LA Detective

Chapter 589 New Evidence

Police Department.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Luke convened everyone in the office to discuss the case.

Luke took a sip from a cup of tea and asked, "Deputy team, are there any clues in the investigation of deceased No. 3 Arian Osborne?"

“I contacted the sister of deceased No. 3.

After she learned that her brother had been killed, she acted a little coldly.

According to her, she had not seen this brother for many years.

I don't plan to come to Los Angeles to identify the body. "After the deputy team leader finished speaking, he sighed, "People nowadays are so indifferent and terrifying. "

Deceased No. 3 may just be an unlucky guy who was involved in the fire, and is not the focus of Luke's investigation.

Luke said, “We investigated the address book of deceased No. 2 Teddy Colin and found that he had frequent contact with a woman named Annika Carmen.

In the morning, Marcus and I visited Annika Carmen. During the conversation with her, we obviously felt that she was hiding something and might even have lied about some issues. "

Xiao Hei nodded, "Yes, I have a hunch that this Annika Carmen is probably the real culprit in the arson case."

Jackson smiled and said, "Unfortunately, premonitions cannot be used as evidence to solve the case. Captain, do you want to apply for a search warrant?"

Xiao Hei retorted, "Rookie, you can't just apply for a search warrant if you want."

Luke waved his hand and interrupted the two of them, "You are all right. What we lack most now is evidence. Even if we sense that there may be something wrong with Annika Carmen, we have no evidence to prove it.

Even without relevant evidence, it is difficult to apply for a search warrant for this reason. "

The deputy nodded, "I also think it's too early to apply for a search warrant now, but it's best to send someone to keep an eye on Annika Carmen to prevent her from absconding or destroying relevant evidence."

Luke ordered, "Raymon, Jenny, you two are responsible for keeping an eye on Annika Carmen. If you are short of manpower, you can ask the nearby patrol police to assist."

"Okay, Captain."

Luke continued, “We can’t wait for Annika Carmen to make mistakes, we must proactively search for clues and evidence.

There were three victims in the arson case. Among them, deceased No. 3 was probably involved in the fire and was not the real target of the murderer.

Deceased No. 1, Hedda Cartman, and Deceased No. 2, Teddy Colin, were both killed first and then their bodies were burned by the fire.

The murderer probably wanted to destroy the body and eliminate traces of it.

However, the situations of deceased No. 1 Hedda Cartman and deceased No. 2 Teddy Colin are also different.

Deceased No. 1 was killed four or five days before the fire, and Deceased No. 2 was killed shortly before the fire. According to common sense, these two bodies should not appear at the fire scene at the same time. "

Xiao Hei touched his chin and said thoughtfully, "That's right. Deceased No. 1 has been dead for four or five days, and the body has begun to rot and stink. If the body had been in Mogaro Forest Park, it would have been impossible for it not to be discovered.

In other words, the first scene where No. 1 was killed may not be in Mogaro Forest Park.

But before the fire, someone brought the bodies and burned them. "

"What Marcus said makes sense, there is such a possibility." Luke responded and changed the subject, "At the same time, there is another possibility.

The place where No. 1 was killed was Mogaro Forest Park, and his body was buried underground after the murder.

The murderer dug up the bodies and burned them before setting the fire. "

The deputy laughed and said, "If I were the murderer, I would choose the second method. At least I don't have to carry a smelly corpse back and forth."

Luke continued, “If my theory is correct, there should be a burial site at the fire scene.

I am going to check the Mogaro Forest Park scene again to see if I can find the burial place. Perhaps, the murderer will leave some evidence. "

The deputy team member said, "Then I will go to the technical team and keep an eye on it to see if they have any new discoveries."

"OK, then everyone will split up."

……

Near Mogaro Forest Park.

In a black SUV car.

Jackson sat in the cab and drove, while Luke sat in the passenger seat.

While driving, Jackson said, "Captain, I have been thinking about a question. There were three victims in the arson case. Among them, deceased No. 3 was probably burned to death by the fire, while deceased No. 1 and deceased No. 2 were both killed and burned. .

Because Deceased No. 1 and Deceased No. 2 were killed in the same way, they were considered to have been committed by the same murderer.

But in fact, the two deceased people died several days apart, and no direct connection between the two deceased people was found.

I kept wondering if these were two separate homicides linked by a fire. "This idea is quite interesting."

Judging from the available evidence, deceased No. 1 and deceased No. 2 are indeed not directly related. "Luke touched his chin and thought carefully, "Suppose, your guess is correct, the murderer of deceased No. 1 and the murderer of No. 2 are not the same person.

