LA Detective

One o'clock.

"Om..."

A mobile phone vibrated.

In the bedroom, Luke groped around the pillow with his right hand for a while, then pressed the answer button on the phone, "Hi, I'm Luke."

"I'm Mary, I hope I didn't disturb your rest."

Luke yawned and asked, "I didn't even open my eyes, what do you think?"

"I'm sorry, but this next news should open your eyes.

The robbers called and asked the father of the hostage, Mr. Bruce Redman, to go to the designated place to deliver the gold within an hour. "

Luke cheered up, "Where is it?"

"On the Kalman Street overpass."

Luke asked back, "Can you determine the kidnapper's location based on the blackmail call?"

"The airtime was too short to pinpoint a specific location. However, it was possible to determine the location of the cell phone base station."

"I see, we will conduct surveillance in advance. In addition, you send me the recording of the robber's blackmail call." After Luke finished speaking, he hung up the phone.

finally come.

Luke began to contact the team members for surveillance and arrest. According to the kidnapper's phone recording, he asked that 5000 ounces of gold be divided into six bags and transported to the overpass by car in advance, and only Bruce Redman was allowed to go. Personally tear the ticket directly.

Luke focused his control on two aspects. The first aspect was the place where the ransom was delivered, the Kalman Street Flyover.

The second location is on Bruce Redman's way to the flyover.

The kidnapper's purpose is very clear, to take away the gold, but the kidnapper's words cannot be completely trusted, he can snatch the gold anywhere, not necessarily at the place of transaction.

It is also possible that the gold was stolen while Bruce Redman was driving halfway to the transaction location.

At 01:30, the police convoy was ready.

Bruce Redman drove to the Cullman Avenue overpass where the transaction took place.

At this point in time, there are very few cars on the road, and you can't even see a car for a long time.

But it also makes it difficult to track.

If you follow too closely or follow for too long, you will be easily exposed.

Luke can only adopt a rotating tracking method. The police have to keep changing cars. Each car can only track for a period of time, and then drive away from other forks, and then change to another car to follow up.

At the same time, the control of the trading site is also in full swing. The trading site is located on the overpass of Kalman Street, and the surrounding area is very empty, which is not suitable for surveillance and arrest. Perhaps this is the reason why the kidnappers chose this place as the trading site.

If it is daytime and there are people coming and going on the overpass, the police officers can pretend to be passers-by to protect nearby.

But it was too eye-catching during this time period. As long as you are not stupid, you can see that there is a problem, and the kidnappers were scared away.

Therefore, Luke could only think of other ways.

If you can get close to the overpass without being easily suspected, then you are a homeless person.

Although the United States is a developed country, there are so many homeless people, and they may appear in any place at any time. Even if the kidnappers are suspicious, they cannot conclude that the other party is the eyeliner of the police.

Because it is common sense for homeless people to appear near the overpass.

The second is drones.

Luke arranged for a small drone to do aerial reconnaissance, equipped with high-definition cameras and infrared imaging.

Luke and other police officers were lying in ambush on both sides of the flyover. In order to prevent people from escaping under the flyover, police officers were also arranged to guard under the flyover.

Although Luke had already made detailed arrangements, he was still a little uneasy. This kind of arrest operation was more difficult.

Not only does it need to catch the kidnappers quickly and accurately so that they cannot contact their accomplices in the first place, but also pry open the kidnappers' mouths in time to find out the whereabouts of the hostages and prevent the robbers' accomplices from tearing up their tickets.

It is a test of the on-site commander's adaptability.

Luke and the deputy team were in charge of the specific command at the scene, and Reid was in the police station to provide them with police force and logistical support.

As a black Mercedes drove up to the overpass, everyone became nervous.

A black Mercedes-Benz was parked beside the flyover, and sitting in the cab of the car was Bruce Redman, who looked around from time to time through the glass of the car.

Although Luke couldn't see his expression, he could guess his mood at this time, and comforted him, "Mr. Redman, don't be nervous.

I have police officers around to make sure you are safe. "

On the east side of the overpass, in a secluded and sheltered corner, two homeless men were covered with worn blankets, looking at the Mercedes-Benz.

These two homeless men were selected by Rhett himself. They are both experts in the police department. They are good at marksmanship and good at fighting. As long as Luke gives an order, they will subdue the robbers immediately.

