Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Half an hour later.

A Maybach stopped beside the cabin. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel_fіre.net

Cheryl Garnasi got out from the passenger seat, accompanied by a white man in his twenties, dressed in black trousers and a white shirt, looking tall and handsome.

Cheryl Garnasi hugged his shoulder, "Darling, don't worry.

Lilith said the police have caught the thief who stole the necklace and found the Star of the Sea."

The white man nodded, "Sweetheart, a necklace is nothing; you are the most important thing to me.

I'm not worried about the necklace, I'm afraid for your safety."

"Darling, you're so good to me." Cheryl Garnasi smiled sweetly, dimples appearing at the corners of her mouth.

The white man patted her head and looked at the cabin ahead, "Is this the place?"

"That's right, I came here last time when watching the horse race and had a drink here; the Western-style decor is interesting."

"Why choose here for the conversation?"

Cheryl Garnasi pouted, "Maybe Lilith doesn't want too many people knowing about this. After all, the auction theft case is already enough to trouble her.

As long as we can get back the Star of the Sea, I don't want to make a big fuss either.

After all, she's my best friend."

"OK, let's go inside." The white man took Cheryl Garnasi's hand and entered the cabin.

At that moment, three people were sitting in the cabin: Luke, Lilith, and John, while Lucy was escorting a female suspect into the inner room.

"Lilith, we are here." Cheryl Garnasi quickly walked into the cabin, looked at John, and then at Lilith, "Is my necklace found?"

Lilith pointed at a tin cookie box on the table, "The Star of the Sea is here."

Cheryl Garnasi reached out to take the tin box, but Luke stopped her, "Miss Garnasi, the necklace is now evidence, you can't touch it casually."

"I just want to confirm if it's my necklace, is that not allowed?"

"Of course you can, but you need to wear gloves first." Luke handed her a pair of plastic gloves.

"Thank you." Cheryl Garnasi said reluctantly, then put on the gloves and eagerly opened the tin box. She gently picked up the necklace to inspect it, her face suddenly changed, "Oh my God, my sapphire is damaged, who did this?"

John replied, "It was like this when we found it."

Cheryl Garnasi questioned, "Was it the thief? Who exactly stole my sapphire?"

John said, "This afternoon, we intercepted a speeding car. The driver was named Mary Larson; she's a cleaner at the Bagus Club."

"Mary?" Cheryl Garnasi muttered, looking at Lilith and Luke, "Was it that black cleaning lady who stole my necklace?"

Luke said, "We just interrogated her, and Mary Larson denied stealing the necklace. She claimed that she picked it up from a trash can and that it was already damaged when she found it."

"That's impossible, she's lying. How could I have thrown the necklace in the trash can? She must be evading responsibility.

I want to confront her."

Lilith advised, "Cheryl, don't rush, calm down and see if this necklace is really the one you lost."

Cheryl Garnasi picked up the necklace and examined it carefully, "The shape is the same as the Star of the Sea, but why is the damaged sapphire like this? It feels..."

Cheryl Garnasi handed the necklace to her boyfriend, "Darling, see if this is the Star of the Sea you gave me?"

"Hey, don't touch that necklace." John handed a pair of gloves to the white man.

The white man put on the gloves to inspect the necklace, "The style is identical to the Star of the Sea, but a real gemstone wouldn't be damaged this easily...

I feel this sapphire is fake."

Cheryl Garnasi's expression became somewhat unpleasant, "I feel the same way; this necklace seems fake. Real gems are hard; even if brittle, they wouldn't be damaged like this." Cheryl Garnasi pondered for a moment, "I know, that cleaner named Mary must have stolen the real necklace and replaced it with a fake one.

Where is she?

She must have hidden my real necklace."

Luke waved his hand, "Miss Garnasi, don't worry, we have detained Mary Larson, and I have already spoken with her.

Before your confrontation, I want to have a word with your boyfriend.

After all, he was the last person to handle the Star of the Sea necklace."

Cheryl Garnasi looked at her boyfriend.

The white man said, "No problem, but it's been two days, and I don't know if my memory is accurate."

Luke sized up the other person, "What do I call you?"

"Marshall Wilson." The white man responded, and then asked back, "Are you a cop too?"

"Luke Lee, from the Robbery and Murder Department."

