1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 31 Bernie is fed
Old Tom lowered his head in shame, then raised it again.

"He never brought a single penny home, and he almost sold Mattia to Rose Street!"

He was agitated and pointed outside, shouting loudly.
"Who would sell their wife to a place like that!"

"All he knew was gambling! If I hadn't visited Mattia so often, that gambling addict wouldn't have even known she died at home!"

"So what if I slept with Matia! I can take care of her! I can give her a home! I won't spend all my money at the gambling table!"

"Do you think he cares? He invited me to move in!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, and stood up abruptly, stomped his foot hard, let out a miserable howl, and then sat back down.

Mrs. Wilson heard the commotion and ran out, hugging and kissing old Tom tenderly, cuddling him for a long time.

Theodore and Bernie looked at each other in bewilderment.

Old Tom coaxed Mrs. Wilson, who was about to kick him out, back into the house. His emotions had calmed considerably, and he said in a deep voice...
“We had an agreement that I would give him 200 yuan every month to take good care of Mattia.”

“That day I went to him to ask him to divorce Mattia, but he refused and wanted me to pay him $400 every month. Billy happened to be there at the time, and he even asked Billy if he wanted it, saying he could take $300 from him.”

“I couldn’t help but punch him, and we started fighting. Billy was trying to break it up.”

“He died a few days later, and I moved back in after I had moved out.”

Bernie didn't approve of his love story, commenting, "It's no different from going to Rose Street."

After saying that, he pulled out handcuffs. "Now you have to come back to the police station with us."

…………

Although the source of the deceased's unexplained funds is still unclear, it is not necessary to solve all the mysteries in order to catch the murderer.

In this case, Old Tom had both the motive and the ability to kill Hank.

Crimes of passion are premeditated, committed by individuals who are physically strong, familiar with their surroundings, know the victim's whereabouts, can easily lure people out, and are adept at using tools like hammers.

Combined with the 'love story' between old Tom and Mattia, a complete chain of murder deduction is laid bare before everyone.

When they returned to the police station, Sam was still not back. As usual, several diligent guys were working late into the night in the large office.

When the night owls saw them bring someone back, they all started whistling.

Bernie personally took old Tom to register and then escorted him into the interrogation room.

It was only then that old Tom belatedly realized that they didn't seem to be asking him about the situation, but rather treating him as a suspect.

Old Tom started banging on the interrogation room door, repeatedly telling them they were mistaken and that he hadn't killed anyone.

Bernie warned him that if he made any more noise, he would be sent to the detention center, and old Tom immediately behaved.

They waited a while longer, but Sam still hadn't returned, so they told the detective on duty and went home.

The next day, the three met up. Sam was excited about the suspect they had brought back, and he and Bernie both thought they could start by interrogating Old Tom.

Theodore, however, felt that gathering the latest information from each party before the interrogation would help eliminate interference and make a clear judgment on the case.

Sam brought back the deceased's payslip. The base salary was $300, and with night shifts and other benefits, the monthly salary was between $330 and $350.

This is a reasonable value.

Sam interviewed many workers involved in gambling and learned that the deceased could spend more than 500 a month.

Bernie immediately pulled out the statement he had made at the casino the day before.

According to casino financial records, Hank lost at least 300 dollars a month at the casino, and sometimes even his entire month's salary.

Based on this calculation, the deceased gambled for between seven hundred and one thousand dollars per month.

This is already a very large number.

Oilfield workers typically earn around $200 a month, and even experienced workers like Hank, with Roy's help, can only earn a maximum of $350 a month.

The workers they met yesterday were exchanging chips worth a dozen or so yuan, at most a few dozen yuan.

These workers would wander around the casino repeatedly, observing, which was completely different from the wealthy and extravagant behavior described by the waiter.

Where did the deceased get his money?
This question immediately came to the minds of the three of them.

Theodore couldn't help but glance towards the interrogation room; old Tom had already been brought back in.

The case, which had seemed clear, now appeared shrouded in shadow. Bernie paused for a moment, clapped his hands, and said, "Never mind that for now, let's interrogate him first."

So for the rest of the day, the three of them took turns trying, but to no avail.

This was unprecedented, and it even attracted Wenner's attention. The unscrupulous agents in the office were already betting on when Old Tom would finally speak.

Given Theodore's past record, the boldest bettors only placed bets on two days; no one bet on forever.

Wenner called the three men in to question them and helped them obtain a search warrant.

The following day, the three men went to the oil field with a search warrant.

Sam was clearly very happy on the way. Theodore asked him about it and found out that his mysterious partner was coming back.

Sam became more talkative when talking about his partner.

Bernie grimaced as he listened, finally forcefully interrupting, "What should we be looking for?"

Sam asked uncertainly, "The murder weapon?"

Bernie then asked, "What kind of murder weapon? We don't know what the murder weapon is."

Sam tentatively suggested, "Perhaps we should take all of Old Tom's tools back and test which ones can leave a similar wound on the deceased's head."

Theodore shook his head. "They use standard-issue tools that are procured in a unified manner. Even if we find them, we can't prove that they are Old Tom's."

Silence fell over the car.

“And Billy,” Theodore began.

Seeing the two looking over, Theodore said, "Old Tom said Billy was there when he fought with Hank."

"You don't think old Tom is the murderer?" Bernie asked.

Theodore shook his head. "Perhaps we can take Mrs. Wilson back with us."

Bernie was stunned, and so was Sam behind him.

Neither of them could figure out whether Theodore thought Old Tom was the murderer or not.

The three arrived at the oil field quickly, where foreman Roy was there to greet them as always.

He appeared nervous upon seeing the search warrant and asked in a low voice, "The murderer is in my team, isn't he?"

Seeing that the three remained silent, he became somewhat agitated. "I knew it! I knew it!"

He nervously led the three of them toward the tool shed, saying, "Come with me."

“Our tools are managed centrally. Every morning before work, workers come here to register, pick up their toolboxes, and return them at the end of the workday. After checking that nothing is missing or damaged, we register them.”

There was a guard outside the tool shed. When he saw the four of them, he hurried over to greet them, but Roy seemed not to see them at all. He kept talking about the situation, picked up the key hanging on the wall, and opened the door.

Since it was already morning, the tool shed was completely empty.

Roy circled around twice before belatedly realizing this, and asked apologetically, "Why don't you come back after get off work?"

Theodore stopped Bernie and Sam from speaking, stared at him for a moment, and shook his head, saying, "No need."

He picked up a set of tools piled up in the corner. "This set is enough. Could you please help us mix some mud?"

Roy opened his mouth and repeated, "Mud?"

Theodore nodded, pushed the man aside, and left the tool shed.

Roy was very influential here, and he quickly called two workers to help him mix the mud. Theodore used tools to break up the mud piece by piece.

Soon, familiar marks appeared on the mud.

Theodore looked at the tool in his hand; it was a pipe wrench.

Bernie and Sam came over to look, and Theodore handed them the pipe wrench, indicating that they should try it themselves.

Before the two could get excited, Theodore borrowed pipe wrenches from the two workers and hammered out two identical marks.

Three V-shaped indentations lay quietly before the three people.

(End of this chapter)