LA Detective

Chapter 230

Luke took out his mobile phone and clicked on a photo. The photo showed a mutilated piece of cotton cloth with the same moiré pattern printed on it, and the words with blood on it, 'Scumbags shouldn't live in this world.' '

The hand towels provided by the restaurant are very similar to the cotton material and moire found in the mouth of the deceased Nancy.

Luke speculates that the murderer may have also been to this restaurant, or has some kind of connection with the restaurant.

Luke sent the name and address of the restaurant to Xiao Hei, and wrote a sentence, "I will arrive within 10 minutes, and I will not wait after the expiration date."

Daisy on the side handed over the menu, "I've ordered, what would you like to eat?"

Luke took the menu and glanced at the waiter next to him, "Any recommended dishes?"

The waitress said, "I recommend you the baked escargots, which have just been flown in from France."

Luke had eaten baked snails before, but he wasn't a big fan.

The waitress was very experienced, and seemed to see that Luke was not very interested in this dish, so she continued to recommend, "You can taste the caviar, which was airlifted from Maoxiong Country."

I don't know if it's because of the hand towels, or because the dishes she recommended are not to my taste, Luke has no idea of ​​eating.

Luke put down the menu and pointed to the hand towel beside him, "The hand towels in your restaurant are very beautiful, can you buy them elsewhere?"

The waitress smiled, "No, this is specially made by our restaurant. If you like it, you can take it away as a souvenir."

"I see, order these first."

"Okay sir." The waitress nodded and left holding the menu.

Daisy saw Luke's strangeness, "What's the matter? This restaurant is not to your taste."

"A case I'm investigating may have a connection to this restaurant."

Daisy asked softly, "Is the problem serious?"

"No, I suspect that the murderer may have eaten at this restaurant, and sent a message to his colleagues, and it is estimated that he will come over soon."

Daisy took a sip of water, "It seems that the murderer has good taste."

"Sorry, I can't have dinner with you this time, I'll make it up next time."

Daisy leaned closer to the table, "Is this my revenge for leaving halfway in Las Vegas last time?"

Luke smiled, "You found out."

"We're even, and I feel less guilty."

This restaurant serves food relatively quickly.

Not long after, the waiter brought the first dish, fried scallops with foie gras sauce.

Daisy took a bite and nodded, "It tastes good, do you want to try it?"

"No." Luke frowned slightly, with a firm attitude.

Daisy licked her lips, as if thinking of something, "Is that murderer cruel?"

"It's better not to know too much."

Daisy said, "Actually, chefs cook animals in various ways, which is also cruel to animals. It's good to think about it."

Luke thought to himself, it's because you didn't see the real scene, people and animals are different after all.

As soon as the second course was served, Xiao Hei rushed to the restaurant in a big stride.

Luke was a little surprised, "Why are you so fast?"

"I also rejected you once, how can I make you wait for the second time.

Besides, I have been paying attention to this restaurant for a long time, and I heard that the dishes are very good. Xiao Hei looked expectant, then looked at Daisy next to her,
"Wow, Miss Miller is here, I won't bother you."

"No, please sit down." Daisy pointed to the seat next to her.

Luke didn't speak, and handed the towel to Xiao Hei.

"Thank you." Xiao Hei took it and wiped it on, feeling that the atmosphere was a bit wrong, "Are you really not bothering you?
Is this a blue lobster?Wow, this is the first time I have seen such a big one. "

Luke said, "I asked you to come, but I didn't say I would treat you to dinner."

"Then why did you ask me to do it?" Xiao Hei looked at Daisy with a question mark on his face, then approached Luke and asked in a low voice,
"It's not like you didn't bring enough money, let me help you pay the bill, this restaurant is very expensive, and I didn't bring so much cash when I came."

Luke pointed to the hand towel, "Look carefully."

He didn't mean to be tricky, but felt that Xiao Hei's observation skills were a little weak. As a partner, Luke had an obligation to train him.

Xiao Hei picked up the towel and looked at it for a while, "Have you used it?"

Luke "..."

Daisy also smiled, "You're right, he did use it."

Xiao Hei waved his hand, and said to Daisy, "It's okay, we are the best partners, we are very close, the two of us are the best in the entire police department."

Daisy nodded, "It can be seen that the two of you really get along well."

After all, he was his partner, and Luke didn't want to embarrass him in front of Daisy, so he showed him the photos on his phone.

Xiao Hei opened his mouth wide, "I bought it, this towel is the same as the one in the mouth of the deceased!"

Now it was Daisy's turn to be upset, "Did the murderer plant the towel in the dead man's mouth?"

"That's right, she was burned to death, or scorched to be exact."

Daisy "..."

Luke reminded Xiao Hei, "It's enough to talk about it." He comforted Daisy, "Don't worry too much, there is still a difference between humans and animals."

Daisy pressed her forehead, "Call the waiter for me to see if the remaining dishes can be cancelled?"

Luke called the waiter over.

The waitress smiled and asked, "Sir, what do you need?"

"Cancel the remaining dishes on our table."

"Is our menu not to your liking?"

"personal reasons."

"Okay, I'll cancel it for you now." The waitress fiddled with the tablet, "Sir, is there anything else you need?"

"Check out, and please bring the person in charge of your restaurant over. I have some other things I want to talk to him about."

