Chapter 126 Strange scene (two chapters in one)
Police Detective Agency.
In the morning, Luke was sorting out the transcripts of the crew of "The Gone Girl".
Matthew walked into the office with three packages, "There is a courier (FedEx), I put it on the table in front."
The desk in front is empty, and there are usually some sundries and shared items.
"Hey, my courier has finally arrived." Xiao Hei ran over for the first time, picked it up, and threw one of the couriers to Luke and one to Jenny.
"Thank you." Luke caught the express and tore open the package.
David looked at the three of them and joked, "Women can shop online, tough guys can't."
Luke laughed, "You're right, even a fool would not."
"Haha..." Marcus and Jenny laughed loudly.
The deputy team rested his face with his right hand and propped his elbows on the table, "Why did you provoke him? That kid has never suffered from his mouth."
"Am I wrong?" David spread his hands.
"He's right, too."
"Haha..." Everyone laughed again.
Seeing Luke tearing open the outer package, Xiao Hei showed a curious look, and poked his head to look, "Hey, you actually bought a book, "The Vanishing Lover". Is this book related to the movie that the deceased is shooting?"
"That movie was adapted from this novel, and the author of the novel is also the screenwriter of the movie. Since the murderer may have killed people according to the plot of the movie, I want to see if I can find any clues in the novel." Luke began to flip through the pages while talking. Reading novels.
The deputy team said, "Luke's words reminded me that with the exposure of Lucas' fake death, most of the people related to the crew of 'The Vanishing Lover' have been negatively affected, and the only one who has benefited is probably this writer too.
What's his name... I seem to remember it, but I can't remember it all at once. "
Luke reminds, "Romit Bull"
The deputy team said, "That's right, we should talk to him, maybe he can provide some valuable clues."
Susan walked into the office, "What are you talking about?"
Luke waved the book in his hand, "I'm talking about the author of this novel."
"It's over, let me have a look." After Susan finished speaking, she changed the subject, "There are new identification results from the forensic laboratory.
The forensic doctor extracted some blood that did not belong to him from the mouth of the deceased, to be precise, from the teeth.
Although there was no successful comparison in the database, it can be determined that this is a woman's blood. "
The deputy team nodded, good news, "Although it is speculated from before that the deceased may have left tooth marks on the murderer, as time goes by, the tooth marks on the murderer are likely to heal. This evidence has certain limitations.
But DNA is different, as long as the suspect is caught, he can be convicted. "
Xiao Hei laughed, "DNA belongs to women.
I guess that Abu Guerra, a scumbag, made another old mistake. He deceived a certain woman's feelings for money and interests, and ended up angering her and was killed. "
David joked, "Why does it feel like someone is talking about himself."
"Haha..." Everyone laughed again.
…
The next day.
York Community.
A Lexus parked in front of a blue-roofed two-story villa.
A white man quickly got out of the car, ran to the door, and knocked **** the door, "Boom..."
No response.
"Boom..." the white man yelled, "Courtney, are you home?"
"If you don't open the door, I'm going in!"
The man's voice fell, he entered the password on the combination lock, opened the door and walked in.
"Courtney, are you okay?"
The man waited and watched in the living room, but saw no one.
Continue to walk in, push open the bedroom door, the whole person is stunned,
"Courtney! No…"
…
Five minutes later, the surrounding patrol police arrived at the scene.
Half an hour later, Luke and others rushed to the York community.
Xiao Hei got out of the car and glanced around, "It really is a place where rich people live. The yard in front of the house is bigger than my house."
David shook his head, "Your point of attention is really strange, now is not the time to talk about it."
Xiao Hei nodded, "That's right, even a big house is useless after a person dies."
David “…”
Luke knew what David was trying to say.
Courtney Bass is the heroine of the movie "Gone Girl".
Two people died one after another in the same crew. The death of Courtney Bass is probably related to the death of the lead double Abu Guerra, so their team is still in charge of this case.
