Chapter 974: Cake for the Soul

There had been a lot going on at the police department recently, but they didn’t have many urgent cases.

Dustin had switched from being captain of the Major Crimes Division in LAPD to the chief at NYPD HQ. His requirements for Luke and Selina had also changed slightly.

Before his arrival, the quality of work in the police department was already above average.

After he came, even following precedent, he would still pass with flying colors.

Now, Luke and Selina didn’t have many cases to deal with.

Unlike before, Dustin didn’t need them to crack more cases and boost the rate.

It was possible for police HQ to receive five to ten thousand cases a year.

Luke and Selina busting their asses to solve a hundred cases a year would only boost the rate by one or two percent; that was what Dustin felt.

He would rather they work on cases they were interested in and take fewer cases, so that they could take on trickier cases at any time.

These sorts of cases might not be dangerous, but they would definitely be troublesome, just like what happened with the Soderberg family yesterday.

Previously, Luke and Selina had handled Walter’s case and provided Dustin with important under-the-table intelligence. They didn’t work many hours, but they knew how to solve problems.

A shrewd and surprise attack force – this was Dustin’s new position for them.

It was truly a waste for them to spend time on ordinary criminal cases.

After all, this was New York.

They were too outstanding and didn’t have a strong enough backer. He was afraid that Luke and Selina would be targeted.

While Deputy Commissioner Brad could give up on Luke and Selina without any hesitation, Dustin definitely wouldn’t.

Thus, he consciously controlled the number of cases they took, and even tacitly allowed them to slack off from time to time.

When Luke and Selina went to the police department now, it was mainly just to show their faces.

They still needed to hang out with frontliners like John and Joe; they couldn’t put up a front with people like these.

They were all seasoned detectives. It would be hard for them to improve their relationship if they didn’t get drinks and curse their sh*tty bosses together.

Of course, everyone was busy.

Meeting once every three to five days and getting together once every week or two was already considered very diligent. It could be postponed, but it couldn’t be missed.

When they arrived at the police department today, Luke greeted a few people, and Selina started to take out pastries from a box on the pull-cart she had with her, and gave them out.

The blonde, Connie, was surprised. She took the paper bag from Selina and asked, “Pastries? Did you make them yourself?”

It wasn’t that she doubted Luke and Selina, but that she had lost hope in the police department.

None of the top detectives in the police department would make their own pastries or bring them to the police department.

Even if they bought donuts, they would only buy one or two boxes at most, and it was first come, first served.

There were close to a hundred “bottomless pits” in the police department. Even handy civilian personnel wouldn’t dare give out pastries in public, since it was impossible to give more than a hundred.

Even if they just bought donuts, they would go bankrupt.

Luke didn’t think much of it. “It’s just cupcakes. Selina happens to have a big oven.”

He wasn’t lying.

Making these snacks was like washing clothes in a washing machine.

The only difference was that the washing machine was filled with clothes and detergent, while the smart kitchenware was filled with enough raw ingredients before a few buttons were pressed on the operation panel.

After a while, over a hundred little cupcakes were produced in one go.

Of course, Selina’s evaluation of these “automatic desserts” was that they didn’t have soul.

She didn’t know exactly what it was, but she could tell with one bite whether Luke had made the cake himself or if it had been produced by the smart kitchenware.

However, this kind of mass-produced light refreshment could be used as snacks for a certain dog head at home, and as wholesale gifts at the police department.

There was only one word for it — time-efficient.

Although there were a lot of people in the police department, only fifty to sixty percent of them came to work in the morning.

Distributing the snacks wasn’t hard for Selina.

Most of them were thrown directly to Connie for the detectives who came later to get them; she just needed to make clear that they were from Luke and Selina.

Luke and Selina only needed to personally hand out a small portion.

For example, Javier and Ryan, who were yawning non-stop, were a little flustered when they received the cakes from Luke.

“Eat something before you go to bed, or you might get gallbladder stones,” Luke reminded them. “One of them is for your captain. Don’t eat them all.”

They thanked him with wry smiles.

Luke looked at them and asked, “What kind of case is it, that you need to work overnight?”

They looked at each other and hesitated for a moment before they said, “A female college student was murdered. Her death’s a little strange.”

Luke asked, “Is it related to Miss Lindsay and Monroe?”

That was clearly a much easier question to answer, and Javier replied, “Lindsay and the victim often volunteered together, and they have dealings with Monroe.”

Luke was stunned. “What do you mean?”

The question stumped them for a moment, before Ryan said in a low voice, “Supposedly, the victim once gave Monroe some counseling.”

Looking at their expressions, Luke asked, “Don’t tell me the victim died in a more bizarre way?”

A cough rang out, and the three of them turned their heads.

Javier and Ryan said awkwardly, “Beckett, you’re back.”

Beckett looked a little tired, and her outfit was a little wrinkled. It was clear that she hadn’t gone home to change after working overtime last night.

There were beads of water on her face; she had probably just washed up.

Luke didn’t think much of it. He took the paper bag from Javier and gave it to her. “Everybody gets cupcakes.”

Looking at his empty hands, Javier didn’t dare say anything.

Beckett casually took the paper bag. She had already seen the cake in Javier’s hands, and didn’t forget to glance at the table.

Luke shrugged. “I don’t deliver coffee. That’s too troublesome.”

Ryan was much smarter. “Beckett, I’ll get you some coffee.” He then dragged Javier away.

What the two bigshots wanted to talk about had nothing to do with them.

Contrary to Ryan’s expectations, Beckett didn’t really care about them privately divulging case details to Luke.

Simply put, whoever was pleasing to the eye was fine.

If Ryan had told John about the case, she might not have let him go so easily.

Beckett took out the cake from the paper bag and looked at it. In the end, she couldn’t help but take a bite.

It had to be said that even if Selina said that the cake didn’t have soul, a lot of OCD people would still choose this perfect presentation over slightly lacking taste.

Luke wasn’t in a hurry. He was very free right now, and it was normal to be interested in other people’s cases.

The most important thing was looks!

Just like how Beckett found him nice to look at, he thought the same of her.

If John hadn’t acted as a live target for Luke back then, Luke wouldn’t be so nice to him.

As she ate the cake, Beckett asked, “Where did you buy this? This cake tastes good. I can buy some for breakfast next time.”

Luke said, “It’s homemade. If you really want to eat, you can get them from Connie. I left a lot with her.”