"Is it about the dishes?"

"No."

"Okay, wait a minute."

Not long after, the waiter came over with the bill, and Luke paid the bill and tipped the other party.

Luke sends Daisy out of the restaurant.

Xiao Hei asked, "Did I mess up?"

"No, you saved me money."

A man in a black suit came over, "Sir, I'm Alex Mitchell, the restaurant manager. I heard from the waiter that you have something to do with me."

Xiao Hei flashed his police badge, "I am Detective Marcus from the Robbery and Murder Division, and this is Deputy Team Luke."

"What's the matter with the two of you?"

Luke picked up the hand towel on the table, "Can you buy this kind of hand towel in places other than your restaurant?"

"No, this is custom made for our restaurant. Is there something wrong with this hand towel?"

Luke showed him the photo on the phone, "Is this the hand towel from your restaurant?"

After examining it carefully, Alex asked, "What's wrong?"

"is not it?"

"Yes."

"We are investigating a murder case. Before killing the victim, in order to prevent the victim from calling for help, the murderer blocked the mouth of the deceased with a towel from your restaurant."

"This is terrible!" Alex gasped, realizing the seriousness of the problem, "Lieutenant Luke, I swear to God, this matter has nothing to do with our restaurant."

Luke cut to the chase, "We need to check the surveillance."

"Do you have a search warrant?"

"We'll apply if we need to.

However, your restaurant may be temporarily closed while the investigation is underway. "

"No, you don't need a search warrant. I'll take you to the monitoring room."

The so-called monitoring room is the manager's office.

Luke and Xiao Hei called up the surveillance video from the previous few days to see if anyone involved or suspicious had visited the restaurant.

Twenty minutes later, Luke spotted a familiar figure.

nancy.

She was wearing a blue dress, sitting in a corner of the restaurant, eating French food elegantly.

According to previous speculation, she had been hijacked by suspects on July 7.

But from the video, there is no feeling of being coerced at all, it is very natural and enjoyable.

This made Luke feel a little out of sorts.

Completely inconsistent with her identity.

Eating a meal here is enough for half a month's wages for her junior,
Luke is not discriminating, but the actual situation is there.

It is impossible for a normal person to be willing to spend half a month's salary for a meal, and the clothes on her don't look cheap, and her appearance seems to have been well-dressed, which is completely different from the Nancy Luke knew.

Double life?

Someone still dated her.

There is an old saying in Huaguo that if a woman turns bad, she will have money.

Did Nancy really cheat?
Luke continues to check the video, trying to find the person who dined with Nancy.

Luke watched it several times, and Nancy was the only one from the beginning to the end. During the meal, she only communicated with the waiter, not to mention men, and she didn't even touch women.

Why did she come to eat at such an expensive place alone?
She didn't look like she was waiting for someone?

Luke pointed to the waiter who had touched Nancy on the computer screen, "Manager Alex, please bring this restaurant waiter here, I want to ask him a few questions."

It is inevitable that there will be blind spots for monitoring in the restaurant. If Nancy wants to avoid monitoring and contact other people, it is not impossible.

A few minutes later, a Caucasian waiter was called in. He was in his 20s, about the same height as Luke, with a straight nose and a little handsome.

After Luke introduced himself, he asked the other party, "What's your name?"

"Danny Monka."

Luke pointed at Nancy in the video, "Do you remember this guest?"

"Yes, she was a graceful, generous woman."

"Have you communicated with each other?"

"I recommended two dishes for her and poured wine for her. She gave me a very generous tip of one hundred dollars."

"Hundred dollars?"

"Yes, this is the most tip I have received this month, so remember it clearly."

"Does she have companions?"

"No."

"Has she ever had contact with anyone else?"

"I'm not impressed."

"Are there any suspicious people around her, or people who pay more attention to her?"

"I didn't find it."

Luke thought for a while, then continued to ask, "Did she take the hand towel from the table?"

"Yes, she asked me if she could take it away, and I said if she likes it, she can keep it as a souvenir."

"In your impression, is there anything special about this guest?"

"No."

Luke took out photos of the people involved in the case for the other party to identify, but Danny had no impression.

Later, Luke played back the video again and found that Nancy did put the hand towel in her backpack.

Today's discovery was completely different from Luke's previous speculation. There was no hijacking, no coercion, and no suspicious figure appeared from the beginning to the end. Only Nancy was enjoying the food quietly.

It might be ok if it's someone else.

But it's not normal for this kind of thing to happen to Nancy. You must know that she is not alone, and there is a family waiting to be fed behind her.

Her family income is not enough to support her consumption here.

Perhaps there is a problem with the police's investigative thinking.

On July 7, Nancy's home was not burglarized or robbed, and Nancy was not hijacked, because she was the one who took away the belongings and the car.

She may even have consciously faked the scene.

If Luke's guess is correct, Nancy should have paid for this expensive French meal with the money from selling jewelry.

In other words, this should be her 'last lunch'.

At this point, she had already contemplated suicide.

There was no bloody derailment at all, and there was no so-called robbery, but a suicide scam directed and acted by Nancy.

Watching the surveillance video of Nancy eating again, there is no such leisurely contentment, but a sense of desolation...

　Thanks to the book friends for the reward!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)