Bloody Seven of Spades 1: Life and Death

"Want to come out for a walk?" Dominic asked Fan Gumei.The dog pricked up its ears and wagged its tail excitedly.He rubbed her head and hooked the leash out of the glove box.

After watching Levi go to the scene of another "Seven of Spades" crime, Dominic once again gave up his plan to ignore this case—this time, he wanted to find out.Even if it is crazy, even if it is reckless, but if this matter is not resolved, he will never be at ease.

He has plenty of ways to get involved, and the Vegas Police Department doesn't have the resources and manpower to hunt down targets like him.Take, for example, investigating the identity stolen by a killer to set up a private mailbox account.The police can check to see if that identity has been used elsewhere recently, but they can't go as far as Dominic.

Why do you have to use this identity?It's just that it's very unlikely to be chosen at random.The murderer must have obtained Lester Harrell's identity through some channel, either through a personal relationship or through a black market.So, why do we have to use this mailbox service station?The lack of surveillance cameras inside the service station must be a major factor, but there are more than a dozen letterbox service stations with this situation in the Las Vegas Valley.Why did the murderer choose this one?

That's what Dominic decided to figure out this morning.He took the anti-bone girl and patrolled the community for two hours to familiarize himself with the local situation; he occasionally stopped the car and used the personal hotspot built into the pickup to dig Harrell's past online.

Harrell has been dead for 11 years, and he had little presence on the Internet during his lifetime.Still, Dominique found his online obituary, followed by his next of kin and a California company he had worked for as an adult.

After researching the families, he found two interesting gossips—Harrell had a brother with a criminal record, and a daughter named Charlotte who was deeply in credit card debt.Since Charlotte is well connected on social networks, it was easier to start with her, and Dominic started there.After three or 10 minutes of searching, he created a Facebook account, pretending to be an acquaintance with an animal rights group she had attended in college, hoping to gain access to more intimate content, while also posing as Her credit card bills and phone records were trawled through.

She wasn't a bond escapee, and not everything he did was legal—but Levi didn't have to know that.

While waiting for Charlotte to respond to his friend request, Dominic decides to walk around and just find something to eat.He parked his pickup truck in a bustling commercial plaza, got out of the car with the rebellious girl, and walked down the sidewalk.

It's a great place - clean, well-equipped, thriving business.Various professional firms are also very fond of this place.The facade facing the street looks like a small residential building with a unique style, and the law firms, clinics and accounting firms in it have put up their signboards one after another.Perhaps the "Seven of Spades" came here for an errand, and then selected the mailbox station here.Maybe this person works here.

The phone vibrated, and a reminder came: Charlotte approved his friend request.He planned to chat with her about her father while the other party was online, and maybe talk about her prodigal uncle to find out.It's just that it's not easy to do these things while walking, so he opened her photo album and browsed through the thousands of photos.Any detail might come in handy.

He walks down the sidewalk, with Reverse Girl trotting at his feet, checking out new surroundings and new smells.They passed a small Pomeranian who barked at them.The rebellious girl raised her head curiously, but Dominic didn't stop, so she continued to keep up.

"Good girl," he said.

She snorted and turned her head.

Not long after, they stopped at an intersection, ready to cross the road and then turn back.Dominic randomly clicked on the photos of Charlotte attending a relative's wedding a few years ago, feeling a little impatient.So many photos, all of which are piles of strangers with faces of passers-by——

He freezes, his thumb hovering over the screen.The traffic light at the intersection changed to show traffic, but he didn't move.Passers-by who walked past him muttered unhappily.

"Sorry, sorry." He muttered casually, instead of crossing the road, he walked to the nearest building and leaned his back against the wall to let pedestrians pass.Fan Gumei sat down beside him, snuggling against his leg.

The man who keeps Dominique from looking away is not the focal point of the photo; in fact, the main characters in the front of the photo are all smiling, and he is accidentally framed in the right third of the way as he is about to walk away.It was this figure from the back that attracted Dominique's attention—because the man looked so much like the man who bought the "Seven of Spades" gift basket, including the hairstyle.

Must be a coincidence, right?The backs of many men look like this.

