Legendary FBI Detective-Chapter 366: The True Cause of Death, Clue

At the crime scene, next to the SUV, Luo An heard what Mona said with a puzzled expression on his face.

On the other end of the call, Mona didn't waste time in suspense, and continued explaining:

"When you were heading to the scene, I checked the surveillance in that area, and all of it coincidentally suffered damage. It's currently under repair, so I couldn't find out what happened inside that apartment at all."

"This area?"

Luo An raised an eyebrow and asked:

"How big an area are you referring to?"

"Not large, just exactly where you are in this community, and the two neighboring communities on either side."

A hint of a smile appeared on Mona's face:

"It's quite a coincidence, isn't it?"

"Indeed, too much of a coincidence."

Luo An nodded with interest, then said:

"I'll leave the surveillance clues to you; I trust you."

"No problem."

Mona loudly agreed, hung up the phone, and immediately started typing on the keyboard.

Seeing Luo An put away his phone, Reesi leaned in and asked:

"What do we do next?"

"Let's go visit the neighbors."

Luo An pointed at another apartment building not far away and said:

"I heard a dog barking from over there just now; maybe they can bring us a little surprise."

"OK."

Reesi nodded and immediately walked with Luo An toward the neighbor's house.

————

The next day, Tuesday, 9:30 in the morning, in the Special Investigation Team office area.

Luo An, with his legs crossed on the desk, leaned back in his chair, watching the TV news in front of the office area.

The content of the news was about the murder of Chairman Hisman, with team leader Potante Byrne standing in front of the reporters, responding to their questions.

Last night Luo An and Reesi went to the neighbor's house, and it turned out he hadn't misheard—there indeed was a dog.

But that was all, the neighbor's family was not in the community these past few days, leaving no one at home, and the dog temporarily left in the care of the community's management personnel, who hadn't seen any useful clues.

The dog might have seen or heard some clues, but unfortunately, no one understood what it might be saying, so Luo An had no choice but to consider it as one of the future methods for identifying the murderer.

Today Reesi went to Chairman Hisman's former office to look for clues, Michelle went to the trace examination department to wait for the autopsy report, and Mona continued to tap on the keyboard while sitting in her chair.

Mona had been busy up until now, having only slept for five hours since last night, but had not found a single clue.

Seeing Mona's anxious face, Luo An passed her a cup of coffee, and moved forward to squeeze her shoulder, comforting her:

"Don't worry, the clues will come."

"Uh-huh."

Mona took the coffee and took a sip, nodded, and continued to battle with the computer.

"..."

Seeing this, Luo An's mouth twitched faintly, and after thinking for a while, he decided to buy something tasty for lunch.

Just then, the door to the Special Investigation Team office was pushed open, and Michelle walked in with two folders in hand:

"The autopsy report from the trace examination department and the crime scene examination report have both come out."

"Thank you for your hard work."

Luo An then gave Michelle a cup of coffee, sat back in the chair, and asked:

"What's the situation exactly?"

"At the crime scene, the trace examination department didn't find any third-party hair, footprints, fingerprints, etc., and there were no signs of damage to the apartment's glass doors and windows. The front and back door locks also didn't show anything unusual, with only Chairman Hisman's own fingerprints on the door handles."

Michelle took the coffee and drank it in one go, then sat down on her own chair and said seriously:

"The trace examination department concludes that it must have been Chairman Hisman himself who opened the door and led the murderer into the apartment."

"It seems that the murderer was someone whom Chairman Hisman did not guard against, perhaps an acquaintance, or perhaps some work staff."

Luo An, with his chin propped on his hand, analyzed a few sentences, then looked towards Michelle:

"Continue."

Michelle opened the second folder and introduced:

"The autopsy report shows that forensic doctors found traces of being struck by a club-like object on the back of Hisman's head, bruises caused by rope bindings on his wrists, needle marks in the crook of his elbow, and also discovered a small amount of nicotinamide in Hisman's body."

Hearing the word nicotinamide, Luo An's brow slightly furrowed:

"If I remember correctly, nicotinamide seems to be a substance used to stimulate the central nervous system."

"That's correct."

Michelle's expression was very grave:

"The Trace Examination Department deduced that after entering the room, the murderer first knocked Chairman Hisman down with a club, then tied him up with ropes, and thereafter injected Hisman with a drug similar to a stimulant."

"The murder weapon?"

Luo An continued to ask:

"Human bones are very hard, turning Chairman Hisman into two parts is not an easy task, what did the murderer use? An electric saw or a chainsaw?"

"The Trace Examination Department determined it was a bone-chopping knife."

Michelle pulled out several photos from the folder and handed them to Luo An, saying:

"The forensic doctor found traces of the bone-chopping knife on the bones. Moreover, the forensic doctor speculates that since he was injected with a stimulant, Chairman Hisman was not dead when the murderer started on him.

The real cause of Chairman Hisman's death was not excessive blood loss, but immense fear."

"That's to say, Chairman Hisman was scared to death by the murderer's methods and the pain he was feeling."

After a quick glance at the photos handed over by Michelle, Luo An's face turned ugly as he put them aside.

It was not that Luo An was uncomfortable with the images in the photos, but he couldn't understand what great hatred the murderer had against Chairman Hisman to use such brutal means.

After a few seconds of silence, Luo An left his chair and walked to the front of the office area, next to the whiteboard that had been forgotten to be returned to the Number Four Investigation Team, picking up a pen and beginning to write and draw, while speaking:

"Even using a bone-chopping knife, severing bones is not an easy task. The murderer has considerable strength. Butchers, doctors, retired soldiers, etc. could all be possible.

Considering the surveillance near the crime scene, and the fact that the murderer left no useful clues at the scene, the murderer also has quite keen and outstanding anti-investigation abilities... This person is definitely not ordinary."

Mona, immersed in her computer, did not look up, while Michelle nodded repeatedly, indicating that Luo An's judgments were correct, and immediately added:

"Moreover, there must be a very big hatred between the murderer and Chairman Hisman; otherwise, the murderer would not choose such a time-wasting method to commit murder."

"You're right."

Luo An held the whiteboard pen and frowned in thought. After a long moment, he took out his phone and called Reesi:

"How is your investigation going?"

"Not so well."

Inside Chairman Hisman's office, Reesi, looking at the mountain of files in front of her, felt a massive headache and helplessly said:

"Chairman Hisman's done too much since entering politics, there are too many people with conflicts of interest to investigate; speaking of enemies, they're basically all over Los Angeles..."

"Thanks for your hard work."

Luo An also knew that someone like Chairman Hisman would definitely have complex social relationships, so he directly asked Reesi to take all of Hisman's office files back to the Special Investigation Team that could be taken, and to briefly take note of the identities of those who couldn't be taken, to carefully scrutinize them later.

Luo An had just hung up the phone when Michelle raised her cell phone and said:

"Ms. Corina, who has ties with Chairman Hisman, has been found and brought here by LAPD."

"Good, bring her up immediately; I'll wait for her in the interrogation room."

"Okay."

Michelle immediately got up and left the Special Investigation Team's office area, while Luo An tossed the pen to one side and walked into an interrogation room not far away. The air in the office area immediately quieted down.

As time ticked by, Mona suddenly raised her hand and shouted:

"Everyone! I've found a major clue!"

"..."

The air was silent, Mona looked around with a puzzled face, and then realized that she was the only one left in the office area.

"#%*..."

After grumbling a few words under her breath, Mona quickly stood up and began to contact others; the clue she had just discovered was too important and might cause a fundamental shift in the direction of the case investigation.