Luke straightened out his thoughts; there are now four questions.
The first question is whether Albus Stone was the buyer of the ten stolen oil paintings.
The second question is whether Albus Stone died naturally or was murdered.
If it was murder, is it related to the ten stolen oil paintings?
The third question is, if Albus Stone died naturally and was terminally ill, why was he still dealing with oil paintings?
The fourth question is, where are the oil paintings?
If Albus Stone were still alive, Luke would just ask him directly.
Now that Albus Stone is dead, Luke needs to investigate himself, which makes the task much more difficult.
These doubts compelled Luke to leave Albus Stone's house.
He needs more evidence and clues to either prove his judgment or overturn his assumptions.
Since Albus Stone has just died and without sufficient evidence, Luke cannot rashly search the mourning hall.
Such actions are taboo and likely to upset the family.
After Detective Michelle Harold told him that Albus Stone was the client, Luke had a reason to investigate Albus Stone.
Before he went to Albus Stone's house, he had already assigned tasks to his team members to investigate separately.
At 2 PM, the team members returned to the police station one by one, and Luke convened everyone for a meeting.
Luke got straight to the point, "Guys, I went to Albus Stone's house. He is dead, and they are holding a wake there."
The deputy team leader said, "Dead? Are you sure it's Albus Stone himself?"
"His body is kept in the freezer, and it looks like it's Albus Stone himself," Luke's tone was not too certain, as he only saw Albus Stone briefly at the doorway of the sickroom.
The deputy team leader ran his fingers through his hair with his right hand, "Isn't it too much of a coincidence? Was it a natural death?"
"According to Mrs. Stone, her husband's condition was very serious, with no hope of recovery, just lingering on.
A couple of days ago, Mr. Stone came to his senses and requested the removal of the medical instruments. The doctors and nurses also left.
Mr. Stone passed away at 11:30 last night; he went peacefully, and Mrs. Stone was the first to discover it."
The deputy team leader snorted, "Mrs. Stone, Mrs. Stone, everything is said by Mrs. Stone.
If she wanted to kill her husband, it couldn't be easier.
The dead won't stand up to refute."
Jenny was a bit speechless, "Deputy team leader, not all couples have conflicts. Some depend on each other and love each other."
The deputy team leader said, "They are not an average couple. This Mr. Stone is called the 'Buffett' of California; in such rich families, affections are like a piece of paper, easily pierced by a finger."
Jenny shook her head, "You're too extreme."
"I know, Mr. Stone is old, and the probability of natural death is high.
But old men have rights too, and we can't rule out murder just because of age bias.
Moreover, for a billionaire, being in the eighties isn't old at all, nowhere near the average billionaire's lifespan." The deputy team leader has a particular view of marital relationships, which is based on decades of personal experience and hard to shake.
Jenny said, "If, according to you, Mr. Stone's death is related to his wife, but Mr. Stone has always been in poor health and wouldn't have lived much longer.
What would Mrs. Stone's reason be to kill him?"
"If motives for murder were that obvious, guessed in a few words, everyone would know who the killer is, and what use would the Robbery and Murder Department have?" The deputy team leader shrugged, "I didn't say Mrs. Stone was the killer, just that we should first rule out the possibility of murder."
The deputy team leader's words reminded Luke that the day he and Jackson went to Stone's house, Albus Stone had a seizure. With monitoring equipment and timely medical rescue, Albus Stone's life was saved.
Actually, there's no need for anyone to harm him deliberately; just take away the monitors and medical staff, and Albus Stone wouldn't last a few days.
Therefore, evidence of murder is hard to determine.
If it is as Mrs. Stone says, that her husband didn't want to suffer anymore and wanted to leave quietly, removing the medical instruments voluntarily, it would be a natural death.
If it was Mrs. Stone who requested the removal of the medical instruments and staff, then the situation becomes complicated, yet still difficult to judge.
Since the deputy team leader is quite attentive to such matters, Luke handed it over to him to deal with.
The deputy agreed very swiftly, "I'll have a good talk with Mr. Stone's doctor."
Luke asked, "How's the investigation into Mr. Stone's immediate family members?"
Matthew replied, "Mr. Stone has a wife and a son and daughter. His son works at Mr. Stone's company and is currently the General Manager and Executive Director; his daughter lives in New York for the long term and bought a ticket to Los Angeles early this morning."
Luke said, "What about financial status?"
Raymond said, "We checked with the banking system, and Mr. Stone's financial status was good.
Two months ago, he withdrew 10 million dollars in cash from his account."
Jackson said, "Could that 10 million dollars have been used to purchase the ten stolen oil paintings?"
Black said, "The purchasing price for stolen goods is usually between five to twenty percent of the market value. Those ten oil paintings are worth 20 million dollars in the market. If bought on the black market, it would only be between 1 to 4 million dollars, not nearly as much money.