Chapter 447

Metzker’s Bar.

There were several televisions hanging over the bar, all broadcasting the same news program.

On the screen, Chief Reed stood at the lectern to hold a press conference, surrounded by a circle of reporters, disliking him with long guns.

Reed’s face was grave: “February 13th is a sad day, a gunman broke into Rogier’s supermarket to create a tragic and inhumane massacre, eleven citizens of Los Angeles left us forever, on behalf of the Los Angeles Police Department, I would like to send my most sincere condolences to them, this is a day that needs to be remembered by all the people of Los Angeles.

Let us pray for them.

Meanwhile, the gunman who went on a killing spree at the supermarket must be brought to the fullest extent of the law, he is an executioner!

Just yesterday, Captain Lee of the Robbery and Murder Division and his team apprehended that gunman and succeeded in preventing a second shooting.

Let’s recognize and encourage them for their bravery.” Reed began to lead the applause.

A round of applause erupted from the crowd below the podium as well.

After the applause subsided, a black female reporter asked, “Chief Reed, I heard that the victims of the Rogier supermarket shooting were all black, may I ask if this was a massacre against blacks?”

Reed was well aware of the female reporter’s ulterior motives for her question, intentionally drawing towards race and deliberately making a big deal out of it, and he had already thought of a response in advance to these unfriendly questions, “This case is rather convoluted, the supermarket where the crime took place was in the vicinity of a black neighborhood, and this is the reason why there are more black dead.”

The black female reporter was not satisfied with this answer, “May I ask what the shooter’s motive was?”

“There are two supermarkets in that neighborhood, the two supermarkets have a competitive relationship, the owner of the other supermarket hired someone to go to Rogier’s supermarket to cause trouble in order to grab customers, but because of some misunderstandings in the middle of the process, it triggered this shooting case.” Reed was evasive.

“Was the shooter a white man?”

“Whether the shooter was white or black doesn’t depend on the shooter himself, but on his hires.”

The black female reporter was relentless: “And was the hirer black or white?”

“I don’t think it should be divided by simply black or white, but I can tell you that the hired hand behind the scenes is an African-American.” Reed’s answer was so clever that it left the female reporter speechless.

A white female reporter asked, “Is Captain Lee, who was in charge of the shooting, the same person who caught the shooter, Detective Lee, in the Malaboia High School shooting last May?”

“Yes, he’s standing right next to me, do you still want to check out his muscles?” Reed pointed to Luke who was standing next to the podium.

“Haha ……” Many of the reporters on the stage remembered last year’s incident and laughed in unison.

The white female reporter was not a vegetarian and asked, “As far as I know, the Robbery and Murder Division is one of the most important departments of the LAPD, and many police officers who have worked for decades and had their hair turned gray may not be promoted to the rank of captain.

Captain Lee, however, only took less than a year, does he have any special background?”

“You’re right, his background is me.” Reed snickered, then his smile tightened, “I suggest you do your job before the interview, anyone who is familiar with Captain Lee knows how stupid this question is.”

Not giving the female reporter a chance to ask a question, Reed continued, “OK, does anyone have any more questions about the shooting at Rogier’s Supermarket?”

A white male reporter asked, “I’ve been told that the shooter, although a white boy, grew up in a black family, that his surrounding neighbors were also black, and that he attended a high school named after a black man.

May I ask if his upbringing was characterized by discrimination and bullying that led to this shooting?”

Sure enough, here we go again.

How are these damn reporters so well informed?

Reed on the screen had a stony face and was clearly a bit headstrong.

“Knock knock ……”

The lieutenant banged on the table and grumbled, “Hey guys, take your eyes off the damn screen.

We’re drinking now, can we be serious?”

Blacky hemmed and hawed, “Why does it feel like you’re on fire, old man?”

“Kid, do you have a problem with that?” The vice squad grunted.

Blacky raised his hands, “No, I’m a little curious.”

Luke interrupted the two and raised his glass, “Guys, to celebrate the successful detection of the supermarket shooting, I propose we all have a toast.”

