"I heard that you are quite close with Miss Pricilla, do you know if somebody hated her? Is somebody stalking her lately?" Lorian and Joey sat down at the table eating a sweet potato that Joey served him. He interrogated him with his mouth stuffed.
"No-nothing, everyone here is a good person. I haven't seen one quarreling here since I was young." Joey answered.
"I see, I heard you like to watch television in your neighbors' houses. Were you inside her house when the crime happened?" Lorian followed.
"No, I'm not inside her house at that time. I'm in grandma Hope's house-."
As Joey was explaining himself, something clicked inside his head. "That's right, I almost forgot. When I was about to go home, somebody appeared that night. He wore a coat and glasses, and he was heading to grandma's house." he recounted.
"Please officer, I think he is the one who killed ma'am Pricilla. That day, grandma Hope vanished too." Joey desperately begged.
"Someone vanished? There was no incident like that written in our report. Are you the only one who knows this?" Lorian became alarmed that a person vanished without them knowing, and a possibility of them being a victim.
"She lived alone, her house is the farthest that's why nobody will notice her gone. I was going to ask her forgiveness when I acted like a brat that night. But when I returned she was not there anymore. I tried searching for her in the banana trees she had in her backyard but couldn't find her there." Joey's eyes slowly turned moist.
"Please sir, help me find grandma," he begged.
Lorian look troubled, his job here was to investigate. However, now that Joey asked for his help, he couldn't say no. Swallowing the sweet potato in his mouth, Lorian resolved himself and agreed to help Joey.
"Don't worry Joey, if you didn't find her body then she might still be alive. Let's go and search for her." Lorian said as he stood up.
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Sao sat down at the table, with cards in his hands. His face was sweaty and serious, he was on a losing streak for 3 games. This time he went all in, confident that with his current cards, he could recover his lost money.
"Tongits!"
Sao sat still unmoving on his chair. His confident demeanor turned sour, at the sight of his opponent's cards. He thought he was winning but the other side had better cards than him.
'I hope the husband will be generous and let me have dinner here,' he thought.
The rosary has ended, and the people who went to join the prayer left the room, drank their coffee, and ate their snacks. Anton Dela Cerna, the husband of the late Pricilla Dela Cerna, came out. His eyes were tired and red, from crying all night, and even now he was forcing himself not to tear up in front of many people.
When Anton came out, the poor Sao stood up. He came to Pricilla's vigil to interview her husband, but they already started the rosary, so he waited for it to finish. As he was looking around the place he saw people playing cards which made him curious. Sao joined the game with a thought in mind to 'pass the time', but he ended up gambling all his money instead.
"Sir Anton, my deepest condolences for your loss. Can I ask for your time? I just have a few questions." Sao called with bread and coffee in his hand.
"And who might you be?" Anton asked, suspiciously.
Like it was muscle memory, Sao placed his coffee on the table and flashed his 'police badge' to Anton. "Police intel Carl, I'm here to investigate your late wife's murder."
"You guys are slow. I need to know who my wife's murderer is ASAP. I want to personally send them to their maker." Anton gritted his teeth.
"Calm down sir, we will do our best, don't worry about it. Can we have a private talk alone? I have some important questions." Sao requested while keeping a serious face.
Anton agreed to Sao's request. The sun is starting to go down, apparent in the sky's orange hue. They went further away till no signs of people around, before stopping their steps.
"This is fine." Satisfied, Sao started the investigation. "Sir Anton, do you have any bad blood or maybe someone you offended?"
Anton tried to recall his memories, he looked at Sao and shook his head. "I don't remember any. My alcohol abstinence was also at the 2nd year now, so I never get into drunken fights in the bars anymore."
"Uhuh, so you get into fights before your alcohol abstinence? Don't you think they might get back at you even though it happened long ago?" Sao probed.
"Not really, they don't even know where this place is." Anton confidently replied.
Sao, not getting enough information, started scratching his head. He gathered every data he had in his mind and started pondering. As he was recalling stuff, Lorian came into his thoughts, and he remembered that he didn't return after following that Joey.
"How about this Joey kid? Do you know him?" Sao asked.
When Anton heard the name 'Joey', he trembled but quickly calmed down his composure. He smiled sheepishly, " Ye-yes, my wife and that kid are pretty close. Such a poor child living alone like that. Is something wrong with him?"
"That's what ma'am Honoria said too. I'm just curious If he and your wife might have gotten into an argument lately." Sao speculated. "But it's just a thought of mine, you don't have to think about it too much."
Anton turned his back to Sao, his eyes became venomous yet his voice was calm and collected. "How about we ask him? I know where that lad lived."
"Good idea, my partner is also at Joey's place right now, and he still hasn't returned from his investigation. I'm getting worried." Sao said, sounding concerned yet his eyes were emotionless.
The two walked side by side, heading towards Joey's house. Unbeknownst to them, the same woman stalking Joey's place was here. Leaning behind a tree and taking casual glances in Sao and Anton's direction. She bit her lips, her brows knitted, and her thoughts unknown.
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Meanwhile, Lorian and Joey were heading to Hope's house. Joey walked in haste, shaking both in nervousness and happiness. They arrived outside Hope's house. The sky was still bright orange but beneath the trees was getting dark as the shadow was becoming thicker.
Lorian pulled a flashlight out of his bag and let Joey hold onto it. "You lead, I'll look around with my cellphone's flashlight," he commanded.
Joey led the way in the thick groups of banana trees. He flashed around trying to find any signs of grandma Hope. "Grandma Hope! Grandma Hope! Where are you?" Joey shouted.