Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

According to Andesie's own admission, he frequently quarreled with his wife recently, indicating that there were cracks in their marriage that could potentially lead to conflict.

Take a look at his description of July 7th, he received a call from a neighbor saying his daughter was off school, and his wife, who should have been resting at home, was not there.

So he left work at once and returned home.

Suppose his wife also came back at that time, and it's very possible that she was delayed for some reason and did not pick up their child.

I believe that a man who was delayed at work and had to rush home would definitely be very angry.

An argument between the two would be inevitable, and in a rage, the husband may have injured his wife, making the situation uncontrollable.

To escape legal punishment, the husband then staged a robbery and abducted his wife to another location.

That's what we saw afterward."

Hei gave it some thought, "That's not right. If both spouses were supposed to pick up the child, it means the child should have been at home at the time. If the father injured the mother and abducted her, the child should also know about it."

The deputy captain shook his head, "With children, sometimes you can trust what they say and sometimes you can't. Their understanding of the world isn't fully developed yet, and there are things they can't completely comprehend.

Sometimes, a little coaxing or scaring can make a child tell a lie.

I've encountered a similar situation in my cases, where a father killed the mother, and the child helped fabricate evidence.

Initially, the father didn't agree to let us interact with the child alone. Because of that, the case was stalled for a long time. Later, when the child's grandparents came from out of town, we got the chance to talk to the child alone.

Only then did he disclose the actual circumstances.

So, what we need to do now is to have a private chat with that child."

Hei took that to heart, "That might be difficult to manage; she's not of age yet. If we are to take a statement from her, a guardian needs to be present."

"nonono, I'm just talking about chatting, not taking a formal statement, just a friendly conversation,"

"She might inadvertently reveal some details that could help us get to the truth of the case."

Susan nodded, "That's a good idea. Deputy Chief Vincent, with your extensive experience, you'll be responsible for talking to the child."

Deputy Chief Vincent said, "No problem, the children quite like me."

Jenny stood up and walked to the projector, "We reviewed the surrounding community's surveillance footage. On July 7th, we spotted the victim's family car leaving the community."

It was a black Toyota sedan. From the surveillance footage, it was clear that Nancy herself was driving the car.

This was one of the reasons the patrol officers initially concluded she had left home voluntarily."

Luke examined the surveillance carefully, "This video only proves Nancy was driving; it's not conclusive as to whether she was under duress.

Finding the whereabouts of this car and the stolen goods could potentially lead us to a suspect."

Following that, Susan started assigning tasks, and everyone began their separate investigations.

The focus of the investigations was on the stolen goods and the car, as well as the victim's husband.

...

Half an hour later, Luke met Martin Cage and his wife in the break room.

Luke laid down a document, politely offering, "What would the two of you like to drink? Coffee or tea?"

Martin looked a bit nervous, glanced at his wife, and said, "No need. I'm not fond of police station coffee. Right now, I just want to know the progress of the investigation. Has the murderer been caught? We need to apply for our house insurance claim."

"The reason we called you in today is to ask for your cooperation with the investigation to locate the murderer as soon as possible.

We have already identified the victim," Luke opened the folder and found a photo of the victim Nancy, "Do you recognize her?"

Martin glanced at it, "No, I don't."

Martin's wife, Larina Cage, took a look, "Is she the woman who died in our house?"

"Yes."

"How old was she?"

"46," Luke replied, then asked, "Do you know her?"

"No, I don't recognize her."

Hei said, "Now that's interesting. How would someone you don't know end up in your house and die there in a fire?"

Martin seemed dissatisfied, "Hey, this isn't exactly good news. You think we wanted this? This is an undeserved calamity."

Luke then showed a photo of the victim's husband Andesie, "Do you recognize him?"

"No."

"Do you have anything of value in your house that wouldn't be easily destroyed by fire?"

Luke looked at the couple; they didn't seem to be lying, which led him to consider another possibility.

If Susan's previous speculation was correct, a burglar may have entered Nancy's house, and while stealing, was spotted by Nancy. The theft then turned into a robbery, a conflict ensued, and Nancy was subdued by the burglar.

Nancy saw the burglar, who, for their own safety, took her away.

Later, the burglar went to the Cage couple's house, also intending to steal.

Before leaving, after stealing, the burglar killed Nancy and cleaned up the evidence.

This theory could logically tie the two cases together."

Martin Cage stated, "Something valuable that wouldn't be easily destroyed by fire—that would be jewelry, right? Honey, did you keep any valuable jewelry at that house?"

"I don't even live in that house, so how could I leave valuable jewelry there. But you, you occasionally check the house, don't you? Did you leave something there, like a watch or something?"