The next morning at nine o'clock, north of Harrisburg, a hotel suite.
"Good morning, everyone, I'm back."
Chenier walked in and shook the folder in her hand:
"The forensic department has returned the test results, it was indeed cyanide that killed Adam Davis and the two women."
Around the conference table, Mona, Michelle, Reesi, and Winslow all looked grim. Luo An pondered slightly and then asked:
"What about the crime scene? Did the forensic department find any traces of the murderer?"
Chenier sat back down, took a sip from her water cup, and shook her head:
"Unfortunately, no fingerprints or footprints were found. The forensic department suspects the killer wore gloves and shoe covers."
Luo An kept his composure and turned his gaze toward Reesi, asking:
"What about the surveillance at the motel?"
"That motel's owner is definitely a character."
Reesi muttered a few curses under her breath and handed a paper to Luo An, saying:
"Several streets near the motel have many women engaged in physical work.
To attract customers, the motel owner came up with an idea; he negotiated with these women to invite them to his motel to 'exercise' with men.
In exchange, for every male customer these women brought in, the motel owner would give them five percent of the room charge.
Additionally, to ensure a long-term cooperation, the motel owner thoughtfully removed the outside perimeter and hallway surveillance cameras, to prevent federal law enforcement from finding any evidence against these women."
"..."
After hearing Reesi's description, the room fell silent, Winslow and Chenier's eyes widened, they had not expected this kind of maneuver.
Mona and Michelle were also quite shocked, complaining:
"What is this, a kickback scheme?"
"No, it's more like fleecing those men."
Luo An waved his hand, and Winslow on the other side pointed to a cardboard box next to him, saying:
"Last night, after making some inquiries, I found Adam Davis's residence, just a regular rental.
I found Adam Davis's computer and another mobile phone in that rental and brought them all back, nothing else was discovered."
"I'm currently processing Adam Davis's mobile phone."
Mona, sitting at her desk rapidly typing on the keyboard, the phone found by Winslow connected to her computer via a data cable, Mona complained:
"Besides some calls and messages looking for work, there's almost nothing useful on this mobile, feels almost like a brick."
"Don't forget about that computer."
Luo An after a slight pause, said:
"Also, don't forget to check the message logs and call records."
Mona nodded:
"OK, give me a bit more time."
While Mona and Michelle needed time for their technical work, Luo An started organizing the information they had with Reesi, Winslow, and Chenier, continuing to analyze the clues.
"First, the overall sequence and context of the case."
Luo An placed the Deputy Governor's photo and Adam Davis's photo on the whiteboard, saying:
"Two days ago, the Deputy Governor was notified to enter that hospital for pre-surgery checks and preparations.
During the hospital admission, Adam Davis secretly took photos of the Deputy Governor and others at the hospital entrance.
One day ago in the afternoon, the heart transplant surgery officially began, lasting ten hours. After the surgery, the Deputy Governor was moved to the ICU.
Around midnight, the Deputy Governor and eight other victims successively died of poisoning."
"Yesterday at seven o'clock in the evening, Adam Davis withdrew some money from an ATM on the street and sought out two women to satisfy his desires.
The record at the motel front desk shows that the trio entered the room at around 7:38 PM.
We arrived at the motel around 8:35 PM, by which time all three were already dead."
There seemed to be no issues with the process, Winslow and Chenier nodded, Reesi was silent for a few seconds, then frowned and said:
"The death of Adam Davis was undoubtedly a silencing act by the mastermind behind the scenes.
From the perspective of the mastermind, to prevent their own information from being exposed, silencing him was somewhat necessary.
But isn't this time interval too long?
From the Deputy Governor's death at midnight to Adam Davis being killed after 7 PM, nearly 20 hours had passed."
"And the reason for the Deputy Governor's murder."
Chenier followed up by saying:
"We've already investigated the Deputy Governor's family and friends, and they haven't heard of anyone who harbored deep hatred towards him.
There are plenty of political enemies, but those people understand the rules and limits of the political game, and we haven't found anyone with a motive to harm the Deputy Governor."
"What about the heart?"
Winslow suddenly looked stern and asked:
"The heart transplanted into the Deputy Governor, was there any issue with its origin? Could it be some sort of revenge?"
"There was no problem with the heart's origin."
Luo An shook his head and said:
"I looked into this; the heart came from a young person who was brain dead from a car accident, and his family couldn't afford the subsequent medical costs, so they willingly signed the donation consent.
Essentially, it was the Deputy Governor's wife who bought the heart for 300,000 dollars.
As for the young man's parents, I contacted Vireness to help research, and it turns out they have two other children; after receiving that money, they went back home and continued to support the two children's education."
Winslow, Chenier, and Reesi all fell silent; buying a heart for 300,000 dollars felt strangely indescribable, but after all, this is the federation, and such events are not uncommon.
After a moment of silence, Chenier continued:
"What about the doctors and nurses at that hospital? Is there any suspicion that they were bribed?"
"I've already investigated."
Luo An shook his head, as last night Winslow, Chenier, Reesi, and others each took action, he was not idle either.
He drove to that hospital, using his "Emotional Perception" to chat with every doctor and nurse who had been in contact with the medical equipment on the day of the incident.
During the conversations, Luo An learned a lot of information.
For instance, a female doctor who was married was still seeking pleasure with several male doctors; a nurse played poker in the office with the dean; another nurse earned quite a lot on the side by helping patients at the ward to solve physiological needs...
A variety of eye-opening messages, although not helpful for the case, those doctors and nurses all spoke the truth, Luo An temporarily ruled them out of suspicion.
After Luo An briefly summarized, silence returned to both sides of the conference table, and after a long pause, Reesi suddenly raised her hand, with a stern face, and asked:
"Luo An, that story about the nurse making extra money, could you elaborate?"
"..."x3
Winslow looked speechless, Chenier rolled her eyes dramatically, Luo An was completely frustrated, and directly threw a bag of coffee at Reesi.
"I was just trying to lighten the mood since it was getting too heavy."
Reesi chuckled, catching the candy and stuffing it into her mouth, just about to continue saying something when Mona suddenly raised her hand and said loudly:
"Everyone! Michelle and I have found a clue here!"
"What?"
Reesi, Chenier, and Winslow hurriedly moved their chairs closer, Luo An asked:
"What is it?"
"A voice mail!"