American forensics, but the gourmet system

Russell jumped out of the police car, tightened his trench coat, and followed Captain Hansen into the theater.

A site survey technician was also present.

Today was not a performance day at the theater, and the area outside the theater was deserted, but there were still actors rehearsing inside the performance hall.

The theater manager, clattering in her high heels, came to greet us. Although she was over forty, her makeup was still impeccable, and her figure remained unchanged.

She was a ballet dancer here when she was young, but after she could no longer dance, she became the manager of the theater.

"Officer Hansen..." The still-attractive theater manager feigned grievance, "Our theater still needs to operate, and dozens of actors need to eat... Besides, Vera didn't die in the theater. If this case remains unsolved—"

Captain Hansen continued walking, glancing at the theater manager who was feigning grievance.

"It is your duty to cooperate with the police investigation, but I promise we will solve the case as soon as possible."

"Tomorrow's the performance day, Officer Hansen." The theater manager was practically pressed against Captain Hansen's arm. "I just wanted to say... if we have police officers walking in and out of the theater investigating a murder during the performance... it would be terrible for the entire theater's reputation..."

Captain Hansen stopped in his tracks:

"That makes sense. You'd better cooperate with our investigation as much as possible. If we can solve the case tonight, or identify the suspect, you won't have to worry about the theater's future... Where are Vera's dressing room and private lockers?"

The theater manager's face darkened; she clearly hadn't expected to be met with such a rebuff from Captain Hansen.

But since the matter had already been brought up, she had no choice but to cooperate with the police investigation.

"Over here..."

She led the group into a room backstage.

The room was large, with a row of dressing tables against one wall and many locked cabinets on the other. The paint on the cabinet doors was mottled, indicating that they belonged to long-time employees.

In the corner, various props, costumes, and ballet shoes were piled up haphazardly.

"This is the theater's dressing room and lounge," the manager explained. "The actors usually put on makeup and change into their costumes here... Of course, as you can see, some props are also temporarily stored here..."

Jesse walked to the locker and carefully examined the name sticker on the locker door.

"Are your male and female actors changing clothes here?"

He turned around with some surprise and asked the theater manager.

"Well... that's how it is." The manager shrugged. "We need to save time and costs... makeup and changing will all be done in this room."

"But wouldn't it be inconvenient for male and female actors to change clothes together?"

Russell asked, frowning.

He couldn't quite imagine twenty or thirty young male and female actors changing clothes together in the same room.

  

That scene was just too outrageous...

"Not many people would mind," the theater manager said nonchalantly. "We ballet dancers have been dancing since we were young, and we have a lot of intimate physical contact with our dance partners of the opposite sex... For us, changing clothes together is just a little awkward, and we also control ourselves from looking around... However, I'm sure not all ballet theaters are like this."

"Then we suddenly have twice as many people to investigate..." Russell whispered to Captain Hansen, "and if the actor can also get into this room..."

"Actually, it's more than double..." Captain Hansen took a deep breath. "I don't know if you noticed, but she just said that makeup artists and prop masters can also come and go freely here... It's really a headache."

While Russell and Captain Hansen were talking in hushed tones, Jesse had already found the locker with Vera's name on it.

The forensic technician immediately put on gloves and moved closer.

The cabinet door was locked, but there were several obvious scratches next to the keyhole.

"Are these signs of being pried open?" Jesse asked the technician in a low voice.

"I'm not entirely sure," the technician said honestly. "Sometimes you might accidentally insert the key crookedly, which could leave similar marks..."

"Hey, ma'am, could you help us open this cabinet?" Jesse politely asked the theater manager.

"Okay, I'll go find a spare key..."

The theater manager left in high heels.

"She's very passionate about the theater," Diaz, who had been silent since entering, suddenly said.

"Yeah, she must care a lot... because her income is tied to the theater's revenue..." Jesse said casually while checking the other cabinets. "She's not like those ballet dancers who get paid for each performance."

"What if Vera's actions affect the theater's revenue...?"

Diaz said softly.

"hiss……"

Jesse and Captain Hansen both gasped, clearly understanding the meaning behind Diaz's words.

"Sure, Diaz." Jesse turned to look at him. "Very reasonable analysis... but weren't you using long, complicated sentences again?"

"I think we need to see the evidence," Russell shrugged. "If we're going to speculate like that, everyone in the theater could have a motive to kill Vera...after all, most of Vera's customers were loyal theatergoers."

"Russell has a point," Captain Hansen nodded. "Our guesses aren't enough to convict anyone... The key is here."

In the corridor, the sound of high heels grew louder as they approached.

The theater manager walked in carrying a large bunch of keys.

"All the spare keys to the lockers are here." The manager handed the keys to Jesse. "They have names and numbers on them, but some might not be accurate. You can try them one by one..."

As soon as he finished speaking, with a soft click, Jesse opened the cabinet door.

"Hey guys, look what I found..." Jesse's tone became excited, "A bottle of medicine... Is it the kind you were talking about, Russell?"

The technician placed the bottle labeled with diazepam into an evidence bag; the bottle also contained a dozen or so white tablets.

Russell's eyes aren't like a testing instrument; he can't tell whether the medicine bottle contains diazepam or flunitrazepam. That will only be determined after the test results come out.

However, if the killer opened Vera's closet, then the killer's fingerprints would likely be left inside.

The technician took out a soft brush and several kinds of powder, and started brushing inside the cabinet to extract fingerprints.

Meanwhile, Captain Hansen and Jesse were not idle either. The manager summoned all the employees who saw Vera return to the theater on the night of the 5th.

There are three prop masters and two cleaners.

"We had just finished tidying up the props and were getting ready to leave when we saw her... She went into her locker, took some things, and left."

"Is this the room where you saw Vera?"

Yes, that's right.

……

"We had just finished cleaning the foyer when she came in through the door and left again after about five or six minutes."

"Did you see where Vera went after she left? Did she get into a taxi or go in some other direction?"

"I don't remember... Do you remember?"

"Oh, I think I saw her walk to the right after she went out... but I didn't follow her, so I don't know where she went..."

……

Russell sat to the side, silently calculating in his mind.

Flunitrazepam takes effect in about 15 minutes, while the drive from the theater to Villa's place is 30 minutes.

This means that Vera could not have been in a taxi when she fell into a coma, because the killer needed to ensure that he could be by Vera's side immediately when she was unconscious.

Given that only actors and staff inside the theater have access to Vera's lockers...

A conjecture arose in Russell's mind.