Chapter 39

Dave was knocked straight through the door and landed hard on the floor.

By the time he reacted, he had his hands cuffed and was read the ‘Miranda’ warning.

“FUCK, what is wrong with you guys? Why are you breaking into my house.” Dave shouted angrily.

Susan asked, “Where’s Alyssa?”

“Do you have a warrant?”

Luke flashed a search warrant and an arrest warrant, “Mr. Lawyer, we have whatever you want.”

Dave tilted his head and took a deep breath, “I can tell you guys, but I need to see her again.”

Susan nodded, “Go ahead.”

“She’s in the basement, the key is in my jacket pocket, don’t scare her.”

Marcus stared with wide eyes, “Whoa whoa, did I hear you right, how come it seems like we’re the bad guys?”

Dave ignored Marcus and turned to Luke, “How did you guys find out about me?”

“Curious?”

“Of course, I asked myself if I’d done anything wrong.”

“I’m also interested in your motives and process, let’s talk about it later.”

“OK.”

Jenny helped Eliza out.

Alisa, with a blanket draped over her body, glared at Dave with a death glare and choked out, “You smug bastard, I told you to let me go a long time ago. Now you cops are busted and waiting to go to jail.”

Dave squeezed out a smile, “Alisa, I don’t regret it. If I had to do it all over again, I’d do it again. At least, you belong to me alone for this time.”

“You crazy bastard, I never want to see you again.” Eliza said and left.

David gave Dave a shove, “Hey, stop playing the lover boy, it’s time for you to get a new home.”

Dave stood next to the police car and took another look at his two-story villa, “Please be careful when your coworkers search it, I spent a lot of money on renovations.”

Dave laughed, “Don’t worry about it, this place is no longer your concern.”

Dave was taken back to the Detective Bureau for custody.

The scene investigation continued into the wee hours of the morning and the BMW was pulled back to the Detective Bureau.

Tonight, Luke worked an unprecedented amount of overtime, voluntarily.

After so many days of hard work viewing the scene, when it came time to show his face, a fool would leave.

At two in the morning, Luke sat in his office and yawned, it had been a relatively comfortable time, a little uncomfortable with overnight overtime.

“Cluck ……”

The office door was pushed open and a middle-aged black man in a police uniform walked in.

Reed Hussein, Deputy Chief of the Detective Bureau and Director of the Robbery and Murder Division.

Chief Reed placed a tote bag on the desk, “Good work everyone, I brought you a late night snack.”

“Hey, that’s very thoughtful of you, my stomach has been protesting for a long time ……,” Marcus grinned his thick lips and waved his right hand out in an attempt to make a fist bumping motion.

Reed didn’t respond and Marcus awkwardly withdrew his hand.

“Take whatever you want, you’re welcome.” Reed replied back without being rude, and took his breakfast out of the bag and handed it to the lieutenant, “Your hot dog and nonfat vanilla latte.”

The lieutenant laughed, “Wow wow, I didn’t think you’d remember after all these years.”

Reed tapped his heart, “I remember everything you said.”

Luke was also hungry and grabbed a donut and a carton of milk.

Reed offered a greeting, “Luke, I hear you’ve been doing a good job lately, and you’re the one who found Dave’s clue.”

“I’m just doing what needs to be done, it’s mostly you and the captain and lieutenants who are leading the way.”

Reed was a bit surprised and smiled, “Young man has a future, I think highly of you.”

Chief Reed chatted with the team for a while and didn’t bring up too much about the case, before leaving, he said to Susan, “Captain, get Dave’s statement as soon as possible.”

“I will.”

After watching the Chief leave, David grimaced at Luke, “You’re a real ass-kisser.”

“It’s only called ass-kissing when someone with no skills says so, it’s called humility to someone like me who just got credit for something.”

David chuckled.

Luke snickered, “Want to add you after that next time? The Chief, the Captain, the Lieutenant, and Detective David.”

“No, I’m afraid of being laughed at.”

Susan finished her burger, took a sip of her coffee, and turned to Jenny, who was standing by, and asked, “How’s Alyssa doing?”

“No more physical problems, just freaked out and a little emotionally unstable.”

“Take her to the station, we need to talk to her before we interrogate Dave.”

“Yes, captain.”

An hour later, Alyssa arrived at the Robbery-Murder Division lounge.

Luke and Jenny took her statement while Susan sat in.

Luke made a brief introduction of himself and got right to the point, “Alyssa, were you kidnapped by Dave?”

