Chapter 375 Partnership
Chinatown.
At nine o'clock in the morning, the streets became lively. As Christmas was approaching, Chinatown also had a festive atmosphere.
Although this is a foreign festival, many Chinese also start to celebrate Christmas when they go to the country to do as the Romans do.
Yuxiang Restaurant, this restaurant specializes in Sichuan cuisine. The signature dishes are Maoxuewang and Dry Pot Chicken Offal. These two dishes are made with sufficient ingredients and are very authentic. Many regular customers come here for these two dishes.
At this time, the restaurant hadn't opened yet, and the rolling gate was closed. An Asian man in his thirties stood at the door, grabbed the rolling gate and pulled it upwards. He wondered, "It's past nine o'clock. Do not open the door."
This man is called Sun Xing, and he is an employee of this restaurant.
Although the restaurant doesn’t open until eleven o’clock, there are a lot of preparations to be made before opening, and the employees have to rush to the restaurant to work in advance.
"Boom..."
Sun Xing knocked on the rolling gate again, but there was still no movement inside, which made him feel that something was wrong.
There are people living in the restaurant, why not open the door?
Sun Xing took out his mobile phone and made a call, but the phone could not be connected.
Sun Xing felt that something was wrong more and more, maybe something happened.
He tugged **** the rolling gate again and it didn't move.
Sun Xing was a little anxious, he glanced around, wanted to open the shutter, but didn't know where to start, and then thought of the boss's temper, he simply gave up.
He walked to the side of the restaurant, there was a window that opened to the inside, Sun Xing borrowed a ladder from the nearby hardware store, climbed up the ladder and looked into the window...
"ah!"
He was so startled that he almost fell off the ladder.
…
It was past ten in the morning.
A Ford Explorer drove into Chinatown. In the car, Jackson sat in the cab and Luke sat in the passenger cab.
Luke looked at the surrounding shops.
Yesterday, they searched Yoshida Ryosuke's car, checked the dashcam video, and found some new clues.
The driving recorder captured Hashimoto Yoshime standing on the side of the street, and also captured a suspicious vehicle, a black Volkswagen.
The car stayed at the scene for a full hour. When Yoshida Ryosuke left, the car was still there.
Luke checked the license plate number and found that it was a set car, so the suspicion was even greater.
Immediately, Luke began to track the whereabouts of this decked car through road monitoring...
This morning, Luke found out that the car had been near Chinatown last night and then disappeared.
That's why Luke drove here to inspect and check if there is anything unusual nearby.
Looking at the familiar restaurants on the street, Luke felt that he could stay here for a longer period of time. Even if he couldn't find any clues, he could have a meal at noon, so it was not a waste of time.
Jackson said while driving, "Captain, the deceased is an Asian, and the neighborhood of Chinatown is also dominated by Asians. Is there any relationship between the two?"
Jackson’s conjecture is possible, but it is untenable when you think about it carefully. Although they are all Asians, they are feuds, just like France, Germany, Poland and Russia, all whites have fought for hundreds of years.
Take the relationship between the two countries as an example. There are only conflicts of interests between China and the United States. When there are common interests, the relationship will naturally be fine.
The relationship between China and Japan cannot be resolved by the word interests.
Luke looked ahead, there were several police cars parked on the side of the road, "Pull over, let's go and have a look."
The entrance of Yuxiang restaurant has been cordoned off, and there are many onlookers around. Luke walked up to a policeman and showed his police badge, "I am the captain of the No. 1 Squadron of the Robbery and Murder Division, Luke Li, What's going on here?"
"The owner of this restaurant was killed."
Luke crossed the cordon and entered the restaurant to check.
There was a person lying on the floor of the restaurant, with a lot of blood all over his body. The blood had already dried up. The time of death should not be short.
Luke walked in to check. There were many wounds on the deceased, which should have been stabbed to death by a sharp knife. A scratch on his face caught Luke's attention.
The face of the deceased seemed to have a letter 'a' engraved on it.
After the deceased Yoshime Hashimoto was killed, he also had the letter 'H' on his body.
Could there be a connection between the two dead?
Or by the same murderer.
If that is the case, why are the letters engraved on the body different?
Reminiscing that the suspect vehicle came here last night, it doesn't look like a coincidence.
Luke contacted Reid and told the other party what he found and the speculation. After the two discussed it, Luke temporarily took over the scene. If the two cases are related, they will be investigated together.
If the two cases are irrelevant, they will be transferred to other departments for investigation.
Afterwards, Luke began to check the scene. On the table not far from the corpse were the leftover dishes, a dish of Maoxuewang, a dish of Kung Pao Chicken, and a dish of Tangerine Skin Chicken. The three dishes were not much. , but there are indeed traces of eating, but the chopsticks used for eating are not seen.
Luke speculates that the murderer is likely to be a diner, who violently killed half of the meal. In order to prevent the police from finding clues, he took away the chopsticks he had used.
From this point of view, this murderer is really bold enough.
Luke checked the scene and called the reporter over to understand the situation.
The reporter was none other than Sun Xing, an employee of the restaurant.
Luke looked at the other party and asked in American, "Are you Chinese?"
Sun Xing replied, "yes, China."
After hearing this answer, 80% could not speak English, so Luke turned to Chinese and said, "Are you Chinese?"
