Chapter 14: Past Events
Kate Beckett placed the canned coffee on the table, looking at Ling Xiao with a serious expression, and asked in a deep voice, "Can you elaborate?"
Ling Xiao frowned, looked at Kate Beckett, and asked somewhat puzzled, "For such Gang wars, doesn't the Los Angeles Police Department usually ignore them as long as ordinary citizens are not harmed? What exactly happened that makes you so concerned about this matter?"
Just as Ling Xiao said, the Los Angeles Police Department wished that all Gangs in Los Angeles would kill each other and all die out. Of course, the premise was not to harm innocent citizens.
Kate Beckett glanced at Ling Xiao, then suddenly leaned back in her chair with a sigh of relief, her right hand resting on her left, gently rubbing it as she softly said, "Recently, I found a clue. It is said that the person who killed my mother back then was from the Japanese Gang, Nisshin-kai."
"What?" Ling Xiao was startled and sat up straight. This news was truly unexpected. If it was true, Ling Xiao pondered whether he could use this opportunity to take down Nisshin-kai, one of The Hand's important branches in Los Angeles, and even extend the fire to The Hand itself.
Of course, all of this was predicated on Beckett's clue being real. After a brief moment of thought, Ling Xiao asked in a deep voice, "Katherine, didn't you say before that the last case your mother was investigating before her death was a call girl death case? How did it get involved with Nisshin-kai?"
"The call girl who died back then was probably killed by her client, and later her pimp, who managed her, also died. All the clues were broken, and the investigation couldn't proceed. Coupled with deliberate obstruction of the investigation, the case was left unresolved," Kate Beckett said bitterly.
Kate Beckett's mother was stabbed to death in an alley. Her cash, bag, and jewelry were all intact, and there were no signs of sexual assault. She was just killed in an alley. The police officer investigating the case at the time attributed it to a Gang violence mishap, a random incident, and never found anyone responsible.
That day, Beckett was supposed to go to dinner with her father and mother. She was supposed to meet them at the restaurant but never showed up. It wasn't until they returned home and saw a police officer in full uniform at their doorstep that they realized something had happened.
In Beckett's view, the investigating officer back then just made up a story he thought was good, but never actually caught the killer.
Beckett became a police officer when she grew up and began investigating the case herself. Her superior happened to be her mother's colleague at the time and tacitly allowed Beckett to investigate the case privately.
Beckett began investigating every case her mother had worked on during her lifetime, eventually focusing on a murdered call girl case. That case was ongoing at the time; the Advanced call girl who was killed was tortured to death by her client, and her pimp, who managed her, subsequently died. The most crucial information about the client disappeared without a trace, and coupled with the fact that the police officer responsible for investigating the case, Beckett's mother, was subsequently killed, the entire case was left unresolved.
Beckett gritted her teeth and continued, "A while ago, I found a skilled medical examiner and asked him to help review the autopsy evidence from my mother's case, and finally, there was a discovery."
Ling Xiao knew how painful all of this was for Beckett. She would only speak so much to Ling Xiao; in front of others, she would never reveal this much. Ling Xiao reached out and gently held Beckett's left hand, comforting her silently.
"That case was deemed a random incident by the medical examiner, but the medical examiner I found, after careful review, discovered flaws," Beckett said, gritting her teeth. "My mother had over a dozen wounds on her body, most of which were not fatal. Only one stab, at a low angle aimed at the kidney, showed the knife had an angle. My mother went into shock at that moment, and the remaining wounds were inflicted while my mother was lying motionless on the ground; they were all just a diversion."
"It certainly seems to confirm it was a murder case," Ling Xiao sighed softly. Previously, Beckett investigated this case driven by her longing for her mother, but now with this new evidence, the case could be openly investigated.
"Later, following a hunch, I looked into other information about this medical examiner to verify whether that case was an isolated incident. I eventually found that there were three other stabbing deaths at the time that the same medical examiner had also ruled as random incidents," Beckett said, gripping her coffee can and clenching her fists, her face full of indignation. "And the suspects in those stabbing deaths were all from Nisshin-kai."
"You mean that medical examiner was bribed by Nisshin-kai?" Ling Xiao asked with a frown.
"Exactly," Beckett let out a sigh of relief at this point, looking up at Ling Xiao and saying somewhat despondently, "Just as I was investigating that medical examiner, I found that he died in a car accident three months after my mother's incident."
"Car accident?" Ling Xiao couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, looking at Kate Beckett. If no irregularities had been found in that case, then a car accident would just be a car accident, not raising any suspicion. But now it was different; it was clear that this car accident also had significant irregularities.
"Because the person is already dead, most of the data has disappeared," Beckett slammed the table and said, "I originally wanted to thoroughly investigate that medical examiner's financial situation to see if there was any connection with Nisshin-kai, but he's gone. All of his assets have been inherited by his children, and no useful clues can be found from the remaining limited information."
"It's also possible they used cash during their transaction," Ling Xiao sighed, took out another can of iced coffee and handed it to Beckett, explaining in a low voice, "Among Gangs, not many people have Advanced money laundering methods. For them, direct cash transactions are the most convenient."
"So, this lead cannot be investigated further," Beckett's mood was also somewhat downcast. She continued, "Not only that, but after my mother's case, similar robbery and murder cases never happened again."
Shaking her head, Beckett looked up at Ling Xiao and said, with a hint of a plea, "I came to you today because I hope you can help me investigate through your channels: who exactly in Nisshin-kai is skilled in such methods, and what is his current whereabouts? After all, besides himself, the person who knows someone best is their enemy. To investigate intelligence on Nisshin-kai, it is absolutely right to ask your Chinese Gangs."
"I have no connection with Chinese Gangs," Ling Xiao frowned. Beckett's words made him uncomfortable. If it weren't for Qin Ming and his childhood companions, Ling Xiao would have long since severed all ties with Si Hai Gang.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I misspoke!" Beckett, of course, knew Ling Xiao's situation. She sincerely apologized, then cautiously asked, "So, about that matter?"
Ling Xiao looked deeply at Beckett, then gently nodded and said, "I'll try my best to ask for you. I can't guarantee any results."
"Okay, whatever the outcome, I accept it," Beckett let out a long sigh of relief. With Ling Xiao investigating, it was certain that results would be found.
Having settled that, Beckett continued to ask, "Alright, tell me what exactly happened last night. You have to give me something about that matter to take back and report."
Watching Beckett cross her legs, Ling Xiao shook his head and said helplessly, "Alright, since you want to hear it, I'll tell you. But what I say is strictly between you and me. Once I leave this room, I won't acknowledge a single word of it."
"Okay!" A triumphant smile appeared on Beckett's face. It was precisely because of such a smile that Ling Xiao would genuinely help Beckett.