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 , 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 xico by now."
"How did you scare him off?"
Dave repeated what he'd told Alyssa.
Luke asked, "Aren't you afraid he'll co back?"
"I am, so I made a few arrangents to turn him into a wanted man. As long as he's wanted by the police, he won't dare co back.
If he doesn't co 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 sothing big.
He ca to many tis, wanting to go into business with —plainly put, he wanted 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 a key, and I turned the space into a murder scene," Dave said.
Luke tentatively asked, "What exactly did you do?"
"I got so blood and sprayed it around the walls and the floor, then tried to clean it up with disinfectant, which almost suffocated .
I hid the Taser and Alyssa's belongings in the smoke exhaust pipe of the shop, so naturally the police would beco suspicious of Steven."
Dave's account matched the cri scene, so Luke continued his inquiry, "Who did you kill?"
"I didn't kill anyone. I did so 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 Bini Street."
Marcus was sowhat 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 soone 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 Arica, 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 statent."
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 an?" Dave appeared confused.
Luke studied the man for a while, uncertain whether Dave's expression was genuine or fake.
He asked about so more details of the case, and Dave admitted to two robberies and one kidnapping, but claid 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 ca 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 sothing. 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 xican restaurant.
At three in the afternoon, a eting to summarize the case was called in the conference room.
Deputy Director Reid also attended the eting.
After comparing the victims' statents, 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 ti I'm drinking with you, what an honor."
Susan looked around, "I indeed don't often co to places like this."
Marcus suggested, "You should co 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 co 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 imdiately reply, instead scanning the room. "Anyone else want a break?"
"Oh, I do have so 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 announcent but sowhat dissatisfied with the rest. "Why does he get one more day off than ?"
"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 soone who believes in clear rewards and punishnts. 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 ti. Do you think he was faking it?"
"I've been in the observation room the whole ti; he didn't seem to be pretending. Don't underestimate him. Investigating cases is our ho court, but what cos 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 so details. "Since Dave is such a calm person, why would he do sothing 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 soone 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 co to the bar more often."
"Haha..."
Everyone laughed.
...
That evening, Luke got ho 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 ti, Luke earned ten lottery draws.
The Taser Gun Robbery case was more complex, and he earned twenty lottery draws this ti.
Although Luke was unclear on the specific assessnt thod 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 ti.
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 na 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.
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