Juan's POV

It was just another day in the office. Jones and I were called to the Chief's Office for something urgent.

Then we entered the room and gave our salutes to the Police Chief.

"At ease," King said as Jones and I lower our hands, "Now listen up, I received a call that a man named Dave Simmons claims that he saw body parts in the junkyard garden," Chief informed, "I want you two to investigate this and solve it as fast as you can!"

"We're on it, Chief," Jones said, and he and I left the office and made our way to a squad car,

"I'm driving this time," I said,

"Alright," Jones replied as he passes the keys to me,

Junkyard Garden...

Upon our arrival to the scene, we saw a few officers sealing off the entire area and a man donning a beige suit over a white shirt, a blue tie, and beige pants.

As Jones and I came out of the Squad Car. The man spotted us and walked his way to us.

"My name is Detective Jones, and this is my Partner Juan," Jones stated," Are you, Dave Simmons?"

"Yes, Officers. My name is Dave Simmons," Simmons answered,

"Alright, now how about you tell us everything you know?" Jones questioned while I pulled out a Notepad and readied my pencil,

"Well... When I first arrived here to talk with someone. I noticed the hand on the garden, and I called the police the moment I saw it," Simmons explained,

"Did you see anyone fleeing from the scene?" I asked and Simmons shook his head,

"No, I just stood here and waited for the police to arrive," Simmons said,

"You did well! Now stick around... Juan and I will have a look inside and see if we can find the rest of the body," Jones said,

After our conversation with Simmons. Jones and I went in and investigated the garden and I end up finding a hand peeking out on an old car hood, picked it up with my gloved hands, and placed it inside an evidence bag.

"Did you find anything?" Jones asked as he approached me,

"I did," I replied as I showed him the severed hand,

"Looks like we found the hand Simmons was talking about," Jones said,

"Let's go inside the house, and find the rest of the body," I said,

Jones and I went inside the house and investigated every room until we stopped at the bathroom where our victim on the bathtub with several slice wounds on the arms and legs.

"Looks like we found the second part of our victim," Jones said as we went further inside the bathroom,

Once we were in, I stopped a handsaw drenched with blood, a bottle filled with flammable liquid, and the victim's clothes piled on the bathtub near the victim's body.

"According to our victim's ID, Our Victim's name was Ned Dillard, and he was a mortgage broker," Jones said, "We should get this body back to Nathan and have it examined,"

While Jones radios in the Forensic Team to pick up the body, I carefully searched the victim's clothes, discovered a golden tooth from within the pile, and placed it inside a small evidence bag.

Then I approached the handsaw and the bottle of flammable liquid on the floor, picked up both objects from the floor, and placed it in separate evidence bags.

"What did you find, Partner?" Jones asked,

"A Golden Tooth underneath the victim's clothes, a bloody handsaw, and a bottle of flammable liquid with a broken cap," I listed the objects on hand, and showed them to him,

"It looks like you're getting the hang of this, Juan" Jones commented as he smirked at me,

"What can I say, I'm a natural," I said with pride,

After that, Jones and I went back to the station where Nathan would proceed with the autopsy of our victim, analyze the golden tooth I found, and I also did a quick examination on the bottle's bar code.

After a few short minutes, I analyzed the bottle's bar code and showed it to Jones.

"Great job, Juan! Since sales of such chemicals like these are under strict tracking laws. Now that we've got the bar code, we can determine where this bottle was purchased," Jones said,

"Any place in particular?" I asked,

"Let's see," Jones said, and checks the location of the bottle, "... it's from a mini-market nearby! And I know the owner of that place,"

"Who owns it then?" I asked,

"His name is Joe Stern," Jones said, "Let's go talk to him after we see the results of Autopsy of our victim and there's also someone, I want you to meet in Forensics Laboratory," Jones said,

"Alright, Jones. Lead the way," I said,

Our first stop was the morgue. Upon our arrival, Nathan had already spotted us approaching him.

