CHAPTER TWO

AVERY'S POV

After that long night, I told everyone at work that I'll be off to my home and have my rest. I've been living alone for years, this loneliness that I've been coping up for almost half of my life. Decades ago, my father died from a shooting incident because a group of responding policemen mistakenly identified him as the criminal that they tried to pursue. The worst part is, the evidence were tarnished and manipulated and announced it to the public that my father was an accomplice of the said pursued criminal. They also said thag they found a gun and that's the reason why the shots were fired even though he was just clearly buying medicine for my mom. After that, my mom suffered from depression and took her own life. I was growing all alone and because of that, I learned how to live a hard life. I learn how to be independent and how to take care of myself at a very young age. As I grow older, I promised to myself to never trust to the police and swear to never get involved with any one of them.

"Avery? Avery??"

I was awaken by a series of knocks in my front door. What the hell? Isn't that obvious that I'm asleep during the day and awake during the night? These people! I then checked my phone and it was already nine in the morning. I stood up and headed at the door to open it and to see who was it.

TYLER'S POV

I'm already at the office and I was at the middle of reviewing all the statements that I have gathered from the witnesses. My colleagues noticed that I was currently reviewing Ms. Laranjo's case and that strike their curiosity and why haven't I dropped and closed the case yet. I just looked at them and didn't gave an answer and just told them that I'll be leaving. I planned on going to the lab to see the specialist that performed the autopsy — a friend of mine, Bryan.

"You're just in time, Tyler. Here is the autopsy report of Ms. Laranjo."

"Thanks Bry."

I opened the envelop that contains the autopsy report and read it but the result took me by surprise.

"We were expecting the cause of her death as asphyxia due to strangulation that compressed her carotid veins and airway but instead we found out that she had arsenic intake."

"Arsenic? That means, she could be poisoned first and then was hanged to make it look like she committed suicide."

"That's what I thought."

"I knew that something was off. Thanks a lot, Bryan."

"No problem, Tyler."

I immediately left the building and returned to the office. I then began searching for information about Ms. Laranjo's lover, Joffer Ramirez. This time, he is now the first possible suspect of this case.

"What's the update about Ms. Laranjo's case?"

"Oh, chief! Good morning! Apparently, Doc. Valdez found some arsenic consumption on Ms. Laranjo's autopsy report."

"I see. So this could be considered a staged suicide case."

"Yes, sir."

"Well, this kind of case already happened before so I am not surprise by it anymore. Keep it up! You really are a hard-working detective. By the way, while we are at that compliment, I can't see anyone fit for handling an intern this year."

"An intern?"

"I want you to take him as a partner for this case. Come in!"

"Good morning, Sir! I'm Patrick Santos, Sir!"

"Is it really the right time to have an intern?"

"I know that, you'll definitely pull this off. After all, you are our star detective here. Patrick can learn maybe a thing or two from you. I'll leave Ms. Laranjo's case in your hands and let's see how far you can go."

"I will do my best, chief."

"Like you always do."

Our chief tapped my shoulder before he stepped outside of the office. Patrick was just smiling at staring at me like a puppy waiting to be pet.

"Patrick, right?"

"Sir, yes Sir!"

"For your first day, you'll be coming with me."

"Yes, sir."

"Let's gather some more information about this case."

"Yes Sir!"

We drove towards Mr. Joffer Ramirez' residence and after a few hours, we've finally arrived at his house. We parked our car maybe 15 meters away from his house and walked towards his door and knock as a sign that he has visitors. After a couple of knocks, no one answered so Patrick and I decided to wait for him inside our car instead.

AVERY'S POV

After opening the front door, I saw Sasha standing and looking like she is worried about something. I sighed and immediately took her in.

"You're early and looked like you're worried about something. Is there a problem?"

"It's about Peach. She isn't home yet. I am starting to get worried about her."

"Maybe she's just wandering elsewhere."

"But, she haven't come back home yet since last night."

"Well, who was the last person she's with?"

"Well ..."

(Last Night)

"Sasha, the guy that I told you that booked me tonight is waiting for me outside. I can smell the scent of bonus right now."

"I don't know, Peach but I have a feeling that, that guy isn't trustworthy. I can sense that something is off about him."

"Sasha, you're just worrying too much. Don't worry, I'm always ready if things won't go according to plan."

"Call me if you're on your way home, so that I can open the door for you."

"Sure. I won't be gone for too long."

"Okay, I'll be heading home then. Don't forget to call me okay?"

"Yes. I will. Bye Sasha!"

"Bye."

(End of Flashback)

"Maybe there is a progress happened between them. You know, they fall in love and Peach had an overnight stay at the man's house. Right?"

