Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Dave was directly knocked down by the door and heavily fell to the ground.

By the time he regained his senses, his hands were cuffed, and he had been read the "Miranda" warning.

"Fuck, what's wrong with you guys? Why are you breaking into my house?" Dave shouted angrily.

Susan asked, "Where is Alyssa?"

"Do you have a search warrant?"

Luke flashed the search warrant and arrest warrant, "Lawyer, sir, we have everything you want."

Dave raised his head and took a deep breath, "I can tell you, but I want to see her one more time."

Susan nodded, "Go ahead."

"She's in the basement, the key is in my coat pocket. Don't scare her."

Marcus glared with his big eyes, "Wow, am I hearing this right? It sounds like we're the bad guys now?"

Dave ignored Marcus, and asked Luke, "How did you guys find me?"

"Curious?"

"Of course, I don't think I've made any mistakes."

"I'm also very interested in your motive and process of the crime. Let's have a good talk later."

"OK."

Jenny was supporting Alyssa as they walked out.

Wrapped in a blanket, Alyssa stared at Dave and choked up, "You self-righteous jerk, I've told you before to let me go. Now you've been caught by the police, get ready to go to jail."

With a forced smile, Dave replied, "Alyssa, I have no regrets. If I could do it all over again, I would. At least, you belonged to me and me alone during this time."

"You're a lunatic, I don't want to see you ever again," Alyssa said and left.

David gave Dave a shove, "Hey, stop playing the lover boy. You're getting a new home now."

Standing beside the police car, Dave took one last look at his two-story villa, "Please tell your colleagues to be careful when searching; I've spent quite a bit of money on the renovations."

David laughed, "Don't worry about it, this place has nothing to do with you anymore."

...

Dave was taken back to the police station and detained.

The crime scene investigation continued until the early morning, and the BMW was also brought back to the station.

Tonight, breaking his own rules, Luke worked overtime, voluntarily.

After checking so many days, it was time to show his face. Only a fool would leave now.

At two in the morning, Luke sat in his office yawning. He had been living comfortably recently and was not used to pulling an all-nighter anymore.

"Creak..."

The office door was pushed open, and a middle-aged black officer in uniform walked in.

Deputy Chief of the police station, head of the Robbery and Murder Department, Reid Hussein.

Chief Hussein put a carry bag on the table, "You guys have worked hard, I brought some late-night snacks for you."

"Hey, you're too thoughtful, my stomach has been protesting..." Marcus grinned, swinging out his right hand for a fist bump.

Reid didn't respond, and Marcus retracted his hand awkwardly.

"Take whatever you want, don't be shy," Reid politely replied, and took out a breakfast sandwich and a skim vanilla latte from the bag for his deputy, "Your hot dog and skim vanilla latte."

The deputy smiled, "Wow, I didn't think you'd still remember after all these years."

Reid patted his chest, "I remember everything you've said."

Luke, stomach growling, grabbed a donut and a carton of milk.

Reid greeted him, "Luke, I heard you've been doing well lately. The lead on Dave was found by you, wasn't it?"

"I just did my job. It's mainly thanks to your leadership, and the captain and deputy's guidance."

Reid seemed surprised but smiled, "You've got promise, kid. I'm keeping an eye on you."

Chief Hussein chatted with the team for a while but didn't bring up much about the case. Before leaving, he turned to Susan and said, "Captain, get Dave's confession as soon as you can."

"I will."

After watching the Chief leave, David teased Luke, "You really know how to suck up."

"That's called sucking up when said by someone who isn't capable. For someone who's just made a contribution like me, it's called being humble."

David chuckled.

Teasingly, Luke said, "How about next time I add you too? The chief, captain, deputy, and Detective Chief David."

"No, don't want to die of embarrassment."

After finishing her burger and taking a sip of her coffee, Susan asked Jenny, who was beside her, "How is Alyssa doing?"

"She's not physically harmed, but she's been terrified and is a bit unstable emotionally."

"Bring her to the station. Before we interrogate Dave, we need to talk to her."

"Yes, captain."

...

An hour later, Alyssa arrived at the Robbery and Murder Department's rest room.

Luke and Jenny took her statement while Susan listened.

After a brief introduction, Luke got right to the point, "Alyssa, were you kidnapped by Dave?"

"Yes."

"Did Dave have any other accomplices?"