Time passed by, and Bruce Redman held the phone in his right hand, waiting anxiously.

Half an hour later, the drone was out of power, so a new battery was replaced and it took off again.

Xiao Hei rubbed his chin, "I feel something is wrong. Bruce Redman has been at the transaction location for so long, and the kidnapper has never shown up or called. Maybe things have changed."

Luke guessed, "We are waiting for the kidnapper, maybe the kidnapper is also watching around, no kidnapper is not afraid when trading ransom."

The ransom transaction is a test for the kidnappers, and it is also the most difficult part of the entire kidnapping case. They have to worry about the police setting up an ambush at the transaction location, and they also have to worry about the police tampering with the ransom. They are likely to be more nervous than the police, no matter how careful they are Not too much.

"Jingle Bell……"

Bruce Redman's cell phone rang, he glanced down, it was the robber's cell phone number, pressed the answer button, "Hello, I'm Bruce Redman.

I've driven onto the Kalman Avenue overpass.

Where is my daughter?did you bring her "

"No, if there are no accidents, you should never see her again."

Bruce Redman worried, "What do you mean by that?
I brought gold, in the trunk of the car, five thousand ounces, not an ounce. "

"I mean, your daughter is going to die soon."

"Why did you do this? I did exactly what you told me to do."

"No, you didn't, you called the police.

I know that there are police ambushing around the overpass, and as soon as I appear, I will be arrested by the police immediately.

I said not to call the police, you killed your daughter.

Say goodbye. "

"No no no, please don't do this, don't hurt my daughter." Bruce Redman broke out in a cold sweat, a little at a loss.

At this time, Luke also heard their conversation through the monitoring device, and hurriedly reminded through the headset, "Mr. Redman, the police did not expose, he is defrauding you."

Luke's voice was calm and firm, "Listen, you have to hold back at this time, bite to death without calling the police.

Tell him that the gold is on the flyover, and ask him to bring your daughter in exchange for gold. "

Bruce Redman took a deep breath, followed Luke's instructions, and said word by word, "I didn't call the police.

And I prepared [-] ounces of gold according to your order. I have kept the agreement, and I hope you will release my daughter according to the agreement. "

After a while, the kidnapper said again, "Do you really want to save your daughter?"

"Yes, otherwise, I wouldn't come in person."

"OK, then don't call the police, just do as I tell you, so that you can save your daughter."

"I'm not going to call the police, I've taken the gold to the Cullman Street overpass."

"It's not safe there and the delivery location has changed."

"where?"

"You drive forward, and I will tell you the new trading location in a while."

"I want to hear my daughter's voice and make sure she's safe."

"I can let you communicate with your daughter, but not now.

Remember, you are not qualified to negotiate terms. "The kidnapper hung up the phone directly.

"Fuck!"

Bruce Redman was angry and annoyed, his right hand rested on his forehead, and he sat on the car seat, feeling like he was about to collapse.

Luke's voice sounded in his headset, "Mr. Redman, calm down.

The more this time, the more you have to calm down. "

"Captain Li, what should I do now?"

"Do what he says and I'll send someone to keep you safe. Drive slower so the police have more time to react."

"I see." Bruce Redman took a deep breath, and slowly started the car.

Inside a commercial vehicle.

Luke and the deputy sit in front of the monitor.

The deputy team took off the earphones and cursed, "This group of cunning bastards, all our arrangements have been cancelled."

At this time, Xiao Hei, who was standing aside, was in a complicated mood. It was a pity that the robber was not caught.

But thinking of what the deputy team had said to fool him before, I felt a little lucky.

The deputy team asked him to pretend to be a homeless man to participate in the arrest operation, and claimed that he had a chance to perform. Xiao Hei thought it over and refused. He did this kind of work a lot when he was an ordinary police detective.

Enough has been done.

It now appears that this is a very wise decision.

Luke contacted Mary again, and the technical team still failed to locate the specific location of the kidnapper, but the base station transmitting the mobile phone signal changed, indicating that the suspect was also moving.

Moreover, the mobile phone signal base station is a bit far from the Kalman Street flyover.

There are two possibilities. The first possibility is that the kidnapper who made the extortion call and the one who delivered the ransom are not the same person.

The second possibility is that the kidnappers never thought of trading on the flyover.

The base station positioning is only a regional scope. It can be checked in places with few people, but it will be very difficult to check in places with many people, and the citizens of Los Angeles may not cooperate.

