Chapter 500

Mary from the tech team came over, “Captain Luke, we’re ready to call it a day and head back.”

“Any findings?”

“From the analysis of the location of the bag containing the body at the bottom of the river, the dumping site should be on the bridge, but there were no obvious bloodstains or dragging traces found, and the bridge is crowded with people and cars, even if there are traces, they are most likely already destroyed, so we just took photos of the scene, just in case.”

Luke nodded, this is only the scene of the dumping of the body, not the scene of the crime, the suspect did not leave many clues, “It is still unclear the identity of the deceased, and the deceased’s body is now difficult to identify, I hope to do DNA identification and fingerprinting on the body as soon as possible to compare it with the database.”

“DNA identification is no problem, you guys have always been the first to do it, that’s what Reed specifically instructed.

As for the fingerprinting, it’s up to Sheila to find a full fingerprint.”

After seeing Mary off, Luke called another meeting with the rest of the team.

“Guys, what do you think?”

The lieutenant said, “Disposing of a body after a murder is a big issue and a hassle, and a lot can be seen from the way the suspect disposed of the body.

According to the coroner, the body should have been cut into pieces by a machine.

Finding a mincing machine to transport the body to the cutting site also increases the difficulty of the crime and the risk of exposure.

So, the suspect must have other purposes for doing this.

I guess there are two possibilities. The first possibility is to conceal the identity of the deceased so that the police cannot find out the identity of the deceased through the minced meat.

The second possibility, the suspect may have some kind of mental illness and kill out of a sick mind.”

Black summarized, “To put it simply, there is a possibility that he is a psychopath, I think this is more likely, after all, even if the body is shredded it is still possible to verify the DNA.”

Jackson added, “The DNA database doesn’t keep DNA samples of everyone.

I’m leaning more towards the first possibility.”

Blackie bristled, “You kids love to go against me.”

“I’m not, I’m just analyzing the case.” Jackson showed an innocent look.

Luke interrupted the argument between the two, “The body is an adult male, he couldn’t have weighed only ninety pounds, so there should be other broken bodies.

Jenny, you contact the salvage team and have them conduct a thorough search of the river bottom.”

“Yes, sir.”

Luke continued, “Those two bags weighed up to 90 pounds and weren’t easy to carry, the suspects likely used transportation, Porter, you’re in charge of lining up the surrounding vehicles.”

“Yes, sir.” After Porter finished, he looked back to the Los Angeles River, “Captain, is it possible that the suspect drove a boat to dump the body?”

Luke said, “It’s highly unlikely, if the body was dumped on a boat, there would be no need to throw the body under the bridge and the body would not be found.”

“What happened here? Is it a dead body? Let me go in and take a look ……”

Just then, a clamor came from not far away.

Luke frowned slightly, “The others walk around and see if they find anything suspicious or if there are any recent missing persons?”

“Yes, sir.” The crowd split up.

Luke walked up to the ruckus and outside the cordon stood a white woman with an anxious look on her face, “Ma’am, can I help you?”

A patrolman introduced himself, “This is Captain Lee and the person in charge of the scene, if there’s anything you can tell him.”

The white woman looked at Luke, “Captain Lee, what happened here? Did someone jump into the river? Was it a man or a woman who died?”

Luke said, “A male body was indeed found in the river what’s the problem?”

“My husband is missing and I’m worried …… Can I see the body?”

Luke was hoping that she could identify the body and the police could save a lot of work, but the problem now was that the body had already turned into broken flesh, the possibility that the other party could recognize it was slim, and in turn, she might be shocked.

“Ma’am, you don’t have to rush, that body may not necessarily be your husband.

Can you tell me more about him?”

“Captain Li, I’m in an anxious mood right now, I just want to see if that body is my husband. What’s so difficult about that?

It’s a simple thing, why make it so complicated?” The white woman revealed a puzzled look.

Luke said truthfully, “The corpse is not in a very good condition right now, it is almost unrecognizable, and I was afraid of scaring you.”

“Jesus Christ, why did this happen?” The white woman showed a helpless look.

“What is your name, ma’am?”

“Aisha Martell.”

“What is your husband’s name?”

“Brett Martell.”

“When did your husband go missing?”

“About twelve o’clock the night before last.”

Luke glanced at his watch, 38 hours had passed since then, “Did you call the police?”

“No.”

“Why didn’t you call the police?”

