1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 99 The news spread faster than Theodore's car could travel.

"You watched the patrol officers come and go."

“I watched as the three students came down from upstairs and got into Chief Garcia’s police car.”

"You didn't dare to come out until that police car drove away."

"Did you go up?"

Seeing Joe looking somewhat dazed, Theodore raised his voice slightly and repeated the question: "After they left, did you go upstairs?"

Joe snapped out of his daze and looked at Theodore.

Theodore met his gaze: "You don't have the courage to go up and see your partner."

"You fled in a sorry state."

Joe clenched his fist on the table, his body trembling slightly.

“Sergeant Dixon, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He shook his head, repeating what he had said before:

"I went to give her the keys and saw the door was open, and she was handcuffed to the bed..."

No matter what Theodore said to Ricky, he stuck to the same story and wouldn't budge.

The interrogation had to be temporarily suspended.

Ricky was still a little dazed when he came out of the interrogation room.

He asked Theodore, "Are you sure it's him?"

Theodore nodded.

Ricky: "Why?"

Theodore wanted to tell him that Joe's loser aura was impossible to hide.

All criminals are losers in a certain sense.

They need to gain a false sense of control through criminal means.

This is especially true for serial killers.

Joe is a typical serial killer.

He has his own set of standards, plans carefully before taking action, and can calmly deny accusations.

Of course, this reason couldn't be given to Ricky, so Theodore thought for a moment and offered an explanation by referring to two cases:

“The first victim was executed with his hands behind his back, and the second victim was tortured and then dragged to the window for display. Both of these actions required considerable physical strength.”

“Officer Deborah cannot meet this requirement.”

"The killer satisfied his ritualistic psychological needs by stripping the police badge, the gun, and the specific way the body was displayed. Generally, only men have such a strong desire for control."

"Officer Deborah's primary target should have been the direct perpetrator, the second victim, and his accomplices, rather than the cover-up victim, the first victim."

"The killer had legally entered the homes of the two victims. Detective Deborah was also unable to comply."

“Especially the second victim, who would be extra wary when he saw Deborah again.”

He placed the crime scene photos of the two victims side by side and continued:
"The message conveyed by the killer's ritualistic killing of victim number 1 is that he was cleaning house. He believed that victim number 1 was not fit to be a policeman."

"The ritualistic killing of victim number 2 by the murderer was humiliating; he wanted everyone to know that victim number 2 was a sexual predator."

"These are two different emotions, two different methods, and two completely different motivations."

“A simple analysis of these two cases reveals that neither is directly related to the assault on policewoman Deborah.”

"These two cases seem more like they were committed by two different murderers."

"But the killer left the police badge of victim number 1 at the scene of victim number 2, linking the two cases together."

"The killer was certain that the two victims had some connection."

Ricky objected: "Is it possible that Officer Deborah and Joe committed the crime together?"

Theodore shook his head: "Both cases are highly ritualistic and complete in their ritualistic aspects. Working together would cause the ritualistic details to deviate due to differences of opinion."

He emphasized, "Joe's motive stemmed from guilt for failing to protect his partner and anger at his own cowardice, which he projected onto the victim, number 1."

"His choice to kill the first victim first was actually a way of reinforcing his self-image. By executing the first victim who made the same choice as him, he was proving that he was not a coward, but a righteous enforcer of justice."

"This realization was reinforced when the killer murdered victim number 2."

"But the killer must keep repeating this reinforcing process to prove himself right. Once he stops killing, he quickly falls into confusion about his self-perception."

This is a kind of self-perception imbalance.

Theodore believed this was Joe's Achilles' heel, and he planned to continue attacking this point in Joe's subsequent interrogations.

Perhaps combining physical evidence could slightly reduce the difficulty of the interrogation.

Ricky only vaguely understood what he was hearing, but there was one thing he did understand:

Theodore confirmed that Joe was the murderer.

Ricky chose to believe Theodore.

He searched Joe's locker and patrol car.

Joe's locker was no different from other detectives' lockers, containing civilian clothes, towels, razors, and other cleaning supplies.

There was nothing unusual about the patrol car; half-eaten bread, coffee cups, and paper bags were piled up haphazardly together.

Theodore reminded him to search Joe's house.

