"Are we listening to him now? So young, and it seems like he's taking all our jobs." Ángel, sitting among the detectives who were paying attention to the importance of this case for public interest, still didn't understand Larry's significance in technical crimes like this one.
"That's because that son of a bitch is a damn criminal profiler. From what I read, even the FBI was interested in his talents, but he refused to join them and instead chose to work with us." Vince Masuka, who had been uneasy since Larry's arrival due to his own feelings of inferiority, whispered to Ángel what he knew.
"A criminal profiler?" Ángel knew Larry was good, but he had never been interested in learning more about his work. Now that he knew all the titles Larry held, he respected him.
It's important to understand that a criminal profiler is a specialist in criminology and forensic psychology who works within police departments, government agencies, or security forces. Their primary function is to analyze behavioral patterns at crime scenes, interpret criminal psychology, and develop profiles that help identify and capture suspects.
It was uncommon to have a specialist like this in the department, especially when his main role was as a pathologist.
Now it made sense why he only got involved in complex cases and why everyone had to listen to his words.
Dexter, a quiet man, looked at Larry and whispered, "He's dangerous..."
The speed at which Larry Luk was transferred to their department had been suspiciously fast—Dexter hadn't had time to study him. And for some reason, Larry had really good connections. Over the past month, Dexter had been compiling a profile on this forensic expert, who was now also proving to be an exceptionally intelligent criminal profiler.
From what he could tell, Larry had a dark past he was running from. That's why he hadn't joined the FBI, despite having the resources to be an invaluable asset to their investigations.
Dexter had ruled out the possibility that Larry was from Internal Affairs when he first witnessed his work. And now, with Masuka completing the final details of Larry's profile, he finally knew what kind of person he was dealing with.
Larry was an extremely tactical profiler, obsessed with finding details others missed, just so he could lock up criminals with nothing more than a few statements on the official paperwork. His ability to study cases and victims put him in the highest category of danger—for Dexter.
He knew he had to stay far away from Larry, or else he'd start finding flaws in the system Dexter had been exploiting to his advantage.
"He's definitely smart..." Dexter murmured in a stoic tone, expressing both his thoughts and his complete lack of interest in joining the conversation.
"That guy is the closest we'll ever get to working with a killer. Trust me, don't mess with him." Masuka muttered under his breath.
Ángel laughed, but Dexter thought: "You would never suspect that I, your friend and coworker, the one you've been working with all this time, am a serial killer—a predator of predators."
…
"After investigating the scene and performing the autopsy, I've concluded that this was an intelligent, premeditated crime of passion."
Larry's opening statement shocked everyone, followed by an explosion of murmurs.
Lieutenant LaGuerta tightened her grip on her pen and asked, "Do you have any evidence?"
"Of course, I do!" Larry had analyzed everything in detail and explained, *"Based on the stomach content analysis, the deceased had seafood for dinner and drank a lot of red wine.
I believe Sergeant Doakes has already checked the victim's order records, correct?"*
Sergeant Doakes nodded, stepped forward with some documents, and quickly reported, "Just before this meeting, I received a call from the technician analyzing the details. It has been confirmed that the deceased called the hotel reception at 9:30 PM on December 24th to order a meal."
"The delivery arrived at the victim's residence at 10:30 PM. The meal consisted of two seafood dishes, red wine, and dessert. They also agreed to have the dishes picked up the next day, but the victim could not be contacted."
"We also checked the room's call records and found the delivery person's number among the missed calls."
Larry nodded slightly, confirming his theory, and continued his explanation: "Secondly, we extracted a blood sample directly from the victim's heart for analysis. The results revealed a high concentration of ketamine, known in forensic science as 'K powder.'"
"It's well-documented that, in many cases where a woman commits a crime, she first poisons the victim before carrying out the murder. After all, the difference in physical strength between a man and a woman is significant, and ketamine is an effective way to neutralize the target."
Larry paused, changed the projected image, and continued, "Through testing the bloodstains found at the scene, we identified the DNA of two individuals on the black-patterned tiles on the west side of the bathroom. These tiles were not cleaned by the killer, leaving crucial evidence behind."
"When we removed the body from the bathtub, we found two strands of hair over 60 cm long at the bottom. DNA testing is currently underway. If the genetic profile of these hairs matches the bloodstain that does not belong to the victim, we have two possibilities: either that person is the killer, or someone is trying to frame them. If it's the latter, the case becomes even more complicated."
"The murder weapon used to stab the victim had to be a single-edged knife, 1.8 cm wide and between 8 and 10 cm long. Its design was extremely thin, with a thickness of no more than 0.1 cm.
"At first, I couldn't identify what type of knife fit these characteristics, but when I entered the meeting room, I suddenly realized—it was a box cutter. Since the murder weapon lacked proper grip protection, stabbing the victim in the chest also caused a cut on the attacker's hand."
"Based on the direction of the blood splatters, we can conclude that the attacker is left-handed." When Larry mentioned his findings, his eyes instinctively focused on Dexter for a few seconds before continuing his presentation.
"The victim had a single fatal wound to the chest, inflicted by a bladed weapon that pierced the heart between the third and fourth ribs. This caused pericardial tamponade, leading to death in a single strike."
