Chapter 151 Crazy (big chapter)
On the campus of Malaboa High School.
Herman was walking on a familiar yet unfamiliar campus, and people around him greeted him from time to time.
After this shooting incident, his popularity in the school has increased a lot.
If it was before, he would be very happy.
American University has three main criteria for admissions, the first is SAT or ACT scores, the second is candidates’ application essays, various specialties and leadership skills, and the third is various policy bonus points.
It is well-known in the school and has a great influence among students, which is still helpful for going to college.
But after Luke saw through the lie, he still had lingering fears. He always felt as if he was being stared at, and he felt inexplicably uneasy.
"Hey, Herman, you really came to school, the shoulder injury is healed?" A white male classmate came over to say hello.
"Hi, Benson, I was looking for you." Herman walked to the side of the male classmate and whispered, "To be honest, it still hurts, don't tell others."
"I understand, you want to be a tough guy." Benson smiled and asked, "What do you want from me?"
"It's what we said in the video call last time. I thought about it carefully... I should stand up and do something on behalf of the injured students.
The shooting incident should be taken seriously, and it cannot be dismissed so lightly. "
"Need me to do something?"
"I know you have been admitted to UCLA, and you have a lot of experience in this field, I would like to ask you some related questions.
If I speak up, will I gain points in college admissions? "
Benson thought for a while, "Of course, as long as your remarks are appropriate, it will definitely be helpful. You should really consider this aspect."
"Will you write my speech?"
"Okay, but...you have to treat me to dinner."
"Haha...don't worry buddy, I'll treat you to a big meal."
Benson quipped, "As long as it's not a burger?"
"I'm not that stingy... At least it's a double burger, huh..."
Actually, Herman had already given up on this idea, and talked with his parents after returning home. The parents felt that as long as this matter is handled well, it will attract wider attention from the society, and maybe it will be a blessing in disguise to enter a better university.
Even if it doesn't work, there is no bad effect, why not try it?
There are chicken baby parents everywhere, and there are roll children everywhere.
…
Luke and Xiao Hei are still watching at the school gate.
At this time, the campus police officer Selter Polis was no longer at the door.
Luke's buttocks hurt a little, and he didn't want to stay in the car all the time, so he got out of the car and smoked a cigarette.
Xiao Hei also came over and asked for a cigarette, "It's past school time, should we continue to wait?"
"Go get some coffee." Luke took Xiao Hei to the open-air cafe next to him.
Xiao Hei glanced in the direction of the school gate, "This location is good, but the coffee tastes a bit weak." Xiao Hei said, adding another bag of sugar to the cup.
Luke shook his head, "Eat less sugar, it's not good for your health." After getting along with him for this period of time, Luke found that Xiao Hei's diet was very unhealthy. When I get older, I will definitely become a big fat man.
"Nothing can replace the happiness of carbohydrates, nothing." Xiao Hei didn't care.
Luke was too lazy to persuade.
A yellow pickup truck stopped at the door, and a man wearing a yellow engineering cap and blue uniform came out of the passenger cab, chatted with the guard, and the vehicle was released.
Xiao Hei asked curiously, "What do they do?"
Luke tilted his head, "Go over and ask."
Xiao Hei "..."
"If you don't go, let me go?"
Under Luke's gaze, Xiao Hei finally compromised and ran over to talk to the school guard.
A BMW car was parked on the east side of the school gate, and a white man got out of the car. He was tall, thin, and handsome with blond hair. The man held a bouquet of roses and placed it next to Josie's photo.
He didn't leave immediately, but stood by silently...
Luke got up from his chair, the person he was waiting for came.
Cheerleader Josie's mysterious boyfriend.
Luke crossed the street with a cup of coffee and greeted in a very casual tone, "Hi, Pete."
The blond white man turned his head and looked at Luke, "Did you call me just now?"
"Isn't your name Pete?"
"My name is Pete, but... I don't seem to have met you."
Luke flashed his police badge, "I'm Detective Luke, I'm in charge of investigating the shooting, can I talk to you?"
Pete was slightly taken aback, "What do you want to talk about?"
"Do you know Josie well?"
"We are friends and we will meet occasionally. I know something happened to her, so I came to mourn her."
"How did you know each other?"
“I work in a dance studio and Josh is a student there.
She worked very hard. After practicing at school, she would secretly learn to dance after school. Her original dream was to join the cheerleading team.
She did it, and it was better than expected. "
"Are you a dance training teacher?"
"Yes."
"So, you are also her dance teacher?"
"Ah...Actually, I only taught her a few classes, and I can't be considered a real teacher and student. It's just a training institution, not a school in the strict sense."
"Hmm, I wouldn't admit to dating my own students."
Pete's face was a bit ugly, "If there is nothing else, I'm leaving."
"Wait, I have something to ask."