"Nice to see you again, Juan, Jones," Nathan greeted,

"You too, Nathan. So anyway, did you find anything regarding our victim?" I asked as I pulled out my notepad,

"I'll go straight to business on this one: The hand you found in the garden matches the body you found in the bathtub," Nathan explained, "Apart from that, I've only got one certainty: only a man is strong enough to get rid of the body by cutting it with a saw,"

"I'm dying to ask you how a woman would have disposed of the body, but we've got no time. Our killer is male, which is all that matters! Thanks, Nathan!" Jones said,

After that, Jones and I went to Forensics Laboratory to get the results of the Golden Tooth.

Upon my first arrival there, I knew that it would be filled with equipment used for physical, biological, and/or clinical analyses.

As for the Lab Chief in charge, she has light green eyes, an auburn ponytail resting on her right shoulder, and sports dark red lipstick. She dons a white lab coat with a pink blouse underneath and an earth brown office skirt.

"Hey, Grace" Jones greeted,

"Hello, Jones," Grace replied, then turns to me, "So, is this our newest member in the squad?"

"That's right," Jones said,

"Juan Martinez," I introduced myself,

"Grace Delaney, I'm head of this lab, and I take care of all the forensics analyses," Grace replied, "Such as that tooth you found in the victim's clothes. As it turns out, it matches the bite marks on the bottle you found in the same place!"

"In other words, The Killer attempted to open the cap with his teeth. But he lost the tooth in the process," I pointed out,

"That's right, Juan" Grace replied,

"Either that's a really strong cap, or our killer has lousy teeth! In any case, we're looking for someone who's missing a tooth," Jones concluded,

"If I recall correctly, Wasn't Dave Simmons missing a tooth when we first saw him?" I questioned,

"Hey, you're right, Juan! Dave Simmons was missing a tooth! This witness is now a suspect," Jones said, "You're getting good at this, Juan,"

"That I am," I said, "Now let's get going, Jones. We have suspects to interrogate,"

After saying goodbye to Grace. Jones and I went to the squad car and drove our way to Joe Stern's Mini – Market.

There, we spotted Joe Stern mopping the floor until he stopped when he heard the door opening.

"What do you want?" Joe asked,

"Excuse me, Mr. Stern. But do you sell this type of fire starter in your store?" Jones asked as he shows a picture of the bottle,

"Yeah, this bottle came from my shop," Joe confirmed, "So what about it?"

"We need to know who bought it. Cause they've committed a murder earlier," I said,

"You don't seriously think I keep track of my customers, Don't you?" Joe said, raising an eyebrow, "Dozens of people come here every day!"

"Is that so?" Jones asked unconvinced, "Well then, I hope you don't mind Detective Juan here have a look at your shop. Just in case there are other things you don't keep track of!"

"Sure, just try not to steal anything while you're at it," Joe plainly said as he continued mopping the floor,

"We don't do that, Mr. Stern," I said as Jones and I have look around the shop.

Jones had found nothing on his side while I noticed the garbage bag next to the market fridges.

"You want to take the garbage bag?" Jones asked,

"Yep, Cause there's the old saying," I said as I wore a long pair of rubber gloves, unknotted the garbage, and proceeded in searching the contents of the bag. A few moments later, I pulled out a small receipt at the very bottom of the bag and showed it to Jones, "One man's trash is another man's treasure,"

Jones then took the receipt from my hand and squinted at the print.

"Well, it looks like you're right on this one. The person who bought the bottle paid it in cash and the same goes for our saw. However, they also bought a pack of bandages along with it," Jones explained,

"And since these bandages aren't for our victim. I can safely assume that the killer we're looking for is wearing a bandage," I said as I took off the rubber gloves without removing my right sleeve glove,

"I can't help but feel impressed as you work on all of this, Juan," Jones complimented, then his phone started to ring, answers the call, then turns back to me afterwards, "I got news for you, Juan. Dave Simmons is now waiting at the interrogation room,"

"Good, let's not keep him waiting then," I said,

Jones and I then left Joe's Mini Market and drove our way back to the station. Once we went inside the interrogation room, Dave Simmons was already present for interrogation and we explained the details.

