Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

"To put it unpleasantly, when he cut prices, my restaurant lost all its customers, so I had to cut prices too. There's a fixed number of customers out there, why hurt each other?" Chen Jianxin said frustratedly, "I explained it to him clearly, but he spilled his woes to me, saying he needed money, that reducing prices was a necessity to attract more customers, to make thin profits on higher volumes.

He even dragged me into lowering prices, saying we'd take business away from other restaurants.

I thought to myself, the other restaurants aren't stupid either. If you cut prices, won't they follow suit? If everyone cuts prices, can we even do business in the future, where will the money come from?

Later, I realized this guy just wanted to exploit a timing gap to attract customers. His restaurant lowered prices first, so all the customers went to him, and he gained recognition. Even if other restaurants followed with price cuts, he'd benefit the most."

Luke roughly understood that Ma Jiehui had violated an unspoken rule among peers, "So you're saying, Ma Jiehui made quite a bit of money these past two years?"

"He definitely made money, but I don't think it was much, just hard-earned money.

Don't let his busy restaurant fool you, with the lowered dish prices, the profits are also low. He's just a foolish guy working his butt off for nothing.

It's also because of him that the surrounding restaurants have struggled these past two years.

Pfft, a fool who harms others without benefiting himself." As Chen Jianxin brought up the past, his resentment still ran deep.

Since Luke wasn't in the restaurant business, he didn't know how much was at stake, and couldn't tell if Chen Jianxin was heartless, or if Ma Jiehui was the one harming others without benefiting himself.

However, there's an old saying, 'Cut off one's means of livelihood, and it's like killing their parents.' Ma Jiehui definitely made some enemies.

"What's your opinion on Ma Jiehui's murder?"

Chen Jianxin glanced at Luke with a hint of caution, "I have no idea. We didn't get along, didn't really interact, and I hardly inquired about his affairs.

But think about it, he did something utterly immoral and offensive, who knows how many people he's angered."

Luke watched the man's expression, not spotting any obvious signs of lying, "I heard that you poached an employee from Ma Jiehui's restaurant?"

Chen Jianxin countered, "You're talking about Song Bo."

"Right, is he here?"

"He's at the shop, but I didn't poach him. He resigned on his own, not wanting to work with Ma Jiehui anymore.

He applied to work at my restaurant afterward. If you don't believe me, ask him yourself." Chen Jianxin stood up and called out, "Song Bo, come here a moment."

A man with an apron came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands, "Boss, what do you need?"

"Ma Jiehui is dead, did you know?"

"Heard about it, what's up?"

"These two officers here are investigating the murder of Ma Jiehui. You used to work at his restaurant, right? The officers would like a word with you." Chen Jianxin pushed him into a chair and slipped away.

Luke sized up the man who looked to be in his thirties, short in stature, and somewhat nervous, "Your name is Song Bo?"

"That's right."

"How long did you work at Ma Jiehui's restaurant?"

"Less than a year, what about it?"

"Why did you resign from his restaurant?"

Song Bo answered, "Because his business was too good."

Luke laughed, "This is the first time I'm hearing of someone resigning because business was good."

Song Bo explained, "Officer, we were paid by the day, earning a daily wage.

The number of his customers didn't directly affect our income.

Even though he made more with more customers, he didn't pay us extra.

I can make the same money working at another restaurant with less work.

Of course, I'd choose somewhere more laid-back, right?"

Luke pressed on, "If Ma Jiehui's restaurant had a lot of customers and good business, why didn't he raise your salaries?"

"He held onto money tighter than his own parents, wouldn't dream of giving us more.

Besides, even though his restaurant was busy, the cheap prices meant low profit.

If he raised labor costs, he wouldn't make much.

Plainly speaking, he was making money off our sweat and blood.

I'm not a fool, why should I bleed and sweat for his meager earnings."

Luke said, "It sounds like you hold quite a grudge against him."

Song Bo complained, "The guy was just despicable."

