Chapter 324 One Riot, One Ranger
A few minutes later, while enjoying her cheese and ham sandwich and milk, Selina looked curiously at the cake that Luke was packing. “What’s that?”.
Luke said, “An opera cake. It occurred to me that both you and Elsa like tiramisu. An opera cake also has chocolate and coffee, but it’s a little tricky to make.”
Actually, it wasn’t tricky so much as torturous.
Luke only made it because he didn’t need much sleep, and the meticulous process was a way to stabilize his mood. It had taken him two hours last night to come up with this extremely difficult product.
He could also now add another fancy dessert to the recipe list for Selina.
Before Selina could say anything, Luke had already pushed a piece of the cake to her. “Don’t eat too much, or it may put you off.”
Selina said, “No way, I’ll never get tired of this sort of bittersweet taste. Food like this is G.o.d’s gift to me.”
Luke said, “…Do I have to remind you that I stayed up last night to make this cake, not G.o.d?”
Selina said, “I’m referring to my tastebuds and the fact that I don’t put on weight no matter how much I eat, okay?”.
Looking at Luke’s face, she immediately added, “Of course, the person I still need to thank the most is you, darling.”
This glutton’s desire to live was still strong! Luke was amused.
After Selina had breakfast, they went to work.
They checked in at the police department and let Elsa know which case they were working on so that she could be prepared.
Elsa simply nodded. She had them wait a moment, before she picked up the phone and said a few words.
A moment later, she jerked her chin toward the door of the lounge. “See that? Someone from your hometown is waiting for you.”
Luke and Selina, and with one glance, they could tell that the stranger was Texan.
“Who is he?” asked Luke.
Elsa said, “A Texas ranger, who’s here specifically for the Mark Owen case.” He was the person whom she had called just now.
Luke and Selina went to greet the man, before they left for the morgue together.
Samuel Petri was the name of this old Texan man.
Of course, it was a little exaggerated to call him old, but he was coming up to fifty, and with his white cowboy hat and ma.s.sive gut, he did seem older than he actually was.
He was a Texas ranger, which was under the state police.
At the same time, Samuel was the boss of the victim in Luke’s case.
Luke had good reason to say that Roger and Martin’s cases were tricky, based on the two cases he had in hand.
Palmer was attacked multiple times, but was lucky enough to survive all of them.
This Texas ranger called Mark Owen who was lying on the table wasn’t as fortunate.
Three days earlier, Ranger Mark was escorting Wade Davis, a murder suspect, back to Texas for a trial, when he was ambushed on the road outside L.A..
Mark was shot three times and killed on the spot, and the suspect was in the wind.
“Mark was a good kid, so I’m here to bring him home.” Looking at Mark’s pale face on the table, Samuel took off his hat and pressed it to his chest.
After a brief silence, he continued, “I want to say that doing all you can to fight criminals is the right thing to do, but…” He stared sorrowfully at the young face not far away.
Luke sighed. “But it’s not always the best option.”
He then stretched out his hand. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Samuel shook hands with him as well as with Selina, who also offered her condolences.
Scorsese, a black forensic scientist, said, “All the test results will be out in two days.” This could be considered extremely quick; it was clear that the department was working overtime on this case.
The three detectives all nodded.
Luke said, “Let’s talk outside.”
A short while later, the two of them watched Samuel leave.
Selina shook her head with a bitter smile. “A Texas ranger?”
Luke knew what she was sighing about. “Their motto is ‘One Riot, One Ranger’.”
Smiling at each other bitterly, they went off to investigate.
The murder suspect whom Mark had been escorting was a real estate business magnate in Texas, yet the Texas police had only sent one police car and one Texas ranger for the long transport back.
Those people were truly audacious.
After flipping through the case file and talking to the detectives who had helped out with this case previously, Luke and Selina left the police department at noon, and a car was waiting for them outside.
Luke waved at the black female officer in the car when he pa.s.sed by to indicate that they could leave, and two cars left for lunch.
They had a quick lunch, and both teams traded information as they ate; it was more comfortable to communicate in a less formal setting
After lunch, they left for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in two cars.
Luke frowned when he walked into the lobby.
The place was utter bedlam, with people milling around and shouting.
He nodded slightly at the other police detectives who had come with him. Sonia Belly, the black female officer, took her partner with her to the reception desk to explain the purpose of their visit.
The receptionist, who was also a black female officer, looked at Sonia’s partner in surprise. “Alessandro Cruz? Thanks for helping me win fifty bucks — I bet that you’d be here again. Fine, what did you do this time?”
Sonia said without a change in tone, “Yes, he did the dumbest thing in the world — he became a L.A. police officer.”
The receptionist was speechless. “I know that LAPD is having a harder time recruiting people, and that you’ve been lowering your requirements, but this is… absurd.” With utter mocking and disdain, she picked up her phone, as if she didn’t want to talk to them anymore.
Sonia said calmly, “We’re looking into the murder of an officer. So, we can wait until you’ve finished your important call to answer our questions.”The receptionist paused, then put down the phone awkwardly. “I’m sorry. How may I help you?”
Sonia said, “Two days earlier, a suspect called Wade Davis was transferred to a Texas ranger. We would like to know who was responsible for the transfer.”
The receptionist said, “Then you need to talk to Lila Jones. She was on duty two days ago.”
Sonia asked, “Where can we find her?”
The receptionist pointed to one corner of the lobby. “She just went to Big Nick’s office.”
Luke had been listening to the talk around them as he surveyed the situation. He suddenly asked, “What happened here?”
Stumped for a moment, the receptionist asked, “You are…”
Luke showed her his badge and said, “Luke, from LAPD’s Major Crimes Division.”