Luke nodded, "You're right, there is indeed such a risk."
"Has your supermarket ever experienced a poisoning incident before?"
"Have you offended anyone lately?"
"No, I'm a slowpoke and to be blunt, a bit of a pushover, so I rarely have conflicts with others."
Luke took out several photos of the poisoning victims, "Do you recognize these people?"
Li Shanmei examined them carefully, "I don't know them. Do they have anything to do with the theft case?"
"No, I'm just speculating."
After understanding the general situation, Luke and Xiao Hei began to review the surveillance of the theft scene at the supermarket.
It was in complete disarray, shelves had collapsed, and merchandise was scattered all over the floor.
The thieves didn't have a shred of professional ethics.
They didn't just steal things; whatever they couldn't take, they vandalized, as if their acts were driven by a vengeful mindset.
At the same time, Luke could understand why the police handling the case had been unable to make any progress for so long – the scene was too chaotic to find any useful leads, and with the large flow of people in the supermarket, collecting biological materials wasn't very feasible.
If there had been surveillance during the crime, the chances of solving the case would have been much higher.
In this situation, they had to find another approach.
Since they couldn't find any leads on the theft suspects, Luke decided to start the investigation from the angle of fencing the stolen goods.
The suspects had stolen so many goods from the supermarket, it was unlikely they were keeping it all for personal use.
After careful consideration, Luke narrowed his investigation to three individuals.
The first person was a former employee who had been fired by the owner of Shanyuan Supermarket.
According to Li Shanmei, shortly after Jiangnan Supermarket had been robbed, this former employee of Shanyuan Supermarket came to apply for a job and, in an attempt to showcase his value, disclosed that Shanyuan Supermarket had just received a batch of goods of unknown origin.
In terms of timing, the dubious merchandise obtained by Shanyuan Supermarket could very well have been stolen from Jiangnan Supermarket.
If the human evidence was the former employee of Shanyuan Supermarket,
then the physical evidence was the Kaffir brand red wine.
According to Li Shanmei, only their supermarket could sell this brand of red wine near the Korean community. Shanyuan Supermarket couldn't possibly have purchased it directly from the manufacturer, which meant the red wine in Shanyuan Supermarket was likely stolen from Jiangnan Supermarket.
Two customers became ill after buying this brand of red wine from Shanyuan Supermarket. Luke intended to contact these two customers; they could indirectly provide physical evidence.
With both human and physical evidence, it would be difficult for Osmon, the owner of Shanyuan Supermarket, to deny the allegations.
At seven o'clock in the evening.
At Shanyuan Supermarket, a sign was erected at the entrance, indicating a product recall.
Our store is recalling Wissen brand mineral water due to a packaging issue at the bottle mouth. We are offering a tenfold compensation.
The sign was placed prominently so most passersby would glance at it.
Osmon, the owner of Shanyuan Supermarket, let out a sigh as he looked at the sign and dejectedly returned to the store.
The last thing a supermarket owner wants are quality issues, and he didn't want to put up such a sign at the entrance, but he had no choice.
Back in the supermarket, seeing the scattered crowd, much smaller than the usual customer traffic, Osmon felt even more irritated. He didn't want to see anyone and turned to head back to his office.
Inside the office, the news suddenly came on the television hanging from the ceiling.
A female reporter stood in front of the detective bureau building and said, "Breaking news, Detective Chief Reid has just held an emergency press conference.
Recently, there have been several mineral water poisoning incidents in Los Angeles. The locations of the poisonings include a Los Angeles subway station and Shanyuan Supermarket at 402 Savvy Street.
The known poisoned mineral water brand is Wissen, and the exact method of poisoning is still unclear. Please be cautious when drinking.
Wissen mineral water is a product of the Wissen company. We tried to contact a representative of the Wissen company, but they declined to provide an interview, citing a meeting."
We will continue to follow and report on this story..."
"Fuck!" Osmon roared, pounding on the table in anger, "Bang…"
It had made it to the TV, and everyone now knew about the poisoning incident at his supermarket. Who would dare to shop there anymore?
Osmon trembled with rage, having painstakingly managed the supermarket for many years, only to end up in such a predicament.
There was a knock at the door.
Osmon, annoyed, shouted, "Stop knocking, there's no one in the office."
"Creak..." The door was pushed open from the outside, and Osmon's anger surged. Which idiot lacked such common sense? Did they no longer want their job?
He was about to curse out loud, but he froze when he saw who it was.
"Deputy Luke, Detective Marcus, what brings you back here?"
Xiao Hei grinned, "We came to check in on you, and to provide you with some psychological counseling."
"I'm a tough guy, I don't need that. Officers, if there's nothing else, please leave. I just want to be alone right now."
"Afraid I'm going to disappoint you, but we actually do have other things to discuss with you."
Osmon sighed deeply, sat down on the couch with a sense of defeat, "Why would those damned bastards poison my supermarket, why?
I'm really about to be enraged to death."
Luke sat across from him on the couch and casually asked, "Would you like to know the identity of the poisoner?"
"Of course, have you caught the poisoner?" Osmon showed a flicker of hope.