“Right on, cheers.” Jackson was the first to respond.

“Cheers!”

The crowd made a toast, and Blackie put down his glass and said, “Where’s Reed? Why haven’t we seen him tonight? He spoke so well at the press conference, I’d like to learn from him.”

“Oh ……” the lieutenant laughed, “Trust me, you won’t be able to use it.”

Blacky “……”

So much, so much he wanted to punch him.

Captain Jones of the Anti-Triad and Narcotics Division came over and sat in a nearby chair, gesturing with a glass in his hand, “Congratulations, gentlemen, on solving a major case.”

Luke clinked glasses with him and asked, “Where’s that loser David?”

Jones bristled, “Sure enough, you still can’t get over your old flame.”

Luke grinned, “So what are you here as? A love interest?”

Jones shrugged, “You do have a love interest, but it’s not me.”

“What does that mean?”

Jones whispered, “David may be in a new relationship.”

“Really?” Blackie lit up with gossip.

The vice squad also pursued, “Did he tell you that?”

“How could he, it was my guess. Like tonight when we said we were going to have a drink and he made a very poor excuse to leave.” Jones had a believe me look on his face.

Since he didn’t have a quasi-belief yet, Luke didn’t bother to gossip in public and said, “You’re here just in time, I was going to talk to you about the shooting at Rogier’s Supermarket.”

Jones said, “The shooter was caught, what else is there to talk about?”

“The shooter was caught and he confessed, however, he wouldn’t say where the guns and equipment came from.

According to our interrogation and clue analysis, he is a member of the Arrogant Boys Organization, and most likely purchased the equipment through the channels of this organization.

Therefore, I would like to ask you, the Anti-Triad and Narcotics Division, to investigate this organization.”

“No problem, leave it to me.” Jones agreed painfully, the Rogier Supermarket shooting case had a big impact, and although the limelight was taken up by the Robbery and Murder Division, it was good to have a bite of the soup.

Luke looked over at his lieutenant again and said, “I fired my weapon yesterday when we apprehended the shooter, and according to the rules I have to take some time off.

All three suspects have confessed, so you’ll be in charge of the follow-up procedures.”

The vice squad grumbled, “This captain is really dashing as a captain.”

“Thanks for the compliment.” Luke smiled and raised his glass at the vice squad.

[Congratulations to the host, successfully solving the supermarket shooting case, rewarded with 100 points]. The voice of the Divine Detective System resounded in Luke’s head.

This case wasn’t complicated, and overall it wasn’t too difficult, so the reward points weren’t too high.

However, this shooting case had a great impact and realistically brought Luke a lot of indirect benefits.

Luke had used a total of two cards in this case, the Chance Card and the Accuracy Card.

Together with the remaining eighty points from the system, Luke now had a total of one hundred and eighty points.

Luke’s usual reserve of a few cards was running low and was ready to exchange a few more.

There were still two remaining copies of the Strange Encounter Card.

There were three bullet avoidance cards left.

There were three Precision cards left.

These three cards were commonly used and Luke was prepared to reserve four of all of them.

Afterwards, Luke used forty points to purchase two Encounter Cards, thirty points to purchase a Bullet Dodge Card, and twenty points to purchase a Precision Card.

Luke spent ninety points, and the Divine Detective System still had ninety points left.

The following morning, Luke’s house.

Luke’s father and son sat in the courtyard drinking tea after breakfast.

Li Zhaofeng picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, looking at the scenery of the surrounding neighborhood, with more than a hint of coziness on his face.

His house in New York than Luke rented this set of house market price is a little higher, but the environment is much worse, New York villas out of the community highway, even a small yard are not, let alone sitting in the courtyard cozy enjoy the scenery and drink tea.

When I was young, I only wanted to stay in New York to fight, there are more opportunities and better space for development.

But now, as he grows older, he should also think about his retirement, Los Angeles is more suitable for living than New York, and more importantly, there are still his two sons here.