Peter glanced at his watch, turned around and wanted to leave, "Sorry, I'm afraid I can't do it today, I have class later."
"OK, you go to class first, I will find you in the dance studio later."
Pete stopped and turned back, "I don't want to talk about personal issues at work."
Luke took a sip of coffee, "Then make it clear now."
Pete said helplessly, "What else do you want to ask? Tell me now."
"Are you Josie's boyfriend?"
"I guess."
"What is considered to be? If it is, it is, if it is not, it is not."
"Yes."
"Do you often call?"
"Almost none. Josie is still a student. We pay attention to the influence. We usually use a dance software to chat and make an appointment to meet in the dance studio."
Luke wrote it down in his notebook, which explains why Matthew couldn't find the communication records of the two, "Why did you break up?"
"The reason is more complicated." Pete sighed softly, looking at Josie's posthumous photo, "We are two different ages, and there is a big gap in thinking, and we can't even go out together openly, which often causes some small conflicts.
She is young, and I usually coax her.
Of course, I can accept all these things, no one is perfect.
The immediate reason for our separation was that she had a relationship with other men. I bumped into them. They had dinner and watched movies together.
Afterwards, I talked to her about it, but she was very angry and said that I shouldn't be stalking, and that I was scary.
I was also very angry at the time. She was with other boys, but it was my fault.
Let me see what they did wrong?
If I don't follow, how do I know they go to the movies, and how do I know they eat together?
Then what should I do? Go up and beat that man up.
comeon, I am an adult, so I chose to break up with her. "
Luke pressed, "Who's that guy Josie was dating?"
"I don't know each other, Josie didn't admit it at first, only saying that they are ordinary friends.
I told her that going to the movies with regular male friends made it harder for me.
She just told me the truth, saying that this boy was a member of the student council and had done her a great favor. In return, she agreed to date him three times, and if she didn't feel the two of them, they would not interfere with each other. "Peter laughed angrily,
"I was dumbfounded at the time, was I too old and stubborn?
Why do I think this agreement is outrageously ridiculous.
If three dates they see each other, what am I?
If I date and play poker, what difference does it make me to be an idiot.
I really can't understand Josie's approach, and I am more determined to break up with her. "
"You said the man Josie was dating belonged to the student union?"
"She said it herself, maybe from the same school as her."
"What's the other party's name?"
"I don't know, it has nothing to do with me, everyone is dead, and what to do with him."
"When did the two of you break up?"
Pete thought for a while, "About three weeks."
"How's Josie doing with that guy she's dating?"
" We met in the dance studio once, and she took the initiative to find me, apologized to me, and said that she had made it clear to the man that the two of them would never see each other again.
Although she didn't say it explicitly, I know she wants to get back together.
Reason told me that there would be no future for the two of us... I didn't respond to her. "
Luke took out a photo of Herman, "Do you know this person?"
Peter took a look, "That's right, that's the kid. I recognize him. We had dinner with Josie, watched a movie together, and wanted to put his arm around Josie's waist. He's a hands-on kid."
Luke asked, "Are you going to beat him up?"
Pete shrugged, "No, I thought about it afterwards, why didn't I beat him up, scared? Counseled? Still don't care, it seems like neither.
Compared with these reasons, I feel that I am not qualified.
This is the root cause of my breakup with Josie.
I don't think she belongs to me. "
"Do you hate her?"
"No, we had a good time, that's enough."
Luke took out the photo of the black man who died on the roof of the science building, "Do you know him?"
Pete took the photo and looked at it carefully, "I don't know it."
"What were you doing between 3pm and 4pm on May 10th? Don't think too much, this is just a routine inquiry, just answer truthfully."
Pete thought for a while, "I teach students to dance in the dance studio, and they can all prove it."
"What's the name of the dance studio?"
"Motuoji Dance Training Center."
Luke handed him a business card, "If you think of any new clues, you can call me."
Pete took the business card, "I will."
Luke didn't mean to leave, and reached out to him.
Peter realized this and handed his business card to Luke.
"Don't go out of the city recently, the police may still talk to you."
Peter nodded, glanced at Josie's photo again, then got into the BMW and drove away.
Xiao Hei came over, "Who is that kid, I see you have a good chat."
"Josie's ex-boyfriend Pete."
Luke nodded, "It's possible, let's check his alibi later."
"So what do we do now?"
"Talk to Herman."
"What's wrong with this kid?"
"He lied about dating Josie."
"Why did he do that? Dating a cheerleader is a very dignified thing. If it were me, I'd like everyone to know about it."
"You're right, that's the problem, that's why I think there is a problem." The two entered the campus, and Luke asked subconsciously, "Why have you been there for so long? What do those people do?"
