Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

"I'm going to call my wife, let me know if anything comes up," Port said, before sitting in another car and closing the window.

Around nine o'clock in the evening, people began to disperse.

The suspect, Dalnio Gonzalez, also went home with two young men, and his friends left one by one on the way until only Dalnio Gonzalez was left.

A black SUV slowly approached, the passenger-side window rolled down, and a husky stuck its head out, "Hey, buddy, nice dancing. Got a boyfriend?"

Dalnio Gonzalez laughed, "No, I'm straight."

"I'm Marcus."

"Dalnio Gonzalez.

Do you live around here?"

"No, I'm visiting a friend. He wasn't home, so we went to the park to look for him."

"Did you find him?"

"Yes, I found him."

The husky opened the car door and jumped out directly.

Dalnio seemed to sense something off, "Who are you? I don't know you."

The husky pulled out a gun, "Los Angeles Police, put your hands where I can see them."

Dalnio turned, apparently looking for a chance to run, but to his despair, several people surrounded him, all holding guns.

Dalnio quickly raised his hands, "Heh, I'm unarmed, don't shoot.

You must have the wrong person, I'm a good guy."

"Buddy, put your hands on your head and don't move." Jackson stepped forward, handcuffed Dalnio Gonzalez's hands, and frisked him, "No weapons."

Luke stepped forward, "Do you know why we're looking for you?"

"Are you really the police?"

Luke showed his badge, "I'm the captain of Squad One of the Robbery and Murder Department, Luke Lee."

"The Robbery and Murder Department?" Dalnio looked nervous, "Why are you looking for me?"

"That's for you to tell us, what have you done?"

"I've done nothing. I haven't even been in Los Angeles for three months."

"Do you know Balte Ramos?"

"The name sounds familiar, uh... I remember now, he owns the Port car dealership, I bought a car from there before."

"What car?"

"A black Chevrolet, is there a problem?"

"Have you been to Balte Ramos's house?"

"No," Dalnio said, quickly looking down.

"Look up." Luke waved his hand, staring at the other man, "Your face has 'liar' written all over it, you've definitely been to Balte Ramos's house."

Dalnio's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and Luke could see his body trembling slightly.

Luke sensed his fear.

After obtaining his information, Luke had carefully analyzed his situation.

From the evidence obtained in previous cases, the gunman was likely a professional killer.

A professional killer commits murder, most likely under a contract.

In other words, the professional killer probably didn't have direct contact with the victim; the connection should be with the person who hired them.

And since Dalnio had been to the Port car dealership to buy a car, there was a connection between them, and that was how the police had tracked him down.

So, whether the same killer was responsible for the murder of Balte Ramos and the killing of his husky was now questionable.

The first possibility, the person who killed the dog and the person who killed Balte Ramos were not the same.

The second possibility, the dog killer was the professional assassin himself, who had a dispute with Balte Ramos over the car purchase, went to Balte Ramos's house to case the joint, and killed the dog, not under anyone else's employment.

With just a few questions from Luke, Dalnio had already shown a frightened and uneasy demeanor, not possessing the calm of a professional killer.

Luke continued to probe, "Where were you between 10 and 11 a.m. on November 12th?

Think carefully before you answer, our ability to find you means we already have concrete evidence."

Dalnio opened his mouth, then looked at Luke and the others.

"Buddy, if you want to keep dancing freely, you'd better speak honestly and save yourself the trouble," the husky warned.

After a long silence, Dalnio slowly said, "Yes, I did go to Balte Ramos's house."

"What for?"

"To confront him and get back the money that's mine."

"What do you mean 'the money that belongs to you'?"

"Balte Ramos scammed my money.

I went to Salipo Car Dealership to buy a car, and at first, the discussions went well. I trusted them enough to buy a car from their dealership, and afterward, I even helped promote the dealership. It was only when I talked to my friends that I realized I had been duped."

"That black Chevrolet Sedan?"

"Yes."

"If you felt you had been taken advantage of, why didn't you go to the police or sue Salipo Car Dealership?"

"No use. The car's quality was fine, and there was nothing wrong with the hardware; I got tricked because their service schemes were too complicated; I just couldn't beat them at their game."

"What kind of schemes?"

"Two schemes, the first was on the loan interest, and the second was on the warranty.

The loan for the car was astronomical, almost like usury.

The price of the car was 11,000 US Dollars, the warranty 1,500 US Dollars, and with various other fees, the total cost of the car was 13,000 US Dollars.

I made a down payment of 3,000 US Dollars and took out a loan for 10,000 US Dollars.

I had to pay 370 US Dollars a month for a total of 36 months, with the interest alone amounting to 3,300 US Dollars."

Little Hei frowned, "Didn't you notice that there was a problem with this interest rate? Why would you choose such a high loan interest rate?"

"I knew the interest on the loan was high, but I had just moved to Los Angeles. Balte Ramos told me I didn't have enough credit built up and could only choose this bank and this interest rate; I was skeptical.

I had just arrived in Los Angeles, there was a lot I didn't understand, and I needed a car for work and daily life.

It wasn't until later when I talked about it with a friend that I realized I had been scammed. There's no such rule in Los Angeles. That money must have gone straight into the dealership's pocket.

Faced with this situation, I was in deep trouble; all I could do was try to earn more money and pay it off early." Dalnio let out a sigh and continued,

"You know?

That wasn't even the thing that annoyed me the most. It was that three-year warranty that cost 1,500 US dollars.

At the time, Balte Ramos sold it to me with a lot of hype, claiming that any breakdowns would be repaired for free, which seemed like a good safeguard to me.

Once, when my tire had a leak, I went to the dealership for a checkup, only to find out that it wasn't covered by the warranty.

Afterward, I scrutinized the warranty contract and found out that trivial things like tire leaks and windshield wipers, among others, weren't covered.

The warranty only covered major repairs, such as the engine or the main frame.

It was only then that I realized I had been swindled; a car, if driven normally and not involved in traffic accidents, would never even need that contract. It was as if I had given them 1,500 US Dollars for nothing.

I realized I had been fooled and felt like a complete idiot."

"So you decided to kill Balte Ramos?"

"No, I didn't kill him. I just wanted to confront him. The first time I went to his store, I was kicked out by him and the people from the dealership; they had the upper hand, and I couldn't compete alone.

The second time, on the 12th, I went to his place to argue, but their Husky tried to bite me… Out of self-defense, I killed the dog."

"How did you kill it?"

"I shot it with a crossbow, and then I left."

"Where were you between 8:30 AM and 9:30 AM today?"

"I was off today; I was sleeping at home at that time."

"Who can verify that?"

"My mom and brother can vouch for me."

"Where are they?"

"They left the scene before me; they should be home by now." Dalnio replied, then asked in return, "Sir, it was the dog that bit me first. I only killed a dog; doesn't that seem like too much fuss over it?

I've heard of the Robbery and Murder Department; don't you usually only handle homicide cases?

Why are you dealing with a dog-killing case?"

Luke said, "Balte Ramos is dead."

"When?" Dalnio looked surprised.

"This morning."

Dalnio became nervous and took a step back, "Do you suspect that I killed him?"

"Was it you?"

"No, I didn't even leave the house this morning; I wouldn't kill someone over a few thousand dollars, it's not worth it.

Actually, after the incident with the dog last time, I already felt a lot of regret.

I'd never kill anyone; this has nothing to do with me."

Luke studied the man's expression and didn't detect any obvious signs of lying.

However, he wasn't entirely convinced, so he asked Raymond to take some people to Dalnio's house to interview his mother and brother, to confirm his alibi.