Which murderer do you think is more likely to set the fire? "

Seeing that his speculation was confirmed, Jackson smiled, "I think it is more likely that the murderer of No. 1 set the fire.

Because the deceased No. 1 was killed four or five days before the fire, and the husband of the deceased No. 1 also called the police. If her body had been exposed to the outside, it would have rotted and smelled, and it would have been impossible not to be discovered.

Therefore, her body should have been exhumed or moved to the fire scene before the fire, and then the murderer set it on fire and burned the body.

It just so happened that not long after deceased No. 2 was killed, his body was burned in the fire. "

Luke said, "Your speculation is theoretically valid, but there is one thing. It has been four or five days since the death of deceased No. 1. Her body has not been found in these days, which means it has been dealt with once.

Why set fire to the corpses with great fanfare? "

Jackson explained, “The arson site is located in a valley, surrounded by high mountains and dense forests. Even if a fire is lit at night, it will be difficult to detect it from a distance.

Therefore, I think the murderer’s original intention was just to burn the body and completely destroy the evidence, and did not intend to cause a fire.

But it is obvious that the murderer underestimated the danger of setting fires in the mountains and forests. The so-called arson is most likely caused by accidental fire. Once the flames burn, it is difficult to extinguish them. "

Luke nodded, "Your speculation has some validity, but it also lacks evidence. If you want to prove your speculation, go find evidence."

"Yes sir."

There are many possibilities for a case. Jackson's speculation has no solid evidence, but it still has certain reference value in some aspects. As for his conjecture that there may be two murderers, Luke does not want to see it, because that will increase the number of cases. difficulty of investigation.

The police car drove to the vicinity of Mogaro Forest Park. After pulling over, Luke got out of the passenger seat.

Mogaro Forest Park was still bare and pitch black at first glance, and Luke felt that the surrounding housing prices would drop a lot.

Originally, Mogaro Forest Park's tall trees and dense forests and beautiful scenery were a selling point of the surrounding communities. Now that Mogaro Forest Park has caught fire, not only has the selling point been lost, but there are also certain dangers. Customers will definitely re-evaluate before buying a house.

Luke led the team into Mogaro Forest Park to re-examine the location where the three bodies were found.
Among them, Luke paid the most attention to the cremation site of deceased No. 1, because according to his speculation, deceased No. 1 Hedda Cartman was probably buried underground after she was killed, and there may still be some evidence left there. .

Luke found the marked spot on the body of deceased No. 1. The surrounding body had been burned to ashes, and he did not find many valuable clues.

Then, Luke focused on the dead body No. 1 and searched around to see if there were depressions or corpse pits.

Luke searched for 10 minutes and found no obvious burial place.

This shows that there are two situations. The first situation is what Xiao Hei speculated. The body of deceased No. 1 Hedda Cartman was transported from other places.

The second possibility is that after the body was exhumed from the ground, the murderer buried it in the pit and then set it on fire.

Luke himself prefers the second scenario, because it is not easy to move a rotting corpse. According to his inference, the corpse pit should not be far from the place where the corpse was burned.

Focusing on the place where the body was burned, Luke began to turn over the soil and judge the difference based on the color and hardness of the soil.

After searching for about 10 minutes, Luke found a piece of soil that had recent signs of being turned over more than ten meters away from the place where the body was burned.

Luke called two technical team members and asked them to continue digging.

The soil in this area is very soft, so the excavation speed is relatively fast, and after the soft soil layer is excavated, it looks like a coffin, which can just fit a corpse.

During the excavation, Luke had already smelled a putrid smell, so he put on a mask and became more confident in his guess.

"Captain Li, I found some items." A black technical team member shouted.

Luke walked closer to check, and the technical team dug out a soft object with a shovel, which looked like a piece of rotten flesh.

"Keep digging."

Soon, the two technical team members dug out more items, including bloody rags, a rotten finger, and some scattered hair.

Knowing that new evidence had been found here, other police officers gathered around Luke.

Xiao Hei squatted not far away, covering his nose and checking the evidence, "Captain, you really guessed it right, this big pit is probably the burial place of deceased No. 1 Hedda Cartman.

Judging from the half-severed finger and minced flesh, Hedda Cartman must have been tortured before her death.

The murderer was probably a cruel pervert. Xiao Hei frowned slightly, "However, these hairs are a bit strange, I think they can be used as an entry point for investigation." "

Jackson also came over to check, "It must be strange to put on a human body, because it is animal hair."

Xiao Hei glanced at him, "You seem to understand?"

"I think it looks like dog hair." Jackson observed carefully and added, "We have two dogs at home. They are like part of the family. I often play with them and help them groom."

(End of this chapter)