into smaller groups to lay out around the area, waiting for the right moment to make an arrest.
Luke blended into the crowd, grabbed a beer from the table, and drank it while admiring the Latin girls dancing around the campfire, plump, hot, and not shy about showing off their beauty.
Blackie and Jackson were having even more fun, running right up to the bonfire to dance, and Blackie even had a dance off with suspect Dalinho Gonzalez.
Porter sighed softly as he leaned against the car and looked over to Ramon in the cab, “Do you think they’re really here to make an arrest?”
Ramon smiled, “Just get used to it.”
“I’m going to go call my wife and greet me if there’s a situation.” Potter finished and got into the other car, closing the windows.
The crowd began to disperse around 9:00 pm.
The suspect, Dalnio Gonzalez, also went home with the two young men, and on the way the two friends went home one by one, leaving Dalnio Gonzalez alone.
A black SUV drove by slowly, the passenger side glass opened and Blackie showed his head, “Hey man, you’re a good dancer. Got a boyfriend?”
Dalinho Gonzalez laughed, “No, I’m straight.”
“My name is Marcus.”
“Dalnio Gonzalez.
Do you live here too?”
“No, I was visiting a friend and he wasn’t home so we went to the park to look for him.”
“Did you find him?”
“Yes, I found it.”
Black opened the car door and jumped right out of the car.
Darnio seemed to sense the abnormality as well, “Who are you? I don’t recognize you.”
Blacky pulled out his pistol, “LAPD, put your hands where I can see them.”
Dalnio turned around, as if he wanted to wait for an opportunity to escape, but to his despair, several people surrounded him, guns in their hands.
Darneo hurriedly raised his hands, “Hey, hey, I’m unarmed, don’t shoot.
You guys must have the wrong guy, I’m a good guy.”
“Man, hands on your head, don’t move.” Jackson stepped forward and cuffed Dalnio Gonzalez’s hands and routinely searched him, “No weapon.”
Luke stepped closer, “Know why we’re here for you?”
“Are you really cops?”
Luke flashed his badge, “I’m Captain of Squadron One, Robbery Murder Division, Luke Lee.”
“Robbery Murder Division?” Darnio showed a nervous look, “Why are you looking for me?”
“That’s for you to ask yourself, what have you done?”
“I haven’t done anything, I’ve been in L.A. less than three months.”
“Do you know Bart Ramos?”
“The name sounds a little familiar, uh …… I remember, he’s the owner of the Salipo car dealership, I’ve bought a car from him before.”
“What kind of car?”
“A black Chevy, what’s the problem?”
“Have you ever been to Bart Ramos’ house?”
“No,” Dalnio said, hurriedly lowering his head.
“Head up.” Luke waved his hand and looked at the other man, “The word lie is written on your face, you’ve definitely been to Bart Ramos’ house.”
Darnio’s forehead was disgruntled with fine beads of sweat and Luke could see his body trembling slightly.
Luke could see his fear.
Earlier, after checking him out, Luke had carefully analyzed his situation.
From the previous clues of checking the case, the gunman was most likely a professional killer.
When a professional killer killed someone, the probability was that he was hired.
In other words, a professional killer should not have a direct connection with the victim, and the one who has a connection with the victim should be the employer.
And Dalinho went to the Salipo car dealership to buy a car, there was a connection between the two parties, and the police found out the other party’s whereabouts because of that.
Then, there is a question mark hanging over whether the murder of Bart Ramos and the murder of his family’s husky were the work of the same murderer.
The first possibility is that the person who killed the dog and the person who killed Bart Ramos are not the same person.
The second possibility, the person who killed the dog was a professional killer himself, and because of the conflict with Bart Ramos over the purchase of a car, he went to Bart Ramos’s house to step on the spot to have an accident and kill the dog, and was not hired by anyone else.
Luke just inquired a few questions, and Dalinho showed a look of panic, and did not have the calmness of a professional killer.
Luke continued to test the waters, “Where were you between ten and eleven a.m. on November 12th?
Think before you speak, the fact that we can find you means we have definitive proof.”
Darnio opened his mouth and looked at Luke and then at the others.
“Man, if you still want to dance free be honest and don’t get yourself in trouble.” Black admonished.
