American forensics, but the gourmet system

"Diazepam and flunitrazepam? That means Dr. Brown has been cleared of suspicion?"

In the office, Captain Hansen rubbed his eyes while listening to Russell's report and asked a crucial question.

If Dr. Brown is also ruled out as a suspect, it means their entire team has wasted another day.

The investigation has come full circle again.

The atmosphere in the office turned cold. Russell and Marty exchanged a glance, both seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes.

"Not necessarily," Marty interjected. "Jesse is still investigating Dr. Brown's alibi. If his alibi is false—"

Jesse pushed open the office door and poked his head in, saying:

"Hey, I asked the bartender at that bar. Dr. Brown was celebrating a friend's birthday at the bar that day and got really drunk. He didn't leave until after dawn... The surveillance video also confirms his statement."

"Alright." Captain Hansen didn't seem too discouraged. "Then you can let Dr. Brown leave. We clearly misunderstood him."

After Jesse left, Captain Hansen continued:

"This means that both leads we've uncovered are currently at a standstill... This means we have two other options: one is to transfer the case to another major crimes unit—"

"That's impossible!" Marty vehemently objected. "Let other teams take on cases we can't handle? That's too embarrassing, boss!"

"That leaves only the second option," Captain Hansen said slowly. "I will submit a written application to the superintendent stating that all possible leads have been exhausted and that the case should be filed as a cold case. We will reopen it when the next lead emerges..."

"Then we can forget about getting any awards for the next two years..." Marty shook his head in frustration.

  

"But we can't possibly pour all our energy into a case that has no chance of being solved." Captain Hansen took a deep breath and turned to Russell. "What's your opinion, Dr. Russell?"

Russell hesitated for a moment before speaking:

"Hmm... This afternoon, Dr. Beckman showed me a case from six years ago. The victim was a female musical actress, and her body was placed next to an inflatable doll, with similar poses and clothing... The killer's method was also to stab the victim's aorta, causing cardiac tamponade and death..."

"A serial killer?"

Diaz became alert and immediately sat up straight.

Russell shook his head and continued:

"The case is closed. The suspect committed suicide before the police found him. Evidence and the murder weapon that proved his crime were found at his residence. And the forensic doctor who handled that case was Dr. Beckman."

"Dr. Beckman suspects there's more to that case than meets the eye?" Captain Hansen frowned. "But if you ask me, it could also be a copycat attack... Our killer may have seen the details of this case somewhere and decided to imitate a similar method to kill someone else... There are many such cases."

"But something Dr. Beckman said really resonated with me," Russell said softly. "He said a killer who enjoys provoking the police is unlikely to choose suicide..."

A hint of anger flashed across Captain Hansen's face:

"Damn it...that's definitely true."

"So...should we try again?" Russell asked softly, "Give us some more time..."

Marty shook his head, looking somewhat discouraged.

"But just like the captain said, we've exhausted all the leads we have. If we want to continue the investigation, where should we start?"

Russell sighed inwardly.

In the United States, there is no slogan that every murder case must be solved, and the NYPD would not send out hundreds or thousands of officers to investigate a single murder case.

Since 1992, the number of unsolved homicides in New York City has reached as high as 6000...

"Of course, we still have leads to follow... Dr. Brown prescribed diazepam for Vera, but flunitrazepam was detected in Vera's stomach contents..." Russell chuckled. "Is it possible that the killer switched Vera's medication with flunitrazepam?"

Captain Hansen's eyes lit up immediately:

"Yes! I didn't even notice that!"

"I didn't notice that either..." Marty blinked. "It must be because the names of those two medicines are too complicated to pronounce..."

I second that.

Diaz raised a hand and said.

“That’s where the problem comes in,” Russell said, rising from his chair. “When we searched Vera’s place, we didn’t find a single bottle of diazepam… This gives us another lead—”

"Is it possible that she finished taking that medicine?" Marty guessed first.

"It's also possible she put the medication somewhere else..." Captain Hansen suggested, "like in a private locker at the theater..."

“I agree more with Captain Hansen’s guess.” Russell snapped his fingers. “Diazepam takes about 45 to 60 minutes to take effect, and the drive from the theater to Vera’s place is about half an hour. If Vera finishes her performance, removes her makeup, takes a shower, and takes the diazepam at the theater, then the drug will take effect shortly after she gets home…”

"There's another advantage to having it in the theater," Captain Hansen's eyes practically lit up his bald head. "Vera's a prostitute; if she decides not to go home for the night, she can simply bring a pill to the theater and take it when needed—"

"But she kept the condoms at home," Marty pointed out.

"It's not strange for you to keep a bottle of pills in your locker," Russell shrugged, "but what if you kept a whole box of condoms in your locker..."

"Haha!" Marty laughed loudly.

"Then we might figure out why Vera went back to the theater after leaving the hotel on the night of the 5th..." Russell said again, "She went back to the theater to take a diazepam pill... but she didn't know that someone had replaced her diazepam with flunitrazepam... and flunitrazepam is more potent and takes effect in a shorter time."

Captain Hansen continued Russell's words:

"The killer followed Vera, who was under the influence of drugs and in a daze. He killed Vera in some secluded place, dressed her in that cheap, almost humiliating outfit... and then hoisted her onto the roof of an abandoned building... It all makes sense, Russell!"

"Yes, that makes perfect sense!"

Marty got excited too.

"What did you figure out?" Jesse asked curiously as he walked into the office. He had just gone to let Dr. Brown go home and missed the exciting reasoning in the office.

"case."

Diaz answered succinctly.

"Yes, from a logical standpoint, we've got it all figured out. But the only problem is... we still know nothing about the killer." Russell shrugged.

“But we do have a new direction for our investigation.” Captain Hansen stood up, straightened his uniform collar, and said, “Diaz, Jesse, let’s go back to the theater and focus on Vera’s private locker. Dr. Russell, you’d better come along too. None of us know anything about drugs…”

"And what about me?" Marty looked a little confused.

"You can go home and rest now, Marty," Captain Hansen said, emerging from behind his desk. "We'll take turns resting, making sure at least one person is on duty regularly. We need to stay energetic... This case must be closed by our team!"