"No, I don't want any ties to a dead person."

"Mr. Sweeney, this is your rented house, you're already involved."

"It's Gelina who rented the house, I just paid the bills."

"She's your wife."

"Our relationship has already broken down, now it's not even as close as strangers," Helson Sweeney said.

Luke shifted the topic, "Do you have a deep conflict between you?"

Helson Sweeney suddenly realized he had misspoken, "Captain Li, don't get me wrong, I just don't want to be involved with Gelina, let alone clean up her mess."

"OK, let's put it another way, I suspect the headless woman is your wife Gelina, and I hope you will cooperate with the police to identify the body now.

Although you have a bad relationship and deep conflicts, she might be dead now, and to catch her killer, isn't it possible to put aside past grudges for the moment?"

"Oh my God, do you think Gelina is dead?"

"I haven't seen her, so I need her next-of-kin to identify the body, you wouldn't refuse, would you?"

"God, how could such a terrible thing happen..."

"No one wants such things to happen, but it has happened, and what we need to do now is resolve it as soon as possible."

"I understand." Helson Sweeney took a deep breath and slowly walked to the edge of the pit, covering his nose, "The body is headless and has started decaying, how can I identify it."

"If it had a head, there would be no need to identify it.

Provide me with some clues that can prove Gelina's identity; you're her husband, you could recognize her even just by her build."

"But the body has started decaying, and its build is somewhat distorted, it's too frightening."

"Then mention some other clues, age, skin color, tattoos, jewelry, or some other distinctive features."

"Her chest wasn't big, she had a black mole under her right armpit, a vine tattoo next to her clavicle; she liked to paint her nails purple, that's all I can remember."

"Do you have any children?"

"I always wanted a child, but she preferred freedom, didn't want to be burdened by a child, so we never had any."

"Does Gelina have any other direct relatives?"

"Her mom, lives in Arizona."

"Woo woo..." Two cars stopped on the side of the road, and the forensic and technical team arrived at the scene.

Luke said, "Mr. Sweeney, we'll stop here for now, you can find a place to rest for a while."

"Can I leave now? I really don't like the atmosphere here."

"After all, this is the house you rented, I think it's better you stay. You can go back to your car for now, I'll call you if needed," said Luke as he finished talking and went to communicate with the forensic and technical team, briefly describing the situation on the scene.

Afterward, the forensic and technical team lifted the body out of the pit.

The technical team surveyed the scene, while the forensic doctor began conducting a preliminary autopsy...

Luke called Reid to report the situation; another headless female body had been found, and the nature of the case had become more serious.

But it also showed that the police's direction of investigation was correct, and they were one step closer to the suspect.

The survey team gradually discovered some new evidence, finding traces of a large amount of blood that had been cleaned up in the toilet; this was very likely the primary crime scene.

In the pit, they found Gelina Sweeney's identification and cellphone, though they did not find the murder weapon, and no shovels were found inside the house either.

This gave Luke a bad feeling—the suspect did not dispose of the weapon, which likely meant they weren't planning on stopping.

The identification and cellphone are very personal belongings; although the phone was locked with a password, the screen saver was a photo of Gelina Sweeney. These clues indirectly proved that the headless body was very likely Gelina Sweeney.

Later on, forensic doctor Hila also completed the preliminary autopsy.

"Forensic doctor Hila, how are the autopsy results?"

"It's not very ideal; no fatal injuries were found on the body. The symptoms suggest that she likely died from excessive blood loss, the fatal injury should be on the head.

Additionally, the body was buried in a sealed bag, so the decay is quite advanced, which will cause some errors in determining the time of death.

For now, we can only confirm the time of death was around September 14th."

"Can you confirm the identity?"

"The body's age is around 35 years old.

It basically matches the features you described, the mole, the tattoo, the purple nail polish, and so on.

That's all the evidence we have found so far." Hila handed several photos to Luke.

"Thanks for your hard work." Luke took the photos to look at, watching as Hila left.

"Jackson, bring Helson Sweeney over; we need to talk to him again."

"Yes, sir."

…

Helson Sweeney came over smelling of smoke, "Captain Li, how is the investigation going?"

Luke handed him the photos, "These are pictures of the deceased, I need you to personally identify her."

Helson Sweeney took a deep breath, taking the photos with his right hand, "The vine tattoo, the purple nail polish..." Helson Sweeney sighed deeply, a complex expression on his face, "Yes, it's her."

"Are you sure this is your wife Gelina Sweeney?"

"Yes, why would she be killed?"

Luke took back the photos, "We know too little, we can't determine for now. It would be great if you could provide some valuable clues."

"Uh... I don't know.

I've said before, we almost had no contact, I didn't interfere with her life, and I don't know what happened to her recently, I'm also surprised that she was killed all of a sudden."

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