Chapter 557
Luke woke up to a message from Jackson that they hadn’t gotten a call from the robbers, but from Elvira Gandhi.
The police had a lock on Elvira Gandhi’s location and arrested Elvira Gandhi outright.
Kalman Pharmaceuticals had called the police, claiming that Cam Smith had stolen confidential company documents.
The Director of the Economic Crimes Division came to Squadron One to take Kem Smith and Elvira Gandhi away for investigation.
Of course, Kem Smith and Elvira Gandhi were captured by the First Squadron, and the research data was also retrieved by the First Squadron, which naturally had a lot to do with the credit of the First Squadron.
It was only because of the nature of the crime that it was more appropriate to hand it over to the Economic Crimes Division for investigation.
At nine o’clock in the morning, Luke had just finished his coffee when he welcomed another guest – Ronnie Prada.
He was the owner of the loan-sharking company and the boss of the suspect, Walda Baker, who owned the black Chevrolet sedan that Walda Baker was driving.
Ronnie Prada was unjustifiably implicated by his little brother, and he wanted to do more than the police to catch Walda Baker early and get out of the way.
Luke took Ronnie Prada to the lounge and asked, “What can I do for you?”
Ronnie Prada squeezed out a coquettish smile, “Captain Lee, didn’t you ask me to assist in investigating Walda Baker’s whereabouts before? I utilized all the connections around me and have been searching for Walda Baker’s whereabouts for the past two days.
I just received a message from Walda Baker this morning.”
As expected, the cat has its ways and the mouse has its holes, which was a pleasant surprise for Luke: “Where is Walda Baker?”
“The Dolittle neighborhood.”
Luke jotted down the name of the neighborhood and asked rhetorically, “Can you be sure?”
“A friend of a friend saw him near the Dolittle Community neighborhood yesterday afternoon, and by the time I got there, the bastard had run off.
I spent some money and enlisted the help of local gangs to help find him.
This morning, I received a picture of a black Chevy, and although the license plate number isn’t mine, I’m sure it should be my car.
The car drove into the garage at 406 Dolittle Community and I suspected that Walda Baker was hiding there and came to the police station at the first opportunity.”
“Why didn’t you tell me at the time if you had found out about Walda Baker’s trail yesterday?”
“Because a friend of a friend saw it, and at the time I couldn’t be sure it was Walda Baker until I saw my car.” Ronnie Prada said, opening his cell phone and tapping on a picture of a Chevy car, he pointed to the right rear side of the car, “I touched this scrape, I just painted it with black paint, it’s definitely my car.”
Luke took the phone, zoomed in on the photo, pointed to the license plate and handed it to Jackson, “Check the license plate number.”
Jackson exited the lounge and returned again not long after, “Captain, this should be the license plate number of a black Ford SUV, and that black Chevy sedan should be a set-up.”
Ronnie Prada’s tone grew more certain, “That must be my car.”
“Thank you, the clue you provided is important.”
“Knock, knock ……” Just then, a knock sounded outside and Black stood in the doorway, “Captain, come out for a moment.”
Luke got up and exited the lounge, “What can I do for you?”
Blacky pointed at the television set overhead.
Luke’s eyes moved to the screen as well, the TV was broadcasting a news item, “The person who wrote this whistle-blowing letter is named Rohrer Horn, he was a drug tester for Kalman Pharmaceuticals, and according to our investigation, he was killed on the very day he mailed out this letter.
The police have not yet come to a definite conclusion about his death, which leads us to suspect that the contents of this letter may well be true.
If that’s the case, what a terrible company this would be ……”
After the news was broadcast, Black added, “Captain, someone has dropped off a tip-off letter to CBS, claiming that Kalman Pharmaceuticals is doing illegal human experiments.”
Luke nodded, he had already learned about this news from Nami Inoue and was not surprised, saying, “Lieutenant, take someone to CBS TV to investigate the authenticity and source of that letter.”
The vice squad asked back, “What about you?”
