Los Angeles Detective

 Chapter 589 New Evidence

 Police Detective Bureau.

 At two o'clock in the afternoon, Luke convened everyone in the office to discuss the case.

Luke took a sip from a cup of tea and asked, "Deputy team, are there any clues in the investigation of deceased No. 3 Arian Osborn?"

“I contacted the sister of deceased No. 3.

 After learning that her brother had been killed, she acted a little coldly.

 According to her, she has not seen this brother for many years.

   I have no plans to come to Los Angeles to identify the body. "After the deputy team leader finished speaking, he sighed, "People nowadays are so indifferent and terrifying. "

 Decedent No. 3 may just be an unlucky guy who was involved in the fire, and is not the focus of Luke's investigation.

Luke said, “We investigated the address book of deceased No. 2 Teddy Colin and found that he had frequent contact with a woman named Annika Carmen.

 In the morning, Marcus and I visited Annika Carmen. During the conversation with her, we obviously felt that she was hiding something and might even have lied on some issues. "

Xiao Hei nodded, "Yes, I have a hunch that this Annika Carmen is probably the real culprit in the arson case."

Jackson smiled and said, "Unfortunately, a premonition cannot be used as evidence to solve the case. Captain, do you want to apply for a search warrant?"

Xiao Hei retorted, "Rookie, you can't just apply for a search warrant if you want."

Luke waved his hand and interrupted the two of them, "You are all right. What we lack most now is evidence. Even if we sense that there may be something wrong with Annika Carmen, we have no evidence to prove it.

 Even without relevant evidence, it is difficult to apply for a search warrant on this ground. "

　　The deputy nodded, "I also think it's too early to apply for a search warrant now, but it's best to send someone to keep an eye on Annika Carmen to prevent her from absconding or destroying relevant evidence."

  Luke ordered, "Raymon, Jenny, you two are responsible for keeping an eye on Annika Carmen. If you are short of manpower, you can ask the nearby patrol police to assist."

 “Okay, Captain.”

  Luke continued, “We can’t wait for Annika Carmen to make mistakes, we must actively search for clues and evidence.

There were three victims in the arson case. Among them, deceased No. 3 was probably involved in the fire and was not the real target of the murderer.

 The deceased No. 1, Hedda Cartman, and the deceased No. 2, Teddy Colin, were both killed first and then their bodies were burned by the fire.

The murderer probably wanted to destroy the body and eliminate traces of it.

However, the situations of deceased No. 1 Hedda Cartman and deceased No. 2 Teddy Colin are also different.

Deceased No. 1 was killed four or five days before the fire, and Deceased No. 2 was killed shortly before the fire. According to common sense, these two bodies should not appear at the fire scene at the same time. "

Xiao Hei touched his chin and said thoughtfully, "That's right. Deceased No. 1 has been dead for four or five days, and the body has begun to rot and stink. If the body had been in Mogaro Forest Park, it would have been impossible for it not to be discovered.

In other words, the first scene where No. 1 was killed may not be in Mogaro Forest Park.

 But before the fire, someone brought the bodies and burned them. "

“Marcus is right, there is such a possibility.” Luke responded and changed the subject, “At the same time, there is another possibility.

The place where No. 1 was killed was Mogaro Forest Park, and his body was buried underground after the murder.

The murderer dug up the body and burned it before setting the fire. "

The deputy laughed, "If I were the murderer, I would choose the second method. At least I don't have to carry a stinky corpse back and forth."

Luke continued, “If my guess is correct, there should be a burial place at the fire scene.

I am going to check the Mogaro Forest Park site again to see if I can find the burial place. Perhaps, the murderer will leave some evidence. "

 The deputy team member said, "Then I will go over to the technical team and keep an eye on it to see if they have any new discoveries."

 “OK, let’s all split up.”

 …

Near Mogaro Forest Park.

 In a black SUV car.

Jackson was sitting in the cab driving, and Luke was sitting in the passenger seat.

While driving, Jackson said, "Captain, I have been thinking about a question. There were three victims in the arson case. Among them, deceased No. 3 was probably burned to death by the fire, while deceased No. 1 and deceased No. 2 were both killed and burned. .

 Because Deceased No. 1 and Deceased No. 2 were killed in the same way, they were considered to be committed by the same murderer.

 But in fact, the death times of the two deceased were several days apart, and no direct connection between the two deceased was found.

 I have been wondering if these were two different murders connected by a fire. "       "This idea is quite interesting.

 Judging from the available evidence, deceased No. 1 and deceased No. 2 are indeed not directly related. "Luke touched his chin and thought about it seriously, "Suppose, your guess is correct, the murderer of deceased No. 1 and the murderer of No. 2 are not the same person.

