This was his first case since taking office, and a botched job would not only be embarrassing, it could even cost him the chance to become permanent.
Once everyone had arrived, Luke convened a meeting.
"Let's share updates on your investigations," he said.
Jack sighed, "Sorry, Jackson and I screwed up yesterday, and we let that guy get away."
Luke comforted, "I've asked the anti-gang and drug enforcement divisions to help find Petrov's whereabouts.
Does anyone else have anything to report?"
Jenny said, "I compared the statements of other homeless people. Essentially the same—they all haven't seen the suspect who dumped the body."
The deputy continued, "Raymond and I interrogated that greedy white homeless man again.
Based on his description, I roughly reconstructed the scene where the body was dumped.
The killer must have thrown the body into the river first, then buried the blue bag in the pit afterwards.
During this process, he didn't see the suspect using any vehicle to move the body. Considering the dense vegetation around the river, I think it's likely that the killer carried the body on his back and threw it into the river.
This means the killer is physically strong and probably not too old. At least someone my age certainly couldn't carry it.
Unfortunately, with the thick weeds and piles of fallen leaves by the river, no clear footprints were found."
Matthew passed out a document to everyone, "I checked Petrov's cell phone number and printed out a contact list.
Many of these numbers are anonymous cards, making it hard to trace their real identities."
Jenny suggested, "Why not call these contacts again like yesterday and see if we can extract Petrov's situation?"
The deputy shook his head, "I'm afraid it won't be easy. If Petrov is an organizer for the silver trade, he's bound to be cautious. Once he knows the police are onto him, he'll definitely have measures to protect himself and it'll be hard to catch him with just a cell phone number."
At that moment, there was a knock at the door.
David walked in, "Morning, guys.
Lieutenant Luke, I hope I'm not interrupting your meeting.
Seeing you in that seat does take some getting used to."
David emphasized the word "lieutenant."
Luke ignored the comment, "Any leads on Petrov?"
"Based on information from an informant, we've located one of his haunts. I thought you might want to catch him yourself," David said.
"Of course. Want to join?"
"Why not? It's been a while since I've been in action with you bastards—I kind of miss it."
Luke joked, "Great, looks like we won't need a battering ram then."
"Haha…" the team burst into laughter.
In the Wicaro Community, at number 305.
Luke and the others parked their car not far away.
David pointed toward the grey house across the street, "That's Petrov's haunt. Our informant saw him return there yesterday."
Luke surveyed the place, "How many people?"
"Well, if it involves a gang, we need to be fully armed and well-prepared."
Luke then began preparing for the takedown operation.
Raymond was in charge of perimeter security to prevent the suspect from escaping, while Luke and David, the former Golden pair, were in charge of the capture.
Luke put on a bulletproof vest, took an M4 rifle, shock grenades, and once he was ready, gave the command to launch the assault.
Luke and David discussed and decided to storm the back door.
The back door was just a wooden one, just as Luke said—no need for a battering ram.
David kicked hard, "Bang!" and the door swung open.
"Target found in the living room!"
After searching the entire house, the police only found one white male, Petrov himself.
However, compared to his defiant attitude yesterday, Petrov looked pretty worse for wear now.
He was tied to a chair, unable to move, with a towel stuffed in his mouth, and his body bore many marks of a beating, as though tortured.
Luke carefully observed that while the injuries weren't fatal, Petrov became excited when he saw the police, making muffled "mmph mmph" noises.
To Luke's surprise, Petrov's hands and feet were bandaged with cotton, and there was a shoebox soaked in blood next to him.
David approached cautiously and lifted the shoebox lid, gasping in shock. Inside the box were four thumbs—two from hands and two from feet.
Jack was also taken aback. He'd imagined many scenarios but hadn't expected this, "Petrov's thumbs on both hands and feet were chopped off?"
"Mmph mmph…" Hearing this, Petrov cried out louder, his face showing a mix of pain and rage.
David threw the box on the floor, "Without his thumbs, he's like a tiger without claws—this guy is practically incapacitated."
Luke furrowed his brow, scanning the room. He hadn't expected to encounter such a scene.
Who had tied up Petrov and tortured him?
The female victim had her head cut off; Petrov had his thumbs cut off. Could they have been the work of the same perpetrator?
And why hadn't the killer murdered Petrov?
However, this was good news—Petrov may have seen the killer.
"Take the towel out of his mouth."