Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Michael said, "According to your analysis, the deceased was considered a very wise person by the killer.

And the suspect in these three serial murders is likely a follower of the Eternal Sect.

Therefore, the one regarded as very wise by the other party might be the church leader, Bellam Solo."

Luke frowned, "In the past, I also investigated a headless case, where the killer beheaded the victim to prevent the police from identifying them.

Could it be that this is one of the killer's intentions too?"

Louise pointed at the photo on the wall, "But this is Bellam Solo's house, he is highly likely the deceased, it's not hard to guess."

Luke continued, "What if the killer wants to mislead us, making us believe Bellam Solo is dead?"

Amir touched his chin, "Your hypothesis is interesting."

Louise asked, "Why would Bellam Solo do such a thing?"

Luke said, "Bellam Solo fabricated lies to deceive a large amount of money from his followers, and the Halloween lie would be exposed, so he might embezzle funds and escape before Halloween.

The FBI wouldn't pursue a dead person, once he fakes his death, the escape plan succeeds."

Michael nodded, indeed, there is that possibility, "I'll contact the forensic team and the identification department, have them carefully identify the deceased's identity."

Michael went aside to make a phone call, and others also proceeded to investigate.

The other agents had already searched the whole house, and did not find any trace of suspicious personnel.

Luke began to carefully search the house, looking for clues of the suspect.

First, Luke started searching from the living room, the corpse was in the middle of the living room, lying on the floor, hands and feet tied, the sofa in the house was displaced, but no obvious signs of struggle were found.

There was a bedroom on the first floor, the bedroom showed obvious signs of being rummaged through, however, the items in this bedroom were few, Luke found no valuable clues.

Then, Luke went up the stairs to the second floor, there were three rooms on the second floor, including two bedrooms and a study.

Both bedrooms showed signs of being rummaged through, it's clear the killer wasn't just out to murder, but had other purposes, either to steal or to search for a certain item.

Luke then entered the study to search, the study didn't have too many items and furniture, just a desk, chair, bookshelf and two potted plants, the plants were lush with greenery, growing well.

The bookshelf was about two meters high, about one meter and four wide, the cabinet door was open, inside was a large safe.

The safe's cabinet door was also open, no signs of prying were seen on the edge of the safe.

The style of the safe was new, equipped with key, fingerprint, and password unlocking methods, the safe had four layers vertically, the first layer on the left held some files, the remaining three layers were empty.

Ordinary households, even if they buy a safe, usually it's a small safe, Bellam Solo's purchase of such a large safe couldn't be merely to store documents, likely it also contained other valuable items which might have been taken away by the killer.

Luke picked up the documents in the safe to examine, the top of the files had blood stain symbols, below were contents of Eternal Sect's teachings, donation amounts, incidents, and a list of followers.

This list of followers was very detailed, including photos, jobs, home addresses and phone numbers.

Previously, because Tangji Bruns hid a corpse at home, he was taken away by the FBI for questioning, he was a follower of the Eternal Sect, knew some other followers, but didn't know much about their identities.

From the known clues, the perpetrator was probably a follower of the Eternal Sect, with this list, the FBI can conduct screening.

Luke completed the search, took the list of followers downstairs, saw the forensic team and the identification department had arrived at the scene.

Luke didn't know them well, and did not exchange many pleasantries.

He walked out of the house, saw Michael leading a search of the black Lexus, the car doors and trunk were open.

Luke walked over, asked, "Have there been any findings?"

Michael pointed at the trunk, "We found traces of blood reactions.

Moreover, the car plate screws showed signs of being turned, recently someone might have removed the plate, matching characteristics of the suspect vehicle."

After speaking, Michael called the identification department to collect blood samples inside the car to perform DNA comparisons with the previous two victims.

Six o'clock in the morning.

Daylight had broken.

Occasionally, people jogging in the morning passed through the community, seeing the FBI cars and the raised cordon, inevitably stopped to watch.

At this time, Louise would actively approach and converse, asking them if they heard any unusual noises last night, or saw any suspicious person.

Meanwhile, the forensic side also completed preliminary identification, calling Luke and others into the house's living room.

The forensic doctor responsible for the autopsy was a white male, of medium build, looked around forty, with slightly graying hair, wearing a black-framed glasses.

He pointed at the corpse, "The victim was a male, the time of death between midnight and three o'clock.

The cause of death was loss of blood from severing the carotid artery.

In addition to the fatal wound, two other injuries were found on his body."

The forensic doctor turned the body over, pointed at the right hand of the victim, "The victim's right index finger was severed, it was cut postmortem, the dismembered finger wasn't found on the scene, the killer likely took it away."

He also pointed at the victim's back, "The victim had an electric shock injury in this location, the injury time was close to the death time."

