Chapter 1206: The Case of Another Theft
But no matter what their appearances were like, they were basically either apathetic, indifferent, or impatient. Many people even looked at the time every now and then.
While they weren’t like Luke, who could earn hundreds of thousands per minute, they could still earn several hundred or thousand every minute.
An incident at this press conference would just delay them from making money.
However, this brand was too big. Even if it had nothing to do with them, n.o.body dared to leave.
When Selina walked in and flashed her badge, n.o.body reacted.
Some were very unhappy and felt that this matter tonight was a huge waste of time.
Some weren’t in a hurry, and instead were keen to watch the show.
The many faces of life were perfectly reflected in this top gathering of supermodels.
Luke, who had turned into a “secret onlooker,” observed everybody from a quiet corner as he listened to Selina and the others.
In less than two minutes, the details of tonight’s case came to light, and it was very simple — something had been lost at the press conference.
With Sheerah as a special guest, Givenchy had provided her with a new diamond necklace for the press conference.
Now, the necklace was gone, and it was worth three million dollars.
The moment Luke heard that, he cursed inwardly. Seriously? Another necklace?
Bobby Max, Luke’s PR manager, had instructed his tame chimpanzee to steal Sheerah’s diamond necklace before, but Luke had caught him.
As the thought flashed through his mind, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Sheerah had lost a diamond necklace last time, and Luke had helped her sort out Bobby, that superhuman b*stard.
Don’t tell him he had to sort out the life of another superhuman?
As Luke thought this, he observed for a while longer. He told Selina to question the people here first and keep them calm for the time being while he wandered around for a look.
Listening to the words in her earpiece, Selina nodded slightly, as if in reaction to what the employee in front of her was saying.
Her comm unit was on, so Luke wouldn’t miss out on the conversation.
Luke was used to splitting his attention in two, and the both of them had long become accustomed to splitting the work this way.
Based on what he just heard, Luke went to Sheerah’s dressing room.
As a top diva in America, Sheerah had a makeup room to herself.
She earned 37 million dollars last year.
Last year, the world’s top supermodel earned just 18 million, the second 12 million, and the third 8 million.
The earnings of the three supermodels combined still couldn’t compare with Sheerah’s revenue.
Furthermore, Sheerah had only become popular in the second half of last year, and her revenue had skyrocketed this year; it was possible she could make more than what five supermodels combined could.
As long as she didn’t act recklessly, even if she switched careers and became a makeup blogger, for example, she could still make millions in a decade.
It was pretty much a matter of a handful of years for most supermodels after they reached the peak.
There were plenty who withdrew from the front line after five years to make way for a younger generation; they couldn’t compare with singers who could earn enough off one alb.u.m for the rest of their lives.
Sheerah’s status was convenient for Luke’s investigation.
He flashed his badge and had the staff member guarding the door open it. After activating Sharp Nose for a moment, Luke had a clear idea of what had happened.
There were only a few scents inside, and most of the people were still inside.
There was only one unfamiliar young girl whose scent clearly didn’t belong to this place.
The scent didn’t carry any trace of cosmetics or mid-range perfumes. Instead, it carried the distinctive smells of children from the slums — like weed, cigarettes, alcohol, and body odor from days of not showering.
This young girl was probably the “thief” who had stolen the diamond necklace.
Luke nodded and had the staff member close the door. He then walked down the hallway.
After taking a few turns, he opened a small door and walked out. He looked up at the sky and couldn’t help but frown.
Night had fallen, and it was drizzling in New York.
He flashed his badge and gestured at a staff member who was guarding the door. “Were you here the whole time?”
The employee frowned. “Yes.”
Luke shook his head. He could clearly sense the guy’s hesitation. He was clearly lying.
He asked again, “Are you sure you didn’t leave this door around 20 to 30 minutes ago?”
The employee’s face stiffened. “I didn’t.”
Luke glanced at the guy’s crotch and sighed. “When you went to take a p.i.s.s, you got a bit on your pants, didn’t you?”
The worker’s face fell. “W- What? I… I didn’t…”
Luke didn’t say anything else and simply left.
He wasn’t being pretentious when he asked the question, nor was he deliberately scaring the man; he just wanted to confirm if the staff member was in cahoots with the perpetrator.
Judging from the man’s mood, he had at most gone to the bathroom once. This sort of careless behavior was very common.
As a detective, however, Luke was only responsible for retrieving the necklace, and wasn’t obligated to help educate employees.
After letting Selina know what he was doing over the comm unit, he disappeared into a wet alley.
The smells were broken up by the light rain, including the scent of the little thief who had entered the makeup room.
If it had been when he first obtained Sharp Nose, he wouldn’t have been able to continue tracking the person, and would only be able to give up, like when he had tracked the serial killer, Stu Cooper.
Now, however, he could still try.
The scent lines, which were intact when there was no wind or rain, had turned into bubbles in the rainy night. They floated in a haphazard pattern along the street and were quick to decrease in amount, but had yet to completely disappear.
The remaining scent fragments were like “dots.”
As long as he connected the dots, he would be able to obtain a “line” that was close to the truth.
Luke broke into a quick jog.
He wasn’t afraid of a misstep.
Even if he went in the wrong direction, it wouldn’t take more than dozens of meters for him to realize it.
As long as he promptly returned to the previous “dot” and chose a path again, it would take no more than five seconds to correct himself.
He ran quickly, and in three minutes, he was several hundred meters away from the venue.
Luke frowned. The little thief’s scent had disappeared.
The last “dot” was on the side of the street, while the closest doorways around him didn’t have her scent.
It was likely that her scent had suddenly disappeared because she had gotten into a car.
The car that had picked her up didn’t have a special smell, or it had driven here from elsewhere. It picked up the little thief and left.
Without a scent to compare with, Luke couldn’t decide which car scent to follow from here.