Chapter 456 The cover-up scene
"It seems a little unusual. I didn't see any relevant news today." Rossi was a little surprised and looked at the time. It was already noon.
"Recently, the entire Internet is discussing the winter storm." Jack flipped through the major portals.
Compared to the central part of the country where major tornadoes are common and the east coast where hurricanes frequently hit, the climate in California has always been pretty good. However, with the increase in extreme weather year by year, these years have also been quite uneven.
“But it is indeed strange. At this time in the past, the media should have swarmed it.”
"There is something even stranger." Jiejie released a photo of the corpse. "The Cosenza couple and their 10-year-old son were killed in the master bedroom of their home. They were both shot in the forehead. The gun was left at the scene and belonged to the male owner. The police suspected that he shot his family and then set fire to suicide.
This is the case of the Fagan couple, Kelly and Frank Fagan, who died in the master bedroom of their home just like the Cosenza family. The cause of death was a suspected gas leak. ”
“Gas explosion?” Hotchner frowned and looked at the photos of the scene. He seemed to have recovered as before. As a psychologist, he did not have any PTSD while accompanied by his family. issues, perhaps this is also related to the fact that the murderer is dead.
Reed also expressed doubts, "This power requires a lot of gas leakage."
"How could the media miss news like house explosions." Rossi was still wondering about the media. question.
"I'll find someone later to ask if there is any hidden secret behind it." Jack said that he would leave this matter to him. Orange County is included in the greater Los Angeles area, so rounding it up can be considered his territory.
"So, why did the local police find us? Do the two families have anything in common?" Emily also had questions.
Jie Jie also seemed a little confused, “Garcia made a preliminary investigation into the backgrounds of the two families. Kelly Fagan, the wife of the Fagans, was born in Germany, and Ron, the husband of the Cosenza couple, Cosenza is from Italy, and there is no overlap or common ground other than that.
But the two crimes happened only two miles apart and less than an hour apart. You have to remember that they were Orange County. . ”
Orange County is not only a tourist destination, but also a gathering place for the middle class and wealthy people. It is known as the richest county in the United States. You can imagine the public security situation.
"So the local police are worried that if the two cases are indeed murders and arson, it is likely to be committed by the same murderer."
Reed said he understood, "This also means that the arsonists may have committed the crime in a gang. And very organized and proactive."
"Hurry up, it is said that there will be a storm in 72 hours, and the murderer is likely to commit another crime before then.
Jai went to Cosenza's house, Jack and Emily went to Fagan's house, and Rosie and I went to the Orange County Crime Laboratory to let Garcia further investigate the two families."
Hotchner stood up. , seemed eager to get involved in the case, and the others smiled knowingly. He had hardly participated in the last case, and seemed to be a little depressed.
——
"Interesting. Although I am not a professional fire investigator, I can still see a lot of problems." Jack walked around the fire scene and felt that the Orange County police were suspicious of the murder. reason.
“There were smoke alarms in the house and even an automatic sprinkler system. Except for the initial explosion, the subsequent fire damage to the entire house was not serious, but the gas alarm in the kitchen did not work.”
Emily’s focus is on the other hand, “This is one of the places with the best security around Los Angeles. Why? This family wants to use such an ugly iron door and such a high-end security system? "What do they do?"
Jack looked at the information sent by Garcia on his phone, "My wife is a financial consultant?" "My husband is an IT elite, a typical middle-class family." "The door lock has also been strengthened, and this house is like a safe house," Emily said.
Jack expressed that he did not agree with this view, "The community where this house is located is not cheap, and it lacks the necessary monitoring equipment for a safe house. Although the security system is advanced, it is only an ordinary civilian product."
Emily shrugged, "Anyway, this family seems to be too cautious, seems to be wary of something?"
At this time Jack's cell phone rang, it was to go to another place. The call came from Red and Jiejie who were at the scene.
"How are you doing there? There are too many doubts here. The fire broke out at around 8 o'clock. The master bedroom of Cosenza's house is on the second floor. At that time, the mother should be tutoring the children downstairs with their homework. , and my father should have just arrived home from get off work.
The family's living habits contradicted the bedroom where the body was found. "
Jack was reminded by him and discovered the same problem, "So, it's time for the Fagan family to rest. Garcia's information shows that they were supposed to go to a dinner party last night. "
At this time, the mobile phone showed that there was a new call, and Jack switched to a three-way call. This was Hotchner and Rosie who were going to the crime laboratory.
"The forensic doctor discovered The problem was that the Cosenza family was shot first and then set on fire. He did not find any traces of smoke inhalation in the lungs of the male owner. " Hotchner said.
"Is it possible that he just lit the fire and shot himself? asked Emily.
"It's unlikely. The fire started in the bedroom first. Even if the fire only burned for a short time before he shot, the medical examiner said it was impossible to find nothing in the trachea." Hotchner replied.
"Let's talk about it when we go back. It seems that these two cases are not as simple as they appear."
It has been raining recently. Although it didn't rain much today, it was still cloudy and the sky was dark. It got dark very early, and it was just after 5 o'clock when everyone returned to the headquarters, but there were already thousands of lights outside.
Garcia is already waiting for everyone in the large conference room with his notebook in hand.
Jack took out two boxes of meat buns that had been prepared in advance from the refrigerator, heated them in the microwave, and placed them on the table with hot cocoa. Everyone chatted about the case while eating.
For a moment, the conference room was overflowing with the aroma of meat, along with the sweet aroma of hot cocoa, which cheered up everyone who had been a little sluggish due to the sudden low temperature weather in Los Angeles.
"Dear Jack, I really don't know what we would do if we didn't have you." Garcia hugged Jack and left a purple lip mark on his cheek.
Jack smiled bitterly and used a wet tissue to wipe away the strangely colored lip marks in Jie Jie's half-smiling eyes.
Waiting for everyone to fill their stomachs, Hotchner stood in front of the evidence board, "The two families have no history of any form of mental illness. They are healthy and happy, and there are no financial problems. From the records, everything is fine. Normal, even perfect.”
(End of this chapter)