Los Angeles Detective

  Chapter 456 Confused

   After the two were silent for a moment, Walker asked, "What are you going to do?"

  Luke said, "Since their purpose is to prevent us from treasure hunting, then we can't let them succeed, and we still have to focus on treasure hunting next."

   "What about Maurice Dawan?"

  Luke thought for a while and said, "Let's not expose him first, just pretend nothing happened and say it was the work of an oil thief."

   Walker said, "Even if we don't say it, he will probably guess that we have suspected him."

   "So what? As long as we don't turn our backs, he will definitely not turn his back. It's not a bad thing to make him feel uneasy. The more he has this mentality, the easier it is for him to show his feet.

   And even if his accomplice finds the treasure first, as long as he doesn't escape, we still have a chance. "

  Walker couldn't think of a better way for a while, "Just do as you said.

   Who do you think Maurice Dhawan's associates are?

  The black guy whose gasoline was stolen, or you met the black woman riding a motorcycle, by the way, and the canyon ranger Carlos. "

  Luke said, "I don't think the black guy is too suspicious. As for the canyon ranger Carlos and the woman on the motorcycle, I haven't had an in-depth conversation, so it's hard to judge."

  Walker waved his hand, "Forget it, let's take one step at a time. The canyon is so big that there may be other people hunting for treasure. His accomplice may not have really shown up in the dark.

  Luke reminded, "If you are alone with Maurice Dhawan, be careful."

  Walker nodded, "I know, I have tried no less bad people than you, and I will not be soft when I really encounter things.

  Let's go back before he gets suspicious. "

  The two returned to the camp along the road, and Luke raised the gasoline can in his hand, "Hey, Maurice Dawan, look what this is?"

   "Wow, you found gasoline, it's amazing, where did you find it?" Maurice Dawan showed a look of surprise, but it was a little fake in Luke's eyes.

Luke pretended to be proud and said, "As I said just now, we didn't hear any movement last night, which means that the oil thief didn't drive a vehicle, and this barrel of gasoline is not light, so he couldn't carry the oil barrel too far .

   Sure enough, I guessed right, he hid the oil barrel nearby. "

  Actually, Luke was purely making excuses for finding the oil barrel for himself. For a strong man like him, walking with this barrel of gasoline was nothing at all.

  Maurice Dhawan showed a puzzled look, "Why would he do this?"

  Under the circumstances that the other accomplice's whereabouts were unknown, Luke didn't want to tear his face apart. Naturally, he would not puncture him at this time. Instead, he continued to make excuses for him, "I guess this is probably a business."

  Maurice Dhawan still frowned, "What does that mean? How can stealing oil become a business?"

   "Remember that black guy I was talking about? His car gas tank was also stolen, and he radioed the canyon ranger for help, and the canyon ranger promised to send him five gallons of gasoline, but he charged five hundred dollars.

   And a similar thing happened today, do you think it is purely a coincidence? " Luke gave a look you know.

  Maurice Dhawan said with the same hatred, "What a bastard, don't let me find evidence that he stole oil, otherwise I will definitely not let him go.

  My money is not that easy to cheat. "

   "Trust me, we're going to meet that **** sooner or later, no one gets away with bad things.

  And what we have to do now is to find the treasure first. Luke walked to the tricycle, added gasoline from the oil barrel, and muttered, "No one can stop us from finding the treasure. nobody! "

  Maurice Dawan nodded and echoed, "You are right, the treasure belongs to us."

  Then, the three of them packed up their equipment and went on the road. Luke was still riding a three-wheeled motorcycle, and Walker was driving the RV.

  After driving for a certain distance, the RV could not move forward because of the narrow road. Walker parked the RV on the side of the road and sat on the back of the motorcycle.

   During the treasure hunt this time, the three of them were much quieter and did not discuss the treasure hunt plan as passionately as before. Even if Luke and Walker did not reveal it too clearly, the atmosphere changed unconsciously.

   After about half an hour, the tricycle finally reached the bottom of the canyon.

  This time Luke and Maurice Dawan were in a group, and the two of them rode a tricycle to search.

  Walker acted alone, searching along the east side of the canyon.

  Luke and Maurice Dawan searched along the west side of the canyon.

   This arrangement is also to prevent Maurice Dhawan from doing evil things.

  However, according to Luke's speculation, Maurice Dhawan didn't have enough motivation and reason to do the trick before the treasure was found.

