Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Porta Community.

This is a high-end residential area in New York.

Perhaps due to the season and climate, the architectural style here is somewhat distinct from Los Angeles.

Luke and Amir drove into the community, and it wasn't long before they saw seven or eight TV station cars parked on the community road. A group of reporters was armed with long lenses and cameras, besieging a mansion.

After getting out of the car, Luke frowned and said, "Who is the big shot that got killed this time?"

"Olina Back." Amir said the name and, seeing no reaction from Luke, spread his hands, "come on, don't tell me you don't know Olina Back."

"Is she famous?"

"Here's a hint, the New York Bundchen."

Luke shook his head, "Buddy, don't make it hard for this half-New Yorker."

"If you don't even know the New York Bundchen, you're at most a quarter New Yorker, no more."

Luke guessed, "Is she a model?"

"That's right, she used to be a Victoria's Secret contract model and was the darling of the New York fashion scene."

Luke looked at the reporters outnumbering the police, "This damn killer has a knack for picking targets, kills someone and practically the whole of New York knows."

Amir sighed, "Not just New York, she had fans all over the world. In a sense, her death is as sensational as Grace Bloomberg's."

"FBI, make way." The two pushed through the crowded mob to enter a modern two-story villa courtyard, with the villa's main feature being tall floor-to-ceiling windows, very open and bright.

Louise stood at the door waving, "Gentlemen, you're late."

Luke asked, "Where's the body?"

"Follow me." Louise led the two inside the house. The living room was spacious, not many pieces of furniture, but each was exquisite and fashionable, looking quite costly.

There were scattered bloodstains in the living room, leading to the back of the room.

The three followed the bloodstains to a storage room, opened the storage room cabinet door, and the lights automatically turned on, revealing stairs leading down, accompanied by a strong stench of blood.

Louise said, "This morning, the cleaning staff responsible for housekeeping discovered bloodstains in the living room. She then called the victim, but no one answered.

The cleaning staff called the police.

After the police arrived at the scene, they traced the bloodstains to the basement and found the body of the victim, Olina Back.

The case was then handed over to the FBI."

Luke nodded and walked down the stairs to the basement, which was not dim at all. Instead, it was spacious, well-lit, with clothes racks and shoe cabinets filled with various clothing and shoes, like a large walk-in closet.

A female body lay on the ground, with a large amount of blood splattered on the surrounding walls, clothes, and shoe cabinets. Not far from the body on the shoe cabinet was a circular Blood Stain Symbol.

Two uniformed forensic doctors had already started the autopsy.

Luke stood by the body to inspect it. The deceased was a woman in her twenties with delicate features twisted in fear, long brown hair, completely naked, with her upper body soaked in blood.

The victim's legs had been severed and were missing, appearing gruesomely bloody and brutal.

Seeing this scene, Amir couldn't help but frown, "What a pervert."

Louise added, "Indeed, and a sick one at that.

The victim had a pair of near-perfect legs that even women admired, let alone men.

It's said she insured those beautiful legs for nearly a hundred million US Dollars, and now the killer chopped them off and took them.

God knows what the killer was thinking?"

The technical team arrived in the basement, making the clothes-filled basement a bit crowded. Luke and the others left the basement and returned upstairs.

Luke began searching the house. There were no surveillance cameras installed inside or outside, but security alarm systems were found on the windows and main door, "No anomalies with the house's alarm system?"

Louise replied, "The police contacted the security company; last night, the victim's home security system was normal, with no illegal intrusions recorded.

I suspect it was likely done by someone familiar."

Luke said, "There are no signs of searching or theft in the house; the killer's goal was clearly murder.

Has the victim's belongings or phone been found?"

Louise said, "A bag was found in the living room, probably carried by the victim, but her phone couldn't be found."

Luke went outside and found a pair of red high heels on the lawn. Putting on gloves, he picked up the heels for inspection. The soles had dirt, likely belonging to the victim.

Luke looked up and saw a white Maserati parked by the garage door.

He asked Louise standing nearby, "Were there any car keys in the victim's bag?"

"Yes." Louise brought the car keys and opened the car door.

Luke entered the car to search and faintly smelled a mix of alcohol and perfume. The interior had many decorations, along with women's items. In the gap under the passenger seat, Luke found an iPhone.

Amir said, "The phone was under the passenger seat, most likely dropped accidentally by the victim. This implies the victim was likely sitting in the passenger seat.

