Los Angeles Legendary Sleuth

"I don't know, I was very nervous at the time."

"Did you touch the water bottle with your hands directly?"

"I was so nervous I can't remember."

Luke stared at the other party, sensing signs of deception.

Moreover, if he had poisoned the water at the edge of the stage, it was impossible that none of the many guests saw him.

All the guests at the scene had given statements, but not a single one mentioned this matter, which seemed very abnormal.

Was he lying?

But why would he lie?

Luke suppressed his doubts and continued, "What kind of poison did you use?"

"It's very toxic, as soon as someone takes it, they would die quickly."

"I'm asking about the specific components."

"Ah... The seller mentioned it, but I can't remember."

"Where did you buy the poison from?"

"A person named Alrock sold it to me."

"What's his full name?"

"I don't know."

"How do you contact him?"

"That was a year ago, I had grievances with Darcy then.

I hated him, so I went to the bar to drown my sorrows in alcohol.

I happened to meet Alrock there, he's a chemistry teacher, we both had drinks, and I bought the poison from him while I was drunk.

Because I was drunk, I can't remember anything else."

"Which bar?"

"Malikaf Bar."

Luke continued to observe his expressions, and from micro-expression analysis, this bastard was full of lies.

He was just spouting nonsense.

Luke, patiently persevering, asked, "Where's the remaining poison?"

"I threw it away."

"Where did you throw it?"

"I flushed it down the toilet at my home."

"Aside from poisoning Darcy, did you poison any other places?"

"Yes, at a subway station and Shanyuan Supermarket."

"Have you been to these two places?"

"Of course."

"At which subway station did you place the poison?"

"I can't remember."

"How much poisoned mineral water did you place at the subway station and at Shanyuan Supermarket?"

"I can't remember."

Luke's expression darkened, Kenneth, though confessing verbally, was spewing lies; his narrative was all stuff from the news, without any actual confession or clues.

Taking the various reported poisoning sites and poisoned mineral water into account, the news had already broadcasted them, and everyone knew these two places, making it difficult to use them as evidence.

The real value lay in the details.

For instance, although the poisoning locations were at a subway station and Shanyuan Supermarket, the batch number of the poisonous mineral water was the same.

That is to say, the Poisoner likely bought a case of mineral water, placing nine bottles at the subway station and the other three at Shanyuan Supermarket.

Not every bottle of this mineral water was poisoned. So far, 11 bottles with the same batch number have been found, and five of them were poisoned.

But Kenneth's confession lacked any details on the poisoning, either he was deliberately avoiding them, feigning ignorance.

Or, he was not the real Poisoner.

But if he was not the real Poisoner, then why confess? What was his purpose?

Luke decided to interrupt the interrogation again; without understanding Kenneth's purpose, continuing the interrogation was pointless and would only lead to being manipulated by Kenneth.

...

Returning to the office, both Luke and Xiaohei were somewhat depressed.

The deputy chief looked at the two and said, "Seeing your expressions, I guess the interrogation didn't progress much, did Kenneth refuse to confess?"

Luke didn't answer, instead asking, "Did you find any clues about his poisoning?"

Matthew replied, "No, we checked the surveillance at the subway station and Shanyuan Supermarket, but didn't spot him."

"What about his house?"

"Raymond and Jenny searched it, but found neither cyanide nor tools suspected of being used for poisoning." The deputy chief spread his hands, "Either this guy is very good at hiding, or he's not the real Poisoner?"

"No matter what, we can only let him go for now,"

Rocky said, "He confessed."

"What did you say?" the deputy thought he misheard.

"He admitted that he killed Darcy,"

The deputy was somewhat surprised, "Wow, well done. How did you interrogate him? I'm curious."

Luke said, "We didn't even start the interrogation; he confessed voluntarily."

"Are you kidding me?" the deputy was somewhat incredulous.

Luke walked over to the projector and played the video from the enforcement recorder.

After watching, the deputy habitually picked up a comb, "This is interesting.

This guy claims he confessed, but he didn't provide any concrete contents, evidence, or details of the crime. I bet he will recant once he's in court."

Rocky countered, "What would be the outcome then?"

"Unless we can produce concrete evidence that he was the Poisoner, we will be on the defensive and might even let the jury find him not guilty.

If that's the case, even if he truly is the Poisoner, we won't be able to investigate him anymore," the deputy sighed,

"I hate this kind of bastard. Quite a few police have been negligent during investigations and got caught by the opposing lawyers, facing significant losses in such cases."

Luke pressed, "Deputy, do you think he really is the Poisoner?"

"Lacking some key evidence, it's hard to say now, but I think we should consider the worst-case scenario and be cautious. Don't charge him lightly until we find concrete evidence."

Having said that, the deputy continued, "You've interrogated him personally, what do you think?"

Luke stroked his chin. He agreed with the deputy's approach, but he leaned more towards Kenneth not being the real Poisoner.

Luke made this judgment not only because no evidence of his crime was found but also based on micro-expression analysis in the interrogation room; from his experience, he was not the Poisoner.

"I think he's not the Poisoner?"

Rocky countered, "Then why would he confess to killing Darcy? What good does that do him?"

Luke analyzed on the fly, "Darcy had some fame in the talk show industry. Although he never hosted a talk show, he appeared on similar programs as a guest, so he was somewhat well-known.

His death has already stirred some public opinion, and the media have been reporting on it.

Suppose, if it was reported that Kenneth poisoned him, a talk show actor poisoned another due to his passion for performing arts.

This would definitely be heavily reported by the media, and Kenneth would become famous.

Once an actor becomes famous, his price soars immediately. With fame comes everything else.

Risking it all for wealth and fame is also why he sought a lawyer.

He didn't seek a lawyer to escape the poisoning charges but to consult on the risks of impersonating the Poisoner.

Clearly, he assessed the risks as worth taking.

This could make him famous overnight."

Rocky considered, "That sounds somewhat reasonable, but I remember he previously despised Darcy's fake death. Doing this, isn't he acting even more despicably and unscrupulously than Darcy?"

The deputy disdainfully said, "You know? Many poor people hate the rich.

Not because they despise money, but because it doesn't belong to them, and they can't obtain it.

If they had the chance to become rich, they might act even more insanely.

Kenneth is the same. His criticism of Darcy doesn't necessarily mean he dislikes Darcy's style of performance, perhaps only because his own style differs.

If he had the chance to replace Darcy, he might surpass Darcy in being unscrupulous."

Rocky showed a look of disgust, "So, this guy wants to use Darcy's death to become famous, essentially stepping on LAPD's face to climb up.

We must not let him succeed; it's utterly repulsive."

Luke said, "You're right.

Therefore, we need to take some targeted measures, like keeping the news of Kenneth's arrest from the media; as long as the media doesn't know, he can't use this opportunity to become famous.

Second, investigate this bastard; I want to know everything about him from birth to now."

Luke was angry; he hated being used.

Kenneth wants to go to prison?

Then Luke would send him there on other charges.

Let him do his talk shows in prison,"

"Thud, thud...."

Just then, there was a knocking sound from outside.

"Come in."

A moment later, David pushed the door open and came in, "Hey, guys, how's the poisoning case going?"

"Not very smooth. What brings you here suddenly?"

"I heard you were going to treat me to a drink, so I came over."

Luke shrugged, "I didn't say that."

"Are you sure? Then I'll leave." David pretended to leave.

Luke reacted and stopped him, "Wait, did you find any clues about Rocky, the thief at Jiangnan Supermarket?"