Angela, who rarely lacked an appetite, toyed with her wine glass, swirling the remaining wine inside, her brows furrowed.
"The suspect's illegal break-in was clearly an attempt to catch Jeff and obtain the contraband drugs. This suggests Jeff either stole these items from him or owed him money."
"But I can't figure out why there would be internal strife among the suspects. Forensics found several types of contraband at Bruno's house, which means the conflict wasn't caused by unevenly splitting the spoils."
Jack scratched his head. "Could it be that it's not an internal conflict, but the suspect has other enemies?"
But he quickly dismissed his own guess.
"That would be too much of a coincidence, happening just a few hours later."
Dr. Garris, after hearing John's account of the case, couldn't help but express her sympathy.
"This family is so unfortunate, especially the father. Losing his son over a small bag of pills and his wife being assaulted right in front of him..."
Everyone felt a pang of emotion, even Wesley raised his hand.
"Is it possible that the father actually saw the suspects and recognized them on the spot? Maybe he lied to you."
John agreed and put himself in the father's shoes.
"If anyone dared to hurt my Henry, I'd definitely seek blood for blood."
Angela's brow relaxed, and she set down her wine glass.
"Matt Christen paid for his son Jeff's rehab. He kept this from us not because he was ashamed, but because..."
"But because Jeff likely met Bruno at the rehab center, and Matt, who visited his son there, probably recognized Bruno today and decided to take revenge himself."
Jack continued excitedly but then felt a bit disappointed.
"But this doesn't help us find the other killer."
Angela, however, seemed to have renewed hope.
"Regardless, tomorrow we'll summon Matt to the station for further questioning to see if he recognizes the other suspect."
The next morning, at the interrogation room door, Jack and Angela glanced at Matt Christen, who was waiting inside. The grief-stricken father still bore fresh bruises on his face and looked exhausted.
"How do we question him? Good cop, bad cop? Are you playing the good cop or the bad cop?" Jack was eager to use his advanced psychology skills.
Angela shook her head. "We're not interrogating a suspect. We need to be sympathetic and foolish. You play the fool."
She handed him a bottle of mineral water and a folder.
"Mr. Christen, thank you for coming to the station again. How's Marilyn today?"
Angela handed over the water with genuine concern.
"Ah, thank you. We didn't sleep last night. Marilyn... she cried non-stop. Yesterday was a nightmare for her."
Matt Christen's eyes were still red and swollen, though he seemed cooperative despite his low spirits.
Angela apologized, trying to comfort him. "I'm sorry for your loss. We just have a few more questions, then you can go home and be with her. I know she needs you now more than ever."
As Matt nodded absent-mindedly, Jack opened the folder and began questioning in a businesslike manner.
"Was Jeff continuously taking prescription painkillers? We found OxyContin in his room."
Matt explained with some frustration, "He hurt his knee last year, and the damn doctor prescribed it. He got addicted for a while, but then I sent him to rehab."
"The Malibu Recovery Center? I heard it's very expensive."
"Yes, but I thought it was worth it."
Though he admitted it easily, it was clear he was trying to downplay the situation.
Jack nodded and asked, "So you didn't know Jeff hadn't fully kicked the habit?"
Matt's face showed shock and regret. "No, I had no idea. He must have hidden the pills. Damn it, Marilyn and I didn't even notice."
Jack handed over a photo of a badly beaten face.
"Oh, sorry, wrong photo."
He searched the folder but found nothing else.
"This man is Bruno Vinci. This was his condition when we found him yesterday. It's a different case, but we discovered he was also a patient at Malibu Recovery. We're looking into a possible connection."
Matt stared at the photo, lost in thought, then snapped back and asked, "What does this have to do with the break-in at my house? Is it related to Jeff?"
Jack, seemingly careless, spilled the beans. "The Robbery-Homicide Division dumped this case on us yesterday, as if we weren't busy enough. We found out this guy was at the same rehab as Jeff. So we suspect both cases are drug-related, and the perpetrators might have been after Jeff and then went for Bruno. Do you know this man?"
Matt quickly denied, "No, I don't know him. Is he dead?"
Jack shrugged. "No, but he's in a coma. The doctors say even if he recovers, he'll be a vegetable."
Seeing a flash of relief in Matt's eyes, Jack and Angela exchanged a knowing glance.
Angela then impatiently glared at Jack. "Go find a better photo of Bruno for Mr. Christen to identify. If we can't find a connection, we'll hand this case back to Robbery-Homicide. We don't have time to clean up their mess."
As Jack hurried out of the room, Angela apologized to Matt. "I'm very sorry, Mr. Christen. He's only been on the job for six months. Young people are enthusiastic, but they can be..."
Matt returned to his distracted state, nodding absently.
After a while, Jack came back with a clearer photo. Matt again denied knowing Bruno and then left.
Watching Matt Christen's slightly hunched back as he departed, Jack suddenly lost the joy of uncovering the truth. He noticed that, compared to yesterday, this unfortunate man's hair had turned significantly whiter overnight.
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