Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

The police momentarily lost his tracks.

Soon, Luke shifted the focus of the investigation to this teenager.

First, he retrieved CCTVs along the northeastern route of the subway to find the youth's trail.

At that time, road monitoring was not very effective, so Luke had the surveillance around the shops checked, and sure enough, the teenager's tracks were found.

However, not every shop had external cameras installed, so aside from reviewing the CCTV footage, the police also arranged for people to visit and inquire if the surrounding shops and pedestrians had seen the youth.

After some tracking and investigating, the teenager eventually entered an apartment building and took the elevator up to the seventh floor.

Luke and his team went up to the seventh floor, where there were twelve residences.

Luke prepared to start his inquiries from apartment 701.

"Dong Dong…" Luke knocked on the first door.

An elderly Caucasian man around sixty opened the door, "Who are you? What do you want?"

Luke showed a photo of the Caucasian youngster, "Do you recognize him?"

"That's a bad kid. Last time, he smeared hot sauce on my cat's butt. My cat cried all night and almost died.

"What are you looking for him for?"

Luke showed his badge, "LAPD, where is he?"

"I always knew this kid was going to cause trouble, I'm not surprised at all." The old man, somewhat schadenfreude, pointed to the door of 705,

"That's his home.

Don't say I told you, my poor cat can't handle any more stress."

"What's his name?"

"Tom."

"Bang!" The old man shut his apartment door.

Smiling, Raymond said, "Poor kitty.

But, this kid reminds me of a childhood friend."

"Do your friends know you're getting married?"

"Most of those bad boys are in jail, even if I told them, they couldn't attend, so never mind."

"Dong Dong…" Raymond walked over and knocked on the door of 705.

No one responded.

"Keep knocking." Luke wasn't in a hurry, there were people outside the apartment ensuring the kid couldn't escape even if he climbed out the window.

"Hey, why are you guys standing at my front door?" A Caucasian woman came over with a bag filled with numerous items.

"We're LAPD." Raymond showed his badge then presented a photo of the Caucasian youth, Tom, "Do you recognize him?"

"Yes." The woman appeared cautious, "What are you looking for him for?"

"What's your relationship with him?"

"I'm his mother? What's wrong?"

"We're investigating a criminal case and wanted to discuss some matters with him. Is he home?"

"Oh my God." Tom's mother showed a helpless expression, "What case is it exactly? I'm his guardian, I have a right to know."

"A poisoning."

"What poisoning? How could Tom possibly be involved in a poisoning case?"

"We have told you already, we'll know more details after seeing him. Where is he?"

"I don't know, he might be home, or he might be out."

Luke gestured upward, "Open the apartment door."

"Don't scare him. He's just a kid. Let me talk to him first, then you can come in."

"OK." Luke agreed but secretly signaled with his hand.

"Click." Tom's mother unlocked the door.

"Bang!" Raymond burst through the door, leading the team inside.

Tom's mother exclaimed, "Why would you do this? You just promised you wouldn't scare the child."

"Ma'am, this case is much more serious than you think. Your son is suspected of being involved in a major poisoning case that poses a great threat to this city. We had to take drastic measures."

Raymond came closer, gesturing, "Luke, we found the youth."

"What exactly is this poisoning case, and why is my son involved in it?"

"You should ask him about that." Luke said, and walked into the room.

In a low voice, Raymond said, "The youth is dead, his body is on the couch."

"Fuck!"

Luke slightly furrowed his brows and walked over to inspect the couch. The youth's lips were blue, his skin reddened, with no other apparent injuries on his body, and there was a Versen brand mineral water bottle overturned on the couch.

"Tom! What happened to you?" Tom's mother saw the scene, tried to move forward to check, but Jenny stopped her.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to say…

He's already passed away, please accept our condolences."

"No! No! No! Why has this happened? It can't be…

Tom, my son…

I can't believe it, he was fine when I left, it can't be possible.

Impossible!"

Tom's mother was crying and creating a fuss; it took three officers to pull her aside to prevent her from disturbing the scene and the body.

Luke approached the body, inspected closely, then picked up the bottle of mineral water, and with a professional sensitivity, faintly smelled a hint of bitter almonds.

Young Tom might have been poisoned by the mineral water.

With no apparent wounds and no signs of restraint, he likely ingested the poison willingly.

From the CCTV footage, he appeared to be the suspected poisoner, and now he too had been poisoned by the mineral water.

Why did this happen?

What was his motive?