The three of them left the studio for a small park not far away, where they sat down to talk.
But there was nowhere for Luke to sit. Elsa and Margaret occupied the iron bench, and it would be too crowded for three people.
So, he simply stood next to Elsa and listened to their conversation while he observed Margaret.
He had to admit that Margaret was truly beautiful. No wonder William, the boss of a gang, fell in love with her. She had long blond hair, fair skin and a very attractive face.
Her age and her identity as an art student also added to her sex appeal.
The conversation went on for a long time.
Luke bought a few bottles of water from a vending machine for the two women.
Elsa gradually moved away from asking questions about the case to hinting at the possible danger that Margaret might be in.
Elsa felt personally compelled to do so.
Actually, LAPD wouldn’t be in any trouble if anything happened to Margaret. Or rather, LAPD would be less troubled, because nobody would pester them to work on William Johnson’s case anymore.
But as a woman, Elsa turned soft-hearted when she talked to Margaret, who wasn’t a bad person, but just slightly innocent and childish.
Luke didn’t interrupt.
The Super Detective System made him ruthless toward villains, but he couldn’t be so coldblooded to Margaret, who was just an ordinary civilian.
Margaret wasn’t rich because of William Johnson. Her own family was wealthy enough. It was why she was able to pursue arts.
If Elsa wanted to give her a warning, Luke wouldn’t stand in the way.
Elsa was a great talker. After all, she was a seasoned detective with eight years of experience, and talking to women was one of the things she was best at.
Her resoluteness and decisiveness could easily win the trust and favor of meek girls like Margaret.
So, an hour later, Margaret had confessed a lot of intelligence on William, and was informed of her current situation.
Luke couldn’t have convinced Margaret as easily, but it was a piece of cake for Elsa.
Luke observed them with great interest.
Compared with Elsa, he was actually quite frank. He was more of a doer than a talker.
Of course, being physically capable was good, but he wouldn’t mind learning Elsa’s way with words.
He wasn’t strong enough to crush anyone yet, and might have to do some smooth talking to achieve some of his goals one of these days.
Elsa and Margaret finished their conversation two hours later, and exchanged numbers so that they could contact each other more easily in the future.
At this moment, Luke heard a most familiar voice. “Huh? Why are you here?”
Luke raised his eyebrow. “You’re here, too?”
His roommate quickly whispered to him, “We’re here for an investigation.”
Luke’s eyes were full of confusion.
Selina said, “We’re here for Mrs. Johnson.”
On the other side, Donald greeted Elsa and Margaret, before he flashed his badge and introduced himself.
Margaret was at a loss. “What… do you want from me?” She subconsciously looked at Elsa.
The police department couldn’t have sent two groups of people to investigate her, could it?
Donald said, “Mrs. Johnson, we’re here about the apartment building on 27 Lipton Street.”
Margaret couldn’t be any more confused. “Huh?”
Donald said, “It belongs to you.”
Margaret said in surprise, “What?”
Elsa and Luke listened quietly and soon got it.
As it turned out, the case that Donald and Selina were working on, which involved the death of one woman and the disappearance of another, had taken place in an apartment building that belonged to William Johnson.
Well, it now belonged to Mrs. Margaret Haley Johnson.
Donald was only here as a last ditch attempt to ask Margaret if she knew anything, but he wasn’t very hopeful.
Margaret had no idea about the apartment building at all. Or rather, she didn’t even know how much of William’s assets were now hers.
However, at Elsa’s reminder, Margaret was prepared to find a law firm and sort through the assets under her name.
She certainly didn’t hate money, but as an art student from a rich family, she wasn’t desperate for it, either.
William Johnson’s known assets included several buildings that were worth almost a hundred million dollars. She could live a comfortable life on that alone.
She would get rid of William Johnson’s illegal assets as soon as possible.
Once that was done, there was no point in the other gangsters looking for her if they wanted to grab the assets of dubious or outright evil origin that William Johnson had left behind.
Although she might lose a lot of money, this was the safest move for Margaret, given what she was like.
She wasn’t a capable woman, nor did she intend to pick up William’s mantle. She would be insane if she wanted to keep the illegal assets.
In the end, after seeing Margaret off, Elsa traded information with Donald, and Luke talked to Selina.
They realized that neither of the two teams had any useful leads.
Elsa obtained a lot of intelligence on William, but none of it had to with his murder, and he had too many enemies.
Donald was even worse off, because guileless Margaret was too busy being pretty to learn anything about William’s illegal businesses after she married him.
Luke had used Sharp Nose on Margaret, and had detected nothing except the smell of pigment.
It was true that she had never been involved in any of the illegal business.
Although it was still possible that she might be involved indirectly, the chances weren’t very high.
After a while, Luke suggested that they have lunch together, and offered to treat them.
Elsa was certainly fine with it. Donald also agreed after a brief hesitation.
It was already half past eleven. Even if he refused Luke’s invitation, he and Selina would still have to eat somewhere else.
Luke took them to Home Taste Tea House again. Different from last time, he chose a private room.
The four of them sat in a room that was ten square meters in size, with a glass window taking up one wall and which looked out onto the street. The room was quiet after the door was shut.
Elsa was rather curious. “What is this place?”
Luke explained with a smile, “It’s a separate dining room, and it charges an additional 20% service fee. You have to reserve a room like this in advance unless you’re a regular customer.”