Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

After Luke gathered some information, he formed a general judgement about the case.

This case involves two scenes.

The second scene is the car accident site, Luke has already reviewed the photos.

The first scene is where the suspect tampered with the victim's car.

According to the victim's partner, the vehicle involved in the accident was a Lexus car that the victim bought last year. The victim liked this car very much and drove it to work every day.

The car accident happened on March 24, and colleagues saw him driving this car to work on March 23. This means the suspect must have tampered with the car on the night of March 23 or the early morning of March 24.

Thereafter, the squad split up to take action.

The deputy went to investigate at the home of the deceased, Ossie Perkins.

Luke led a team to investigate the suspect, Mario Brana.

...

Siscovi community.

This is a Black community. The facilities within the community are somewhat outdated, the road surface is also bumpy, and on both sides of the road are wooden bungalows with peeling paint.

Two black cars stopped by the roadside.

Luke got out of the first car, glanced around, and noticed two Black men standing not far away, who seemed to be watching them as well.

Luke ignored the two men, looking towards the gray house on the right. The house's outer walls had some peeling paint. The yard was small, with a blue Toyota sedan on the east side and some clutter piled up on the right side.

The yard had no fence, nor a gate.

Little Black walked into the yard, went straight to the front door, and knocked on it, "Knock, knock..."

After a while, the door opened, and a Black woman in her thirties looked at Little Black and the others, asking, "What's your business here?"

"Is this Mario Brana's home?"

"Yes, what do you want with him?"

Little Black showed his badge, "LAPD, is he at home?"

The Black woman paused for a moment, then nodded, "Yes, he's home."

"What is your relationship with Mario Brana?"

"I'm his wife."

"Hello, Mrs. Brana.

We'd like to speak with your husband."

"What do you want with him?"

"We're investigating a case and would like to ask him some questions."

"He was just bailed out recently, it must have nothing to do with what you're investigating."

"That remains to be seen."

Mrs. Brana hesitated for a moment, then stepped aside, "Come in." Then she walked into the living room, calling out, "Mario, someone here wants to see you."

No response came.

Mrs. Brana went to the bedroom door on the first floor, opened the door, and shouted inside, "Mario, the police are here."

"What!" a voice of a man rang out from the bedroom, "What did you just say?"

"The police are here."

The man in the bedroom seemed incredulous, "That joke isn't funny at all, you're not tricking me into getting out of bed."

"I wouldn't bother whether you get up or not. The police are really here, they are in the living room." Mrs. Brana said, then closed the bedroom door.

Luke glanced at the doorway, then looked at Mrs. Brana, "Ma'am, could we have a private conversation?"

"Can I refuse?"

"Of course."

"Sorry, I have some dishes to wash." Mrs. Brana finished speaking and headed toward the kitchen.

After a while, the bedroom door slowly opened, and a Black man poked his head out. Seeing Luke and the others, his face turned somewhat grim, "Who are you? Why are you in my house?"

Little Black showed his badge again, "LAPD, we're here to ask you a few questions."

"You must have it wrong, I just got bailed out."

"We know, you were bailed out three days ago, and we're also well aware of the charges against you."

Mario Brana took a deep breath and sat down opposite the sofa, "What do you want to know?"

Little Black took out a photo of Ossie Perkins, "Do you recognize him?"

Mario Brana glanced at the photo and sneered, "Yeah, I definitely know this guy. He was the one who caught me."

"According to our information, you once threatened to retaliate against him?"

Mario Brana shrugged, "I can't remember."

Luke asked, "Want to see the footage from the body cam?"

Mario Brana shrugged, "OK, I admit I said it. So what?"

"Ossie Perkins is dead."

Mario Brana froze for a moment, surprised, "Are you saying the guy who caught me is dead?"

"Yes, he was killed."

"Wait, you don't think I did it, do you?" Mario Brana chuckled, "I already told you, I just got bailed out."

"Ossie Perkins was also recently killed."

Mario Brana's face froze, "I didn't kill him."

Luke followed up, "On the night of March 23, between 9 PM and 5 AM, where were you?"

Mario Brana pressed his lips and answered, "I was at home."

"Are you sure you didn't leave during that time?"

"Yes."

"Who can vouch for you?"

"My wife."

Luke stared at him, faintly recognizing signs of deception, saying, "You're still on bail. You should be aware of the consequences of lying to the police."

Mario Brana retorted, "I'm not lying."