Dominique flipped through the photos in the back, and the same man appeared from time to time, always blurry and out of focus.At the end of the album, he finally found a picture of the man facing the camera—with his arm around a smiling woman.

Dominic gripped the phone tightly.He knew the man, and they had talked several times over the past few years.Dominique would recognize him even if he had never met face to face.Anyone who had anything to do with law enforcement in Las Vegas knew about Keith Chapman.

***

"It must be someone else who has something to do with the Ross case, right?" Martin asked, as she and Levi sat at their respective desks and wolfed down their lunch.They race against time to investigate the case, and only the murderer knows where the end point is. "I mean, since 'Seven of Spades' thinks we might be able to guess before he strikes."

"I think so too—unless this guy is just playing us, which isn't out of the question." Levi pokes up a glob of Greek salad with his fork. "But who would it be? Anyone else connected to that case has done nothing wrong."

"Didn't we also think that Kane was clean before?" Martin chewed the food in his mouth and swallowed it, his face full of thoughts. "Where's Rose's defense attorney? He most likely knew about the bribery."

"It's possible." Levi was still very responsive.In fact, the whole thing just didn't feel right to him.

If the wicked condition proposed by "Seven of Spades" is sincere - Levy has always been skeptical about this - then this person must believe that the police have enough information to guess the next one based on logic with a high probability Who is the target.Even so, they are not fooling around yet.

"You have something on your mind," said Martin.

"It's just... I think we're missing something. 'Seven of Spades' showed us his reasons for attacking Kane, and then invited us to guess the next target-but how should we start, without evidence Casually assuming that someone is involved in bribery? It doesn't make sense. There must be more than that."

Levi pushed Sarah aside, leaned back in the chair, and rubbed his temples.He ran through his mind's eye the things the victims did that offended Seven of Spades.

Billy Campbell beat his wife for years.Philip Dreyer defrauded investors of their money and illegally misappropriated company funds.Matthew Goodwin raped a woman.Benjamin Ross drove while knowingly intoxicated, resulting in the death of an innocent man.Loretta Kane betrayed professional ethics and public trust, accepted Ross's bribe to help him exonerate --

"God, it's not about breaking the law," Levy said, leaping up. "It's about breaking trust. How could Seven of Spades care about the law? This guy doesn't kill people who he thinks they deserve. Just break the law and break the law.”

"Perhaps the killer thought he was above the law," Martin said, but Levi could tell she was paying attention to what he said.

"The victims of 'Seven of Spades' caused harm to others that could be attributed to some form of breach of unspoken trust. Their actions also happened to break the law, so we assume that was the killer's. Motivation. But when you think about it, 'Seven of Spades' never said those exact words."

Martin fiddled with the drinking straw while listening, with a slit between his brows, looking worried.

After the details were matched, Levi couldn't help but speak faster: "We have no evidence to believe that other people involved in that case have committed illegal acts, but there is one person whose behavior is really immoral. Dr. Latherway."

"The psychiatrist? You think she's being targeted?"

"Her bullshit diagnosis may not be illegal, but it's damning; it gave Kane a legitimate reason to make that ridiculous plea deal against Rose. Latherwell used her Authority and credibility interfere with the jury's judgment and prevent justice from being done. I don't think the 'Seven of Spades' will get used to it, whether it's legal or not."

"I can understand your logic," said Martin, "I have no objection. But if we don't protect that defense attorney and you're wrong..."

"I know." Levi tapped his fingers on the edge of the table. "We still have to warn him. In fact, we have to warn everyone involved in this case, no matter how low their chances of being targeted — the judge, the jury members, even the officers who made the arrests."

She sighed: "Our manpower is not enough to protect so many people. If the news spreads, it will cause panic again."

Levi's phone rang, and Dominique's name flashed on the screen.

Why is Dominic calling him now?They've only been apart for five hours, and it's not like Dominique doesn't know he's working.

He answered the phone. "If that's what you call taking your time—"

"I think Keith Chapman might be 'Seven of Spades,'" Dominique said.

"That's impossible." Levi said without thinking.

There was a moment of silence on the phone. "How?"

"Because..." Levi paused, wondering if his reaction would be too direct. "Because of the few things we know about 'Seven of Spades', one thing is that he's calm and in control. The last two times I've seen Keith, he's been a total mess, Completely broken. He could not have been able to carry out such careful planning, nor would he be able to execute those criminals."

