"I'm already done for."
"Mr. Ross, you should rest now, and I wish you a speedy recovery," Luke said, standing up to leave.
"You must catch him, promise me!"
Without turning back, Luke thought to himself, You've watched too many TV dramas.
Getting into the car, Black frowned, "I don't feel any sympathy for him, the guy is a total scumbag."
Luke ignored Black; he was contemplating what Eddie Ross had just said.
If what Eddie Ross said was true, then this case should be different from the previous assumptions.
First was the description of the suspect.
According to the description from the white homeless man by the Suter River, the person who dumped the body on September 15 was a white man wearing a baseball cap, jeans, and no mention of a mask.
But according to Eddie Ross's description, the suspect was a black man wearing a mask.
The physical characteristics of the two descriptions were vastly different.
Furthermore, the masked man's questioning of Eddie Ross seemed to be a quest for the killer of Novina Jones.
If the above information matches, then these three cases are likely not perpetrated by the same suspect.
Luke reassembled the case clues, trying to theorize again.
Novina Jones was the first victim. The police tracked down Petrov through her identity and address, but he was uncooperative and fled.
Afterward, the police found Eddie Ross through cell phone records. He also didn't cooperate with the investigation and lied about not knowing Novina Jones.
Amidst police frustration, these two suspected perpetrators were both subjected to inquisitive harassment—one had his hand chopped off, and the other was attacked with a knife.
From this perspective, it seems the man with the black mask was also investigating the murder of Novina Jones, possibly seeking vengeance for her.
After some consideration, Luke decided this theory was theoretically valid.
The masked man castrated the gang enforcer and emasculated the pervert patron.
What kind of behavior is that?
Acting as the hand of justice?
Luke had a headache. Whatever the masked man's motives were, he had already caused trouble for him.
He didn't feeling one bit.
Meanwhile, he continued to ponder why confessions that the police couldn't obtain came so easily to the other party?
No reservations, ruthless actions.
Yet, there was a line he didn't cross—he didn't kill.
Apart from external influences, there were also problems within Squad One.
Susan's transfer was having a greater impact than expected.
When Susan was in Squad One, with her presence, Luke, as the deputy captain, held little actual power and went out on investigations with other team members.
Luke's investigative abilities hardly need mentioning; he led most of the cases to resolution.
Now with Susan's transfer, Luke became the captain, in command at headquarters.
The task of going out for investigations was handed over to his subordinates, first Marcus and Jackson.
The second time it was Raymond and Jenny.
They had all tried their best and done well, but problems arose.
If Susan hadn't been transferred, it's likely that Luke and Black would be the ones going out to investigate.
Assuming Petrov had run into Luke instead of Jackson, it's likely that he would have been caught and not pre-emptively targeted by the masked man.
As for Eddie Ross, had he lied, Luke might well have seen through it.
Of course, the world has no ifs, and Luke being the captain in command had no issues; he simply continued Susan's model.
But he lacked one thing compared to Susan.
At the time, Susan had Luke, a capable lieutenant.
She could confidently delegate investigative tasks to Luke, and he always performed well; she trusted him a lot, which was why she could remain focused at headquarters.
In contrast, Luke, now captain of Squad One, had fewer opportunities to investigate in person and struggled to find someone who could step into his shoes.
The other team members were also excellent, each with their own characteristics and abilities, but clearly, they fell short compared to Luke.
To put it bluntly, if they wanted to solve cases quickly, Luke still had to be involved in frontline investigation; no one could replace him.
He was the guarantee of successful case resolution.
Of course, he definitely had to be the captain, and not only hold the position but also be confirmed officially as soon as possible.
As for how to adjust the internal division of labor within the team, that still needed careful consideration…