Investigation (XVI)

2:01 A.M. 

At the other side of the national road towards the exit of the Capital of Manila. 

July 21st, the year 2018. Saturday. 

Katrina Fajardo's 23rd birthday. 

7 hours and 33 minutes since Katrina Fajardo went missing. 

"I was having a look around. We could use some help towards the investigation who was being led up by Marcus," Mina disclosed. Matthew agreed with him. 

He inhaled an enormous amount of air first before saying, "We should. We had been outside for 7 hours already. We need to help Marcus find any clues than just waiting for something to happen." 

Matthew and Mina took turns to nod at each other as they paced back and forth at the front of the convenience store. They breathed out. The two officers were observing them nearby. It was the middle of the night, and Mina heard a few owls and crows hooting over the treetops. There were a few birds who flew over the moonlit sky and Mina watched as it made their way towards the horizon.

The moon hiding behind the clouds. It refused to give off a shed of light towards the street. Matthew halted in front of the store a few steps away from Mina. 

Mina draped his hands over his arms and in his chest as he felt the shiver down his spine. The wind whistled from the east as silence ensued for both of them. Someone from the patrol cars opened the light of the sirens without the loud sound coming from it. 

The azure and scarlet lights danced around the street as Mina looked down at his feet. Mina crouched down, retrieving his cell phone from his jeans pockets. He pressed the flashlight function. He raised his eyebrows slightly as he saw dried blood on the ground. 

Mina pursed his lips as he observed how the spot had gone big. He thought that the blood that was oozing out of Margo at the time they murdered her was not a joke. It had wielded deep the dagger on her abdomen right and it looked like someone was in a rage to her. Matthew noticed Mina adhering to something on the ground and he did the same thing too. 

"What is that, Mina?" Matthew asked as Mina glanced at him for a second.

"It was the blood that had dried up for weeks here from Margo's wound the day she also died. It must have been cruel for Carmela to see her on the ground... breathing so heavily. She's waiting for someone to arrive to help her," Mina uttered, pointing the light towards the spot. 

Matthew sighed and said, "Carmela's kindness towards Margo is explainable. She always treats us as her precious thing, it's as if we're fragile, and can't stand on our own. She held us so tight that she was so afraid that we would fall hard without her guidance." 

Mina smiled. "It is. That's why I can't help feeling angry towards her when she shouted to Katrina about killing Margo. Katrina had not been so careful with her words, but she can't do that devious thing." 

Mina prayed silently over the confines of the street as the wind gusted louder than usual. He was communicating with the Almighty Father in Heaven to guide Margo's soul. He wished Margo's soul to rest in peace and that her justice was heading on its way.

"Katrina is like that, reckless with her words. But she can't kill anyone." Matthew gritted his teeth, standing upright from his place. The atmosphere changed soon. Mina stood up from his place, pocketing his cell phone right away. 

"So as Xian, Matthew. Xian wasn't a part of the abduction case. He is a target. Remember... he had gone to an accident to chase someone who painted those letters on the sides of his car," Mina explained. Je knew that Matthew's head was boiling with rage. 

Something that Mina said might have triggered his thoughts, and it did not bother him. He knew Matthew very well, words always persuaded him. Matthew nodded at what Mina said and he regretted he punched Xian on the face right when they set foot in his house. 

"I understand, Mina. I regretted everything I had said to Xian earlier when we were on our way here. It's been hours since she went missing. There was that hoodie and spots of blood in the tree. I wanted to find her as soon as possible." Matthew stated what he was feeling right now. Mina sensed Matthew was losing hope in every second that passed by.

"We don't know if it killed her right now. We don't know everything that could have to happen to her right at this moment. It's been hours. I can't help but say these things to Marcus. He's doing everything he could to investigate and be fast," Matthew discussed. Mina furrowed his eyebrows, listening to him. Matthew grimaced, closing his eyes tightly. 

"I get you were not angry with Carmela that day, but don't you feel sorry for Katrina, Mina?" Matthew asked as he looked up and their eyes connected. Mina clenched his jaw right away and can't seem to develop what was hanging right at the tip of his tongue. 

"You're his assistant, and you're his best friend, right? To be honest, Mina, I am losing every ounce of hope I had in my heart in the seconds that had passed. If those situations had not happened, Katrina... and Margo would be here," Matthew indicated as the tears in his eyes were on the verge of falling out from his eyelids. 

Mina listened to him. He knew it was the way Matthew can vent out his sadness towards the happenings. 

"If I didn't say that my number one suspicion about the killings was her... it must not have been so hard for her to call me right away. I was the one she expected to side with her. The thing that she said in the hospital kept me bugging for hours after she went missing. She was, unfortunately, losing hope because everyone was suspecting her. Even you, Mina, and also me," Matthew said as the tears fell down in his cheeks without her realizing. 

Mina looked away from him as the tears formed in his eyes once more. He clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth as Matthew sniffed.

"Am I not right, Mina? Tell me if I was wrong. Or else our years of friendship will be down the drain," Matthew breathed, the tears subsided from his eyes. Mina's right eye let a tear escape from it as he looked at Matthew again. He stared at his eyes first before nodding. 

Matthew's heavy tears streamed down as he continued saying, "We had been best friends for years. We faced difficulties, fighting nonsensical things. But we quickly resolved it for a day. And all of you, I know what you were all thinking when we were at the hospital. I don't know what was happening, but while Carmela was crying, I was observing those pairs of eyes. That look you have on her, Mina, and the way Abbey stared at Katrina." 

Mina controlled the tears from his eyes. Zoey noticed the two talking far away from her and Abbey. She shrugged a bit towards her and she observed Marcus over the insides of the woods. 

"Even Zoey, who was soothing her in every way, I know it was opposite of what she was thinking. Marcus and Carmela, their minds were the hardest thoughts I have ever crossed. Their eyes also said the same thing. How they look at Katrina with contempt," Matthew stated as he looked down at his feet. It was exactly what look he had thrown into Katrina that day. 

It was the anger that had been boiling at his heart, and Matthew was right. Mina held his knees as the tears escaped from his eyes immediately. He can't help but sob as he closed his eyes tightly while looking at that dried spot of blood at his feet. 

"Katrina... I'm so sorry," he whispered in the air and wished that Katrina would hear him.