North American Detective: I am Proficient in All Kinds of Gun Quick Draws-Chapter 59 - 58: The Truth - Part 2 (Please follow for more)_1

Chapter 59: Chapter 58: The Truth - Part 2 (Please follow for more)_1

"Dean, this is the data faxed over from the hospital!" Holz handed a piece of paper, still reeking of ink, to Dean. As he spoke, his complexion wasn’t very good.

"Don’t worry, I’ve already spoken to them. They won’t let this matter get out," Dean patted Holz’s shoulder upon seeing his distress. "Everyone makes mistakes. Just be more careful next time."

Holz finally breathed a sigh of relief, his voice filled with sincere gratitude. "Thank you, Dean. I might have misunderstood you before."

In response to Holz’s gesture of goodwill, Dean smiled back and looked down at the documentation.

According to the information, the victim was named Zoe, 32 years old, a Los Angeles citizen, citizen ID XXX... The hospital’s registration data was limited.

After a word with Holz, Dean returned to the Fourth Brigade office to seek help from Daisy.

Just as he entered the office, Dean heard the rapid clatter of a keyboard. There, at her station, Daisy stared blankly at the computer screen. Her hands moved so fast they blurred, turning line after line of data into charts and graphs Dean couldn’t make sense of.

"Daisy, I must say, your typing speed is beyond my imagination," Dean exclaimed. Such hands are wasted on a keyboard.

"Oh," Daisy replied without turning around. "If I could, I’d much rather be eating snacks and binge-watching something right now."

"What’s this?"

"It’s a trend chart of the changes in Shane’s bank account information. Thanks to your hint, I realized Shane wasn’t actively transferring funds into the account himself. No one would be that stupid, especially since Shane was the company’s finance director. Someone used technical means to remotely steal Shane’s account details and frame him. Moreover, after the Shane Family disappeared, all the money in Shane’s and his wife’s bank accounts, as well as their stocks, had been liquidated. It was then transferred out through numerous large online top-ups. I’m currently summarizing the data, hoping to find the destination of these transfers."

As she spoke, Daisy stopped typing and turned around. "For that snack pack you gave me, Dean, what do you need now?"

"We found the victim’s body. This is her information. I need her detailed data!" Dean handed over Zoe’s file.

Daisy was highly efficient. Using the citizen ID, Zoe’s personal details appeared on the computer screen in just over ten seconds.

Looking at the photo on the computer, Daisy licked her lips. "Wow, she looks like quite the sultry beauty."

Dean nodded in agreement. The information included not only Zoe’s photo and personal details but also her address and a bail record. She had a criminal record for cybercrime!

Daisy and Dean exchanged a look. It seems... we’ve found the person who framed Shane!

Daisy stared blankly at the dozens of pages of charts and graphs she had worked on for two days, feeling numb. All that work for nothing?

Dean sensed the volcano inside Daisy was about to erupt. He quickly printed out Zoe’s information and beat a hasty retreat.

「...」

After leaving the police station, Dean called Lawrence. "Lawrence, I’ve found the victim’s identity. I’m about to come pick you up. Have you finished interrogating Marcus?"

"Almost," Lawrence laughed sinisterly. "Marcus says Shane’s wife took his personal information to make copies, claiming the copier was broken and that it took quite a while. I can assure you he wasn’t lying this time."

Dean faintly heard suppressed sobs over the phone. God only knows what Marcus had been through...

When Dean arrived at the hospital, Lawrence was already waiting outside. He still looked like he was relishing the experience. "Dean, those techniques you taught me worked wonders! Combined with systematically applied psychological pressure, it’s like I’ve discovered a whole new world!"

Dean’s mouth twitched. Lawrence seemed to have unlocked some kind of incredible power...

「...」

Zoe’s home was in an upper-middle-class neighborhood. She was clearly quite well-off.

With the assistance of the property manager, Dean and Lawrence managed to break open the door and enter.

The place was in disarray. All sorts of stockings, bras, and other such items were strewn everywhere, and the coffee table still held a large, unfinished takeout container, now covered in green mold.

The house was spacious, so the two split up to search. They swiftly found some useful items.

Zoe appeared to be single, yet there were clearly oversized slippers in her home, toiletries for two in the bathroom, and several sets of large-sized men’s pajamas in the closet. Besides that, there was a ledger in Zoe’s bedside drawer, clearly detailing every job she took on and the corresponding payment. This was likely for tax purposes, and among the clients was Shane’s name.

