Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Luke surveyed the surroundings and, seeing nothing unusual, approached the door to knock, "Dong dong…"

No response.

"Dong dong"

Luke knocked on the door again, still getting no response.

"Lindsay, open the door. I know you live here."

After a while, some faint noises came from inside the house, "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I am David's partner. We met a couple of days ago. David sent me to drop something off."

"No, I don't need it. You can go."

"David is in the car watching. You should understand David's temper. If you don't open the door, he will come over and kick it down. Don't complicate things."

"Creak..."

The door opened, and Lindsay, with her head lowered, stepped aside, waving Luke in.

The house was messy, with stuff scattered all over. Some leftover takeout was on the table, a pair of men's boots under it, a big old TV sat against the wall – a model rarely seen in the country nowadays.

Lindsay picked up the boots and threw them into the bedroom, "Alright, what do you want?"

Luke didn't want to stay long and handed over the Naloxone, "This is from David. It won't help you quit drugs, but it can reduce the harm they cause."

Lindsay picked up the Naloxone. "I know this drug can bring addicts back from the brink… I used to give it to others. I never thought I'd see the day I'd need it myself."

Luke guessed, "You were a healthcare worker before?"

"No, police, narcotics officer. Didn't David tell you?"

Luke stayed silent for a while. "We rarely talk about personal stuff."

"That's good," Lindsay said, opening the door in a gesture to see him out. "Don't let him come again. Don't let me affect his future."

Seeing his disheveled former colleague, Luke didn't know what to say and walked straight out the door.

…

Luke got back in the car, and David seemed uneasy.

After a moment of silence, David asked, "How is she doing?"

Luke decided not to mention the boots. As an experienced criminal detective, David must have guessed already.

Bringing up that detail would only make everyone uncomfortable. "Was your wife a police officer?"

"Uh… That was a long time ago. At first, I thought she was cheating, always having excuses for not coming home at night, never realizing she got hooked on drugs until it was too late…," David sighed softly,

"Anyway… thanks."

"Ding-a-ling…" Luke's phone rang.

"Hi, beautiful."

From the phone came Daisy's voice, "Luke, I checked the surveillance at the law firm, and I didn't find any suspicious people entering my office.

But the power went out unexpectedly on Wednesday night, and some of the surveillance couldn't be used."

"Wednesday night?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"About forty minutes or so."

"Got it. Save the surveillance data and wait for my call."

Luke hung up the phone, and David asked, "That girl last night?"

"Yes, she's having some trouble."

"It looks like you two are getting along pretty well."

"It's not what you think. She's asking for my help."

"Come on, I've been there. Many relationships start with helping out. It means she's interested in you."

"David, do you remember the robber I caught?"

"Of course, that bastard's name was Tim. I was also involved in his interrogation."

According to Tim's confession, he was recently short of money and wanted to make some quick cash. He then saw the news about the "Taser gun robbery" and thought to imitate it and frame the other party. Any questions?"

"Daisy is a lawyer. She mentioned during dinner last night that someone had tampered with her law firm's office. I suggested she check the surveillance and found that there was a power outage on Wednesday night, and there was no monitoring for a period. Don't you think that's too coincidental?"

David asked, "Could it be that she's just too nervous? Many victims of robbery experience mental tension and become suspicious."

"Daisy's mental state is quite good."

Last night, Luke analyzed two scenarios, but both were based on the premise that Daisy's robbery had occurred afterward.

Now, the surveillance shows that the problem occurred on Wednesday night, making the previous reasoning invalid.

If it really were a coincidence, so be it.

But what if it wasn't a coincidence?

On Wednesday night, someone sneaked into Daisy's office, and on Thursday night, there was a robbery.

Assuming the suspect entered Daisy's office intending to steal but found nothing, he could have then carried out the robbery the following evening.

From this analysis, the robbery on Thursday night was likely not spontaneous but a premeditated crime with a specific target.

The suspect Tim lied and might be hiding a bigger conspiracy.

"I need to talk to Daisy."

"You go ahead, I want to be alone for a while."

"Okay, see you later." Luke went to get out of the car.

"Don't be silly, you won't get a taxi here. I'll drop you off at a better spot."

"You've become thoughtful."

"Heh, just like that someone still wants to replace me."

"If you could change your bad temper, not be so impulsive, and listen more to good advice, I might consider not changing partners."

David twisted his mouth, "Haha, you might as well replace me anyway."

...

At eleven-thirty in the morning, Flying Bar.

Luke and Daisy met here.

One reason was that both were familiar with it, and second, it was quieter at noon, making it suitable for a conversation.

The bartender looked surprised when he saw them walk in together, "Wow... that was quick... impressive!"

"Danny, a lamb chop set and a beef steak set."

The bartender gave an okay sign, and while Daisy wasn't looking, he gave Luke a thumbs up.

Luke smiled but ignored him.

The waiter first brought two glasses of water. Daisy took a sip to moisten her throat, "Luke, what should I do now?"

"I need to ask you a few questions to figure out if the surveillance blackout was accidental or deliberate, okay?"

"Alright."

"Has your law firm experienced power outages before?"

"Not that I know of."

"If the suspect committed the theft on Wednesday night, you should have noticed something by Thursday. Why didn't you find anything unusual until Sunday?"

"I had client meetings on Thursday morning and was in court in the afternoon, I had no time to organize files that day."

"Have you offended anyone recently?"

"No."

"Don't deny it hastily, think carefully whether any of your actions at work might have infringed on someone else's interests or caused them loss due to your actions."

"I'm a lawyer, my duty is to protect my client's interests. It's normal to have conflicts of interest, but these are all within legal actions. I can't think of anyone who would commit theft."

Luke said seriously, "The problem isn't just theft now. If the theft wasn't accidental, it might be related to the robbery on Thursday night. This could be more serious than we think."

"Are you saying I could still be in danger?"

Luke explained, "Assume the suspect went to your office on Wednesday night to steal something but didn't find it. Whatever it was, it was very important to him or them, hence the robbery on Thursday night, which again was unsuccessful.

Suspect Tim definitely can't come out now, but he might still have accomplices..."