"OK, he asked me about someone."
The cowboy bartender gestured with his hand.
Pari handed him a hundred dollars.
"Helson." The cowboy bartender picked up the hundred-dollar bill, looked at it, and kissed it.
"That's right, that guy. Heard from that cop, he died last night."
"What else did that cop say?"
"I didn't ask, and I wasn't much interested."
"But he sat at the bar for a long time; you guys must have talked about more than just these two sentences, right?"
"He spent most of the time talking to some effeminate officer; I just stood by."
"What did they talk about?"
"I didn't hear it very clearly."
"Then tell me what you did hear."
The cowboy bartender furrowed his brows and thought for a moment, "Uhm... I think it was... a headless female corpse... the murderer committed suicide from guilt... something about gas...
Right, and something about telling the effeminate officer to gather the evidence for closing the case."
Pari noted this down on a small notebook, "Anything else?"
"No, it was just some trivial chatter; I really can't remember. Hope this helps, for the money's sake."
"Of course, you've been a big help, Cowboy."
This information seemed trivial, and the average person might be confused upon hearing it, but Pari was different. She had gathered information about the headless female corpse case through other channels; by connecting these clues, she could arrive at very useful leads.
Moreover, she had been duped by Luke before. Although there was no evidence, that was to be expected; if evidence of Luke duping people could be found easily, that would be abnormal.
time, if the bartender had told her the whole lead directly, she might have been suspicious.
Instead, it was these seemingly trivial details, inadvertently revealed, that were more valuable.
Pari had been tracking the headless female corpse case for quite a while and quickly linked all the clues to get the information she wanted.
Helson Sweeney was likely the murderer in the headless female corpse case. The police had traced leads to him, and he chose to commit suicide using gas before the police could reach him; Luke was now preparing to close the case.
After deducing this, Pari, combining information from other sources, became even more certain of her judgment.
This was definitely a headline-worthy story.
The Detective Bureau.
The Robbery and Murder Department office.
Even though it was past closing time, the entire division was present; not a single person had left on time.
Using the license plate number obtained from the bartender, Luke quickly identified the car owner.
License plate number, 6YEB324
Phone number, 626-836-4322
Address, #305 Ibanez Community
Marital status, married with a daughter
Luke projected Henry Rogers's information onto the screen, "According to the bar owner, he was close with Helson Sweeney. They often drank together at the bar and is very likely the Henry we are looking for.
Moreover, Henry's relationship with his wife is bad, and they're likely separated now.
Additionally, his physical characteristics also match those of the suspect we're looking for."
Luke then turned to Matthew, "Tell us about your investigation."
Matthew looked at the computer screen, "There are three police call records associated with Henry Rogers.
The first was ten years ago when Henry Rogers had a conflict with someone and was charged with assault.
The second was three months ago when neighbors reported a suspected domestic abuse at Henry Rogers's house. Patrol officers responded to the scene, but there were no visible injuries on the couple, and they didn't formally enter into the domestic abuse case proceedings.
The third was two months ago when Henry Rogers reported his wife and child missing.
The police, after extensive searching, contacted his wife. She wasn't missing or in danger but had moved to Iowa and requested that the police not disclose her address to Henry Rogers."
The deputy rubbed his hands together, "It seems that Henry's marital challenges are worse than his friend's, Helson Sweeney.
If he found his wife and decided to decapitate her, I wouldn't be surprised at all."
Jackson said, "So, he might be the real perpetrator behind the headless female corpse case and then framed his friend Helson Sweeney. But why would he kill Helson's wife?"
Black replied, "If you ask me, there might have been some agreement between the two that later turned into a conflict, leading to them killing each other. There are many cases ."
Luke thought deeply, looking at the current situation, Henry Rogers was a significant suspect, but there was still no direct evidence linking him to the headless female corpse case.
Luke could visit him for an investigation, but worried about tipping him off, and based on the above clues, it would be difficult to apply for a search warrant.
"What's the name of Henry Rogers's wife? What's her phone number?"
"Marta Rogers, phone number 626-876-9485."
Luke pondered for a moment, then dialed the number.
"Hello, who is this?" A woman's voice came from the phone.
"Hello, is this Marta Rogers?"
"It's me, who's this?"
"I'm from LAPD, we wanted to check in about a prior domestic violence report."
"Oh, I'm doing fine now."
"Are you in Los Angeles?"
"No, I'm living in another state, thanks a lot for calling, it's very thoughtful. It makes me a bit nostalgic for Los Angeles… the friends there."
"Your husband's name is Henry Rogers, right?"