"My tooth? I lost it when I was young. I have nothing else to say about this sordid affair except that I was there to sell this house. That's how I found the hand," Simmons explained,

"If you were there to sell it, I trust you know who this house belongs to?" Jones asked as I felt curious of the owner as well,

"Of course! This property belongs to Mr. Marconi and has been derelict for years now. He'd be much better off without it," Simmons answered,

I widen my eyes when Simmons revealed the owner's name, and the same goes for Jones except he was more surprised than I'd ever been.

"Hold on, did you say, Marconi?!" Jones asked surprised,

"Why yes, Officer," Simmons replied,

After that, Jones and I went outside the interrogation room to have a private conversation with each other.

"Hey, Juan. This case has just gotten big. We'd better report this to Chief King," Jones said,

"Y-Yeah, Sure thing," I replied,

Jones was a bit off guard from my tone for a moment. But we focused on reporting to Chief King first before anything else.

Once we arrived at the Chief's Door, Jones proceeds in knocking and waited,

"Come in," King replied,

Jones and I went inside the office and King had turned his attention to us.

"Ah, it's you two. So, How's the investigation going so far?" King questioned,

"We made some progress. But apparently, we have just received some information from one of the suspects that the house where the victim was killed belonged to Tony Marconi," Jones reported, which surprised King as he bolted up from his chair.

"Marconi?!" King shouted, which caught the attention of a few passing officers in the hallway. A few moments later, King cleared his throat for a moment then sat down on his chair again, "Forgive me for my sudden outburst, Detective Juan. But are you well aware of who Tony Marconi is?"

"... Yes," I replied, which surprised King and Jones, "Tony Marconi is a gangster of the Italian Mafia,"

"How do you know of this?" King questioned,

"I have heard of him back when I was in the training academy, Sir," I responded,

"I see, but back to that. We weren't able to pin him with any shady businesses he has been involved with in the past," King explained, "Since we now know that Tony Marconi is involved with this case. This might be our chance to know more about him. I want both of you to head to his Club and interrogate him of his involvement with the case."

"Yes sir!" Jones and I responded as we saluted to him and made our way to the garage.

Blue Flamingo Club

Upon our arrival at the Blue Flamingo Club, we exited out of our squad car and approached the entrance.

There, we were greeted by a bouncer of the club standing by the door.

"Can I help you, Officers?" The Bouncer questioned,

"We would like to speak to your boss," Jones requested,

"I don't know if the boss will-," Before the Bouncer could say another word, I tapped onto his shoulder and motioned my finger to lean closer to me.

Once he leans towards me, I whispered something into his ear, and the Bouncer leans back followed a by short series of nods.

"Alright, But I don't think he'll be happy to see you," The bouncer said, as he steps aside and lets us in the club.

"What did you say to him?" Jones whispered to me, as we entered the club,

"I'll tell you when we leave," I replied,

As we went further into the club, we looked around and spotted Tony Marconi by bar inspecting his inventory. However, when his bartender spotted us, she taps onto Tony's shoulder and points her finger directly at us.

There, Tony spots us, made a smug smirk as he puts his clipboard on the counter, and fixed his suit as he approached.

"Well, if it isn't Detective David Jones..." Tony drawled, then he turns to me, "And it's good to see that you are here too, Little Juan,"

Jones was suddenly curious when he heard Tony giving me a nickname while I maintained my serious expression.

"So... What do I owe you the pleasure of this visit?" Tony questioned,

"We're here to ask you something," I stated, "Does the name Ned Dillard ring a bell to you?"

"I don't think so. Is that all? I'm a very busy man, you know," Tony said, a smug grin on his face,

"I'd watch your tone if I were you," Jones warned, "It's his corpse we found in a house that belongs to you,"

"You know what? I think you should have a little chat with my lawyer about it," Tony sarcastically suggested, "I really have no time for such trivial matters,"

"I wouldn't call someone's death a trivial matter, Mr. Marconi," I commented, "But either way, that's all we need to know for now. But don't think you've seen the last of us,"

"Whatever you say, Little Juan," Tony said,

As we left the clubhouse, Jones and I entered the squad car, and the latter starts the engine.