"How do you know it's not acting?" Dominique asked.

"I..." Levi blinked.He really doesn't know.His police instincts wouldn't allow him to dismiss the possibility, but Keith had been clearly in emotional and physical distress for a few days.If it was acting, it was the best acting Levy had ever seen in his life.

"Look," said Dominic, seeing that he was silent, "I dug up some stuff—"

"forgive me."

"—Tina, Chapman's wife, is actually the sister-in-law of Lester Harrell's daughter's cousin. Do you think it's a coincidence?"

"What?!" Levy was completely confused.Martin, at the other side of the table, was also listening intently; she could hear only his side of the speech, but it was enough to get a sense of the situation.

Dominique said a little impatiently: "He is related to the person whose identity was stolen to register the mailbox. And from the back, he looks very similar to the man in the gift shop video."

"It can't be him."

"How is that impossible?" Martin interrupted. "The reasons for Keith's dismissal are essentially the same as what 'Seven of Spades' did, but less serious? Maybe he decided to escalate his actions to murder."

"Is that Martin?" Dominique asked. "She agrees with me, doesn't she?"

"Wait a minute." Levi turned to Martin and said, "You haven't had much dealings with Keith recently, unlike me. He's completely out of line, and I don't think he can handle this. I guess we'll have to consult his psychiatrist—fuck, what's his name—Dr. Chen."

"Did you just say Dr. Chen?" Dominique said.

"Correct."

"What a coincidence. I just passed the great doctor's office, just two streets away, and my present position is less than three miles from the letter box."

Levi had nothing to say about that.He conveyed the information mentioned by Dominic to Martin, and the other party immediately went to touch his landline.

"At least we now have enough leads to apply for a search warrant," she said.

"He doesn't live in his house." Levi recalled the day Keith was fired. "His wife kicked him out of the house. I don't know where he lives."

"I know," Dominic said.

***

Under Dominic's guidance, they came to a "Great Western" hotel chain on Paradise Road.Levy didn't ask how Dominic found out about Keith's whereabouts; he wasn't sure if it was entirely legal, so he hoped to be able to plead ignorance if necessary.

Keith was not there, so the hotel manager took them into his room.It was such a mess in there - he hadn't had a maid come in and clean it for days.There are piles of dirty clothes on the ground.Take-out containers and empty beer cans litter tables, dressers and even beds.In the bathroom, the toiletries were scattered on the sink, and the wet towels were everywhere.

"It smells like the men's locker room." Martin said as he put on his gloves.

"Are you familiar with the smell of the men's locker room?" Levi asked, but she was right.

Martin just smirked.

With the assistance of several patrolmen, they searched Keith's guest room from head to toe, looking for any evidence that could link him to the crime of "Seven of Spades".Levi rummaged through every drawer of the dresser, not missing any detail, on the sides and at the ends.Then he moved the entire cabinet away from the wall and inspected the back.

Martin came out of the bathroom. "There was nothing in the toilet tank and the vent was empty."

Levi opened the top drawer again and ran his fingers around the bottom.No.He started touching the second layer again, and this time, his fingertips met a small bump at the bottom.

He pulled out the drawer in its entirety and turned it upside down on the dresser.There is a small key taped on the bottom.There was no clue on the key to indicate where it was used to open, but with a sense of foreboding, Levi already knew the answer-it was so small that it couldn't be used to open the door.

It's the key to that mailbox.

"Damn," Martin came to the same conclusion, "it's really Keith."

Levy shook his head, very reluctantly.Years of police experience had taught him to trust his intuition, and at this moment all instincts were telling him that this conclusion was wrong.

But if there was nothing to hide, no one would tape the keys to the bottom of the drawer, and the evidence against Keith would pile up.How could Levi's intuition overrule it?

"We can focus the police on Keith first," Martin said, "but if he's not the Seven of Spades, the real killer will come after us while our energies go off the rails. Or we can focus on protecting potential victims." , Take down the murderer while he is moving—but if our prediction is wrong, those who are not protected will die. What do you think we should do?"

"We can do both," Levy said.