Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

The First Squad of the Robbery and Murder Department began to investigate separately.

Raymond and Jenny were in charge of investigating Jamie Brady.

The deputy team and Jackson went to Derek's foster home to communicate with Derek's foster guardian. Based on the deputy team's experience, if Derek had a good relationship with his foster family, after confirming safety, he would likely contact the guardian.

But the guardian might not inform the police immediately.

At this time, gaining the guardian's trust was particularly important.

As for Luke and Blackie, they continued to investigate George.

However, George's condition was unstable, and Luke could not record his statement for the time being; he could only investigate George through other means.

Luke and Blackie obtained a search warrant and prepared to search George's house.

George lived in a typical black community where most people were unemployed and lived on welfare benefits.

Luke had checked George's file; the guy was already over forty and had no proper job or tax records.

In a certain sense, he was a parasite of society.

The two parked their car near George's house. Luke did not exit the vehicle immediately, scanning the surroundings, and only got out after not seeing any suspicious individuals.

Luke and Blackie entered the yard one after another, Blackie knocking on the door, but nobody responded.

Luke observed the surroundings of the house.

The yard was very small, the house was messy, and the fence next to the neighbor's had also been mostly broken; a tattered Cameroonian flag was planted behind the house.

Blackie waved from the front yard, "Luke, the door's open."

The two entered the house to find several pairs of shoes and some indiscernibly colored socks at the entrance, emitting an odor similar to rotten eggs.

Blackie immediately covered his nose and mouth, "fuck! How long has this bastard not cleaned? It's almost suffocating."

The house was small, with just two rooms, and one was filled with clutter.

As Blackie put on gloves, he stated with disgust, "Walking from the front door to the bedroom, I caught a glimpse of several worn underpants and yellow stains. What a disgusting guy."

Blackie was wearing gloves not because he was worried about destroying evidence, but because he simply thought this guy was filthy.

Luke also put on gloves to search the house, which was dirty and chaotic, but he could still vaguely make out signs that the place had been rifled through.

Luke asked, "Are there signs of the lock being tampered with?"

"No. Is there a problem?"

Luke said, "I suspect someone else has been in the house."

"His house is as messy as a dog's kennel; how can you be sure outsiders came in?"

"Instinct." Luke replied, and walked over to the window to check, indeed finding half a shoe print on the windowsill of the back yard.

Luke took a photo, "This footprint could likely be left by a thief."

Blackie came over for a look, "I'd bet it was done by someone he knows."

Luke retorted, "How do you know?"

"George was caught for resisting arrest last night, it made the news, and the neighbors and familiar faces probably all know about it. This area is a black ghetto, one-third have a history of theft, and at least half have stolen before.

Knowing that George was arrested and might even be in danger, these folks would definitely not pass up the opportunity to grab something.

I even suspect there's been more than one group here." Blackie had come from the slums and knew the rules and situation very well, and Luke trusted him in this regard,

"What do you think our next move should be?"

"Let's inquire with the neighbors around, these guys all shut their doors, but I bet a lot of them would be peeking out from behind windows. These lazybones don't do much real work but pay the most attention to this kind of stuff."

Luke encouraged, "Let's do it your way."

A few minutes later, they left the house. Blackie surveyed the surroundings and picked a neighbor's house that also had a Cameroonian flag planted.

"Thump thump..."

Blackie knocked on the door.

A moment later, a black man in his thirties opened it, "Who are you looking for? I don't know you."

Blackie said, "Buddy, I could use your help."

"I told you, I don't know you. Why would I help you?"

Blackie showed his badge, "Do you recognize this then?

Listen, I'd like to have a friendly chat with you, not through a badge.

Not only would you dislike that kind of conversation, but so would I."

"OK, how can I help you?"

Blackie pointed to the neighboring house, "How well do you know George?"

"OK, I saw the news about him. How is he doing?"

Blackie spread his hands, "His situation is a bit complicated, I don't know much, and that's why I'm here to investigate.

Buddy, did anyone go to his house last night?"

"I don't know."

"Hey, don't push people away, I'm not like those white cops, I'm here to help George, and you've got to trust me.

If I don't help him, nobody will, you know."

"Can I trust you?"

"Of course." Blackie gave him a fist bump.

The black neighbor re-evaluated Blackie, "Ronald Banerbert."

"What's his relation to George?"

"He's George's brother, I saw him come by last night. George wasn't home, and he didn't have the keys, so he climbed in through the window.

He left about twenty minutes later."

"What was that guy doing at George's house?"