At three o'clock in the morning, the kidnappers called again, informing Bruce Redman of his new trading location, Celtus Square.

Bruce Redman immediately drove to the square, also reducing the speed according to Luke's proposal.

But his location is not far from Kelters Square, only a 10-minute drive in total, leaving little time for the police to investigate.

Fortunately, the police were always near Bruce Redman's car, not far from Celtus Square, and Luke immediately led his men to rush there.

The location of Kelters Square was relatively empty, and the police did not dare to get too close. They still adopted the means of drone detection and stalking of homeless people, while the other police officers stayed in a distant place.

Ten minutes later, Bruce Redman drove to Celtus Square.

He sat in the car for a while, his phone didn't ring, and there was no movement outside, then he got out of the car to observe, the surrounding was empty and there was no one in sight.

After another 10 minutes, the kidnapper called again and changed the transaction location again.

Watching Bruce Redman drive away from Kelters Square, Jackson was a little worried, "Captain, will the kidnappers really find us, so they will frequently change the trading location."

The deputy team thought for a while and said, "Not necessarily, if the kidnappers really saw that the police were at the scene, they would never contact Bruce Redman again.

He frequently changed the trading location, this kind of cautious measures, on the contrary, showed that the kidnappers had real trading intentions.

The young man was a little patient, but only over two hours had passed. The deputy team frowned, as if thinking of something,
"I remember encountering a kidnapping case before, the kidnapper gave a trading place, and asked the ransom to be sent there at twelve o'clock in the morning.

But we waited until three o'clock in the morning and still didn't see the robbers.

At three o'clock in the morning, the robber called and changed the transaction location again.

We rushed to the new trading location, but the robbers still didn't come.

The next night, the robber called again and told us the new transaction time and place. We waited for another night, but the kidnapper still didn't come.

On the third night, the kidnappers continued to make calls, saying that the transaction was at [-]:[-] am, and that the transaction was canceled at [-]:[-] am.

But at four o'clock in the morning, the transaction was proposed again, and after many times of back and forth, the kidnappers actually appeared at the transaction location.

We finally caught the kidnappers.

The more this time, the more patient you have to be.

Whoever shows his feet first, and whoever gets impatient first, loses. "

At four o'clock in the morning, the kidnappers called again and revealed the new transaction location under the overpass on Kalman Street.

After going around for a while, I returned to the previous trading place, the difference is that it was changed to be under the flyover. I have to say that this is really annoying.

But just as the deputy team said, whoever is impatient or impatient at this time will lose.

Luke still carried out the control in a calm and orderly manner.

At [-]:[-] in the morning, Bruce Redman drove to the bottom of the flyover, and the kidnappers called again, asking Bruce Redman to put the gold next to the stone pier under the flyover and leave immediately.

At the same time, he asked Bruce Redman not to call the police, but to go home and wait for news.

His daughter will be released within three days.

Bruce Redman fully agreed, and at the same time, according to Luke's reminder, he asked to talk to his daughter.

This time the kidnappers agreed.

"Dad, I'm Isha, I'm so scared, please help me...help..." The voice became smaller and smaller.

Bruce Redman shouted into the phone, "Isa, my baby, are you okay? Did they hurt you..."

"If you want to see your daughter again, just do as I tell you." Afterwards, the kidnapper hung up the phone directly.

After confirming that his daughter was still alive, Bruce Redman took a deep breath, adjusted his mentality, put six gold bags next to the bridge pier, and drove away.

Bruce Redman is gone, but the police are still around.

The two homeless men huddled in a corner near the overpass again. This time, in order to avoid being noticed by the kidnappers, they did not get too close, and secretly observed with binoculars.

Drones are still in the sky for scouting.

Before, Luke kept an eye out and reminded Bruce Redman to put the gold under the outermost pier.

In this way, the overpass is limited, and the police can also observe the situation around the gold through drones.

At [-]:[-] in the morning, a black Ford car slowly passed the overpass. Luke watched from a distance with binoculars and felt that something was wrong with the car, but the car didn't stop.

At five o'clock in the morning, the black Ford sedan circled under the overpass again and stopped.

Two black men got out of the car, carefully observed the surroundings, went to the bridge pier, opened their backpacks, checked them, put the backpacks containing gold into the trunk, and drove away quickly.

