Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

"I don't know, but he came out with an extra backpack, probably took some stuff from George's place."

"Do you know where we can find this guy?"

"This guy is either sleeping at home or drinking at the bar."

...

It was just past eleven in the morning.

Rogel's Bar.

It was a bar located near the Black community.

Unlike most bars which are quiet during the day and busy at night, this bar had patrons as long as it was open.

Some people would order a drink and stay for half the day, and it was less about drinking and more about enjoying the atmosphere.

Of course, there were quite a few drunkards in the bar.

A Black man wearing a gold ring staggered into the bar. Yes, he had been drinking before he came to the bar. Why would he drink and then come to the bar?

Because the bar had just opened.

The Black man walked up to the bar, knocked on the counter, and said, "Hey, Arch, give me a Scotch."

"Ronald, your tab is so thick you could write a journal on it. If I let you run a tab again, the boss is gonna fire me."

"Arch, what are you talking about? When did I say I want to run a tab?

Never look down on anyone, anyone."

"Ronald, I'm not looking down on you. But you really can't run a tab this time. Don't make it hard for me; it will just be embarrassing for everyone…"

Arch didn't finish speaking when he suddenly stopped.

That's when Ronald took out a stack of twenty-dollar bills from his pocket, smelled them, and said, "What were you saying? I didn't hear well."

"Man, I was wrong. You're always the most honored guest at Rogel's bar, always."

Ronald pulled a twenty-dollar bill from the stack, "One Scotch, and the rest is your tip."

"Thank you, dear Mr. Ronald Banerbert."

"Hehe." Ronald chuckled lightly, his fingers sliding over the bills in his hand, "With these little darlings, who wouldn't be lovely?"

Ronald surveyed the people in the bar, "Also, I'm paying for a round for everyone here."

Arch was a bit surprised, "Ronald, just a friendly reminder, you still owe our bar almost 200 US dollars for drinks. Maybe you should clear your overdue bill before buying rounds?"

"200 US dollars." Ronald chuckled, then took out that stack of twenty-dollar bills, counted out ten, and slapped them on the table, "Is that enough?"

"Thank you, Mr. Banerbert. Are you treating? If so, we need some pre-payment for the drinks."

Ronald counted another twenty twenty-dollar bills, "Is this enough?"

"Of course, generous Mr. Ronald Banerbert."

Ronald then counted out ten more twenty-dollar bills and slapped them on the table, "This is for my tab at the bar."

"I will note it on your account, dear Mr. Banerbert. You will always be the most honored guest at the bar."

Ronald nodded, "I always am."

"As you wish." Arch finished speaking to everyone in the bar, "Guys, our dear Mr. Ronald Banerbert is buying a round for all the friends here, let's thank him for his generosity."

"To Ronald."

"To Ronald."

...

The people in the bar raised their glasses in salute.

Ronald stood up, holding his glass, "To George."

"To George."

"To George."

Many people present had heard about George's situation and also stood up.

Soon, Ronald was one of the crowd in the bar.

"Ronald, I heard about what happened to George; he is a good man and didn't deserve this treatment."

"Right, just say the word, and we will back you up."

"Not one of those LAPD guys is decent; in their eyes, every Black person is a criminal. What happened to George can happen to any of us; we have to stay united."

"Guys, thanks for your support. It's great to have you all here.

I will seek justice for George and make those LAPD pay the price they deserve," Ronald raised his glass again,

"To George."

"To George," everyone echoed.

...

Just then, Little Black and Luke walked into the bar.

Luke glanced at the noisy crowd and immediately locked onto Ronald Banerbert.

He didn't make a scene or any unnecessary movements, but walked with Little Black to the bar counter.

Little Black called out to the black bartender, "Buddy, two whiskeys."

"You guys are lucky, Mr. Ronald Banerbert is treating everyone here to a drink, and your drink expenses will be charged to his account," said the bartender as he poured the drinks for both of them.

Little Black glanced around the crowd, "Ronald, I know him, he doesn't look like he has much money, are you sure he's hosting?"

"Yes, his financial condition wasn't very good in the past, he owed quite a bit at the bar... oh no, I shouldn't speak like this about Mr. Banerbert.

Anyway, Mr. Banerbert now has money, he's a generous man."

Little Black pressed on, "When did he become wealthy?"

"Today, so you guys are lucky to have caught his treat," the bartender said and went to attend to another customer.

Little Black took a sip of his whiskey and said to Luke, "Looks like this guy made a fortune at George's house, practically got rich overnight."

Luke thought for a moment, took out twenty US dollars, and placed it on the counter; the bartender quickly came over, "Sir, would you like anything else?"

"This is for you as a tip, and also, I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"What questions?"

"How much money does Banerbert have?"

"I don't know, and I advise you not to get any wrong ideas; Banerbert isn't alone now."

Luke flashed his badge, "I'm not alone either." Luke pointed to the badge and then pointed at the twenty dollars, "How about a game of choose one?"

Knowing what's best, the bartender pocketed the twenty dollars and whispered, "Banerbert took out a stack of twenty-dollar bills, I estimate there's at least two thousand US dollars, it looks like he came into some money."

Luke pondered briefly, "Show me the bill he paid."

"What do you mean?"

Luke pointed to his badge, "This means."

"OK."

The bartender, looking displeased yet helpless, took out a crisp twenty-dollar bill from the cash register and handed it to Luke, "The LAPD are big shots, I suppose you won't be eyeballing this twenty dollars."

Luke ignored him, looking at the twenty-dollar bill in his hand, his gaze shifted, as if he was recalling something, then tore a corner of the bill.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the bartender asked in a low voice.

Luke looked at the torn twenty-dollar bill, handed it to the bartender, "No thanks needed."

"You damaged my money, why should I thank..." the bartender picked up the torn bill to examine, and stopped midsentence, "Oh my god, it's counterfeit."

The torn part of the twenty-dollar bill was white.

The bartender pulled out other bills paid by Banerbert, tore a portion of each, and all the cores were white.

"Fuck! This damned swindler! My boss will kill me, but before that, I will kill him first!"

Luke cautioned, "Hey, buddy, you can talk about your ideas privately, don't say them in front of the LAPD, that's impolite and puts me in a difficult position."

"Sorry, sir, I'm just too angry." The bartender gave back the twenty dollars to Luke, "Although I like money, I can't take this twenty dollars.

I should thank you, if not for you, I would have been cheated by him."

Luke took back the twenty dollars, "What do you plan to do about him?"

"Can I say?"

"You can phrase it hypothetically."

"I'll teach him a lesson to remember the rules at Rogel's bar."

Luke smiled, "Do me a favor at the same time, ask where the money came from?"

"Glad to be of service."

Little Black asked, "Luke, what's going on? Where did he get so much counterfeit money?"

Luke counter asked, "Remember why George got caught?

If my guess isn't off, this might also be the reason Kunni'er was killed.

Someone's printing fake bills.

A lot of fake bills."