"I chatted with the guard for a while. The old man is very talkative and likes me very much." Xiao Hei boasted a lot before he started to talk about the business. Monitoring facilities to prevent power outages that lead to monitoring power outages again."
Malaboa High School installed monitoring very early, and it is precisely because of this that the monitoring equipment and lines are relatively old and have not been updated for a long time, and some functions are relatively backward.
The school made the change because of the shooting.
Luke stopped, "In other words, the current monitoring is unavailable?"
Xiao Hei said, "I didn't ask in detail, but it sounds like this."
Luke showed a dignified expression. He felt that he had guessed something, but it seemed to be separated by a layer of window paper.
First the campus police lied, then met Pete, then discovered that Herman lied, and now the surveillance is unavailable?
What is the connection between these messages?
The reason why the campus police lied is unclear for the time being, but judging from the results, the cause of death of Kyle Torres, the poisoned person on the roof of the Science Building, is likely to be problematic, and it may not be what he said.
Then temporarily exclude the deceased?
Then the whole shooting case became clearer. The three shooting victims were school bully girlfriend Barbara, cheerleader Josie, and student council member Herman.
Luke speculates that the real target of the murderer is not Barbara, otherwise there is no need to keep her alive. His purpose of shooting Barbara is probably to create chaos.
The murderer's real target should be Josie.
After killing Josie, according to the statement of the campus police, the gunman went to the Music Building to kill the poisonous fan Kyle Torres. Assuming that the campus police lied, the murderer did not go to the Science Building, but went straight to the Music Building.
Then the murderer's purpose is obvious, to kill Josie, and then kill Herman.
Before, Herman lied, the police did not know that there was a close relationship between him and Josie, this clue was not obvious.
Now that other possibilities have been ruled out, the murderer's motive is becoming clearer.
Seeing Luke's abnormal expression, Xiao Hei asked, "Dude, what happened?"
Luke boldly guessed, "I feel that the murderer may create another shooting incident, and this time the target should be Herman."
Xiao Hei smiled, "You're not kidding, are you? The shooting incident has only passed a few days, how could the murderer continue to commit crimes? I don't think he has such courage."
"That's right, everyone thinks that he won't do it at this time, which also means that it is the best time to do it. Don't forget, the current camera can't be used, and he doesn't even need to cut off the power.
And with the first experience, he will be more proficient and confident in committing crimes this time.
If I were the murderer, I would choose this time to strike. "
Xiao Hei also became serious, "Are you sure?"
Luke shook his head, "No."
Xiao Hei "..."
Luke said, "This kind of thing would rather be believed or not, and it will be too late when it really happens."
"So what should we do?"
Luke thought for a while, "Ordinary students may not pay attention to the power outage of the camera, but if the murderer is on campus, he will probably observe the camera consciously.
Once he finds that the monitoring is unavailable, he will probably do it again.
However, the murderer may not be able to discover the anomaly of the camera immediately, there is a time lag.
What we have to do now is to make good use of this time difference.
You immediately find the person in charge of the school and ask them to restore power to the monitor.
I'm going to find Herman.
As long as power is restored to the camera, Herman is safe for the time being.
Judging from the circumstances of the murderer's first crime, he was not completely crazy, and he should not commit crimes under the camera. "
"I see, I'm going to find the principal." Xiao Hei ran two steps, turned around and said, "Dude, be careful."
"The same to you."
…
Comprehensive building.
Student Union Office.
Herman sat at the table, straightened his shoulders and was writing a speech. Although it was just a stray bullet scratch, it still hurts to pull the wound.
While writing, he waved his hand gestures. He felt that the manuscript written in this way would be more imposing.
"Boom..."
There was a knock on the door outside the office, and Herman pressed the speech with a book.
"Come in, the door is unlocked."
"Crackling..." There was a knock on the door.
A white student walks in with a schoolbag on his back.
"Hi, Benson, I'm waiting for you."
Benson put his schoolbag on the table, pulled up a chair and sat down, "How is the speech?"
"You know, I'm not very good at this, and I only wrote dozens of words. If you don't come, I might consider copying this book directly." Herman picked up the book on the table dedicated to teaching 'speech' Books of knowledge.
Benson glanced around, "You are alone here, very suitable for writing speeches."
"Comeon, man, you know, I'm not that stuff, you're the best at it." Herman laughed.
"Herman, I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you. I'm not as good as you think."
"What's the meaning?"
Benson put his right hand into his schoolbag, "UCLA has withdrawn my admission letter."
Hellman was a little surprised, "Why?"
“I have an anonymous account on the school website, and I often express some true thoughts in my heart. There are no lies, no hypocrisy, and no so-called correctness. That is my personal space, a place where I can tell the truth.
But...that account was reported by a bitch, and reported to UCLA. They felt that I disrespected black people and disrespected women, so they decided to withdraw my offer.
I am very sad.
