Chapter 585
The Calce neighborhood.
Outside a gray-roofed, white-walled bungalow, a young white man is repairing a wooden fence.
The white man was about twenty years old, wearing headphones, humming a song, and holding a hammer in his right hand as he banged away at the wooden fence.
“Woo-hoo ……”
Two cars pulled up to the curb.
Luke and Black stepped out of the car in front of them, and Jackson and Porter got out of the car behind them and stood guard at the side of the road.
Luke looked around before looking at the young man who was working on a wooden fence, “Man, can I talk to you?”
The young white man didn’t respond, not sure if it was because he was wearing headphones or simply didn’t want to pay attention.
Blackie walked toward the east side of the yard, waved his hand, and shouted, “Hey, can you hear me?”
The white youth put down his hammer and took off his headphones, “Sorry, I was just listening to a song, can I help you?”
Blackie looked him up and down and asked, “Are you Mirko Moss?”
“Yes I am.” The white youth frowned, “Who are you? I don’t seem to recognize you.”
Blackie flashed his badge, “I’m Detective Marcus of the Robbery and Murder Division, and this is our Captain Lee.”
The white youth stood up, “Robbery Murder Division?
What do you guys want with me?”
“Do you know Hedda Cartman?”
Mirko Moss froze and blushed slightly, “No, I don’t.”
Blackie bristled, “Are you sure? Lying is not a good habit.”
“Sorry, I have other things to do.” Mirko Moss picked up his tools and headed for the garage.
Blackie called out, “Hey, we checked Hedda Cartman’s phone records and found that you two had a call, don’t you want to explain?”
Mirko Moss stopped in his tracks, “Why don’t you guys go ask her?”
“She’s dead.”
“What?” Mirko Moss’ eyes widened in a look of disbelief, “What did you just say?”
“She’s dead.”
“Oh my God!” Mirko Moss covered his cheeks with both hands, slowly squatted on the ground, took a deep breath, and only after a long time did he choke out, “When did she die?”
“August 24th.”
“Damn, I thought ……” Mirko Moss knocked his head with, “I’m such an asshole, I should have gone to look for her earlier, she died for so long, I actually didn’t know, and still keep blaming her.
The one who really deserves to die is me, it’s me.”
Mirko Moss’s shouts startled the surrounding neighbors, and Luke soothed, “We’re sorry about Hedda Cartman’s death, too.
We came here to find out more about her and get to the bottom of her murder.
We’d like to talk to you alone if we can.”
“Come with me.” With a long sigh, Mirko Moss stood up and walked towards the house.
Luke and Black followed him in.
Mirko Moss wasn’t in the mood to entertain the two and sat himself on his butt on the couch, his eyes red and seemingly still drowning in grief.
Luke sat on the couch beside him and asked, “I can tell you’re sad, can I ask about your relationship with Hedda Cartman?”
Mirko Moss looked over to the TV stand to his right, which had a picture of him and Hedda Cartman together, “We had a somewhat special relationship …… somewhat akin to family.”
Black raised an eyebrow, “Family?”
“Yes, I think so.”
Black scanned the living room, “As far as I know, this house should be rented by Hedda Cartman. Why would she rent you a house?”
“That’s none of your business.”
Blackie bristled, “OK, let’s change the question then. When we first started asking you, why did you say you didn’t know Hedda Cartman?”
Mirko Moss shook his head, “I haven’t been able to contact her since August 24th.
I thought …… that the relationship between the two of us was burdening and troubling her, and assumed that she wanted to cut ties with me.
After all, for her …… I don’t have a glowing history.”
Luke intoned, “Look, Hedda Cartman is dead now, and some things don’t matter to her anymore, but we need to sort out the relationships around her to find clues to her murder as soon as possible.
So, what exactly are your relationships?”
Mirko Moss hesitated for a long moment, “I ……
She’s my biological mother.”
“What!” It was Black’s turn to be surprised, “As far as I know, Hedda Cartman is only 34 years old, how could she have a son as old as you?”
“You’re right, there are still two weeks left before her 35th birthday, I’ve already prepared a birthday gift for her, but ……” Mirko Moss spread his hands and helplessly said, “What I said is true, believe it or not is up to you. ”
Luke sized up Mirko Moss, “How old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“That means Hedda Cartman had you at sixteen.”
“Yes.
She was in school at the time and simply couldn’t afford to raise me, so she sent me to child welfare ……
That’s why I said it wasn’t a glamorous experience.
