Selina said, “I forgot. Darling, I know that you’re the best.”
Luke said, “Save that for your mom.”
On their way to the police department, Luke asked Selina how work had been for her recently.
Selina replied that everything was under control, and that she was learning much more here than in Houston.
Donald, her partner, wasn’t very remarkable, but he was reliable and barely made any mistakes. He was also familiar with the standard procedures of the Major Crimes Division.
From that point of view, Donald was a great teacher.
Luke was quite satisfied, too. He didn’t want Selina to just sit around.
Police officers who just sat around might become public enemy number one.
They soon reached the police department. Selina parked the car, and Luke headed in first.
Luke was the one who bought the car, but Selina had been driving it. Luke had only driven it once, on the day he bought it.
He could say that he had a chauffeur to drive him every day.
Luke entered the bullpen of the Major Crimes Division. Elsa was already there, busy with the paperwork on her table.
Luke grinned inwardly. That was the benefit of not wanting any credit.
In other teams, it was the junior partner who would have to write the report, and the senior partner who would review it.
But since Luke had let go of the credit, there was naturally no need for him to write the report, in case he suddenly changed his mind and decided to claim credit in it.
Luke said hi to Elsa and asked, “What’s the arrangement for today? Do we have a new case?”
Elsa nodded her head. “We’ll get going after I deliver this report to Dustin.”
Luke nodded his head.
Ten minutes later, Elsa returned with a pleased look on her face.
Luke teased, “What? Did the boss set you up on a date?”
Elsa glared at him and said, “Let’s go.”
They got in their police car in the parking lot. Elsa finally said, “The boss said that we’ll get reward money for Sergei’s case, even if we did give away the bank robbery case.”
Luke perked up when he heard that. “How much?”
Elsa replied, “Not very much, two thousand dollars each.”
Luke was excited. “Haha, not bad. That’s two weeks’ worth of my wages.”
More importantly, the money was clean and could be used for anything.
In comparison, he didn’t dare deposit the money he got from Sergei into his bank account, since he couldn’t explain where it came from. He could only use it to pay for his living expenses.
Luke observed Elsa for a moment, then smiled again. “Is there more good news? Just tell me.”
Elsa was somewhat embarrassed, but she couldn’t keep it a secret anyway. “Actually, the boss said that a few detectives will be promoted as sergeants soon, and it’s likely that I’ll be one of them.”
Luke said with a smile, “Let me congratulate you in advance.” He knew that Elsa had passed the civil service test and had enough experience; all she had needed was an opportunity.
Elsa couldn’t hold in her smile anymore. “It isn’t settled yet.”
Luke said, “You better work harder now. I’ll definitely support you.”
Elsa looked at him and said, “I’ll hold you to that.”
Luke chuckled. “If you’re promoted, you’ll be my boss. You can look after me then.”
Elsa said with a bitter smile, “Enough. I think I’ll be the one who needs your help.”
Luke shrugged. “We should always help each other, because we’re partners, aren’t we?”
Elsa looked at him again and nodded solemnly. “Yes, we are.”
There was a brief silence in the car. Luke finally changed the topic. “What’s the case this time?”
“A man named Kiyoshi died in an apartment on Seaside Avenue. He was an Asian male, 47 years old, and worked as an engineer for a construction company,” said Elsa.
Luke found that odd. “Is he from Japan?”
Elsa said, “Yes, but he lives in America. His son is over twenty years old, and lives with Kiyoshi’s ex-wife elsewhere in California.”
Luke asked, “What about the details?”
Elsa said, “…Mr. Kiyoshi died a rather miserable death. You can read the file later. It was wilful murder; the victim was cruelly tortured before he was killed.”
Luke frowned. “…Nobody’s investigating it?”
It sounded like a difficult case, and the murder had probably been carried out by professionals.
That also meant that solving a case like this would be a remarkable achievement. So why was nobody on it?
Elsa glanced at him and said, “Donald was responsible for this case, but he hasn’t made much progress in the last few days. That’s why the boss gave it to us.”
Luke was lost for words. He had stolen Selina’s case on the day of his return. He would have to make it up to her by cooking delicious food tonight.
As for Donald? Well, that was Elsa’s problem.
Donald wouldn’t bother begrudging Luke at all, since they weren’t on the same level.
So, it would be Elsa versus Donald, and Luke versus Selina.
Luke felt that he could handle Selina easily enough, and Elsa obviously didn’t consider Donald a big deal, either. She was too formidable a woman to be scared of a gentleman like Donald.
However, after investigating the case for three days themselves, they didn’t find any leads. In the end, they had to transfer the case file to the archive room.
Then, it was a peaceful but busy life.
There weren’t any major cases, but there were numerous small ones.
With Elsa as his teacher, Luke made swift progress.
After their last conversation, Elsa decided to groom him as her future subordinate, so she often shared tricks with Luke as they worked on cases.
Luke might slip up horribly someday if she didn’t share her knowledge with him.
Her know-how was based on her years of experience as an officer; Elsa was only imparting her tricks to Luke as an advance investment.
More importantly, Luke wasn’t greedy. He couldn’t be, in any case.
He lacked both experience and a college degree, which meant that he didn’t pose a threat to Elsa.
Soon, it was Christmas.
Catherine called Luke and asked if he was going home for the holiday.
Luke, however, regretfully said that he couldn’t.
As newbies, he and Selina had to stay in Los Angeles during Christmas in the event of an emergency.
If nothing happened, they would be able to celebrate Christmas in peace.
But if something did happen, they would have to deal with the emergency without extra pay.
Every newbie had to go through this.
Catherine was a little disappointed, but Luke suggested that they visit Los Angeles during Christmas so that the family could get together and Claire and Joseph could have some fun.
