Last chapter, I might have misspoken, the motorcycle was not found.

Luke was too embarrassed to say it was stolen, so he said it was sent for maintenance.

...

Police Detective Agency.

After three days off,

Luke drove to work in his newly purchased Benz G500.

It didn't attract much attention as most people had already entered the office by that time.

Nine o'clock.

Luke entered the office on time.

David said, "You really know how to skive off, running away for three days."

Luke thought to himself that this was nothing, as four or five days off were also possible in the future.

From his last contact with Chief Reid, he felt that the Chief was quite approachable.

As long as you're capable, taking a few extra days off is no big deal.

The three-day leave was approved by him, much more readily than Susan would have.

At nine-five, Susan called everyone to the conference room for a meeting on time.

At the start of the meeting, Susan spoke about the progress of the immigration case, noting that the files and evidence were almost fully organized.

Afterward, Susan looked towards Luke, "As everyone knows, Luke has been promoted to Detective Chief.

I need to make some personnel adjustments.

Luke, Marcus, starting from today you two will be partners."

Luke was somewhat surprised, and Marcus's mouth hung open in disbelief, "Why? Wasn't I with the deputy team leader?"

Susan countered, "Doesn't the deputy team leader take on missions? Do you also stay in the office all the time?"

Marcus was somewhat reluctant, "Am I really suitable to partner with Luke?"

"I don't think it's suitable either," Luke thought to himself, with your intelligence, you still dare to disdain me?

"Marcus, are you serious?" Susan's serious face turned even colder.

"Yes," Marcus stood his ground.

"Good, then you'll be paired with David."

"No!" Marcus reacted even more intensely, "Chief, I'm willing to be Luke's partner."

Luke refused, "I don't want him."

"Stop, both of you shut up," Susan grew impatient, "Marcus, you have until noon.

If Luke doesn't agree, you're with David.

Meeting adjourned."

David stood up, patted Marcus's shoulder, "My trunk will always be available for you."

Marcus looked pitifully across the conference table at Luke, as if to say, brother, please take me in.

Marcus tried to stay under the radar, offering tea and water, fearing that Luke truly would not partner with him.

Luke might not be the nicest guy around, but David was even worse.

For the sake of a better future, Marcus knew well what his choice should be.

Luke accepted the coffee and didn't push Marcus away further. Although Marcus was unreliable, he had a high degree of affability and could get along with anyone.

"Do you really want to be my partner?"

"Of course, I want to learn from you; you've solved all the recent cases. I've wanted to ask for your guidance for a long time."

"Cough." The deputy leader coughed once, giving Marcus a look suggesting he ought to learn on his own.

Luke said, "It's not impossible to follow me, but let's lay down some ground rules, you'll have to listen to me from now on."

"Yes, detective." Marcus struck a proper attitude.

"Get your gear, let's take a turn outside."

"Where to?"

"To find my beloved little motorcycle."

"The patrol hasn't found it?"

Luke nodded, "They haven't gotten any news; if we wait any longer, my Harley will probably be broken down into parts and sold off."

"Really a bunch of unreliable guys."

"Yeah, just like you."

...

On the outskirts of Los Angeles.

An outdoor film set.

Assistant Director Clapbo Hino was inspecting the set, preparing for today's shooting.

"You guys clean up the place from last night's gathering, don't leave any trash that might impact shooting."

"Notify the actors, as soon as the director arrives, we'll start filming."

As the assistant director walked and instructed, he reached the scene of last night's shooting and saw that the big pit in the middle of the site had been filled in, scolding, "Which idiot had nothing better to do than to fill in the pit? We still have to shoot a scene in a big pit today. Are you all idiots?"

The scene crew scurried over, "Director, I didn't tell anyone to fill in the pit; I don't know which bastard did it."

"Then hurry up and get someone to dig, if it's not back to how it looked yesterday before the director arrives, you can pack your bags."