Lieutenant LaGuerta furrowed her brows, visibly confused. "A box cutter used as a murder weapon? Considering how cleanly the killer covered their tracks, why use such a fragile tool when it breaks so easily?"
"I believe the murderer wanted to conceal their medical knowledge." Larry responded firmly and continued, "That's why they deliberately chose a box cutter. While these blades are prone to breaking, if the insertion angle is perfectly perpendicular to the wound, they can penetrate without difficulty."
Not only was María LaGuerta left speechless by Larry's deduction, but the entire criminology department present at the meeting fell silent.
After hearing this crime scene reconstruction, Sergeant Doakes felt like applauding how clean and precise the presentation had been. This was the first time they had witnessed Larry's full capabilities—he didn't always participate in crime scene investigations.
"Are you saying the killer is a medical professional or someone with extensive knowledge of anatomy?" Ángel asked incredulously from the crowd.
"Brilliant, it seems my explanation was well understood." Larry had made an effort to avoid using too many technical terms unfamiliar to most.
"So, even without great physical strength, they were able to kill the victim with surgical precision in a single strike?" Ángel thought this made perfect sense, explaining all the doubts they had so far about the murderer.
Larry nodded slightly and stated, "It's likely the killer has medical training. If they were well-acquainted with the victim, that would explain why they were in the room together late at night, with the victim wearing only pajamas."
After a brief pause to let his words sink in, Larry firmly continued:
"The killer's profile is as follows…"
A woman.
Had an intimate relationship with the victim.
Left-handed.
Has an injury on her left hand.
Studied medicine or worked in the medical field.
Calm, intelligent, and highly skilled at evading suspicion.
Larry showed a slight smile and, in a neutral tone, added, "With these characteristics, solving the case shouldn't be that difficult, right?"
The criminology team exchanged glances, wondering where the hell Larry had come from.
María LaGuerta nodded slightly. Without the skills of a specialist in Larry's field, this killer would probably have been found much later.
Sergeant Doakes burst into laughter and said, "It's not difficult. We finally have some light in this investigation!"
"I don't think it's that easy..." Larry murmured, thinking that if the killer had done all this to avoid being discovered, they wouldn't leave behind a mistake like that.
A few minutes later, the deceased's phone records arrived. "Through the phone directory and responses from his workplace, we found nearly twenty women with whom he had intimate relationships."
"I'll take care of that..."
While everyone worked on profiling potential suspects, Sergeant Doakes returned to where Larry was sitting, still deep in thought.
"Larry, the test results just came in. The hair sample and the other bloodstain on the wall don't belong to the same person."
Larry thought deeply for a moment, recalling his own interpretation of the killer and finding no omissions or mistakes.
It seemed the case was taking a turn he least wanted. If those two hairs had been placed there by the killer, then that person's mind was truly terrifying.
In such a tense and frightening environment, they had managed to keep the hair of other people.
The psychological quality and planning ability of this person were far superior to those of ordinary people.
…
Around 11:30 in the morning, some women arrived at the center for evaluation.
The so-called identification was actually a blood test to compare DNA.
Although this type of test is fast, it still takes four or five hours.
That's why the hall was noisy, like a vegetable market.
These women seemed to know each other.
Some pushed each other, others spoke coldly, some had sad expressions, and others bit their nails with blank faces.
Sergeant Doakes arrived at the scene, followed by a few detectives.
"The higher-ups trust Larry, but that doesn't mean we have to follow everything he says. For now, don't just focus on writing the report this afternoon. Keep an eye on him and don't make any mistakes, no matter what. If we're really going in the wrong direction with this investigation and it affects the case's progress, our department will take the fall for it."
Ángel nodded. Although Larry's way of doing things was different from theirs, he never wasted time with pleasantries and got straight to work.
However, Larry's serious attitude toward the case still made many admire him.
When it was almost time to leave work, Sergeant Doakes arrived with a pile of information.
He was a smart guy. After seeing everything Larry had done, he directly blamed him for the time they had wasted so far.
Standing next to Larry, he pointed with his chin at the impatient women outside the glass door.
"They say three women have already caused a scene. If this keeps up, my head's going to explode."
"All of them had relationships with the victim. Forensic doctor Luk, do you think any of them are suspects?"
In fact, Larry had already observed them and found nothing suspicious. Moreover, none of the women had injuries on their left hands.
"Let's wait for the test results. My intuition tells me there's no killer here." Larry showed no guilt about this.
Doakes' face darkened; he openly showed anger and impatience, but the corners of his lips curled up slightly.
He knew that if Larry made them go in circles, all the wasted time would fall on him, and his relevance in the department would only remain in his role as a forensic doctor.
"This is insane..."
"What's wrong?"
"We checked his phone directory. The tech team also recovered all the text messages he had recently deleted. They're all from the victim's girlfriends!"
Larry didn't respond to his question; instead, he looked at the women outside the window, carefully observing each of their expressions.
"Dead man, two different ways to contact him, both involving women, right?"
"Yes!"
Larry then asked, "Why are there two modes of contact?"
"Huh? Why?"
"I also have two phones, one for regular work and another that stays at home." Doakes didn't understand what point Larry was trying to make.
"That's obvious, Sergeant. We all have a landline at home. However, for someone like the victim who traveled a lot for work, what sense does it make for these women to contact him through both phones?"