The world of American TV series: Starting with the L.A. Patrol.

Chapter 1152 The Murdered Woman

Richmond is the capital of Virginia. If you drive, you need to cross Maryland and Washington, DC, which is at least five or six hours' drive.

But for the Bombardier business jet, it only took a moment to take off and land. In less than two hours, the wanted criminal team arrived at the crime scene.

The local state police had already set up a cordon outside the house, and many neighbors were standing outside watching the fun. Jack took a quick glance and judged from the skin color and clothing that this was at least a middle-class community.

When the FBI got off the car, the local medical examiner and his assistant were carrying a body out on a stretcher. Jie Jie walked up to the sheriff in charge of the scene, greeted him, and introduced herself.

Jack and Clay stopped the medical examiner and asked about the cause of death and related details. Jubal took Hannah and Aubrey straight into the house.

Twenty minutes later, everyone met again in the living room where the body was found and exchanged the information they had just collected.

Jiejie spoke first, "The deceased's name is Valerie Barnes, she is a doctor, 42 years old, and her husband is Navy Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Barnes."

"Was it the husband who found the body?"

Jubal asked, when a woman is murdered at home, the first suspect is always the husband, followed by the lover.

Jiejie shook her head with a hint of sympathy on her face. "No, it was Rachel Barnes, the victim's ten-year-old daughter. She stayed over at a friend's house last night and found it when she returned home today. A neighbor called the police."

She pointed to the backyard of the house and said, "The poor girl is right there in the back now."

Jubal looked at Jack, "Cause of death?"

"He was shot in the back, one fatal shot, and the time of death should be between 12 and 2 this morning.

Clay judged from the shape of the bullet hole that it should be a small-caliber bullet such as .38, but the specific results still need to wait for the forensic doctor to remove the bullet remaining in the body of the deceased.

After I bribed him with two servings of lemon Sherbet pudding, the kind old man said he would deal with the body as soon as possible.

As Jack narrated, he observed the scene. The body fell under the porch between the dining room and the living room, and there was a large pool of half-coagulated blood on the ground.

The area around where the body fell was very clean, with only two small bloody handprints and traces of a knee moving around the pool of blood. These should have been left by the daughter of the family who found the body.

"What's wrong?" Clay knew he had discovered something suspicious.

"Notify our forensic team to come over and reconstruct the scene. The way the victim was shot is a little strange. The trajectory of the bullet doesn't seem to be straight, but slightly tilted from bottom to top."

Jack made a hip-shot motion, similar to the cowboy showdown in the movies.

"When I examined the body just now, I thought that the deceased might have been standing on a step of the stairs that was higher than the level of the murderer, but it is obvious..."

He pointed around and said, "The height difference between the dining room and the kitchen is not enough to cause this."

"Does this mean that the murderer is a guy who is quite confident in his shooting skills?" Clay understood, just like he and Jack.

Hannah was holding a camera in her hand and whispering with Aubrey. When she saw Jubal looking at her, she realized that it was their turn.

“No murder weapon was found, no signs of violent entry, and when local police arrived at the scene after receiving a tip from the 911 alarm center, they found the back door of the house open.

There was no sign of the room being rummaged through, so it didn’t look like a theft that escalated into murder.”

"OK, Clay, contact the Navy and find the victim's husband, Ryan Barnes, as soon as possible."

Jubal scratched his head with a pencil in annoyance. "Ask the little girl if she knows anything. Jack and I will go talk to the neighbor who reported the case. Hannah and Aubrey will go and ask other neighbors about the situation."

-

"When was the last time you spoke to Mrs. Barnes?" As Jubal asked, Jack's eyes kept moving between the man in front of him and the little boy behind him.

The neighbor who reported the case was a middle-aged white man, tall and thin, handsome, and looked a little uneasy. Judging from the tattoos on his arms and neck, he must have been a navy man before.

"It should have been last night, around six o'clock, when she dropped Rachel off at my house."

As if he saw Jubal's confusion, he went on to explain, "She often has to work overtime until late, so I volunteered to help her take care of the children."

"So you are friends?" Jack carefully observed the other person's expression and found that his nervousness and anxiety were mostly due to his worry about his son behind him, so he added another question, "Single-parent family?"

"Oh, yes, my wife passed away two years ago, and then I retired and went home." The neighbor was a little surprised at Jack's insight.

"I've known Valerie for three years, and our children are in the same grade." He then looked back at his son.

The little boy looked a little scared, with tear marks on his chubby face, and he was obviously frightened.

"I'm sorry to have taken you so long. One last question." Jubal smiled and motioned to his neighbor to relax.

More than three hours had passed since the case was reported, and the father and son had been followed by police officers, which was obviously the main reason why they were so uneasy.

"Can you tell me about Lieutenant Colonel Barnes?"

The neighbor showed an embarrassed expression, "To be honest, I'm not that familiar with him. I was just an ordinary petty officer in the navy.

He seldom comes home, either in training or out on missions. I can roughly guess some of the situation, but as you know, that is confidential information and I never ask about it.

The last time I saw the lieutenant colonel was several days ago."

After saying that, he turned around and hugged his son, "Can I take my son home now?"

Jubal smiled back, "Of course, thank you for your help, Mr. Curtis."

Unexpectedly, the neighbor did not leave immediately, but looked behind the house with concern, "So, what will Rachel do?"

Jubal and Jack looked at each other, neither of them knowing how to answer this question.

After the on-site investigation and questioning came to an end, Jack and Jubal found Jiejie accompanying the little girl in the backyard.

The two of them sat under a small hut built with wooden pallets and colorful plastic sheets. The girl hid in the corner without crying or making a fuss. She kept a distance from Jiejie with a strong look of vigilance on her face.

Jack was a little surprised. This scene was quite rare. Jiejie's affinity was universal among men, women, young and old. The psychological skills she learned from BAU had brought her communication skills to the maximum level.

Seeing the two people coming, Jiejie could only stand up helplessly, walked forward and whispered, "She just wants to see her father right away."