Michael summarized, "In other words, the victim was shocked from behind, fainted and then killed, with the finger severed afterward."

The forensic doctor nodded, "That possibility is high."

"And the murder weapon?"

"From the saw-tooth marks on the wound, it seems to be a serrated tool."

Amir said, "The previous two victims did not have electrical injuries, suggesting the killer is constantly learning and evolving.

However, why would the killer sever the victim's finger."

Luke replied, "I found a safe in the study upstairs, the safe can be unlocked with a fingerprint.

The safe door was open, only some files were found.

I suspect the safe also contained other valuable items, which were likely taken by the killer."

Amir thought for a moment, "How big is the safe?"

"One meter tall, about eighty centimeters wide."

Amir looked at Bellam Solo's corpse and said thoughtfully, "According to Tangji Bruns, Bellam Solo had converted the money he swindled from the followers into gold bars. This safe is likely where the gold bars are hidden.

It seems the killer was not only after murder but also wanted to take the gold bars."

Michael frowned slightly, "The killer has committed three crimes already, the first two victims were wealthy, but the killer didn't take their possessions.

Why did they take the gold bars this time?"

Amir replied, "To us, gold bars represent wealth, but to those followers, they are for Reshaping Golden Body.

The killer is likely a follower as well.

Their purpose in taking the gold bars might be for Reshaping Golden Body, to welcome His arrival on Halloween."

Michael nodded, "That makes sense.

Melting a large amount of gold is not easy, the killer might seek professional jewelry stores for crafting.

I think this could be an investigation direction."

Amir stroked his chin, "Speaking of investigation direction, I have another idea.

If my suspicion is correct, the killer will kill one more person, and this person should be missing the body, representing strength.

Since we know the features of the killer's next target, can we find the victim in advance for protection, and set a trap for the killer to get caught."

Louise shrugged, "That's a good idea, but we need to know who is the killer's vision of strength."

Michael blurted out, "Tom Brady, height 1.93 meters, weighs 102 kilograms, the toughest of the tough.

As far as I know, he's in New York recently."

"Come on, if it were Tom Brady twenty years ago, maybe, but he's old now." Amir rolled his eyes and mentioned another name, "Milovan Ibe.

Born in 1995, height 2.03 meters, weight 160 kilograms, champion of the New York strongman competition.

Full of muscles under the fat, I think he could kill a lion."

Louise looked at Luke, "What do you think?"

Luke pointed at himself.

Louise "…"

Michael laughed, "Are you serious?"

Amir muttered, "Narcissist."

"Any problem? I'm naturally strong." Luke flexed his right arm, showing his bicep, "Everyone has a different definition of strength, there's no unified standard, can't be defined.

Moreover, the killer might not know the strongman you mention.

And you may not even recognize their target.

Thus, this line of inquiry is only theoretically valid, there are too many variables."

Amir asked back, "Then what good idea do you have?"

Luke took out the list of followers, "There are seventy-six people on this list, with detailed information and photos of each.

Based on our hypothesis, the killer should be among these seventy-six people.

We can use the method of elimination to narrow down the suspect range.

For example, in the first murder case, the killer killed Grace Bloomberg and was seen by Grace Bloomberg's lover Filippo Carter.

According to his clues, the killer should be male.

There are thirty-two men on this list, which significantly narrows it down."

Luke paused, then continued, "Also, I suspect the killer might have a serious illness, with limited time, prompting the desire for a perfect body.

This condition will make suspect targeting more precise."

Louise asked, "How do you know the killer might have a serious illness, could it be he's seeking a body for his 'beloved'?"

Luke said, "I think that's unlikely.

Just like Tangji Bruns, his wife died of illness, but he kept her body.

He hoped after His arrival, he could resurrect his wife, believing He could not only resurrect her but also cure her illness.

Moreover, Tangji Bruns loved his wife deeply, if he used another person's body, even if she was resurrected, she'd no longer be the same wife.

So I suspect the killer has his own issues, wanting a perfect body to be reborn."

Amir nodded, "I agree with this hypothesis.

Besides the above features, we also have an eyewitness, Filippo Carter.

Grace Bloomberg was killed, he saw the killer from afar, we can assist him to identify, further narrowing the range."

Louise glanced at her watch, "I'll contact him."

Louise took her phone and walked aside to make a call.

After a while, Louise walked back with a grave expression, "Guys, I can't reach Filippo Carter.

I called him the first time, he didn't answer.

The second time I called, the phone was turned off.

What's up with this guy?"

Amir replied, "Could this guy be hiding something and is about to run after receiving the FBI's call, thinking we found out something?"

Michael said, "Another possibility is the killer wants to silence him."

Luke said, "Aren't you overthinking? Maybe the guy just wants to sleep in."