1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 255 I knew she didn't like me!

Interrogation room on the second basement floor of the Ministry of Justice building.

Theodore laid the five knots on the table and pushed them toward John Doe.

John Doe glanced at the knot, then at Theodore, puzzled.

Theodore introduced John Doe to:

"This is a hemp rope woven from Manila hemp, S-twist, and treated with tar, which greatly increases the rope's corrosion resistance and extends its lifespan."

He pointed to the clean, intact knot on his left:
"This is the anchor knot that was cut from your car."

He paused, then asked John Doe:

Did you tie this knot?

John Doe stared at the knot on the table and nodded with difficulty.

Theodore then pointed to the second one:
"This was cut from the counterweight of the first victim."

Then the third one:

“This is the knot on the outside of the package of the second victim.”

The fourth one:
"This is victim number 3."

Fifth:
"The fourth victim."

Theodore matched the knots with the photographs of the deceased one by one:

"These knots were all made by the same person."

He looked at John Doe:

"You tied all these knots."

John Doe swallowed hard, struggling to explain:

"Many people in the shipyard know how to tie this kind of knot."

Theodore nodded, took out photos of the #-shaped bindings of bodies 2, 3, and 4 when they were first pulled from the water, and placed them alongside photos of the bindings in the back of the pickup truck:
"But not all workers use the same binding method."

He asked John Doe, "Did you tie this yourself?"

John Doe was tense all over, leaning slightly forward, his voice trembling:

"That's how the lock assembly team ties them."

Theodore then pulled out a photo of gears:
"This gear was a counterweight for the body, and the gear's rim bears the mark APCo P/N 84-7B."

"APCo is the property label of the Alexandria Shipbuilding Company."

“P/N 84-7B represents the second gear in the secondary gearbox of the traveling mechanism of the dock gantry crane, component number 7.”

John Doe unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, his body relaxing slightly:
"I know that gear!"

His voice rose slightly as he lost control, which startled him, and he quickly lowered his voice:

"The gears in the gearbox often break down, so the shipyard has purchased a large number of them for easy replacement."

"The replaced gears are piled up in the scrap yard."

"Anyone can go in there."

"There are also ropes and waterproof tarpaulins, which are piled up in the scrap room and anyone can take them."

“They are very lax in their management of this aspect; the shipyard workers take these things back from the scrap yard to use.”

Fearing Theodore and the others wouldn't believe him, John Doe pointed to the rope:
"The union requires the shipyard to replace this rope every so often, and the old ropes are sent to the scrap yard."

“Large bundles of rope are replaced every day.”

"I've even seen people drive their cars home to collect them."

He concluded by emphasizing:
“It’s not just me taking it home, everyone does it.”

"This was tacitly approved by the shipyard."

John Doe stared at Theodore, trying to make sure Theodore believed his story.

Theodore met his gaze and asked him:
"What is Maggie Doy's weekly wage now?"

John Doe paused for a moment, then replied:
"$43."

Theodore pressed further:
Is this fixed?

"She works at a department store; isn't her salary calculated based on sales volume?"

John Doe glanced at Theodore with some wariness and shook his head:

"Yes, their fixed weekly wage is $30, so it's already pretty good that she gets $13 in commission."

“Most of the time she doesn’t get that much, only seven or eight dollars.”

“Last week she was also fined $5 for getting a piece of clothing dirty.”

Theodore then asked:
When did Maggie Doe start this job?

John Doe recalled:
"It must have been more than four years ago."

He particularly emphasized:
“It wasn’t for making money. Back then, my weekly salary was over 200, sometimes even 300, which was enough for our daily expenses. There was no need for her to go out and earn money.”

"Compared to my salary, hers is nothing at all."

"Mainly because she's been staying at home too much and wants to find something to do."

He leaned back slightly, his whole body relaxing:
"Back then, our family's expenses were all covered by my salary, and we still had more than enough to save."

"She spends all her salary on clothes and lipsticks."

