Harry was much calmer.

He pursed his lips at the body on the ground. "Holz, you don't know. When Dean is being serious about his work, it means he's in a good mood. But if the corners of his mouth turn up without him realizing it... Heh heh..."

Harry had noticed it long ago.

Dean, the psycho, liked to chat with his victims with a smile as he killed them. Consequently, many who died at the end of Dean's gun didn't realize what was happening until the moment of their death.

Upon hearing this, Holz looked at Dean in astonishment.

Just then, Dean turned his head and gave him a faint smile.

Holz was speechless.

With Dean's smile, life or death was unpredictable.

He could no longer look directly at Dean's bright, warm smile.

Holz walked to the corridor and picked up the wall-mounted landline phone. "Alright, take this unlucky bastard away. I'll stay and call someone to handle the body..."

「Interrogation room.」

The skinny man was very cooperative.

According to his statement, a day before, the man and his companion—the one who was shot in the head—were small-time crooks from downtown Los Angeles. They engaged in petty thefts, weren't cut out for major crimes, and lived miserably.

At dusk, a masked woman found them. She was carrying 20,000 US dollars in cash and the 'document' bearing the seal of the Chief of the Detective Bureau. She asked them to use the document and forged detective badges to retrieve Henry's body.

The two knew this was risky.

But the woman was offering too much.

Twenty thousand US dollars was just the down payment.

Upon success, she would give each of them another 100,000 US dollars.

Otherwise, if the two did not agree, that sum of money could also be used to deal with them.

The two agreed uneasily.

Yesterday, they came to the Forensic Science department with the materials.

When the staff member receiving them looked at them strangely, the two men realized something very fatal.

That was, the document was dated yesterday during the day, but Henry was found and brought back to Forensic Science in the evening.

Anyone with a bit of sense would realize there was a problem.

But, to their surprise, the staff member in charge at Forensic Science agreed to their request to take Henry's body away.

However, since Holz had already gone off duty and his signature was required, the two men came back again today.

For safety, this time, the skinny, middle-aged man's partner had brought a gun with him.

Little did they expect that gun would turn into the very thing that hastened his death.

「The interrogation ended.」

Rather than becoming clearer, the matter became even more perplexing.

Who was that masked woman?

Based on the timing, the unknown woman must have known about Henry's death earlier than the police did. It was even possible that Henry's body was dumped by her.

Now here's the problem: why would she pay someone to pretend to be a detective from Alabama State, even taking the trouble to produce a semi-authentic document from the Detective Bureau? What was the purpose of her redundant effort?

The two smoked and pondered.

Robert, having finished his protection duty, saw them and said, puzzled, "Isn't the goal very clear? The blood traces in Henry's fingernails belong to the 'Masked Serial Killer' from far-off Alabama State. I've just looked at the information on that serial killer. His blood was found at the crime scene, but there's no direct evidence linking him to the notorious 'Toy Serial Killer' back then. Now he's in a prison in Alabama State, but his blood shows up again on a victim in Los Angeles, California. Once the other side finds out about this, the murderer's defense lawyer, eager for fame, will not hesitate to argue for his innocence and demand hefty legal compensation."

Harry was smart for once.

He looked at Robert as if he were an idiot. "Tell me, if that's the case, why on earth would that woman go through all the trouble of having someone bring such a flawed document to the Detective Bureau, just to take Henry's body away?"

After all, even without this action, Holz's team could have discovered this through the database by comparing the genetic material in the blood traces.

Robert was speechless.

He looked at the smug Harry and chuckled. "Alright, Harry, you're right. I was thinking too simply. But there's something I need to remind you. While I was protecting Sarah, I heard her female companion suggest that Sarah should ask you for child support. That way, she could support the three of them."

Harry was speechless.

He crouched down, his face a mask of pain.

According to the laws of the United States, there really was no room for resistance.

As long as Sarah had the kid, he'd have no choice. He would have to let Sarah use him and then extort child support, unless he went bankrupt or just killed the mother and daughter outright.

Fighting it in court was an impossible win.

A total sucker!

Seeing Harry like this, Robert realized that his words had hit the scumbag's weak spot.

He couldn't help but gloat as he continued, "You better think about how to handle this, because Sarah's female companion is not someone to be trifled with. She even suggested that Sarah pretend to marry you and then divorce, just to make the process of you picking up the tab even more complete."

Robert wasn't outstanding in other areas, but he truly excelled at peeping and eavesdropping; he had heard all of this crystal clear. It was just like the previous suicide-by-jumping case. Back then, he witnessed the suspect with two women, which provided a crucial lead and line of inquiry for solving the case.

"Fuck!" Harry couldn't hold back any longer. He pulled out the revolver at his waist. "If that bitch dares to do that, I'll show them my other gun!"

In the midst of their quarreling, Dean's eyes lit up when he heard "passing through hands."

Got it!

He now understood why that unknown woman had deliberately done this!

Fuck!

He'd been used!

With a Spirit attribute of 15 points, Dean's mind at that moment linked all the known information, vaguely guessing the unknown woman's motives and methods.

The unknown woman paid someone to pose as a detective. Taking Henry's body away was a pretense; showing that 'Detective Bureau Chief's Seal Document' and intentionally making a big fuss was the real goal!

Probably, even without his involvement, those two idiots would have had a backup plan waiting for them after taking Henry's body. They would then expose the whole affair to the public to attract attention.

Think about it. The police had just found the body. Then, using a document full of loopholes, Henry's body was deceptively taken away and ended up exposed to the public. And the reason it was so easy was because the document had the Detective Bureau Chief's seal on it. Under the weight of authority, even the peace of the deceased was not protected. The news hook and focal point would emerge instantly. Just that simple handover, and an inconspicuous case would be thrust into the limelight.

By that time, they could arrange for a so-called 'informant' to actively leak details of the case online, like the blood found under Henry's fingernails actually belonging to a murderer who was in prison, suggesting that the authorities committed this folly because keeping Henry's body would reveal that the detectives had arrested the wrong person. So they persisted in their mistake, allowing someone to take the body away to destroy it.

Once conspiracy theories appeared, no matter how the Detective Bureau explained afterward, there would be doubts. Once the atmosphere was set, the Toy Serial Killer's lawyer in Alabama State could just make a statement, perfectly echoing the Los Angeles news—a masterstroke.

Conversely, if those two men had come to claim Henry's body and the forensic staff had realized the issue with the document and had security detain them, those plans could still proceed. Only the rhetoric and selling point would shift to why someone had a forged document attempting to move the body of an ordinary Black child... The final outcome would be the same.

The key was that the unknown woman not only knew about Henry's death but could also provide accurate Alabama State detective information. Furthermore, she could obtain a blank document bearing the 'Detective Bureau Chief's seal.' This indicated that the person was actually someone from within the Los Angeles police force.

Thinking of this, Dean's brow furrowed.

Doesn't that mean she already knows what happened in the forensics lab?

As if to respond to Dean's speculation, Daisy, who was watching TV, exclaimed, "Dean, you guys, come quick and watch the news! Isn't that Sarah, the mother of Harry's child from that one-night stand—the one who basically used him as a sperm donor?"

Damn! So it was her!

Dean clenched his fists.

Dammit! I've been outsmarted!

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