From the moment they received the call about the body to the point they had their first suspect in cuffs, it hadn't even been two hours.
And this wasn't just any case—it was one of those tough river-dump homicides.
The efficiency was something even Lucas had to marvel at, especially impressed by Ethan's logical and deductive prowess.
Without any canvassing, without even confirming the victim's identity or digging into her social connections, they had made significant headway based solely on the observation and interpretation of the victim's body. Ethan's skills were almost on par with a forensic expert.
Most medical examiners focus on cause of death, but they probably didn't have Ethan's knack for logical reasoning.
No wonder he scored perfect on the recruitment test. The East End Detective Bureau really hit the jackpot with him.
...
At Charlie's house.
Amidst his tearful confessions, they quickly found two luxury rings, a women's Rolex watch, and the latest model iPhone.
These items matched Ethan's earlier predictions almost exactly, further proving his exceptional talent for solving cases.
The rings and the watch, while valuable, wouldn't immediately help identify the victim. The priority was to repair the water-damaged iPhone.
Ethan bagged the items and turned to Lucas, offering his insight, "Lucas, the victim's belongings aren't cheap, yet she was wearing high-quality knock-offs. It's likely that..."
"These rings and the watch were gifts, possibly from a lover. This could very well be a crime of passion. Identifying the victim is our top priority right now."
"As for Charlie,"
"In my opinion, he probably doesn't know who the killer is. He's just a scavenger, seeing an opportunity in the victim's belongings."
"If we want to crack this case soon, we shouldn't waste too much time on Charlie. Let's focus on getting that phone fixed."
Lucas nodded in agreement.
Judging by Charlie's current fearful and apprehensive demeanor, if he had any substantial information about the murder, he'd have spilled everything already, hoping to reduce his sentence.
Without further hesitation,
Lucas scanned the room to ensure nothing was overlooked, then decisively commanded, "Let's wrap this up! Head back, and I'll have the tech team start on the phone immediately."
Handling a homicide case was a race against time.
The police car carrying Charlie quickly left the scene.
The follow-up was handed over to the patrol officers, aiming to minimize the impact of the incident.
However, regardless of efforts to downplay it, the residents near Newtown Creek would likely be buzzing about this case and Charlie for weeks to come.
...
Back at the East End Detective Bureau.
Charlie, deemed of no further investigative value, was taken straight to the interrogation room for a confession and detailed questioning by other detectives.
Meanwhile, the tech team was busy repairing the victim's phone.
Thanks to the latest model's waterproof features, the phone wasn't too difficult to fix, despite having been submerged for a while.
While waiting for the phone repair,
Lucas and Ethan headed to the dedicated case discussion room to strategize on other potential breakthroughs in the case.
Miles, on the other hand, took this opportunity to learn about repairing water-damaged phones, beginning his transition into the forensic tech division.
Inside the conference room at the moment.
Ethan picked up a bottle of water, took a sip, and pointed to a plastic bag on the table containing small fragments. He spoke slowly, "Lucas, this is a piece of leather found in the victim's nail polish. I think it likely indicates where the victim was roughly strangled."
"Because normally, when someone is being strangled, they have a bit of time to fight back fiercely, although if the resistance fails..."
"They'd pass out from lack of blood to the brain within seconds, but that's enough time to leave some telling evidence behind."
"Like this piece of leather."
"If we're guessing where the victim could have snagged this leather in her nails, it's probably in a car, on a couch, or on a bed."
"These places all have a bit of privacy. The fact that the victim and the murderer were in such a place suggests they were close."
"Typically speaking."
"I think we just need to wait for the phone to be fixed, see who she's been in contact with recently, and we might just find our suspect!!!"
"But."
"Because of the type of leather, I'm starting to have a different theory..."
As an experienced old detective.
Lucas was naturally very sharp with clues and details.
But now, as Ethan brought out the plastic bag and explained about the leather fragment in the victim's nails, he immediately deduced more about the relationship between the victim and the murderer.
Such terrifying deductive power and keen thinking still surprised Lucas.
"Based on experience."
"We can now be pretty sure that the victim knew the murderer, it wasn't a random act."
"Ethan, go on."
"Did you pick up any other clues from this piece of leather?"
It was clear that, after the last arrest of a federal fugitive and this impressive performance, Lucas no longer saw Ethan as just a rookie but as an experienced detective capable of an equal exchange.
Ethan didn't play it coy, he directly shared his deduction.
"Based on our earlier deduction."
"The victim wasn't well-off, but she wore high-quality knock-offs to save face, while her jewelry and watches were genuine."
"This likely means."
"She managed to get those expensive items from some wealthy guy by leveraging her appearance."
"And this piece of leather in the plastic bag, from my simple visual inspection and material analysis, is the cheapest kind of synthetic leather, something most wealthy folks wouldn't use."
"This suggests..."
"The person who gave the victim the jewelry and the murderer are probably not the same person. There are at least two men connected to this case, and it's likely a crime of passion driven by revenge!!!"
At this moment, Lucas fell silent, fully grasping what Ethan was implying.
This silence wasn't out of disagreement with Ethan's judgment, but rather a kind of awe that made his scalp tingle.
It was unimaginable...
Just from such a small piece of leather, how Ethan could deduce that at least two men were involved with the victim!
This level of deduction and logical ability was simply terrifying!
Just then, Miles burst into the room with the repaired phone, his steps brisk with excitement.
"The phone's fixed!"
"We've confirmed the identity of the victim!!!"