Find me, Detective

CHAPTER 4 - FRIENDS

"I'm accepting the offer." I said.

"Talaga? ano naman biglang pumasok sa utak mo at tinanggap mo agad? may 2 weeks ka pa para mag decide ah." kailan lang nung pinipilit ako ng babaeng 'to na tanggapin yung inaalok ni Major tapos ngayon nag tataka kung bakit ko tinanggap agad.

"Diba I went to Limuel's house? this transferred officer and I discovered something." pag uumpisa kong mag kwento. I'm referring to the talk that Dwayne and I shared earlier. She has the right to know about this, she's my partner after all.

"Transferred?"

"Yeah. He was transferred here in our area to help us with the case."

"So ipapasok siya sa team natin?" pang uusisa nito.

"Yeah. Anyway, sa tingin namin everything was in plan. Hindi sila magnanakaw na kagaya ng iba, did you notice they're just taking money and papers?" I asked her.

"I noticed that. Akala ko nga nung una coincidence lang lahat, but as time goes by, ang kinukuha lang nila ay ang mga pera at papeles."

"Exactly," I replied, nodding in agreement. "It seems too calculated. If they were just petty thieves, they would've taken everything in sight. But I think there's a purpose behind their actions."

Tila nag-isip siya ng saglit bago siya nagsalita. "So, what's the plan? Paano natin malalaman kung anong susunod nilang gagawin?"

"I don't know. Dwayne and I didn't discuss that much, pupunta palang ako mamaya sa opisina ni panot para sabihin ang pag tanggap ko sa offer niya." I said. "Dwayne seems smart, he might bring fresh insights that we haven't considered yet."

" Are you sure he can be trusted?" She looked at me with a hint of concern in her eyes.

"Trust is earned, and I get that, besides hindi naman siya isasali ni panot sa team natin kung hindi siya katiwa-tiwala" I replied. "As I observed he's a straightforward person. I'm not the one who recruited him, so we have no choice but to give him a chance. We need every resource we can get in this case."

Tumango siya, mukhang nag-iisip pa rin.

"For now, we need to keep our eyes open but focus on the case. We can't let paranoia get in the way of our work."

"Agreed" she said. "So, what do you think our first step should be now that we know there's a pattern?" tanong nito.

I leaned at the chair and thought of a good plan. "We need to gather all the reports from the previous incidents. Pag-aralan natin ang bawat detalye. Maybe there's a common thread that we missed."

I stood up at pumasok sa kwarto ko, yung panyo. Nang mahanap ko ito ay agad din akong lumabas para ipakita sakanya.

She's raising her eyebrow while looking at me. Kahit kailan ang attitude talaga ng babaeng 'to.

"Bakit 'yan?" tukoy nito sa panyo.

"I found this at jewelry store. That shop was a victim of robbery 1 month ago." pahayag ko.

Her eyes widened dahil sa sinabi ko. I'm sure nagulat ito dahil sa may nahanap akong ebidensiya.

"How's that happened? eh diba matagal ng inimbestigahan iyon? paanong nahanap mo 'yan?" she asked.

"I saw this na naka ipit sa upuan. I think hindi nila napansin ito dahil ka kulay ng panyo ang upuan, also naka ipit talaga ito noong nakita ko pero I noticed it dahil doon napukaw ang attention ko." Tila nagbabalik na naman ang mga alaala ng mga nakaraang insidente, at palaging may tanong sa isip ko. Ano ang susunod na hakbang nila? And what's our best move to outsmart them?