Detective Nico Yukishito was already fast asleep when his ringtone had awaken him. Even Goldilocks woke up to the sound and started licking his boss's face. "Arf! Arf!"
"Damn, Sherlock ..." Nico frowned when the golden retriever suddenly approached him. She sighed and sat up in bed. He glared at the dog, "Do you really have to wake me up whenever someone's calling me? Then if you can crawl, you'll think you're light." But the dog just barked and turned Nico's cellphone on the nightstand. It still keeps on ringing.
"Arf! Arf!"
"Tsk. Fine." The young detective begrudgingly answered the phone call without checking the caller ID, "Chief, what's the reason you're waking me up at this time?"
"You were asleep? It's only seven o'clock."
"I have an abnormal sleeping routine," Nico yawned and stood up. He almost tripped over a few books scattered on the floor. It was a long time before Inspector Ortega could answer. Nico has a bad feeling about this.
"We've found the gunman ..."
"And bad news is?"
"... he's dead. A garbage man found him earlier at the Eastwood Heights dumpsite. HK seems to have made sure we lose the lead on him."
But Nico no longer listened to the other things the boss said. His mind is already working out his mental files again, but it kept coming back to that piece of poetry (or riddle) the Heartless Killer left them. 'I am about to solve this case. Just one more piece of information, 'Nico took a deep breath and took a t-shirt from the cabinet.
"I'll be there in ten minutes."
*
Eastwood Heights dumpsite
7:12 p.m.
"What in the name of Sherlock do we have here?"
When Nico arrived at the alleged dumpsite, he immediately passed some police and ECU personnel. He disregarded the flashing siren lights and police lines, heading straight to where the body was found. The surroundings were dark and the nearby poles gave almost no light. The smell of rotting garbage was pungent, but in this situation, Detective Nico Yukishito knew that the smell was more than just rotten garbage.
'Who wouldn't wake up if you could smell a rotting corpse?' He sighed and grabbed a pair of latex gloves from his pockets.
Inspector Ortega was already assessing the situation. Next to him was Special Agent Briannova Carlos who seemed to have been there earlier.
"I always knew the Heartless Killer would do this. Amazing, isn't it? He seems more like a psycopath than his medical records give him credit for."
Inspector Ortega and Nova turned to the newcomer. The stout man sighed, his mustache well-kept amidst the commotion, "I don't see what's 'amazing' about this situation, Detective Yukishito. It looks like our victim was also repeatedly stabbed in the face."
Without hesitation Nico approached the corpse covered in garbage. His eyes spotted the familiar white suite --- now stained in red blood. 'Cassio seems to be pleased with the stabbing of his staff.' The victim's face was barely recognizable and his body was flying.
"Did a garbage man see the body?"
"Yes. His name is Jerome Agapito. He has been trading at this dumpsite for several years. He accidentally found the gunman's body when his cellphone rang. When we traced it earlier, we found out that a lady had the wrong number so he had an accident. our victim's number was called. " Nova replied while reading the notes. Nico nodded, not taking his eyes off the corpse. "We were lucky. If not for that blessed call, we wouldn't have found the gunman's body."
"Neilson Tolentino."
"Hmm?" Nico turned to the girl. She felt something bothering her. Detective Briannova Carlos heaved a sigh, "We got his ID. We confirmed the gunman's name was 'Neilson Tolentino'. He was separated from his wife and had a child left in the hospital."
"Hospital?"
Nova's eyes were filled with remorse, "His daughter has leukemia. That's probably the reason why he took this job. Neilson only wanted to save his child ... but that demon really doesn't have a heart." Nico saw Nova clench her fists in anger. He couldn't blame her. Anyone can be affected by the outburst of emotions whenever such cases occur. A detective's job is never easy but they need to set aside any emotional dilemmas that might ruin the investigation. They need logical thinking if they want to solve this case. Emotions come second.
"We can also catch Cassio. He can't escape the claws of justice forever." And Nico returned to his inspection. If there is any evidence that can point them to the location or persona of Cassio Salvador, he needs to look through every single detail.
Moments later, Inspector Ortega said, "We confirmed that the cellphone used by the gunman belonged to Mrs. Bonnie Javier. It looks like HK had stolen it then and given it to Neilson. Besides, the text messages were deleted and we didn't trace the numbers HK used to contact Neilson. We suspect he was changing the number every time the gunman was called. "
Nico didn't bother. 'That's why Mrs.'s cellphone is missing. Javier then .. Damn, Sherlock. This killer made sure of everything! '
"And the gun Neilson used?"
"It was just stolen too. We confirmed that it was the same gun from that gunshop robbery case last week. If I'm not mistaken, DEATH is in charge of that case."
'Dan. This is the case Dan is handling, 'Nico thought. Well, at least now his colleague's case will be resolved. If Nico remembers correctly, even the store owner of the guns, was accidentally hit by a stray bullet. To this day, Mang Alfred is still confined at Eastwood General Hospital.
There are many connections to these events. Stories woven and bound together as one.
Nico isn't surprised. The best mysteries always have the worst twists.
"It looks like it's a dead end again. Neilson Tolentino didn't leave us any useful leads to solve this Heartless Killer case. Gosh! He didn't even give a clue to Cassio's identity now!" Nova complained weakly as she stared at the corpse. If he was affected by its decaying odor, he showed no indication of it.
Detective Nico Yukishito smirked. "On the contrary, I think Neilson left us an important clue."
Nova frowned at what was heard. Even Inspector Ortega caught the attention. Nico's face became serious as he grabbed something from inside the front pocket of Neilson's bloody white suite. This card is familiar.
Too familiar.
Nico's eyes widened as its logo was confirmed. The words unmistakable.
"It's a calling card from DEATH."
And it looks like it's still new.
Nova was surprised to hear, "i-does that mean ...?"
The greatest detective in Eastwood nodded. These calling cards were exclusive for high-ranking employees and they have not issued them since last month. If Nico's suspicion is correct that only Heartless Killer spoke to the gunman last week, there is a good chance that it came from HK himself. At the time he took it as a gunman. And the greater the likelihood that ...
"... our serial killer, Cassio Salvador, is hiding behind the mask of a high-ranking employee at DEATH."
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