The Step to Unlock the Mystery

Jorge Velez just finished talking to Lyca Menendez on his cellphone when he heard a knock on the door. It was Amanda Martinez, Colonel Riva's secretary. 

Amanda was an attractive 28 year old with a fair complexion and lithe body. Her looks were striking as her blood was of mixed Spanish from her father's side and half local from her mother's side. She is an old soul as she often wore her 50s inspired signature dress that suited her small frame. If not for the modernity of the surrounding, people can mistake her for someone who just descended from that era.

"Hi, I am sorry the Colonel cannot come. He has an appointment with his doctor. He asked me to personally give this to you." It was a DVD. 

"Where do you want me to put this?"

"The table is fine."

Amanda gently placed it on Jorge's table. 

"I was hoping Colonel Riva, and I could talk about the content of that DVD. I'm pretty sure it's important."

"He did not tell me much about this, but he said it could help solve the case."

Amanda looked at the storyboard behind her back. It looked like a complicated case to her as she examined the string of connections to every picture that was linked to each other.

"This is the puzzle the Colonel meant?"

"Yes…if we can hack it in time before somebody gets hurt again."

"The colonel often said, as things get complicated in situations like these, the reason why it happened maybe the simplest of reasoning, and it often gets buried in the complexity of the case."

Jorge looked at Amanda.

Then Amanda continued,

"The colonel is great at solving crime. I believe when he comes back, he can crack this in no time."

"Yes. Tell me a crime he solved recently?"

"He solved the mystery of the Solenn murder."

"What about it?

"It's the story of Marta Solenn, whose daughter filed a report three days after she said her mother left their home. The police had difficulty solving the crime because they could not find any credible reason where the mother went or whether she is dead….so they shelved the case for a number of years. One day the colonel visited the house where the murder happened, and at that time, the house was already abandoned. 

He looked around for anything and everything inside the house, and lo and behold, he noticed the kitchen had different tiles on it. And he noticed the kitchen floor was a bit hollow, too as water was accumulating on the hollow portion. So he called for backup and unearthed whatever is underneath the kitchen floor. And they found Martha Solenn's body…. murdered by her own daughter."

"Why would a daughter kill his mother?"

"To inherit her wealth. She wanted her mother's savings so she and her boyfriend can go to Thailand and escape."

"That's tragic."

'Indeed."

"You are one heck of a storyteller Amanda."

"Thank you."

"By any chance can we continue this kind of conversation if it's fine with you?"

Amanda seems to like what she heard.

"I am available Saturday afternoon."

"Yes, that will be fine. I need someone to talk with."

"Oh, by the way, the colonel said he would call you when his appointment is over." Amanda gave her a wink.

"That's great."

Jorge Velez's hand trembled when he held the DVD in his hand. He is getting toxic from his thyroid condition. Amanda felt a little confused.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, it's my medical condition. Hard to explain". 

The case had taken a toll on him and his thyroid was not behaving exactly on the cooperative side. He sweated a lot on both palm and his eyes felt like it was ready to come out of its socket. He took a pill from his bag and drank them with a glass of water.

"Oh, I hope you are feeling okay, Jorge?"

"I am," his hand dripping wet from extreme toxicity.

Amanda took some fresh towels from her bag.

"Just spread your palm out. I will dry them for you."

She gently held Jorge's hand and patted them dry.

Jorge felt Amanda's soft hand and she held his for a while.

He felt a soothing calmness from the mild scent of Amanda's cologne. It seems fitting to just close his eyes and cherish those moments close to his heart. Jorge felt transported in a bed full of pillows which he grabbed and held on as tight as he could. He felt a hand caress his tired back and as soothing as it felt, a heavy jolt woke him up from his slumber- his arms wrapped around Amanda's waist. Jorge instantly realized what he just did and he felt an extreme feeling of shame.

"I'm sorry, I got carried away."

 "I understand, Jorge. You are under extreme pressure. I am a nurse by background and I understand what is going on. You don't have to apologize."

Jorge let out a deep sigh.

"By the way I have store errands. I got to go," Amanda said. 

"Thank you, Amanda.." 

"I will be there when you call me."

Amanda gave a warm smile and slowly made her way towards the door.

A few hours later Jorge viewed the DVD the colonel sent and it immediately piqued his curiosity. It was the first time he saw Henry De La Vega in real life as he emerged from the elevator. He was alone. Several hours later, a woman with a veil and sunglasses ran towards the elevator in a hurry.

Jorge Velez called up the administrative department for help.

Some time later a fat utility guy showed up on the doorstep.

"Sir, did you call for an IT guy?"

"Yes, I need help."

"Uhm, they sent me here."

"Come in, make yourself comfortable. I am going to show you something."

Jorge Velez showed the video on his screen. 

"Oh, this, can we zoom this up to a higher resolution? I want to see the woman's face. "

The fat guy adjusted the image on the screen. It was pixelated.

"This needs special software and a bit of time. We have to digitize this first."

"How long?"

"It depends on how long the video is."

"Print out a colored copy when done."

"Sure."

His cellphone rang and it was Lyca.

"Jorge, a mysterious guy paid the waitress in exchange for the hard disc. I have to send her to the station for further questioning."

"Did she say who?"

"She can't tell but it was more complex than that. I have to make a full report on this as soon as I get there. Have you heard from Miles yet?" 

Jorge wrote the word "mysterious guy" and posted them on his board.

"No, he should be calling back but he has not. I have to call him after this."

"Jorge, whoever this guy is, he knows how to play. I am sure he knows a lot about Henry De la Vega. He might be one of the keys to unlock some of the mystery we do not understand about the case."