Luke narrowed his eyes.
The boy on the bed was Billy.
The man standing by the window, on the other hand, was Stu.
Covered in blood, he held a knife to Sandra’s neck.
The girl was naked and covered in blood, fear all over her face. Stu, however, glanced at Billy with a creepy smile. “Billy, your father is a b*tch too. You think he’s anything good? He seduced my mother when Maureen left. Both of you should die!”
Stu was stunned for a moment when he saw Luke. He shouted, “You won’t catch me again!” Then, he moved the knife, ready to cut Sandra’s neck.
Luke sneered and pushed Selina’s gun down before he flung his baseball again.
Bang!
Stu fell back against the window and Sandra pitched forward, free from him.
Luke chuckled. “Haven’t I already caught you?”
But both he and Selina were shocked in the next second.
Stu’s body on the ground suddenly twisted, like some sort of special effect, before he disappeared like smoke, leaving nothing but bloodstained clothes on the ground.
What exactly was going on?
Luke immediately realized that it was a super ability!
He didn’t know how Stu had gotten this ability to vanish into thin air, but what he now knew for sure was that Stu couldn’t be a normal person.
No wonder he had disappeared from the garage just now. He hadn’t been rescued, but had simply resorted to using his super ability!
But Luke was slightly confused. Why hadn’t the system acknowledged that he had defeated Stu when he knocked the guy out twice with a baseball?
Dewey and Tatum finally arrived. Luke let Dewey pass, but stopped Tatum. He then said, “Dewey, secure the area, then get your reporter girlfriend out of here.”
Dewey said, “Okay. Wait… you…”
Luke was already nowhere to be seen, but Dewey still subconsciously asked, “Who are you to give me orders?”
Then, he noticed Selina, who was holding a gun. He drew out his own gun warily and said, “Drop your weapon.”
Selina rolled her eyes and slowly put her gun back into the holster, before she flashed her badge and said, “LAPD.”
Dewey didn’t know what to say.
Taking Tatum upstairs and blocking the female reporter from doing the same, Luke whispered to Tatum about what happened.
Tatum found it hard to believe. “How… How is that possible? Stu…”
Luke covered her mouth and said in a low voice, “There’s a reporter over there. Don’t say anything.”
Tatum got herself under control, but her tears continued to flow. “Stu… Is he really…”
Luke nodded. “Don’t be too sad.”
A few minutes later, Polk arrived in person with another two police cars, whose lights and sirens were all off.
Altogether six officers, including Polk, entered the house, and had everybody else leave.
Some of the officers would take them to the police department to take down their statements, while Polk would take care of the investigation here.
It was what Luke and Polk had agreed on earlier, so that his and Selina’s identities wouldn’t be exposed.
He certainly didn’t want his face shown to all the criminals and serial killers in the country.
This was the best way to get things done without drawing any attention.
After all, Luke had accepted this case as a favor to Deputy Director Condra, and it wasn’t like the Woodsburg police department could give him a promotion or something.
Half an hour later, Polk returned with a strange look on his face, and had Luke and Selina meet him in his office.
Closing the door, Polk said after a brief silence, “We received word that Stu went to Billy’s place with his classmates just now. He wasn’t at home.”
Selina was deep in thought.
Polk said, “Are you sure that you saw Stu kill Billy?”
Luke asked, “What about Neil? He didn’t see
Stu?”
Frowning, Polk nodded slowly. “Neil said that Billy kidnapped and imprisoned him. It was Billy who took him to Stu’s that night, too. He didn’t see Stu.”
Luke said, “Just bring Stu in and interrogate him. You’ll find out everything you need to know.”
Polk shook his head. “But he’s disappeared. Stu left right before we reached his location.”
Luke and Selina looked at each other. Wasn’t that around the time when Stu vanished into thin air in front of their eyes?
However, Luke and Selina kept mum.
Stu’s disappearance was too bizarre for anyone else to believe. Chances were that Polk would suspect that something was wrong with their heads if they told him what happened.
Polk talked to them in private to verify the details.
Luke thought for a moment, then gave him the memory cards from his cameras. Of course, he had already copied the files on the cards to his laptop earlier.
“Polk, here’s a video I shot. With this video, you can issue an arrest warrant even if Billy and Stu have alibis. Also, both Billy and Stu are involved in the murders,” said Luke.
Polk was stunned. “Huh?”
Luke shrugged. “You know that evidence is of paramount importance for us. Since we don’t have body cameras, I prepared my own.”
Polk silently accepted the two memory cards from Luke.
If the video was useful, he would be able to close the case by claiming that Stu had killed all the victims, including Billy.
If Stu felt that he had been wronged, he could turn himself in so that the police could investigate him.
Polk, however, had the feeling that Stu wouldn’t be showing his face ever again.
Putting the memory cards away safely, Polk said, “Another piece of news: Hanks, Billy’s father, died in his own home in exactly the same way as the previous victims.”
Thinking for a moment, Luke said, “Why did the students run out just now?”
Polk said, “Billy’s neighbor’s house caught fire, and they all went to watch the show. Then, they saw that the door to Billy’s house was wide open, and there was blood on it. They called the police, and we found Hanks murdered.”
Luke realized that had been none other than Stu’s distraction.
It was impossible to tell whether Billy had been aware of it, since he was already dead.
Luke said, “Billy’s father and Stu’s mother probably had an affair. It’s likely that Stu killed him.”