Dolittle neighborhood.
To avoid being noticed by the suspects, the police entered the community in groups.
Black parked his car near house number 406, looked at the gray bungalow, and asked, “Captain, do you think Ronnie Prada’s information is accurate?”
“I don’t see any signs that he’s lying.” Luke glanced behind him, “He was sitting in the car in the back and I don’t think he had the guts to lie.
Still, that doesn’t mean his information is necessarily accurate, we still need to judge for ourselves.”
Luke peered through the window of the car and peered into the house at 406 and saw no sign of anyone, nor did he see the black Chevy sedan.
Luke took out his walkie-talkie, “Everyone stand by in the car.”
And then, Luke and Blackie got out of the car and gazed around.
He found a white man in his forties sitting in a chair drinking coffee in the house diagonally across the street.
Luke sat over and greeted him, “Good morning sir, can I talk to you?”
“If it’s a ball game chat, I’m welcome.
If it’s to sell something …… get out of my yard immediately, you’re not welcome here.”
“I’m not a salesman.” Luke approached and flashed his badge, “What’s your name, sir?”
“Thomas Colley.” The white man stared at the badge, “Sir, I haven’t done anything illegal.”
“Don’t be nervous, we’re not here to find you, but to ask you some questions.”
“That’s a relief, after all, who hasn’t done anything wrong when they were young, sit down and talk.” Thomas Colley made a gesture of invitation.
“Thanks.” Luke pointed to house number 406 and asked, “Mr. Coley, do you know the owner of that house?”
“Yes, we had a drink together last year.”
“Does he still live in that house?”
“No, he moved over to Las Vegas, that guy is much more dashing than I am, enviable.”
Luke asked, “Is anyone living in that house now?”
Thomas Colley thought for a moment, “It looks like a tenant moved in recently, but, I haven’t seen the other guy, and last night, it looked like the lights were on in that house.
By the way, the tenant of the house drove a black Chevy, but, don’t ask me for the license plate number, I can’t remember it.”
“How many people live in that house?”
“I don’t know, but, it shouldn’t be too many.”
“Did you hear any unusual noises?”
“No.”
Luke pulled out a picture of Walda Baker, “Have you seen him?”
Thomas Colley took the photo and looked at it, shaking his head, “No.”
Luke replaced it with a picture of Miriam Cooney, the little kidnapped girl, “What about her?”
“Haven’t seen her.”
“Have you been in the house across the street?”
“Yes, last year the homeowner invited us over for drinks and a tour of the house.”
Luke asked, “Do you remember the structure in the house?”
“Of course, I’m not old enough to get Alzheimer’s.”
Luke took out a blank sheet of paper, “Mr. Coley, please draw a picture of the structure of that house.”
“I never learned to draw, I’m sure I won’t be too good.”
“That’s okay, just the general structure will do.”
Thomas Coley took the paper and pen, and after thinking back for a moment, drew a rough sketch of the house structure, “I remember it should be like this.”
“Thanks.”
Just then, Jackson came over, “Captain, the swat team has arrived.”
Luke nodded, signaling that he knew, and turned to Thomas Colley, who was off to the side, “Mr. Colley, thank you for your assistance.”
Thomas Colley asked back, “Are there thugs living in that house? Should I recuse myself.”
Luke sounded certain, “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it.”
Thomas Colley snickered, “If you guys catch the suspect, will you give me a medal for bravery?”
“Of course, I’ll present it to you myself.” Luke smiled and got up to leave the yard of Thomas Colley’s house.
Luke then met with the head of the swat team to discuss tactics for searching the house.
Twenty minutes later, the police determined the plan of action, Luke coordinated the whole situation, the swat squad was ready to enter the room and search it, and the first squadron was responsible for the cover.
After the team members arrived at the designated location, Luke gave an order, and the swat squad used a battering ram and crashed through the door of the room.
“BANG!”
“LAPD!”
“Clear!”
“Clear.”
