America: The Gear-Up Detective

It was 7 p.m., which should have been the time for the detective agency to close.

Logically, Rod should have gone home from get off work by now.

"I didn't expect you to volunteer to work overtime today?" Hank, sitting in the driver's seat, tilted his head slightly to look at Rod, who was eating a cheeseburger in the passenger seat on his right.

Rod slowly chewed on the hamburger in his hand, feeling a little choked, then took a sip of the iced cola that was lying at his feet, followed by a burp, before answering Hank:

"There's no rush. We're about to catch the murderer; how could I abandon you all?"

With the final showdown approaching, why would I care about these few hours of overtime?

According to Jose's intelligence, Kane and his two companions are resting at another hotel.

Perhaps feeling guilty, the three of them changed hotels to rest after leaving the Elligant Hotel a year ago and never returned to the Elligant Hotel.

A motel about eight kilometers from the Elligant Hotel.

Hank slowly brought the vehicle to a stop.

Seeing this, Rod in the passenger seat took out his phone and dialed Kane's number:

"Hey, Kane? This is Detective Rhodes from the Detective Agency."

Do you remember the death at the Elligant Hotel a year ago? We're planning to close the case.

Therefore, you will need to sign the statement you recorded earlier; it should only take about two minutes.

There were three people in room 349, and based on the current evidence, it is still unknown who fired the shot.

As the homeowner of room 349 that night, Kane naturally became Rhodes' primary target.

The two went inside the hotel to wait, discussing and refining their story when they met Kane, trying to find a way to extract the truth from him.

To say it was just a hole in the room is a bit of a stretch. After all, Kane could easily say he didn't know about it, and almost a year had passed since the three of them checked out. The hole might have been left by another resident.

Therefore, the two had a plan before they even went to find Kane, and they had to take him by surprise first.

Less than ten minutes later, the elevator doors opened, and a middle-aged white man with brown hair and a height of nearly 1.9 meters, wearing work clothes, stepped out. It was Kane.

Rhodes stood up and waved.

Hank showed the hotel manager his police badge and asked to make a brief statement. The manager then led the three to a secluded room.

After the three of them were seated, Rod and Hank exchanged a glance.

Seeing Kane's slightly pale face, but still relatively calm, Rhodes spoke first:

"Hi, Kane. You may not know us, but a year ago, one of our colleagues took your statement at the Elligant Hotel."

"Yeah, yeah..." Kane instinctively crossed his arms over his chest, adopting a defensive stance.

Rod continued, "Because we've made some major breakthroughs in this case, we're about to enter the closing process."

Therefore, according to police regulations, each previous statement required the person involved to confirm and sign it again.

Kane was taken aback by these words. "The case is closed? Have you caught the murderer?"

Perhaps realizing that his urgency seemed a bit off, he then explained, "Don't misunderstand, I'm just a little curious."

After all, this case happened right next to me; that person... died right next to me.

If it involves police confidentiality, then pretend I didn't ask.

Rod chuckled and said casually, "There's nothing to keep secret. We've already identified the suspect. After you confirm your statement and sign it, we'll begin the arrest."

Yes, Rod is an honest man, and not a single word he said was a lie.

Kane lowered his arms from his chest and placed them on either side of the seat, his tone excited, "Really? That's great."

Hank interrupted Kane's conversation, pulled a document from the file folder, and handed it to Kane.

"This is the record of your statement that you provided to Detective Evan a year ago."

Kane took the record and began to read it carefully.

Rod casually pulled out a body camera and started recording. "Please understand, this is a necessary procedure. We will conduct similar questioning of the other two later."

"As you said, after you finished drinking, you went to the bar downstairs to continue your party because of the power outage, right?"

"Yes."

"After you returned to the hotel in the early morning, when you passed room 348, you heard Nathan... that was the deceased's cough, right?"

"That's right."

"During this time, including before the power outage, when you were drinking in the room, nothing unusual happened. Can you confirm that?"

Kane hesitated for a moment, but after a brief pause, he answered decisively, "Yes, we didn't hear any unusual noises."

Rod fiddled with the body camera on the left leg of the table, making sure all the images and sounds were recorded properly.

Hank then handed Kane a pen, saying, "If you have nothing to add, sign your name on this statement."

Kane promptly signed his name and then handed the statement back to Hank.

"Is it done?" Kane stood up and asked impatiently.

Hank put away the signed statement, took out a brand new sheet of record paper, and then took out several photos, which he placed face down on the table.

Rhodes stopped Kane, who was trying to leave, and forced him into a seat.

The atmosphere immediately became tense.

Kane's throat tightened. He licked his lips and asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

"Everything could have ended if what you're saying is true."

Hank handed several photos to Kane, but he didn't seem to have the energy to pay attention to them, only staring at Rhodes.

Rhodes's expression changed. In stark contrast to his previous patient questioning, he fixed his gaze on Kane and said sternly, "We have already obtained some evidence."

Rhodes pointed to the photo in front of Kane:

"If you don't tell the truth about what happened that night, then no matter what role you played in the case, you will be arrested immediately for providing false testimony and obstructing justice."

Rod raised his hand and waved the signed statement in his hand.

Providing false testimony and obstructing justice are, of course, exaggerated claims by Rhodes; in fact, these are three different charges under American law.

Simply put, perjury is the act of lying knowingly in court or under oath. It is a felony and carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison.

A false report is when someone provides false information to the police without taking an oath. It often involves making a false police report and is mostly a misdemeanor, with a maximum penalty of 6 months in prison.

Obstruction of Justice is any act of interfering with, misleading, or hindering an investigation; the severity of the offense depends on the circumstances.

Kane's current actions can only be considered obstruction of justice, a crime for which the sentence can range from a few months to several decades, depending on the severity of the offense.

If Kane tries to excuse himself by saying he was drunk and his memory was fuzzy, he will probably only get 3 to 6 months in prison.

Kane might not even go to jail if he posts the full bail.

Of course, all of this is based on the premise that Kane is not the one who fired the shot!