"Sometimes she would buy me a tie or a pair of socks as a gift."

He curled his lip and said in a dismissive yet slightly boastful tone:

"With her meager salary, what expensive gifts could she afford?"

“We agreed to choose a restaurant to eat at every month, and then stay overnight at a nearby hotel or motel.”

"Her salary alone is not enough."

He pointed to himself, beaming with pride:

"I always pay the bill!"

Theodore nodded in agreement:
"But she's still working and earning an income every month, while you've been laid off by the shipyard."

John Doe clasped his hands together and put them under the table.

Theodore continued talking to himself:

“You used to earn a lot of money, and you probably had a lot of savings, but now your weekly wage is 0.”

"Every day that passes, your savings will decrease a little."

He asked John Doe:

"Are you still paying for your household's daily expenses?"

John Doe shifted his position, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

Theodore then asked:
Is she still buying you ties and socks as gifts?

John Doe's face turned bright red.

Theodore paused, somewhat unsure whether 'socks' counted as a gift.

He kept this question in mind, planning to ask Bernie and Billy Hawke for their opinions after the trial.

He then asked:
"Can your daily lives still maintain the previous level?"

"Do you still go to the same restaurant every month and stay at a hotel near it? Who pays the bill? Is it still you?"

John Doe couldn't help but loudly retort:
"Of course!"

"Of course! We just went to a restaurant last week! The chef was from California, and the restaurant was right next to the Riverside Hotel."

"You know the Riverside Hotel, right? We stayed at the Riverside Hotel that night!"

Theodore nodded: "Which floor do you live on?"

Is it a penthouse suite?

Bernie, standing behind, chimed in:
“The penthouse suite costs $87.5 a night, which they probably can’t afford given their current financial situation.”

John Doe's face flushed red and the color spread rapidly to his face.

He loudly defended himself:

“I booked the top-floor suite, but she thought it was too extravagant and didn’t want to stay in it, so she asked me to cancel the reservation.”

He gritted his teeth:
"It's all her fault!"

"She always felt like the family was going to go bankrupt, like the sky was about to fall!"

“I told her we had a lot of savings, enough for us to live on until we die.”

"She won't listen at all!"

"It's like we're going to be evicted from our house tomorrow and become homeless!"

"She's calculating everything she does now!"

John Doe became increasingly agitated as he spoke, and his expression grew more and more ferocious.

He told everyone that Maggie Doe had become increasingly disobedient to him since he lost his job.

Every time he wanted to buy something, Maggie Doe would nag and nag, either trying to persuade him to buy a cheaper alternative or insisting that what he wanted to buy was not a necessity at all.

Every time she does family shopping, Maggie Doe always stands in front of the shelves, counting on her fingers again and again.

He would say something, and Maggie Doe would stare at him, then sigh and say that if he went out to work now, they wouldn't be living so frugally.

Maggie Doe's behavior infuriated John Doe.

He believes this is all Maggie Doe's silent mockery of his unemployment.

Maggie Doe thought he was an incompetent husband!

She's humiliating him!
He even produced evidence.

John Doe points out that Maggie Doe started coming home later and later, and every day she would change into stockings and dress up carefully for work, as if she were going on a date rather than going to work.

Maggie Doe began to communicate with him less and less. She would often remain silent at the dinner table, go to bed after dinner, and ignore him.

John Doe was initially hesitant, feeling ashamed of what he was doing, but his emotions quickly took over, and he began to vehemently accuse his wife.

Bernie turned halfway around, looking at John Doe, and tried to speak several times.

Billy Hawke stared intently at John Doe, his eyes filled with disdain.

They didn't think John Doe was pitiful, nor could they understand his plight.

They just thought he deserved it!

Since you know that your family income has plummeted and your standard of living has declined, why don't you hurry up and find a new job?
Earning money to support your family, isn't that a matter of course? What's there to be proud of?
Bernie & Billy Hawke thought to themselves, "If it were me, I'd rather jump into the Potomac River and be swept into the Atlantic Ocean and drown than let my wife work to earn money and support the family."