Driving the restaurant prices down diminishes the interests of one's own restaurant, and although the customer base grows, there's hardly any money to be made.

This also makes it difficult for other restaurants to conduct business.

If this keeps up, our restaurant will soon be unable to pay salaries.

I finally left his store, only to be trapped by him again.

It's infuriating, he single-handedly drove away customers from all the surrounding restaurants, what kind of situation is this!"

Luke probed, "Do you have any clues about Ma Jiehui's murder?"

"None, maybe the heavens couldn't stand it and took him away early."

Luke "..."

Later, Luke took out a photo of the first victim, Hashimoto Yumi, and asked, "Do you recognize her?"

Song Bo glanced at it, "Don't recognize her."

Luke frowned, "Take a closer look."

Song Bo picked up the photo, "Wow, she's quite beautiful."

...

Robbery and Murder Department's first squad office.

Luke returned to the police station and called a meeting with everyone.

While Luke was taking statements from the people involved, the deputy chief kept watch at the crime scene.

Luke called the meeting to gather everyone's findings as well.

He might have had a salty lunch, for Luke was feeling unusually thirsty. He poured himself a cup of tea, and while sipping it, he said, "Let's discuss the progress of our investigations."

The deputy chief said, "Ma Jiehui's time of death was between 9:30 PM and midnight. He was stabbed to death with a sharp blade, likely an 11-centimeter long dagger.

There were a total of five stabs, each aimed at vital spots between the chest and abdomen.

Based on the position and angle of the wounds on the victim, we estimate the perpetrator's height to be between 183 to 195 centimeters.

After being stabbed, the victim fell to the ground and there are no signs of the body being moved.

The perpetrator left the letter 'a' on the victim's body.

No murder weapon was found at the scene, nor were there any eyewitnesses."

Luke recalled the heights of Chen Jianxin and Song Bo; both of these men would likely be under 180 cm even with shoes, not fitting the profile of the perpetrator.

Jenny said, "We talked with the neighbours around the area. Most of them have a good impression of Ma Jiehui, saying he was a sincere man who was honest, hardworking, and good at business.

Some old customers feel it's a pity, saying that his dishes were not only cheap but also tasty, and that he was a good man."

Jackson said, "From what we know so far, Ma Jiehui was a shrewd businessman. Even if he offended his peers, it wouldn't have escalated to a deadly feud.

Moreover, the presence of letters on the body of the deceased, Ma Jiehui, just like the first victim, Hashimoto Yumi, suggests the possibility of the same killer being involved, but at present, no connection between the two cases has been found."

Port mused, "Could it be because they were both Asian?"

Luke replied, "Although both are Asian, the two countries are historical enemies, so this reason seems unlikely."

Port added, "Both victims had letters carved on their bodies, an 'H' and an 'a'. What could that signify?"

The deputy chief thought for a moment, then shook his head, "It could mean too many things, there are too many combinations.

It's very difficult to deduce the underlying meaning from just these two letters alone."

Luke wrote down the two letters and stared at them for a long time, but could not discern any leads.

Black seemed to have come to a realization and said, "The first victim, Hashimoto Yumi, was a part-time streetwalker with a messy private life.

The second victim, Ma Jiehui, was married in China but had a partner in Los Angeles, living as a de facto husband and wife; both individuals had indiscreet personal lives, could this be the reason they were killed?"

Jackson replied, "Even if both of them had indecent personal lives, they had no association or contact with each other, and their circles of life were completely unrelated. Why would the killer target them?"

After hearing the discussion, Luke thought for a moment and speculated, "Not long ago, Chen Hui's husband arrived in Los Angeles, displacing Ma Jiehui from his nest.

Ma Jiehui was forced to separate from his girlfriend Chen Hui, surely harboring discomfort, which might lead to seeking out other women.

Unable to find someone suitable momentarily, could he have sought out a streetwalker?

And Hashimoto Yumi was a streetwalker."

Although there is no evidence at this time, if Luke's speculation proves correct, the two cases would be connected.