"Little Juan?" Jones questioned, as he curiously looked at me,

"He calls me by that nickname is because of his history with my Father," I revealed, "I won't say much about it, but all I can tell you is that Marconi is pretty serious when it comes to that matter,"

"You could have at least told me when we were making our way here," Jones stated,

"You didn't ask first," I countered,

"... Alright, you win this one," Jones said, "Also, what did you say to that bouncer?"

"It's just some code Marconi told me should I feel the need to visit him," I answered,

"What's the code?" Jones asked,

"Can't tell you, Marconi told me so," I said,

"You sure hold a lot of secrets. Don't you?" Jones commented,

"That's the cold truth, Jones. But one day I'll tell you some of them," I assured, "If the time is right,"

"Yeah, whatever..." Jones said as he rolled his eyes then drove back to the Police Station,

Chief King's Office...

"So, You two! How is the Ned Dillard case going? Have you found something incriminating Marconi?" King questioned with some expectations to me,

"Unfortunately, Chief. We've got next to nothing against him," Jones answered,

"Oh, that IS unfortunate," King said, "Oh well, you know what to do!"

"Yes sir," I replied while Jones was confused by this,

"Um... Remind what we should do again?" Jones questioned,

I groaned at this, while King made a serious expression on his face.

"The only thing you CAN do! Go back to those crime scenes and find something to push this case forward!" King yelled,

"Come on, Jones," I said as I walked to the door,

Junkyard Garden

When we arrived, we began our search. There, I noticed a pile of leaves and my curiosity piqued me as I swept through a pile with my hands.

Once I cleared up the pile, I spotted a Business Card and picked it up.

"Hey, Jones!" I called out, and he walks his way towards me,

"Looks like you just found our victim's business card. Nice Catch, Juan," Jones commended,

I flipped the card around and noticed a message and a faded phone number at the back of the card.

"Call Maria...?" I read out loud, "I wonder who's that?"

"Well, there's a phone number on it. But it looks like the rain got to it first before we did," Jones commented, "Think you can decipher,"

"I'll do it when we get back to the station," I said as I put the business card inside a small bag, "But first, We need to go inside the house and search the bathroom as well,"

"I knew you'd say that," Jones said,

I rolled my eyes from his comment, entered the house, and began our search in the bathroom. There I found a tie clip lying on the floor and went to pick it up.

"Strange, how come I didn't see this earlier," I asked myself,

"What did you find there, Partner?" Jones asked as he walked towards me,

"Just found this Tie Clip on the floor. But I've got a feeling that this doesn't belong to our victim," I assumed,

"How about we go back to the station and see what you," Jones suggested,

"You've read my mind," I replied,

Police Station...

Once we've arrived at the station, I proceeded in deciphering the phone number and sent it to Alex to have it analyzed afterward. Next, I examined the tie clip I found in the bathroom, discovered a fingerprint onto it, and sent it to Grace.

After waiting for a couple of minutes, Jones and I went to Alex first.

"So, Alex. Do you have anything for us with this phone number?" I asked,

"Yep, The Owner of the Phone Number you found is called Maria Sanchez. She's a housemaid," Alex revealed,

"Thanks for the info, Alex," I thanked,

"No problem. Also, Grace wanted me to tell you that she has finished with analyzing the fingerprint," Alex added,

"Good to know," I said, then I turn to Jones, "Let's get going, Jones,"

"Right,"

It was a short walk for us to reach Grace's lab.

"So Grace, What have you found for us with this tie clip?" I asked,

"The fingerprints didn't match anything in our files, but..." Grace trails off for a moment,

"Go on, Grace," I insisted,

"...They were a perfect match with the prints present on the murder weapon!" Grace revealed,

"So, this tie clip belongs to our killer!" Jones exclaimed,

"Guess we're getting closer to our culprit this time," I said as I wrote it down on my notepad, "Thanks, Grace,"

"Anytime you two," Grace said,

"Let's go, Jones. We have a housemaid to interrogate," I said,

Afterward, I call in Maria Sanchez through her phone call and told her to come to the police station while Jones volunteered to pick her up.

A few moments later...

I was waiting in the interrogation room where Jones arrives and escorted Maria Sanchez in the room, whose wearing a maid outfit and a bandage.

Once everyone was seated, We explained the situation to Maria.

