Chapter 224 Another scene (two chapters in one)
Xiao Hei smiled and said, "You're not so timid, you dare to bring your lover home for a date."
"We have never lived in this house, my wife hardly ever comes here, and I don't know the neighbors well..." Mastin Cage showed an expression that you understand.
Luke turned to look at Mastin Cage's wife, "Are you sure your wife doesn't know about this?"
Mastin frowned, "I'm sure, what do you mean?"
Luke didn't answer, "Contact your lover Gail Thompson."
"Really want to contact now?" Mastin Cage looked at his wife, a little worried.
"That's right, right now, let's check her safety and whether the key is still in her hands?"
"You won't tell my wife about this, will you?"
"As long as you cooperate with the police investigation, as long as this matter does not affect the police investigation, we will not intervene."
Mastin nodded and took out his mobile phone, dialing a number.
Luke reminded, "Play the voice."
Mastin was a little reluctant, "My wife will find out."
Luke snatched the phone directly and held it in his hand. If the victim was really Gail, then Mastin is also suspected.
The phone rang a voice, "Sorry, no one is answering the phone now, and the owner of the phone has not set up a voicemail, please call again later."
"Any other ways to contact me?"
"No." Mastin was a little nervous, "Gail suddenly shut down during the day, could something really happen?"
Luke returned the phone to the other party, "When was the last time you met or contacted?"
"Yesterday morning, we talked on the phone."
"At that time, was there anything abnormal about her?"
"I didn't hear it."
"Has she encountered any difficulties recently?"
"I have no idea."
"Is she married?"
"Yes."
"Does her husband know about your relationship?"
"How is it possible, we have been very careful."
"Do you have a picture of her?"
Mastin clicked on a software on the phone, operated it, and handed it to Luke.
Luke glanced at it. This is a white woman in her forties, with brown hair and not very beautiful, but the smile on her face is very contagious.
"Where is her home?"
"203 Dillmore Community."
Luke said, "Continue to call her, and if you contact her, remember to notify us."
"I see." Mastin responded, and asked with some concern, "If...in case...it is really her, will you tell my wife?"
"What do you think?" Luke left behind a sentence, and then rushed to Gail's house.
The arrest of Domit James last time left Luke with lingering fears. Considering his safety, he also called Jackson.
Luke couldn't bear to drive his own Mercedes-Benz. In case of a shootout, he would be so heartbroken.
Jackson drove the police car, and Luke sat in the passenger cab.
Xiao Hei lay reclined in the back row alone, "If Gail is really the victim, who would have killed her?"
Luke yawned, "I don't even know the victim's situation now, isn't it too early for you to say this?"
Xiao Hei rubbed his chin, "Sometimes having too many clues can cause confusion and even confuse investigators, but the initial intuition is more accurate."
This was the first time Jackson heard this statement. Although it didn’t make any sense, it was quite bluffing. “Who do you think it could be?”
Xiao Hei said seriously, "I think it might be Mastin's wife.
Perhaps, she had known about her husband's cheating for a long time, and when she saw her husband blatantly taking other women home for a date, she was filled with anger and felt greatly insulted.
Then, he killed her husband's lover directly.
She definitely had enough motivation to do so. "
Jackson thought for a while, "I don't object to you saying that she had a motive to kill, but why did she kill in her own house and burn down her own house? It's her own loss."
Xiao Hei shook his head, "Don't forget that there is a thing called insurance. Many houses of rich people have fire protection insurance. Even if the house is destroyed, the insurance company will still pay for it. She herself has no loss.
Moreover, seeing her husband dating that woman in the house, she must feel disgusted in her heart. Maybe she doesn't want this house for a long time. If she burns it clean, she can still get a sum of compensation, which is the best of both worlds. "
Jackson seemed to be convinced by him, "The analysis makes sense."
Xiao Hei smiled, and said to Luke beside him, "What do you think?"
"The analysis of the motive force is fine, but it is not easy to do it in practice.
First off, Mastin said he didn't ask Gail to meet at the house last night.
Why did Gail appear in the house?
In addition, Mastin's wife is also a woman, and it is not easy to kill and set fire. "
Xiao Hei said, "It's not difficult, as long as she knows about her husband and Gail, find a chance to use her husband's mobile phone to send a message to Gail, and trick Gail into the house.
Or directly invite a killer to kill Gale, and finally destroy the corpse.
Being able to keep a vacant house without renting it, their family is definitely rich, and she is also a rich woman, so she has the ability to hire a killer.
You can check her bank account, maybe you can find clues to the killer. "
Luke thought about it, and Xiao Hei's reasoning made sense in theory, but he still felt that it was unlikely.
Because theory and practice are two different things, many plans are easy to say but complicated to operate, full of too many uncertain factors.