The swat team acted professionally, and the search progressed quickly, with no resistance from suspicious people.
Luke stood in the yard, listening for movement in the house, and there were no gunshots coming from it.
This was both good news and possibly bad news.
The good news was that without gunshots, there would be no casualties, the bad news was that the victim, Miriam Cooney, might not be in the house.
“Zip ……” went the intercom, “Suspicious person spotted in the basement.”
“It’s a little girl with similar physical characteristics to the hostage.”
“Is the hostage in danger?”
“No visible injuries found.”
“Have the robbers been found?”
“No.”
“Copy that.” Luke breathed a sigh of relief, by rescuing the hostages, this mission would be a big success.
As for the two robbers, they could be captured slowly, and perhaps the little girl could also provide some valuable clues.
Soon, Luke met a white girl in the house, the girl was not very old, she looked only eight or nine years old, and bore a slight resemblance to Lydia Cooney.
Luke greeted her in as kind a voice as possible, “Hello, my name is Luke, I’m in charge of this operation.
Are you injured?”
The little girl cringed with a hint of panic in her gaze, “No, Sir. I’m thirsty and I want to see my mom.”
Jenny handed over a bottle of mineral water, “We’ve informed your mother, she’ll be here soon.”
The little girl cried, “Thank you, thank you so much.
I thought I would never see my mom again.”
Luke surveyed the little girl, “Can you tell me your name?”
“Miriam Cooney.” The little girl finished, opening her mineral water bottle and taking a big gulp.
“Can you describe what happened when you were kidnapped?”
The little girl gripped the mineral water bottle tightly with both hands, her body slightly launching.
Luke comforted, “Don’t be afraid, there are police all around, we will protect you.
You tell us about the kidnapping and the suspect’s characteristics so that we can catch the suspect as soon as possible so that you won’t be hurt anymore.”
Miriam Cooney slowly raised her head, a hint of firmness hair in her gaze, “On the night of July 10th, I went home with my mom, and as soon as we entered the house, two people appeared from the side and grabbed me and my mom ……
One of them even covered my mouth and nose, and when I woke up, I was in this house.”
“Did you see what the suspects looked like?”
Miriam Cooney shook her head, “No, they kept me blindfolded.”
“Did you hear their voices?”
“Yes. They told me not to move, not to shout, and not to try to escape.
They also said that if I was good and obedient, they would let me go in a few days.
If I tried to escape, they killed me.”
“When was the last time you saw them or heard them speak?”
“I think it was last night.”
“What time?”
“I don’t know, I’ve been locked up in the basement and have no idea how much time has passed. I just think it must have been night.”
“Can you still hear them?”
Miriam Cooney was slightly silent and bit her lip, “I can, I listened carefully to every word they said and will never forget it.”
Luke pulled out his cell phone and played a recording.
[“Have you been in the house across the street?”
“Yes, last year the owners invited us over for drinks and a tour of the house.”
“Do you remember the structure in the house?”
“Of course, I’m not old enough to get Alzheimer’s.”
“Mr. Coley, please draw a picture of the structure of that house.”
“I didn’t learn how to draw, so I’m sure I won’t be too ……”]
Before the recording could be played, Miriam Cooney winced, her body shrank back, and in a horrified tone she said, “It’s him, he’s the one who kidnapped me.”
Thomas Colley!
The same neighbor that Luke had just been talking to.
Luke had noticed signs of lying when he talked to him, sensed something was wrong with him, and recorded his voice.
Luke sent the voice to the little girl’s mother, Lydia Cooney, to distinguish it, and the other woman was not impressed, nor had she communicated with the other robber.
However, Luke still felt that there might be a problem with Thomas Collie, and had already asked Blackie to bring someone to keep an eye on the other party.
Now that Miriam Cooney confirmed his identity, the arrest could be carried out.
Luke took out his walkie-talkie, “Marcus, Thomas Colley is the robber, prepare for action!”
“Okay, Captain.”