Chapter 36

Zoey and Charles were trying to hold back their laughter and didn't ask Lawrence any questions.

Their attitude was enough to show how ridiculous Lawrence's excuse was.

Lawrence could see they were mocking him, so his tone changed. "I was just joking with you guys, no need to take it seriously. Brian really didn't know about this. Every time he came to my house, I would ask him to take out the trash and he was willing to do it. When I paid him each time, he was even willing to help me throw it into the manhole cover from far away."

"Is that so?" Zoey looked up and glanced at him indifferently. "Show us the transfer records."

Lawrence swallowed hard. "Sorry, I prefer using cash."

"Still covering for him." Zoey gave him a thumbs-up gesture. "Fine, according to you, Brian was just doing a paid job. Now tell us, why did you always dress in women's clothes to approach the victims?"

Zoey meticulously captured all the evidence she had gathered during this period on her phone. She then pointed the screen directly at Lawrence, ensuring he could view it with absolute clarity.

In the video, Lawrence's appearance had nothing to do with a man. At first glance, he looked like a woman.

Lawrence looked at himself in the surveillance footage and laughed. "You guys have found out this much, impressive."

Zoey asked, "Alright, tell us, is this you?"

"Yes, it's me." Lawrence admitted without hesitation, though he was otherwise uncooperative. "I like wearing women's clothes. You must have already investigated my supermarket. Wearing women's clothes helps me better conceal my sexual harassment of them. How's my disguise? Pretty good, right? After each harassment, they never suspected me. After all, it's a public place; I must disguise myself."

"Besides, I wore a hat and mask. The hair was cut from the victims' heads to better disguise myself. How's that? Looks pretty real, right? There's no way fake stuff would work after all. Those women I harassed would never suspect me when they saw my hair."

He even seemed a bit proud, perhaps thinking he was too clever.

From his description, Zoey could imagine the pain the victims had endured.

She looked at Lawrence with eyes full of hatred. "Why did you do this?"

"Do you really need to ask? You're so smart and you've already figured this out. So really do I need to explain it to you?" Lawrence said, savoring the moment. "Only this way could I better choose my victims. I like to target those who don't dare to speak up after being harassed. They usually look insecure and have no friends, so they're easy to manipulate. It turns out that I have a good eye for picking people. As soon as they saw me, they started crying and begging."

There was a hint of enjoyment in his words.

Zoey roughly understood that Lawrence targeted weak women.

She clenched her fists. "So, Lily was the first person you killed."

Lawrence said, "Yes, I killed her."

Zoey occasionally glanced at the notes. "Earlier, when you were stalking Ella, you mentioned having mental issues. Have you seen a doctor?"

Lawrence shrugged and sneered. "What's the point? I don't have that much money to consult a doctor for an incurable disease."

Charles went out of his way to check on his phone; in Emerald City, psychological counseling costed at least $100-200 per hour.

Charles remarked, "That's quite expensive." If it were him, he wouldn't see a doctor either.

Lawrence's shocking words even stunned Charles. "Damn! Are you done questioning? If you're done, hurry up and sentence me. Whatever the court decides, just go with it."

"OK, don't worry, you can't escape punishment," Zoey said with a creepy smile. "By the way, I have to ask, are you gay?"

Lawrence froze for a second, then suddenly tried to get up from the bench.

If it weren't for the handcuffs, he might have jumped up. He shouted, "No, how can you insult me like this? Damn! If I were gay, why wouldn't I catch men? Why catch them?"

Zoey asked, " Exactly. You have a point. But I'm curious, what does Brian have on you? You are not in that kind of relationship, so why are you covering for him?"

Lawrence said, "It wasn't him; why would I frame him? Besides, someone like me is definitely going to hell; I don't need to add more sins."

"Interesting." Zoey chuckled. "You know you're deeply sinful, yet you show kindness to a jerk."

"Yes." When he said the last word, Lawrence's head was so low that his expression was almost invisible. But it was rare to hear a hint of complex emotion in his words.

Zoey knew Lawrence was determined to take the fall for this, so she stopped asking.

She exchanged a glance with Charles and ended the interrogation.

Robert also held an impromptu team meeting.

The two teams reported their interrogation results, and they couldn't understand why Lawrence was so determined to cover for Brian, insisting it had nothing to do with him.

They all sighed in unison. "There are two sets of fingerprints on the body bag. If Lawrence keeps covering for Brian, we won't be able to close the case anytime soon."

Robert looked at everyone and instructed, "Alright, Alexander and Zoey, you two go search Brian's house later, see if there's anything suspicious, and don't miss the office on the second floor of the supermarket!"

Alexander and Zoey said in unison, "Got it!"

Dennis, with his chin in his hand, kept twirling his pen. "I'm really exasperated. Officer Davis, didn't you say only the closest people would take the fall for someone else? I just can't figure it out, what does Brian have on Lawrence that makes him willing to die for him? He's not afraid of death, but he's afraid of what Brian has on him?"

Robert said, "It's normal you can't figure it out, because I haven't figured it out either."

Dennis fell silent. So was Robert praising him or mocking him?

Robert gave Dennis a disdainful look. "Alright, just assume Lawrence has something on Brian at his house; you two go with them! This time, be more thorough in your search, got it?"

Dennis said confidently, "Mission guaranteed!"