Darnio was silent for a few moments before slowly saying, “That’s right, I went to Bart Ramos’ house.”
“To do what?”
“To argue with him and get back the money that belongs to me.”
“What do you mean by money that belongs to you?”
“Bart Ramos cheated me out of my money.
I went to buy a car at the Salipo dealership, and at first it was a good deal, and I bought a car at their dealership out of trust, and I came back and helped promote the dealership, and then I told my friends about it, and I realized that I’d been duped.”
“The black Chevrolet Chi sedan?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you go to the police or sue the Salipo car dealership if you felt you’d been duped?”
“It’s no use, the quality of the car was fine, there was nothing wrong with the hardware, I got ripped off because their service routine was so deep I couldn’t even play them.”
“What set of ways?”
“Two ruses, the first one was the interest on the loan and the second one was the warranty.
The loan I took out to buy this car was very high, almost as high as a loan shark.
The car cost $11,000, the warranty was $1,500, and miscellaneous fees totaled $13,000 for the purchase.
I paid $3,000 and took out a $10,000 loan.
Paying back $370 a month for a total of 36 months, that’s $3,300 in interest alone.”
Black frowned, “You didn’t notice anything wrong with that interest rate at the time? Why would you choose such a high interest rate for the loan?”
“I knew that the interest rate on the loan was high, but I had just moved to Los Angeles, and Bart Ramos said that I hadn’t built up enough credit to choose only this bank with this kind of interest rate, and I was half-convinced.
I had just moved to Los Angeles and didn’t know a lot of things, and I needed a car in order to work and live.
It wasn’t until later, when I talked to a friend I knew about it, that I realized I had been scammed, that there was no such thing in Los Angeles, and that the money should have landed in the car dealership’s pockets.
I had a hard time facing this situation, and all I could choose to do was work hard to make money and settle early.” Dalnio sighed and continued.
“You know what?
That’s not even what pissed me off the most, what pissed me off even more was that 3 year warranty for 1500 dollars.
At the time, Bart Ramos was telling me all about it, saying that I could have the car repaired for free whenever it broke down, and I thought it was pretty much guaranteed at the time.
One time the tire leaked and I went to the dealership to have it serviced, only to find out that it wasn’t covered by the warranty.
Later, I read the warranty contract carefully and found that tire leaks, windshield wipers, and other miscellaneous things were not covered.
The warranty was responsible for only major repairs, such as the engine, main beam, etc.
I realized I had been fooled, a car that drives normally and doesn’t get into accidents doesn’t even use this contract, which is like giving them $1500 for nothing.
I realized I’d been screwed and was just a big, dim-witted fool.”
“So you decided to kill Bart Ramos?”
“No, I didn’t kill him, I just wanted to talk to him, the first time I went to his store and got beat out by him and the guys from the dealership, there were so many of them that I was no match for them alone.
The second time, that is, on the 12th day, I went to their house to theorize, and it turned out that the husky they had was going to bite me …… out of self-preservation, and killed the dog.”
“How did you kill it?”
“Shot to death with a crossbow, after which I left.”
“Where were you from eight thirty to nine thirty this morning?”
“I had the day off, and was sleeping at home.”
“Who can testify to that?”
“My mom and brother can testify.”
“Where were they?”
“They broke up before me and should have gone home already.” Dalnio finished and asked rhetorically, “Sir, that dog bit me first, I just killed a dog, no need to make such a big deal out of it.
I’ve heard of the Robbery and Murder Division, don’t you usually only solve murder cases?
How come you also handle dog killing cases.”
Luke said, “Bart Ramos is dead.”
“When?” Darnio gave a surprised look.
“This morning.”
Darneo became nervous and took a step back, “You suspect I killed him?”
“Did you?”
“No, I didn’t even leave the house this morning, and I’m not going to kill someone for a few thousand dollars, it’s just not worth it.
In fact, I’ve regretted killing a dog since the last time it happened.
I’m not going to kill anyone at all, and this has nothing to do with me.”
Luke stared at the other man’s demeanor and found no obvious signs of lying.
However, he wasn’t completely convinced either, and asked Ramon to take someone to Dalnio’s house to give statements to his mother and brother to confirm his alibi.