chapter 2 Suspect Kate

"Hurl—"

"Captain, I—Hurl, I—"

"I can't take it anymore, Hurl-!" Behind Nathan, the young male police officer also turned around, leaning against the wall and covering his mouth, vomiting against the wall, expelling last night's dinner that hadn't properly digested.

Even Nathan, a veteran officer with plenty of experience in handling murder cases, was initially frozen in place, unsure of what to do. His stomach churned likewise.

After the male officer finished vomiting and Nathan calmed down, they looked at each other. The young officer, now leaning on the wall and patting his chest, said, "Captain, what do we do?"

Nathan's lips twitched, "What else can we do? Report to—report to..."

Nathan didn't finish his sentence, but even talking made him lose control, and the male officer immediately stepped forward to gently pat Nathan's back. "Captain, I know. Should we report to the higher-ups?"

"Yes, yes! I'll call the higher-ups. You go—go find some buckets..."

"Let—let Xiao Wang check the victim's identity, Ortiz check the accounts, Sandy to check the victim's social relations, Rafe... Rafe to collect fingerprints and footprints from the scene, ugh—"

"Let Jiang Hua contact—contact the forensic team!"

"Acknowledged, Captain!"

A few minutes later, Nathan finally managed to hold back from vomiting, but he was extremely pale, devoid of any color.

About twenty minutes later, several more police cars arrived at building number 123.

Manhattan detective team captain Rodson led his team with a solemn expression into the villa, heading upstairs. Seeing the buckets placed outside the bedroom door and smelling the pungent odor in the air, Rodson asked with a grim face, "Did someone vomit here?"

Nathan and his two subordinates looked at each other and nodded one after another. Nathan said, "The officers I brought are young; it's inevitable they haven't seen such cases..."

Rodson's expression darkened as he pointed at the buckets and asked, "What's this supposed to mean? Did you prepare these for me to puke in?"

"Nathan, you've been an officer for half your life; don't you know the importance of preserving the scene?!"

Nathan kept his head down, silent, his face devoid of any color as he turned and waved towards the bedroom with a pained expression. "Look at yourself! It's just a dismembered corpse; haven't I seen that before? Is there a ghost inside?!"

Rodson then stood at the bedroom door, peering cautiously inside—

"FUCK!"

Rodson swallowed hard and froze at the bedroom doorway. However, his shoulders shook rapidly several times. The officers behind Rodson mirrored his reaction, two younger ones silently turning away, their faces pale as they stepped aside. Nathan pointed them towards the buckets he had prepared in advance. Gratitude appeared on the officers' faces as one of them grabbed a bucket and ran to the side, retching.

Hearing the endless vomiting behind him, Rodson silently stepped away from the door. He looked around, walked to the window, and reached into his pocket, fumbling for a long time but pulling out nothing.

Nathan's trembling hand passed a cigarette to Rodson, who muttered, "Captain, this is tough..."

Taking the cigarette, Rodson attempted to light it but failed after several tries. He looked up, and Nathan shook his head, holding up an unlit cigarette. "Don't look at me, my hands are shaking too."

Turning the cigarette back into his pocket, Rodson took a deep breath, pursed his lips tightly, and slightly opened the window. After a while, Nathan heard Rodson swallow forcefully, then his voice followed, "Nathan, prepare well; we're going to be on the news."

Nathan put the crumpled, unlit cigarette under his nose and took a deep sniff. "Understood!"

Half an hour later, all officers gathered around Rodson and Nathan.

Rodson asked, "What have we found out about the victim? Tell me!"

A pale-faced young officer with traces of vomit at the corners of his mouth, struggling against the urge to vomit, held a folder and said, "The victim's name is Steve; he changed his name, originally Joseph, divorced, living alone, was a human trafficker."

"He had been in jail before, served five years, and was released just last April."

"From the victim's release until three months ago, no criminal activity was detected, but in April this year, he had a suspicious transaction noted as 'buying dolls,' initially suspecting he was back to his old ways."

After the officer finished speaking, another young female officer, pale and looking frail, said, "I checked Steve's accounts; he was very wealthy, especially in the last two months. Steve's luck has been unbelievably good."

"Whether it was stocks, cryptocurrencies, or betting on sports and lotteries, whatever he bet on, he won, and always big prizes!"

"The suspicious transaction Ortiz mentioned was two million transferred from his ex-wife's account to someone three months ago, and we've also tracked down this person!"

Rodson and Nathan said in unison, "Go on."

The female officer glanced at the folder in her hand, frowning, "It's a seventeen-year-old boy named Kate."

...

Florida, airport highway.

A refined-looking boy dressed in white clothes and carrying a white fabric bag, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, sat in a taxi heading to the city center. He looked out of the window at the scenery and picked up his phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Mr. Kate?"

"Yes, it's me."

"Hello, Mr. Kate, you were interested in viewing the shop on Yundu Road, right? I'm Heather, the real estate agent you were in contact with before. What time will you arrive today?"

"I need another two hours and twenty minutes."

"Oh, alright, then I'll go there in advance to wait for you!"

"Okay, thank you."

"You're welcome, Mr. Kate, goodbye!"

Kate hung up the phone and continued to quietly watch the scenery flying past outside the window. The taxi driver chuckled heartily and said, "Hey, young man, it won't take you more than two hours, at most it'll be an hour and a half; I guarantee I'll get you there!"

"I've been driving a taxi in Florida for over twenty years; I know this route very well! Don't worry, it won't take more than an hour and a half; I guarantee I'll get you there!"

Kate smiled slightly and softly replied, "Okay, thank you."

The taxi driver laughed heartily and said, "Haha! You're welcome!"