Inside a police patrol car.
John sat in the passenger seat of the patrol car, looking out the window. "Lucy, pull over to the right, there's a convenience store up ahead."
Lucy slowly pulled the car to the side and yawned. "John, don't be in such a hurry to get out, we need to have a talk."
"What do you want to talk about?" John picked up his coffee cup and took a sip.
Lucy pointed at her watch. "It's already ten at night, I would normally be getting ready for bed by this time.
Listen, we've been working overtime long enough today, the work will never be done."
John nodded. "OK, let's check out this convenience store and then call it a day, how about that?"
"I've heard that line twice already."
"Trust me, this is definitely the last time." John got out of the car and headed straight for the convenience store.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "This damn competitive spirit, are all men this boring?"
John turned around. "Hey, I heard that. A real man has to be willing to take on challenges."
Daisy shook her head. "Childish."
The two entered the convenience store, and John looked toward the cashier, where a tall, skinny middle-aged Caucasian man stood. "Hi, boss, how's business tonight?"
"Not bad, if you had come a minute later, I might've closed up." The Caucasian owner glanced at the two. "Officers, what can I get for you?"
John said, "Do you sell prepaid disposable phones here?"
The owner retorted, "Yes, is there a problem?"
"Uh, we're investigating a case, and the suspect used a disposable phone. As far as we know, it's very likely that she bought the disposable phone at a convenience store nearby."
The owner frowned. "Do you have any evidence? Are you sure it was bought at my store?"
"No, not specifically your store, but the convenience stores around this area. We're just checking."
The owner showed an enlightened expression. "Do you have a search warrant?"
"I have to be responsible to my customers, I can't just disclose their privacy."
"We're only checking for suspicious individuals, we won't disclose any convenience store customers' details."
"Sorry, I can't help you." The owner gestured them out the door.
"I respect your decision." John walked to the door, took out his phone, and dialed a number. "Hello, is this Captain Jackson from the Robbery and Murder Department?
I'm following your Robbery and Murder Department's request to visit convenience stores in the area around the cell tower for an investigation.
We're currently at the Terragi Convenience Store on Noconnely Street...
Yeah, they have disposable phones, but the owner is unwilling to assist with the investigation...
OK, got it, I'll bring someone over tomorrow and show you around."
John hung up the phone, ready to leave.
The owner became unsettled and called after him, "Hey, who were you just talking to?"
"None of your business."
"But you mentioned me just now, so it's clearly related to me.
Are you going to trouble me just because I didn't assist with the investigation? If that's the case, we'll file a complaint against you."
"I'm not here to trouble you; we're just investigating a case. The Robbery and Murder Department is also investigating this case; our two departments are simply sharing information.
A friendly reminder, just because I can't get a search warrant doesn't mean the Robbery and Murder Department can't."
The owner questioned, "It's nearly ten past. Don't they need to sleep?"
"You're right, it'll probably be tomorrow before they can get a search warrant. Your business might be affected tomorrow, so you should be prepared mentally for that."
"Come on, all I want to do is run my business smoothly, can't you stop causing trouble?"
"I don't want it this way either, that's why I came over tonight, there are no customers in the store right now. If you're willing to assist with our investigation, it might just take a few minutes. As long as we check it out, the bigshots from the Robbery and Murder Department won't have to come."
The Caucasian owner sighed and waved them in. "Come in, then. How do you want to check?"
"We need to investigate anyone who bought a disposable phone in your store in the past half a month."
The owner seemed troubled. "That's difficult, many people pay in cash, even if I wanted to help you, I don't have the ability to do so."
Lucy said, "Then check the surveillance, as long as there are images, we can identify her ourselves."
The owner spread his hands. "You must be joking, watching half a month of surveillance, you'll be watching until forever, and you said it wouldn't affect my work."
Lucy asked, "Do you have records whenever you sell merchandise?"
Lucy said, "Then that's easy, just look at the sale time on the product records, and pull up the corresponding time on the surveillance. It's very straightforward."
John snapped his fingers. "Good idea."
The owner, left with no choice, complied with their request. Recently, a total of five disposable phones were sold, two of which were paid in cash—these two were the focal point of the investigation.
The owner pulled up the surveillance footage of these two individuals purchasing phones, one of whom was a black man in his thirties, and the other a white woman in her early twenties.
John said, "I have a feeling that this woman is very likely to be the one who made the false report."
Lucy said, "Investigations rely on evidence, not hunches. It could just as well be the black man."
John asked, "Want to bet on it?"
Lucy rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not interested."
"Ding-ding-ding..." John's phone rang. He glanced at it. "Hey, someone interested has arrived."