American forensics, but the gourmet system

Russell had barely sat in the passenger seat when Jesse and Captain Hansen returned, leading a bald man with his hands cuffed behind his back and limping.

Russell quickly jumped out of the car and opened the back door for them.

"You have the right to remain silent, but everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..."

Jesse read the Miranda warning to Johnny Caruso as he shoved him into the car.

"Officer, officer..." Caruso cried out, "My foot hurts terribly..."

"Who told you to jump from upstairs?" Jesse retorted. "Are you so guilty because you killed Romo Simmons?"

"Huh?" Caruso was clearly surprised. "You're here because of Romo?"

"Otherwise what? Do you have other criminal records?"

Jesse glared at her, his expression quite imposing.

"Oh dear... I usually grow some marijuana myself and sell it for a little money. I thought you guys were here to investigate my marijuana trafficking..." Caruso said tearfully. "If I had known you were here to ask about Romo, I wouldn't have run away... I really didn't kill Romo... Wait, is he dead?"

Russell and Captain Hansen exchanged a glance, both seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes.

Judging from Caruso's reaction, he really didn't know about Romo.

However, we cannot rule out the possibility that his acting skills are superb...

"When the patrolman questioned you about Romo, did you lie?" Captain Hansen asked Caruso sternly.

  [At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 101𝖐𝖐𝖘.𝖈𝖔𝖒]

"I'm not lying, officer..." Caruso's face scrunched up. "An officer called me the other day and asked when I last saw Romo. I told him it was a week ago when we played a game. I scored a goal in that game, and Romo was the one who assisted me. I remember it clearly..."

"Is there any evidence?"

Captain Hansen asked again.

"Yes, of course!" Caruso nodded eagerly. "Let me think... what evidence... right! I have a selfie of me and my teammates from that day on my phone! Romo should be in it! If that doesn't work, you can ask the teammates who played with us that day!"

"Okay." Captain Hansen nodded. "But you still need to come with us to clear your name, Mr. Caruso. Jesse, call the patrol officers and tell them we've discovered someone illegally growing and selling marijuana in a residence. Have them come and temporarily secure the scene... If Mr. Caruso's suspicion cannot be cleared for the time being, we'll come back to investigate the scene."

"Yes, Captain."

Jesse nodded.

……

On the way back to the Criminal Investigation Center, Russell drove while Captain Hansen and Jesse flanked Caruso in the back seat to prevent him from jumping out of the car and escaping.

"Officer... Is Romo really dead?"

Caruso swallowed hard and asked cautiously.

"He's still missing," Captain Hansen said coldly, then countered, "How long have you known Romo Simmons? Do you know anything about his family situation?"

"We met at a ball game about two years ago... He only said he wasn't married, and I don't know anything else... We only see each other once or twice a month, and to be honest, we don't have any special relationship..."

Caruso honestly replied that he knew that if it was just illegally growing and selling marijuana, he would only have to spend a few days in jail and would even be able to apply for bail.

But if he's identified as a murder suspect, he's in for a rough time...

"If you and Romo weren't really friends, why did the patrol officer call you to ask about Romo?"

Russell, who was driving, caught the blind spot.

"Ah... this..."

Caruso suddenly began to swallow.

"I'm warning you, Caruso," Captain Hansen immediately pressured, "your case of illegally growing and selling marijuana could be a big deal or a small one..."

"Actually, I lent my car to Romo for a few days... When the patrol officers checked the street surveillance footage, they found my phone number through the license plate..."

"You lent Romo your car, and you still say you two aren't on good terms?! I'm warning you, if you want to clear your name of murder charges, you have to tell us the whole truth!"

Jesse blew his beard and glared at him sternly.

"Okay... alright..." Caruso's face scrunched up again. "Romo disappeared about a month ago. I needed someone to help me transport some goods to New Jersey... marijuana... I was busy at the time and couldn't leave... but I couldn't ask my close friends, I couldn't let the people around me know I was doing this... so I found Romo... I hired him to deliver the goods and paid him $1000, but then he asked to borrow my car for a few days. I had no choice but to agree... If I had known that borrowing a car would cause me this much trouble, I would never have given him the car keys..."

"You got yourself into trouble," Captain Hansen corrected. "If you hadn't done anything illegal, you wouldn't have had any trouble."

Caruso nodded vigorously, like a chicken pecking at rice.

……

At 10 p.m., in Captain Hansen's office at the Brooklyn Criminal Investigation Center, the pothos plants were still thriving.

Russell sat in a wheeled office chair with a whiteboard in front of him. A projector in the distance projected all the photos related to Romo that Caruso had found on his phone onto the whiteboard.

Jesse also used Caruso's phone to call all the team members and ask them for photos of Romo, eventually collecting a total of 72 photos.

Russell stared at the photos, looking at them one by one, while holding a notebook in his hand, writing and drawing something on it.

The office door was pushed open, and Captain Hansen walked in.

"Any discoveries, Russell?"

He sat down in his office chair and asked Russell.

"Of course." Russell smiled, glancing down at his notebook. "Romo's most distinctive feature is the tattoo on his right leg. Of these 72 photos, 38 show his right leg, 21 have it covered by his pants or socks, and the rest are half-body shots of Romo. And of all these photos, this one is the most eye-catching..."

Russell zoomed in on one of the photos.

In the photo, Romo's right sock is stained with blood.

"This photo was taken on October 13th, two years ago, and the broken leg was discovered on October 21st..." Russell pointed to Romo in the photo. "I called the person who took this photo, and he's a substitute player on the team. That day, Romo was fouled badly on the field, and the opponent's studs went into Romo's calf... The substitute player remembers it vividly because the guy who committed the foul got a red card."

"So... your previous reasoning was completely correct..." Captain Hansen pinched his brow. "The killer burned Romo's severed leg to cover up his tattoo, and the thicker carbonized layer on the side of his calf was because the killer wanted to cover up the puncture wound there... I'm starting to admire you, Dr. Russell."

Russell appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly he was secretly pleased.

He turned around and zoomed in on another photo:

"And this photo... was taken on November 12th, two years ago. It's the most recent photo taken after the broken leg was discovered. Notice Romo in the photo..."

Captain Hansen's expression instantly turned serious.