Even if she didn’t want to socialize with me, I could understand, after all, she already had her own family, and my appearance …… was like a nuclear bomb exploding for her family.”
Black pressed on, “Hedda Cartman’s current husband doesn’t realize she’s had children before?”
“Come on, she was sixteen and a student at the time.
My existence was like a taboo, no one knew except her parents.
And how could she tell the man she married?” Mirko Moss revealed a touch of self-deprecation, “Even now, she hasn’t thought about it, or doesn’t have the courage to tell her husband.
Although she didn’t say it explicitly, I could feel that I was still a burden to her.
That’s why, after not being able to get through to her, I subconsciously assumed that she wanted to let go of the relationship ……
I can understand that.
But I didn’t expect ……” Mirko Moss reddened his eyes, “Who killed her?”
Luke said, “We just found out who Hedda Cartman was today, and we don’t know yet.
Do you know if she had offended anyone recently or do you have a suspect?”
“Actually, I don’t know much about her life.
We haven’t recognized each other for a long time, and she has never told anyone else, even her parents.
However, some time ago she was injured, by her husband.” Mirko Moss pinched the fingers of her left hand with her right hand, “She cares a lot about her husband, and she was afraid that her husband wouldn’t be able to accept that experience of hers, so, she never told her husband about me.
Suppose, her husband knows about it, he will definitely be very angry.”
“Where were you between nine and ten o’clock last night?”
“Working as a waitress in a bar.
Hedda paid my rent for a year, but I’m on my own after that.
This is my first home, the one that’s really mine, and I don’t want to lose it.”
“Can you tell me the name of the bar?”
“The Night Bar, it’s at 302 Pollitt Street.”
Luke jotted down in his notebook, “When was the last time you saw Hedda Cartman?”
“That would be August 24th.”
“Was there anything unusual about her at that time?”
“She told me that her husband had sensed that she was hiding something and even suspected that she was cheating on him.
She was going to find an opportunity to tell her husband about me.
She hasn’t contacted me and I thought her husband couldn’t accept me and she chose her husband.
Now that I think about it, I should have gone to her, even if I was disgusted, and asked her to her face instead of being a shrinking violet.” Mirko Moss wiped his eyes, “Can I go see her?
I want to see her one last time.”
Luke said, “I wouldn’t advise it.”
“Why? You guys don’t think I’m qualified either?”
“No, there was a fire in Mogaro Forest Park last night and her body was burned.”
Mirko Moss showed an angry look and clenched his fists, “My God, what kind of person would do such a terrible thing, why would they do this to her?”
Luke handed the other man a business card, “Call me when you think of a new clue.”
“I will.” Mirko Moss took the business card and held it tightly in his hand.
Afterward, Luke and Blackie left Mirko Moss’s house.
Luke walked to the side of the road and didn’t rush to get into the car, his gaze looking at a black Mercedes sedan dozens of meters away.
Luke asked Jackson and Porter, who were on the side, “How long has that black Mercedes been parked?”
Porter thought for a moment, “About ten minutes.”
“Doesn’t that car look familiar to you guys?” Luke cocked his head and ordered, “Search that car and be careful.”
“YES, Sir.”
Porter and Jackson gave wary looks and hurried into the SUV police car.
Porter drove the car forward, directly in front of the black Mercedes.
And then, Porter and Jackson stepped out of the car, pointed their guns at the black Mercedes and shouted, “LAPD!
Nobody inside move, hands on the steering wheel!”
Jackson walked closer with his gun in both hands, felt something familiar about the man in the driver’s side, and pulled open the door, “Henrik Cartman, what are you doing here?”
“Don’t shoot, I’m unarmed!” Henrik Cartman held up his hands.
Jackson ordered, “Get out of the car. Slow down.”
Henrik Cartman slowly stepped out of the car, disgruntled, “Is it illegal to drive on this street? If so, tell me if it’s constitutional or state law?”
“Shut up!” Jackson held Henrik Cartman down in the car and searched him.
Henrik Cartman shrugged, “I told you, I’m unarmed.”
“What are you doing here?” Jackson intoned.
He hadn’t realized that he was being followed, which was somewhat of a dereliction of duty and made him feel humiliated.
Henrik Cartman stared viciously at the Mirko-Moss family and said in a cold voice, “I want to find the asshole who killed my wife and beat the shit out of him.”
Luke walked over and questioned, “So all those clues you provided earlier, you want us to help you find your imaginary love interest?”