Chapter 363

Black walked over to Brando Salvatore and crouched down to check his nostrils, then shook him twice, “Pop! Snap!”

Brando Salvatore still did not wake up.

Blackie said to Luke, who was on the side, “Your punch was too heavy, this unlucky guy was knocked out.”

Luke laughed, “Then hurry up and give him artificial respiration.”

Blackie shook his head, “Disgusting, I don’t want it.”

He went back to the cellar and grabbed a bottle of wine, unscrewed the cap and poured it directly on Brando Salvatore’s face.

“Coughing ……,” Brando Salvatore choked and woke up from the liquor.

Blackie said with a smug look on his face, “How’s this for first aid.”

Luke took the bottle and took a sip, “Not bad.”

Brando Salvatore was searched, handcuffed, and escorted to the first floor lobby.

Alfie Imma swept in and laughed, “Captain Lee, looks like you got lucky.”

“That’s right, this asshole was drunk when we arrived and was lying in the wine cellar sleeping.”

Alfie Imma laughed, “No wonder his cheeks are a little red.”

Luke looked around, in addition to the three Latino men from earlier, there were two more subdued men, one Latino and one black.

Luke asked, “What are you going to do about these people?”

Alfie Yima said nonchalantly, “Send the injured to the hospital, leave the two familiar looking ones to hold up the scene, then come in and arrest one, what do you think of this plan?”

“It’s a lot of work, need any help?”

“If you want to stay, I’m begging for it.”

Luke patted Brando Salvatore on the shoulder, “Sorry, I’ve promised this guy a tour back at the station.

However, I can leave you with a couple of guys to help out, they’re all good.”

“Thanks.” Alfie Ima smiled noncommittally, “By the way, if you can’t talk to this guy, you can hand him over to the FBI, we have ways to get him to talk.”

“Don’t bother.” Luke dropped the sentence and escorted Brando Salvatore out the door.

Walking to the door of the bar, Luke called out to Ramon and instructed, “You take someone to stay behind …… Call me if there’s a situation.”

Luke gave a you-know-what expression.

“Understood.” Raymond nodded.

The police were involved in this arrest, and it was already time to close the net, so naturally, they couldn’t let the FBI take all the credit, and the Robbery and Murder Division had to get a piece of the action as well.

The police escorted several suspects into the car from the back, trying not to attract the attention of others.

Blackie got into the car and stretched, “Captain, after interrogating Brando Salvatore, won’t we get off early?”

Luke leaned back in his seat, “Don’t be too optimistic, better be prepared for a long struggle.”

Black sighed, “I’ve been up late for days on end, my eyes are dark.”

Luke looked at him and laughed, “The fact that you can still joke proves that your spirit is good and you can still stay up for a few more nights.”

“That’s for the sake of overtime pay.” Black shrugged, “OK, on a practical note, what do you guys want to eat?

I don’t want to work hungry.”

Luke said, “Order what you see fit, as long as it’s not a damn burger.”

If they didn’t eat now, it might be after midnight when they were busy, and by then the restaurant would be closed and they’d have to nibble on bread.

Back at the Detective Bureau, Porter took Brando Salvatore to check into custody.

Luke was busy and had a taco to fill his stomach, then went into the interrogation room with a large cup of coffee.

Brando Salvatore was already handcuffed to the interrogation chair, his left cheek swollen.

Luke sat across from him and asked, “Use a compress?”

Brando Salvatore looked at Luke and shook his head, “No need.”

Luke asked, “What’s your name?”

“Brando Salvatore.”

“Where from?”

“The city of Los Angeles.”

“And why did you join the Gunside Gang?”

Brando Salvatore shook his head, “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Luke took a sip of his coffee and said patiently, “You’re not the first member of a smuggling organization we’ve caught, there was a gang member who was as tough-talking as you were before, unwilling to assist the police in their investigation.

I had no choice but to hand him over to the FBI.

By the time I saw him …… again, he was already unrecognizable.

Now that I think about it, maybe we police are too nice.

Do you also want to be handed over to the FBI?”

A look of panic appeared on Brando’s face, and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just lowered his head.

“I see.” Luke put his notebook and pen in front of the other party, “Write down anything you want to tell your family.

