Volume 1: First Arrival Chapter 88 Unexpected Person
Wallace Duke.
Kirk thought of the situation described by the homeless man . If the senator's team attached so much importance to the event that they required screening of the homeless people who appeared on camera, then for safety reasons and for camera considerations, they would definitely record the identity information of all participants in the entire event in detail.
Sure enough, on the list, Kirk saw that strange yet familiar name. When the name and the face overlapped, his heart skipped a beat.
Wallace, why are you here?
Things seem to have gone off track.
Originally, they looked through these photos and videos in order to confirm the faces of the seven victims, hoping to link them all to the event; if they succeeded, it would mean that the murderer might have selected the victims here, and then they would be able to determine the direction of the investigation.
Although the case may be directly linked to the senator and things will be very difficult, at least a way forward can be found.
If the crime scene division wasn't fully booked, they wouldn't have to do the manual screening.
If it weren't for his own manual screening, Kirk would not have discovered Wallace.
Obviously, things are a little different from what we imagined.
A person who was not even on the investigation radar appeared.
but--
so what?
Even if Wallace showed up at the Senator's soup kitchen event, it wouldn't prove anything.
Don't forget that Kirk and Wallace's meeting was purely accidental; and Kirk did not find any clues or doubts on Wallace, and the clue of free dinner distribution was not able to detect evidence, so the things still cannot be connected.
Wallace went to the soup kitchen to volunteer. He had a hundred reasons to do so; after all, he did the same thing at Panda Express.
This doesn't prove anything.
Maybe it was just a coincidence; maybe Kirk was just too sensitive; maybe... there were many possibilities, but they still couldn't shake the confusion and curiosity in Kirk's mind.
Kirk has a guess about this.
So far, they have been trying to connect all seven victims. As long as they can find something in common among them, they can start an investigation based on that common point, perhaps a location, an activity, a time, or a feature, and then identify the suspect.
But what if they have nothing in common?
In other words, serial killers do not follow one pattern when searching for their victims, but two? Or even three?
For example, the common point between Seth Johnson, Isaiah Robinson, Chris Adams and Clark Pierce is soup kitchen activities; the common point between the other three victims is the free dinner distribution event of "Panda Express", and the murderer targeted them in different occasions.
Thus, the two clues intersected and Wallace was found.
Far-fetched.
Very, very far-fetched.
Even Kirk himself knew that this was untenable. It was simply the result of his reverse deduction based on his assumption that Wallace was the suspect.
In particular, the fortune cookie clue was not confirmed, nor was the fact that the other three victims were linked by Panda Express.
Moreover, thinking back carefully, did Kirk's intuition sound the alarm after his meeting with Wallace?
No.
Absolutely not.
There is not a trace of antisocial temperament in Wallace, no decadence, no anger, no scars, and no sense of destruction at all; in fact, on the contrary, Wallace is positive and hopeful. He knows that life is not perfect, but he still holds expectations.
From facial expressions to language to body movements, Wallace gives people the impression of being warm, friendly and comfortable, which is very different from a serial killer.
"Wallace is the murderer?"
Kirk himself had to admit that he didn't see it at all.
Evidence, he still needs evidence, and he should deduce the conclusion based on the evidence, rather than assuming the conclusion in advance and then looking for evidence again.
call.
Kirk let out a long breath and calmed down a little. He closed his eyes and rested for a while. He rubbed his temples, waiting for his chaotic thoughts to gradually settle down and his breathing to return to normal. Then he opened his eyes again and continued to read the information.
There are more than 30,000 photos, and more than 20,000 of them are not yet viewed.
Maybe Wallace is a suspect, maybe not.
Perhaps other more reliable suspects can be found, and perhaps one's own groundless speculations can be confirmed in the end.
All in all, you need to read all the information in front of you before you can make further judgment.
Take another sip of coffee and continue working.
…
Night, noisy.
"Jesus Christ, can vampires walk around openly now?"
As soon as he arrived at the bar and saw Kirk, Adrian exclaimed, swearing and complaining harshly.
Kirk sat on the bar stool, glanced at Adrian lazily from the corner of his eyes , and chuckled.
"Before you complain, take a look in the mirror."
Adrian scoffed and turned to look at the bartender at the bar, "Big Mac, give me a bottle of Budweiser."
Mike Ball is the owner and bartender of the Lullaby bar.
This bar in Greenwich Village is only two blocks away from the New York Police Department headquarters. It has been passed down as a police gathering bar for three generations and can be said to be a genuine police bar.
The boss's nickname "Big-Mac" comes from McDonald's classic hamburger series.
But in fact, Mike is not strong, tall or burly. At 5.4 feet (165 cm), he can even be considered mini in the bar.
Sometimes, nicknames are apt; sometimes, nicknames are just a joke.
If someone looks down on Mike because of his appearance, then Mike will use practical actions to teach those troublemakers a lesson on what "concentration is the essence" means.
Mike glanced at Adrian and frowned, "Adrian, do you lose so much blood during those days of the month when you have your period?"
There was laughter all around.
Adrian gave a straight middle finger, "That's called hard work."
"Being fucked?" A teasing voice came from behind, and then the whole bar exploded with a loud bang.
Mike shook his head slightly. "Are you sure a bottle of Budweiser is enough? Don't you need a glass of Jack Daniel to wake you up?"
Adrian glanced at Kirk and said, "It depends. Maybe in five minutes, I might need to bury myself in Jack Daniel's and drown myself."
Mike tilted his head, "Kirk, make sure it's clean and neat. Also, dispose of the body in the back alley, don't dirty my bar."
After throwing down a bottle of Budweiser, Mike turned around and left leisurely.
Adrian grabbed the Budweiser and took two gulps. "Is there anything you found that you can't tell me over the phone?"
Kirk didn't say much, he took out a stack of A4 paper from his pocket and placed it in front of Adrian.
Adrian muttered "What is this" and without waiting for Kirk to answer, he moved his finger in front of his eyes and scanned it quickly.
Then, he turned the pages one by one without reading them carefully. In the blink of an eye, he had reached the end, but his expression did not change at all. He took another sip of beer.
"Wallace-Duke, who?"
After going around in circles, Kirk finally returned to Wallace.
Although all the evidence and clues are reminding Kirk that this is not the right direction for investigation, his intuition becomes clearer and sharper, and he vaguely feels that there is something fishy hidden under the seemingly calm surface .
Kirk was willing to believe that he was just imagining things. The more so, the more he needed to investigate further. Only in this way could he prove that he was wrong.
But what if he is right?
“I think he’s that guy.”
