1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 42 would be better off just scolding me.
Wenner couldn't understand it, but he chose to adopt it.

Kahor actively cooperated and provided sufficient manpower for the people.

Sam's file was quickly retrieved, showing that he had served as a patrolman on Oil Street.

Oil Street was a suburban street with a large patrol area; Felton's first oil well was located there.

Three-quarters of the patrol area on this street is abandoned, and less than a quarter of it is inhabited.

The arrival of the police cars brought noise back to the quiet street.

With Wenner and Carhorse in command, the detectives spread out in an orderly fashion.

This time, the two departments did not have any conflict, and Kahle willingly served as his deputy, helping Wenner allocate police resources.

Just after 2 a.m., Carlos was found after searching less than half of the area.

Like a startled rabbit, he jumped and tried to get into the car when he saw a swarm of police officers sweeping over, but was pounced on by several burly men from the homicide squad and pinned to the ground.

The burly man shone his flashlight on him; the police badge number was FD-H3-0217.

A large police badge was strung on a metal chain and hung around his neck.

FD-H3-0217 is Sam's siren number.

Wearing a police badge as a necklace is unique in the entire homicide squad.

The burly man ripped off the police badge, punched Carlos, and then, cursing all at once, carried him to Wenner.

Wenner glanced subtly at Theodore.

He couldn't help but doubt whether the Star's report was true.

But now is not the time to investigate that. They still need to find Sam.

With time running out, Wenner ordered Carlos to be interrogated on the spot to try and obtain Sam's location information, while the other detectives continued the search.

The two detectives who apprehended Carlos were responsible for the first round of interrogation.

These two were a duo, one named Stephens and the other Frank. They were two typical rough-and-tumble Texas men.

The interrogation of the two did not go smoothly, with Carlos showing obvious resistance.

After observing for a while, Wenner frowned and prepared to change his interrogation strategy.

He instinctively looked at Theodore. Theodore, who had been eager to try, immediately walked over when he felt Wenner's gaze.

He seemed somewhat excited, and asked Wenner to participate in the interrogation with him, and demanded that Wenner take the lead in the interrogation.

Wenner expressed his confusion about this.

His last presiding trial was seven or eight years ago, and he doesn't consider himself better than his excellent detectives.

Filled with doubt, Wenner entered the makeshift interrogation room.

Due to space constraints, the interrogation room was placed in an abandoned small house.

The house was about the same size as the tool sheds we'd seen at the oil field before, with four walls and no windows. Stephens and Frank were inside, keeping an eye on Carlos.

To Wenner's surprise, he only conducted a routine interrogation after entering the room. After asking a few questions, Carlos actually began to confess on his own initiative.

Carlos was like a new recruit suddenly meeting his superior—nervous, excited, and even filled with admiration and respect.

This surprised Wenner greatly, and he couldn't help but look at Theodore frequently.

He began to doubt whether he was dreaming, and whether all the incredible things that had happened tonight were real.

This is practically challenging his decades of professional common sense!

Theodore was also excited as he looked at Carlos, who was showing a mixture of excitement and respect towards Wenner.

This case unfolded as if it followed a template, perfectly fitting the pattern of a serial killer in every detail.

He couldn't wait to document this case so he could use it when promoting profiling in the future.

It's so perfect!
Carlos quickly revealed Sam's location: in a police car half a mile away.

Patrol officers should avoid acting alone whenever possible while on duty. This is a rule established by the patrol department.

A new officer was on patrol, and an older officer was dozing off in his car. This is a common occurrence in actual patrols. The detectives immediately converged on the location specified by Carlos and soon found a police car with people inside.

Hearing the reply from the walkie-talkie, Theodore and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

However, a few seconds later, the latest information came through the walkie-talkie:
Sam is dead.

The cheers stopped abruptly, and the air suddenly became quiet.

The crowd looked at each other in disbelief.

Stephens reacted the fastest, grabbing Carlos by the hair and lifting him up, then punching him in the stomach.

He was about to make another move, but seeing Wenner, he reluctantly stopped.

"I didn't kill him."

Carlos clutched his stomach, curled up on the ground like a shrimp, and said with difficulty.

"I didn't kill him."

Theodore trusted Carlos. Taking action now would be beneath his 'status'.

According to Carlos's confession, he simply used alcohol and datura to control Sam. This is a Mexican folk remedy for pain relief.

Datura contains scopolamine, which can cause delirium, making people confused but with relaxed muscles. This substance is the main ingredient in 'zombie drugs'.

Wenner was unmoved by his confession, left the makeshift interrogation room without looking back, and told Frank and his companion to "keep an eye on him."

Theodore and Bernie left the room and decided to go to the scene to take a look.

Sam, dressed in a clearly fake police uniform, had been placed on the ground. He lay flat as if sleeping, but his expression was somewhat ferocious.

There was vomit on his clothes and pants, and judging from the dried marks on his clothes, this was probably not the first time he had vomited.

Theodore carefully examined the interior of the car and quickly came to a conclusion.

Carlos handcuffed Sam to the car and used a Mexican home remedy on him. After he left, Sam, who had a severe reaction to scopolamine, began to vomit.

However, scopolamine caused Sam's muscles to relax, making it impossible for him to exert force. He was unable to adjust his posture and eventually suffocated to death because his own vomit blocked his airway.

Of course, this is just Theodore's inference based on his limited knowledge of forensic medicine and on-site analysis. The specific situation should be based on the forensic autopsy report.

…………

The next day, the forensic department delivered the autopsy report.

Many members of the homicide squad hadn't slept all night, waiting for the report.

The report concluded, similar to Theodore's deduction, that Sam suffocated from his own vomit.

This silenced the entire office.

Even more suffocating was that after Wenner silently wrote the case number on the whiteboard, Sam's brother Jacob returned.

It was a guy who looked exactly like Sam, but you could clearly tell they weren't the same person.

He seemed more confident, outgoing, and sociable than Sam.

Wenner called him into his office and closed the door.

Through the blinds, everyone could see that he didn't seem to have any special reaction.

After leaving the office, Jacob shook hands with everyone and thanked them. He also went to the patrol headquarters to express his gratitude to everyone who had helped search for his brother.

In the afternoon, Jacob came to Theodore to inquire about the details of the case.

He had already heard from others that it was Theodore and Bernie who initially investigated and discovered that Sam had been kidnapped.

Jacob sincerely thanked the two men.

After hearing Theodore's story, Jacob thanked him sincerely once again.

Jacob's politeness made Bernie feel awkward, and he muttered, "He might as well have scolded me."

(End of this chapter)