Standstill (Erityian Tribes Novella, #3)

03 : Visit

"Aside from Ariel Andrada, the other suspect was Rick Torres, right?" sabi ni Hayate at bakas sa mukha ni Inspector Warren ang pagkagulat.

"H-how did you . . ." His voice trailed off but after a few seconds, he gave him a quick smile. "As expected from you, Atama."

"We found a common point among the victims," Hiroshi said and a hologram appeared before our eyes. "They were all employees from a private hospital."

"Wait, the doctor and the nurse, yes but the first victim wasn't," sabi naman ni Warren. "He was working as a security guard for a firm."

"Yes but on the 8th of November three years ago, he became a reliever for the primary guard in that hospital," dagdag ni Hiroshi at ipinakita niya ang record ni RJ Narita bilang security guard. True enough, he really had relieved someone that day.

We found the connection among the three victims three years ago, as well as to the suspects. According to the reports, Rick Torres also worked in the same hospital for a year and he was seen in the vicinity where the second victim's body was found while Ariel Andrada was caught in the CCTV in the place where the third victim was brutally murdered, one hour earlier.

Speaking of Ariel Andrada, Kana seemed to know that guy. From what I heard, he's an elusive S-class and international criminal because of that incident.

"So . . . is Rick Torres the murderer?" tanong ni Kana.

"Not necessarily but he holds the key to this serial murder case," sagot naman ni Hayate pero parang may mali sa expression niya.

We were silent for a few minutes but it was broken when my stomach suddenly grumbled. All of them looked at me and Kana burst into laughter, followed by Hayate's and Hiroshi's sighs. Napahawak naman ako sa tiyan ko at na-realize kong hindi pa kami kumakain simula kaninang umaga.

"I guess we have to fill our stomach first."

We grabbed some sandwiches from a café one block away from the crime scene and it was quite filled due to people who wanted to know what happened. I couldn't read a humdrum's mind, just like any other Erityian, but I could infer what one was thinking based on their expressions, habits and external factors. We were trained for that, after all.

Pagkatapos no'n ay umuwi muna kami sa apartment na tinutuluyan namin para mag-prepare. I equipped myself with a taser and a handcuff and Hayate did the same.

"C'mon, show yourself," Hiroshi muttered while looking at his laptop's screen.

"There," sabay turo ni Kana sa gilid ng screen.

He projected the information above the laptop and expanded it, occupying the whole room. The hologram was a city map, with various landmarks highlighted in different colors, but something was amiss. On the right side, the hologram of an area flickered uncontrollably and I realized it was three blocks away from the crime scene.

"Is that . . . ?"

"Yes," agad na sagot ni Hiroshi. "All the current hits and searches about Rick Torres were concentrated in that area and there's a high probability that he is around there."

"What are his motives?" tanong ko.

"Well, according to his their co-workers, he had a big argument with Dr. Samantha Dimas, the second victim, and that was one of the reasons why he was on probation for months. Being a suspect worsened his status but it wasn't reported whether he was working on another hospital or became unemployed," sagot naman ni Hayate pero gaya kanina ay may kakaiba sa mukha niya. He seemed perturbed about this case and he had already closed his mind, not allowing any of his thoughts to be heard.