Luke turned to Mrs. Brana, "Madam, I can clearly tell your husband is lying, I don't want you to do something foolish."

Mrs. Brana glanced at Luke, ignored her husband's pleading look, lowered her head, and continued washing dishes.

Luke glared at Mario Brana and continued, "I'll give you one more chance, where were you that night?"

Mario Brana still didn't answer, his expression somewhat flustered.

"A police officer was killed, you should know the seriousness of this issue.

We'll thoroughly investigate all involved parties.

You have a motive and a criminal record.

Based solely on these two points, we'll be watching you.

If I find out your alibi is fake, your bail period could be prematurely ended."

"Wait, I really didn't know Ossie Perkins was killed, and I have nothing to do with his death.

I can swear to God."

Luke repeated the previous question, "Where were you on the night of March 23rd between nine and five in the morning?"

"I..." Mario Brana hesitated, and perfunctorily said, "I can assure you that during that time I didn't see Ossie Perkins."

"Your assurance won't serve as evidence.

What you need is an alibi."

"What if I can't provide an alibi?"

"Then we'll investigate ourselves. If we find that you engaged in illegal activities during that time, you know very well what that means during the bail period." Luke stood up as if to leave.

"Wait." Mario Brana stopped Luke, pinched his chin with his hand, and said helplessly, "I admit, I was very angry when I got caught that day and said some irrational things, but it was just momentary anger, nothing more.

I've already forgotten about it and don't dare to really seek revenge on Ossie Perkins.

The reason I don't want to disclose my whereabouts that night is because of other reasons."

Luke sat back down on the sofa, roughly understanding what the other person meant, "Listen, my purpose for coming today is to investigate the murder of Ossie Perkins.

I'm not interested in your petty thefts.

I can assure you that as long as it doesn't involve Ossie Perkins' case, our talk today won't be used as evidence against you in court."

"Can I trust you?"

"You must trust me."

"Ok." Mario Brana took a deep breath, "I'll... tell you a story, just a story."

"Go ahead."

"A young man got acquainted with some bad friends. Under their influence, he committed mistakes that many would make, and happened to get caught by the police.

His family was very anxious, wanting to bail him out but didn't have enough bail money.

So, they had to borrow money from everywhere to get the young man out.

The young man was very grateful and felt guilty.

Because of him, the family's situation grew worse.

He wanted to repay the money himself, which is also a man's responsibility." Mario Brana sighed and shook his head slightly, "But saying is easy, repaying the money is difficult.

Really difficult.

And at this moment, those bad friends came around again.

They had ways to make money.

The young man knew in his heart he shouldn't continue associating with those bad friends...

But, he really needed money.

So, he still went."

Luke pressed further, "What kind of money-making ways did those bad friends offer to the young man?"

Mario Brana sneered, "The same old ways."

The black man scoffed, "You were caught for stealing cars, and right after being bailed out, you went back to stealing cars?"

"Don't look at me that way, everyone has their own difficulties." Mario Brana retorted, "Most of the young man's bail money was gathered by those bad friends.

If you were him, what would you do?"

"So only those bad friends can provide an alibi?"

"Yes.

But that's impossible, you understand what I mean."

"Nothing is impossible.

I believe they'll continue stealing cars. As long as we catch them red-handed next time,

they'll naturally disclose your whereabouts on March 23rd."

"I won't betray them."

"You must do this.

And we'll arrest you along with them, they won't suspect you."

"I'm still on bail. If I get caught again... I'll be finished."

"That's easy." Luke pointed to the black man beside him, "From now on, you're his informant.

And we'll notify your bail officer."

Seeing that Mario Brana was still somewhat hesitant, Luke took advantage of the situation, "When are they going to act next?"

"I don't know, they haven't..."

Without waiting for him to finish, Luke interrupted him, speaking harshly, "Hey, Mario Brana, don't lie to me!

Otherwise, I'll call your bail officer right now, understand?"

Mario Brana nodded slightly.

"Good, I'll ask again, when are they going to act next?"

Mario Brana was silent for a moment, then replied, "Tonight."

…

After leaving Mario Brana's home, Luke said to the black man, "Marcus, are you in charge of today's arrest operation?"

The black man was a bit surprised, "You're not going?"

Luke wasn't interested in a few car thieves. He patted his shoulder, "Buddy, it's time for you to shine."

Marcus showed a thoughtful expression, thinking about the recent personnel changes within the bureau, secretly delighted, "Am I about to get promoted too?"