Chapter 407
Seven o’clock in the evening.
There were more customers in the Melkite Bar.
A tall, thin white man walked into the bar with a very characteristic hawkish nose, a black suit, and dragging a trolley case behind him.
“Hey guys, long time no see.” The white man waved in greeting.
A black man laughed, “Yo, if it isn’t the great magician David Marco, long time no see.”
“Yay, I have my magic show tonight.”
“Is it the same poker trick as last time?”
“No, this time it’s a new magic trick that you’ll never forget, look forward to it.”
The black man joked, “Can you change a wife for me?”
“Haha ……” Everyone around them laughed.
David Marco shook his head and said to the bar, “Tommy, how’s it going?”
“The usual.
The boss is backstage.”
“I know, I’m on my way.” David Marco finished and snapped his fingers, “Guys, this round is on me, enjoy.”
“Thanks.”
“You stingy bastard are finally being generous for once.”
“Man, did you get rich? If I remember correctly, this should be your first treat.”
“I’ll drink well, this is truly a once in a lifetime treat, haha.”
“To David.”
A few familiar guests raised their glasses and raised their voices.
“Bunch of ill-bred assholes.” David Marco shook his head and walked into the backstage of the bar.
David Malco looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar backstage, stopped and lingered for a moment, then walked down the hallway and inward, opening the door to the lounge.
Upon opening the door, David Malco froze for a moment and looked at the two unfamiliar men, “Who are you guys? How come I haven’t seen you guys before?”
Luke flashed his badge, “Robbery Murder Division.”
Anthony bristled, “FBI.”
David Marco gulped and the trolley case he was dragging in his hand fell to the floor.
“Cackle ……”
The door to the lounge opened and Jackson and the Chicano agent walked in and frisked David Marco, cuffing his hands.
Seeing the Chicano agents about to search his trolley case, David Malco shouted, “Hey, go easy on my props.”
Jackson held him down in the chair, “Sit down honestly and don’t try any tricks.”
David Marco looked at his trolley case, “How did you guys find me?”
Anthony snapped his fingers, “Hey, look at me.
Are you still not getting the picture. This piece of shit suitcase isn’t going to change your fate for the rest of your life.
Nor can it determine what prison you’ll be picking up soap in.
But I can.”
David Marco still had the same question, “How did you guys find me?”
“The professor told us you were here.”
David Malko laughed, “Lies, there’s no way you guys could have gotten the professor.
Even I don’t know his identity, how could you guys possibly catch him?”
“I feel sorry for you.” Anthony revealed a disdainful look, “Is it worth it to sell your life for someone who doesn’t even know his identity?”
“I’m not selling my life for him, but for myself.”
“Aren’t you a magician? Why are you robbing oil paintings?”
“I have four shows this month and only six last month, I also have to prepare costumes and props, this money can’t support myself, I need to go for a part-time job, so that I can secure my life, so that I can continue my dream of being a magician.”
Anthony laughed, “Your so-called part-time job is theft and robbery?”
David Marco moved his long, slender fingers, “I have nimble hands and am very good at picking locks.”
Anthony lit a cigarette and took a drag, “What’s your relationship with the owner of the bar?”
“Employment relationship, I come here to perform occasionally.”
“Why did you put this bar’s address on the magician registry?”
“To become a magician you need to pass an examination, and they will also call and ask questions, putting the registered address in the place where you perform can improve the passing rate.”
Luke interrogated Gyorgy but didn’t completely take his word for it; with gangs like this, many suspects would shirk their responsibilities.
“How many people were involved in the Getty Museum painting heist?”
David Marco scowled.
Anthony came to his ear and whispered, “If you don’t give an honest account, I’ll have someone crack your fingers and never think of doing magic again.”
David Marco glared at the other man, his face very ugly, “Five people.”
Luke pretended not to see it and continued to inquire, “Who are all of them?”
“The Professor, Jorge, Mamba, me, and an inside man who works as a security guard at the museum.”
“What was the name of that inside man?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who was the mastermind of the robbery?”
“The professor.”
“How much did you get a cut?”
“Half a million dollars.”
“Who planted the bomb in your stronghold?”
David Marco shook his head, “What bomb, I don’t know.”
Luke saw no sign of lying and continued, “Who killed Patrolman Jens Hauraki?”
David Malco hesitated for a moment, “It was Mamba.”
David Marco’s description was basically the same as Jorge’s, but Luke wanted to know something else from him, “How did Mamba kill Patrolman Jens Haurage?”
“From what I’ve been told, it would have been a gunshot.”