“We had a fight the other night and I thought he was just going out to cool off and would be back soon, but he never came back ……

I just heard someone say that a body was fished out of the river, and I suddenly felt some inexplicable worry in my heart, and I would never have quarreled with him if I had known this …….”

“Does your family live in the neighborhood?”

“Yes, just in the east side of that neighborhood, here is his way to work.”

“Tell us a little about your husband.”

“He’s white, he’s 38 years old, works for an IT company, he’s about 5’8” and weighs about 170 or 180 pounds, I’m not really sure.

He was wearing a shirt and jeans when he left the other day, all his clothes are pretty much similar.”

Luke asked, “Why did you two fight?”

“He wanted to quit, he thought IT was too much work and wanted a different physical job where he could get some exercise and still work in the sun.

I don’t agree, I think he thinks everything is too good, any job has its difficulties, we should find a way to overcome them instead of running away.

I think it’s unwise for him to change his job at his age, once he leaves it’s not easy to go back again and his income will be much lower, I don’t want to change my current life, I hope he can stick to it, after all, we’re not young people any more, we have to think about our family and children.

It was not the first time he had raised this idea, and I was worried that he would really quit, so I tried hard to persuade him.

But the more he talked, the more agitated he became, and then the two of us got into an argument.

I told him not to come back if he dared to resign.”

Mrs. Martell’s voice choked and she wiped her tears, “I regret saying that now, maybe I wasn’t considerate enough and didn’t know how much pressure he was under at work.

As long as he can come back, I will seriously talk to him about resigning.”

“How did your husband leave the house?”

“He drove a black BMW.”

“Ever call his phone?”

“I did, his phone didn’t work, he didn’t go to the office, his friends around him didn’t know where he was, I looked everywhere I could think of, and I was contemplating whether or not to call the police when I heard about it.”

Mrs. Martell seemed to remember something: “I have a picture of him, see if it’s him.

Mrs. Martell took out her phone and tapped on a photo and handed it to Luke.

The photo was of an unsmiling white man, and Luke thought of the two bags of minced meat again, secretly, I can tell a hell of a lot.

“Mrs. Martell, I can’t say for sure if that body is your husband? We’ll need to match samples such as DNA, fingerprints, as well as your husband’s identifying information and license plate number.

“No problem, I can provide all of them to you.”

“Ringing ……” Luke’s cell phone rang, he took it out and checked it, it was Orty’s number.

Luke said to his lieutenant on the sidelines, “Lieutenant, record Mr. Martell’s information.”

The lieutenant, who had been listening to the two men’s conversation from the side, made a gesture of invitation, “Mrs. Martell, please follow me.”

Luke stepped aside and pressed the answer button, “Hello, this is Luke.”

Orty’s voice came from the cell phone, “I have an appointment with my client for dinner at Saida’s at eight o’clock tonight.”

“I’m afraid I can’t today, I have a new case.”

“But I’ve already made an appointment with my client, it’s not good to unilaterally break it now. And at eight o’clock at night, you should already be off work.”

“I can’t say for tonight, I don’t know what time I’ll be busy yet.”

Ortie pondered for a moment, “How about this, the agreed time will remain the same, I’ll change the location to a restaurant near the Detective Bureau, you can’t work overtime on a hungry stomach, right?”

“That thoughtful?”

“Of course, if it’s not a problem, I’ll re-finalize it with my client.”

Luke barked, “Time and place are fine, but today has to be an all-vegetarian feast.”

“Wow, looks like an exciting case today!”

“You don’t want to know.” Luke hung up his phone and walked over to Mrs. Martell, “Mrs. Martell, I’d like to stop by your house if it’s convenient.”

“Why would you want to go to my house? My husband is a runaway, it’s not like the incident happened at my house.”

“We need to take someone to take his biopsy.”

“I can provide you with that.”

“I’m sorry, but the tech crew needs to take it themselves so it’s in order.”

Mrs. Martell was silent for a moment, “OK, I’ll take you guys.”

Luke was going to address the lieutenant, “Lieutenant, look into Brett Martell and the missing BMW.”

“Don’t worry kid, I know what to do.” The vice squad was a little impatient, your dad was still drinking milk when I started working on the case.

Eight o’clock in the evening, the Carolina Restaurant.

The restaurant wasn’t far from the Detective Bureau, just a five minute walk away.

Luke rushed to the restaurant, gave his name, and a waitress took him up to a private room on the second floor.