The deputy team laughed, "The fish has bitten the hook."

Jackson's tone was a little excited, "Captain, are we going to take action?"

"Wait, it's not time to close the line. See where they went. If you can take us back to the lair, it will be less risky than arresting us here."

The deputy team nodded, "I also agree with this plan.

However, this will increase the difficulty of tracking, neither can be discovered by the other party, nor can it be lost. "

Luke said, "Take turns to follow up.

Marcus, Jackson, you go too.

Plus, have the drone track you in the air. "

"Yes, sir."

The Ford sedan drove very fast. In order to avoid being noticed, the police did not dare to follow too closely, so a police officer was asked to sit in the police car to control the drone tracking.

Also, Luke contacts Red to track down the black Ford through road surveillance.

With the multi-party cooperation of the police, the trace of the suspect vehicle has been under control.

Half an hour later, the suspect vehicle drove into a black neighborhood.

The garage door of a white sloping-roof bungalow on the east side of the community was open, and the Ford sedan drove directly into the garage.

The garage door was closed and there was no movement.

The ransom payment operation has come to an end for the time being, and it has been more than four hours since the kidnapper made a blackmail call.

At this time, there was a fish belly white in the sky.

Through road monitoring and drone observation, the police have identified the kidnappers' lair.

Luke began to control the surrounding area.

A black SUV pulls up a little further away from the white house, and Luke watches through binoculars.

The deputy team on the side asked, "What do you think?"

Luke analyzed, "From the current situation, this is likely to be the lair of the kidnappers, or one of the strongholds.

It's just that we still don't know the situation inside, and we don't know whether the hostages are here.

It may be dangerous to act rashly, so it is best to find out the situation first. "

The deputy team nodded, "It's right to be safe, but I'm still a little worried.

After the kidnappers get the gold, the hostages are worthless, will they tear up their tickets immediately? "

Luke frowned slightly. The deputy team's worries were justified. Any choice would be risky, and they could only choose the best solution.

Just then, a gray BMW drove over and stopped in the kidnapper's yard.

A black man wearing sunglasses got out of the car. He looked around and walked quickly into the house.

Luke observed with a telescope, his face changed slightly, and he recognized the identity of the man wearing sunglasses.

Owner of the House of Singularity Antiques and CSJ Pawn Shop, Jim.

This guy has been in the dirty business of collecting and selling stolen goods for a long time.

The deputy team also saw Jim through the binoculars, curled their lips, "This guy looks familiar..."

Luke reminded, "The last Getty Museum oil painting robbery, his antique shop happened to sell high imitation oil paintings that were suspected of being robbed."

The deputy team said, "I remembered, this guy also helped a little in the oil painting robbery, how did he get involved in the kidnapping case, doesn't this guy only collect and sell stolen goods?"

Luke couldn't figure it out. Although Jim's business was illegal, as long as it didn't touch the interests of the police, the police would turn a blind eye.

After all, in this kind of gray interest chain, if one family is destroyed, there will be a second one. Rather than letting them grow in secret, it is better to be under the nose of the police.

From this point of view, Jim has a gang background, and the police don't bother to talk to him. As long as he doesn't offend others and doesn't cross the border, he's quite healthy, so why take the risk and participate in the kidnapping case.

unless……

Luke vaguely guessed something.

5000 ounces of gold are worth 1000 million US dollars. The kidnappers must not be able to spend them directly. They still need to find someone to exchange them for cash. This may be the purpose of Jim's visit.

Jim has black market connections and might be able to convert 5000 ounces of gold into cash.

Moreover, he found that Jim traveled lightly and did not bring more people.

Explain that he is very relieved of the people in the house. Is it possible that the people in the house are his accomplices.

If this is inferred, the two who took the gold may not be the kidnappers, but Jim's subordinates. Even if the police catch them, they may not be able to find the kidnappers.

Rather than saying that these kidnappers came to find Jim to exchange for gold, it is better to say that they are looking for Jim to cover the mine. If Jim is caught, they will definitely run away without a trace.

If Jim is not caught, it means that the family members of the victim did not call the police. According to the agreement, Jim will directly convert the gold into cash, and they just wait to get the money.

Although part of the commission will definitely be deducted by Jim, it is equivalent to an extra insurance that transfers the most dangerous part of the kidnapping case, the payment of ransom.