Ricky went out and made a few phone calls, contacting Chief George at the South Precinct.
After obtaining a search warrant, Supervisor George went to George's home to conduct a search.

Theodore was unwilling to pin his hopes on Joe taking the second victim's reproductive organs home for preservation, so he chose to return to the interrogation room.

But he wasn't interrogating Joe; he was interrogating his partner.

During Joe's previous interrogation, his partner watched from outside the interrogation room.

When he was called into the interrogation room, his expression was somewhat complicated, but his answers were watertight.

When questioned by Theodore, he insisted that Joe was on duty with him at the time of both incidents:
"I'm sure we've never separated. I can guarantee that."

He offered a plausible explanation for Joe's unusual behavior: "Joe is going through a divorce, and his former partner went through something similar, so he hasn't been in a good mood."

Theodore asked him, "Did anyone see you when the incident happened?"

"What are your patrol routes? Are there any other witnesses who can provide you with alibis?"

The partner told Theodore and Ricky that their patrol routes were random, and there were usually no incidents during the early morning shift because everyone was asleep and there were hardly any people on the streets. This shift would make one round at midnight when the shift changed, one round in the middle of the night, and one more round just before the morning shift changed. The rest of the time they would stop in one place to rest.

Theodore looked at the detective in front of him.

His partner slowly lowered his head.

Theodore retrieved the crime scene photos of the first victim and laid them out in front of his partner.

Ricky said in a deep voice, "Joe is your partner, and Michael Johnson (the first victim) is also your colleague."

He will push over a photo of the first victim.

Theodore then found a photo of the second victim with the police badge on his chest and handed it to him.

The two photos were placed side by side in front of the partner:
"The killer wasn't avenging Deborah, the policewoman; he just couldn't accept the fact that he was a coward."

“The killer will not stop; he will continue to commit murder in order to maintain his self-perception as a righteous vigilante.”

Theodore tapped on the photo of the first victim: "To maintain this self-perception, he didn't hesitate to harm his colleagues as well."

He asked Joe's partner, "Has your career been flawless?"

"How long do you think it will take for him to consider you a target?"

Ricky chimed in, "The South Precinct officers have already searched Joe's house; we'll have the results soon."

Joe's partner stared silently at the photo in front of him, and after a long while slowly raised his head.

He thought Theodore was talking nonsense.

But Theodore's reputation speaks for itself.

Besides, he knew perfectly well whether he was lying or not. He hadn't wanted to think about it before, only about protecting his partner. But now that Theodore had pointed it out, he realized that if Joe only wanted to seek justice for his former partner Deborah's assault, there was absolutely no need for him to harm his colleague.

He opened his mouth and felt a dryness in his throat.

His partner lowered his head and said in a hoarse voice, "I don't know what he did."

When both cases occurred, Joe left under the pretext of having personal matters to attend to, and he was on duty alone.

Theodore asked him, "Didn't you notice anything unusual?"

His partner shook his head: "He's my partner."

Police culture has always emphasized trusting one's partner.

Theodore declined to comment.

After obtaining his partner's statement, he and Ricky re-interrogated Joe.

Theodore told him that his partner had changed his testimony.

Joe seemed somewhat incredulous.

He turned and glanced at his partner outside the interrogation room.

"Okay, I'm going to see my divorce lawyer."

He said he didn't want to take leave, so he asked his partner to cover for him.

Ricky couldn't help but ask him, "Are you going to see a divorce lawyer in the middle of the night?"

Joe opened his mouth, still thinking of a new excuse, but Ricky interrupted him: "Did you know that Deborah took $1 from Garcia as a settlement afterwards?"

"Michael Johnson and David Brown each received $3000 in hush money."

How much did you get?

Joe stared wide-eyed at Ricky, then after a moment of stunned silence, suddenly stood up and yelled at him:
"You bullshit!"

Ricky calmly tilted his head back to meet his gaze: "How did Michael Johnson buy that house?"

Why didn't Deborah complain, but instead chose to resign?

"I……"

Just as Theodore had anticipated, the serial killer who used two ritualistic methods to commit murders refused to confess.

Given the meager amount of evidence they currently possess, which is practically nonexistent, they can't really do anything to Joe.

