Discerning Retribution

viii

The Search for the Elusive Fiona Begins

EVERYBODY WAS HUDDLING OVER THE COMPUTER when Samuel came in an hour after lunch. There was a sort of buzzing aura in the room, like everybody just got a good shock and were suddenly very much alive and ecstatic to be working. He wondered then what could be happening and stood a few steps behind the center of activity.

"You must be Agent Sy?"

He looked to his side and nodded at the woman with the pixie-cut dark hair and big, deep-set dark eyes who was sitting on a chair beside him with her legs crossed. She seemed to have been reading the bunch of printouts that rested on her leg before the agent came in.

"What's going on?" He inquired, shoving his hands in his pockets like he always did.

The profiler noted quietly how the man didn't even ask her for her name. Either the man was a complete snob and he simply didn't care, or he was just socially inept and didn't know it was the right time to ask. It would be fun finding out, she thought.

"Penny finally identified our victim." The detective was the one who answered the question, glancing quickly behind her to confirm it was her partner who had asked. She then pointed blindly to the glass board parked beside them. "We're trying to find whatever info we can on her life from the net."

Samuel slowly walked towards the board, squinting his eyes. He had not noticed it standing there when he came in. He read the neatly written print in silence.

VICTIM : FIONA SANCHEZ, 28 Y.O.

LAST KNOWN ADDRESS : UNIT 6D, ST. MATTHEW CONDOMINIUMS TOWER 2, ORTIGAS CENTER, MANDALUYONG CITY, METRO MANILA

OCCUPATION : ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, ATOM LEARNING CENTER, QUEZON CITY

The names of her immediate family followed - her father, her mother, and her brother. There was cross written beside the father's name, which meant that the woman was already deceased.

Their victim was reported missing by the brother, as per the notes, and it told Samuel that the computer whiz had used the missing persons' database to identify their Jane Doe. Finally, the word "relationships" was written in a larger print, underlined and followed by three question marks. It meant the team was thinking of the possibility the case was murder for revenge, or somewhere along those lines.

"You find anything relevant?" Heads turned towards the agent, but nobody dared answer the question. Anybody who would've heard him would claim he had sounded a bit mocking. If he was asked at that moment though, he would've denied doing it consciously.

A small smile crept unto the profiler's face, and she hid it by looking down on the papers in her hands. Obviously, she thought, everybody in the department hated the way the outsider acted like he directed the team and demanded information without much niceties. She on the other hand, found the whole ordeal a bit a amusing. It was at times like these that it's clear that humans acted the same way animals do when other species step into their territory - their possessive and protective instincts kick in and they unreasonably despise the one who didn't belong in their clique. And Penelope said she was the judgmental one. She could just laugh.

A few seconds passed before Reagan addressed the agent, but it was not to answer his spoken inquiry. "Why are you late, agent? The waiter and the Japanese guy are coming in in-" She quickly glanced at her wrist watch. "-ten minutes." She knew it was petty trying to get back at him for the chiding, it didn't stop her though.

"Had to report to the bureau this morning." Was the agent's plain reply. Pretty much everybody half expected him to not answer.

Samuel walked closer towards the computer where the team huddled. "Is that the victim? She doesn't seem like a woman who would enjoy late night activities."

He stared at the photo of the heart-shaped woman with the downturned eyes sitting on a bench. She was quite pretty by normal standards, but there was something in her eyes and smile that seemed mysterious yet alluring. She didn't appear to him as the wild type who went dancing in nightclubs though. She was more like the nice and friendly neighbor type, he thought.

"This wouldn't be the first time somebody turns out to be living a double life. You're a man, so it makes sense that the first thing you see is how pretty she is." Reagan stood straight, hands on her hips.

"Hey!" Wesley spoke for the first time. "We do not."

"Don't worry too much about it, it's quite normal. What matters is that you remember to look beyond the physical qualities afterwards." Maggie beamed at the two men. She was a bit surprised to find that only one of them seemed offended.

"What made you think she was living another one aside from what you've written there?" He nodded towards the board.

"She doesn't seem close to her family for one. No pictures, no posts, no tags. The messages between her and her brother were all short and mostly just him checking on her from time to time. Even her friends seems wary of her."

Samuel shot the profiler a questioning look, though it would've been unnoticed if the latter hadn't been watching him intently.

"Pictures don't lie." She showed him some of the printed photos she was holding with the papers, and pointed to their victim on each one. "See how she's always at the back and you get the feeling that she's not really part of the group? That says something. There's even a few stolen shots where one friend or some other is glaring at her."

Samuel simply nodded his understanding.

"I'm Maggie, by the way. Profiler." She finally offered when the man still didn't inquire, which earned her another nod.

She shook her head, chuckling. His response confirmed that he wasn't, by any means, sociable. But that might just be because he actually understood his place in the department as an outsider, and simply didn't see the point of wasting energy on pleasantries.

Samuel turned to the board again and his eyes immediately land on the last line. "You're thinking because she's living a double life that there must be some scorned men out there that might want her dead."

The way the agent said it was more a statement rather than a question. Maggie answered him anyway. "Or women. Let's not get judgmental."

"She's right." Reagan seconded, fishing her phone out of her pocket when she heard the message tone go off. She muttered a light curse when she saw that the message she got was from the waiter, telling her he had arrived. It had somehow completely slipped her mind in the course of the few minutes that took her to immerse herself again in their search.

"You can go, Ree." Penelope turned from the monitors to the detective, sensing what it is that the other had forgotten. "We'll try to finish as much as we can while you're interviewing your potential witnesses."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks, Penny." She smiled at her before turning towards the door. "You coming, agent?" She asked before walking past him.

Samuel took another look at the monitors before following suit. He couldn't argue with the team's logic, and was actually surprised they had already done quite a lot while he was out.

He shrugged. He might just have to admit the people in the homicide department are anything but incompetent.