"You think so? But I feel so wrong about it. She should at least gave me a call."

"Maybe she's just having fun."

To be honest, Sasha's worried face got me worried too. What if something really happened to Peach? No! Let's stay optimistic and maybe she really is just having a good time with that man last night.

"Anyway, done having breakfast?"

"Not yet. I'm so worried with Peach."

"Don't worry, maybe while you're here, she's already at your dorm."

"Well, I hope so."

"For the mean time, why don't you join me for breakfast."

"Okay. Sounds nice."

I then hurried to the kitchen and prepare our breakfast. After I'm done with the preparations, I called Peach and grab breakfast together. We talked about some girly stuffs and all but I was starting to feel unease and bothered about Peach.

TYLER'S POV

We waited for almost 4 hours before we saw Mr. Joffer arriving his home. I tapped Patrick's should and awaken him from his quick nap.

"Interns should always be alert, you know that."

"I'm sorry sir. I wasn't able to get enough sleep last night due to the excitement for my first day in internship."

"I understand that. Look, Mr. Joffer is here."

We immediately get off from the car so that we could visit Joffee and begin conducting an interrogation. After a few attempts of knocking from his door, he finally opened it, obviously surprised seeing us.

"Who are they?"

I took my wallet and showed my license and badge to let him know who I am.

"I'm Detective Gonzaga of SPD District II. I would like to ask you a few questions about Ms. Laranjo's case."

"Sure. Come in."

Patrick and I went inside, and then Joffer offered us to take a seat. Patrick took his note and pen to jot down important details from the conversation between Mr. Joffer and I.

"What do you want to know?"

"We gathered some informations before and we found out that you two are dating."

"Yes. We've been together for 2 years already. I was really shock when I found out that Jeni committed suicide. I mean, we were so happy and I can't see any reason why she did that."

"Unfortunately, Ms. Laranjo didn't commit suicide but she was murdered."

"What!?! We know that she was found hanging. How come that she was murdered?"

"You know Mr. Joffer, we should never immediately believe things just because they look realistic and believable. That's why, we should always look deeper into certain things before giving judgements to it."

"I guess, you're right. So, do you have any suspect in mind?"

"Right now, we are still gathering informations. Anyway, did you notice something different or strange about Ms. Laranjo that day?"

"I haven't notice something strange about her."

"Did you two have a big fight or had a conflict the day before the incident happen?"

"No, sir. Everything was fine but..."

"But?"

"She told me that she wants to quit from her job because she wanted to start a business that's why she started collecting the debts from her debtors. She want it to be done as soon as possible so that she could start her business immediately. I was with her as she was collecting."

"And, how did it go?"

"Some paid full but some also didn't paid her back yet."

"Do you have a list of her debtors?"

"Oh. Here."

He took out his wallet and gave us a paper with a lost of names of Ms. Laranjo's debtors. I was thinking why is he keeping a list of debtors for himself.

"She gave me a list of the names of her debtors because she wants me to help collecting the money from her debtors too."

I took a quick look at the list and I was surprised with the amount that was borrowed by the debtors from Ms. Laranjo. How can she gave huge amounts of money like this? Could this be a motive and the reason why she's killed?

"I guess that's it for today, we'll be visiting you again if we want to know more about Ms. Laranjo. Thank you for your time."

"No problem at all. I also want to know the truth behind her death. I will not forgive the person who did this to her."

"We understand you. Have a nice evening, Sir."

We returned to our car. While we are inside the car, I was thinking about the suspicious actions and reactions of Mr. Joffer earlier. While I was in deep analyzing, Patrick tapped me on the shoulder and then I immediately looked at him.

"Are you okay, sir?"

"Hmm. What do you think about this case, Patrick?"

"Sir?"

"Do you sense anything that may strengthen the possibility that Mr. Joffer is related to Ms. Laranjo's case?"

"Hmm. I sense nothing, sir. He answered all your questions earlier with ease and confidence."

"I don't know about him. Have you taken down any informations from our conversation earlier?"

"Not just a note but also, I even took a photo of the list of debtors earlier."

"You did?"

"I just took the initiative to take a picture because I thought that this is a murder case just like what you said, sir and maybe one of the debtors of Ms. Laranjo is the possible suspect."

"Well done, future detective! Now that we had this list, what we are going to do next is to search and question these people."

"Yes, sir!"

Patrick finished his first day as my intern and so far, with an impressive performance so I decided to take him to a bar. The same bar where I was taken by Steven the other night. Well, of course, Steven tagged along. He also wanted to congratulate Patrick for surviving a day with me and to formally welcome him as a part of my team.