Jackson proposed a new idea, "If the deceased was Gail, could the murderer be her husband.
Her husband found out about Gail's cheating, wanted a divorce, but didn't want to pay alimony, so he just killed her without stopping.
It is somewhat similar to the motive of the murderer in the previous car shock robbery case. "
Luke said, "The motive also makes sense, but the actual situation needs to be investigated to find out."
Not long after, a group of three rushed to the community where Gail's family lived.
With the experience of the first two shootouts, Luke no longer dared to be careless.
Although I just understand the situation, I am also ready for a firefight.
Luke and Xiao Hei were in charge of calling the door, while Jackson stayed in the car with a rifle, ready to support at any time.
"Ding Dong" Xiao Hei rang the doorbell.
Luke stands on the right side of the door with his right hand on the gun.
A moment later, the door opened and a white man stood at the door, looking at Luke and Xiao Hei with some doubts, "Who are you looking for?"
"Is this Gail Thompson's house?"
"Yes, what are you doing with my wife?"
"We are lapd, we are investigating a criminal case, and we want to ask Gail Thompson for some information."
"Know what?"
"Don't be nervous, we are just asking routinely, is she at home?"
"Yes, I'll go in and call her."
"We'll go in with you." Xiao Hei was worried that Fang would take the opportunity to escape. After all, if it was as analyzed by Jackson, Gail's husband was also a suspect.
Gail's husband resisted a little, "No, I don't like strangers coming into my house."
Xiao Hei suggested, "Then call her out."
Gail's husband was a little dissatisfied, "What do you mean? Are you doubting me?"
"No, we are just doing a routine investigation."
"OK, if you don't give me a satisfactory answer in a while, I will sue you." Gail's husband was a little dissatisfied, "Gail, come out, the police are looking for you."
Luke and Xiao Hei both showed vigilant expressions.
After a while, a woman came out of the house, "What did you just say? Why did the police come looking for me?"
After seeing this woman, Xiao Hei was stunned. Isn't this Gail?
She's not dead!
It wasn't her who was scorched.
Luke didn't have much mood swings. The investigation itself is a process of eliminating wrong clues.
Even if Gail is fine, she has the key of Mastin's house in her hand, and she belongs to the person involved in the case. The police have enough reasons to come to investigate.
If the police do not come to investigate, they will be suspected of dereliction of duty.
Gail's husband pointed at Luke and Xiao Hei, "It's these two people, they say they are the police, have you called the police?"
"No, I didn't call the police. What do you want from me?" Gail also looked puzzled.
Luke asked, "Do you know Mastin?"
"Yes, I know, what's wrong?" Gail was a little flustered, and said to her husband beside him, "Honey, can you avoid it for a while? I'll talk to the police."
Gail's husband also saw the situation, "Is there anything you are hiding from me?"
"No, how could I hide something from you."
"Then why did you ask me to avoid it? The police didn't even let me avoid it." Now, Gail's husband also understood that there was no reason for the police to come to the door. His wife had something to do, and he still didn't want him to know.
"You go in first, I will tell you later."
Gail's husband looked at Luke and his wife, then at his wife, and finally entered the room a little depressed.
Gail closed the door and lowered his voice, "What are you looking for me for? What happened to Mastin?"
"Last night, a fire broke out in Mastin's house, and the whole house was burned to ruins. According to him, you have a key. We want to confirm your safety."
"Just because I have a key, you ran to my house, do you know how much this will affect me?" Gail's tone was very dissatisfied.
Xiao Hei explained, "Do you think we want to come? Not only is the Mastin family's house on fire, but also a woman was burned to death. The body was beyond recognition, and the skin had been charred.
We called you, but your phone was turned off, we came to check for your safety.
Don't you understand yet? We fear that it is you who are burned to death. "
Gail shook his head, "I haven't been to that house recently, and I have nothing to do with it.
My husband is at home today, do you think I can answer the phone? "
Luke pressed, "Do you still have the key?"
"Yes, I'll get it." Gail entered the room, and then there was a sound of arguing.
After a while, Gail came out with red eyes, and threw the if to Xiao Hei, "You can go, I don't want to see you again."
Xiao Hei asked back, "Can I make a record?"
"I don't want to say anything right now."
"We don't want that either, we just want to make sure you're safe."
Gail's voice choked, "Should I thank you?"
"Bang!" Gail closed the door.
When the two of them left the yard, Xiao Hei sighed, "Human feelings are really fragile. Did we break up another couple?"
Luke shrugged, "Our intentions are good, and God will forgive us."
When Luke went to Gail's house to investigate, Susan and the others were not idle, and visited separately to investigate and monitor.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Susan held a case discussion meeting at the police detective station.
"Everyone, tell me about the situation you have investigated."