People walked into the scene one after another.
I have to say that the decoration of this house is indeed very beautiful, with a stylish and simple style, and some places are decorated very cleverly. It can be seen that it has been specially designed by someone.
No abnormalities were found in the living room.
Luke walked into the bedroom and saw a woman in pajamas hanging from a rope, her eyes wide open, her tongue sticking out, her complexion pale, and her plump figure looming under the pajamas.
Xiao Hei sighed softly, looked up and down, "It's a pity, she is a good woman."
David frowned, "How did you tell? Just because she was wearing tulle pajamas?"
Xiao Hei said flatly, "You still don't understand, I have no common language with you."
David said, "Fortunately."
Luke has also been observing the corpse. This corpse gives him a strange feeling. He has seen many death scenes, but this time it is very different.
There is a rope tied to the chandelier, and Courtney Bass’ neck is hung below it. It looks like she has been hanged, but her feet are suspended in the air, and there is no stool underneath.
How did you get there?
It is reasonable to say that if you hang yourself normally, you should step on the stool, and then kick the stool away after the neck is caught, and the person will be strangled and suffocate to death.
This is not the case now.
There is another situation where the deceased jumps high and grabs the rope, pulls it up and wraps it around his neck.
This kind of situation has certain requirements for arm strength, which is difficult for ordinary women to do.
In addition, there is a dressing table and stool not far from the bed, so it is easy to move them here, and there is no need to do extra work.
Then there is only one possibility left, the deceased was murdered and deliberately faked to hang himself.
But in this case, a stool should be placed.
Only in this way can they pretend to be hanged and killed.
The murderer was too careless?
Or something else?
The suspicious places are more than these two points.
There was blood red on the right chest of the deceased, and the amount of bleeding was not large, as if stabbed by a sharp knife, which also did not meet the characteristics of suicide by hanging.
Luke's expression moved slightly, showing a thoughtful expression.
The survey team began to survey the scene, put the body down, and the forensic doctor also started to work.
David and Xiao Hei are responsible for taking notes for the informant.
Xiao Hei looked at the white man, "Are you the informant?"
"It's me." The man's expression was dim, his eyes were red, as if he had cried.
"What is your relationship with the deceased Courtney Bass?"
"She's my girlfriend."
"May I have your name?"
"Peter Dest."
"How did you find out that Courtney Bass was killed?"
"I contacted her in the morning, but no one answered. I suspected that something happened to her, so I hurried over to check.
I knocked on the door and called my name, but no one responded, so I just pressed the password and went in.
After that, you see…
so horrible. "
David asked, "Just because she didn't answer the call, you think something happened to her? Are you being too sensitive?"
"The Gone Girl movie may not be released, and Courtney is not in a good mood, very depressed, and I do worry that something will happen to her.
She put a lot of effort into this movie, thinking about the script every day, shooting on the set day and night, and as soon as we met, she would ask me to help with the lines.
This movie meant a lot to her, and suddenly it couldn’t be released because of someone.
This hit her hard, she didn't do anything wrong, and she shouldn't suffer such consequences.
The hard work of filming these days has also been in vain.
I'm really worried that she can't think about it. "
"When was the last time you saw her?"
"last night."
Xiao Hei asked, "What time?"
Peter Dest recalled, "I came around nine o'clock and left around twelve o'clock."
"Because of the movie, she was very unhappy.
I stayed with her, chatted with her, and the two of us drank some wine, trying to make her relax.
And then…we fell asleep. Peter Dest added, "I want her to forget her troubles for a while and be happier." "
Xiao Hei nodded, "You are right, I can understand you."
"Thanks."
"Was she okay before you left?"
"Of course, I left after watching her fall asleep."
"It's so late, why don't you stay?"
"I would, too. But she's a celebrity, and the paparazzi are always watching, and if I'm leaving in the morning, it's likely to make headlines, and we don't want that.