Theodore had no idea what the two were thinking. He nodded earnestly, echoing John Doe:

"So you want to kill Maggie Doe, but you can't actually do it."

"You choose to find a replacement for Maggie Doy."

He pointed to the victim's photo:
"You want to tell Maggie Doe about Danny Brown's accident and how you feel about being fired from the shipyard."

“But Maggie Doe doesn’t have time or want to hear you say these things; you can only tell them to the alternatives.”

John Doe's impassioned speech came to an abrupt end.

He stared at the photos, hesitant.

Theodore looked at Billy Hawke.

Billy Hawke slammed his hand on the table, making John Doe turn to look at him.

He pushed all the evidence Theodore presented in front of John Doe:

"Just based on these identical knots and binding methods, as well as the waterproof tarpaulins, ropes, and gears taken from the shipyard's scrap yard, it's enough to prove you've offended them, it's just a bit troublesome."

Billy Hawke then placed 'Canary's' statement on top:

"And this, the survivor's statement."

"You almost killed her last night, remember?"

He pointed to himself, then to Theodore and Bernie:

"All three of us were eyewitnesses."

“You wanted to kill her, we all saw it, you can’t deny that.”

He advised John Doe with some disdain:

"Just admit it already, that way we can all save some time."

“We will tell the prosecutor about your cooperation during the interrogation, and perhaps the judge will consider lowering the sentencing standards in light of your cooperation.”

John Doe stared at the statement for a moment, then lowered his head and slowly nodded.

Under immense pressure, he quickly confessed.

Just as Theodore had predicted before the interrogation, John Doe was not a man of strong will; on the contrary, he was timid and cowardly, and easily able to break through.

He told Theodore that his first crime was not intentional, but accidental.

He was tormented by immense psychological pressure and wanted to tell Maggie Doe the truth several times, but he backed down before he could speak.

That day after get off work, he planned to drive to go fishing to relax, but he encountered the fourth victim on the way.

He had never hired a prostitute before and didn't recognize the fourth victim as a prostitute at first, until the fourth victim reached her hand through the car window and touched his chest.

He wanted to refuse, but when he saw those eyes that looked so much like his wife's, he couldn't bring himself to say no.

He gave all the loose change he had to the fourth victim, hoping that the victim would listen to him.

Initially, he had no intention of revealing the truth about Danny Brown's accident, nor did he have any intention of killing the fourth victim.

He just wanted to talk to someone.

But once they start talking, they just can't stop.

By the time he realized what was happening, he had already told the fourth victim how much money he had in his family savings.

The fourth deceased casually asked him if he still wanted to make the deal, and after being refused, he happily opened the car door and prepared to leave.

“I stared at her neck for a while, then reached out my arm.”

"I don't know what happened to me. By the time I realized what was happening, she was already dead."

"I happened to have a waterproof tarpaulin, a rope, and a gear in my car."

“I drove the car to the dock, wrapped it in a waterproof tarpaulin, tied it with rope, and finally attached the gears.”

"I put the boat down again and rowed it into the water."

Theodore neither confirmed nor denied this, and then inquired about the other three deceased.

John Doe answered them one by one.

The third victim was forced by the shipyard to take on apprentices. The union also approached him, urging him to accept the shipyard's arrangement. Even Maggie Doe couldn't understand his refusal to take on apprentices.

There is extra money for mentoring apprentices.

John Doe finds the third victim, confides in him, and then kills him.

When the second victim was mentioned, John Doe remained silent for a long while before beginning his narration:
“Maggie was always causing trouble that day.”

"I don't know what's wrong with her."

"One minute she's complaining that my socks are left everywhere, the next she's criticizing me for smoking... In short, she can't stand the sight of me."

After another moment of silence, John Doe whispered:

"I was getting really impatient with her."

(End of this chapter)