Los Angeles Detective

  Chapter 275 Greed

   Suter Park.

  There are more and more tourists around the scene of the crime.

  Before, the Mexican-American old man was frightened by the headless female corpse and shouted while running. Many people were attracted by his shouting.

   Shootings in Los Angeles are not uncommon, but headless female corpses are rarely seen.

  Everyone has curiosity, and Los Angeles people have less pressure in life, but more curiosity.

  It is not a bad thing to have a lot of people, it is convenient to ask clues about the headless female corpse and look for possible witnesses.

   After more than ten minutes, forensic doctor Sheila finished the preliminary autopsy, walked over and said, "Captain Luke, although this is not suitable for thanking you, I still want to say congratulations."

   "Thank you." Luke nodded, "How is the corpse?"

  “The deceased was a girl about 16 years old, she should have died of suffocation, her neck was cut off, and from the incision on her neck, it was probably sawn open.

  The victim had been assaulted before his death, and no DNA of the suspected murderer was found. "

  Xiao Hei frowned slightly, "Is she not yet of age?"

   "Yes, it's a pity." Sheila sighed softly and continued, "The height of the deceased is between 168 and 172 cm. The time of death is estimated to be between nine o'clock and twelve o'clock last night."

  Luke asked, "Can the time of death be more accurate?"

   "Yes, but further autopsy is required."

What Luke lacks now is time. The sooner he discovers the scene of the first corpse dump, the more clues he may find, "Forensic Sheila, based on your guess, what time is it? You don't need to be too professional, and you don't need accurate data. I I just want to hear your judgment from experience."

  Since further autopsy will take time, play with probability.

  Focus on investigations in places with high probability, wait for further autopsy results to come out, and then conduct precise investigations.

  If you are lucky, you may have found the first corpse dumping site without waiting for further autopsy results.

  Forensic doctor Sheila pondered for a moment, "Assuming that the victim was thrown into the water within an hour after being killed, I estimate that the time of committing the crime should be around 11 o'clock last night.

  However, this speculation is arbitrary, and there are many temperatures that affect the autopsy, such as temperature, humidity, and the state of the corpse. "

   Can guess an approximate time of death, Luke is already very satisfied,

   "Is there any clue to prove the identity of the deceased?"

   "She has a tattoo of the Statue of Liberty on her right arm." Sheila sent Luke a photo of her right arm.

  Luke looked at the photo carefully, nodded and said, "Thank you, I will have someone check this tattoo."

   "When the results of further autopsy come out, I will inform you as soon as possible."

"Thanks."

  Not long after Sheila left, the technical team also completed the site survey. As Luke guessed, this was not the first corpse dumping site, and the technical team found no valuable clues at the bottom of the river.

  With no clothes, no documents, no mobile phones and accessories, the only thing on the victim's body that can prove his identity is DNA.

  However, it is not yet known whether the comparison can be successful.

  Currently, the police have too few clues to use. They don’t know the identity of the deceased, the scene of the first dumping of the body, let alone the scene of the crime, and they can’t find any witnesses to the case.

  Luke is limited in what he can do now, and the case is tricky.

  He thought for a while and divided the case into three directions of investigation,

   The first direction, let Matthew investigate the missing persons in the last two days.

  The second direction is to investigate the Statue of Liberty tattoo on the female victim.

  The third direction is led by Luke himself, looking for the first corpse dumping site.

   Afterwards, everyone split up.

   The task of finding the first corpse dumping site is not easy, and it also involves some professional knowledge, which requires the assistance of forensic and technical teams.

  For example, measuring the water flow speed, the ups and downs of the corpse, and the bottoming of the corpse will definitely affect the drifting speed and so on.

  The forensic doctor provided some data, and after considering all the possibilities, it was handed over to the professional analysts of the technical team to calculate, and finally came up with a flow distance of 3 to 3.5 miles.

  Is this conjecture accurate?

Inaccurate.

  Because there are too many issues to consider, for example, the forensic doctor can only guess the approximate time of death, but cannot determine the specific time of throwing the body.

   It can only be based on the experience of the police to speculate the most likely time period, and then draw a comprehensive conclusion.

  Compared with other river sections, this river section is more likely to dump corpses, and the probability is higher.

   Then we must prioritize the investigation of this section of the river, so as to save manpower, material resources and funds as much as possible.

  Otherwise, investigating the entire river course without focus will not only waste time, affect the progress of the investigation, but also waste a lot of manpower and funds.

