Chapter 547

Speck Street.

The street was located in the southern part of the city and was in a state of disrepair, looking a little run down, with a number of tents and colorful graffiti on both sides of the street inhabited by homeless people.

Two black automobiles pulled into the street and parked on the curb near the Tacky’s Convenience Store.

The passenger side door of the car opened and Luke stepped out from the passenger side, glancing at the sign of the convenience store and looking around, he entered the convenience store with Blackie and left the others outside.

At the counter sat a twenty-something woman of Mexican descent with a voluptuous figure, took one look at Luke and the two of them, and then looked down to paint her nails again.

Black leaned toward the counter as if he were a soft touch, “Hey, beautiful, I want to ask you something.”

The shopgirl glanced at Blackie, “I’m married, my oldest son is five and my youngest daughter is three.

My husband is still alive, you don’t have a chance.”

“Haha ……” Xiao Hei laughed, “You’re funny, I like it.”

“It doesn’t matter if you like it, I don’t want to be shot by my husband with a gun for cheating on me. Trust me, he’d definitely do it.”

“Your husband isn’t the only one with a gun.” Black flashed his badge, “Ma’am, I’m Detective Marcus from the Robbery Murder Division, we’re investigating a serious criminal case and would like to ask for your assistance.

I’m sure your husband won’t shoot you for this.”

“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, but you really do look like ……,” the shopgirl shrugged, not continuing, and asked instead, “What do you want to ask?”

Black said, “Wasn’t someone using a Wells Fargo credit card here forty minutes ago.”

“Yes.”

“We need to find that person.”

“Can I refuse? After all, there’s no reason for me to reveal the whereabouts of my customers.”

“Of course you can.

Next time, we’ll apply for a search warrant to come over and conduct a thorough inspection of your convenience store ……,” Blackie raised one eyebrow, revealing a you-know-what look.

The female clerk grunted softly, some reluctance on her face, and after a moment’s hesitation, she stepped out of the counter, looked toward the front of the store, and said, “The man you’re looking for bought a bottle of brandy and a bag of cornflakes.”

Blackie said, “I’m asking about his whereabouts.”

The shopgirl stared at Black without saying anything.

Luke walked to the front of the store and looked out, his eyes landed on a suspected homeless man across the street with a bottle of brandy and a bag of cornflakes beside him, “Is that him?”

The shopgirl nodded and returned to the counter.

“Thanks.”

Luke winked at Black and the two left the convenience store.

Luke walked across the street and surveyed the homeless man, short hair, graying beard, jeans, floral shirt, looked to be in his fifties or sixties, sitting casually on the street steps.

Luke stepped to the side, eyes on the homeless man, and initiated the conversation, “Nice day.”

The homeless man wiped the cornflake crumbs from his beard, “Yeah, I love every day in LA. What can I do for you? Man.”

“Luke.”

“Martin.”

“Hey Martin, I want to ask you about someone.”

“OK, I’ll let you know if I recognize it.” The tramp took a sip of brandy.

“Do you know Roher Horn?”

Tramp Martin glanced at Luke, “What are you?”

Luke flashed his badge.

“Yes, I know Roher Horn.

What happened to him?”

“He’s dead.”

Martin sighed and took another big swig of brandy, “He was nice ……”

Luke saw no surprise on his face, “You knew he was dead?”

“I didn’t know ……

But he hadn’t been in a very good, negative state in recent times, and to be honest, I did worry about him a little.”

“You’ve known each other for a long time?”

“Maybe a couple months, I can’t remember.”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“I think it was the day before yesterday, he seemed preoccupied, had a beer with me, didn’t say much, left a credit card and left.”

“A Wells Fargo credit card?”

“Yes, and I just went to the convenience store to buy a bottle of wine and snacks.”

“Why did he leave the credit card with you?”

“You should ask him.”

“I can only ask you now.”

“It’s not as complicated as you think, he probably just wanted to buy me a drink.

I was going to give him his credit card back the next time I ran into him.” Martin sighed and pulled a Wells Fargo credit card out of his pocket, “Can you pass it on to his wife for me?”

Luke took the credit card, “Do you know him well?”

“We haven’t known each other very long, but we do talk quite a bit.”

“Can you tell me a little about him?”

“Do you have a cigarette?”

Luke pulled out two cigarettes, handed him one and took one for himself.

Martin lit the cigarette and took a drag, saying with a look of enjoyment, “You know what? He envies me.”

Luke was a little surprised, “What?”

“You heard right, that guy envies me.” Martin laughed, pointing to the bottle of wine and nachos on the floor, “A $3.50 bottle of brandy and a bag of nachos and I’m happy all day.

Being happy is really simple, don’t regret the past, don’t worry about the future, live in the moment.

