Chapter 100 - New Partner, New Case, and New Star
Luke’s annual salary in Houston was forty-two thousand dollars. In L.A., it was fifty-four thousand.
Selina’s salary had increased from forty-seven thousand to sixty thousand.
However, their pay rise wasn’t enough to offset the increase in living expenses.
They would probably earn an annual salary of more than eighty thousand dollars in a few years, and they wouldn’t need to worry about money then.
Until then, however, they would have to rely on their relocation allowance.
Selina was very frustrated because she had given her relocation allowance to her family.
Luke had no objections to that.
Selina seemed independent, but she did care about her family. Her attitude toward money was different from that of many Americans, and it was her choice to do more for her family.
Luke didn’t find it odd, either. As a Chinese in his last life, he had seen too many parents and children doing everything they could for each other.
He had offered his fifty thousand dollars to Catherine, but she refused it.
Robert even told Luke to scram the moment he picked up the phone.
After all, Robert and Catherine earned around ninety thousand dollars a year between them. Once Luke started working, they didn’t have to provide for him anymore, and they didn’t have a huge financial burden.
Robert had put twenty thousand dollars aside when Luke said he wanted to go to college before. That money was now naturally left for Claire.
Thus, Robert and Catherine weren’t short of money right now.
After a good rest, Luke and Selina officially started work the next day.
Dustin Hammond, the commanding officer of the Major Crimes Division, was neither warm nor cold. Both of them were relieved.
It would be fine as long as their new boss wasn’t as annoying as Brock.
This time, each of them were told to work with a seasoned detective rather than staying as partners.
It was perfectly understandable.
After the incident with Brock, Luke realized that his thinking had been wrong.
As their commanding officer, Brock had been dissatisfied with newbies Luke and Selina working with each other.
Part of this had to do with how they had managed to crack a few cases together in Houston, except for those which they had chanced upon by accident.
So, Luke made a pact with Selina.
Each of them would follow a local detective to familiarize themselves with this place first. After a while, they would apply to work together again.
By then, they would be familiar with the environment and have their own informants. They wouldn’t need to worry about their new boss setting them up like Brock had.
It clearly wouldn’t be easy to apply for such a thing, but Luke would work something out.
Selina was assigned to a black detective named Donald Dake, and Luke was told to work with a middle-aged Latino woman named Elsa Torres.
The Los Angeles Police Department was the department with the highest number of female officers in America at roughly twenty percent.
Also, more than thirty percent of the police officers were Latino.
Selina’s arrival had raised the percentages slightly. It wasn’t unusual for Luke to get a Latino female as his partner, either.
Elsa was rather curious about Luke. “Let’s go. I have two cases. Are you ready? Do you need a holiday?”
Luke smiled. “Oh, Elsa. I’m a workaholic.”
Elsa snorted. “Bullsh*t. Nobody is really a workaholic, at least not in the Major Crimes Division.”
Luke grinned. “Well, consider it a demonstration of the right attitude from a newbie.”
Elsa was dazed for a moment, before she smiled and said, “I can accept that.”
Luke got in the car, and Elsa drove off.
She was certainly a domineering woman, who was unwilling to give the wheel to Luke.
But it was understandable. Weak women wouldn’t last long in the Major Crimes Division.
Luke asked casually, “What are we working on?”
Elsa said, “A tricky case. Do you know Katie Winterster?”
Luke thought for a moment and shook his head. “The name does ring a bell, but I can’t recall that I do.”
Elsa glanced at him. “You really don’t know her?”
Luke asked, “Is she very famous?”
Elsa was rendered speechless. “…She got really big two years ago. She’s only 21, but started acting when she was 16, and made a name for herself with her nude scene in Don’t Move directed by Peter.”
Luke said, “Oh. I really haven’t heard of her. Maybe I heard her name from the news or something.”
Elsa chuckled. “She has a great body and doesn’t hesitate to flaunt it. You haven’t seen her movie?”
Luke shrugged. “I like more epic movies, like Star Wars or Band of Brothers. What you’re describing has to be an art movie, right? I’m not a big fan of those.”
Elsa nodded and accepted the answer.
“She has a small problem. A person died in her house two days ago, but she claims that she doesn’t know him. Now, we have to question her again,” said Elsa.
Luke asked, “What do we know about the dead person?”
“John Doe. No ID, no dental records, and his fingerprints and DNA aren’t in the database. He’s a young white male, between 25 to 27 years old, 1.75 meters tall, and weighs 220 pounds. Oh, and his body was found floating naked in Miss Katie’s pool by the cleaning lady the following morning.” Elsa rattled out the information.
Luke was rather surprised. “1.75 meters tall and 220 pounds? Wouldn’t that make him obese?”
Elsa nodded. “Which is why I can’t think of a reason he could die there without making a sound, unless it’s an inside job. Miss Katie has plenty of security; a 200-pound fatty wouldn’t be able to break into her place that easily.”
That was also what Luke found surprising.
It was difficult for a 200-pound man to walk in the first place, let alone break into the home of a celebrity.
Most of these rich people would have an electric security fence installed around their place; only professionals would be able to sneak in.
As they talked, the car reached Beverly Hills.
Luke found it odd. “Katie lives here? Is she rich? Didn’t she only become famous a few years ago?”
Elsa shrugged. “She does. As to how much money she makes, that’s a concern for the IRS, not us.”
Hearing that, Luke changed the topic. “Do you have any leads?”
Elsa shook her head. “She insisted that a lawyer be present the entire time. If someone hadn’t died, she would’ve gotten her security to kick us out.”