  The reason why some cases cannot be solved is because of insufficient funds.

  This reason sounds a bit cruel. Some people may never have thought that funds will become the shackles of solving cases, but this is a very real problem.

  The police department’s funds are limited. It takes money to pay the police officers and buy equipment. It is impossible to invest in a case without limit. The citizens of Los Angeles will not agree. The police department will go bankrupt without restraint.

  Luke decided to first check the location 3 miles to 3.5 miles upstream of the corpse, and if no clues were found, then expand the search area on this basis.

  …

   Soon, Luke led his men to a location 3 miles upstream of the river.

   This area no longer belongs to Suter Park. The south side of the river is a mountain, and the north side is relatively flat.

  Considering that the transport of the corpse requires transportation, Luke feels that it is more likely to dump the corpse on the north side of the river.

  The distance of half a mile is not short, about 800 meters. The difficulty of investigation is also not small, but it is much easier than the entire river.

  The investigation is divided into three directions.

   In the first direction, the technical team sent people to sneak into the bottom of the river to search.

  In the second direction, Xiao Hei and Jackson led the patrol to look for witnesses nearby.

   In the third direction, Luke led a team to search by the river on the north side of the river.

  The scope of the riverside search is about 100 meters away from the river, all suspicious items on the river, trees, and ground.

  Search work is boring, but it is an important part of police work.

   After searching for more than 500 meters, Luke felt his eyes a little sore. He stopped, closed his eyes, took a rest, and looked into the distance.

   "Captain." At this moment, Xiao Hei came over.

   Luke yawned the quiz, "Anything?"

  Xiao Heidao, "I have made a big circle around the neighborhood, but there are no houses, and few people come here.

  However, a few homeless people were found over there. I chatted with them for a while, but I didn't see anything unusual last night.

  They should be the only residents nearby. "

   "Good job."

  Xiao Hei glanced at the team members who were checking around, "Did you find anything here?"

   "No, but you came at the right time. Follow my direction and search forward." Luke gestured for the general search direction with his hand.

   "I'm here to search?" Xiao Hei froze for a moment, "What about you?"

   "I'm going to report the situation to Director Reid, and do a good job." Luke left the search team and returned to the car to blow on the air conditioner and drink mineral water.

  Since I became the captain, it is normal to enjoy some small benefits.

   If there is no benefit, who would be willing to be the captain, and everyone will not work hard.

  Luke was young and strong, he cooled down for a while, and soon he was alive and well, and got out of the car with a bottle of mineral water.

  He found the investigation team, waved to the deputy team and shouted, "Deputy team, I have something to ask you."

  The deputy team thumped his old waist, and moved a few steps reluctantly, "Captain, what are your orders?"

  Luke handed over the mineral water, "It's too hot today, go rest in the car, I'll search for you."

  The old man is getting old, and Luke is afraid that he will show something bad.

   "Thank you." The deputy team looked a little complicated, unscrewed the water bottle and took a sip of water.

   Just as the deputy team was about to say something, Jenny's voice sounded from the side, "Hey, guys, I found something here."

  Everyone surrounded the past.

   Luke also walked over.

  I saw that a hole was dug next to a short tree. It would not take too long to dig it out depending on the color of the soil. The diameter of the hole should be about 50 centimeters, and the depth should be about 70 to 80 centimeters.

  Xiao Hei asked, "Is there nothing in this pit?"

  Jenny shook her head, "No."

  The deputy team extended three fingers, "First, this pit is just a coincidence and has nothing to do with the case.

  Second, the pit was dug by the personnel involved in the case, but it was not used.

   The third type is that someone buried something in the pit, but someone dug it out. "

  Luke thought of the homeless men that Xiao Hei said. If it was the third possibility, they would be the ones most likely to dig things up.

   "Deputy team, you continue to lead people to search. Marcus, follow me."

  Little Hei walked over, "Captain, what are your orders?"

   "Where are the homeless people you just found?"

   "It's just to the south, what's wrong?"

   "I want to talk to them." After Luke finished speaking, he walked in the direction of the car.

  Xiao Hei shouted, "Luke, you are going in the wrong direction, not in that direction."

   "That's right, get some beer first."

  Xiao Hei instantly understood that no homeless man could refuse beer.

   A few minutes later, Luke and the two walked near the homeless camp with a few bottles of beer.

   This is an open space, with several tents pitched, and each tent is separated by a distance of about a few meters.

   Luke walks up to the first tent and asks a black homeless man, "Man, want one?"