   And even if he wants to do it, Luke is not afraid of him.

  Originally, Luke enjoyed the adventure and treasure hunting process, but now that there is an extra boy in the team, it makes people feel a little uncomfortable.

  Luke was riding a tricycle, and Maurice Dhawan sat in the car and looked at the map in his hand from time to time.

  The motorcycle moved forward for a certain distance, and Maurice Dhawan said, "Stop."

  Luke stopped his motorcycle and asked, "What's the matter?"

  Maurice Dhawan pointed to the ground ahead, "There are tire marks."

  Luke got out of the car to check, and sure enough, he saw the tire marks. Luke's observation ability is much better than ordinary people. Maurice Dawan was able to find the tire marks before him, which shows that he still has some skills as an outdoor adventure expert.

   "It's the tire of the car. The imprint is relatively new, and it should have been left not long ago."

  Morris Dhawan said, "It seems that we have another competitor."

   "Don't worry, the treasure must be ours." Luke got on the motorcycle and drove forward again.

  However, he was not driving fast, and his eyes glanced around to observe the terrain from time to time.

   After driving forward for a few minutes, Maurice Dhawan stopped again, "There are new tire tracks ahead."

  Luke got out of the car again to check the point, this time the tire footprint was narrower, it looked like it should be the tire footprint of a motorcycle.

  Luke observed carefully for a while, and felt that he had seen this tire mark, which was very similar to the mark left by the motorcycle driven by the black woman yesterday.

   "It's the tire marks of a motorcycle, and the marks are relatively new." Luke shrugged, "Why are there so many treasure hunters all of a sudden? Is the treasure really nearby?"

  Of course, it is more likely that this 25-year-old recruited it.

  Maurice Dhawan couldn't see any joy or anger, and responded, "This shows that we have come to the right place, let's work harder."

  Since the tire marks are new, it means that the person may not have left. Luke raised his vigilance and looked around and found no suspicious figure.

  Luke got on the motorcycle and drove the tricycle again.

  This time, Luke has been paying attention to Maurice Dawan's expression, and found that his expression is a little dignified.

  In addition to observing the surrounding terrain, Rhys Dawan will also observe the ground from time to time.

  The two of them were very quiet for the rest of the journey, and Luke chose to keep silent, trying to test Maurice Dhawan's attitude towards tire marks.

  After about ten minutes, Maurice Dhawan said suddenly, "Stop for a moment, the tire marks of cars and motorcycles have disappeared."

  In fact, Luke also observed this, but he didn't say it immediately, he just wanted to see Maurice Dawan's reaction.

   Luke deliberately asked, "What do we do now?"

  Morris Dhawan replied, "The tire marks of the two vehicles disappeared at the same time, and there was no trace of returning to the original road, indicating that they probably turned around.

  I suggest we turn around and take a look. "

  Luke and Maurice Dawan's judgments are consistent, coupled with confidence in their own strength, they turned around and looked back.

   The motorcycle didn't drive very far, and returned to a triangular fork. Luke got out of the car to check, and felt that the two cars probably left the fork.

  Luke continued to drive the motorcycle and found the previous motorcycle and car traces again.

   After driving for a while, Luke suddenly stopped the tricycle.

  Maurice Dhawan focused his attention on the ground, raised his head and asked, "Why did you stop suddenly?"

  Luke pointed to a **** not far away, "There's a spruce tree over there, I'll go and have a look."

Luke got out of the car and climbed up the slope. The **** was a bit steep and there were not many places to borrow strength. Although he didn't have much climbing experience, he was in good physical condition. He climbed up a platform along the slope. The left front of the platform A spruce tree is planted.

Because the spruce tree was also marked on the map, Luke paid attention to it, looked around the spruce tree, and found that there were two sets of different footprints on the ground extending to the depths of the platform, and further forward was a semicircular cave. .

  Luke took out his pistol and followed the footprints on the ground into the cave.

There is a huge crack in the cave, and there is also light coming in from there. It is not particularly dark. There are many footprints in the cave, which are very complicated, and there are traces of excavation, but each pit is not deep enough. forty centimeters.

  Based on Luke's experience, someone should have tried to dig the treasure here, but judging from the depth, it should not have been found. The pit where the treasure is buried cannot be only forty centimeters deep.

   You know, the treasure box that Luke found last time was about forty centimeters high, plus the buried soil.

