"The first time I saw this news, if you're worried about accuracy, you could ask Mr. Brown to help identify the person," Susan said.
"OK, contact Mr. Brown immediately and ask him to assist in identifying the suspect."
"Jenny, you check out the situation with the arrested suspect George... no, I'll go myself." Susan took a few steps out, then turned around and said, "Luke, let me know as soon as you've confirmed anything."
Robbery and Murder Department, Deputy Chief's office.
Reid called Susan and Luke into the office.
Reid sat beside his desk, his hands clasped together, his expression grave. "Describe in detail the progress of the investigation."
Susan signaled, "Luke, you explain."
Luke gathered his thoughts, "We are investigating a case of a body dumped at sea; the victim, Kunni'er, was a foster child.
He was a loner by nature, didn't get along well with his guardians, and in fact, wasn't living with the foster family anymore.
The foster family's guardians didn't know much about his recent circumstances.
According to our investigation, we found he had two close contacts recently.
One is his biological mother, Nasi Bolt.
She is a drug addict with a long history of drug use, and abandoned him when he was very young.
The victim lived in poverty for a long time, but his lifestyle became quite lavish shortly before his death; I suspect it may be related to his biological mother Nasi.
Given that Nasi has a history of drug use, it's likely she came into contact with drugs and drug dealers, so we suspect that the victim's sudden wealth may be related to drugs.
The victim's murder could be a revenge killing by drug dealers.
Besides, the victim recently had contact with another individual named Derek, also a 14-year-old boy; the two met at the foster center and had similar life experiences, maintaining a close relationship.
We speculate Derek probably knows more about the victim's situation, so we went to Derek's foster family to investigate."
Luke paused, then continued,
"After we arrived, we learned that Derek's guardians had just called the police, claiming that two men, claiming to be LAPD, had come looking for Derek.
Derek didn't answer their questions, instead he jumped out the window and fled, and the two self-proclaimed LAPD officers opened fire."
"Based on our investigation, those two claiming to be LAPD were probably imposters.
Because we don't have photos of the fake LAPD suspects, we can't confirm their identities.
I've self-taught some forensic sketching skills, and in order to find these two as quickly as possible, I created forensic sketches of the suspects based on eyewitness descriptions.
One of the suspects looks strikingly similar to the suspect George who was shown in the news resisting arrest.
Both were wearing gold chains and driving black Ford sedans.
We suspect that George could very well be one of the faux LAPD suspects.
He might even be the murderer who killed Kunni'er!"
Reid frowned deeply, "I looked into the situation with the resisting arrest suspect George.
He has been taken to the hospital for treatment, where blood tests revealed a high concentration of alcohol and drug substances in his system.
He also suffered breathing difficulties due to compression on his neck.
After emergency treatment at the hospital, he is momentarily out of mortal danger, but he is still under observation."
Luke suggested, "Chief, can we take his statement?"
"You must have seen the news; this incident has been blown out of proportion, making George's identity quite sensitive now.
Luckily, he was revived; if not, it could have escalated into a social justice issue.
I can try to negotiate a visit for you, but you mustn't agitate him during the questioning."
"Rest assured, I saw the news and am aware of the criticism of LAPD's use of force. I'll be careful."
Reid shook his head, "No, no, no, what you see is only the surface. There are big players behind this incident.
If George had died, we at the LAPD would have to take the blame, becoming pawns for some people or organizations.
The situation is far more complex than you imagine."
Luke assured, "I understand, I'll handle it with the utmost care."
"Good, I'll contact the patrol department again and try to arrange a visitation soon."
At nine o'clock that evening, Luke received notification from Reid that they could visit the hospital to see the detained suspect George.
Luke immediately headed to the hospital with Black.
A large group of reporters had gathered outside the hospital.
These reporters were like sharks smelling blood; if anyone wanted George dead, it would likely be them.
If George died, the news story would blow up even more.
In the crowd, a black female reporter blew a kiss to Black.
Black chuckled idiotically and followed Luke into the hospital.
The suspect George was arranged on the seventh floor.
Luke and Black stepped out of the elevator to see several police officers sitting in the hallway.
The officers looked up at Luke and Black at the same time.
Black displayed his badge, "Guys, don't get tense, we're one of you.
I'm Marcus, a detective from the Robbery and Murder Department, and this is Deputy Chief Luke."
Veteran officer John stood up, approached the hallway lobby, and said, "Deputy Chief Luke, what brings you here?"
"John, I saw you on the news, you did well."
"Where's suspect George? We need to have a word with him."
John pointed towards room 714, "He's inside there."
"Why are you recording his statement?"
"Didn't you get the notice from above?"
"I did, but I'm having trouble understanding some things."
"Now's not the time to chat. I'll tell you another day." Luke countered, "Is there anyone else in there?"