"So Ned Dillard's dead?" Maria questioned,

"Afraid so," Jones said,

"Ha! So there is justice, after all!" Maria said,

"Is that so? Why did the victim have your phone number, Ms. Sanchez?" Jones inquired,

"Because I'm his maid. Or rather, I was. The bastard fired me two days ago!" Maria explained with an angry expression,

"And now Ned's in bits and pieces. You're the picture of health, and your termination gives you a very good motive for murder..." Jones explained, while I agreed to his statement a little bit but shrugged it off since I recalled that the killer is male.

As for Maria, she paid no attention to this.

"Think what you will. But if I were you, I'd go have a little chat with Dennis Brown. He's a bodyguard, and he'd just offered his services to Mr. Dillard," Maria suggested,

"We'll keep note of that Ms. Sanchez," I said, "Thank you for your time, Ms. Sanchez,"

Afterward, we dismissed Maria out of the interrogation room and went out to find our victim's bodyguard, Dennis Brown.

Apparently, we found him stationed at some other nightclub.

"Mr. Dennis Brown. Maria Sanchez told us you offered your bodyguard services to Ned Dillard shortly before his death, Is this true?" Jones questioned as soon as we approached him,

"Sure. Ned Dillard was a crook. He sold a lot of shit to a lot of people. The guy obviously needed protection!" Dennis admitted,

"And I see that you're missing a tooth. Did you happen to lose it on the job," I questioned,

"Uh, yeah. It's a rough job, sometimes you get on the wrong end of the fight," Dennis said, "And look, about Ned... I didn't kill him. But I've got a list of people who might have: all the people who got their houses taken because of him!"

"Where's the list now?" I asked as I crossed my arms together

"I didn't think I'd need that list no more. Since the guy's dead, so I tore it up," Dennis said, and gave me the said torn paper, "You can probably still put it back together, though,"

With this, Jones and I decided to go back to the station. There, I picked up some tape from my desk and put the pieces of the list back together.

"Good job putting that list back together, Juan! I can't believe Dennis Brown gave it to us like that," Jones said, while I skimmed through the names on the list.

But one of them caught my attention.

"Jones, You might want to take a look on this name here," I said, as I showed the list to him. Specifically, one name.

"Joe Stern! And since he's on the list, It means that Ned Dillard duped him too!" Jones said,

"Let's head out to his mini-market and have our discussion with him," I said,

With that, Jones and I went to a squad car and this time. Jones drove us to Joe's Mini Market.

Once we arrived there, we found Joe mopping the floor on one of the aisles. But when he noticed us, he donned his usual annoyed expression.

"Great, what do you two want this time?" Joe questioned,

"Why didn't you tell us that your property was seized by Ned Dillard?!" Jones questioned,

"Did you have to shout, Jones?" I questioned, then turned back to Joe, "But that aside, why didn't you tell us about this?"

"So what? I'm not the only one that bastard got to!" Joe responded,

"That may be true, Mr. Stern. But it doesn't rule you out as a suspect," I pointed out, "And for that, We will take another look at your shop,"

Joe rolled his eyes and continued to mop the floors while Jones and I looked around the store. Eventually, my eyes laid up to a security camera and I visualized the camera's angle.

A moment later, Jones came to my side and he has already figured out what I was thinking.

"Do you think that camera has something valuable in it?" Jones questioned,

"One way to find out," I said then I turned to Joe, "Mr. Stern, Do you mind if we take this camera for some analyzes work?"

"First the trash, now the camera... You really don't have anything better to do?" Joe commented,

"If I were you, I'd shut up Joe," Jones said, which I gave him an elbow to his arm,

"That was a bit rude of you, Jones," I commented, then I turn to Joe, "Sorry about my partner,"

"Nah, Whatever. Just take that camera and go already," Joe said,

"Let's go, Jones. We need to see Alex and find out what we can find on the recordings of this camera," I said,

"Alright, Let's go," Jones responded,

Grimsborough Police Department

Jones and I are currently waiting for Alex's results on the camera. Once he had finished, He approached us and we waited for him to tell us what he had found.