  So, Luke speculated that the two men did not dig the treasure.

   Luke frowned slightly, sniffed hard, and smelled a faint smell of blood.

As an old detective, Luke is more sensitive to the smell of blood. He scanned the ground around him and saw a trace covered with mud. When he pulled out the mud, there was fresh blood underneath, and there were only two human shoes around. There were no paw prints of animals.

   Obviously, there should be a conflict between these two people.

  Luke squatted down to carefully identify the two shoe prints. The two sets of shoe prints were one big and one small. The big ones should be men's leather boots, and the small ones should be women's shoes.

  Luke guessed from the motorcycle tire marks outside that this woman was probably the black woman riding the motorcycle.

  As for who this man was, he still couldn't tell. After hesitating for a while, he used an identification card again.

   If he can't find the treasure, he'll be out of luck this time.

  【Shoes, mesh-soled leather boots

Sex: Male

  Height, 178-183CM

   Body weight, 75-80 lbs

  Age, between 38 and 43 years old. 】

  Luke recalled the people he had seen, the men were the black guy whose gasoline was stolen and the canyon ranger Carlos.

  The black boy is not yet thirty years old. He does not fit the characteristics of the owner of the shoe prints, but Carlos has a similar height and build. Although Luke didn't ask the other party's exact age, he feels that he should be around forty years old.

   Is it really Carlos, the canyon administrator? Why did he conflict with the black woman?

   Two people are fighting for the treasure?

   Did they really find something in this cave?

   Or did I overlook something?

  Luke was a little puzzled for a while.

   "Luke, what did you find up there?" Maurice Dawan's voice came from outside.

   "I'll go down right away." Luke responded, took a few photos with his mobile phone, and left the cave.

At this time, Maurice Dhawan had already got off the motorcycle and was trying to climb the slope. However, one of his feet was still injured. It was difficult to climb up the slope, which may cause the foot injury to tear again , Therefore, he finally gave up his plan to climb to the platform, and could only stand at the bottom of the **** and look out.

  Luke shook his head, "There's nothing in it."

   "Have you searched carefully? For example, the excavation traces and the marking points where the treasure is hidden."

   "I've already searched, but there's nothing." Luke concealed the discovery of the blood.

   "Since there is nothing, why did you stay up there for so long?"

   Luke said, "Because I have to search carefully, it took me some time."

  Maurice Dhawan pointed to the slope, "But I found shoe prints here, proving that those who drove up also went up."

   "That's right, there are indeed their shoe prints inside, but nothing else was found. It's just an ordinary cave."

  The two got on the motorcycle and continued to trace the tire tracks. However, this time, Luke only found the tire tracks of the car, not the tire tracks of the motorcycle.

   "Wait a minute." Maurice Dhawan stopped the tricycle again.

   Luke knowingly asked, "What's wrong?"

   "The tire marks of that motorcycle are missing, and only the tire marks of the car can be seen. Don't you think it's a bit strange?"

   Luke said, "Maybe they are a group, and after meeting here, they put the motorcycle on the car, which can save fuel.

There is also a possibility that the motorcycle took a small road in order to get rid of the car. It is a small motorcycle that is more flexible and maneuverable than our three-wheeled motorcycles. As long as there is a small road wide for one person pass. "

  Maurice Dhawan still frowned, but said nothing.

  Luke continued to track the traces of the tire marks, and walked a little further. He had already seen that the car was going up, and it looked like it was going to the north bank of the canyon. Luke decided not to follow.

  Luke returned to the bottom of the valley and continued to search for the suspected treasure location.

  Luke searched the bottom of the valley, but did not find a terrain that was very similar to the treasure map, which made Luke a little depressed.

They can only wait and see from the heights on the south bank, unable to see the complete terrain, which is deceptive to a certain extent. In addition, the balance stones and spruce trees are somewhat misleading. There are many similar marks in the canyon, which brings certain difficulties to the search for treasure. difficulty.

   Luke secretly thought, this time the preparations are still insufficient, next time he should buy a drone to conduct aerial reconnaissance, it will save a lot of time and effort.

  After Luke and Walker met, the three returned to the RV again.

   This time, Walker did not continue to move forward on the grounds that walking was physically exhausting.

   After a simple dinner, Luke is ready to return to the RV.

  Maurice Dhawan said, "Hey man, did you forget something?"

  Luke took out the key of the tricycle, "Is this what you are talking about, anyway, I will drive tomorrow, so leave it here."

