Seeing Luke escort Pike out of a different apartment complex, Anthony's nose was practically bent out of shape with irritation.
"Man, can we talk this over?"
"No, there's nothing to discuss." Luke firmly pushed Pike into the car.
Anthony said, "He killed an FBI agent."
Pike yelled through the window, "I didn't!"
Anthony said softly, "Luke, hand him over to me; I'll owe you one."
"That sounds tempting, but I'm LAPD. I have my duties."
Anthony pinched the bridge of his nose, then settled for less, "I want to join the investigation of the case."
Luke said, "The investigation should be led by the police department."
"I want the clues the FBI is hiding."
Robbery and Murder Department.
The department's large conference room.
Reid, Susan, Anthony, Luke, and others gradually entered the conference room.
Reid said with a smile, "Luke, I heard that you and Marcus caught the Skull Gang's boss together—nicely done."
Luke shrugged, "Just lucky, that's all."
Anthony looked a bit displeased, "Woah, is this some kind of commendation ceremony? Did I come to the wrong place?"
The deputy chief said with a laugh, "Luke is one of Reid's favorites; this is just the appetizer before the meeting. You'll get used to it."
Anthony sighed, "He did do well. He's a promising young man, and I quite admire him."
Little Black couldn't stand it anymore, "Come on, you speak as if you're handing over the credit to us. If we hadn't caught Pike, he'd probably have run by now."
Anthony glanced at Little Black, scoffed, and said, "Oh, if you hadn't spoken up, I almost forgot you were there too."
Reid glanced at his watch, "Guys, I've got a city council meeting to attend in a bit. We need to speed things up. Anthony, talk about the clues the FBI has found. Don't hold anything back this time, or you can forget about participating in Pike's interrogation, got it?"
Anthony stroked his chin, "Agent Fannie did discover some other issues during her investigation at the school. She was a former Marine, not content with just dealing with a bunch of kids. So she wanted to probe deeper into the problems she discovered."
Reid pressed, "What problems?"
Anthony explained, "She found that someone in the campus was selling dope. After some time tracking it, we have concrete clues. The dope dealer is Kyle Torrez, a student at Maraboya High School and the last victim of the school shooting. He died on the rooftop of the science building."
Luke asked, "What's this got to do with the Skull Gang's Pike?"
Anthony said, "Maraboya High School is on Skull Gang's turf. We looked into Kyle Torrez's background; he had close interactions with the Skull Gang, likely an affiliate member. Kyle Torrez's dope might as well have come from the Skull Gang. We suspect that Fannie uncovered something significant. That's why the Skull Gang decided to silence both her and Kyle Torrez, with the school shooting as a diversion. So we decided to move against the Skull Gang."
Luke pressed, "Have you confirmed the identity of the shooter?"
"Not yet," Anthony replied, then asked back, "What have you guys found?"
Luke thought for a moment, "While investigating the music building shooting, we found that members of the Skull Gang had contact with the shooting suspect, so we decided to approach the Skull Gang for information."
Anthony said, "That's right. Clues from both cases point to the Skull Gang; they're definitely involved in the shooting."
Reid asked, "Luke, what do you think?"
Luke pondered, "I don't know much about the victims in the science building to make a judgment. But the music building shooting is likely related to the Skull Gang."
Reid contemplated and said, "OK, let's use the music building shooting as a breakthrough and get Pike to start talking."
The first interrogation room of the Robbery and Murder Department.
Pike was handcuffed to the interrogation chair, his gaze sweeping around the room.
The door creaked open.
Luke and Little Black stepped into the interrogation room.
Pike pointed to the wall straight ahead, "There must be someone watching me, right? Should I say hello?"
Luke responded indifferently, "Up to you."
"You know, I really feel wronged. This whole thing has nothing to do with me. You've got the wrong guy; I'm innocent."
Luke stared at him for a while and then gestured backward, "The FBI is right behind me. If it weren't for me stopping them, they would have taken you away by now. Stop spouting these meaningless lies; don't make me think any less of you, OK?"
"Detective Chief Luke, I respect you, but the shooting really has nothing to do with me. I wouldn't do something that stupid. I don't want to mess with those damn... guys from the FBI. I just want to do my business honestly."
Luke waved his finger, "Stop talking nonsense. I ask, you answer. If you lie, I'll let the FBI take you."
Pike sighed, "That reminds me of my childhood. My mom used to scare me like that, saying 'If you don't behave, the police will take you away.' And now that I've grown up, here I am, a regular visitor at the police station. Isn't it ironic?"
"That just shows the LAPD has been good to you. If it were the FBI, you wouldn't be a visitor; you'd be a permanent resident." Luke changed the subject, "First question, why did you send people to Theodore's house? Remember what I just said—no lying."