Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

Luke called Reid to report.

Reid asked Luke to take charge of the scene and said that he would dispatch a forensic doctor and a technical team to support them at the scene.

Cyanide is extremely toxic and acts very quickly, causing death within seconds to 5 minutes after ingestion.

According to the descriptions of two co-workers, the deceased had been working on the rooftop for a while, well over five minutes, so it's very likely that the rooftop was the primary crime scene.

After being poisoned on the rooftop, within a very short time frame, the victim would have lost consciousness, died, and fallen from the rooftop to the ground.

Luke re-examined the fall site and did not find any suspected tools of poisoning or items containing cyanide.

Then, Luke climbed back onto the rooftop and had the victim's co-worker point out where the victim had collapsed.

The house had a conical roof, but because the house was quite large, the slope of the roof was not very steep, and it was possible to stand steady.

The Mexican worker pointed to the east side of the roof, "At that time, Adams was standing right here, and he suddenly fell down. I didn't even have time to react."

"Why wasn't he wearing a safety harness?"

The Mexican worker sighed, "The slope of the roof isn't steep, and we couldn't find a suitable place to attach the safety harness. Adams didn't like wearing the safety harness either; he felt that having a rope on him would actually hinder his movements.

It's my fault, I should have persuaded him, if I had insisted that he wear a safety harness, maybe this wouldn't have happened..."

In Luke's view, whether a safety harness was worn or not wasn't important, because the victim did not die from the fall, but from poisoning.

Cyanide can be absorbed through ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact, but skin contact absorption is weak, and the dose is generally not too large, usually not causing immediate death.

The victim's rapid onset of poisoning seemed more like he ingested or inhaled an excessive amount of cyanide.

Luke surveyed the rooftop scene and found some tools for repairing the roof, but did not discover any suspicious items that may have contained cyanide.

Luke looked towards his Mexican co-worker, "Did Adams show any abnormalities before he died?"

"It doesn't seem like it, at least I didn't notice."

"Did he take anything before he died?"

"I... I don't know." The Mexican worker swallowed hard.

Luke stared at him, "What's your name?"

"Mario."

"Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Then why do you look so nervous?"

"Uh... maybe because Adams is dead, it's a bit hard for me to accept."

"Think carefully again, what was Adams doing in the five minutes before he died?"

"He was just working on the roof, removing the broken tiles, clearing the construction debris, and then putting new tiles in place... just the same routine, nothing different."

Luke pointed to his forehead, "You're sweating a lot, do you want to wipe it off?"

"Thanks, it's just too hot, this season is better for going to the beach for a holiday, not for working."

Luke observed his expression, feeling that the other party seemed to be concealing something, "Adams was poisoned to death, not from the fall.

It was cyanide that killed him, a deadly toxin, and he would have died within a very short time.

Therefore, the scene of Adams's death must have been on the rooftop, and at that time, there were only you and him there.

Mario, I know you're hiding something, and that's not very wise."

Mario's forehead sweat increased, and he looked shaky, collapsing onto the rooftop, his emotions breaking down, "Oh God, why did this happen?"

"What exactly happened?"

After hesitating for a moment, Mario said, "It was a really hot day, so you had to drink lots of water, that's why I brought two bottles of mineral water. I opened and drank one bottle, and Adams saw it and asked me if there was anymore.

I passed the other bottle of mineral water to him.

It was normal; we're co-workers who cooperate and help each other.

After giving him the water, I went back to work.

Soon after, he started acting strange, clutching his head, pounding on his chest, wearing an expression of pain as if he couldn't breathe.

Just when I thought about going over to help him, he fainted and fell off the roof..."

Mario's voice trembled, "I wanted to help him at the time, but it was too late, everything happened too fast.

I rushed downstairs to check on him, thinking of calling 911 for an ambulance, but when I checked, he was already dead.

That state was not right, not like he died from the fall...

Considering his behavior on the roof before, I guessed that there might be something wrong with that bottle of water."

Luke kept observing Mario's face, which did not seem to be lying. According to his statement, the cyanide might have been put into the bottle of mineral water, "Where is that bottle of mineral water?"

"In my backpack."

Luke accused, "Why did you poison Adams?"

"No, I never thought of poisoning him, I had no idea that the bottle of mineral water contained poison, otherwise I would have never given it to him."

"You hid the mineral water bottle afterward, indicating you were intentionally concealing evidence."

"I just didn't want to be seen as the murderer, and I didn't want to go to prison. I gave him the water with good intentions, not to harm him.

I am innocent, I shouldn't be implicated."

"Did you have any conflicts with Adams?"

"No."

"Were there any disputes over interests?"

"No, we always got along very well, I had no reason to kill him, and I never thought about it."

"Where did that bottle of mineral water come from?"