Luke laughed, having seen the other person's skills, he wouldn't easily believe anything about having a slight understanding, "I understand what you mean. The effectiveness of microexpression analysis depends not only on one's own experience and accumulation but more importantly on the psychological quality and emotional control of the observed."

Some people have poor psychological quality, and their true emotions are easily revealed.

As for you,

you controlled your expressions well, and I did not initially detect any obvious signs of lying.

You must have learned from Petrov that the victim, Said McKin, liked white women, so you intentionally mentioned the white girl in the living room to make us believe you were the victim.

But after several conversations, I felt something was off with you.

There were signs of lying, though not obvious, but the longer we talked, the more likely you were to lie.

At that time, I wasn't very sure, so I tried to enter the house with you.

When you disagreed, I became even more suspicious of you.

Afterward, you exposed yourself.

To be honest, your acting wasn't bad."

"Thank you, but it still needs to be stronger, otherwise, you wouldn't have noticed it," he replied.

Luke shifted the topic, "I have answered your question, now perhaps it's time for you to talk about Petrov."

"You want me to admit that I hurt Petrov?"

"He is still alive and can identify you."

"Just witness testimony is useless, you also need physical evidence, and he is a gang member with a record.

My words are more credible to the jury."

"Another victim, Eddie Ross, will also identify you."

"He has no evidence either. Besides, these two, one a pimp and the other a client, might have conspired together."

Luke said, "We caught you at Said McKin's house, caught red-handed.

Given Petrov and Eddie Ross's similar experiences to Said McKin's and their identification, the jury is highly likely to find you guilty."

Michael Arthur chuckled, "Captain Lee, you are overlooking one issue—though the jury might know I am guilty, they might not necessarily convict me.

You know what kind of people those three are better than I do, and if the jury knows they bullied an underage girl…

I believe the citizens of Los Angeles have a strong sense of justice."

Luke changed tactics, "What was your purpose in interrogating Petrov, Eddie Ross, and Said McKin?"

Michael Arthur corrected, "I only interrogated Said McKin."

"Okay, then what was your purpose in interrogating him?"

"To catch the killer who killed Novina Jones."

"Did you catch him?"

"No."

Luke pointed at himself, "Now only I can catch that killer.

Did you know? I too am a man of justice.

I don't want to catch you, but as a cop, I must.

This puts me in a dilemma, catching you brings me no sense of accomplishment.

What I really want to catch is the killer who murdered Novina Jones," Luke said earnestly, "I know you have some clues, and I know you truly care about Novina Jones.

Speak out what you know, maybe you can help the police catch the killer sooner.

That's when your actions will truly be meaningful."

Michael Arthur thought for a moment, "I can tell you everything I know about this case, but I want an immunity agreement."

"I can only negotiate a favorable plea deal for you, an immunity agreement is impossible."

"You don't need to refuse, just help me apply for it.

I will make a hypothetical statement, tell you the case clues, which won't delay the investigation and won't affect me.

Only with the immunity agreement, the statement will have legal validity."

"I'm all ears." With a professional stance laid out by the other party, what more could Luke say?

Michael Arthur reminisced, "After finding Novina Jones' dropped bracelet, I started to worry about her.

I called her several times but never got through.

The next day, I planned to visit her house, but no one was there.

This was very abnormal.

When I left, I saw Petrov, but he didn't recognize me.

Later, your two colleagues also went there.

I guessed that something might have happened to Novina Jones.

Just as you speculated, I went to Petrov's house, interrogated him, and learned from him about a guest who had beaten Novina Jones, Eddie Ross and Said McKin…"

Michael Arthur's expression became complex, "I have a set of methods for interrogating people, although I don't like using them, I did anyway.

I can confirm they didn't lie, they abused Novina Jones but neither of them is the killer."

Luke recalled the experiences of the three suspects, still somewhat trusting Michael Arthur's methods. Temporarily excluding those three from suspicion, he asked, "Where did you find that bracelet?"

"At the intersection of Viates Street and Staven Street, that area is quite remote, without surveillance, making it hard to investigate."

Luke jotted this down in his notebook, "Do you have any other suspects?"

"No, I don't really understand her work, she never talked about it, and I don't inquire."

"Did Novina Jones have other close friends or family in Los Angeles?"

"Her family is in Eastern Europe.

She mentioned she had a few colleagues, probably the girls she worked with in silver dealing, but whether they are friends, I can't say for sure," Michael Arthur said.

"Has she been acting unusually lately?"

Michael Arthur pursed his lips, "She admired America very much, especially Los Angeles.

She hoped to earn enough money to stop working.

She wanted to study acting, to become a Hollywood actress—it was her childhood dream. Whenever she talked about it, she was very animated and lively."

Michael Arthur pinched his forehead, feeling somewhat guilty, "Recently, she might have been influenced by me, growing increasingly determined to leave the line of work, always trying to resist.

I think her death might be related to this reason."

"What do you mean by 'resist'? Control by gangs? Or demands from clients?"

"I think both.

She is just a child, totally unable to cope with all this.

Maybe, I shouldn't have given her hope for freedom…"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.