I asked him, where is my daughter?

He replied, my daughter was taken away by his accomplices, and if I wanted to save her, I must listen to him.

I immediately agreed, telling him that as long as he safely returned my daughter, I would do anything, and I would withdraw all my money to give to them.

But what he wanted was not money, but for me to help him get into Kerman Pharmaceutical Company, and assist him in burning down the lab and destroying the data for the new blood pressure drug.

It was a very painful choice, as the new blood pressure drug was my passion and I had invested a lot of effort into it, hoping it would benefit all humanity once it was released.

I really didn't want to destroy it with my own hands.

It was like another child to me...

But I had no choice, they were threatening me with my daughter, and I could only agree to their demands."

"Why didn't you call the police?"

"Walda Becker was always watching me, and I had no opportunity to call the police. He kept threatening me with my daughter, saying I would never see her again if I didn't cooperate or if I attempted to report it."

"When was the last time you saw Walda Becker?"

"On the night of July 11th, after Walda Becker set the fire at Kerman Pharmaceutical Company, we parted ways.

He told me to go home and wait, saying he would soon return my daughter."

"Can you describe the time, place, and direction he fled?"

Lydia Kuni recalled for a moment, "After we left the company, we walked eastwards, and at the third intersection, he turned into Mantle Street.

It should have been close to midnight by then."

Luke checked the map; the car left Kerman Pharmaceutical Company and entered Mantle Street, which was exactly on the way back to Walda Becker's apartment, and the timing matched. Lydia Kuni's testimony was essentially corroborated.

"How did you communicate with Walda Becker?"

"He gave me a prepaid phone, saying he would contact me if necessary.

But the phone never rang."

Luke inquired, "Where is the phone?"

"Right under the couch in the living room."

Little Black went to the living room and retrieved a prepaid phone from under the couch, handing it to Luke.

Luke looked at it; prepaid phones like these are hard to trace. "Contact the tech team and tell them to bring surveillance equipment to the scene."

Luke looked again at Lydia Kuni, "What's your daughter's name?"

"Milia Kuni."

"Raymond, take people to collect surveillance from the surrounding community and check for suspicious vehicles during the time of Milia Kuni's kidnapping."

"Yes, Captain."

Lydia Kuni looked at Luke, "Sir, do you have confidence in rescuing my daughter?"

Luke reassured her, "Ms. Kuni, I understand how you feel, but we've just taken over the case and need some time to investigate.

If you remember any clues, I hope you'll promptly inform us."

"I will."

Then Luke called Little Black aside and instructed, "Marcus, you're in charge of investigating Kerman Company's drug testing manager, Kem Smith. This guy might be up to something."

"Should we find an excuse to arrest him?"

"No need for now, first watch and follow him secretly. I want to know what this guy is up to."

"Understood."

...

The Rochelle Horn murder case, the Kerman Pharmaceutical Company arson case, and the Milia Kuni kidnapping.

All these three cases are connected to Walda Becker.

Judging from the timeline, Rochelle Horn was killed in the afternoon of July 10th.

July 10th night, Milia Kuni was kidnapped.

July 11th night, the Kerman Pharmaceutical Company building was set on fire.

Afterwards, Walda Becker went into hiding.

The purpose of these three cases was to sabotage and halt the development of the new blood pressure drug.

Previously, Luke had asked Fred Kramer, Kerman Company's head of R&D, whose interests would be affected if the new blood pressure drug was successfully developed.

At that time, Fred Kramer mentioned Gelsinger Pharmaceuticals, because Gelsinger Pharmaceuticals' blood pressure drugs had a significant market share.

This made Luke somewhat suspicious of Gelsinger Pharmaceuticals and raised the consideration of investigating them further.

But for the moment he couldn't think of a good reason to investigate, especially since major pharmaceutical companies have strong legal departments and are big taxpayers. You can't just investigate without evidence or reasonable suspicion.

At Luke's level, he also had to be mindful of the impact.

"Ring ring..."

Luke's phone rang.

He took out his phone to see that it was the CBS TV station intern reporter Nami Inoue's number displayed on the screen.

"Hi, beautiful, what's up?"

"Captain Lee, are you free tonight? Let's have a drink together."

"Of course, for a beautiful lady's invitation, I'm always available," Luke replied with a smile.

Last time, Luke and Nami Inoue had a pretty smooth collaboration, and since then she hadn't proactively reached out. From what Luke knew about this woman, she probably wasn't simply inviting him for drinks; there was likely another reason.

Nami Inoue suggested, "How about we meet at Milos Bar like last time?"

Luke glanced at his watch, "I'll be quite busy today; most likely, I won't have time for drinks.

Let's meet at the Japanese restaurant we went to last time, where we can eat and talk."

"Alright, see you tonight."

...

Evening, 6:55 PM.

Flowerbird Teppanyaki.

This Japanese restaurant was introduced by Nami Inoue, and they arranged to meet in a private room on the second floor, which was quieter and more suitable for conversation.

When Luke arrived at the private room, Nami Inoue hadn't arrived yet.

Luke had been busy all day, only having a burger for lunch and was quite hungry. He took the menu from the waiter and began to order.

Wagyu beef, oysters, and intestines were must-orders, as he had them last time, and they were delicious; Luke also ordered a few new dishes.

He'd heard of grilled lanterns, a unique dish, but upon thinking about it, it seemed odd and probably wouldn't taste good, so he didn't order it.

Just as Luke finished ordering, Nami Inoue walked into the private room, "Mr. Lee, sorry to keep you waiting."

"The timing is perfect, I just finished ordering; take a look and order anything else you'd like."

Nami Inoue took the menu, ordered a seafood miso soup, and then the waiter closed the door and left.

Luke poured a cup of oolong tea for Nami Inoue, "Miss Inoue, what brings you here today?"

"Captain Lee, our news department received a whistleblower letter today about Kerman Pharmaceutical Company." Nami Inoue paused briefly, glanced at Luke, and seeing no change in his expression, she continued,

"The letter claimed that Kerman Pharmaceutical Company was conducting illegal human experiments under the guise of developing new drugs, but the experiment failed.

Many of the participants and drug testers experienced adverse reactions, and Kerman Pharmaceutical Company destroyed all experiment data to avoid responsibility.

Even the whistleblower himself received threats from Kerman Pharmaceutical Company."

Luke asked, "Who is the whistleblower?"

"Rochelle Horn." Nami Inoue took a sip of oolong tea and put down her cup, "After receiving the whistleblower letter, we realized this could be big news and began investigating the whistleblower's circumstances...

We found out that Rochelle Horn had already died on July 10th, and her case is being investigated by the Robbery and Murder Department."

Luke stroked the stubble on his chin and pondered, "If Rochelle Horn suspected Kerman Pharmaceutical Company of conducting illegal human experiments, why didn't he report it to the police?"

Nami Inoue hesitated, glanced around, and whispered, "He stated in his letter that he didn't trust the police, believing they were already bought off by Kerman Pharmaceutical Company.

Hence, he opted to expose it through the news media, hoping they would keep his identity confidential, for fear of retaliation from Kerman Pharmaceutical Company."

Luke's face remained impassive, but inside, he was already cursing.

This bunch of bastards even calculated to drag the police into this.

Kerman Pharmaceutical Company indeed planned on donating a legitimate charitable sum to the police.

No matter who's behind this, once Luke finds out, he'll ensure the debt is paid.