"There shouldn't be, I only saw him alone."

"What about Steven?"

"No, this has nothing to do with Steven, he didn't kidnap me."

Susan was somewhat surprised, as the police had previously thought Steven had fled out of guilt, believing him to be Dave's accomplice. "Did Dave ever mention Steven?"

Alyssa repeated what Dave had said.

After listening, the three police officers present were somewhat astonished.

The real suspect was Dave, and Steven was just a fooled scapegoat who was left crippled.

Dave being locked in the trunk wasn't an act between the two of them; it was a self-directed ploy of extreme measures.

After a moment of silence, Luke took out a photo of Tony Will, "Do you recognize this person?"

Alyssa looked carefully, "I don't recognize him."

"Can you describe the kidnapping process?"

Alyssa pressed her forehead, "Can I... have a drink?"

"No, it's best to make the record while you are sober." Susan said earnestly, "Alyssa, I know this is hard and must be painful for you.

Dave is a lawyer, clever, cunning, and familiar with the process of handling cases.

Our investigation has to be extremely cautious, we can't afford the slightest mistake, otherwise Dave could find a loophole and might get away with his crime."

"You're right, he's a terrible bastard." Alyssa took a deep breath, mustered her courage, and described what had happened.

"One time I was performing at the club, and Dave saw me, he told me to stop dancing there.

He promised that if I quit the club and left Steven, he would give me a large sum of money.

I didn't agree, Dave became furious and even put photos of me dancing at my parents' house.

We had a big fight.

On the evening of March 4th, after my performance,

Dave found me and said he wanted to talk, and I got into his car.

He once again suggested I quit my job, leave Steven, and said he would give me the life I wanted.

I refused again.

After that, he stunned me with a taser, took me back to his home, and imprisoned me in the basement.

I kept begging him to let me go until you all rescued me.

Thank you, I'm really so grateful.

If it weren't for you all rescuing me in time, I don't know how long I could have lasted." Alyssa couldn't help but start crying.

Luke noted down the key points in his notebook, "How do you know it was Dave who put the photos in your parents' house? Did he admit it himself?"

"It's my guess, who else could it be?"

Luke then took out a photo of Harry, "Do you recognize him?"

Alyssa looked carefully, "Yes, he's a client of the club and we've had an altercation."

"He placed the photos, and he did it in your home's delivery locker."

Alyssa sighed lightly, "Did I wrong Dave? If I hadn't misunderstood him back then, would I not have been kidnapped?" Alyssa seemed to remember something, her brow furrowed slightly, "Was it really Steven who intentionally put the photos in my parents' house?"

"Yes, Steven has admitted it, and this is also the reason the police suspected him."

Alyssa with a sobbing voice, "Why would he do this? Why treat me like this, does he think I wanted to leave him? He hadn't worked in two to three years, I was laid off by the company as well, we can't always rely on my parents.

If it weren't to support this family, why would I do such a thing? For whom am I doing this?"

Alyssa cried for a while before her emotions stabilized.

Luke handed her some tissues and asked, "Did Dave ever mention the $15,000?"

Alyssa wiped her tears, "Yes, Dave also showed me the IOU, do you know what my husband borrowed the money for?"

"Steven used that money to rent a shop, hoping to open a restaurant to surprise you." Luke had checked Dave's bank for significant cash flow around February 10th.

It matched with the rent and timing Steven used to lease the shop, and Alyssa's statement corroborated that too.

"Is that true?"

"That's what the landlord said."

"Dave, that con man, he must have known about it, or else he wouldn't lend the money to Steven. He also framed Steven for affairs. I almost believed him."

Luke thought to himself, it's not just you who's been deceived – the police were being led by the nose as well.

Dave lent the money to Steven to rent the shop, and it was not out of kindness.

According to the records from Dave's BMW, he had been to that shop more than once.

Dave set up the scene at the shop to make it look like Alyssa had come to harm, solidifying the suspicion of Steven as a robber and murderer.

Steven was fooled into running away, and once he found out he was wanted by the police, he wouldn't dare to return to Los Angeles easily.

Without the ability to catch Steven, the case could not be solved.

Dave would still be the respected lawyer, and Alyssa would remain 'dead,' with no one suspecting she was locked in Dave's basement.

If it hadn't been for Luke's discovery of the white BMW clue, Dave might have escaped legal punishment.