Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Because theory and practice are two different things, many plans sound easy but become complicated in action, filled with too many uncertainties.

Jackson came up with a new idea, "If the victim was Polly, could the murderer be her husband?

Her husband discovered Polly's affair and wanted a divorce, but didn't want to pay alimony, so he decided to kill her instead of going through all that trouble.

It's somewhat similar to the motive of the previous car sex robbery case murderer."

Luke said, "The motive makes sense, but we still need to investigate to know the actual situation."

Before long, the trio rushed to the community where Polly lived.

Having experienced two shootouts before, Luke didn't dare to take anything lightly.

Although they were just there to gather information, they were also prepared for a shootout.

Luke and Black were responsible for knocking on the door, while Jackson stayed in the car with a rifle, ready to provide support at any moment.

"Ding-dong," Black pressed the doorbell.

Luke stood on the right side of the door, his right hand on his gun.

After a moment, the door opened and a Caucasian man stood in the doorway, looking at Luke and Black somewhat perplexedly, "Who are you looking for?"

"Is this Polly Wilson's home?"

"Yes, what do you want with my wife?"

"We're with the LAPD, investigating a criminal case and wanting to speak with Polly Wilson to gather some information."

"What information?"

"Don't be nervous, we're just making routine inquiries. Is she home?"

"Yes, I'll go get her."

"We'll come in with you," Black suggested, worried that the suspect might take the opportunity to flee, especially if, as Jackson analyzed, Polly's husband was also a suspect.

Polly's husband resisted, "No, I don't like strangers entering my house."

Black proposed, "Then call her out."

Polly's husband looked dissatisfied, "What do you mean? Are you suspecting me?"

"No, it's just routine investigation."

"OK, if you don't give me a satisfactory answer soon, I will file a complaint," Polly's husband said discontentedly, "Polly, come out for a second, there are policemen looking for you."

Luke and Black both looked alert.

A moment later, a woman came out from inside, "What did you just say? Why are the police looking for me?"

Seeing the woman, Black was stunned — that was Polly!

She wasn't dead!

The charred body wasn't hers.

Luke, however, didn't show much emotional fluctuation — investigation was a process of eliminating incorrect leads.

Even if Polly was fine, she had keys to Martin's home, which made her a person involved in the case, giving the police enough reason to check on her.

If the police didn't investigate, it would border on dereliction of duty.

Polly's husband pointed at Luke and Black, "It's these two men; they say they're police. Did you call the police?"

"No, I didn't call the police. What do you want with me?" Polly also looked puzzled.

Luke asked, "Do you know Martin?"

"Yes, I know him. What about it?" Polly looked slightly panicked, turning to her husband, "Honey, could you step aside for a moment? I want to talk to the police."

Polly's husband could see there was something going on, "Is there something you're hiding from me?"

"No, how could I have anything to hide from you."

"Then why ask me to step aside? The police didn't ask me to leave." At that point, Polly's husband understood that the police's visit wasn't unfounded — his wife was involved in something, something she didn't want him to know.

"You go in first, I'll tell you later."

Polly's husband looked at Luke and Black, then back at his wife, and finally entered the house somewhat frustratedly.

Polly closed the door and lowered her voice, "What the hell do you want with me? What happened to Martin?"

"Last night, Martin's house caught fire, the whole place burned down to rubble. He said you had a key, and we wanted to confirm your safety," Luke explained.

"Just because I have a key, you came to my home, do you know how much trouble you've caused me?" Polly said irritably.

Black explained, "You think we wanted to come? Not only did Martin's house catch fire, but also a woman died in the blaze. Her body was beyond recognition, her skin was completely charred. We called you, but your phone was off. We came to check on you for your safety.

Don't you understand? We were worried the dead person might be you."

Polly shook her head, "I haven't been to that house recently, and I have nothing to do with this incident.

My husband was home today, do you think I could answer the phone?"

Luke pressed, "Do you still have the key?"

"Yes, I'll get it," Polly went inside, followed by sounds of an argument.

After a while, Polly came out with red eyes and threw the key at Black, "You can leave now; I don't want to see you again."

Black asked back, "Can we take a statement?"

"I don't want to talk right now."

"We didn't want it to be like this either; we just wanted to make sure you were safe."

Polly's voice choked up, "Am I supposed to thank you?"

"Bang!" Polly slammed the door shut.

As they left the yard, Black remarked, "Human emotions are so fragile. Did we just break up another couple?"

Luke shrugged, "Our intentions were good; God will forgive us."

While Luke was checking Polly's home, Susan and others were not idle, canvassing and checking the surveillance footage separately.

By two o'clock in the afternoon, Susan convened a case discussion meeting at the detective bureau.