It was already 05:00 AM when Dicky and I cleared the scene. The coroner had removed Alina's body and it was transported to the morgue in La Puente. I lit up a cigarette and took a puff just as Joe and his wife Carmen were pulling up in their driveway. Carmen jumped out of the car screaming frantically, as could be expected, I mean her daughter was just slaughtered like an animal, not scratching the possibility of rape as well.
"Joe I'm sorry that you have to go through this. If you need anything I'm here for you." Joe sat in silence in his emporium surrounded by yellow tape. his wife was screaming in agony in the next room. I poured Joe and his wife a scotch to ease the pain and tension, which was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. At that moment my phone rang. It was my better half. "Beth, is everything okay?" I asked. She replied: "I should be asking you honey. How is everything there? Is it okay?" I lit another cigarette: "Not in the least, I'll fill you in later. I got to go babe." She responded: Okay, please be safe. I love you sweetheart."
As I put the phone down, it rang again. It was the forensics lab: "Michael, it's Diego, from the lab. I have the results back from the murder weapon. There is a single set of fingerprints. I ran it through the database and you're not gonna believe what I found." I listened attentively to him over the phone. "The fingerprints belong to one Alfonso Mariachi..." I clinched the phone: "How is that possible. Alfonso has been..." Diego interrupted..."Uh-huh...He's been dead for 5 years." I was dazed for a moment. "We'll come and see you this afternoon. Do not breathe a word to anyone about this, okay?"
He replied: "You got it boss..."
I took Dicky aside: "We have to go. I need to talk to you about something." I greeted Joe and carmen in the most caring way possible. I walked to the car with dicky as the dawn began to break. The rain was still pouring down on our coats and the wind snuck through like a blade of ice on our skin. "Bloody hell, Michael, isn't that a thing. I've never felt more awkward in my life. How does anybody deal with losing a daughter in that way?"
I pulled him closer to the Chevy and lowered my voice: "Dicky, we're missing something somewhere." He looked at me with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes: "you mean a scotch? This rain is gonna freeze us to death if that's what you're saying." I gripped his upper arm: "No Dicky. Diego just called, you're not gonna believe this. There was a single set of fingerprints on the murder weapon we sent in. Guess who they belong to?" Dicky looked at me anxiously: "Well spit it out goddamnit we don't have all day!" I cleared my throat: "It belongs to Alfonso Mariachi..." Dicky's eyes widened in surprise: " NO FUCKING WAY! You mean we have a corpse that's going around being a religious serial killer? That's fucking impossible!!!" I looked at Dicky in silence as we both decided to get into the car: "We're not done here yet. We need to get to Diego and see what is actually happening."
We traversed the road to Hacienda Heights. The early morning crisp breath of air blew on our faces like a gale. We kept our windows down to keep us from falling asleep on the road: "You know Michael, I can't get that poor girl's face out of my head. It takes an animal to slaughter someone that brutally..."
We pulled up to BLC Forensics, with the sun starting to peek out from above the clouds, with a silver smile that shone down upon us like the grace of an unseen god. We got out of the car and entered the reception area, scanning our badges for entry. The machine greeted us with a "Welcome to BLC, for forensics please turn left on isle one, For medical please turn right on isle 2, for Mortuary and preservation please use the lift to the 2nd floor." The place was all too familiar to us at this point, and we headed down the corridor to the forensics lab.
"Wassup ese!? How you been, its been a minute man, how's life treating ya?" Diego was always the life of a party, even though he was always surrounded by death, decay and mystery. "Diego, it's been good, but let's cut down to business yeah." Diego nodded: "Alright so check it man, I ran the prints through the database right, and check what I found, Alfonso Mariachi, Born November 16 1976, deceased February 23 2018, cause of death, lethal injection issued by the court of Maryland, charges of sexual assault, assault and first degree murder. We got a ghost on our hands man, how we gonna do this?"
Dicky was observing us, speechless as to the feedback. "I don't know, but I guess we will find out. It's what we do..." Diego stood tapping his chin with the pen: "Guys, Alfonso's next of kin is listed as his wife. I know this not a favorable suggestion, but we should probably start by talking to her..." Dicky nodded in silence, most likely still trying to process everything: "This doesn't make sense Mikey. We're looking at a case that has nothing but cold leads, I'm gonna tell ya, I have no idea where to start on this one." I took down the address, and Dicky and myself went outside for a smoke, as we prepared to go and see the next of kin...