Chapter 583
Luke mused for a moment, “Lieutenant, Wolod Russell is all yours to interrogate.”
The lieutenant nodded, “No problem.
I’d like to hear your opinion before that.”
“I suggest that he be given a psychiatric evaluation first.”
The lieutenant looked a little odd, “You think he’s mentally ill?”
Luke shrugged, “I’m not sure, I just don’t want you to do it for nothing.”
“Is it too late for me to change missions?” The lieutenant sighed and spread his hands, “Marcus is a detective now, why don’t we give him a workout and put him in charge of Wolod Russell’s interrogation.”
Black shook his head like a wave passing over him, “No No No, I hate mentally challenged white men, they’re usually very hostile to people of color.”
The lieutenant glared at him, “Kid, watch what you say, watch out I’ll sue you for discrimination.”
Blackie rolled his eyes and looked unconcerned.
After returning to the police station, Luke arranged for the crowd to check for missing persons near the Mogaro Forest Park, after which, he went to the captain’s office to catch up on his sleep.
The body was charred, the items that could prove the identity of the body were burned, and there were so few known clues that it would be better to recuperate than to sit and wait.
In the afternoon, the coroner, Sheila, pushed open the door to the First Squadron office.
Sheila looked a little tired, holding a thick pile of information, “Hey guys, any progress on the investigation?”
Black shook his head, “All we can do right now is to check the surveillance and missing persons around Mogaro Forest Park, but the available evidence is so little that it’s hard to identify the deceased.”
“Looks like I came at the right time, I brought a copy of the autopsy report.” Sheila placed a copy on the table.
Luke also heard the commotion and walked out from the captain’s office, “Finished the autopsy?”
Sheila shook her head and sighed, “One charred body is a lot of work, let alone three.
I know you’re waiting for the autopsy reports, so I’m sending some over to you first.”
“Thanks, that’s just what we needed.” Luke picked up the autopsy report and read it while asking, “Did you find out the identity of the three bodies?”
“The DNA identification results are still pending, so I can only give you some autopsy data and body characteristics, hopefully it will help you guys.” Sheila took the autopsy report from Luke’s hands, flipped back a few pages, put one of the pages of the report on the projector, and said.
“A total of three charred bodies were found in Mogaro Forest Park, numbered according to the early or late time of death as deceased #1, deceased #2, and deceased #3.
Of these, deceased No. 1 was the earliest in time of death, and must have been between four and six days before the fire.
The body was a female, about 170cm tall, aged 35 years old, with a fractured right arm.
Deceased #2 was a male who would have been killed shortly before the fire.
He was around 180cm tall and aged between 40 and 45.
Deceased #3 is a male who should have been killed by smoke after the fire.
He was around 175CM tall and in his early to mid 50’s, he also had some of his belongings taken away by the tech team for identification.” Sheila finished and looked at the crowd, “I hope this autopsy data is useful to you.”
“Of course, with this data, we’ll be able to identify eligible victims among the missing persons.” Luke escorted Sheila out of the office.
Soon, Jenny found a missing person suspected to be deceased #1 in the missing persons database.
Name, Hedda Cartman.
Gender, female
Date of birth, September 11, 1988
Characteristics, white female, brown hair, blue eyes
Height, 169cm
Date of disappearance, August 24, 2023
Reported August 25, 2023
Reporting party, Henrik Cartman.
Reporting party’s cell phone number, 310 876 2468.
Address, 202 Marco.
Jenny said, “Captain, the missing person, Hedda Cartman’s missing time, gender, age, and height match the information on deceased #1, and it’s probably the person we’re looking for.”
Luke nodded, “Contact the person who reported it.”
“YES, Sir,” Jenny responded, picking up her cell phone and going aside to make a call.
Blacky laughed, “We’ve been looking into this like headless flies for half a day, and now we’ve finally got a clue.”
Jackson didn’t agree with Blacky’s words, “All efforts are worthwhile, it just takes time to cash in.”
“Shut up, I don’t want a rookie chicken soup.” Black rolled his eyes and his stomach gave a rumble.
Luke cocked his head, “Go get some dinner while you have time.”
Black frowned slightly, as if recalling some bad memory, “No, I’m on a diet today.”
Jackson smiled, “Kind reminder, you could ask for a vegetable salad, pasta, or pizza, might work up an appetite.”
Black thought hard, “No, I don’t even want coffee today.” Saying that, he looked at Luke who was beside him, “Luke, can you give me some tea to drink? It needs to be the green kind.”
Jackson laughed, “Come on, you’re not even afraid to drink coffee, are you?”
