Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

"Knock, knock..."

There was a knocking at the door.

Susan looked toward the entrance, "Come in."

"Creak..." The door opened.

Mary Su from the Scene Investigation Team walked in, "Captain Susan, the crime scene report for last night's illegal entry case is out."

"Thank you for your hard work." Susan took the report, glanced at it, and handed it back, "Hmm, there are quite a few technical terms, let's 'translate' them."

"OK, I'll just go over the key points."

Mary sat down at the conference table and started reading from the report, "First, the study's camera transmitted signals via a wireless device, but we never detected a receiving device. It's quite possible that the culprit noticed and left in advance.

Second, we have collected biological traces from the room, including but not limited to fingerprints, hair, DNA, footprints. However, no biological traces of any suspects were found.

Third, the window on the east side of the house shows signs of being pried open, and the window latch is newly replaced. It's very likely that the suspect entered through the window and then replaced the latch to avoid being noticed by the homeowner.

Unfortunately, no valuable clues were found at the crime scene."

Susan said, "No, not finding something is a discovery in itself. This indicates that the culprit is a pro.

Thank you for your efforts, Mary."

"It's my duty, my work here is done, the rest is up to you." Mary stood and left the conference room.

Marcus felt somewhat dissatisfied, "We went through all that trouble last night, and now we're back to a dead end."

"Don't be so pessimistic." Luke suggested a different approach, "I think we should re-interrogate Tim. If our speculation is correct, he too was involved in the will case.

As long as he's willing to become a tainted witness, we can unravel the mystery of the case. That's the most direct method."

The deputy head gestured with his coffee cup, "Good idea, I'll go with you."

Susan ordered, "OK, the deputy head and Luke are responsible for the re-interrogation of Tim.

Matthew, investigate the family situation of the will's creator Lorne.

The rest of the team, sort out the files and reports for the Taser-armed robbery case."

"Yes, captain."

...

Robbery and Murder Department's interrogation room.

Half an hour later.

Tim was escorted into the interrogation room, dressed in an orange prison suit, with chains on his hands and feet, looking much thinner than when he was first brought in.

Luke and the deputy head were sitting on the other side of the interrogation table, whispering something to each other.

After a while, the deputy head looked up, "Hey, Tim, do you remember us?"

Tim raised his head and looked at the two impassively, "Even if I turned to ash, I would remember. The old guy with white hair, my grandma is younger than you.

And the rookie who caught me."

Luke laughed, "Are you talking about me?"

Tim taunted, "Yeah, only rookies catch people by the book."

It had to be said, the guy had a sharp eye, indeed it was Luke's first time making an arrest since his arrival, "I wonder, Mr. Tim, what it feels like to be caught by a rookie?"

Tim's indifferent face showed anger, "Fuck!"

Luke warned, "Hey, this isn't your home, watch your mouth, don't make things difficult for yourself."

Tim closed his eyes and let out a long breath, "I've said what I had to say, admitted what I had to admit, what more do you want from me? To mock me?"

"To offer you a chance at a reduced sentence."

"You would be that kind? I don't believe it."

The deputy head waved his hand dismissively, "Listen, like you just said, I'm old, time is precious. I have no interest in bickering with you.

Let's talk calmly, it's in your best interest as well as ours."

Tim leaned forward slightly, "OK, I'm also curious to hear what you have to say."

"Do you want a reduced sentence?"

"If I say no, would you believe me?"

The deputy head asked, "If you want it, why did you lie about the robbery case?"

"I've admitted to the robbery, I don't understand what you mean by lying."

"Do you have any accomplices?"

"That rookie was at the scene. If I had other accomplices, how could he have caught me?"

"I'm not just referring to the robbery that night."

"Wow... you guys want to pin a new charge on me, and this is what you call a reduced sentence, I'm not an idiot."

"Since we've come to you, it means we have new leads, cooperating with the police is your only chance at reduction of the sentence. You don't really want to spend several years, or even a decade, in prison, do you?"

Tim was silent for a moment, "I don't want to talk to you, I want to talk to that rookie."

"Are you discriminating against the elderly?"

"I don't trust you."

The deputy pointed at Luke, "You trust him?"

"No, but he can't fool me."

The deputy joked, "Luke, you've been disparaged."

Luke smiled, this kind of minor psychological gaming didn't really affect him, "OK, I'll talk to you.

Why did you rob Daisy?"

Tim hesitated slightly, "Who is Daisy? I'm hearing this name for the first time."

"Don't you think that's too deliberate? I've already asked so pointedly and you still explicitly claim you don't recognize Daisy."

"Maybe it's because I've been locked up too long, my brain's not working well."

"On March 2nd, why did you sneak into Daisy's office?"

"I don't know what you are talking about? I only rob, I'm not a thief."

"Who instructed you to rob Daisy? What did you want to get from her?"

"Nobody instructed me; I just saw the Taser gun robbery on the news and wanted to imitate it to evade police investigation, but bad luck, I just happened to run into you."

"Why did you choose her as the target?"

"She looks pretty and dresses like a rich person; I had no reason not to choose her."

"You'd rather go to a maximum-security prison than give in?"

"I don't understand what you're saying."

"As long as you cooperate with the police and confess who's behind the curtain, we can shift you to a tainted witness, and your sentence could be reduced or even exempted."

"Wow, I'm tempted. But... I have no mastermind behind the scenes, can't produce one out of thin air."

"Is it worth it?"

"I'm telling the truth."

Luke turned to look at the deputy, spread his hands.

The deputy continued, "Tim, don't be impulsive, think about your family. Even if you're tough and can bear it, your family doesn't want to see you in jail."

Tim shook his head, "I don't have a family anymore."

"Think about your girlfriend."

"She has other boyfriends, she won't miss one less."

The deputy sighed, "Oh, your life is really tragic, that's why you want to go to jail, to find happiness there.

If you're lucky, you might even find a boyfriend."

Tim smiled, "If someone takes the initiative, I wouldn't mind giving it a try."

"Remember to write a letter when you get married, I'll send you lubricant." The deputy dropped the words and got up to leave.

"Best wishes on your wedding!" Luke laughed and also left the interrogation room.

"Deputy, what's your take?"

"Judging by Tim's attitude, he seems to be hiding something."

"You're experienced, do you have a way to pry his mouth open?"

"Kid, don't think about buttering me up, I'm not the captain."

"I'm speaking the truth."

The deputy stroked his chin, "We've laid out the cards so clearly, even offered an olive branch, but Tim is still not biting.

Either he has concerns, threatened by his accomplices,

or he has bigger cases to worry about, scared that his accomplices would rat him out if caught,

or he's close to his accomplices and doesn't want to drag them down.

His attitude is very firm; it will be tough to get him to talk before we figure out the reason."

Luke gave a thumbs-up, "There's a Chinese saying, 'Ginger gets spicier as it gets older.'"

The deputy looked confused, "I prefer onions."