Considering the fallen high heels, it suggests the victim was probably abducted.

The person driving her back may well be the killer, connecting all the clues together."

Louise picked up the phone and fiddled with it, "There are multiple missed calls on the phone, maybe we can find some clues, but the phone is locked with a password."

"Wait." Luke took the phone and went into the house. When he came out again, the phone screen was unlocked.

He handed the phone to Louise, "There are four missed calls in total, one from a cleaner, and the other three are from the same unknown number. Call back pretending to be the deceased to probe a bit."

Louise took the phone and, after pondering for a moment, called back the unknown number.

A moment later, the call connected, and a man's voice came through, "You finally remembered me, huh?"

Louise thought briefly and replied, "Sorry, I was drunk last night and only checked my phone this morning.

Who is this?"

"I know you were drunk, otherwise, you wouldn't have needed a designated driver. But when I arrived at the agreed location, you had already driven off.

You know what? I hate it when people don't keep their word."

"Where was our agreed location?"

"Marcos Bar, a white Maserati Quattroporte. By the time I got to the bar, your car was already gone.

People outside the bar said another driver took you away.

If you hired me, why get another driver?

Lady, you're wasting my time, and I hate that kind of behavior."

"Sorry, if there's a chance, I'll explain it to you."

"No, I don't think there's any need to meet. It's a complete waste of time." The man finished speaking and hung up the phone directly.

Louise had the phone on speaker and said to Luke and Amir, "You both heard that."

Amir nodded, "It's obvious. The deceased went to the bar to drink last night. After getting drunk, she called for a designated driver, but before the real driver arrived, someone took her away.

The first scenario is that a friend or acquaintance took her away.

The second scenario is someone impersonated the driver, drove her home, and brutally killed her inside the house." Amir rubbed his hands together,

"I think the second possibility is more likely.

What do you guys think?"

Louise pointed to the Maserati Quattroporte, "I think we should check the dashcam first."

Amir smirked, "I bet you won't find anything.

Because the murderer has definitely taken away the dashcam's memory card."

Louise removed the dashcam, took out the memory card, and smiled, "What do you want to bet on?"

Amir said nonchalantly, "The murderer didn't take the memory card, which means the dashcam didn't capture any valuable clues.

For example, the killer might have turned off the dashcam after getting in the car."

Louise inserted the memory card into the laptop and began to read the video content.

The last recorded time on the video was from 11:00 PM to 11:25 PM, covering the route from Marcos Bar to the deceased Olina Back's home.

The dashcam had only video recording but no audio recording enabled.

At the end of the video, the car entered Olina Back's home, and a shadow quickly ran past the front of the car. Louise replayed the video, carefully examined, and found it was a man wearing a baseball cap and a yellow vest with a ride-share service logo.

The dashcam captured the man's profile, showing a densely bearded lower cheek, his height not tall, and a somewhat slender build.

Louise pointed to the video, turned to Amir, and smiled, "Sorry to disappoint, you don't have the gift to be a psychic.

But the good news is that the dashcam captured the suspect's profile."

"Wow, that is indeed a surprise." Amir's expression was a bit complex, touching his chin and furrowing his brows, "Something seems off..."

Louise shrugged and teased, "Indeed, something is off. The case direction is different from your assumption."

"Ahem..." Amir cleared his throat, "I didn't mean that. I know Blood Hand Mac's cases too well.

The killer has committed multiple crimes and always planned meticulously in advance, never caught on camera."

Louise reminded, "Blood Hand Mac has always been locked up in prison. The killer who killed Grace Bloomberg wasn't Blood Hand Mac, it's just someone imitating Blood Hand Mac."

"I know.

What I'm saying is the killer of Grace Bloomberg used exactly the same methods as Blood Hand Mac. The murderer was very meticulous, the actions before the murder were surely well-planned, leaving no clear evidence, fitting the profile of a serial killer.

An adept imitator.

And this week's killer was caught on dashcam, having had the chance to remove it but didn't.

This killer made a very basic mistake.

The significant oversight implies the murder was spontaneous, not well-planned."

Amir concluded, "In simple terms, I don't think the killer in this case is the same as the one who killed Grace Bloomberg.

The killer of Grace Bloomberg was driven by the desire to imitate Blood Hand Mac.

However, the one who killed Olina Back seems more like someone trying to frame Blood Hand Mac for murder."