Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Luke called to notify the forensic doctor and the tech team to rush to the scene.

Afterward, he returned to the crime scene, Apartment 611.

Two scenes, two victims, different firearms used in the killings, but the police found the second scene by tracking the shooter, indicating a certain connection between the two cases. It was very likely that both victims were killed by the same perpetrator.

At the moment, Luke was still unable to determine the murderer's motive.

"Raymond, what do you think about this case?"

Raymond looked out the window, "From here to the car accident scene, it's at least four to five hundred meters away. It's difficult to hit a high-speed moving target from such a distance.

I suspect the person might be a professional hitman, but there's a detail that makes me doubt it."

"What detail?"

"The bullet casings.

If it were a well-trained professional hitman, they would take away the bullet casings after completing their task, but this shooter left the casings at the scene of the shooting, which is very unprofessional."

Luke also walked to the window to examine the car accident site. If he were the shooter, he most likely wouldn't have been able to hit the target.

Being able to hit a target from such a distance likely meant a professional hitman, or if not a professional, then someone with specialized military training.

As Raymond said, if one has professional training, they would likely take the bullet casings, so why didn't the shooter do that?

Luke turned his head to look at the body beside him, and a theory began to form in his mind.

"Raymond, if you were the shooter, what would you do?"

Raymond replied, "Shoot, pack up equipment, collect casings, clean traces, leave the scene."

Luke said, "If you had just fired and were packing up your firearm, and someone suddenly burst into the room, what would you do?"

Raymond said, "Kill them."

"What if it's not one person but two, and after you kill the first one, the second person screams and runs away.

What would you do?"

"I would try to chase down the other person."

"What if you didn't catch them?"

Raymond thought for a moment, "To avoid the person alerting the police or attracting more people, I'd leave the scene as quickly as possible."

"Exactly, the shooter didn't pick up the casings, likely due to the disturbance from the intruders.

There's no perfect crime in this world; no matter how meticulous the planning is upfront, unexpected situations can arise during the act itself."

Luke also leaned towards the theory that the shooter was a professional hitman.

Confirming this was important.

If it was a hired killer, the investigation method and questioning style would differ from that of ordinary murder cases.

For instance, the alibi.

In an ordinary murder case, if the murderer kills in person and a suspect has an alibi, it could rule out the possibility that they committed the crime.

But hired killings are different; the person only needs to pay and doesn't have to do the killing themselves.

"Knock knock."

Jenny knocked on the apartment door, "Captain, no bloodstains were found, nor any female who might have witnessed the event."

"Good news, it means that witness is still alive," said Luke, and then another question arose in his mind. If the witness ran away, then why didn't she call the police?

"Jenny, did you find any other unusual traces?"

Jenny thought for a moment, then counter-asked, "Like what?"

Luke said, "If you were the witness and you escaped successfully, what would you do?"

"Call the police," Jenny blurted out, then frowned, "But we didn't receive any police report from this apartment, which means the witness didn't call the police, or perhaps, she is now unable to do so.

Either she's dead, injured, or possibly being held by the shooter!"

Jenny suddenly thought of the couple arguing in Apartment 707, "Captain, do you remember the injured woman in 707?

She had scars on her face and seemed very panicked.

Previously, I thought she had been a victim of domestic violence, but her reaction was somewhat different from that.

Could she be the female witness, and the man inside not her husband but the shooter holding her hostage?"

After pondering for a while, Luke said, "She was already standing at the door and knew we were police, so why didn't she call for help?"

Jenny speculated, "Could the gunman have been threatening her, saying if she dared to call the police, he'd shoot?

Having just experienced the shooting in Apartment 611, she could have been frightened, which fits with her panicked behavior."

Raymond said, "Your idea is bold, but if I were the shooter, I would simply kill that woman and not give her a chance to interact with the police."

Jenny said, "Could it be that the shooter was also injured and needed the woman to cover for him?"

Raymond said, "That reason isn't sufficient; the shooter would still kill."

Luke looked at the corpse on the ground, "There's another possibility; the one who died isn't the intruder but the shooter."

After the two intruders entered the room, one engaged in a firefight with the shooter, and the female intruder, scared, screamed and ran away.

Later, the male intruder killed the shooter, cleared the scene, and found the female intruder.

Because the two knew each other, the female intruder didn't call the police, but the two also quarreled over the incident, and the male intruder hit the female intruder."

Luke's conjecture completely overturned everyone's previous speculations.

Raymond was somewhat bewildered, "Captain, do you have any evidence?"

"No, this is just speculation," Luke shook his head slightly, perhaps a side effect of being a detective.

Jenny said, "I agree with the captain's speculation, it's very likely."