I’ll contact the FBI to pick them up.”

Brando’s eyes reddened as he argued, “The FBI can’t kill people indiscriminately either.”

Luke stared at the other man and smiled, putting his notebook and pen back, “You’re right, it’s up to you to write or not.”

Seeing Luke’s smile instead made Brando Salvatore a little flustered, “Hey, you can’t do that, you don’t know how scary the Gunside Gang is, if they know I betrayed ……

me and my family would be in danger.”

Luke said, “The FBI and the police are ready to eradicate the Gunside Gang.”

“That’s only in Los Angeles, the Gunside Gang’s home base is in Mexico, you don’t have what it takes to eradicate them.

After a while, they’ll make a comeback.”

Luke said, “Whether they’ll come back after a while I’m not sure, but you’re dealing with the FBI and the police now.

Witnesses have seen you dropping bombs at the Vaughn Jiu-Jitsu Club, and your ups company’s dispatch system has a record of it.

You are the murderer!

If you’re not willing to name the man behind it, you’re going to be held responsible for this case.

There’s no plea bargain. You’ll go straight to trial.

What the jury will decide, I’m sure you know very well.”

“No, I’m not a murderer, I’m innocent, it was just a regular delivery, there was no bomb in it at all.

And even if there was a bomb, it has nothing to do with me, I’m just a courier, not a sender, that courier didn’t belong to me.” Brando Salvatore looked very agitated.

“Then what are you running for? Why didn’t you stop when the police car stopped you?”

“I thought I was speeding and didn’t want to get in trouble.”

“So you went out of your way to have an accomplice stop the police car and shoot at the officer?”

“I did not.”

“Don’t be so quick to deny it, the FBI and the police will be all over your accomplice, and even if you don’t admit it, they’ll identify you just the same.”

Brando Salvatore was silent again.

Luke advised, “I know what you’re worried about.

You’re afraid that you’ll be retaliated if you betray the Gonzadeh Gang.

In fact, there is no need to do so, I just said that the police and the FBI will clear out all the Gonzadeh gang members in Los Angeles.

The Gonzales can’t retaliate against everyone, and they don’t know who the rat is.

And I guarantee you, it’s definitely not just you.

If you don’t talk, they will.

And there’s a limit to the number of favorable plea deals that the police will give only to the first ones who help solve the case.

And that’s the only way you’ll escape the death penalty.

Understand?”

Brando Salvatore hesitated for several moments and said slowly, “I’m telling the truth, I really didn’t know there was a bomb in that delivery.”

“Then why did you have your accomplice stop the police car?”

“I was worried that you guys were here to arrest me?”

“Why arrest you?”

“I …… was dealing drugs, I thought you guys were here to arrest drugs.”

“You sell drugs by delivery?”

“Yes, because I’m a courier, I’m delivering packages to strangers every day, and I can drive to places without arousing suspicion.

There’s also no bunching and clustering, so you don’t have to worry about being spotted by the police, and the customers just have to wait at home to receive the drugs.”

“Where do the drugs come from?”

“The Gunside gang.”

“You’re a member of this gang?”

“I don’t know if I count.

You should know it’s a predominantly Latino gang, and I’m more than a little embarrassed about my status.

I also know they won’t trust me completely.

But I need the money.”

Luke said, “Is it possible that because it’s you white, the top of the gang doesn’t fully trust you and secretly put a bomb in the delivery.

If things go well and all is happy, it’s kind of your pitch.

If it doesn’t go well and you can’t be kept, just do it and get it over with.”

“I don’t know, my mind is a mess right now.

Even though I made a delivery at that jiu-jitsu club, are you sure there was a bomb in the package?”

Luke asked rhetorically, “Do you know Natasha?”

Brando thought for a moment and shook his head, “The name is somewhat familiar, but I can’t recall who it is.”

“She’s the one who collects the deliveries.”

“I haven’t seen her, I remember a young Latino man receiving the delivery.”

Luke pressed, “What did he say to you then?”

“Nothing, just helped sign for the delivery.”

“On second thought, you really never heard of Natasha?”

Brando pondered for a while, “I don’t know.”

Luke was also a bit helpless, this guy was a gang bottom, he probably wouldn’t know about the conflict between Natasha and the gang.