  After Luke finished speaking, he returned directly to the RV without giving Maurice Dawan a chance to refuse.

  Maurice Dawan's face was a little ugly, and he said to Walker beside him, "I think he has crossed the line a bit, what do you think, Walker."

   "You're right. He may be a little disappointed that he hasn't found the treasure yet. I'll persuade him." Walker returned to the RV after finishing speaking.

  Maurice Dawan stood there for a long time with a gloomy face, and finally returned to the tent.

  After Walker got into the RV, he glanced at him from the window, and asked Luke on the side, "Is there anything unusual about this guy today?"

   "Yes, he looked very nervous today. According to my observation, he should be in the same group as the black woman who rode a motorcycle yesterday."

  Walker thought for a while, "It's possible that the black woman was one step ahead of us in both treasure hunts. It's really a coincidence."

  Luke said, "In my opinion, it is not a coincidence at all, but Maurice Dawan told the black woman about our plan in advance, and asked her to look for the treasure first.

   And Maurice Dhawan stayed to watch us, deliberately causing trouble, delaying time, and buying more time for the black woman to hunt for treasure. "

  Walker asked, "Didn't you find the tire marks of a car today? Is the man driving the car his accomplice?"

  Luke thought for a while and said, "Probably not. Although the tire marks of the motorcycle and the car overlap, it only means that the owner of that car may also have come to hunt for treasure, but I don't think they are in the same group."

   Walker asked, "Do you have any basis?"

   "We found a cave at the bottom of the canyon. According to the footprints, both the owner of the motorcycle and the owner of the car should have entered the cave. I found blood in the cave. I suspect that there may have been a conflict between them."

  Walker looked out the window, "Does he know about this?"

   "He also found the tire marks, but he didn't enter the cave because of his poor legs and feet, so he didn't know about the blood.

  He asked about the situation in the cave, and I said a few perfunctory words.

   As for whether he believes it or not, I can't be sure. Just look at his actions tonight. "

   Walker speculates, "You think he's going to run tonight?"

   "Who knows?" Luke glanced at the motorcycle key in his hand. With this tricycle, it doesn't matter whether Maurice Dawan can run or not.

  He hoped that Maurice Dawan would leave without saying goodbye, maybe it would be more interesting.

Late at night.

  Maurice Dhawan lay in the tent, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

  He obviously felt that Luke's attitude towards him was a little different, did they find themselves?

   Where did I show my feet? Is it because of stealing oil?

  But Luke himself said before that the gasoline of the black brother was also stolen, so why would he suspect that he was stealing himself?

  Suddenly, Maurice Dawan thought of something.

   The last time he searched for a treasure location at the bottom of the canyon, he was in a group with Walker.

   Today it was Luke who was exploring with him.

  He found that Luke was very observant and had some unique insights into tire tracks.

   Was he judging the gas he stole by his footprints?

  Yes, it should be like this. Since he took the initiative to act with himself, he has already started to be on guard against himself. He is monitoring himself and observing his reaction.

  I was too careless.

  Maurice Dhawan is introspecting. This is also a habit he has developed since he was a child. Every time he goes on an outdoor adventure with his father, his father will ask him to summarize the mistakes he made today and not to make them again in the future.

   Judging from Luke's move to take away the motorcycle keys, he already has signs of tearing his face. Whether to leave or stay, he must make a decision as soon as possible.

  Maurice Dawan's ultimate goal is to find the treasure.

  He did have an accomplice, and it was the black woman Gray Roach who was driving a motorcycle.

  This is also the reason why he is unwilling to cooperate with Luke and Walker. Uneven distribution can easily leave hidden dangers.

   Whether to leave or stay, does he still want to see the progress of his accomplice?

   Moreover, today's tire marks gave him a bad feeling. Who left the car tire marks?

   Is Gray Roach being stalked?

  Why did her motorcycle tire marks disappear?

   Could it be that she walked around the trail as Luke said.

  Thinking of this, Maurice Dawan looked at the RV outside the tent, and deliberately kept a distance from the RV.

  He took out the walkie-talkie, adjusted the frequency, and called, "Hello, this is Morris, can you hear me?"

   A woman's voice came from the intercom, "Got it, I'm Grey, is it convenient to talk over there?"

   "Yes, they may suspect me, how is the situation on your side?"

   "I found the treasure!"

  (end of this chapter)