America: The Gear-Up Detective

Rod ignored the earlier interruption.

"Knock knock knock~"

After Rod knocked on the door, a woman's voice came from inside, "Come in."

Pushing open the door, one sees Dalton, who was originally quite overweight, now lying on the hospital bed with a pale face, his round cheeks slightly thinner, looking at the television hanging on the right side of the bed.

On the windowsill further to the right stood a voluptuous woman; the voices that had just been spoken must have come from her.

"Hey, Rod, you're here!" Dalton exclaimed excitedly when he saw Rod arrive.

"Dalton, I'm here on a case, and I just happened to drop by to see you."

Are you okay?

"God help me, I can live a little longer," Dalton said with a smile, looking very optimistic.

Dalton then introduced his wife to Rod. The two chatted for a while, and seeing that Dalton seemed to be in good spirits, Rod left.

On the third floor, in front of Gabriella's ward.

"Jose, how is she?"

Rod looked at Jose, who was standing in front of the ward door, and asked softly.

"Not bad. The doctor said her symptoms weren't too serious, and she was brought in promptly. We can arrange the interrogation tomorrow."

By the way, how's your investigation going?

Jose and Anna did not attend the meeting after Rod and Hank gathered evidence, so they were unaware of Gabriella Payne's diary and actions.

Rod briefly recounted the findings of the previous investigation to Jose.

Jose was slightly surprised after hearing this, and said somewhat speechlessly, "Well... this is a bit outrageous, but this is America, so it doesn't seem that outrageous."

Rhodes did not enter the ward, but looked at Gabriella on the bed through the glass of the door. Her right hand was handcuffed to the bed rail, and she was lying on the bed, fast asleep.

After exchanging a few words with Jose, Roddell intended to pick up his mother, Laura, from get off work, since he was already there. However, he was told that Laura had already left, so he got up and left as well.

......

The following day, Monday.

early morning.

Rod got out of bed. After returning home last night, he had been struggling with whether or not to send a message to Liu Qingxi.

But after thinking about it, he decided against it. Maybe Evelyn still had a chance of survival? Although Rhodes himself knew that the possibility was slim, what if? It wouldn't be too late to tell her after they actually found Evelyn's whereabouts.

Inside the office of Detective Department, Team Six.

Jose and Anna stayed at the hospital all night, taking turns looking after Gabriella.

Hank and Jackson had already arrived at their workstations ahead of time.

Hank was examining the clues they had found earlier to ensure that the sources of these clues were all legitimate.

After all, under American law, any illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in court to prove the guilt of a suspect.

For example, there's the famous O.J. Simpson murder case in the United States in the last century.

In 1994, former football star O.J. Simpson was accused of murdering his ex-wife and her friend. Despite clear evidence pointing to him, police broke into Simpson's home without a warrant and collected key evidence such as bloody gloves and socks.

During the trial, the defense attorney seized upon this procedural flaw in the police investigation, pointing out that the search was illegal and questioning the possibility that the evidence had been contaminated or falsified. Ultimately, the judge accepted the defense's arguments and excluded this crucial evidence. In the absence of conclusive physical evidence, the jury acquitted Simpson.

Another example is the Zhou Libo gun case, which is more familiar to us.

In 2017, actress Zhou Libo was pulled over by police in New York for a traffic violation, and police subsequently found guns and drugs in her car.

Zhou Libo's defense lawyer discovered that the police had not obtained his explicit and voluntary consent before searching his car, constituting an illegal search. The court ruled that the firearms and drugs found could not be used as evidence. Ultimately, after multiple trials and defenses, Zhou Libo was only fined for using his mobile phone while driving, and all other criminal charges were dropped.

The legal source of evidence becomes extremely important. Sometimes, due to oversights in the detective's procedures, defense lawyers can seize on loopholes, rendering crucial evidence invalid and preventing the prosecution of the perpetrator. This is the most tragic thing.

Rhodes has two lawyers in his family, so he knows all too well how capable these lawyers are when they really want to find loopholes.

At that moment, Connor walked into the office.

He looked around and gestured, "Rhodes and Evan, let's go to the hospital and start interrogating Gabriella."

Hank and Jackson continued to work through the case files to ensure the legitimacy and validity of all the evidence!

I don't want the murderer we finally caught to escape legal punishment because of our own foolish mistakes!

Then, he turned and walked out of the office to the parking lot.

Rod and Jackson exchanged a glance, and Jackson whispered, "What's wrong with the captain? Why is he so irritable this morning?"

Rod shook his head. "How would I know? You should ask Hank."

After saying that, Rod ran out.

Only Jackson and Hank remained, sitting in front of the computer, staring at each other blankly.

"Hank, do you know him?"

Hank shrugged. "All I know is that if you don't finish reading it soon, Connor will get even angrier."

......

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, fourth floor of the South Tower, in front of Gabriella's ward.

Connor, dressed in a suit and tie, stepped out of the elevator.

Rhodes was dressed casually, and Evan was also wearing a shirt and jeans. The two followed Connor out of the elevator together.

The nurses standing to the side whispered among themselves as they looked at the three men with their distinct styles, but after glancing at Connor's dark face, none of them went up to strike up a conversation.

"team leader."

Anna saw the three people walking over and stood up to greet them.

Connor nodded, then asked, "What about José?"

He went to buy some breakfast and coffee.

Gabriella had just woken up and was already clamoring for breakfast, but we hadn't eaten either, so...

Anna explained.

Through the glass door, the group could see that Gabriella, who was lying on the hospital bed, was awake, staring blankly at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought.

Connor pushed open the door and entered, standing in front of Gabriella's bedside, and introduced her:

"I am Connor, the captain of the Sixth Team of the Murder and Heist Division of the Precinct. This is Inspector Evan, and this is Detective Rhodes."

You should know why you're here. Tell me, where is Evelyn?

Upon hearing the name Evelyn, Gabriella's eyes finally showed a flicker of emotion.

"Evelyn..."

Then, Connor turned his head slightly and looked at Rhodes.

Rod stepped forward and took out Gabriella's diary, as well as the chat logs between Gabriella and Evelyn that the technical department had sent them just now downstairs at the hospital.

The record clearly states that Gabriella was going to offer Evelyn a modeling job, which would only take two days and would earn her two to three thousand dollars.

He also asked Evelyn to keep it a secret, citing reasons such as the rarity of the opportunity.

Naïve Evelyn trusted her childhood friend and told no one, unaware that she had fallen into the trap of a madwoman.

Looking at the evidence laid out before her, Gabriella seemed too lazy to even mention hiring a lawyer. After a brief silence, she said in a hoarse voice, "I did it. I plead guilty."

Where is Evelyn?

Gabriella shook her head, a look of sadness on her face.