American forensics, but the gourmet system

When Russell told Captain Hansen his guess, he didn't seem surprised.

"That's the most reasonable explanation," Captain Hansen said. "Vera, after taking the drug, got into the killer's car, thinking she was just hitchhiking, but once she completely lost consciousness, she was at the killer's mercy..."

After consulting with the prop master and the cleaning staff, the technician completed the fingerprint extraction.

"Captain Hansen, I extracted more than a dozen fingerprints from the cabinet and its door," the technician said. "We need to compare them with the deceased's fingerprints to determine the specifics."

Russell glanced at the time; it was already 8:30 p.m. Most of the theater staff had already left for the day, except for the theater manager.

The fingerprint comparison results will definitely not be available until tomorrow, and the identification results for the drugs in the medicine bottle will also take some time.

At least we won't catch the murderer tonight...

Russell decided not to stop by the criminal investigation center; he decided to go straight home after get off work.

After a long day, Russell was quite hungry.

He was now incredibly nostalgic for the stewed lamb chops he had last night, and deeply regretted not having eaten more lamb yesterday…

"let's go."

Captain Hansen stood up from his chair and spoke to Jesse and Diaz.

From Captain Hansen's expression, it was clear that he was very satisfied with the results achieved tonight.

The theater manager visibly relaxed, but then cautiously asked:

"May I ask... will the officers be coming tomorrow? I don't mean anything by it, but if I could prepare in advance—"

"I can't give you a definite answer right now, ma'am," Captain Hansen said politely. "It all depends on the progress of the investigation... If necessary, we will still come to investigate."

The theater manager's expression was somewhat subtle, but he still managed a reluctant nod.

The group left the dressing room and walked along the corridor towards the outside of the theater.

The manager was behind them, jingling a large bunch of keys as he locked the door.

Jesse suddenly lowered his voice and said:

"I don't think this manager is a suspect... If she were really the murderer, she would definitely try her best to clear herself of any involvement, and she certainly wouldn't make any requests to the police... Her behavior leaves me no room for doubt..."

"Hmm..." Captain Hansen nodded slightly. "It does not make sense logically, but we haven't identified the killer yet. Remain suspicious, Jesse."

  

As the group left the theater, Russell stood on the street, took out his phone, and started calling Uber.

"Hey bro, I can take you to the nearest subway station."

Jesse said to Russell as he got into the car.

"Please, you want me to take the subway in this freezing weather?" Russell said, feigning anger. "I still have to walk a kilometer to get home after I get off the subway..."

"Haha...just kidding. See you tomorrow, bro." Jesse closed the car door and started the police car.

Diaz, Captain Hansen, and the technician boarded the vehicle one after another.

Suddenly, Russell's cell phone rang.

Russell paused for a moment, then answered the phone.

Good evening, Dr. Smith.

Dr. Smith's tired, deep voice came from the other end of the phone:

"To be honest, I'm still in the lab at this hour, and I don't feel too good... Dr. Russell, the test results for the swab you gave me are in."

Russell immediately perked up.

This might mean they have another lead to investigate...

"What was the result?"

Russell quickly asked.

Dr. Smith rattled off a long string of chemical terms:

"The main ingredient is a polyvinylpyrrolidone-vinyl acetate copolymer, along with residues of ethanol and fragrance... Well, to put it simply, you put a little hairspray on the cotton swab you gave me..."

"Hairspray?"

Russell suddenly felt something flash through his mind.

But he failed to grasp that fleeting inspiration...

"Yes, hairspray," Dr. Smith's voice came through. "Anything else, Dr. Russell? I have to go home now; my wife just called and gave me a piece of her mind..."

"Ah, thank you, Dr. Smith," Russell said quickly. "I have nothing else. Goodbye."

hairspray...

After hanging up the phone, Russell frowned.

Of all the suspects the Major Crimes Unit has considered so far, Isaac has a buzz cut, Dr. Brown is bald, and the theater manager has flowing, shoulder-length hair...

They don't need hairspray.

Russell remembered that someone connected to the case must have used hairspray; he was certain of it…

Russell quickly searched his memory.

The police car slowly moved out of the roadside parking space.

With a hum from the exhaust, the black Ford Explorer began to accelerate.

"Hey! Jesse!" Russell suddenly shouted, waving his arm at the departing police car. "Wait! Don't go yet!"

squeak--

The screeching sound of brakes.

The police car stopped in the middle of the road, its reverse lights flashing, and reversed back to Russell Noodles at a speed several times faster than usual.

The car window rolled down, and Jesse's head in the front seat and Captain Hansen's head in the back seat popped out at the same time.

"What's wrong, Russell? Have you found any clues?"

Captain Hansen asked.

"There's a prop master today!" Russell said to Captain Hansen in a low voice, trying to suppress his excitement. "There's a rather elderly prop master, with gray hair and hair gel..."

"I vaguely remember," Captain Hansen said, frowning as he recalled. "He dressed himself quite neatly... What's wrong?"

"I found something inconspicuous under the deceased's fingernails," Russell continued, his voice trembling with barely suppressed excitement. "I sent it to the lab for testing, and it turned out to be hairspray!"

"Lots of people use hairspray..." Jesse shrugged. "Dr. Beckman uses it too..."

Russell started counting on his fingers:

"But the prop master had access to Vera's locker, so he had the means to commit the crime. As a prop master, he also had access to the tools used to hoist the body... plus the hairspray found under the victim's fingernails... even if we can't confirm he's the murderer, we should at least increase our suspicion of him!"

Captain Hansen thought for a second and quickly made a decision:

"Russell is right. Let's go back and find the theater manager... The staff has gone home, but she should have the prop master's address. Let's take him back and interrogate him... Wait, whose call was that?"

Captain Hansen took out his phone and answered the call.

"Marty, what's wrong?"

"Hey, boss," Marty's muffled voice came through the loudspeaker, "I need to apologize. Actually, I haven't gone off duty for a break. I'm still at the station... Don't rush to yell at me... Remember that murder case Dr. Lasso mentioned this afternoon, the one from six years ago? The musical actor who was murdered?"

"I remember, what's wrong?"

"The victim back then was a musical actress. I was bored and compared the case files of this case with those of that case at the station. Guess what I found..."

"Stop keeping us in suspense, Marty!" Jesse shouted from the side. "We're off to arrest the suspect!"

Marty's tone turned to shock:

"Damn! You guys moved so fast? Wait, wait... is the suspect you found a prop master? I checked the case files from back then and found the list of theater staff that musical actor worked for. And I also have the transcript of the interrogation I gave Vera's colleague last time. I compared the two lists and found that one prop master's name appeared on both lists... His name is John Down, and he owns a Ford F-150 pickup truck..."

"Can you find his address, Marty?" Captain Hansen asked, a hint of excitement in his voice. "We'll head over there right now!"