Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Luke had also solved many murder cases, but the phrase 'just a prank' sent chills down his spine.

Being friends with such people was like walking on the edge of death.

"Who was the mastermind behind the prank?"

"Sharon Frank."

"Who provided the tools for the crime, such as tape, ropes, and hoods?"

"Sharon Frank."

"Did she do it just for a prank, or was there another purpose?"

"I don't know.

Among the four of us, she was always the one making decisions, and I was just used to listening to her."

"Have you ever pulled pranks before?"

"All four of us have lively personalities, and sometimes we would play pranks, but none as serious as this.

I swear, this was truly an accident.

We never expected it to be this serious. We are also very sad about Ali Bergman's death."

"Very sad?"

"Yes."

Luke turned to Jackson beside him and asked, "If your friend had such an accident, what would you do?"

Jackson thought for a moment, "First of all, I am not a doctor, and I am not qualified to pronounce her dead.

So, I would call 911 for emergency help immediately, and then report to the police."

Luke then looked at Lacy Wayne, "What did you do?"

"I was terrified and completely stunned.

I wanted to call the police, but Sharon Frank disagreed and even grabbed my phone.

She said, Ali was already dead, and if we called the police now, the police would definitely think we were the murderers and we'd all go to jail.

I became even more scared, and had no other ideas, so I just listened to her." Lacy Wayne showed a look of remorse, recalled for a moment, and continued to say, "She suggested burying the body. As long as the three of us didn't talk, no one would know it was us.

So, we followed her instructions."

Luke made some notes in his notebook, "What exactly did you do?"

"Sharon Frank said that as I was always sitting in the back seat of the car, the road surveillance couldn't capture me. Even if the police investigated, they wouldn't know I'd been to Ali's house, so the police wouldn't suspect me, and she asked me to drive home to take care of the body disposal.

My first reaction was fear, I was unwilling, but...

Sharon Frank threatened me, saying if I didn't do it, the three of us would go to jail.

I didn't want to go to jail, and I didn't want to leave my parents, so I agreed to her.

She drove the car to my community's vicinity, then let me get off the car and go home, drove out the Toyota from home, then she moved the body from the Tesla to my car's trunk, and asked me and Marissa Hawking to bury the body."

"How did you handle the body?"

"We put the body in the trash can."

"Why didn't you follow Sharon Frank's orders to bury the body?"

Lacy Wayne cried, "I was too nervous, I forgot to bring the shovel..."

Previously, Luke listened to Lacy Wayne's testimony, and always felt she intentionally pushed the responsibility onto Sharon Frank, but now it seemed...

She might not be that clever after all.

"Did the deceased have clothes on when you disposed of the body?"

"Sharon Frank said to take off the clothes before burying the body, so that even if the body was exposed in the future, it would be harder to trace the deceased's identity.

Marissa Hawking then took off Ali's clothes."

"What was Ali Bergman wearing at the time?"

"Pajamas and underwear."

"How did you handle it?"

"Marissa Hawking then threw the clothes on the roadside."

"Why did you do that?"

"I don't know either."

"Were there only three of you involved in this case?"

"Yes."

"But according to the forensic doctor's examination, the deceased had been assaulted."

"I don't know about that, but..." Lacy Wayne thought for a moment and said, "When we went to Lacy Wayne's house, she was lying on the bed, only wearing pajamas.

Could it be that she was with someone at that time?"

Ali Bergman was assaulted post-mortem, so naturally, it couldn't have been at that time, but Lacy Wayne didn't seem to be lying?

He suddenly thought of a possibility...

"Did Ali Bergman resist when you kidnapped her?"

"Yes, but the three of us restrained her... so it didn't help."

This was different from Luke's speculation, which meant Ali Bergman was most likely assaulted after the body disposal.

"What was the position of the deceased after you disposed of the body?"

Lacy Wayne thought for a moment, "I can't remember, I was too nervous at the time. Together with Marissa Hawking, we moved the body into the trash can and quickly left."

"Were there any other people around at the time?"

"There shouldn't have been, at least I didn't see anyone."

Luke looked at her and didn't see any signs of lying, so he changed his tone, "Are you willing to identify Sharon Frank and Marissa Hawking?"

Lacy Wayne hesitated for a moment, then nodded with her parents' encouragement, "I am willing."

...

Carbo Community.

Sharon Frank's home.

It was a beautiful blue house, with a blue Tesla parked outside the garage, and a middle-aged man was carefully cleaning the car.

"Woo woo..."

Several cars drove in from the east side of the community and parked right in front of Sharon Frank's house.

Luke opened the car door, walked into the yard, and greeted the middle-aged man, "Mr. Arild Frank, good evening."

Arild Frank looked at Luke and the others with some complexity, "It's so late, what are you doing at my house?"

"It's so late, and you're still washing the car," Luke touched the car body, "it's already very clean."

"I didn't have time during the day, I can only wash it at night.

Is there something you came to my house for?"

"We want to see Sharon Frank."

"What for?"

"Regarding the Ali Bergman murder case, we have discovered some new evidence and would like to ask her a few more questions."

Arild Frank glanced at his watch, "Sorry, it's too late today. Sharon Frank has school tomorrow. Let's arrange another time."

Luke followed up, "When do you think would be suitable?"

