Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Mezke Bar.

After a busy day, winding down with a little drink at night is one of life's great pleasures.

The moment Luke entered the bar, he immediately became the center of attention.

He had anticipated this not only to satisfy the public's curiosity but also to quench his colleagues' curiosity; only then would the incident be truly put to rest.

Luke greeted his fellow officers with a smile, accepting their envy, teasing, and congratulations.

As the star of the day, he had to face it all with the mindset of a winner.

After chatting with the others, members of Squad One from the Robbery and Murder Department gathered together; Reid and David were also there.

David suggested, "Tell us about the Las Vegas shooting in detail, everyone's curious, especially about that gunman; the guy was definitely a twisted hard case."

Luke chuckled, "I'm with LAPD, not LVPD. Do you think they'd let me get involved in the investigation?"

The deputy team leader said, "Then just tell us what you know, I want to hear it too."

"OK," Luke nodded, and then recounted the shooting incident once more.

After listening, the deputy team leader laughed and said, "You boy, must have really pissed off the Las Vegas police. Don't think about going to Las Vegas for a vacation anymore."

"That place has nothing special besides gambling," Luke said, clearly annoyed.

Little Black just had to poke where it hurt, "Did you gamble while in Las Vegas this time, and did you win?"

"Stop! Let's end this topic here."

Little Black curled his lip, "I already know the answer."

Luke had a few drinks, chatted idly with his teammates, and then drove home.

A golden nest and a silver nest are not as good as one's own dog nest; there's no place like home.

When Little Black left the bar and was eyeing a few colleagues, considering who to hitch a ride with, his phone rang.

Little Black glanced at his phone, "Hello, Jones the reporter, what do you need?"

"There's a grey Ford in front of you to the right; that's my car."

Little Black looked and, smiling, walked to the car, greeting Pari Jones in the driver's seat, "Hey beauty, can you give me a lift home?"

"Get in," she said.

Little Black got into the car, "Thanks."

Pari Jones pulled out two stacks of cash, "This is for you."

Little Black took the money and laughed, "Pleasure doing business."

"It wasn't so pleasurable for me."

"Why's that?"

"Did you know Luke was the officer who took down the gunman all along?"

"That's right."

"Then why didn't you tell me? I don't expect free information; I'm willing to pay for my sources. Yet, you sold the information to other TV stations, which really hurts me."

Little Black touched his nose, "I thought you weren't that keen on the scoop. Besides, it wasn't entirely up to me; Luke's the boss, I just followed his orders.

If it wasn't for me pushing for it, he might not have considered working with you at all."

"You mean he told you not to give me the information afterward."

"Not exactly, he just said to avoid getting emotional about it and suggested touching base with other TV stations for the best offer.

In terms of price, the other stations really did show more sincerity than yours."

"How much did they pay you?"

"$40,000."

"I could have matched that."

"But back then, you were only willing to offer $20,000."

Pari Jones said helplessly, "Is money the only thing we can talk about between us?"

Little Black squinted his eyes, "Don't be mad. I've still got a bottle of fine wine at home; we can drink and talk about something else."

...

The next morning.

At Little Black's house.

Early in the morning, Luke got a call from Little Black asking him to pick him up for work.

Luke didn't know where the kid got the audacity to say such things.

Curious, Luke still went.

As Luke arrived at Little Black's doorstep, he saw a grey sedan parked outside the garage and shook his head.

"Beep beep..." Luke honked the car horn.

Soon after, Little Black's front door opened, and he walked out with a woman.

Luke immediately recognized the woman as Pari Jones.

Pari Jones greeted him proactively, "Hi, Deputy Team Leader Luke, we meet again."

Luke smiled, "I thought we'd meet again, just not here."

"We'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future, bye." Pari Jones gave a wave and a blown kiss to Little Black before getting into the grey sedan and driving off.

Luke shook his head, "Don't tell me you called me here just so I could witness this scene."

"No, I've got other things," Little Black said as he got into the passenger seat, then took out six stacks of green bills from his bag, "I felt it was best to give you the money from selling the scoop before work, especially since I don't have a car right now."

Luke took the six stacks of dollars and handed two back to Little Black, "This is yours."

Little Black laughed and only took one stack, "This is enough for me; my gains this time weren't just financial, there were other perks."

"I can see that." Luke said nothing more and drove straight to work.

On the way, they chatted sporadically, with Little Black seeming quite excited, bearing the look of someone in the throes of passion.

Luke couldn't be bothered with him.

While Little Black's personality might be unreliable, he still had his principles when it came to work.

"Buzz." Both of their phones rang.

Little Black checked his mobile, "The captain sent a message in the group; there's a new case, he's telling us to head directly to the crime scene."