You should know what this means to me? "
Herman showed a nervous look, his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, and his voice trembled, "Sorry, buddy, I don't know your situation.
Actually, this speech will be written later..."
Benson said with a half-smile, "I still don't understand, how did that **** know that the account is mine, she kept refusing to say it until we had a friendly conversation in the toilet..."
"Puff puff."
Before he finished speaking, there were two muffled sounds.
Under the action of the muffler, the sound is not loud.
There are two holes in the schoolbag.
Herman fell to the ground bleeding.
Benson dragged him to the office cubicle in the corner of the office where sundries are kept. Few people come here, and no one will find out in a short time.
Cleaned the blood on the ground with a mop, and threw them into the utility room together.
He didn't waste too much time, and he didn't think about how perfect the scene was cleaned up, as long as it could delay for a while.
After a while, the door opened a crack, revealing a small half of the phone.
Then the door opened, and Benson quickly left the student union office.
He didn't know that Herman, who was lying in the utility room, moved his fingers slightly.
…
Luke has been looking for Herman's whereabouts, and found out that he may be in the student union office.
The Office of the Student Union is located in the complex building with relatively few staff.
He rushed to the complex building at the first time, and when he reached the stairs, he saw a male student carrying a backpack walking downstairs.
Luke felt that his posture with the backpack was a little weird, "Hey, do you know Herman?"
"I don't know." The Caucasian male student left quickly after saying a word.
Based on the police's intuition, Luke felt more and more that something was wrong with the other party, and seemed to smell a faint smell of gunpowder, "Stop, lapd, don't move."
The male student holding the schoolbag froze for a moment, turned his back to Luke, put his right hand into the schoolbag, and asked, "What can you do?"
Luke drew out his pistol and pointed at the other party, "Put your schoolbag on the ground, put your head in your hands, don't make any unnecessary movements, understand?"
This male classmate is Benson.
He took a deep breath, unwilling to be caught.
He is a white man, a student, and this is a campus. He bet that the police would not dare to open the gun without knowing the situation.
As long as he hits the opponent, there is still a chance to escape, and he can't wait any longer.
Benson didn't follow Luke's instructions and threw it into the schoolbag, but turned around slowly, aiming the gun in the schoolbag at Luke.
"Put down the bag!" Luke yelled.
"boom!"
When Luke saw Benson's hand reaching into the schoolbag, there were two holes in the bottom of the schoolbag, and he decisively opened the gun.
Under the blessing of the precision card, he directly hit the opponent's arm.
The schoolbag dropped, and the pistol with the suppressor also fell to the ground. Benson clutched his arm in pain and yelled 'Ahhh'.
Benson looked at the pistol that fell on the ground, and knew that he couldn't run away, and he was no match for the police. He really wanted to wipe off the fingerprints on the pistol.
Another glance at Luke who was approaching with a gun.
He didn't dare to gamble this time.
"lapd, you're under arrest!" Luke's voice was drowned out by screams all around him.
The gunshots disrupted the order of the campus again.
Because of the last shooting incident, students and teachers have become frightened birds.
Even more panicked than last time.
Luke took out the handcuffs and handcuffed him on the stairs, "Where's Herman? Did you kill him?"
Benson endured the pain in his arm and said, "I don't know what you're talking about?"
Luke took off his shirt and pressed on the wound on Benson's arm, "I'll help you stop the bleeding."
"Ah! It hurts..."
"Where's Hermann?"
"You hurt me, I want to sue you."
"I'm helping you stop the bleeding and prevent you from bleeding to death. Although you don't understand it now, you will be grateful to me afterwards..."
Benson's teeth chattered from the pain, and his whole body convulsed, "The student union office, he's in the student union office on the fourth floor!"
At this time, Xiao Hei ran over, "Luke, are you okay? Are you injured?"
"I'm fine, come and look at him."
"I've already called 911." Xiao Hei checked the scene with a surprised expression, "Wow, you caught the hot guy all by yourself."
"I'll go upstairs to find Herman, keep an eye on him, don't let the school police approach, and disarm if necessary, and I'll carry it with you if something goes wrong."
"OK, I listen to you."
Luke finished speaking and went up to the fourth floor, kicking open the door of the student union office.
The simple handling of the scene may hide it from ordinary people, but it cannot hide it from an old detective like Luke. Soon he found Herman who had been shot in the utility compartment in the corner.
Luke touched Herman's breath, and there was still a faint breath, but he had already fallen into a coma due to excessive blood loss, and the situation was very critical.
Luke tore off the curtain and pressed on Hermann's wound to stop the bleeding.
In this case, all he can do is stop the bleeding, and the rest depends on Herman's will to survive. If he keeps his heart beating before the ambulance personnel arrive, there may still be a chance of life.
Although it is unlikely, Luke has tried his best.
(end of this chapter)