I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but not many people can really do it.”

Martin points to himself and says in a proud tone, “I do.

I live every day like it’s the last day of my life.

Getting to see the sun the next day is the equivalent of earning it.

And then it’s another happy day.”

Martin twisted his head to look at Luke, “Are you happy?”

Luke froze and nodded, “Yes, I’m happy.”

“Looks like you’re a lucky guy like me.

We should celebrate.” Martin handed Luke the bottle, “Would you like a sip?”

“No, I don’t drink during work.” Luke declined, he didn’t like the idea of sharing a bottle with a man to drink from.

Luke pressed, “Did you know that Roher Horn lost his job six months ago?”

“Of course, if he hadn’t lost his job and was still working diligently, perhaps the two of us would never have met or become friends.” Martin’s eyes reddened a little, “I kinda miss him.

But that’s okay, maybe we’ll meet tomorrow, who knows?”

“Do you know what he did for a living after he lost his job?”

“Yes. The guy has been racking his brain, so to speak, to support his family, and I’ve helped him with ideas.

He was expecting to work for another travel agency at first, but interviewed with a dozen or so in a row and failed.

He also tried other jobs, but either the work was not up to standard, or the pay was too small to support his family, and they all fell through.

The guy had a good hand and managed to go to the casino and win some money to support his family at first, but luck is something that can’t always be there.

As far as I know, he lost a lot of money later on and borrowed a lot of loan sharks ……” Martin sighed softly and took a drag on his cigarette, “Poor guy.

He eventually chose to go to a pharmaceutical company to work as a drug tester in order to get money.

I advised him, it’s not a good job.

But he went anyway.

In his words, he wasn’t alone, he had a wife and kids behind him, all waiting for him to make money and come home.

At that time, I had a bad feeling that he wasn’t capable of taking on the responsibility right now, but he wouldn’t let go of it, and holding on to it would probably kill him.”

Luke asked, “He’s been working as a drug tester lately?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what pharmaceutical company he’s with and which drug he’s trying out?”

“No, I didn’t ask.

It’s a sad topic in itself, everyone knows that trial drugs are bad for your health, but the fact that some people have to be trialists for money is sad in itself.

But it’s terrible, don’t you think, that this system happens to be legal?”

“Do you know where he went yesterday?”

“I don’t know. We had a pretty good conversation, but he couldn’t have told me everything.

Essentially, we’re two different people.

That’s why he’s willing to open up to me.” Martin lay down on the street and changed to a comfortable position, saying with some sadness, “I know a lot of people look down on vagabonds, but vagabonds aren’t for everyone.

I can feel that Rohel envies my current life, just that for various reasons, he doesn’t have the means to be as dashing as me.

Sometimes, I really sympathize with this fellow, but there’s nothing I can do to help him, I can only rely on him to come out on his own.

Obviously, he didn’t make it in the end.”

Luke left a business card, “If you remember anything about Roher Horn, feel free to contact me.”

Martin looked at Luke’s business card, “It’s actually good to be dead, he doesn’t have to carry all that heavy stuff anymore.

He was too tired, it’s time to rest.”

After getting into the car, Black pulled out his ears, “I can’t believe I’m listening to a bum show his superiority, and what’s even more annoying is that ……

I think what he’s saying makes quite a bit of sense.”

Jackson snickered, “So, are you going to quit your job as a hobo?”

“I’m not going to leave the Inspector position open for you, don’t even think about it.

Not to mention, I have a lovely daughter to raise.

I don’t want her to follow me and wander.” Speaking of this, Blackie had some inexplicable feelings, and his words changed, “Captain, where are we going to investigate now?”

Luke said, “According to Martin’s description, Rohrer Horn is most likely working as a test drug tester, which explains why there is an ingredient similar to a blood pressure medicine in his body, we should talk to the pharmaceutical company where Rohrer Horn is working as a test drug tester.”

Blackie said, “But Martin doesn’t know which pharmaceutical company Roher Horn is trying out drugs for either?”

Luke said, “I checked and there are about a dozen pharmaceutical companies in Los Angeles, and one of them, Gelson Pharmaceuticals, which makes the Nebivolol antihypertensive drug, is also in Los Angeles.”

Black shrugged, “Maybe it’s not a coincidence.”

Jackson thought for a moment and questioned, “But as far as I know, the Nebivolol antihypertensive drug is already on the market and there shouldn’t be a need to test the drug anymore.”

Luke said, “You’re right, the ingredients in the deceased’s body are similar to the Nebivolol antihypertensive drug ingredients, but not exactly the same, either Jelson Pharmaceuticals is developing another similar new drug, or some other company is developing it.

Gelson Pharmaceuticals always knows better than us amateurs.

After all, it’s often the competitors who know you best.”