Chapter 268 Weird Body and Another a.s.sault
Elizabeth said over the phone, “Luke, the female body on the bench in Wever is… weird.”
Luke asked, “Weird how?”
Elizabeth said, “Do you remember the case of the haunted house in Wever?”
Luke was confused. “Are they related?”
Elizabeth replied, “If I’m not mistaken, this woman on the bench… seems to be the mother of the missing girl.”
Luke was stunned. “The woman who died of a heart attack?”
Elizabeth said, “That’s right. We’re asking forensics to check her fingerprints, her DNA and her dental records.”
Luke rubbed his chin. “Stay there and keep me informed.”
After he hung up, Selina asked, “What’s going on?”
Luke patted her head and said, “I think you just missed a jackpot.”
Selina shook her head, refusing to be petted. “Do you have to do that when you’re talking?”
Luke said, “The body on the bench in Elizabeth’s case might be the dead mother in my case.”
Thinking for a moment, Selina was shocked. “You mean the mother who’s been dead for a year?”
Luke nodded and asked, “Now, which case should we work on first?”
Selina hesitated for a moment, but refused the temptation. “Let’s follow up on Jennifer’s case first, then catch up on progress with your case along the way.” Luke was lost for words; it seemed that Selina was unwilling to give up either case. It did make sense. That was Jennifer Perry, one of the best actresses in Hollywood. She was much more famous than a B-list star like Katie.
Luke simply indulged Selina’s wish, and put his case file aside.
Without new information, there wasn’t much he could do, at least not until the ident.i.ty of the female body was confirmed. Focusing on Jennifer’s case, he read the case file for a moment, then laughed. “Does this big star live in the wilderness of Texas? A maid bleeding out in the living room for hours before she was discovered? Are her security guards all like Selev[1]? In that case, it’s a miracle that she’s still alive.”
Selina nodded. “The security guards claim that they aren’t authorized to enter the house at night unless it’s an emergency.”
Luke said, “So, the house is actually a sealed container, and no one outside knows what happened inside, is that right?” Selina replied, “Yes. There were only three people in the house that night: the victim Millis, another maid called Manny, and Jennifer, our star.”
Luke almost laughed. “Fantastic. So, there’s a 50% chance that we can find the perpetrator by randomly picking one of them, right? … Hm, I take that back.”
Looking at the photo of the maid’s head wound as well as the medical diagnosis from the hospital, he changed his opinion.
He flipped back and reexamined the file and photos. Mulling for a moment, he shook his head. “No weapons were found?”
Selina said, without raising her head, “Not yet. There are no matching items in the house.”
“Neither Jennifer nor Manny are very strong, are they?” asked Luke.
Selina nodded at first, but then shook her head. “Jennifer is normal. Healthy, at most. As for Manny, we’ll have to meet her in person to be sure.”
“If Manny isn’t a professional, it would be hard for her to bash Millis’s skull in like this.” Narrowing his eyes, Luke said, “Let’s go to the celebrity’s house.”
Selina was surprised. “We’re leaving the police department?”
But she quickly came back to herself and put the case file in her purse. “Okay, let’s go!”
When she saw the look on Luke’s face, she finally remembered that she didn’t have to stay in the police department as Elsa had instructed.
Luke had forced Bullseye to flee last night. Did Selina really need to worry about Bullseye?
No; at least, not when she was with Luke.
They drove straight to Jennifer Perry’s house in Beverly Hills.
Looking at the mansion behind the gate, Selina’s eyes glowed. “Luke, do you think there’ll be… Um, never mind. Forget I asked.”
She had remembered her fantasy of a hundred maids and a butler with a cla.s.sic British accent when she saw the big mansion.
However, the statements she just read suggested that there were only two regular maids in this mansion, and all the other employees would leave after they finished their daily work.
Luke pressed a b.u.t.ton on the gate and said, “I’m Detective Luke from LAPD. This is Detective Selina. We’re here about Millis’s injury from last night.”
In the meantime, he showed his badge to the camera so that the security guards could get a clear look. Selina did the same.
A moment later, someone said, “Just a minute.” After that, there was nothing.
After waiting for almost ten minutes, Selina couldn’t take it anymore. She asked in surprise, “What’s the meaning of this?”
Luke chuckled. “Elsa and I waited for quite a while when we visited Katie. Then, a maid ran out screaming that Katie was dead.”
Selina burst into laughter. “That’s just a coincidence. There’s no way that’ll happen again…”
The gate suddenly opened, and a male voice rang out anxiously. “Detectives, please come in. Manny was attacked!”
Both Selina and Luke were speechless.
The mansion was in chaos when they entered.
Luke roared, “LAPD! Everybody, stay where you are!” Stunned, everybody looked at them.
Luke said coldly, “Miss Jennifer Perry and the person who discovered the injured maid will stay. The rest of you, leave. No talking to each other and no phone calls. Are we clear?”
Everybody looked at each other in bewilderment. A moment later, a beautiful woman with long brown hair waved her hand and said, “Just listen to this… detective.”
Luke looked at her and asked, “Miss Perry, have you called for an ambulance?” Jennifer answered in the affirmative.
Luke nodded and dropped Selina a hint.
Selina immediately understood his meaning. She quietly walked to the window and took out a phone that Luke had made, before she activated the voice-gathering function and pointed the phone at the four security guards on the porch.
Noticing that Selina had done what he wanted, Luke focused his attention on the beautiful woman in front of him.
[1] The dead star Katie’s security guard