Ricky was somewhat discouraged and even wondered if Theodore had made a mistake.

The interrogation room door opened, and a detective came in to inform them that Chief George of the South Precinct had made a discovery.

They found an X that was submerged in a gasoline can in the garage.

A Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver was also found, with a serial number that matched the gun of the first victim.

Supervisor George is personally delivering them to the East Precinct.

Ricky turned around and looked at Theodore with surprise.

Theodore stood up, closed the folder, and looked at Joe across from him.

Joe clenched his fists and pursed his lips tightly.

Ricky asked him, "You can say it now, and we can save ourselves some trouble."

Joe retorted stubbornly, "I don't know what you're talking about. Are you mistaken? Someone's framing me!"

Ricky was about to say something more when Theodore stopped him.

They suspended the interrogation, awaiting the arrival of two pieces of physical evidence.

A dozen minutes later, Supervisor George handed them two paper bags.

Ricky invited him to stay and participate in the follow-up investigation.

Supervisor George immediately refused.

He finally managed to escape from this vortex, how could he possibly jump back in on his own initiative!

After seeing Supervisor George off, Theodore and Ricky took the evidence to the medical examiner's office.

The forensic pathologist was writing the autopsy report when he saw Theodore busy and said he would definitely finish it before leaving get off work.

He thought Theodore had come to expedite the autopsy report.

Theodore glanced at the report's progress and then at the time, expressing doubt about his promise.

The forensic doctor wiped his forehead, noticed the paper bags they were holding, and quickly changed the subject.

Forensic examination confirmed that the part submerged in the gasoline can was the missing part of victim number 2.

At Theodore's request, the forensic experts test-fired several bullets with the revolver, comparing the scratches on the bullet surfaces to confirm that it was the murder weapon that killed the two victims.

Back in the interrogation room, Ricky first presented the evidence to Joe.

Faced with irrefutable evidence, Joe readily confessed to his crimes.

He conducted a thorough investigation of the first victim, Detective Brown, the second victim, Brooks, and Kenneth; all five of them were his targets.

Both times he committed the crime, he excused himself by saying he had personal matters to attend to and left temporarily.

He chose to execute the number 1 victim on a football game day because detectives, whether on duty or off duty, would be focused on the game.

The process was not significantly different from Theodore's on-site analysis.

After executing the first victim, he prepared to take action against Detective Brown.

But Detective Brown was under protection and couldn't find an opportunity, so he shifted his focus to the second victim.

Using their police identity, they easily tricked the victim into opening the door to the room of the second victim, and after entering, they quickly subdued the victim and tortured and killed him.

Joe didn't think he was wrong; as Theodore said, he believed he was carrying out a just punishment.

He considers himself an enforcer of justice.

He expressed regret that Detective Brown and the other two were able to escape punishment.

Neither Theodore nor Ricky intended to argue with him, which made Joe click his tongue in disappointment.

Once Joe finished describing the details of the two crimes, his interrogation was essentially over.

The interrogation room door opened, and Ricky gestured for two detectives to take Joe to the detention cell.

He then returned to the conference room with Theodore to organize the documents and write the report.

Just before the end of the workday, Chief Garcia returned to the precinct and called them into his office to inquire about the progress of the case.

After listening to Ricky's report, Director Garcia remained silent.

He stared at Theodore for a while, then finally waved for the two to leave.

After leaving the chief's office, Theodore checked the time and went to the medical examiner's office.

As expected, the forensic doctor did not finish writing the autopsy report.

He said that the time was wasted helping them with the evidence testing, as he could have finished writing it before leaving get off work at a normal pace.

While explaining, he put down the typewriter, tidied up the completed report pages next to him, put them in the cabinet, changed his clothes, grabbed his bag, and left quickly.

The detectives at the East Precinct are always the most eager to leave work.

Theodore returned to the conference room, but Ricky was gone.

…………

Returning to the West District from the East District, this time Wenner did not ask Theodore about the progress of the case, nor did he take him to Chief Widke's office.

The detectives in the main office, however, were very interested in the case and surrounded the office, asking a barrage of questions.

Less than two hours after Joe was taken to the detention room, news had already spread that the killer was a detective.

It's faster than Theodore's car!
(End of this chapter)