Chapter 836 The Unhappy Sheriff

"This case is getting weirder and weirder." Aubrey complained incoherently while chewing potato chips from a vending machine as a substitute for breakfast.

"Yes." This time, even Alice was called along. Before getting in the car, she handed everyone a newly printed report, "This is the on-site investigation report just sent by the 'ERT' team.

They did not find any physical evidence in Javier Perez’s house that could have been used to kill the three assistant prosecutors, either a submachine gun or .22 LR pistol bullets.”

"So our murderer is someone else." Clay handed out a few bags of potato chips to everyone he met. They had to rush to the crime scene as soon as possible.

Prosecutor Skip Hardy did not ignore Jubal's advice like those characters in Hollywood movies and TV shows who like to commit suicide. He stayed in the district attorney's office in the courthouse almost all night, and even when he went home, he was protected by at least two sheriff's assistants.

However, early this morning, his body was found in his office.

When everyone arrived at Forrest City, which is also the St. Francis County District Court, the place was surrounded by several police cars from the local sheriff's office.

After showing his ID, Jubal led everyone to the district attorney's office as if he knew the way.

When he first arrived in Forrest the day before yesterday, he and Jiejie came here to visit prosecutor Skip Hardy and took over a large pile of files from him.

The local sheriff, who was in his early 50s and wearing a dark blue uniform and a seven-pointed star police badge on the left side of his chest, was brown-skinned and kept stroking his shiny bald head. He stood at the door of the office with a solemn look on his face.

Next to him was a young white police officer dressed in the same uniform as him. There was almost no difference between their uniforms, with only slight differences in the epaulettes and collar buttons.

The young white police officer had the letters "Court Officer" on his shoulder straps, indicating that he was a sheriff's assistant assigned by the Sheriff's Office to be stationed at the courthouse in charge of security.

Jack walked to the door of the office. The door was wide open, and the situation inside was clearly visible.

All kinds of documents were scattered on the ground, a decorative painting that was originally hanging on the wall fell to the ground, and the potted plants on the shelf by the door were also overturned, indicating that a short but not fierce fight had taken place at the scene.

The body of a middle-aged black man in his fifties or sixties was lying in front of the desk. There were no obvious injuries on his body. It was obviously the murdered prosecutor Skip Hardy.

"I'm Sheriff Simone Long, and he's Officer Duncan Davis, who's in charge of the court's night security." Sheriff Long, with a sullen face, wasn't very friendly. He held his cowboy hat in front of him with both hands, with no intention of shaking hands or being polite with the FBI officers who had arrived.

Naturally, the FBI did not take the initiative to reach out and ask for trouble. Jack put on gloves and shoe covers at the door, carefully walked around the mess, came to the side of the body, did not rush to take action, just squatted aside and observed.

After a long while, he grabbed one of the corpse's hands and waved it, then shook his head at Jubal, "The body is still a little warm, and the degree of rigor mortis is not obvious. Considering the room temperature, the time of death is no more than 6 hours. When did you find out what happened?"

His last words were directed to the young white police officer.

"It was 3 a.m. when I was on night patrol when I noticed something was wrong. I pushed open the door and found him lying on the ground." The police officer named Duncan Davis looked very nervous and spoke stutteringly.

Although the St. Francis County District Attorney's Office is small, one prosecutor is considered a "big shot" in the local area.

He cannot escape blame for the death of such a "big shot" in the court where he was responsible for security.

"You didn't hear or see anything unusual before?" Jack asked in surprise.

The local court is located in a small stone castle-style building with only two floors. The first floor is the office area including the district attorney's office and other court staff, and the second floor is the judge's office and courtroom.

"No, I go out on patrol every hour at night. There was no movement before. There was no one in other offices after 11 o'clock last night." Officer Duncan Davis scratched his cheek unconsciously.

Upon hearing this, Jubal stomped hard on the floor of the office. Unlike the ordinary plastic carpets in the corridor, the wool carpets in the office were much thicker. Even if a potted vase on the shelf fell, it was safe and sound, with only a little dirt falling off.

"Why haven't the coroner and forensic officers arrived yet?" Jie Jie asked the bald sheriff, who had remained silent, with some confusion.

"They are just as 'busy' as you are." Bald sheriff Simone Long said to Jiejie in an unpleasant tone.

“The death of a few prosecutors and lawyers in New York may not be a big deal, but for my city, it is completely paralyzed.

The entire prosecutor's office was killed one after another, and my coroner didn't even finish the autopsies of the three assistant prosecutors. "

While he was complaining, Jack was untying the deceased's tie. After confirming that the cause of death was strangulation by the tie, he stood up and looked at this ungrateful old man with a bad look.

"We are quite busy. We flew here as soon as we received your request for help. However, after being busy here for two days, we finally met you in person for the first time."

As soon as he said this, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became solemn. The bald sheriff was stunned by his words and felt a little embarrassed. The sheriff's assistant, Officer Duncan Davis, beside him lowered his head and stared at his toes, as if he hadn't heard anything.

In the end, it was Jubal who stepped forward to smooth things over.

"Since everyone is so busy, why don't we save the red tape and blame each other and focus on solving the case. After all, you don't want to see more bodies appear on your territory, am I right, Mr. Sheriff?"

The bald sheriff Simone Long moved his lips, but ultimately said nothing. He just tilted his head slightly and sighed, expressing his agreement with this vague body language.

At this time, Jack had no intention of testing other people's crime scene inspection skills and directly stated his judgment, although this was indeed a good on-site teaching opportunity.

“The murderer is most likely an insider, and he may even be familiar with the deceased. He is familiar with the security arrangements in the court and can easily sneak in at night.

The modus operandi was quite crude. He must have taken advantage of the conversation to let the victim relax his guard, then walked up behind him and strangled him directly with his tie.

The deceased struggled briefly, but had lost the best chance to resist and could not call for help. So although there were signs of struggle at the scene, the thick wool carpet eliminated all abnormal sounds during the period.

Feeling that the atmosphere was still a little awkward, Aubrey pointed to a small safe against the wall and asked the sheriff's assistant, "What's in that?"

This safe looks smaller than a microwave oven and is obviously not used to store important documents.

"Oh, that's where Prosecutor Hardy stores some sensitive evidence that he'll need in court." Officer Duncan Davis woke up as if from a dream, walked to the safe, exclaimed, and directly opened the door.

"This is so weird."

"What's wrong?" Aubrey walked up to him and found that there was nothing inside. "What was supposed to be in there?"

Officer Duncan Davis' face turned pale. "It's like this. Prosecutor Hardy's latest case is about illegal possession of phenolphthalein. I put a small bag in it myself yesterday, but now there's nothing in it."

"Who is the defendant?" Jubal asked.

"A guy named Jimmy Barnett, who was arrested by me personally before." Sheriff Simone Long frowned and replied, looking much more cooperative.