Thinking about it, but the actual operation is not easy, his job in New York can not be lost, in addition to his parents are old, it is not good to leave them alone to move to Los Angeles, so the best way to run in two places.

Luke added a cup of tea to his father, “Dad, I have a meeting with Judge Walker today.”

Luke considered it again and again, but decided to sell the gold coins he got from the treasure hunt, he asked about the auction house price, and asked about Walker’s idea, the old man also had the intention to buy it, and was willing to offer about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Whether it was from the benefit consideration, or from the favor consideration, selling to Walker was the most cost-effective.

Luke’s total after-tax assets were now nearly three million one hundred thousand dollars, of which there was still eighty thousand dollars in the system reserve that hadn’t been realized, and there was no way to use this.

Before the system reserve had eighteen hundred thousand, Luke searched out one hundred thousand cash from Zhou Tiancheng’s villa, which was equivalent to a means of realizing, and the system reserve was reduced by one hundred thousand.

In addition, Luke also had 1.25 million invested in the stock market, which was now worth 1.3 million dollars, this return ratio was already very high, Li Zhaofeng suggested Luke to keep these stocks, because stock trading was also taxable, and it was more cost-effective to hold them for a long period of time.

And in the same amount, Luke in the stock market gain, has been higher than the loan interest.

With the money Luke earned last year, plus the three hundred thousand dollars given by his father, plus the gold coins he was about to sell, Luke’s total cash holdings were about 1.7 million dollars, which also included the fifty thousand dollars tax rebate he had just received.

While Zhou Tiancheng’s villa was priced at three million dollars, Luke decided to take out a loan of 1.4 million dollars so that he could still reserve one hundred thousand dollars in cash in his hand.

One of the reasons for reserving this money is for emergency purposes, and another is that the villa is a bit shabby, no matter whether it is repaired or rebuilt, it needs a large sum of money, and this money can be used as start-up capital.

According to Luke’s original idea, he didn’t want to carry a mortgage in order to buy a house, and didn’t want to live a stressful life, however, considering that he still had one million three hundred thousand dollars worth of stocks, which was basically equal to the mortgage, there was no pressure, even if his income was lowered, he could sell the stocks to pay back the loan.

Li Zhaofeng said, “Then I’ll go contact the construction team, and when the house is bought it will also be ready for construction.”

“Dad, you have connections in Los Angeles?”

“Some years ago, a lot of Chinese who just immigrated here have quite a few engaged in the construction industry, because of my work I’ve also contacted some Chinese who do construction in New York, there is a construction company that split up, one of the two partners stayed in New York, and one came to Los Angeles to develop.

I’ll contact him to get in touch with him, even if his construction company is not suitable, I can still ask for a price.”

Luke nodded, he actually had an acquaintance in the construction industry, John the Old Rookie, who had been doing construction contracting for over twenty years before he became a cop, but, after all, had changed careers, and since Dad had an acquaintance, he’d let him go ahead and ask.

“Dad, I want to have a family party at night, call Mom, Little Fatty, Robert and Val over, and yes, there is Jack’s girlfriend.”

Jack Lee “……”

Jack hasn’t graduated from high school yet, what’s the point of meeting his girlfriend?

Children’s minds, may be what happens in the future, can you expect him to get married now?

He would like Luke to lead a girlfriend, this age is more reliable point.

Half an hour later, Luke rode his Harley to the neighborhood where Walker lived.

This is an upscale community, perhaps because the development is relatively early, the community highway is not too wide, the style of the building is also mostly classic style, he reduces the speed of the motorcycle, pay attention to the shape of the house and the structure of the house, can be borrowed to their new house.

It was Luke’s first time at Walker’s house, and he followed the address to his house number.

The large yard was planted with a few trees, green lawn, no swimming pool in sight, the house as a whole was gray belonging to the typical European and American style, a motorcycle and an RV were parked in front of the garage on the east side.

Luke parked the motorcycle in front of the door, took a heavy backpack and walked to the door, and pressed the doorbell.

“Ding-dong~”

After waiting for a while there was no response.

Luke rang the doorbell again and still no answer.