“Where did she get the gun she killed with?”
David Marco shook his head, “I don’t know.”
Luke stared at the other man, “You lied.”
“I didn’t.”
Anthony chimed in, “He’s right, your expression betrays you.
You know where that gun came from.”
David Marco lowered his head, still refusing to speak.
“Raise your head.” Luke’s eyes sharpened, staring at the other man again, and he tried, “Do you know Ariel Grey?”
David Malcolm raised his eyes to look at Luke, surprise flashing once in his eyes, “I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Then tell me the truth and don’t hold anything back.”
“I have a request.”
“Tell me.”
“I …… want to perform on stage one more time before I get caught, and this may be the last time I perform magic in my life.”
Luke thought he’d misheard, what a time to be thinking about performing.
It was also persistent enough.
He and Anthony looked at each other, “OK, as long as you give us a truthful account, we can grant you this request.”
“Thanks.” David Marco clenched his fists, as if he knew that he could no longer escape, and slowly said, “I stole that pistol.”
“Stole it where?”
“At the Gray’s cottage.
Before Christmas, the night of December 20th to be exact, the family was away on vacation.
So I snuck into the cottage to burglarize it.
It was a nice gun, and Mamba liked guns, so I gave it to her.
I didn’t know until later that she used that gun to kill the patrolman.”
“How many people were involved in the burglary?”
“I was the only one, and I knew there was no one at that house, so why should one more person share the loot.”
“Haven’t you been planning a burglary of the Getty Museum?
Why did you go back to burglarizing Gray’s house?”
“That’s right, I did think of doing a big job with the professor at that time, but according to the information that the insider got, the security of the Getty Museum is too tight and he wants to back out of this burglary plan, so the burglary plan will probably be put on hold.
I’m disappointed.
And it was coming up to Christmas, and I hadn’t gotten any offers to perform, and I needed the money, and I didn’t want to go hungry at Christmas.
So I was going to make some extra money and set my sights on the Gray’s, who were away on vacation.”
“What else did you steal besides that pistol over there?”
“Cash, jewelry, and a couple of limited edition watches ……”
David Marco’s description was similar to the missing belongings from the Gray’s.
Luke saw that the other party’s look did not look like a forgery, and with David Marco’s confession, the Highway 1 body dumping case, the patrolman’s shooting case, and the Getty Museum painting robbery case were connected.
Luke connected the three cases in his mind.
Strictly speaking, this should be considered two cases.
The patrolman shooting case could only be considered a continuation of the oil painting robbery, where patrolman Jens Hauraige was killed and planted for discovering the end of the oil painting robbery.
And the Highway 1 body dump and the Getty Museum oil painting robbery are linked by the same handgun.
First of all, the Highway 1 body dumping case is because the Gray couple had problems with their relationship. Before they got married, they had a prenuptial agreement that the cheating party would have to clean up their act, so Mr. Gray hired a lover to seduce his wife.
The lover purposely filmed evidence of his pleasures with Mrs. Gray for money, which was discovered by Mrs. Gray, who tried to grab the camera and shot the lover in a fit of rage.
Afterward, Mrs. Gray disposes of her lover’s body in an attempt to plant evidence on her husband, and the gun is left at the villa with him.
After Mrs. Gray and her husband went to their vacation home, David Marco infiltrated the villa and burglarized it, taking the villa’s belongings and the pistol, and turned around and gave it to ‘Mamba’.
In another case, the professor changed his modus operandi so that he could continue to commit the crime, changing the burglary to a robbery, and at the same time ordering Mamba to get rid of Patrolman Jens Haurage in order to eliminate the danger.
The two cases are also linked because the same pistol was used to kill the man.
With the two cases basically sorted out, all Luke had to do now was to track down the fugitive robbers, Mamba and the professor, and the other thing was to retrieve the murder pistol and the oil painting.
On the side, Anthony asked, “Where are the ten oil paintings?”
“I don’t know, the oil paintings were handled by the professor.”
“Where is the professor?”
“The professor has always been a godsend, I really don’t know where he is.”
“Where is Mamba?”
“I don’t know.”
Anthony stared at the other man, “Where is Mamba?”
David Marco said, “I told you, I don’t know.”
“You lied.” Anthony slapped the other man’s cheek, “You’ve said so much, we promised you one last performance, and I thought we were working well together.
Why lie at the last minute?
Was it worth it?”
David Marco took a deep breath and looked a little complicated, “I …… have only been to where she lives once, and I don’t know where she is now?”
“You just have to give the address.”
