"Seven murders, all with no alibis."
"Especially the two times on March 1st and 14th. They were too weird. It was as if he was specifically trying to create an alibi, but failed because he was not skilled enough."
"Compared with that black man, this Thomas O'Connor is more regular."
“First of all, he’s white.”
“Second, he attended all of the senator’s soup kitchens.”
"In addition, after learning about our investigation, he obstructed and made things difficult for us in every way possible, constantly delaying our investigation. Now it seems that this was not entirely for the senator's consideration."
As he spoke, Adrian became a little excited.
From the chattering words and the ups and downs of the voice, one can almost see the excitement as he puffs out cigarettes and spits out saliva. The pair of narrow eyes, slightly narrowed in the smoke, are filled with joy.
Although Kirk didn't say anything, Adrian seemed to have anticipated his partner's attitude, and he changed the subject and took the initiative to explain.
"I know what you want to say."
"This is just one link to the shelter. We still can't connect the other three victims."
"But if the suspect is O'Connor, it also means that the information they gave us is likely to have been screened and investigated."
"We couldn't find the other three victims, so this is a reasonable explanation."
"We need to start an investigation with O'Connor, and then negotiate with the senators. They know that the situation has completely changed here. If they don't want to become the focus of media attacks, they will definitely be willing to hand over all the information. At that time, we can conduct facial recognition."
From a theoretical perspective, Adrian's inference is also a possibility -
But in Kirk's opinion, O'Connor's likelihood as a suspect was the same as Wallace's.
Because so far, they have no definite evidence, only reasonable suspicions and reasonable inferences, and further investigation is needed.
Kirk guessed that if that was all, Adrian wouldn't be so confident. He should know that the evidence was not enough.
Therefore, there must be other reasons for Adrian's excitement and joy.
So Kirk never interrupted Adrian, remained patient, and continued to listen.
Unexpectedly, Adrian couldn't help but said, "Say something, what do you think?"
"You don't expect these evidences to convince me, do you?" Kirk raised his eyebrows slightly, "Do you remember what you said to me in 'Lullaby'?"
"The evidence is too weak. Not enough. Far from enough."
The same words that Adrian used to deny Wallace's suspicion of guilt are now used by Kirk to question O'Connor's suspicion of guilt.
However!
Adrian was neither angry nor annoyed, but became more excited, "Aha, I knew it!"
"I can also give you a key piece of information."
"At Christmas, O'Connor broke up with his girlfriend of five years due to strong opposition from her father."
"Originally, the two had decided to get married, but because of the girlfriend's father, the two struggled for a while and were unable to get engaged."
"Back and forth, the two worked together to fight for more than a year, but the girlfriend was ultimately unable to convince her father."
"Exhausted, she decided to end the relationship, and the two went their separate ways. The girlfriend moved out of their apartment."
"After that, O'Connor fell into a period of decadence and alcoholism, and on Valentine's Day, he was arrested for a bar fight and had a criminal record."
"The reason was that he thought his ex-girlfriend had started a new life and was dating a new boyfriend, so when he ran into her in the bar, he started a fight."
"But later I found out that the man was my ex-girlfriend's colleague, just an ordinary friend, and they were not even on the same 'track' and had no intention of pursuing her at all."
"Because of this fight, his relationship with his ex-girlfriend reached a freezing point and they completely broke off . His ex-girlfriend even prepared to apply for a personal protection order from the court, but in the end she withdrew the application for some unknown reason. But for O'Connor, this was obviously a heavy blow."
The first of this series of serial murders occurred on February 27th.
Without Adrian's reminder, things can be connected in series -
This is the opportunity.
Then, Adrian paused and mysteriously threw out the final heavy pound.
"His ex-girlfriend is a black person."
This is the motivation.
Everything fits together like a puzzle.
From opportunity to motive, to alibi and common points of the victims, a series of key points can all be matched, and the profile of the suspect becomes clear.
And, most importantly, the suspicious point that the senator's team interfered with the investigation of the case was also reasonably explained.
No wonder Adrian is so confident, even Kirk admits -
They need to investigate O'Connor first.
So, what about Wallace?
Maybe, everything was just Kirk's own fantasy. He was so eager to catch the murderer that he fell into his own trap?
After all, intuition can be wrong and biased, and it is not always correct. Ultimately, they still need to believe in the evidence.
The phone call paused for a moment, and the two people just let the silence spread.
In the end, it was Adrian who broke the deadlock.
"Kirk."
He called out, his words slightly hesitant, neither boasting nor complacent, and he regained his usual tone.
"In fact, I personally went to investigate Wallace's alibi."
"Huh?" Kirk was a little surprised.
He refused verbally, but acted quickly and efficiently behind the scenes.
Adrian felt a little uncomfortable and cleared his throat again, but the words continued without pausing.
"I went to the door to inquire, and it was Wallace's mother who answered the door."
"She is seriously ill, suffering from uremia. She has been unable to work recently and has to stay in bed."
"They didn't have enough money to hire a caregiver, so Wallace had to do it himself. Every night, Wallace went home to take care of his mother."
"every day!"
Slowly and leisurely, he tells the story.
"Although her mother was unable to give specific dates and only said in general terms that her son was being cared for at home every day, I asked the neighbors next door."
"If it was a long time ago, the neighbors wouldn't remember it clearly, but on March 21, the most recent day, the neighbors remembered that Wallace was at home that night because at night, Wallace came out to take out the trash and the two met at the door. They even stopped and chatted for a while."
"Neighbors also confirmed that Wallace took care of his mother at home every day. He was just a child who had never learned how to take care of his mother, and he was not very careful, but he took very good care of his mother. Several neighbors around him praised Wallace and said he was a good child."
"Kirk, that young man has an alibi."
The words come to an end here——
On the one hand, Wallace had an alibi; on the other hand, O'Connor did not, and had obvious opportunities, motives, and a violent past.
All the evidence points to the same goal.
Adrian's emotions were somewhat conflicted. While he was glad that they had finally made a breakthrough, he was also worried that it was not appropriate for them to just leave Kirk behind.
Is this considered as crossing the river and destroying the bridge?
Rustle, rustle——
Kirk's voice came from the other end of the receiver, "We should believe the evidence and follow the evidence, right?"