Lilith had already arrived and was sitting by the window of the private room, with long blonde shoulder-length hair, delicate features, fair skin, and a short orange dress that showed off her two long straight legs.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Ms. Finn.”

“No, I’m the one who came early, I’m not used to eating too late.” Lilith waved to the waitress on the side, “You may serve the food.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Lilith looked at Luke, “I usually only eat some vegetables and fruits in the evening as well, I didn’t expect you to like it as well.”

Luke didn’t bother to explain and glanced at his watch, “Ms. Finn, I may have to go back to the police station in a little while, so we’d better get right to the point.”

“OK, after we talked last night, I think you have a point.

Instead of borrowing other people’s adventures, I’d rather explore and hunt for treasure myself, and I’m sure Grandfather would have preferred to hear about my own adventures as well.

So I decided to go treasure hunting myself.

But I have no experience in treasure hunting, and I’m also worried about the dangers I’ll encounter on the way, so I want to hire you to go with me.”

“You want me to be your bodyguard?”

“No, not just a bodyguard, but a partner, I want you to participate in the treasure hunt, help me with advice, and ensure my safety.

In addition to the two hundred thousand dollars commission, as long as you can find the treasure, you can also get a quarter.”

“Why choose me?”

“You have experience in adventure treasure hunting, and you have status and position in Los Angeles, so you are trustworthy.

Maybe in a decade or so, I can still brag to others that I once explored treasure hunting with the LAPD chief.”

“Huh.” Luke laughed, that hit home, “You’re very inviting.”

“You agree?”

Luke didn’t answer, asking instead, “Where did you get the treasure map?”

“Got it from my grandfather, who had a collection of treasure maps, which isn’t that hard to do.

He also always encouraged his offspring to go on more outdoor adventures, he felt it added to one’s courage.

But no one was interested in his treasure maps.

Although he didn’t say so voluntarily, I know he was a bit disappointed.

He should be very hopeful that someone in his offspring can carry on his interest and ambition.”

“Knock, knock ……” the door rang.

The door pushed open from the outside, and the waitress started serving the food with a tray.

There were two trays in total, a vegetable salad, a fruit plate, and two glasses of milk.

The waitress closed the door and left.

Lilith said, “I hope you enjoyed your dinner tonight.”

Luke ate a blueberry, “It tastes good.”

Lilith took a sip of milk, “Anything else you want to ask?”

“How many people are on this treasure hunt?”

“I was expecting three to five people.”

Luke laughed, “I thought you’d put together a team of ten or more.”

“No, that would defeat the purpose of exploring and treasure hunting, my grandfather was just old, not slow.”

Luke squared his shoulders, “What if there are disagreements during the treasure hunt?”

“Everyone can discuss and choose the best option.”

“What if the discussion doesn’t work?”

“Listen to me.”

“Do you have experience in wilderness exploration?” Luke was skeptical.

Lilith shrugged, “No.”

“What if you’re wrong?”

“First of all, I’m not a dictator; I’m good at listening to other people’s opinions.

If the discussion doesn’t work, it means that there are no obvious advantages or disadvantages to the two options, and the most important thing at this point is that there can’t be two voices on the team.

As long as everyone works in one direction, I believe that we will definitely not fail.” Lilith added in a small voice.

“I know what you’re trying to say, I won’t put everyone in danger.

I’m more afraid of death than you are.”

In addition to careful planning and preparation, luck is also important in treasure hunting, and it’s anyone’s guess whether it will succeed or not, so Luke still decided to ask for favors for himself first, “I want three hundred thousand dollars commission, plus one third of the treasure.”

Lilith said, “The treasure map is mine, moreover, I will find other treasure hunters to join, so I can only share a quarter of the treasure with you.

However, I can increase the commission to four hundred thousand dollars.”

Luke thought about how it wouldn’t be a loss with the four hundred thousand dollars commission, “OK, I can feel your sincerity, but I’ve just taken over a case now, and there’s no way I can leave immediately.”

“I also need time to choose my remaining treasure hunting partners and make some preparations, we can discuss the departure time again.”

“OK, I accept this commission.” The other party had put up enough sincerity, and there was no need for Luke to push the money out.

“Ringing ……”

Luke’s cell phone rang, he picked it up and looked at it, the screen showed the number of the vice squad, this old man rarely took the initiative to call himself.

Eighty percent was that there was progress in the case.

He got up and said, “Ms. Finn, take your time eating, I’m going back to work.”

“Lilith, that’s what my friends call me.”

“Nice to meet you, Lilith.”