Nine o’clock in the evening.
Gaerne neighborhood, 209.
Luke and Anthony led the way to Mamba’s house.
Luke was sitting in the passenger side, looking out the window at 209, the house was unlit and looked dark, and there were no cars parked in the yard, so he wondered if it was inhabited.
Anthony sat in the back of the car, also looking in the direction of the villa, “What are you going to do?”
Luke sighed, “Mamba may be a woman, but according to Gyorgy and Jens Haurage’s descriptions, she’s the most proficient with firearms in the gang, and the bomb in the robber’s stronghold was probably planted by her as well.
She’s dangerous, and there may be bombs in her house.
We’d better draw her out and arrest her.”
Anthony nodded, “How do you plan to lure her out?”
Luke suggested, “How about creating a little commotion?”
Anthony bristled, “Mamba just committed a crime, ordinary commotion will only make her more alert.
If I were her, not only would I not rush out to check it out, I’d probably be more careful.”
“What’s your idea?”
“This address was given to us by David Marco, how about we have him call the door open?
We’ll hide on either side of the door, and as soon as Mamba opens it, we’re a direct capture.” Anthony laughed, “Although David Marco didn’t say it explicitly, I think his relationship with Mamba should be unusual.”
Luke thought for a moment, “Will David Marco betray us?”
“We were brought here by him, he has already betrayed Mamba, it is extremely unlikely that he will betray us again, and David Marco will not be out of our sight.
He won’t be able to run away, and even if he turns against us, we can remedy the situation in time, and it won’t have much of an impact.”
After the two men discussed the matter, they called David Marco over and barked some instructions at him, and although David Marco was a bit reluctant, he agreed under Luke and Anthony’s patient probation.
The police and FBI began to set up a perimeter, with Ramon taking men to watch the back door.
Luke and Anthony led an ambush at the front door, Luke on the left side of the front door and Anthony on the right side of the front door.
After everyone was ambushed, David Marco walked to the door, took a deep breath, and pressed the doorbell: “Ding dong.”
A few moments later, the visual doorbell opened, but no one was visible on the screen and a cool voice rang out, “Who’s out there?”
“Mamba, it’s me Zorro.”
“What are you doing here?”
“The bartender at Melkite’s called and said that a cop had been to the bar to ask about me, and I had a feeling that something wasn’t right about the situation, so I came to see you to discuss what to do.” David Marco’s voice trembled a little, not sure if it was from nerves or guilt.
“Didn’t I tell you not to contact me again?”
“I’m worried about your situation, and I’m afraid the police will track you down as well.”
“Hold on, I’ll open the door for you.” A footstep could be faintly heard as the visual phone hung up.
Anthony gave Luke a hand signal to make the first arrest as soon as the door opened.
“Ta-da ……”
Then just then, a sharp shot rang out.
The wooden door was smashed through, wood shavings flew, and David Marco was hit by a bullet, blood splattered, and fell directly to the ground.
“Da da ……”
The gunfire didn’t stop, bullets swept against the wall, piercing through the wooden wall and onto the police officers and FBI agents outside the wall.
While the two had no problem conversing, shots were fired directly from inside, catching the crowd outside the room by surprise.
Two bullets shot through the wooden wall and into Luke, slashing through Luke’s shoulder and arm with a vague pain.
“Bullet avoidance card activated!”
“Get down!”
Anthony yelled, flopping straight down.
He was also shot, but fortunately he was wearing a bulletproof vest, and the bullet hit the vest through the wooden wall with much reduced power, so his injuries were not serious.
The other officers and FBI agents were also prone on the ground, some slowly slumping backward.
Suddenly, the gunfire stopped.
Counterattack?
Charge in?
Or exit first?
Anthony was thinking fast in his head, he wasn’t sure of the situation inside the house, he wasn’t sure of the shooter’s location, returning fire would be ineffective, and breaking into the house risked getting shot at.
Without waiting for him to think about it, Luke, who was on the side, acted first and kicked the door of the room directly.
He had a bulletproof card to protect his body and was wearing a bulletproof vest, which was the bottom line of his risk.
“Bang!”
The room door was kicked open by him.
“LAPD!”
The crowd was a little surprised, not expecting Luke to be so decisive.
Inside the room, a black woman was also a bit surprised, she was skillfully changing her magazines, it wouldn’t take long, she didn’t expect the police to seize this moment, exactly, she didn’t expect the police to dare to rush in.
Just at the moment she changed the magazine and was ready to shoot, the gunshot rang out.
“Bang Bang Bang!”