Luke had been watching him and saw no obvious signs of lying.

Previously, the police identified Brando as the bomb thrower based on two reasons, the first reason was from Carlos’s identification, according to Carlos, he was signing for the courier and handed it over to Natasha, who took it up to the second floor office, and it wasn’t long after that that the explosion occurred.

The police named Brando, the courier, as a suspect, and at the time it was only a suspicion, with no direct evidence.

Later, the police found the whereabouts of Brando tried to stop the car he was driving, but it turned out that not only did he not stop, the police car that was tracking him was also stopped and shot at, which instead solidified the suspicion of Brando Salvatore.

If, according to Brando’s account, the reason why he escaped and why his accomplices intercepted him was because he was dealing drugs, and not because of the bomb, then it would be questionable whether he was the suspect who dropped the bomb.

Luke didn’t find any signs of lying on the other side, which meant that the other side was probably telling the truth, so there were two possibilities.

The first possibility, there was indeed a bomb in the courier he dropped off, he just didn’t know it himself, he was just being used by the top brass of the Gunside gang.

The second possibility, there was someone else who killed Natasha, neither the Gunside Gang nor Brando knew about it, they were just scapegoats found by the mastermind behind the scene.

Luke analyzed that the second possibility might be a little more likely.

If there really is a mastermind who would the other side be?

Other smuggling organizations?

Perseus Tower?

Let’s assume that the mastermind behind the crime is the Perestroika gang.

They did have the motive, they wanted Natasha dead, plus they could frame the Gunside Gang, so that the FBI and the police could sweep up the Gunside Gang, thus gaining exclusive access to the smuggling market.

If Luke hadn’t gotten Carlos, the Posta Gang would indeed be the biggest beneficiary from the current situation.

If that was the case, then was Carlos still hiding something?

Luke had previously found out that Carlos had a problem by asking relevant questions and discovered that the other party had signs of lying and hiding, only that he couldn’t be sure at that time, which was why he deliberately hid himself, and after that, Carlos attempted to escape from the hospital, indirectly confirming Luke’s speculation.

He also carefully recalled the exchange with Carlos, although he had signs of lying, but when he talked about the bomb and Natasha’s sincere expression, he did not see a lying expression.

If he hadn’t lied, then what was the problem?

Luke delves into speculation, the first possibility is that the bomb has nothing to do with the Perseus Tower Gang that Carlos is a part of, and that some other smuggling organization may have been behind it.

The second possibility, the bomb was indeed dropped by the Posta Gang, but the top management of the Posta Gang didn’t tell Carlos about it, but delivered the bomb through other people or channels.

Luke analyzes the possibilities, and now by eliminating the unlikely options, the remaining possibility is the truth.

For that, he needs to investigate more evidence.

After clearing his mind Luke asked again, “Who were the people who stopped the police car and shot at the police that day?”

“They were also members of the Gunside Gang.”

“What were the names?”

Brando thought for a moment and replied, “One was named Leandro Scola, one was named Luis Barbosa, and one was shot and killed and buried outright.”

Luke wrote down the names of the two men and contacted Ramon to focus on those two.

Luke asked a few more questions about the Gunside gang, but Brando Salvatore was only on the periphery of the gang and knew very little.

The interrogation was over.

Luke and Blackie walked out of the interrogation room.

Blacky sighed, “I thought I had caught the murderer, who knew the case had become complicated again, what do you think?”

Luke frowned, “The people who should be asked have been asked, now we can only investigate from other clues.

You contact the ups courier company again and re-verify that courier that was sent to Natasha.”

Blackie replied, “Didn’t we already check this before? Natasha bought a multi-function socket from Amazon.com.

There shouldn’t be any problems with a company of this magnitude.”

“I’m not suspecting Amazon.com, but I’m asking you to investigate which channel in the courier delivery process can place a bomb.

Find out anyone who could have access to the courier, understand?”

Black spread his hands, “That’s a big job.”

“You can ask the vice squad for help.” Luke finished and turned to leave.

“Where are you going?”

“Genovese bar.

Brando’s just a peripheral junior, doesn’t know much. Maybe the FBI has caught the big fish and I don’t want to miss it.”