“Yes.”

“Did Dave have any other accomplices?”

“I don’t think so, I’ve only seen him alone.”

“What about Steven?”

“No, this has nothing to do with Steven, he didn’t kidnap me.”

Susan was a little surprised, the police had previously thought Steven was skittish and thought he and Dave were in cahoots, “Did Dave mention Steven?”

Alisa repeated Dave’s words.

After hearing it, the three police officers present were a bit surprised.

The real suspect was Dave, and Steven was just the scapegoat who was fooled into limping.

Dave being put in the trunk was not a double act by the two men, but a bitter trick that he directed himself.

After a moment of silence, Luke took out a picture of Tony Weir: “Do you recognize this man?”

Eliza looked closely, “No.”

“Can you describe the kidnapping?”

Alisa pinched her forehead, “Can I …… have some wine?”

“No, it’s best to give a statement while sober.” Susan intoned, “Alyssa, I know this is hard and will be painful for you.

Dave is a lawyer, smart, cunning, and familiar with the process of handling a case.

We have to be careful with the case process, we can’t make the slightest mistake, otherwise once Dave catches a loophole, he will probably get off the hook.”

“You’re right, he’s a scary bastard.” Alyssa took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and described the case.

“One time I was performing at a club and Dave saw it and told me not to continue dancing at the club.

And promised me a large sum of money if I resigned from the club and left Steven.

I didn’t agree and Dave got annoyed and took pictures of me dancing and put them in my parents’ house.

We had a big fight.

That night, March 4th, I finished the show.

Dave found me and said he wanted to talk to me and I got into his car.

He again offered to let me quit my job and leave Steve and said he would let me have the life I wanted.

Again, I refused.

After that, he tasered me and I was taken home by him and imprisoned in the basement.

I kept begging him to let me go until you guys saved me.

Thank you. I can’t thank you enough.

I don’t know how long I would have lasted if you guys hadn’t rescued me in time.” Alyssa couldn’t help but cry.

Luke jotted down the highlights in his book, “How do you know that Dave was the one who put the pictures in your parents’ house? Did he admit it himself?”

“It was my guess, who else but him?”

Luke pulled out another picture of Harry, “Do you recognize him?”

Alyssa looked closer, “Yes, he was a guest at the club and had a run in with me.”

“He’s the one who put the picture there, and it was put in your courier locker.”

Alisa sighed softly, “Did I wrong Dave? If I hadn’t misunderstood him in the first place, wouldn’t I have been kidnapped?” Alisa frowned slightly as if she remembered something, “Did Steven really put the photos in my parents’ house on purpose?”

“Yes, Steven has admitted it, and that’s why the police suspected him.”

Alyssa brought up a sob, “Why did he do it, why did he do this to me, did he think I wanted to do a striptease? He hasn’t had a job in two or three years and I’ve been laid off from my company, I can’t keep relying on my parents to pick up the slack.

How could I do something like this if I wasn’t trying to support the family? Who am I doing it for?”

Eliza cried for a while before her emotions stabilized.

Luke gave her a few tissues and asked, “Did Dave mention anything about the fifteen thousand dollars?”

Alyssa wiped her tear tracks, “Yes, and Dave showed me the IOU, do you know what my husband borrowed the money for?”

“Steven used the money to rent the stores and wanted to open a restaurant to surprise you.” Luke checked Dave’s bank for large money flows and there was a large cash outlay around February 10th.

It matched the rent and timing that Steven had used to lease the stores, and Alyssa’s words corroborated it.

“Really?”

“That’s what the landlord said.”

“Dave the liar, he must have known about this or he couldn’t have lent Steven the money. And falsely accused Steven of fooling around. I almost believed him.”

Luke said darkly, you’re not the only one who’s been lied to. The police have been led around by the nose as well.

Dave lending money to Steven to rent the store was never out of good intentions.

According to the driving record of the BMW, Dave had been to the store, and more than once.

Dave used the store to set up a trap, making people think that Eliza was killed, and solidifying Steven’s suspicion of robbery and murder.

Steven was fooled by him to escape, once he learned that he was wanted by the police, and how dare he easily back to Los Angeles.

The police can’t catch Steven and the case can’t be cleared up.

Dave is still the same respected lawyer, and Alisa is a ‘dead man’, no one would have thought she was being held in the basement of Dave’s house.

If Luke hadn’t found the clue to the white BMW, Dave would probably have escaped justice.