Zoe was not a call girl but an independent software engineer, a freelancer who specialized in building custom financial systems for small companies. According to the ledger, half a year ago, Shane had commissioned Zoe to create a custom financial system. That was probably when they had met.

"Lawrence, Zoe is an independent software engineer. She probably took jobs online. Open her computer; let’s see if we can find any unexpected discoveries."

"Got it."

As the computer booted up, to their surprise, Zoe’s ICQ logged in automatically!

Lawrence immediately leaned in, eager for gossip, and started browsing. Then he exclaimed, "Dean, come over here, I’ve found something good!"

The first person on the ICQ list was noted as ’Shane’! The last chat was dated September 29th. It was a message from Zoe to Shane: "I know I’m crazy. I’ve been crazy since I met you. I can’t stand this torture anymore. I’m going to lay my cards on the table!"

They scrolled through the chat history, and the murky truth of the case gradually revealed itself.

It turned out that, half a year ago, Shane had contacted Zoe online to help reinstall his company’s financial software. His only requirement was that the quote be slightly inflated; in return, he would pay Zoe a little extra commission. Afterward, they met in person. Upon meeting her, Shane felt his DNA stir. He started to invite Zoe out for meals, to have fun, and showed concern for her in everyday life.

Zoe knew Shane had a family, but she still fell for Shane’s relentless pursuit. In less than half a month, the two naturally progressed to "researching the origins of humanity" together.

Several months later, Shane grew tired of it. Over a month ago, he proposed a breakup, wanting to cut off all ties. But he didn’t know that Zoe was an extremely obsessive person. Her possessiveness was incredibly strong! Zoe believed Shane loved her and that his ruthlessness was only due to the encumbrance of his wife and children!

Then, Shane’s nightmare began. Zoe started stalking the Shane family. Afterward, Shane began receiving a series of terrifying messages:

"Baby, I heard your son almost had a car accident?"

"Baby, your family dog isn’t cute at all. It almost bit me today!"

No matter how Shane cursed or pleaded, Zoe remained indifferent. She was determined to force Shane back to her side. This continued until Zoe broke into Shane’s house by smashing a window and left an explicit video of their lovemaking on his wife’s bedside table. This act completely exposed Shane’s affair, and Zoe thus lost all leverage over him.

After their final argument, Shane coldly stated that if Zoe appeared in his life again, he would call the police!

Her love turned to hate. Zoe first manipulated the financial software to frame Shane, then left that last message on ICQ: "I know I’m crazy. I’ve been crazy since I met you. I can’t stand this torture anymore. I’m going to lay my cards on the table!"

How she chose to lay her cards on the table, Dean and Lawrence didn’t know. But the outcome was obvious...

"I didn’t expect it to be like this..." Lawrence said, a look of realization dawning on him.

Everything made sense now! Fueled by love turned to hate, Zoe had threatened Shane and his family, even daring to confront Shane’s wife. (You can imagine Dean’s mom wielding a shotgun; the women of this country are not to be trifled with.) So, after Zoe went there, she disappeared.

Afterward, the Shane Family cleaned up the crime scene and brought in the unfortunate Marcus as a cover, incidentally using his identity to rent a storage unit.

Then the question arose: Who killed Shane?

An image of the picture frame flashed in Dean’s mind, and he had his answer. Shane was probably killed by his son! His son had the strength to smash Shane’s head...

Just then, Lawrence made a new discovery. Hidden on Zoe’s computer were dozens of videos. These were mostly exclusive videos of her and Shane "researching human origins." Zoe had meticulously edited these videos; the artistic quality was high.

With the meticulous spirit of leaving no clue unexamined, they began to watch. The earlier ones were unremarkable. However, the style of the last few drastically changed because the male lead had changed!

The male lead was now Bert, Shane’s son. He had replaced Shane and, with Zoe, was exploring the mysteries of human origins that his father hadn’t completed...

"A woman’s desire for revenge is truly frightening," Lawrence commented, taking a sip of water he’d gotten from the fridge. Investigating clues could certainly leave one parched.

Dean chuckled. "Alright, let’s play the last video. After we watch it, we’ll head back."

Lawrence nodded and, while sipping water, clicked on the last video.

The next moment—

COUGH!

As if he’d seen something truly unbelievable, Lawrence choked, water going down the wrong pipe. He bent over, coughing violently.

Dean’s reaction wasn’t as extreme, but a sense of speechlessness washed over him.

These city folk really live it up.