Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

The customer went to the checkout counter to pay, and the cashier started scanning the items, which included two bottles of mineral water.

Luke pointed to the cashier on the screen, addressing Little Black beside him, "Go to the car and get the fingerprint analysis kit, then bring her in here for a fingerprint comparison."

A few minutes later, the door to the office opened, and Little Black returned to the office with the cashier and the store owner, Osmon.

Osmon inquired, "Deputy Chief Luke, does this case involve my cashier?"

Luke turned the computer screen toward everyone and pointed at Jennifer, saying, "This lady is the female victim who was poisoned. Surveillance footage proves she definitely came to your supermarket, and she made a purchase—it was this young lady cashier who helped her check out.

We need to ask her a few questions."

The store owner Osmon then said to the female cashier, "Joey, don't be nervous, just answer truthfully."

"What exactly happened? Don't I have the right to know?" The female cashier was visibly perplexed and slightly guarded.

Luke gave a brief overview of the situation, pointing to the video of Jennifer, "Do you remember her?"

The female cashier glanced over, "Yes, she came to our store. We don't have many black customers, so I remember her a bit."

"This lady was poisoned this morning, and the source of the poisoning was the mineral water sold in your store. We found three sets of fingerprints on the mineral water bottle; we want to check if one of them belongs to you."

"You suspect I am the poisoner?" The female cashier Joey stepped back, showing an anxious and nervous expression.

"No, on the contrary, it's normal for your fingerprints to be there. If your fingerprints aren't there, that might mean we're dealing with the culprit's fingerprints."

Joey said, "I did not poison her. But if the mineral water was bought from our store, I might have touched it during checkout."

"Exactly, and that's what I'm saying. We just want to confirm if this bottle of mineral water was purchased at your store," Luke explained.

Once everything was clarified, the female cashier felt relieved and cooperated with Little Black in the fingerprint identification.

The identification results showed that the female cashier's fingerprints did not match those found on the mineral water bottle.

The owner laughed and said, "They don't match? That means the bottle of mineral water was not bought from our supermarket, so the poisoning incident is not related to us."

Little Black looked at the fingerprint analysis device skeptically, "Could this thing be inaccurate? Why doesn't it match?"

Luke, having watched the complete shopping video, was not flustered, because Jennifer had bought two bottles of water, and the female cashier had only scanned one bottle without touching the other. Therefore, there was inherently only a fifty percent chance.

Luke then asked the female cashier, "If I bought two bottles of the same mineral water, would you touch them both?"

"Not necessarily. I would definitely pick up one bottle to scan it, but I might not touch the other bottle unless needed, and would just calculate the total by multiplying by two during checkout."

"Then who do you think might have touched the other bottle of mineral water last?"

The female cashier glanced at the boss and then shook her head, "I don't know."

"I'm not asking you who the poisoner is, but under ordinary circumstances, would employees of the supermarket touch the bottles?"

After thinking it over, Joey said, "Stock personnel may need to adjust the inventory on the shelves, so they might touch them."

"You're right." Luke turned to the store owner, "Get all your employees over here, I need to fingerprint them."

The owner was somewhat reluctant, "Is that necessary?"

"Of course, starting with you," Luke insisted.

...

Soon, one by one, supermarket employees were called into the office to have their fingerprints collected.

Among them, a Mexican-American female employee's fingerprints matched those on the mineral water bottle.

The female employee claimed ignorance when asked if she had touched the mineral water bottle, stating she touched many items in the supermarket.

She had a legitimate reason to touch the mineral water bottle, and Luke did not detect any signs of lying, so he recorded her identity information and let her go.

This Mexican-American female employee might not be the poisoner, but it was confirmed that the poisoned mineral water had been sold from the Shanyuan Supermarket.

The store owner Osmon's face had gone ashen; this could potentially cost him a significant amount in damages.

"Mr. Simpson, now you can explain the origin of that bottle of mineral water, can't you?"

Osmon said helplessly, "All the Weisen brand mineral water in my store is obtained directly from the factory. If there really is a problem, it lies with the factory, not with our supermarket."

"Don't be in a rush to disclaim responsibility. It's pointless. What we need to do now is find the root of the problem to identify the poisoner. If we can't find the poisoner, your supermarket's liability will only be greater. I believe you understand that," Luke pointed out.

"But I really don't know anything. I swear this incident has nothing to do with me. Putting poison in the products for my own store—only a madman would do such a thing."

"Don't get agitated," Luke soothed, "I ask; you answer."

"Go ahead and ask."

Observing his expression, Luke inquired, "How long have you been selling this Weisen brand mineral water?"

"About a year or so."

"Any problems with it before?"

"No."

"Has your supermarket ever experienced a similar poisoning incident before?"

Osmon hesitated slightly and then lowered his head a little, "No."

A lie.

Luke sensed signs of lying and pressed on, "When did the last poisoning incident occur in the supermarket?"