Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Dave thought for a while and then said, "Steven is a man with no sense of responsibility, and he was scared to death when you guys brought him to the police station. Plus, with a little misguidance from me, he decided to take off to lay low."

"To send him on his way, I even spent forty thousand US dollars. That kid is probably enjoying himself in Mexico by now."

"How did you scare him off?"

Dave repeated what he'd told Alyssa.

Luke asked, "Aren't you afraid he'll come back?"

"I am, so I made a few arrangements to turn him into a wanted man. As long as he's wanted by the police, he won't dare come back.

If he doesn't come back, the police won't be able to figure out the truth."

Luke pressed on, "How exactly did you set that up?"

"Steven always had ambitious plans, never wanting to work for anyone else, always looking to do something big.

He came to me many times, wanting to go into business with me—plainly put, he wanted me to put up the money, and he would run it.

I don't lack money, but I wasn't going to let him waste mine.

Not until I found out Alyssa was dancing at the club did I start brewing a plan in my mind.

I agreed to invest with him, and he wanted to rent a space for a restaurant, which I was fine with."

"After we rented the space, he gave me a key, and I turned the space into a murder scene," Dave said.

Luke tentatively asked, "What exactly did you do?"

"I got some blood and sprayed it around the walls and the floor, then tried to clean it up with disinfectant, which almost suffocated me.

I hid the Taser and Alyssa's belongings in the smoke exhaust pipe of the shop, so naturally the police would become suspicious of Steven."

Dave's account matched the crime scene, so Luke continued his inquiry, "Who did you kill?"

"I didn't kill anyone. I did some crazy things, but I am not a killer."

"Then what's with the blood?"

"Bought it."

"Where? When? Who bought it?"

"Garcia Rogel, March 5th, we made the transaction on Binmei Street."

Marcus was somewhat surprised, "You actually know 'Blood Man' Garcia? That is indeed unexpected."

Luke asked softly, "You know this person?"

"Yeah, he runs a blood station."

"Is it legal?"

"Half and half," Marcus shrugged and then turned to Dave, "But Garcia isn't someone a person like you should know, right?"

Dave said with a smile, "It doesn't matter who the person is, as long as he's in America, he can't escape lawyers."

"I know Garcia, and I will verify with him. If you lied ..." Marcus let his expression imply the rest.

Luke shifted to another question, "Where's Tony?"

Dave countered, "You didn't find him?"

"We want to take his statement."

Dave chuckled, "If you can't find him, how could I possibly do so."

"What's Tony Will's real identity?"

"What? What do you mean?" Dave appeared confused.

Luke studied the man for a while, uncertain whether Dave's expression was genuine or fake.

He asked about some more details of the case, and Dave admitted to two robberies and one kidnapping, but claimed ignorance on any leads involving Tony Will or Steven.

...

After one in the afternoon, Luke and his companion left the interrogation room.

Susan, the deputy team leader, David, and others also came out of the adjoining observation room.

Susan nodded at them slightly, "Nice work with the interrogation."

The deputy team leader said, "I'll bet this guy is definitely hiding something. It's possible he did away with Tony and Steven."

Luke shook his head, "He's been very composed; without evidence, it's hard to get him to talk."

"You guys go have lunch first, we'll analyze this further in the afternoon," Susan said before turning to leave.

Luke was already hungry and gorged himself at a nearby Mexican restaurant.

At three in the afternoon, a meeting to summarize the case was called in the conference room.

Deputy Director Reid also attended the meeting.

After comparing the victims' statements, the clues, and Dave's confession, the three basically aligned, officially declaring the 'Taser Robbery Case' solved.

Garcia also admitted to providing Dave with plasma.

As for the disappearances of Tony and Steven, without evidence to implicate Dave, the case could only be handled according to the relevant regulations.

...

Eight in the evening.

Flight Bar.

"Cheers!"

Luke and a group of colleagues were sitting around the table, drinking.

Luke downed most of his chilled beer in one go, feeling refreshed.

Marcus opened his mouth wide, "Boss, it's the first time I'm drinking with you, what an honor."

Susan looked around, "I indeed don't often come to places like this."

Marcus suggested, "You should come and have a drink more often, soak up the joyful atmosphere around, it can help relieve the stress of work."

"I'll think about it,"

the deputy chief said, "but at least you have to come to the celebration after we solve the case."