“It’s not that I’m afraid to drink it, I’m just not interested in all burnt black objects.” Black shook his head, “Don’t think I don’t know, you didn’t eat today either, rookie.”
“Follow me if you want tea.” Luke didn’t bother to pay attention to the two, as he didn’t have much appetite today either, and had only eaten a bag of instant noodles since last night.
“Bang!”
Forty minutes later, a man hurriedly barged into the First Squadron office.
Blackie put down his teacup and said in dissatisfaction, “Man, can’t you knock?”
“Sorry, I’m in a hurry.” The man wiped a handful of sweat from his head and continued, “My name is Henrik Cartman, my wife is missing.”
Jenny stood up, “Your wife is Hedda Cartman?”
“Yes, there is something familiar about your voice, were you the one who contacted me on the phone earlier?”
“That’s right, please follow me, Mr. Henrik Cartman.”
Jenny led Henrik Cartman to the lounge and poured him a cup of coffee.
Henrik Cartman took the coffee with both hands and asked somewhat nervously, “Have you found my wife?”
“Uh ……” Jenny was a little embarrassed.
“Cluck ……” Just then, the door to the lounge opened and Luke and Jackson walked in.
Jenny pointed at Luke and introduced, “Mr. Cartman, this is our Captain Lee and the case officer.”
Henrik Cartman stood up and shook Luke’s hand, “Captain Lee, you’re the one investigating my wife’s disappearance now?”
Luke made a gesture of invitation, “Sit down and talk.”
“Thanks.” Henrik Cartman looked at Luke, getting more and more uneasy: “How is my wife now?”
Luke pondered for a moment, “Last night, there was a fire in Mogaro Forest Park, did you know about it?”
“Yes, my house is in the neighborhood, I could see the flames from standing by my window, and the yard fell in a cloud of smoke, does this have anything to do with my wife?”
“We found three bodies at the scene of the fire, including the body of a female, aged around 35 years old, around 170cm tall, and died at a similar time to your wife’s disappearance ……”
Henrik Cartman waved his hands and said excitedly, “Oh my God! You mean my wife is dead!”
“No one can be sure of that until the DNA identification comes back.
We came to you today just to rule out that possibility.”
“Can I see the body? I can definitely recognize if she’s my wife.” Henrik Cartman sounded certain.
Luke hesitated a little, “Actually, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Henrik Cartman had tears in his eyes, “Please, let me see it, I’ll recognize it, I know everything about my wife, I love her.”
“OK,” Luke nodded and winked at Jackson.
Soon, Jackson came over with a tablet, “Mr. Cartman, that body was burned a little badly, I hope you’re prepared.”
“Let me see.”
Seeing that the other party was so insistent, Jackson didn’t say any more nonsense, and directly clicked on the tablet, finding a photo of the dead body of the deceased #1.
When Henrik Cartman saw the charred body, his entire body froze, then moved his gaze away, “Are you guys sure this is my wife?”
“Not sure, that’s why we came to you.” Luke pointed to the picture on the tablet, “Is she your wife?”
“I’m sorry, I ……
I didn’t realize it would burn so badly ……
She’s most likely not my wife’s body, and I think you guys have misidentified her.
My wife is most likely not dead.” Henrik Cartman seemed to have a glimmer of hope again.
“You’re right, we’re just trying to rule out the possibility that the charred body is your wife right now.” Luke turned the tables and asked, “Has your wife been injured before?”
“What kind of injuries? Do scars count?”
“Unless it’s a deep scar or an injury to the bone, it’s hard to recognize now.”
Henrik Cartman thought hard, “I remember skiing once and my wife broke her arm. Yes, she broke her right arm once.”
Luke remembered the autopsy report, according to the medical examiner’s appraisal, deceased 1’s right arm had been broken once, which was consistent with Henrik Cartman’s description.
From the available evidence, the deceased #1 was probably Henrik Cartman’s missing wife.
Luke asked, “Cartman, what was the exact time of your wife’s disappearance?”
“August 24th at seven o’clock in the evening.”
“Do you know what she went to do?”
“She went for a run.”
“She was in the habit of running at night?”
“Yes.”
Luke made a note in his notebook and followed up with, “Where did she go running?”
Henrik Cartman sighed, “I’m not sure, she usually comes home at eight p.m., but that day she was late.
So, I called the police first thing the next morning.”
“Was there anything unusual about your wife before she disappeared?”
Henrik Cartman thought about it and shook his head, “No, I didn’t sense anything unusual.”
Luke stared at the other man, vaguely noticing signs of lying on his face.