So, I generally don’t live in her house, which is also a kind of protection for her. "Speaking of this, Peter Dest choked up a little, "I really didn't expect that she would... If I had known this earlier, I wouldn't have left without saying anything. "
"Dude, it's not your fault, you've done a great job, and no one can guess what's going to happen next." Xiao Hei patted him on the shoulder.
Peter Dest nodded, "Thank you, you are a good man."
Seeing that Xiao Hei was always saying something worthless, David interrupted him, and then asked, "Did you find anyone suspicious when you left Courtney's house last night?"
"No."
"How was she feeling at the time?"
"Very good, but a little tired."
"Do you think she's going to kill herself?"
"I don't quite believe it, the two of us talked a lot last night.
I told her not to worry too much about the movie, even if she can't make movies in the future, I can guarantee her life is good.
We can get married and I will always take care of her.
I have the ability to give her happiness. "
David asked, "What industry are you in?"
"I'm a dentist."
Xiao Hei praised, "Good job, my mother always wanted me to be a dentist. If my mother knew you, she would definitely like you very much."
David was fed up with his nonsense, ended the conversation, and handed Peter Dest a business card, "If you think of any clues, you can call me."
"I will.
If there is anything I need to do, you can contact me.
I will try my best to assist you and catch Courtney's murderer as soon as possible. "
After watching Peter Dest leave, David said to Xiao Hei beside him, "Captain is wise, if you let me partner with you, I will beat you to death."
Xiao Hei leaned aside and retorted, "Luke and I are the best partners."
"bullshit" David dropped one word and returned to the scene.
In the bedroom, Luke and others were surrounding the corpse.
The forensic doctor Sheila has completed the preliminary autopsy and introduced, "This should be the first crime scene, and the victim's death time was between ten o'clock last night and two o'clock in the morning.
The victim had played poker before his death and had no obvious defensive injuries.
The corpse has two important wounds, one is a pinch mark on the neck, and the other is a knife wound on the right side of the chest. "
Susan asked, "How deep is the cut?"
"About ten centimeters."
"The deceased was stabbed to death?"
"No, the wound was deep, but there was very little blood around it, indicating that it was stabbed after death, and the cut marks also fit this feature.
Therefore, the deceased should have been strangled and suffocated to death. "
"Did he hang himself?"
Sheila replied, "Judging from the scars on the neck, the deceased was probably strangled to death by hand, and then hung on a rope to create the illusion of suicide.
Moreover, we also found some skin flakes under the nails of the deceased. We will try to extract DNA later. "
Jenny asked, "Since the deceased has been strangled to death, why stabbed him in the chest again?"
Sheila shrugged, "That's what you need to investigate. I will inform you of the new investigation results."
The deputy team shook his head, "This scene is very strange, I have seen many fake suicide scenes, although there will be some loopholes, but it will definitely not be as rough as this scene.
Either the murderer thinks we are fools, or there is another purpose. "
Xiao Hei rubbed his chin, guessing, "Could it be that the murderer has some kind of special hobby, such as having a special interest in corpses. It's like playing with dolls."
Luke went on to say, "Marcus is right, the murderer really wanted to use this corpse to express some purpose."
Xiao Hei asked back, "What did you see?"
"Do you still remember the death scene of the double Abu Guerra?"
Xiao Hei thought for a while, "I don't see any similarities except that both of them have filmed 'The Lost Lovers'."
Luke said, "Their similarity is the novel The Disappearing Lover. They were all killed according to the death method in the novel."
"Wait." Xiao Hei frowned and thought, "I remember that among the lovers who disappeared, the hero was indeed buried alive, but the heroine should not have died. Didn't she have a child later? Could it be that I remembered wrongly."
Luke explained, "That's right, that's a modified movie script. In the original novel of the novel The Disappearing Lover, the heroine hanged herself.