The stagehand turned around and yelled at a few crew members, "Hey, you guys, yes, you, hurry up and grab your shovels and open up the huge pit for filming.

A group of people started digging with shovels.

The soil was freshly filled and not compacted, making it easier to dig.

Even so, it took several strong men nearly twenty minutes.

"Hey, I think I've hit something."

"What is this?"

A white man scraped off the layer of dirt with a shovel, "fuck, why does it look like a mannequin, which idiot buried a filming prop in here?"

Another black man laughed, "An inflatable one? Haha..."

The white man poked with his shovel, "This isn't right... fuck, this is a real person!"

The white man threw his shovel and scrambled out of the large pit, scared.

The black man was also scared out of his wits, rolling and crawling out of the pit.

...

Ten minutes later, patrol officers arrived to maintain order and cordoned off the filming scene.

A black woman with short hair and a middle-aged white male officer were responsible for keeping watch.

The white male officer looked around curiously and commented, "Wow, even though I grew up in Los Angeles, it's my first time on a film set. I heard the guy who died was Lucas; I really liked his performance in 'Special Warfare Glory.' Have you seen it?"

The black woman with short hair glanced at him and remained silent.

"I think I just saw Director Becker, he may not be very famous, but he's made some decent detective movies. I remember one that was about..."

The black woman with short hair cut him off, "shut up, rookie."

"OK," the middle-aged white officer responded meekly.

After a moment, the middle-aged white officer muttered, "I respect you, but I think you're too serious."

The black woman with short hair glanced at him, "Someday you'll thank me for being serious."

The white officer shrugged, "Can you crack a smile?"

"I fear I might scare the piss out of you."

"Are you always this dominant?"

"Is there a problem with that?"

"Doesn't your husband feel suppressed?"

"I don't know and I don't care. What matters most is that I feel good."

"I mean, doesn't it affect your normal life... I get a bit uncomfortable around women who are too assertive..."

The black woman was unfazed, "No need to get used to it. I'm the one in charge on top, he just needs to lie there. Any more questions?"

The middle-aged white officer was taken aback and edged away, "No."

"good, rookie."

The middle-aged officer sighed softly, murmuring to himself, "Rookie, rookie... everyone calls me rookie. Even if I am a rookie, I'm a handsome, dreamer of a rookie."

...

A Ford Explorer stopped at the curb.

Luke got out of the passenger side, and Little Black also ran over from the driver's side.

Luke glanced around and headed towards the patrol officers and the police tape not far away.

This was his first case since being promoted to Detective Chief; he had to handle it immaculately.

The black woman and the middle-aged white officer also saw Luke.

The middle-aged white officer widened his eyes, "Oh, I recognize him, the guy who lost his Harley; what's he doing here?"

The black woman shook her head, "You shouldn't have given him your card."

"What should we say later?"

"Tell the truth, we've done our best. There are hundreds of thefts in this city every day; we can't recover every single one.

You shouldn't feel guilty about it."

The middle-aged white officer said, "Actually... I do feel a bit guilty. I really couldn't find it."

The black woman shook her head slightly, "That's why you're still a rookie."

Luke was also surprised, "Hi, nice to see you again, Officer John. Did you find my Harley?"

The middle-aged white officer replied, "Sorry... we looked, patrolled the streets for three days straight, but we didn't find your lost Harley."

"You'd better hurry up then," Luke said, making a move to enter.

The black woman put out her hand to stop him, "Sorry, an incident has occurred here, and the area is under lockdown."

"I know, that's why I'm here," Luke said casually.

Little Black flashed his badge, "I'm Detective Marcus, and this is Detective Chief Luke."

"Wow... detective." The middle-aged white officer's mouth fell open in disbelief.

"Mezke Bar... I should have thought of that," the black woman murmured with a light sigh.

"Stay in touch," Luke dropped the line and proceeded to the scene.

Little Black whispered a reminder, "Detective Chief Luke is very unhappy with the car recovery efficiency; we need to step it up, guys."