Jorge was in shock, knowing Colonel Riva had a hand in meeting Henry De La Vega in the Restaurant. Lyca is standing in the corner, and she was puffing her cigarettes like crazy, unable to comprehend what's happening. Miles was seated at the conference table tapping his pen, thinking of why the Colonel was somehow involved in a murder.
"Maybe Alfred is just taking us for a ride," Lyca quipped. "That husband and wife tandem is lying."
Miles is cautionary, "What would Alfred gain in lying all about this? We need to rule out any financial gain he must have entered into. "
"He just bought a second-hand car and a Rolex-like watch."Lyca mused."I'm pretty sure they can't buy that kind of second-hand luxury if they're mere waiters in a restaurant."
Jorge agreed."That can be true, Lyca. But let's put back Colonel Riva in the picture."
Lyca looked at the Web storyboard. She was pretty accurate with her observation.
"Look. Colonel Riva's absence for the last three weeks is bothering me, you, and everyone else. His presence in the murder scene is even bothersome. He had no business going there when his leave of absence required him to stay put outside of this office. He had to secure medical clearance first."
Miles had other things on his mind.
"If we are to believe Alfred, we don't need the hard drive. We need to wrap our heads up with the fact that Colonel Riva met Henry De La Vega four days before he was found dead. And the fact he went there on purpose at the crime scene to see the body is a big question. "
Jorge cleared up his head. He tried to massage the contour of his eyes with his fingers.
"We need to look for Colonel Riva," Jorge said.
Miles replied. "His phone is dead. We cannot contact him."
Jorge was not content with merely contacting him.
"Miles, you got to come with me. Lyca, you can proceed with your itinerary."
"Where are we going, Jorge?" Miles asked.
"At his house. We need to check him there."
After the conference meeting, Lyca went to pick her bag at the police residence hall, where she met Rey Lima and Mike Pena-their unit is in charge of all drug related crimes and law enforcement. Rey catches the ball Mike threw at him at the lounge. He was smiling ear to ear. Then swipe Lyca with an insult.
" I heard you guys got robbed with vital evidence?"
Mike laughed out loud. "What? Inside the precinct?"
Lyca did not stop to respond to the banter. It simply is not worth her time. Lyca doesn't know much about the two, but they have been in Drug Enforcement since she first arrived, and she heard a lot of stories that can be considered controversial. But that day, she was not ready to deal with it with the noisy boys. She just clenched her teeth in dismay and wished she could get her hands on them some other time. The city's drug had gotten worse, and there is no better way of investigating the drug problem than to first look inside the drug department and see how rotten they are.
On her way out of the precinct, she saw Jorge climbing into the police car with Miles. She suddenly ran to them to tell an important matter she failed to tell earlier.
"Jorge, I have not discussed with you the result of the fluid we sampled from the office of Doctor Molina."
Jorge had no time to hear it, but he lent his ear to listen out of respect.
"The chem lab said it is an unusual element," Lyca said.
Jorge frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I… can't explain it in layman's terms. I will have to verify what I heard from the chem lab...but....will you call me later after you visit with Colonel Riva? I was hoping you could come and see for yourself what they have to say about the result. You should hear them personally."
Jorge was convinced it was important. "Sure. I will call, Lyca. Don't worry. "
"Thanks. "
That morning Lyca's itinerary includes retracing back any unchecked evidence at the parking lot of Hotel D-lux. The parking is a huge open space, and the days that passed by have made it difficult to go back every step as the rain had erased most of the temporary markings. The working theory is that Henry De La Vega was not killed inside the car. He was placed there. He is a heavyset man weighing around 90 kilograms more or less, and carrying him inside the car would require at least two persons. As Lyca was inspecting the premises, a man in a business suit waved at her from the hotel. It was the manager.
"You are a little early, officer!" He shouted. He walked towards Lyca's location, which is about 100 meters from the basement of the hotel. The manager was a burly man around 5 feet and 7 inches tall wearing a toupe, trimmed mustache, and red cheeks.
Lyca introduced herself.
"Hi, I am officer Lyca Mendez. "
"Nice to meet you, officer. I am Robert Lee, the resident manager of the hotel. I will be glad to assist you. Where do you want to start?"Lyca saw a small sleeping tent near the garbage, and it was not mentioned in the report.
She pointed at the garbage bin. "Is someone living over there at the tent?"
The manager looked at the tent surrounded by sacks of garbage and went near it. "William!" He called. A poor man came out of the tent, his hair uncombed and eyes that seemed more afraid from the voice called him out. "I already segregated the garbage. Did I do something wrong?" William cried.
Lyca asked. "Why is he living here?"
Robert replied, "long story, but he is a former employee of ours. His house got burned in a fire a year ago. No relatives here in the city, nowhere else to go, and just decided to camp out here. This is illegal, but we don't want to push him away for humanitarian reasons forcibly."
Lyca understood the situation." William, I am police officer Lyca."
William got tense." Are you driving me away?"
Lyca assured him," No, William. I have a few questions."
William scratched his head." Why of all people would an officer want to ask me? Robert is the all-knowing guy. You can ask him anything. "
"I want you, William. Robert here is just assisting me around."
William went out of his tent wearing an old pair of jogging pants and long sleeve sweatshirt.
"Where are you on the night a body was found inside the car? Are you here? "
William thought about the night of the murder and replied after few seconds.
" Yes, I am here when the police cordoned off the area. I am looking at a distance. The police asked me to move my tent, so I did some 50 meters back out there. It's okay with me. I did not complain."
"Were you here all day?"
William nodded. "I am here. Minding the garbage, segregating them and except for a few hours that I was away, coz I sold some plastics and scraps, I go back here."
Lyca wrote William's testimonies in her notebook.
"What about the car where the body was found? Have you seen it come?"
William signaled his hand as if dismissing the question. "Of course I saw it come. I saw all the cars coming here to park and going out."
It piqued Lyca's interest. "Can you tell me exactly what day and time it arrived? "
William laughed. "I can't track the days
and got no watch with me, but I know it was early morning coz there's few customers that night. Some lights… It blinded me when it arrived. I thought it was a UFO or something."
"Have you seen the occupants of the car come out?"
William was thinking hard.
"I saw a woman dressed in a yellow coat that came out. I'm sure it's yellow, although it's nighttime, and the only light out there is the lamp post at the basement."
Lyca wrote" woman with a yellow coat." "Then what happened?"
William continued giving his statement, "The woman is wiping or cleaning something. I don't know what it was. Only later that I learned it was a body when I checked what the police were doing out here."
Lyca thought William could be a vital witness, so he wrote his name in the notebook.
"Did a policeman talk to you?"
William shook his head. "No, mam."
Lyca asked Robert about any CCTV footage they may have of the night.
"We have given the police the copies of our hard drive."
"But have you seen anything unusual that night?" Lyca asked. Robert is sweaty.
"It's an IP camera, and somehow, it was wiped out when we checked it."
Lyca's eyes widen. "What?"
"It's the same question we had at the back of our mind. We have given the police copies of our hard drive, but they will see it as empty. I don't know if they can see anything there. And the truth is we don't know if it was hacked and wiped deliberately."