  The black homeless man swallowed, "I have no money."

   "I invite you." Luke threw him a bottle of beer.

   "Thank you." The black homeless man couldn't wait to open the beer cap and took a sip, his face intoxicated, "I haven't had a drink for two days, thank you."

  Luke said, "Dude, can I ask you a few questions?"

  The black man pointed to Xiao Hei next to him, "I know him, he said he is a policeman, and he asked about it just now."

  Xiao Hei introduced, "This is our captain."

   "Wow, such a young captain, you must be very good."

  Luke smiled, "Last night, did you see any suspicious people around?"

"No."

   "Have you ever dug up something in a pit?"

   "I'm not a gopher, why dig a hole in the ground, I won't do that kind of boring thing."

   "Thanks buddy."

   "Thanks for the beer too."

  Luke walked up to a somewhat scruffy bearded white homeless man and handed him a bottle of beer, "Man, can I ask you a few questions?"

   "For the sake of beer, why not?"

   "Thanks, did you live near here last night?"

   "Yes, I have lived here for two or three months. I like the scenery here very much. There are woods and rivers. The environment is very good."

   "You are very good at choosing places." Luke smiled and continued to ask, "Did you see any suspicious people nearby last night?"

  The white homeless man hesitated for a while, "No."

   Luke observed his expression and felt signs of lying.

   Luke asked the second question, "Did you dig anything out of the pit last night?"

  The white homeless man smiled, "Hehe, I don't farm the land, so why dig things out of the pit."

   This guy didn't answer directly, Luke asked, "Yes or no?"

   "No." The white homeless man shook his head, pointing to a few homeless men next to him,

   "You better ask them, maybe those guys have seen it before, of course beer is indispensable, they are the real alcoholics, haha..."

  Luke didn't divert his target because of his words, and continued to ask, "Do you want to make money?"

   "Of course, who wouldn't?"

  Luke took out fifty dollars in cash, "Tell me what you found last night, this fifty dollars is yours."

"I don't understand you."

"I know you were lying just now. Last night, you must have seen something. We are investigating a major criminal case and we are looking for witnesses to the case. As long as you can tell me some valuable clues, this fifty dollars is yours of."

  Compared to the overtime pay of many police officers, fifty dollars is nothing, no matter how you look at it, it is a good deal.

  The white homeless man licked his lips, looking a bit embarrassed, "Uh..."

   Luke asked, "What's your name?"

   "Jim."

   "Jim, we found the body of an underage girl in the lower reaches of the river. She was raped and her head was chopped off before she died. It's very pitiful.

  Can you help her? "

   "I bought it! This is too scary!" Jim took a deep breath, showing hesitation.

  Luke strikes while the iron is hot, "Only you can help her now. What you see may become the key clue to solve the case, which is very important."

  Xiao Hei also echoed, "I've seen that corpse, it's really pitiful."

   "Uh..." Jim breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had made up his mind, "Can... give me a hundred dollars?"

  Xiao Hei "..."

   Well, Luke's heartfelt words were in vain, and he took out another fifty-dollar bill, and handed both bills to the other party.

   "Tell me, what did you find out last night?"

  The white homeless man collected a hundred dollars, "Can you give me all these bottles of beer?"

   Now, Luke is also a little speechless, but the money has been paid, do you still care about a few bottles of beer? Put it directly next to the opponent's tent.

  At the same time, Luke was a little more vigilant, this is a greedy guy.

  The white homeless man opened a bottle of beer, took a sip, and showed a look of enjoyment, "Thank you, these bottles of beer are enough for me to drink for two days."

   "You're welcome, tell us what we're interested in."

"no problem.

  Last night, I was woken up by peeing.

  I am in good health, not often, just occasionally.

  We have agreed together that we cannot defecate within 100 meters of the tent, so I will try to walk as far away as possible.

   Then, I saw a man sneaking up from the river with a bag in his hand.

  I stood still, and he didn't notice me.

  I saw him start digging a hole next to a tree, it was quite deep, and then he threw the bag into the hole and buried it, leveled the ground before leaving. "

  The white homeless man took another sip of his beer and said, "I was curious, what was he doing?

   Then after he left, I went over and dug the hole, and took out a black bag from it, which contained a blue lady's leather bag, which was pretty nice.

   This is what I saw last night. "

   "Describe that person's appearance?"

   "It seems to be a white man, a little far away, I can't see his face clearly, and I dare not approach him. He is wearing jeans and a baseball cap. I can't remember the rest."