“Judge Walker.”

Luke could only use the most primitive way of calling the door.

“Cluck ……”

The door to the RV opened and Walker stepped out of the RV dressed in a casual suit, “Luke, I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear the doorbell from the RV.” He waved his hand, “Come on in, the yard door is unlocked.”

Luke pushed open the black iron gate and walked into the yard and surveyed the RV.

It was a newer model C motorhome, the motorhome was white in color overall, similar to the one Luke had rented before, “Is this new to you?”

“Yes, not bad I guess.” Walker introduced, “It’s a diesel with a 3.0T motorhome, has two beds that can sleep two to four people, and a lot of interior space for the basic needs of cooking and bathing.

Would you like to come in and take a look?” Walker asked himself, “Yes, I’m sure you’re interested.Come on.”

Luke “……”

My first time here yikes.

Such a nice house, such a big yard, and you don’t give me a tour so I can see the RV?

After all, Luke was a guest, but he still took his backpack and walked to the RV.

Walker into the caravan, and then some colorful introduction, Luke is not a big feeling, this caravan in addition to some new, slightly larger area, the layout and Luke before the lease is basically the same.

Walker finished and asked rhetorically, “What do you think?”

“Pretty good.” Luke looked at the bedding on the bunks, “You’re staying in the RV?”

“Yes, I’m going to experience it first for future trips. If anything doesn’t fit, it can be modified ahead of time as well.”

“Very attentive.” Luke sat on the semi-circular sofa and opened the black backpack, “This is the gold coins we got from the last treasure hunt, I left three gold coins as a souvenir, the rest are here.”

Walker yanked the backpack over to check the gold coins inside, “These are the gains from the treasure hunt, very memorable, are you sure you want to sell them?”

“It’s true that I’m a bit reluctant to part with them, but I need the money now.”

“I’m not a nosy person, but we are friends and partners in treasure hunting together, if you encounter any difficulties you can talk to me.”

“I’m not in trouble, I just happened to come across a nice house that I want to buy.”

“Sounds like a good decision.” Walker was originally worried that Luke was young and would spend it recklessly if he suddenly got a windfall, and as an older friend it was necessary to advise him.

However, but since it was a house purchase, there was no problem.

Both sides were acquaintances, one wanted to buy, the other wanted to sell, the transaction went smoothly, and Luke took out the contract that had been drafted in advance.

The actual price of the deal was one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

But the price tag on the contract was only one hundred and thirty-three thousand dollars, the remaining seventeen thousand dollars Walker gifted to Luke in the name of his friend, which was tax-deductible.

Walker put the gold coins away and said with a straight face, “Luke, it’s time for us to talk about something serious.”

Luke “……”

What do you mean it’s time to talk about something serious?

What are we doing right now?

Walker yanked out the drawer underneath the couch and pulled a small wooden box out of it, opening the box with a brown piece of leather inside.

It was the map that Luke had found in the compartment of the treasure chest.

This map was found by Luke by accident, he had studied it himself, but because of his lack of experience and patience, he didn’t see the reason, so he gave it to Walker to study it, and he also wanted to know how this old man’s study was going.

“I have studied it, and it is indeed a treasure map.

I looked all over the topographical maps of the United States and found that the map depicts what is most likely a red rock formation that best matches the topographical features of the Red Rock Canyon in Colorado. I carefully compared Google Maps and determined that the general location depicted on the treasure map should be located just south of Red Rock Canyon.

Man, are you ready to start a new treasure hunting trip?” Walker couldn’t hide the excitement and anticipation in his tone.

Perhaps it was just like the saying, interest is the best teacher, the more interest you have, the more energy you put into it, and the more you enjoy it and don’t find it hard, that’s the best state.

Originally, Luke was not very interested in treasure hunting, because he always felt that it was a waste of time and passion, but after the last treasure hunting experience, and looking at the 150,000 dollars in his hand, he felt that it was also a very good experience.

Not only could he experience the fresh excitement that comes from exploring a new environment, but most importantly, he could make money.