"Well, Did you find anything?" I asked,

"I had a look at your surveillance camera's recording, basing my search on the time marked down on the killer's receipt," Alex explained, "He never turned to the camera, but I compared his height to the shelf he was standing next to and..."

"And what, Alex," Jones inquired,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, your killer is precisely 6 feet tall," Alex revealed,

"Great find, Alex," I praised as I wrote it down on my notepad. Then I turned to Jones, "And I think we just have everything we need to arrest killer,"

"That's great to hear! Let's arrest this guy!" Jones said,

After reviewing the evidence and the files of the suspects. The Killer of this case was the Victim's Former Bodyguard, Dennis Brown.

As soon as I told this to Jones, we made our way to Dennis Brown's workplace.

Once we spotted him, we approached him with a stern expression.

"Dennis Brown, you are under arrest for the murder of Ned Dillard," Jones stated,

"What?! You can't be serious. You've got nothing against me!" Dennis angrily denied,

"Really? Then how about I label out for you? First, We found your fingerprints on a tie clip that matches the murder weapon you used to chop the victim. Second, you lost your tooth when you forcefully tried to open the bottlecap to burn the victim's body inside the house, but you fled the scene when Mr. Simmons showed up. And finally, we have your receipt that includes the murder weapon, a bottle of flammable liquid, and some bandages," I stated, as I gave him a stern look to a nervous Dennis, "Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

"Um... I... Uh..." Dennis stuttered as he couldn't think of anything to say,

But eventually, Jones pulls out a pair of handcuffs and approached Dennis.

"Save it for the court, Mr. Brown," Jones stated,

Apparently, Dennis didn't have anything else to say in the matter. We read him his rights before we turned him over to booking for his trial.

In Court...

"Your Honor, I can explain," Dennis pleaded, "I'm... I'm a victim of circumstances!"

"The evidence collected by Detective Juan and Detective Jones leaves no place for doubt. The reason why you committed this crime is irrelevant," Judge Hall stated, "The Court, therefore, condemns you to life in prison for the premeditated murder of Ned Dillard!"

As Judge Hall slammed her gavel, The Trial had ended, Two officers escorted Dennis out as they send him to prison

Back in Grimsborough Police Department

"Congratulations on completing your first big case, Juan!" King praised, "I have no doubt that you've got what it takes to be a great cop,"

"Thank you, Sir," I replied and gave a salute,

"However, We have discovered that Dennis Brown received a large sum of money from an offshore account," King revealed, "I'm sure Marconi paid him to kill Ned Dillard,"

"And you want us to investigate?" I assumed,

King replies with a nod, "Try putting some pressure on Dave Simmons, he might know something. He's been seen hanging around your crime scene, head over there and find out why,"

"Understood, Sir," I responded, then Jones and I gave a quick salute to the Chief,

"And while you're at it, stop by the mini-market. Joe Stern is requesting your assistance," King instructed,

"Yes sir," I replied, then I turned to Jones, "Let's go, Jones,"

Junkyard Garden...

Upon our arrival, We spotted Simmons searching through the porch and bushes of the crime scene and approached him.

"Hey, Simmons!" Jones called out, "What are you doing here?! This area is still closed off to the public!"

"Uh well... you see... I um..." Simmons stutters while I crossed my arms and went beside Jones, "I lost my... pen last time I was here,"

"Your Pen?" I asked with a suspicious tone in my voice,

"Yeah! It's my Lucky Pen and I don't sign any contract without it!" Simmons explained,

"If that's the case, Jones and I will find for it. We'll give you a call when we find it," I said,

Simmons nervously nods in response, went to his car, and drove off while Jones and I watched him go. Once he was gone, Jones and I split up and searched for Simmons' so-called, Lucky Pen.

I searched the bushes and porch and came up with nothing while Jones yielded the same results when he searched the back. But I soon noticed something from the ground near a dirty bike, went to pick it up.

To my luck, it was stained documents.

"Hey, Jones!" I called out,

"What did you find, Juan?" Jones responded after he heard my call and approached me,

"I found something interesting," I said, as I showed him the documents,

As Jones examined the documents, he noticed something worth finding.

