However, the husband turned a deaf ear to Jack's question, "I heard that you found the bodies of two other women. Do you know who they are?"
"Sorry, no comment. We can't mention other victims." Hannah answered in a businesslike manner.
Only after they have confirmed that the other party is no longer a suspect and believe that the cooperation or coordination of the family members is necessary, can they reveal some details to the other party. The current situation is obviously not one of these.
Not only in the United States, but also in the world, in cases where married or partnered women are murdered, husbands and boyfriends are always the first suspects.
Although this case looks like a serial killer crime, preconceived notions are not advisable. Before the truth is revealed, any possibility exists.
"So who are the suspects? You must have a suspect, right?" the husband continued to ask.
Jack glanced at the time, "Sorry, not yet. Your wife's body has been found less than six hours ago. I hope you can understand." As expected, the grieving husband broke down. "It's been ten days, a full ten days since Beatrice disappeared, and you police officers only said you had no comment. Now she's dead, and you still have this tone. I must know what happened to my wife!"
Facing his angry roar, Hannah did not retreat but stepped forward. She took a step forward and looked him sternly in the eye, "Mr. Santos, my colleagues and I understand your current situation. We are here to help, and that's why we rushed here as soon as possible.
For you, the most important thing to do now is to control your emotions, then carefully recall the situation at that time, and answer Agent Tawalla's questions."
The biggest difference between reality and some YY novels is that in addition to the protagonist, other people will gradually grow with time and experience, and no one has to be anyone's accessory.
During her time with the LAPD, Hannah's combat prowess and marksmanship were consistently among the best among the officers. Even after joining the FBI, she never slacked off. While she might skip games when busy, she never missed her daily workouts.
Whether Jack's mentality was apathetic or not was a question for now, to others, his growth and progress were astonishingly rapid. As Hannah, who had been with him the longest, had a keen understanding of this.
If Hannah's initial goal in joining the FBI was to avenge her parents, after the incident at Margrave Town, her goal became to become, like Aunt Dee Dee, her lover's most reliable partner, both in life and work. As her lover continued to grow and improve, she felt compelled to keep pace. Just as Jiejie, dissatisfied with her previous clerical position, had taken the initiative to train as a behavioral profiler, Hannah never set her sights on becoming a senior agent.
So while Hannah always appeared sweet and innocent in private with Jack, at work, as a partner, she and Jack were a perfect match, as she was also rapidly improving.
At times like these, Jack's words could easily lead to a conflict, but as a female agent, Hannah's slightly stern rebuke calmed him down.
"I'm sorry, I might have gone too far," Santos found a small sofa in the living room, sat down, and after a moment's silence, he finally spoke again.
"Beatrice works at a high-end hotel in North Salem. She's in charge of the bar area. The restaurant closes at midnight, so she's usually busy until 1 a.m.
My work schedule is more flexible, so I'd wait for her at home every night. That night, she texted me, saying she'd be home in 20 minutes at most."
He choked up. "That was the last time I heard from her."
Seeing that he'd calmed down, Jack and Hannah exchanged a glance and sat down across from him. Jack, speaking slowly, asked, "So, your relationship has always been great?"
"Yes, we've been married two years, and we've hardly ever argued. Maybe we've had a few disagreements, but we usually make up after a night." Santos wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Did she ever mention anyone harassing her? You said she's in charge of the bar, so she probably runs into drunk guys all the time, right?"
Jack asked, scribbling something in his notepad. Sometimes he wasn't really recording any important information, but rather conveying a sense of professionalism and responsibility, which was also a form of respect.
"Yes, but only occasionally. Some pretentious guys try to hit on her, and Beatrice usually just laughs it off. She says she's good at dealing with them."
Judging by Santos's reaction, he wasn't lying about this. Neither he nor his wife seemed to find it bothering.
But perhaps Beatrice was hiding something, simply not wanting to worry her husband, so the investigation needed to continue.
Jack asked a few more questions, and after getting the address of the restaurant where Beatrice worked, he said goodbye to Hannah and left.
Throughout the conversation, the husband behaved very normally, whether it was the micro-expressions when speaking or the overall emotional changes, all of which were in line with the normal behavior of an ordinary person who had lost a loved one.
Jack temporarily ruled out the other party's suspicion in his mind, so if he wanted to learn more about the situation, he had to go to Beatrice's workplace to continue investigating.
The town of North Salem, where the restaurant was located, also had nothing to do with Salem, which was also known as Witch Town. The latter was located northeast of Boston and belonged to Massachusetts. It was famous for the horrific Salem witch trials in 1692 and often appeared in magical American TV series and fantasy games.
North Salem is near the Titicus Reservoir, less than 30 kilometers from Stanford. It has a pleasant climate and is surrounded by manors and private horse farms. It is a typical gathering place for the rich.
The hotel Santos described certainly looked upscale, and the restaurant was lavishly decorated. The bar area boasted twelve display cases, and the long bar was large enough to accommodate thirty or forty chairs, allowing seven or eight bartenders to serve drinks simultaneously.
Jack and Hannah approached the restaurant manager, a middle-aged white man of average appearance, slightly shorter than Hannah.
"I don't recall anyone harassing her," he said, his attitude somewhat nonchalant upon hearing the FBI agent's intentions. "
Beatrice was the head bartender, meaning this person was likely her direct supervisor." This was not a normal reaction to hearing about the murder of a subordinate. Jack glanced at
the five small black dots tattooed on the back of his hand and pulled out his phone to text Jubal. Hannah remained calm and continued to question him.
"But her husband said she's often hit on by customers. Are you sure there weren't any suspicious people hanging around Beatrice in the days before she disappeared? Even if it was just a minor conflict."
The restaurant manager had a half-smile of sarcasm on his face. "I'm not surprised by that."
He paused, as if realizing his attitude was a bit too much, and readjusted his expression. "Beatrice can be a little oversensitive sometimes. A beautiful lady like you can understand that sometimes people praising you doesn't mean they have intentions towards you, right?"
"But her husband seems to say something different. He said Beatrice is very good at dealing with customers who harass her," Hannah continued to ask.
The restaurant manager smiled back subconsciously. "That might be because he's her husband, not a colleague."
Jack put away his phone and winked at Hannah. "Okay, thank you for your cooperation. Oh, by the way, that tattoo on your hand is very cool."
The restaurant manager's smile suddenly disappeared, and he responded with a forced calm "thank you."
"Where did you get it?" Jack continued to ask. This tattoo had nothing to do with being cool. It was a typical prison tattoo, with five black dots in the shape of a plum blossom, representing that this guy had served a five-year sentence.
"Uh, at a tattoo shop in Kingston. The tattoo artist said it was a Buddhist symbol."
Knowing that this guy was talking nonsense, Jack didn't expose him. He just stretched out his voice and praised him again, "Oh, Kingston, this is really cool."
The restaurant manager became a little restless and forced a smile, "If there is nothing else, I have to leave for the time being. There are some things in the kitchen that need to be arranged immediately."
"Of course, thank you for your cooperation."
"Go ahead."
Jack and Hannah both smiled the same way and watched him turn around and leave as if he was escaping.
(End of this chapter)