  Luke wrote in his notebook, "Is he alone?"

"Yes."

   "Does he have transportation?"

   "I didn't see it. I only saw him walking westward. It was very dark and soon there would be no more people."

   "What time was it?"

   "It should be around twelve o'clock in the evening."

   "Is he carrying anything else?"

"I did not see it."

   "Is there any water on him?"

"Maybe not."

  Luke sorted out his thoughts, "Where is that purse?"

   "Uh...that leather bag is very beautiful, the price should not be cheap..." the white tramp pointed.

  Luke smiled, and treated you better, thinking that I was taken advantage of, because I was too talkative?

   "Is that blue leather bag with you?"

   "Uh... is that purse important?" The white homeless man showed a worried look on his face.

   "Give me that purse, it's evidence involved in the case."

   "Sorry, I can't remember where I put it."

   "How do you remember?"

   "I've been wanting to buy a new tent, but I'm short on $200..." The white homeless man gives you that look.

  Have a hundred dollars, but also want two hundred dollars, he really is a greedy guy.

   Luke was disgusted, this guy is really reckless, no wonder it got mixed up like this.

  However, if the other party dared to ask for it, Luke dared to give it. He took out two hundred dollars and handed it to him without changing his face.

   "Thank you, you're such a nice guy." The white homeless man took the money.

   "Give me the blue purse."

   "OK." The white homeless man turned and returned to the tent, and came out with a blue leather bag in his hand.

  Luke put on gloves and took the purse, and checked the contents. There were many women's belongings, including a driver's license and keys, but no mobile phone was found.

   Luke stares at the look on the white homeless man's face, "Did you take something from the bag?"

   "No." The white man shrugged.

   lie.

   "I'll ask you again, did you take any valuables from your bag?"

   "I really didn't, you are insulting my personality."

   lie.

  Luke said to Xiao Hei, "Catch him."

   Without further ado, Xiao Hei took out the handcuffs and scolded, "Hold your head in your hands, lie on the ground, and don't move."

   "Hey, why did you arrest me? I didn't commit a crime. I picked up that purse."

  Luke said, "That blue leather bag belongs to the stolen goods involved in the case. You are suspected of buying and selling stolen goods. We will take you back to the police station for investigation."

   "I'm not selling booty."

   "You have, you just took my money."

  The white homeless man quibbles, "You can't do this, you are the one who gave me the money."

  Xiao Hei handcuffed him, "Your mouth is full of lies.

  The first time I came to ask you, you clearly said that you didn't find anything unusual last night, and you didn't see any suspicious people.

   Explain that you want to hide the loot in the first place.

   This is the second time we have come here. If you don't give you money, you will never admit that you saw a suspicious person last night.

   As for the money for the blue purse, you asked for it, you greedy ghost. "

  Xiao Hei took out three hundred dollars from his pocket, returned them to the original owner and returned them to Luke.

  White homeless men stare at the money, "My money, that's my money."

   "You don't need it anymore, everything in the prison is free." Xiao Hei smiled, "The good news is that you don't need to change tents either."

   "I don't want to go to jail, you don't want to arrest me, I don't want money, I will return it to you.

  For the sake of telling you the news, please spare me once. ’ pleaded the white bum.

  Other police officers also heard the movement and came over.

  Luke waved his hand, motioning for Xiao Hei to take him away.

   Then, he ordered to Jackson on the side, "Search this tent and see if there are any suspicious items."

  Jackson frowned slightly, "Do you need to call the technical team?"

"what ever."

  Jackson hesitated for a moment, put on his gloves, took a deep breath, and got into the tent to search.

   After a while, Jackson crawled out with disgust on his face, "It stinks to death, this guy hasn't showered for at least a month."

   "Did you find anything?" Luke didn't pay attention to his complaints. If you can't even overcome this difficulty, then don't be a policeman.

   "I found an iPhone with a pink case and diamonds on the back, which doesn't fit into this tent." Jackson stood up and handed over an iPhone.

  Luke took the phone and put it in a transparent plastic bag, "Thank you."

  Xiao Hei came back and looked at his phone, "This greedy ghost actually concealed the key evidence. It's really bad enough. It's not wrong to take him away."

  Luke glanced at the remaining homeless people, and ordered to the policeman, "Take notes for everyone present and see if they found any suspicious people last night."

   "Yes, sir."

   Ask for a monthly pass, ask for a monthly pass!

  (end of this chapter)