"Marconi's name is in these documents!" Jones pointed out, then proceeds to open it. But the file inside was stained by mud, "The file number is here as well, but I can't read it with these mud stains. Do you think you could figure the numbers, Juan?"

"We'll figure it out after we get back. Let's go to Joe's Mini Market and see what he needs from us," I said,

Joe's Mini Market...

We arrived at the mini-market and approached a furious Joe Stern.

"What seems to be the problem, Mr. Stern?" I questioned,

"I saw one of those snake-tattooed scumbags storm into my shop and mess up my shelves! He ran away when I busted him, but I know he hid something in my shelves!" Joe spat out,

"Snake Tattoo... I think I recall Ash Bison had a snake tattoo as well," I mentioned,

"So, you met a member of those Vipers? Huh?" Joe questioned,

"Vipers?" I asked,

"Trust me, You'll meet with them soon enough," Joe growled,

"They used to be a group of petty drug dealers. But lately, they've appeared to be more organized somehow," Jones said,

"In any case, We will check your shelves and see what we can find, Mr. Stern," I said, "See whatever is hidden in them,"

With that, Jones and I started checking the shelves. As we did, I noticed a box of cookies and picked it up from the shelf.

"A box of cookies? Come on Juan, this is no time for a snack?" Jones joked,

"I'm not looking for a snack, Jones. I picked it up because Joe doesn't sell this brand of cookies," I said, "Also, this box of cookies seems to have been recently opened and rummaged,"

I soon opened the box of cookies and searched the very bottom of the box. Once I did, I find a small plastic bag of white powder underneath the sugary treats.

"It looks like someone likes their cookies extra frosted," Jones commented on the bag, "And it looks like cocaine to me, We better send this off to Grace to make sure what it is before we tell Joe,"

When we got back to the station, we passed the bag of white powder to Grace for analysis of the contents while I managed to decode the file number from the stained documents and passed that to Alex's hands.

A Couple of Hours later...

We first made our way to Alex's for the results of the documents.

"So Alex, What did you find for us?" I asked,

"It's a land registry file, Marconi's file actually," Alex revealed, as he pulled out a file from his computer,

"Anything suspicious about it?" Jones asked,

"Indeed there is!" Alex confirmed, "It says that Marconi wanted to buy a few properties which mortgages were held by... Ned Dillard! It also shows that he refused Marconi's offer,"

"Alex, you're a genius!" Jones praised out loud, "That's why Marconi wanted Ned dead,"

"I wouldn't jump the gun there, Jones. We may have claimed at this, but it won't be enough to charge him with this," I stated,

"You're right," Jones admitted, "But it is enough to put under Simmons' nose and see if it'll make him sing,"

"But before you do that, I've got something good for you," Grace said as she approached us,

"Is it regarding the bag we gave you?" I asked,

"Indeed. It was cocaine you found with the cookies though it's not of any good quality," Grace explained,

"So, what was it?" Jones questioned,

"20% cocaine and 80% of a sugar substance typically used as a... laxative," Grace revealed,

I choked in laughter as I hold it in while Jones, Alex, and even Grace had a fit in laughter. A moment later, everyone stops and took deep breathes to control their breathing.

"Ah, man!" Jones exclaimed as he whipped his eyes with his finger, "Too bad the guy didn't take any before leaving the mini-market!"

"Indeed," I said while I was still chuckling for a bit, "It's would have been an easy trail,"

"But seriously, we've been seizing more and more of this crap in the Industrial Area lately. We should go warn Joe that the Vipers might come back for the 'drugs', and to keep an eye on this area," Jones said,

"Afterward, we talk with Simmons," I added,

"Right..." Jones replied,

Mini Market...

Once we walked through the doors, Joe had already noticed us.

"Did you find something?" Joe asked,

"We did and you were right about it," I said, "We found a small bag of cocaine hidden in a tin box of cookies,"

"What?!" Joe cried out in worry, "Oh crap! What am I going to do if they come back for it?!"

