Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Black shook his right index finger, "No no no, it's not just luck. Thomas Colley is very cunning. He placed a dead dog on the corpse. An ordinary person might have missed it.

I found the problem, had the dog's body removed, continued digging, and that's how I found Walda Becker's body..."

The deputy interrupted him, "Alright, kid, save the boasting for the bar.

I just want to know if any evidence of the murderer was found around the body."

"Of course." Black flipped through the files, "According to the forensic doctor's examination, Walda Becker's time of death was around 1 a.m. last night, and the fatal wound was a strangulation mark on the neck.

To be exact, he was strangled to death with a belt. The dead man's DNA was detected in the center of the belt, while Thomas Colley's DNA was found on the sides of the belt." Black made a choking gesture, "It's certain he's the murderer."

The deputy nodded in approval, "Well done, kid, you've contributed."

Black revealed a smug expression, "I have a feeling I'll soon be the deputy like Marcus, haha."

Deputy "..."

...

Interrogation room. For more chapters visıt NoveI-Fire.ɴet

Luke and Black were in charge of the interrogation. While they were sorting through the case files, Thomas Colley was brought into the interrogation room.

Black greeted him with a familiar smile, "Hey, buddy, how'd you sleep last night?"

Thomas Colley curled his lip, "The bed was hard, and there was a sour stench, but overall, I slept quite soundly."

Black continued, "If you have a clear conscience, you naturally sleep soundly. If you had realized this earlier, we wouldn't have needed to spend so much effort investigating the case."

Thomas Colley scoffed, "When you're watching TV, do you jot down lines in a little notebook?

Those lines are so clichéd."

Luke wasn't interested in their unimpressive chat and interrupted, "We found Walda Becker's body."

Thomas Colley's expression immediately froze, he seemed a bit lost.

Black added, "To be precise, I found it."

Thomas Colley was silent for a moment, slowly raising his head and frowning, "How did he die? When did he die?"

Black pointed at Thomas Colley, "That's for you to answer, murderer!"

"No, I didn't even know he was dead, let alone kill him," Thomas Colley said indignantly, eyes wide in anger. "Come on, I've had enough of your baseless accusations."

Black, as if watching a play, laughed, "Your acting is quite good, haha.

But it's useless, we've already found Walda Becker's body. Oh, and there's also the poor little teddy."

Thomas Colley sighed, sitting a bit dejectedly in his chair. Earlier, he held onto a glimmer of hope, thinking the police were bluffing him. Now he realized the police had indeed found Walda Becker's body.

After being silent for a long time, he took a deep breath, "Even if you found Walda Becker's body, it has nothing to do with me. I didn't kill anyone."

Luke took out a photo, showing a brown belt, "Does it look familiar?"

Thomas Colley glanced at the photo, then looked away.

Luke continued, "According to the forensic doctor's identification, this belt is indeed the murder weapon of Walda Becker, he was strangled to death.

And your DNA was found on both sides of the belt, enough to prove you strangled Walda Becker.

There's no use trying to deny it anymore."

Thomas Colley snorted through his nose, glaring at Luke, "I shouldn't have been in the yard back then. If I hadn't been there, maybe you guys wouldn't have been able to trace it back to me.

I still can't figure out how you sensed I had issues?"

Luke didn't answer, instead he asked, "You kidnapped minors, are suspected of arson at the Kerman Pharmaceutical Company building, and now killed Walda Becker.

And, Rochelle Horn, you killed him too, right?

Why did you do all this?"

Thomas Colley sighed deeply, "This is a long story, can you give me a cigarette?"

Luke nodded, signaling Black to hand him a cigarette.

"Thanks." Thomas Colley took the lit cigarette and inhaled, "This story probably starts ten years ago, when Rochelle Horn and I were around the same age, and our experiences were quite similar.

I was unemployed, and had a wife and child to support, I needed money.

I sent many resumes but received no responses, I even wandered the streets at one point, getting to know some homeless people.

Later, someone handed out leaflets to the homeless. At first, I was surprised who would give leaflets to the homeless.

Only after reading did I realize it was Kerman Pharmaceutical Company recruiting drug trial participants.

Yes, I was once a trial participant for Kerman Pharmaceutical Company, and they offered quite substantial benefits.

I really needed money, so I went."

Thomas Colley wiped his eyes, mocking himself, "I can't even remember when was the last time I cried?

I knew being a trial participant was dangerous, so while doing it, I never gave up searching for a job.

About four months later, I found a new job, I cherished this job and put in a lot of effort.

My work and life returned to normal.

But three years later, I felt unwell, and was diagnosed with liver disease in the hospital.

At first, the doctors said it was discovered early and could be cured, but over the years my condition worsened, it developed into late-stage liver cancer.

The doctors were puzzled, it seemed strange, they asked about my past experiences.

When they learned I had been a trial participant for Kerman Pharmaceutical Company, they felt the deterioration of my disease was likely related to that experience.

I was furious.

For years, because of the illness, I couldn't work normally, my temper was irritable, and my wife left with the child.

I had nothing left.

Do you think I shouldn't seek revenge?"

Luke asked, "You think it's all caused by Kerman Pharmaceutical Company?"

"Kerman Pharmaceutical Company is the direct reason, and the damn trial participant system, this role shouldn't exist at all, I want to change it all."

"Tell us about your crime plan and process?"

Thomas Colley extinguished the cigarette he held, "I knew that relying solely on myself was impossible to accomplish this, so I found Walda Becker. This guy is greedy, as long as you pay enough money, he can be easily bought.

With Walda Becker's help, I also found Rochelle Horn, he was very much like me back then, unemployed, supporting a family, having to become a trial participant, I understood this type of person's thoughts.

Very pitiful, very sad."

Luke followed up, "How did Rochelle Horn die?"

"He committed suicide."

"Why did he commit suicide?"

"Because of gambling, he owed a lot of loan sharks, even being a trial participant couldn't pay them off, the accumulating interest would only grow larger.

This half-year of downturn nearly crushed him, he was very tired, wanted to rest.

I told him he was now a trial participant for Kerman Pharmaceutical Company. If death was due to the drugs, Kerman Pharmaceutical Company would compensate a large sum of money.

Additionally, I promised his family a significant amount of money too.

This way, his family's life would be settled, and he wouldn't have to struggle like before.

Some married good men are really boring, they've lost the joy of living, living more because of responsibilities.

Rochelle Horn was such a person.

He saw no path ahead and didn't want to disappoint his family, so he agreed.

I must admit, in the end, he was brave. Many similar people exist, but few dare to take that step."

Luke asked, "How much did you give Rochelle Horn?"

"Two hundred thousand US Dollars, that was all my money, to raise that amount, I even mortgaged my house."

"Where's that money?"

"I don't know, maybe Rochelle Horn hid it somewhere, or gave it to his family.

That money was rightly his, I wouldn't deceive someone as pitiful as myself.

On the contrary, I did it to save more people like me."