"Yes, I am."
"Were you the first to discover the dead?"
"right."
"What is your relationship?"
"He's my boss."
"When did you find the dead man?"
"Around nine o'clock in the morning, I saw that the store hadn't opened yet, so I looked through the side glass and found the boss lying on the ground with blood all over his body. I was so scared."
"What's your boss's name?"
"Ma Jiehui."
"After nine o'clock in the evening, there were no customers in the store, so we packed up our things and left work."
"The specific time?"
"I can't remember clearly. We don't have a specific time as a restaurant. If there are customers, we will sit more, and if there are no customers, we will leave earlier."
Luke pointed at the dining table, "Did these three dishes be on the table when you left?"
"No."
"Who is the chef in the shop?"
“Our boss is the chef.”
Luke pointed to the dishes on the table, "Do you think he made them?"
Sun Xing walked over to check, "That's right, just by looking at the display, we know that our boss should have made it."
"How many employees are there in your store?"
"Four.
The boss is the chef, and I am the assistant.
There is also a waiter, a cashier and waiter. "
Luke asked, "Do you think he cooked these three dishes for himself, or for his guests?"
"It must be for the guests. Our boss has always been frugal. Even if he drinks a little wine occasionally, he always cooks some simple dishes, such as one serving of Maoxuewang and another serving of boiled peanuts. It is impossible to spend time making three dishes. He can't even eat one dish."
"Didn't you say you were off work before? Why does Ma Jiehui still receive customers?" Although Luke has never done catering, he also knows that restaurants will be cleaned up before closing. Once closed, even if there are customers coming, he will not do it easily. dish.
Sun Xingdao, "Our boss is good at doing business. In his words, the customer is God, so we have to serve him.
If you don't take good care of it, who will come to the store to eat next time.
Even if it is closed, as long as customers come in, he will probably cook for customers. "
"Last night, before you left the restaurant, who else was there?"
"Our boss is alone, he sleeps in the restaurant at night."
"Why does he sleep in the restaurant?" Since he is a restaurant owner, he can't even afford to rent a place to live.
Sun Xing said, “Some time ago, our restaurant was patronized by thieves at night, and everything that could be stolen was stolen, which made our boss very angry.
So, he just wanted to sleep in the store. If someone knocked on the door, he could scare them away by yelling. "
Stealing restaurants?
Luke has been involved in many theft cases, but sneaking into restaurants to steal is really rare.
Luke probed, "Did your boss offend anyone?"
"No, our boss has always been kind and rich, with a smile on his face every day, and never offends anyone."
"Does your boss have any relatives in Los Angeles?"
"No."
"Go and see what's missing in the store?"
Sun Xing glanced at it, walked to the cash register, opened the cash register, and said, "The cash in the store is gone, and there is nothing missing."
"How much cash?"
"About 200 US dollars, our boss doesn't keep much money, and usually keeps some change for exchange."
"Then why do you think your boss was killed in the store?"
"I am not sure as well."
Luke kept staring at the other party's expression, feeling that the other party seemed to be hiding something, "Are there any knives in your store?"
"No."
"Why is there no monitoring installed in the store?"
"There was surveillance before. Last time the restaurant was stolen, the thief broke the camera, and the boss never bothered to fix it."
"According to what you said, your boss is good and good, so why is he still killed?"
"Could it be that a thief asked for money and killed the boss by mistake."
"This is the first time I've heard of people coming to a restaurant to ask for money, but from the situation at the scene, it doesn't look like a robbery, but more like a vendetta."
Hearing this, Sun Xing's face changed slightly.
Luke asked, "Sun Xing, are you still hiding something?"
"No."
"If you refuse to tell, then I can only ask the Immigration Bureau to assist in the investigation,"
"Don't." Sun Xing panicked and sighed, "I don't want to talk about other people's private affairs, and the boss is dead, so I want to save him some face."
Luke asked back, "And then, let the murderer go free?"
"I did not mean that."
"Then tell what you know."
"I don't have evidence either, it's all my speculation. I'm afraid I've wronged a good person."
"You think the police will believe whatever you say.
Boldly say that we will investigate ourselves and will not wrong a good person. "
Sun Xing sighed, "Our boss is married, but his wife and children are in mainland China, and most of the money he earns is given to the family.
He and his wife haven't seen each other for several years.
Actually, there are many situations where a person earns money outside like this. It’s okay to be busy during the day, but there is no one to talk to at night. It’s very difficult, and I can understand that feeling. "
Sun Xing looked up at Luke, and continued, "After a long time, some men and women who see each other form a "partner couple". They hug each other in life to keep warm and live together, but they get together and break up after returning home."
Luke raised his eyebrows, "Your boss has been in Los Angeles for so long, so he should have a partner."
"Yes, our boss also has a partner, but some time ago, the husband of the other party came, and our boss moved out."
"What's the name of your boss' partner? What does he do?"
"Her name is Chen Hui. She was originally a cashier in our store, but she resigned a few days ago, and our boss found another temporarily."
"Does Husband Chen Hui know about the 'married couple'?"
"Chen Hui will definitely not tell her husband, but there are too many such things in our circle, as long as his husband stays here for a while, he will understand everything.
Which man can be indifferent? "
(end of this chapter)