"Don't worry, Joe," Jones reassured, "We'll have undercover officers patrolling the area to make sure you don't get into trouble,"

"I'm sick of these lowlifes..." Joe growled to himself, as he scratched his head, "They'll end up ruining my business. Well anyway, Officers. Take this, it's on the house as my way of saying thanks,"

"You're welcome, Mr. Stern," I said,

Joe then bags us a couple of sandwiches for the road. After that, Jones and I went back to the crime scene. There, we find Simmons who seems to be a bit nervous as he saw us approaching him.

"Officers! Did you find my... Lucky pen?" Simmons asked fidgetily,

"No, but we got you a new one. We call it the 'Cut-the-crap-and-start-talking-now' Pen," Jones said, which suddenly made Simmons nervous,

"We searched the place and found some documents you lost. We found out that Ned owned real state that Marconi wanted,"It's quite the coincidence if you asked me,"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about... I was just hired to sell this house, that's all!" Simmons said as he started to sweat nervously,

"Look, Simmons," Jones got into his Simmons' face, "We're pretty sure Marconi put a hit on Ned and we're going to prove it!"

"I won't tell you anything about Mr. Marconi!" Simmons said as he backed off from Jones, "And if you know what's good for you, You'll stop sticking your nose in his business!"

As Simmons was about to leave, I went beside Jones and cleared my throat once.

"Armi e rose," I stated,

Jones raised one of his eyebrows to me while Simmons stopped and slowly turns to me with a surprised expression.

"You should be more careful from now on, Mr. Simmons," I stated, "One wrong move and something bad might happen to you,"

"Um... Y-yeah, whatever you say," Simmons nervously said, went to his car, and drove off without another word to spare,

"Armi e rose?" Jones questioned,

"It's Italian. It means Guns and Roses," I revealed, as I walked towards the squad,

"Is that your supposed code from Marconi?" Jones assumed as he walked beside me

"It's one of them. But the one I said at the club is different," I explained, "Very Secret,"

"Well, either way, I won't question about it. Right now, let's go out to a bar and grab ourselves a drink," Jones declared,

"What for?" I asked,

"For completing your first big case!" Jones reminded,

After that, Jones and I decided to celebrate my first big case with a couple of drinks then I went on home on my bike after a day's work.

Juan's Residences

Once I've parked my bike inside the garage, I went inside my home and I was already greeted by a hug when Liza rushed towards me.

"Welcome home, Big Brother!" Liza greeted,

"Hey, Liza," I greeted back, and I lifted her up, "Where's Christine?"

"She's in my room helping me with my homework," Liza responded,

"Good to hear," I said,

"Also, There's someone here who wanted to see you," Liza mentioned,

"Really? Who is it?" I asked as I was about to pass through the living room,

"Hello, Little Juan," A familiar voice greeted me,

I widen my eyes, turned in the direction of the voice, and saw Tony Marconi sitting in the living room with a glass of whiskey on hand.

"Marconi..." I muttered, as I carefully put Liza down,

Marconi then puts down his glass of whiskey and turns to Liza.

"Little girl, do you mind if I talk to your brother alone?" Marconi requested,

"Okay, Mister!" Liza said cheeringly then ran up the stairs to continue her homework with Christine.

Leaving me with Marconi in the living room.

"She seems like a good kid," Marconi commented with a smile,

"What do you want, Marconi?" I questioned, with a serious expression,

"So, straight to the point then?" Marconi said, then leans back against the couch, "Alright, I came here because I wanted to know if you had any luck with your little 'investigation'"

"I just finished my first case, Marconi. I still need to work my way up before I start making my own investigation," I explained, "As far as I'm concerned, This is something way bigger than I expected,"

"Well, isn't that a shame? But nevertheless, it can't be helped," Marconi said, as he grabbed his glass of whiskey and finished it in one gulp, "You should really try this,"

I put this in thought for a moment since one of Grimsborough's most notable gangsters is present in my own home. But I sighed to myself when I recalled Marconi's history with my father, sat down, and poured myself a glass while Marconi smirks at this and pours his own glass as well.

"To your father," Marconi commemorated, as he raised his glass to me,

"Yeah," I responded, toasted our glasses, and started to drink.

After that, Marconi said his goodbyes to me and left for business purposes while I spent the remaining time at home and slept for the upcoming days ahead.