The scene in the book is very similar to the scene, wearing tulle pajamas and hanging under the chandelier, without stepping on anything under your feet.
This is an open ending, it could be suicide or homicide. "
David complained, "Luke, tell me about the difference between the screenplay and the novel, I've forgotten all about it."
"I'll make a long story short," Luke describes, "In the script, the hero and the heroine fall in love at first sight.
The hero is a poisonous fan, pretending to be rich and handsome to cheat, but in the end he really fell in love with the heroine.
The two quickly fell in love.
Later, the heroine suddenly disappeared, and the hero desperately searched for her.
When he learned that the hostess' family was bankrupt, he chose to leave for fear of dragging him down.
The male protagonist was very moved and embezzled the money from the boss to help the female protagonist pay off the debt.
When the boss learned about it, he buried him alive.
The heroine was very sad when she learned about this incident, and wanted to commit suicide, but unexpectedly found that she was pregnant, and raised the child alone. "
"The male protagonist in the novel has little difference, mainly because the female protagonist has changed a lot.
At the end of the novel, I realized that the heroine is actually a liar, and his purpose of approaching the hero is to cheat money.
Later, the heroine learned that the hero was buried alive in order to help her pay off her debts.
Distraught.
She knew that she had truly fallen in love with the male lead.
Under guilt, he chose to hang himself. "
Everyone fell silent after listening.
After a long time, Susan nodded, "I prefer the end of the novel."
The deputy team nodded, "The movie is like fast food. It only lasts a few tens of minutes. It can't describe the connotation that the novel wants to express, or even express a complete world view."
Xiao Hei asked, "Since the heroine is hanged at the end of the novel, why is there a knife wound on her chest? Isn't this superfluous?"
Luke couldn't figure it out either. If the murderer followed the scene in the novel, then the heroine should have been hanged, and there shouldn't be a knife wound on her chest.
If the chest is a fatal wound, then it can still be said that there may be an accident during the killing process, and the murder was done with a knife as a last resort.
But in fact it is not the case, the neck is the fatal wound, and the chest is the postmortem stab wound.
What is the purpose of doing this?
Did I miss some details in the novel?
At this time, the survey team also completed the preliminary inspection.
Mary took off her mask and gloves, and introduced, "We searched the scene of the crime, and we found the social security card of the deceased.
The body of the deceased showed signs of being dragged. The first scene should be on the bed, and then the body was dragged under the chandelier.
We also found a dagger in the trash can in front of the deceased's house, but no fingerprints were found on the dagger, and we will compare it with the wound of the deceased later. "
After Mary's report, the on-site investigation also came to an end.
But Luke always felt that something was wrong.
What is the reason for the murderer to stab the dead? It seemed superfluous to Luke.
Luke returned to the bedroom again, ready to re-simulate the crime scene.
Luke walked to the side of the bed, pretending that the deceased was still lying on the bed, and then strangled the neck of the deceased with his hands. The deceased grabbed his arm and begged for mercy, but his throat was strangled and he could not make a sound.
The strength is also getting weaker and weaker, the deceased gave up struggling and stopped breathing.
Luke took the knife and thrust it into the chest of the deceased, then pulled out the knife and put it aside.
Lifted the body under the chandelier again, and hung the dead up with great effort.
No, Luke still felt that the stabbing was a bit redundant, and it didn't fit the scene described in the book.
Luke glanced around and found that the closet next to him was open.
This wardrobe has not been touched, it has always been like this since it came here.
Luke approached the closet to check, and found that the closet was full of clothes, and there was only a space at the closet opening, which was just enough to accommodate one person.
Luke squatted down and looked under the closet carefully. There were some shallow friction marks, and no obvious footprints could be seen, but he felt like someone had stepped on it.
Luke took out his phone and took a few pictures.
He turned around and stood in the closet, facing the bed in front of him...
There is an extra guess in my mind.
Last night, besides the murderer, there might be other people at the scene.
(end of this chapter)