 Which murderer do you think is more likely to set the fire? "

 Seeing that his speculation was confirmed, Jackson smiled, "I think it is more likely that the murderer of No. 1 set the fire.

 Because the death of deceased No. 1 occurred four or five days before the fire, and the husband of deceased No. 1 also called the police. If her body had been exposed to the outside, it would have rotted and smelled, and it would have been impossible not to be discovered.

Therefore, her body should have been exhumed or moved to the fire scene before the fire, and then the murderer set it on fire and burned the body.

By chance, deceased No. 2 had just been killed, and his body was burned in the fire. "

Luke said, "Your speculation is theoretically valid, but one thing is that it has been four or five days since the death of deceased No. 1. Her body has not been found in these days, which means that it has been dealt with once.

Why do you need to set fire to the corpses with great fanfare? "

 Jackson explained, “The arson site is located in a valley, surrounded by high mountains and dense forests. Even if a fire is lit at night, it will be difficult to detect it from a distance.

 So, I think the murderer’s original intention was just to burn the body and completely destroy the evidence, and did not want to cause a fire.

But it is obvious that the murderer underestimated the danger of setting fire in the mountain forest. The so-called arson is most likely caused by accidental fire. Once the flames burn, it is not easy to extinguish them. "

Luke nodded, "Your speculation has some validity, but it also lacks evidence. If you want to prove your speculation, go find evidence."

 “yessir.”

There are many possibilities for a case. Jackson's speculation has no solid evidence, but it still has certain reference value in some aspects. As for his conjecture that there may be two murderers, Luke does not want to see it, because that will increase the number of cases. difficulty of investigation.

The police car drove near Mogaro Forest Park. After pulling over, Luke got out of the passenger seat.

Mogaro Forest Park is still bare, and it is still pitch black at first glance. Luke feels that the housing prices around him will drop a lot.

 Originally, the dense trees and beautiful scenery of Mogaro Forest Park were a selling point of the surrounding communities. Now that Mogaro Forest Park has caught fire, not only has the selling point been lost, but there are also certain dangers. Customers will definitely re-evaluate before buying a house.

  Luke led the team into Mogaro Forest Park and re-examined the location where the three bodies were found.

Among them, Luke paid the most attention to the cremation site of deceased No. 1, because according to his speculation, deceased No. 1 Hedda Cartman was probably buried underground after she was killed, and there may still be some evidence left there. .

 Luke found the marked spot on the body of deceased No. 1. The area around the body had been burned to ashes, and he did not find many valuable clues.

 Subsequently, Luke focused on corpse No. 1 and searched around to see if there were depressions or corpse pits.

 Luke searched for twenty minutes, but found no obvious burial place.

 This shows that there are two situations. The first situation is what Xiaohei speculated. The body of deceased No. 1 Hedda Cartman was transported from other places.

 The second possibility is that after the body was dug out of the ground, the murderer buried the body in the pit and then set it on fire.

Luke himself prefers the second scenario, because it is not easy to move a rotting corpse. According to his inference, the corpse pit should not be far from the place where the corpse was burned.

Luke centered on the place where the body was burned and began to turn over the soil, judging the difference according to the color and hardness of the soil.

 After searching for about ten minutes, Luke found a piece of soil that had recent signs of being turned more than ten meters away from the place where the body was burned.

  Luke called two technical team members and asked them to continue digging.

The soil in this area is very soft, so the excavation speed is relatively fast, and after the soft soil layer is excavated, it looks like a coffin, which can just fit a body into it.

During the excavation process, Luke had already smelled a putrid smell, put on a mask, and at the same time became more confident in his guess.

“Captain Li, I found some items.” A black technical team member shouted.

Luke walked closer to take a look. The technical team used a shovel to dig out a soft object that looked like a piece of rotten flesh.

 “Keep digging.”

Soon, the two technical team members dug out more items, including **** rags, a rotten finger, and some scattered hair.

Learning that new evidence had been found here, other police officers gathered around.

Xiao Hei squatted not far away, covering his nose and checking the evidence, "Captain, you really guessed it right. This big pit is probably the burial place of deceased No. 1 Hedda Cartman."

　Judging from the half severed finger and minced meat, Hedda Cartman must have been abused before her death.

 The murderer is probably a cruel pervert. Xiao Hei frowned slightly, "However, these hairs are a bit strange, I think they can be used as an entry point for investigation." "

Jackson also came over to check it out, "It must be strange to put on a human body, because it is animal hair."

Xiao Hei glanced at him and said, "You seem to understand?"

“I think it looks like dog hair.” Jackson observed carefully and added, “We have two dogs at home, and they are like part of the family. I often play with them and help them groom their hair.”

 (End of this chapter)