Chapter 648

Luke stared at Flory Wayne and said, “Mr. Wayne, how about inviting your daughter out? We’ll have a nice talk.”

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Luke pulled out a picture of the deceased, “Do you recognize her?”

“Yes, she was my daughter’s classmate.”

“She’s dead.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but I had nothing to do with it.”

“But according to the evidence we’ve found, Lacey Wayne is somehow connected to this case, and we want to ask about it, which is why we’re here.”

“I don’t think Lacey has anything to do with this.”

“That’s even easier, ask her to come out and talk, if she has nothing to do with this case, we won’t have to search the house, I’ll take the men and just leave.”

“You mean what you say?”

“Of course.”

Florey Wayne hesitated for a moment, looked around the yard at the officers, and said helplessly, “You come in, don’t bring too many people.”

Luke led Blackie and Jackson into the house.

There were two people standing in the living room, one was none other than the officer involved, Lacey, and another looked like her mother.

Lacey’s mother’s brow furrowed, “Honey, what are they doing here?”

“They’re investigating the murder of Ellie Bergman.”

“Then they should have gone to Ellie Bergman’s house, why did they come to my house?”

Florey Wayne sighed, “They think Lacey has something to do with the case.”

“How is that possible, are they mistaken.”

“I think they’re mistaken too, but I can’t convince them. They brought a search warrant and want to talk to Lacey.”

“No, I don’t see the need to talk, they’ll only scare Lacey, she’s still just a student.” As a mother, she instinctively held her daughter back.

Florey Wayne also looked at her daughter, “What do you think, dear?”

“I don’t know, my mind is a little messed up ……,” Lacey’s voice choked, and she looked at her parents with a somewhat helpless look.

“Baby, it’s going to be okay.” Lacey’s mother hugged her daughter and said to her husband again, “Let them out, they’re scaring Lacey.”

Florey Wayne said helplessly, “They have a warrant, if we don’t cooperate things will only get worse.” Florey Wayne walked over to his daughter, “Lacey, don’t worry, mom and I will be by your side.”

Just tell them what you know. Mommy and I will always be there for you.”

However, Florey Wayne’s words didn’t make Lacey relaxed, on the contrary, Lacey’s face became even more gloomy, “Will they take me away?”

Florey Wayne relieved, “You don’t have anything to do with Ellie Bergman’s death, you just need to say it clearly, they have no reason to take you away. Don’t worry, Mom and I won’t allow them to do that either.”

Luke spoke in a kind tone, “Your father is right, you just need to talk to us and clear things up and we will leave.”

Lacey asked, “What do you want to talk to me about?”

“How about we sit down and talk?” Luke walked himself over to the couch and sat down, gesturing for Lacey to sit across from him, and continued, “Do you know Ellie Bergman?”

“Yes, she was a classmate and a friend of mine.”

“Did you know about her murder?”

“Yes, I heard.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“I think it was the afternoon of November 15th, after school?”

Luke said solemnly, “Lacey, you may not answer, but you cannot lie, understand?”

Lacey nodded.

Luke continued, “Did you go to Ellie Bergman’s house on the evening of November 15th? Think before you answer.”

Her mother sat down next to Lacey and encouraged, “Honey, just tell the truth, there’s no need to be afraid.”

Lacey’s face became a little hard and she hesitated for a few moments, “I can’t remember.”

Hearing this answer, Lacey’s parents’ faces changed.

Before, they had always believed in their daughter, thinking that she had nothing to do with Ellie Bergman’s death, and even when a group of police officers came to their door to search, they still thought so.

But now that only a few days had passed, how could their daughter not remember?

What was she hiding?

Could ……

The couple looked at each other with worried looks.

Florey Wayne spoke, “Officer, my daughter is a little nervous. I’d like to talk to her alone to ease her mind.”

Luke leaned on the sofa and gazed at the family of three, “Mr. Florey Wayne, don’t you think it’s a little late to communicate?

Since I brought someone to the door, I must have found tangible evidence.

Therefore, my suggestion is to let Lacey assist the police investigation, and I will give her a favorable plea agreement. That’s the best outcome.”

“Shut up, there’s no way my daughter committed a crime!” Lacey’s mother snapped, holding her daughter tightly in her arms.

Luke said, “If you’re not willing to assist in the investigation, then we’ll search on our own, and if we find tangible evidence, the situation will be even more unfavorable for Lacey Wayne.”

Lacey’s mother said, “We want a lawyer.”

“Sure, but a lawyer can’t hinder the police in their case either.” Luke flashed the search warrant again and added to the officers beside him, “Search the house, yard, garage and car.”

“Okay, Captain.”

Luke gave the order and the men split up.

Florey Wayne and his wife pulled their daughter into the bedroom.

Recognizing the attitude of the three, Luke knew that there was no point in waiting dryly, so he simply joined in the search.

The main reason why Luke investigated Lacey first instead of the other two suspected girls was because Lacey was in charge of dumping the bodies and doing the dirty work, and it was easier to search for evidence related to the case.

Moreover, she was not very old, it should be the first time she encountered this kind of thing, and she might not be able to handle it cleanly under panic.

Luke was the first to enter the garage, where a black Toyota was placed, this car was probably the car that transported and dumped the body.