Cheryl Garnasi whispered a few words in her boyfriend's ear.

Marshall Wilson's expression changed slightly, then returned to normal, "Captain Lee, I've heard of you. I was just talking to a friend about Kerman Pharmaceutical Company this morning.

Their stock dropped another five points."

The word 'another' suggested that Kerman Pharmaceutical's current situation wasn't very good, at least from an outsider's perspective.

Because of the ongoing investigation, the police had kept things confidential from the outside world, but now that the case was solved, some information was gradually being made public. For instance, the fire at the Kerman Pharmaceutical building wasn't just an accident; someone deliberately targeted the new hypertension drug they were developing and destroyed all the research data for the new drug.

Moreover, Fred Kramer, the head of new hypertension drug development, was shot and his condition is uncertain.

The new hypertension drug's development is likely to fail, and the tens of billions invested in the early stages might be wasted, leading to a continuous drop in Kerman Pharmaceutical's stock, almost reaching rock bottom.

There is mixed news about Kerman Pharmaceutical, with some people optimistic, believing that as long as the new drug succeeds, the company's stock will soar. But external news usually lags behind, and with some true and some false, most people are not optimistic about Kerman Pharmaceutical's future, with many selling their stocks.

As the officer in charge of the Kerman Pharmaceutical series of cases, Luke is quite familiar with the company's situation. The new hypertension drug had reached the trial phase, and several participants in the development had full confidence in the new drug. It was precisely because the new drug was nearing success that a series of targeted events occurred.

Currently, the two points that concern the public most are: how much the fire that destroyed all the research data has impacted the new drug,

and secondly, whether Fred Kramer's health condition can still allow him to continue leading the new drug's development.

These two factors significantly influence the success of the new drug's development.

And Luke happens to be one of the few who knows the truth. Although the research data was burned, Kem Smith, the trial supervisor, was bribed by Sun Pharma, and had been stealing the new drug's research data, keeping a backup.

Luke had already helped Kerman Pharmaceutical recover most of the research data, meaning the company's loss wasn't significant.

Additionally, Luke just saw Fred Kramer, the head of research at Kerman Pharmaceutical, and even sold him a Mercedes, and his recovery status was very good; he was eager to continue the new drug's development.

In conclusion, Luke felt there was a great chance the new drug would succeed, and by then Kerman Pharmaceutical's stock would definitely skyrocket, and since the stock had been declining for a while, now was the perfect time to buy in.

Moreover, Luke had a million US Dollars in cash, which couldn't just sit in the bank. Wasn't this the perfect investment opportunity?

Luke had already decided to contact his father tonight to discuss the best way to proceed.

Suppressing random thoughts, he asked Marshall Wilson, "Mr. Wilson, I heard that you gave Miss Cheryl Garnasi this necklace?"

"Yes, I love her, and only she is worthy of this precious necklace."

"Did the police find the necklace you originally gave Miss Garnasi?"

Marshall Wilson shook his head, "Clearly, this is a fake. My original necklace was switched.

I hope you can find it soon."

Luke said, "According to Miss Cheryl Garnasi, she said she handed the Star of the Sea necklace over to you after returning from the ball the night before last?"

"Yes, I put the necklace into the safe, in a square gift box."

"Are you sure you put the Star of the Sea necklace into the safe?"

"Yes."

"Did you lock the safe?"

"Yes."

"Then, did you take the necklace out of the safe at any point?"

"No, I had no reason to do so."

"But according to the cleaning lady, Mary, she found this necklace in the trash can."

"She must be lying. How could I throw such a precious necklace into the trash can?"

Luke continually observed Marshall Wilson, faintly perceiving traces of a lie on his face, and smiled, "Perhaps you knew from the beginning that this necklace was fake?"

Marshall Wilson, dissatisfied, said, "Hey, Captain Lee, I respect you.

I hope you can respect me, too.

There's no way I would give a fake necklace to the woman I love."

Cheryl Garnasi also came over, standing next to Marshall Wilson, looking up at him, "I believe Marshall Wilson would never deceive me."

Luke didn't want to say more, "Officer John, tell us your findings."

John stood up, hands on hips, "We collected biological material from the necklace, and extracted two sets of fingerprints. Upon comparison, one of the fingerprints belongs to Mr. Marshall Wilson."