"Of course."

Luke said, "Captain, the 'Taser Gun Robbery' case has been solved, and I'd like to take two days off."

Susan didn't immediately reply, instead scanning the room. "Anyone else want a break?"

"Oh, I do have some matters to attend to," Marcus smiled.

"OK, Marcus, take one day off, and Luke, take two days off."

Marcus was quite pleased with the first half of the announcement but somewhat dissatisfied with the rest. "Why does he get one more day off than me?"

"The successful resolution of the Taser Gun Robbery owes to everyone's efforts, but Luke was particularly outstanding in this case. Alyssa's disappearance and Dave's clues were all uncovered by him.

I am someone who believes in clear rewards and punishments. If you do well, you get rewarded; if you don't, you know the consequences..."

Susan countered, "Any problems with that?"

"No no, that's fair." Seeing Susan's gaze turning to him, Marcus quickly backed down and changed the subject, "Today when we were interrogating Dave, he was very calm the entire time. Do you think he was faking it?"

"I've been in the observation room the whole time; he didn't seem to be pretending. Don't underestimate him. Investigating cases is our home court, but what comes next is his specialty," Susan said.

The deputy chief caught the implication. "He has already confessed, and the evidence is irrefutable. Can he still get away by exploiting legal loopholes?"

Susan shook her head. "I don't know. Deputy chief, you have more experience in this area than I do, so I'll leave it to you."

The deputy chief nodded.

Jenny hadn't participated in the interrogation and was curious about some details. "Since Dave is such a calm person, why would he do something so irrational?"

Having interacted with Dave extensively, Luke could better understand his thoughts. "Jealousy—he was jealous of Steven."

Jenny pressed, "Dave is a lawyer, wealthy, and with status. Why would he be jealous of someone inferior to him like Steven? And Steven was his good friend."

Drinking a sip of beer, Luke continued, "You've hit the nail on the head. It's precisely because Steven was his good friend and inferior to him in every aspect, yet he managed to marry the woman of Dave's dreams. That's why Dave was even more jealous.

This jealousy had been building up for over a decade, like a dam filling up with more and more water. Alyssa dancing at the club was the final straw that broke the dam, unleashing a torrent of jealousy, and he lost his rationality.

Emotions have a compensatory psychology.

Calm people often suppress their emotions, and once they lose their rationality, they can go wild."

Raising her glass, Susan signaled, "OK, looks like I need to come to the bar more often."

"Haha..."

Everyone laughed.

...

That evening, Luke got home to find his mother and little brother already asleep.

He took a shower and then went to bed himself.

Lying on the bed, a familiar voice echoed in his ears.

[Congratulations Host, for successfully solving the 'Taser Gun Robbery' case and rescuing the victim Alyssa. You've been awarded 20 lottery draws]

When he saved Daisy and captured the robber Tim last time, Luke earned ten lottery draws.

The Taser Gun Robbery case was more complex, and he earned twenty lottery draws this time.

Although Luke was unclear on the specific assessment method of the system, he roughly guessed that the more complex the case he solved, the more substantial the rewards would be.

So, what are we waiting for, let's draw.

The pointer started to spin.

It randomly stopped, illuminating the chosen section, one thousand US dollars.

Second lottery draw, one thousand US dollars.

Third lottery draw, one thousand US dollars.

Fourth lottery draw, one thousand US dollars.

...

Seventh lottery draw, an adventure card.

...

Fifteenth lottery draw, a Bullet-Proof Card.

...

The card labeled 'Bullet-Proof' had a small footnote underneath: [Passive Card, function unknown].

This round's prize list:

'Eighteen thousand US dollars!

Adventure Card, [Passive Card, will automatically vanish when an adventure occurs.]

Bullet-Proof Card, [Passive Card, function unknown]

Twenty lottery draws and only two new cards were obtained; the winning rate was a bit low this time.

The good news was that the cash prize was generous.

The cards and prize money moved to the warehouse interface on the left, totaling four Reserve Cards.

Adventure Cards, 2.

Detection Card, 1.

Bullet-Proof Card, 1.

The Bullet-Proof Card, as its name suggests, should be a protective type of card.

In a city like Los Angeles where guns are commonplace, such protective cards are precious, equivalent to an additional layer of insurance for Luke.

But 'Bullet-Proof' is different from 'Bulletproof', and the exact effect would only be known after use.