Luke first opened the door of the car, roughly check the car inside the situation, did not find obvious tools of the crime, then, he checked the car recorder, found that the car recorder video has been cleared.

Luke removed the memory card of the car recorder and said to the police officer beside him, “Hand it over to the technical team and see if the video inside can be recovered.”

“Okay, Captain Lee.”

Luke then began to check the trunk, which was empty and had no items placed inside.

Generally speaking, the trunks of most cars would store some tools or items.

Obviously, these items should have been taken out for the purpose of transporting the bodies most likely.

Luke scrutinized the trunk and found a long blonde hair; he had just observed that all three of the Lacey family had dark hair, and this hair was obviously not theirs.

And the victim, Ellie Bergman, happened to have blonde hair.

Luke called in the tech team and told them to gather the blonde hair up, it was crucial evidence.

“Captain, I’ve got something on my side.” A shout came from Jackson not far away.

Luke stepped out of the garage and saw Jackson standing in the east corner of the yard with a shovel in his hand.

Jackson’s shout had attracted the others as well.

Jackson explained, “I was just searching the yard, and I saw that the grass in this area was a little different than the surrounding ones, so, I took a shovel and dug and dug up a black bag.”

Saying that, Jackson knelt down and lifted the bag out of the pit, opening it in the process, “I think I found the tools of the trade.”

Luke walked over as well and looked at the items inside the bag, rope, duct tape, sponge balls, a black hood, and a blue dress and white sneakers.

The items were stained, like they had vomit on them, and were obviously all used.

Luke patted Jackson on the shoulder, “Good job.”

Jackson smiled.

Blackie bristled, “Lucky rookie.”

Jackson teased, “Your tone is full of envy. In fact, if you work hard and take it more seriously, you can be just like me.”

Black responded with a middle finger and turned to leave.

Luke went into the living room of the house and met the three Lacey families again.

“OK, I think it’s time to talk again.”

Lacey’s mother clasped her hands to her chest, “No, we’re not answering any of your questions until the lawyers get here.”

Luke sat on the couch, unimpressed, “I’ll do the talking then, you guys listen.”

I searched the car, the car recorder had been emptied but could still be recovered through technical means.

I was interested in what was in it.

Secondly, I found a long blonde hair in the trunk of the car.” Luke looked over at Lacey, “You should have a pretty good idea who that belongs to?”

Lacey shuddered slightly, her body a little woozy, and sat down holding onto the couch.

Luke continued, “One of the officers dug up a black bag in the yard, and if I’m not mistaken, that would be your murder weapon.

It should have your biopsy on it as well, and even if you don’t tell us, that’s enough to convict you.”

Lacey’s parents also showed concern and panic.

“Look, you’re not the only one involved in this case, and even if you don’t talk, others will.”

And once the police take their confessions, it will be very bad for you.

And there’s only one favorable plea agreement, so I hope you value this opportunity.” Luke looked at Lacey’s father again, “She’s still young and may not have enough courage. But you parents should know the trade-offs and what’s best for her.”

Florey Wayne clenched his fists, then unclenched them, “Captain Lee, it’s not that we’re not willing to assist in the investigation, can we wait a bit, our lawyer will be here soon.”

Luke held out three fingers, “I’ll give you three minutes, if you still have this attitude, then I’ll talk to the other two suspects with this evidence I just found. Perhaps they would be more willing to assist the police in their investigation. Hopefully, your lawyers can help you regain a plea deal.”

Luke stood up and headed out of the house.

“Wait.” Seeing that Luke was about to leave, Florey Wayne was a bit flustered and hurriedly chased after him, “Captain Lee, give us another chance, please.”

Florey Wayne turned to look at his daughter again, “Lacey, it’s time to talk.”

You’re still a minor, and as long as you actively assist the police in their investigation, the charges won’t be too serious. That plea agreement is important to you, do you understand?”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this ……,” Lacey barred her voice as she finally couldn’t hold it together and burst into tears, “We never wanted to kill her, it was just a prank, but I didn’t expect . . she died like that.”

Luke pressed, “What do you mean by prank?”

“A few days ago, we had arranged to go to Dawson’s together, a well known bar, and we were all looking forward to it.

But on November 15th, Ellie Bergman said she was sick and didn’t want to go.

Sharon Frank was a little upset; she felt that Ellie Bergman wasn’t sick, but was making excuses to get out of it, and actually wanted to go on a date with Yann Columbus.

Ellie Bergman didn’t say anything about it, but we all knew that she and Aarn Columbus were dating.

Sharon Frank was furious, she felt it was a betrayal, in her words, that all the years of bonding between the four of us sisters was no match for a man we had only known for a month.

So, she decided to pull a prank.

We knew that Ellie Bergman was home alone, and we knew the code to her house, so we snuck into her house, disguised ourselves as kidnappers and loaded her into the trunk of a car, but in actuality, we were just trying to scare the shit out of her and take her out to the bar with us. I also brought her an outfit she wears regularly.”

“Did she go into the bar?”

“No, we got too excited when we got to Dawson’s Bar.”

We forgot about her ……

We only remembered her when we got out of the bar, and when we opened the trunk, she wasn’t breathing ……” Lacey’s voice choked up as she shook her head, “We didn’t expect this, we were just trying to play a joke on her, a prank. “