Luke said, "We went to Gail's house to investigate, met her in person, and took back the key to Mastin's house from her."
Raymond said, “We visited around, and according to the neighbors, the fire started at around 2:00 in the morning, and the fire was so strong that they had no time to rescue it.
Many neighbors claimed to smell gasoline.
By the time the fire trucks arrived to put out the fire, at around 2:40, the house had been burned to ruins. "
Susan went on to say, "Ramon is right. The on-site survey team did find traces of gasoline burning in the house, but because most of the things in the house were burned, it was difficult for the technical team to conduct a regular survey. materials were destroyed.
They are investigating the cause of the fire. "
The deputy team spread their hands, "That's why the murderer set fire to destroy the corpse.
Of course, it is not ruled out that some perverts simply like fire and set it on fire. "
Susan continued, "The forensic doctor also completed a preliminary autopsy. The deceased was a black woman, about 43 to 48 years old, 167 in height, type A blood, with signs of rope binding on her hands and legs, mouth. There was also a piece of cotton cloth in it.
A sleeping pill was found in her body, and she died of smoke poisoning and suffocation. The time of death was between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. on July 10. "Susan walked to the projector and put a picture on it,
“The cotton cloth that was gagged in the deceased’s mouth was burned outside, and the inside of the mouth was preserved, with a few words written in blood, ‘You lowly people should not live in this world’.”
Jackson said, "Looking at the body, I thought she was burned to death."
The deputy team said, "Eighty percent of the people who died in the fire were smoked to death, and only 20 percent were burned to death.
The deceased should have been smoked to death and then burned the body. In any case, the suspect has achieved the purpose of destroying the body. "
The voice of the deputy team fell, and Matthew on the side said, "Guys, I may have found out the identity of the deceased."
Xiao Hei couldn't believe it, "Wow, you are so fast, how did you do it?"
"I thought you were complimenting me." Matthew changed the subject and said seriously, "I entered the physical characteristics of the deceased in the missing persons list, black female, aged between 43 and 48, height 167, blood type A.
Only one person who disappeared in Los Angeles within five days met all the above characteristics. "
Missing Person, Nancy Cole
Gender: Female
Date of disappearance, July 7
Age, 46 years old
Address, No. 302, Kalia Community
Height, 167
Blood type, A
Reporter, Andersey Cole
In the upper right corner of the information, there is a photo of Nancy Cole.
…
No. 302, Kalia Community
"Woooooooooooo..."
An eight or nine-year-old black girl was crying on the sofa.
Beside him sat a middle-aged man in his forties, with a melancholy expression and dull eyes.
"Woo...Mom, I want mom..." The girl cried very sadly.
The man sighed lightly, and patted Na Huan on the shoulder, "Baby, don't cry, Mom will be back."
The girl raised her head and looked at her father, "When will she be back?"
"Come on, be back soon."
"Bang bang!"
At this moment, there was a knock on the door outside.
"Mom, Mom must be back." The black girl ran towards the door, her tone full of expectation.
The man hurriedly followed out, looking out through the peephole.
The girl grabbed the man's arm, "Dad, open the door quickly, it's mom, it must be mom."
The man shook his head, "Baby, you go back first."
"Isn't it mom?" The girl pursed her lips and ran back to the living room crying.
The man looked at his daughter's back, showing a look of unbearable, then opened the door, and saw two men standing outside, a handsome black-haired youth and a black man.
"What's the matter with you?"
Xiao Hei flashed his police badge, "lapd, I'm Detective Marcus from the Robbery and Murder Division, and this is Deputy Team Luke.
We are here to learn about the disappearance of Nancy Cole. "
The man said with some dissatisfaction, "Understood, besides understanding, can you do something else?"
Luke said, "Who are you?"
"My name is Andersey. Cole is Nancy's husband, why haven't I met you before?"
"The police were in charge of Nancy's case before. We are from the Robbery and Murder Division, not a department."
"Sorry, I shouldn't have lost my temper just now, please sit down." Andersey stepped aside and motioned for Luke to come in.
Luke entered the entrance and looked at the situation in the house. This is an ordinary one-story house, and the house is a bit dilapidated, far inferior to the Chinese community where Luke lives.
The living room was very chaotic, a girl was crying on the sofa, looked up at Luke and Xiao Hei, and continued to cry on the sofa.
There is a photo on the tea table. Besides the husband and wife, there are three children. This girl should be the youngest.
Andersi said in a low voice, "Two police officers, please sit down."
Luke sat on the sofa, straight to the point, "Andersi, we are here to learn about the case of your wife's disappearance, can you tell us about the situation at that time?"
Luke just said that he came to understand the disappearance case, and did not say that Nancy's body was suspected to be found. The reason is very simple. Nancy has been burnt beyond recognition. The so-called "body identification" is almost impossible. DNA identification.