Arild thought for a moment, "I said Sharon Frank has school tomorrow, at least wait until after her classes.

Also, she's still a minor and needs me present to be questioned by the police, so we also need to look at my schedule for tomorrow.

How about we set a time tomorrow?"

"I think things don't need to be so complicated." Luke presented the arrest warrant, "I need to take her now."

Almost simultaneously, the deputy team also arrested Marissa Hawking.

The police began questioning them overnight.

...

The next morning, eleven o'clock.

Robbery and Murder Department, Team One Office.

Everyone worked until late last night, so Reid deliberately delayed the start time for everyone today.

Perhaps because of staying up late last night, Luke's eyes felt burning, like he was a bit inflamed. He poured himself a cup of green tea and walked out of the captain's office.

"Guys, the interrogation ended late last night, we haven't summarized the case yet, let's all discuss it."

The deputy said, "Marissa Hawking has admitted to the accidental killing of Ali Bergman. Her confession is basically consistent with Lacy Wayne's."

Jackson said, "Sharon Frank is very stubborn. Even when we presented evidence, she wouldn't admit it.

It wasn't until we told her that her two close friends were ready to testify against her.

Only then did she confess that the prank accidentally led to Ali Bergman's death."

Luke said, "I also participated in Sharon Frank's interrogation...

I always feel she's still hiding something."

Jackson said, "Sharon Frank is unwilling to admit she's the mastermind, I have a feeling she's hiding something."

Matthew asked, "Guys, since we caught the killer, is the case closed? Can we have a drink tonight?"

"Wait, it's a bit early to say that now." Marcus interrupted Matthew, "There's still one suspect left in this case, the bastard who assaulted the deceased."

Jenny said, "So, there's still a fourth person involved in this case."

Jackson snapped his fingers, "I've been thinking about that too. I believe the fourth suspect likely discovered the body after it was dumped and then assaulted it."

"Hey, I mentioned that theory before. I said it first." Marcus interrupted Jackson, looking at the deputy, "Remember the homeless guy from before? I think he's suspicious.

He wouldn't even leave the dead person's clothes alone. If he saw the body...

This is something he could definitely do."

The deputy was a bit displeased, "Are you accusing me of letting him go?"

"Guys, such arguments are pointless. Since there are doubts, let's investigate." Luke raised his voice, looking at Marcus, "Marcus, if you suspect the homeless guy from before, go talk to him again."

"Got it, I've already thought of how to test him."

"That's good."

"Deputy, take the team to investigate near the body dumping site. Expand the area and see if anyone came into contact with the body."

The deputy complained, "This damned bastard, when it could have been solved with a hundred US dollars, why do something so perverse."

"Clap!" Luke clapped his hands, "OK, everyone, split up and take action."

After everyone left, Luke didn't idle either. After returning to the office, he laid out all the clues and evidence on the table, starting to review the case from the beginning, not missing a single detail.

At noon, he only ate a sandwich and drank a cup of coffee.

After half a day of study, Luke straightened out his thoughts, identified the investigative loopholes, and formulated the evening's action plan.

The victim was assaulted after death. The most likely scenario is someone discovered the body after it was dumped and assaulted it. The deputy took people to investigate near the dumping site but found no new clues.

If this line of investigation is wrong, then there are two other possibilities.

The first possibility is the Dawson Bar parking lot.

At the time, the three girlfriends went to the bar to have fun, and the victim was left alone in the car's trunk. Could someone have taken advantage of this to open the trunk and assault the body?

If true, the situation becomes more complex. The three suspects were in the bar for nearly two hours, during which a lot could have happened.

If the victim wasn't dead at that time and made noise in the trunk, attracting someone's attention, someone might have used the opportunity to open the trunk, saw the bound victim, and instead of rescuing, had ill intentions.

During this process, the victim resisted fiercely and accidentally died.

The assailant then assaulted the body, put it back into the car.

Later, the three girlfriends came out of the bar, found the victim dead, and then planned to dump the body.

If this possibility is true, the whole case would be overturned.

But given the fact that the victim was assaulted, Luke had to continue the investigation to find the crime's fourth person.

Luke discovered a clue after investigating Sharon Frank's driving route after leaving the bar in a blue Tesla.

After dropping Marissa Hawking and Lacy Wayne at Angelitte Community, she drove off alone.

According to the intersection surveillance video timing, the car stayed between Volta Street and Kalbo Street for a while. During this time, she was alone with the body; no one knew if she contacted anyone else.

It should be noted that this girl is young. After discovering the victim's death, she wasn't scared or panicked; she immediately devised a 'two clear, one secret' dumping plan. Not simple.

Luke suspects there might be a 'Think Tank' behind her.

And this Think Tank, could it possibly be the fourth person involved?

Seven o'clock in the evening.

The team members returned one after another from their outside investigations, and Luke gathered everyone together to share his hypotheses.

The team members also gave their opinions on these two possibilities, but due to a lack of conclusive evidence, no one could convince the other, still relying on field investigations.

Subsequently, Team One split into two groups. Marcus and Jackson went to Volta Street and Kalbo Street to investigate and look for new leads.

Luke led a team to investigate the parking lot near the Dawson Bar, checking if there were any suspicious persons near the suspect vehicle.