"Maybe she thinks the timing isn't right yet."

At this moment, the little chubby kid came downstairs, wearing a pleading expression, "I found the bottle opener, mom, can I have a little bit of red wine, just a tiny bit?"

"No, don't even think about it."

Luke popped the cork out of the wine, poured a glass for his mom, and one for himself, while the little chubby kid got himself a box of orange juice.

The three clinked their glasses together, and Linda took a sip, "By the way, I heard Lucas had an accident."

"How did you know?"

"I saw it on the news, is it true?"

"Yes, he's dead."

"How did he die?"

"Murdered, I can't say too much."

"You're working on this case too."

"Yeah, I even met his wife today."

"Wow... that's such a pity, I've seen the movies he directed..."

Luke interrupted, "I know, 'The Storm of Special Combat', I've almost developed calluses in my ears hearing about it today."

Linda raised an eyebrow, "No, it's not 'The Storm of Special Combat', I don't like that kind of movie.

We watched 'Brazilian Romance', I watched it with your father.

Lucas was so handsome back then, I complimented him a bit, and your dad got jealous, he even got a haircut just like Lucas'...

Thinking about it now, time really flies, things are not the same anymore..."

The speaker meant no harm, but the listener took it to heart.

Usually, Linda paid little attention to the entertainment industry, but now even she knew about Lucas's death; it showed how fast and widely the news had spread.

Luke felt that there might even be a movie crew behind the spread of the news.

"Mom, if Lucas's new movie comes out, would you watch it?"

Linda thought for a moment, "Of course, I would go, even if it was to say farewell to an old friend I never met. But he's dead, isn't he? Can the movie still be released?"

The little chubby kid said, "What's so difficult about that, Paul from 'Fast & Furious 7' died, right? The movie sold even better. Now there's even a tenth installment.

Van Diesel has made a fortune."

Luke had also guessed that Lucas's death might bring some promotional effects to the movie, but since he was not from the entertainment industry, he didn't know how significant this effect would be.

Now it seemed that Lucas's death might turn the movie into a blockbuster, involving huge interests, enough to make someone take the risk of committing murder.

...

The next morning.

The male supporting actor Andar And from 'The Missing Lover' and the offender Ada Phil were invited to the detective bureau.

The reason it was an invitation is that the police had no evidence to prove their involvement in the crime, it was just a routine inquiry.

Arranged by the police, the two of them had an encounter in the same corridor, each led by different officers walking towards each other.

Luke and the others were watching from behind a glass window.

If they knew each other, without any prior collusion, there would certainly be an exchange of glances, either of surprise or astonishment.

However, as the two walked past each other, Luke did not see any intersection of gazes between them.

Based on Luke's experience, there were three possibilities.

The first possibility is that the two had colluded beforehand to pretend they didn't know each other, since they had greeted each other, there wouldn't be too much surprise or shock.

The second possibility is that the two never met directly, the deal was done through a middleman.

The third possibility is that the two really had no connection, Andar And wasn't truly the mastermind behind the scenes.

Among these possibilities, Luke thought the first was unlikely because nearly four months had passed since the case, and it was improbable that the two would collude again.

As for whether it's the second or third possibility, a try would tell soon.

Luke and little black were in charge of the offender Ada Phil.

Ada Phil was a woman in her thirties, African American, and Jenny first took her into the break room.

Luke asked Xiao Hei to arrange the meeting room, preparing to have a conversation with the other party there.

The so-called arrangement was quite simple; a few photos of the individuals involved in the case were laid out next to the meeting table, with some messy characters written in Chinese that the other party couldn't understand. However, Lucas's photo was not displayed. If Ada Phil showed any reaction to the photos, it might indicate that her employer was among them.

If there was no reaction, it would mean that none of the people in the photos were suspects, or that the hiring was done through a middleman.

Soon, Ada Phil was brought into the meeting room.

When she saw the photos on the whiteboard, she obviously froze for a moment.

She then quickly turned her head away.

From Luke's experience, she must have recognized the person in the photos.

There were a total of five photos on the whiteboard: the producer, the director, the assistant director, the supporting actor, and the leading actress.

One could first eliminate the supporting actor, as Ada Phil had shown no reaction when she saw him in person just moments ago.

The producer and director could also be eliminated because they had the power to decide on the roles. If they did not want Lucas to play the leading role, Lucas wouldn't have had the opportunity.

There would naturally be no need for them to resort to underhanded tactics.

That left the assistant director, Clapbo Hino, and the leading actress, Courtney Bass.

As for which of these two it was—hard to say.

Both had a certain level of suspicion.

The assistant director was the one who reported the crime, and he found the body before the police arrived. Sometimes the reporter of the crime could also be a suspect.

The leading actress, Courtney Bass, was romantically linked with Lucas. Once there were emotional entanglements, the outcome could be unpredictable.

Thus, it was difficult to dismiss these two people.

If one chose to probe one of them now, there was a fifty percent chance of getting it right. If the wrong photo was picked, it would become difficult to bluff Ada Phil any further.

If Ada Phil realized that the police could not identify the employer, she might firmly deny the confession.

Luke had been a detective in China for many years. Although his marksmanship was mediocre, his interrogation skills were quite good.

He directly picked up the photo of the leading actress, Courtney Bass, "Ms. Ada Phil, do you recognize her?"

Ada Phil glanced at it and shook her head, "No, I don't recognize her."

"Yesterday we interrogated Clapbo Hino, and he confessed that the woman in the photos was your accomplice. After that, he identified you."

Luke's method was simple: he presented the leading actress, Courtney Bass, and the assistant director, Clapbo Hino, as accomplices, thus turning the issue into primary and secondary instead of right and wrong.

Ada Phil shook her head, "I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't recognize Clapbo Hino."

Luke took down the photo of assistant director Clapbo Hino from the whiteboard, "You may not know his name, but you must have seen him in person."

A flicker of panic crossed Ada Phil's face as she looked down, "I don't recognize him."

"Then do you recognize Lucas?"

"Yes, I accidentally bumped into him four months ago. He's a nice guy, he didn't hold me accountable. I'm grateful, he's a good person."

"But he's dead now."

"That has nothing to do with me."

"His death might have nothing to do with you, but what about the car accident four months ago? They have already identified you, and the situation is not in your favor now."

Ada Phil's forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, but she still held on without speaking.

Luke continued, "Shortly after you injured Lucas, you deposited fifty thousand US dollars into your account. That money was the hiring fee they paid you."

Matthew looked into Ada Phil's financial situation and found that she had been in poor economic condition, which improved four months ago with a large deposit of fifty thousand US dollars. This was why Luke suspected there was a problem with the traffic accident case.

Luke sighed deeply, "Ada Phil, I understand you, I know your past. You're a person who follows the rules, you haven't even gotten a speeding ticket.

I know times have been tough for you, with two children to support, but you shouldn't have improved the situation this way. It sets a bad example.

"If you're willing to cooperate with the police, I'm also willing to help you, to get your sentence reduced or even dropped. Otherwise, the police will have to accept Clapbo Hino's testimony.

It will be bad for you then.

They might even twist the facts, portraying you as the mastermind, and you could face serious criminal charges..."

Ada Phil looked up, her voice choked, "No, I'm not the mastermind, it was Clapbo Hino who hired me to hit Lucas.

I really needed the money, my child is autistic and needs to attend special education, and the tuition is very expensive... sorry..."

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