But before that, Luke still needs to know more, so as to avoid the embarrassing situation of Gail again. After tossing and investigating for a long time, it turned out that the person who investigated was not the deceased at all.
Andersi showed a look of reminiscence, "At about four o'clock in the afternoon on July 7th, I received a call from my neighbor, saying that my little daughter had no one at home after school, and he would temporarily help take care of her.
I felt something was wrong, because that day was my wife's day off, and she should be at home.
I called her, but the phone was turned off and I couldn't reach her.
I was worried about my daughter, so I hurried home.
As soon as I entered the house, I felt something was wrong. The room was messy and the drawers were pulled open.
I knew something was wrong, so I checked it carefully and found that the cash and jewelry at home were gone.
My wife couldn’t be reached either, and I haven’t seen her since. "
Luke took out his notebook, "Are there any signs of damage to the doors and windows?"
"No."
It may be an acquaintance who committed the crime.
"How is the relationship between your husband and wife?"
"fine."
"Do you think Nancy is missing, or is something wrong?"
The man hesitated to speak, and said to the daughter beside him, "Baby, you go back to the house first."
The girl looked up at Luke and said, "Are you the police?"
"Yes."
"Are you here to help me find my mother?"
"Yes, you go back to the room first, we have to talk to your father alone."
"Please help me find my mother as soon as possible and tell her that I will never annoy her again, never peek at TV, never play with her mobile phone, I will brush my teeth on time at night, and never Picky eater... woo..." Andersi sent her daughter into the room with red eyes, choked up,
"She's too young to accept my wife thing..."
Luke sighed softly, "Why do you think Nancy disappeared?"
"My wife is not missing, she was kidnapped, yes, I have always thought so."
"Kidnapping?" Luke frowned slightly, "Is someone extorting ransom?"
"No, I just feel like she's been kidnapped."
"Then why did you report missing."
“I did not report missing, I reported that my home was robbed, and my wife may have been kidnapped by robbers.
Afterwards, two police officers came to my house to investigate.
But they didn't believe me, and the conclusion of the investigation was that my wife ran away from home and took the family's belongings.
They treated me like a criminal, thinking my wife left because of me.
I'll never forget their tone of voice. "Andersey showed an angry look.
Luke asked back, "Why would they think that?"
Andersi sighed, "Some time ago, my wife and I had an argument at home, and the noise was a bit loud, and the neighbors around called the police.
They feel the same this time.
But I know that we may fight, but my wife will never run away from home. "
"Why?"
Andersi looked at the photo on the coffee table, "Because we have three lovely children, my wife loves them and will never leave them."
"Do you two fight often?"
"No, I used to quarrel only occasionally, but during this time, Nancy's mood was a little off. I always felt that she was hiding something from me. We had two quarrels, one of which was more serious.
I still say that, even if we quarrel, she will not run away from home.
Something must have happened to her. "
"What do you think happened to her?"
"I have no idea."
"Has she ever left the house before?"
"there has never been."
"Can her mobile phone be connected? Have you asked relatives and friends?"
"I can't get through. I've asked everyone I can, but no one has seen her."
"Is there blood or signs of a fight in the home?"
"I didn't find it."
Luke glanced around, "What exactly is missing at home?"
"Eight hundred dollars in cash, a gold ring, a necklace, a car, and a rug."
Luke wrote it down in his notebook. The first few items are all valuable things. It is understandable that they were stolen. What is the reason for stealing the carpet?
"Are rugs worth a lot?"
Andersi shook his head, "My wife has always wanted a rug. For her birthday last year, I ordered one for her online. She likes it very much, but the price is not very expensive."
"Why was the rug stolen?"
"I don't know either."
"Where is the rug?"
"It's right in front of the sofa, under the coffee table." Andersi pointed to the ground.
Afterwards, Luke looked at it carefully, and said to Xiao Hei, "Bring the luminol reagent from the trunk of the car."
Xiao Hei got up and left. When he came back, he held a watering can in his left hand and a light tube in his right hand.
Luke took the watering can and sprayed it where the carpet had been.
Andersey looked a little nervous, and asked from the side, "What are you doing?"
Luke didn't speak, he drew the curtains in the room, turned on the light tube, and found a large number of blue spots on the east side where the carpet was originally placed.
Andersey pointed to the blue spots on the ground and asked, "What are these?"
Luke took out his phone and took a few pictures, "Blood"
Ask for a monthly pass, ask for a monthly pass!
(Every time I ask for a monthly pass, I always use these six characters, which is very straightforward and monotonous.
Even a little pale.
Because I put all my thoughts into conceiving the plot.
Although it is simple, I am sincerely asking for a monthly pass! )
(end of this chapter)