8 Chapter 8: Demise at the Beach • B

ELVERY WARREN

Her POV

"Call the ambulance!" Troy orders.

Tears streaming down her cheeks, the woman dials the emergency contacts. Troy drags the body of a man in his early thirties away from the sea. He performs CPR several times but to no avail.

"Mouth-to-mouth him," I suggest out of impulse.

He immediately draws his face close to the victim's but just before he does the process, he stops and frowns.

"What?" I blurt, "If that's gross for you, let me do it!" I don't mind doing mouth-to-mouth to this stranger just to save him from drowning.

"He's not drowned," he says, just before I could take a step towards the body. "His mouth has an almond-like scent. He's poisoned so call the police!"

Troy instructs us to not touch the body or go to the crime scene. "You might unintentionally destroy evidence," he warns us, sounding like an expert.

His tone shifts into a weak state, "I'm tired. I need to rest." He covers his mouth and lets out a yawn.

"What? You're leaving us here?" I ask him but he just walks away, leaving the two of us standing a few meters from the body. I sigh with annoyance.

I glance at the woman, about 25 years old. She is staring at the corpse, tears falling down her cheeks. I'm also tired and want to sleep as much as Troy does but I won't leave this woman alone... not now that she is badly hurt inside. I lightly caress her back and pulls her to a seat.

When Mr. Smith died, I saw how the Smith family mourned. They may be smiling from the outside but are crying hard when they are alone. There are few mornings that I passed by the Smith's house and noticed Aunt Lex's dark circles and puffy eyebags. I am also aware of Khael's eagerness to achieve justice for his uncle's death. This woman beside me must be feeling the same things.

To my surprise, Troy comes back after a few minutes, now wearing a different outfit.

"I thought yo-" I thought you need to go? I want to ask but I cut my own words when I realized that he looks very different right now.

I don't think the woman recognized him. He really looks different that if you don't know him, you probably wouldn't think that he's Troy. Besides the change in outfit, there is one more thing that contributes to this big difference. I squint my eyes and gasp. The birthmark reappeared on his face.

"Tro-" I am about to say his newly-known name and demand an explanation but he immediately cuts me off.

"I'm Khael, the famous Detective K," he says with his bragging tone. "I'm not bragging, just stating facts." He smiles teasingly. "And I can't read minds."

Now, that's the Khael I met in the construction site!

"Detective K!" an old man with a mustache approaches us. Unlike the police officers who are with him, he is not wearing a uniform but a plain-colored suit and tie.

"Excuse us, Elvery," Khael says, "I need to talk to Detective Ching in private." I nod and they walk away.

So that old man is a detective? Woah, this is the very first time that I get to see a real detective! If there's no murder right now, I would've jump up and down and ask for an autograph.

The police starts to drape the yellow police line tapes on the crime scene. One of them approaches the woman for her statement.

"I'm S-Stacy Valdez," the woman answers in a weak tone, still controlling her sobs.

I think I heard that name already.

"Today is our anniversary. We were having a great time—night walk at the shore. Then I left to get that gift for him in our room," she says, pointing to a box still wrapped with decorative paper. "I didn't let him come with me because it should be a surprise, b-but," her voice cracks, "b-but when I... when I came back, I saw him unconscious."

Her voice is shaky... and familiar. I'm sure I heard it somewhere. But where? Yeah, I have a good sense of hearing but a not-so-good memory.

"What's your room number?" Khael butts in. He is probably done talking with Detective Ching.

"302," she answers, holding up the key labled with Rm-302.

That room is on the third floor and the hotel is a bit far from this area. It would take minutes for her to get there and go back here, giving enough time for the killer to do the plan.

The police and Khael, who they refer to as Detective K, begin to search inside the crime scene. They examine the body and declare no injuries.

"This is a case of cyanide poisoning," Detective Ching says.

At the end, the police concludes that robbery is the motive for the crime. Yeah, the resort is expensive and people here are of good wealth.

"The robber used poison because it's an easier way for him to incapacitate the victim before stealing," Detective Ching explains, "Considering the victim's built, he can defend himself if someone attacked him and push him in the water so the robber chose to poison him."

I am not convinced of the detective's deduction but the missing phone and wallet strengthen his deductions.

Khael walks near me. "There's something off," he whispers. Oh, so he is not convinced, too? "If the robber only wants to rob, he could just incapacitate the victim using chloroform or whatsoever. On this case, I think the culprit really wants the victim dead."

"So this is a murder disguised as robbery?" I whisper back. He nods.

I scatter my eyes on the crime scene. There's a little stick that's pointed on the ground, few inches beside the victim's slippers. Hmm...

The police start removing the crime scene tape, indicating that anyone may already enter. I quickly run to where the stick is. The cops, even Khael and Detective Ching, look at me in confusion as I dig the ground.

And there it is! I found a pouch containing a phone and a wallet.

"T-that's Drake's!" Stacy announces.

"Just as I thought," I say, while brushing off the sand on the pouch, "This is not a robbery case, Detective. This is indeed murder."

Everyone widens their eyes and stares at me with amusement.

Detective Ching. He frowns and falls in deep thoughts. "Then what is the motive?" he asks after a while.

Hmm... Drake? Stacy? Those names ring a bell. I'm sure I heard them already.

"I think she knows something," I announce, looking at Stacy. "I heard you talking near the restroom of the mini-supermarket. I know you have a secret. Spill the beans," I say, firmly.

Stacy flashes a surprised look for a second, then she bows her head. She sighs. "Drake is already gone s-so I think it's nonsense to keep this," she says.

All of us draws our attention to her revelation. "Drake has w-witnessed a murder almost a month ago," she starts.

"He's an eyewitness? Why didn't he show up and gave his statement to the police?!" Detective Ching blurts, obviously pissed.

"I-I didn't allow him," she says, bowing her head apologetically. "T-the killer saw him but he managed to escape. I-I'm... afraid he might get harmed when he speak to the police."

"By any chance," Khael speaks, "the murder he witnessed... is it the MaXa case?"

She nods.

"What?!" Detective Ching exclaims. He inhales hard, controlling his temper. "We could have given him a witness protection if he asked for it," he says in gritted teeth.

"I thought we came here to have a special anniversary celebration," she says, flashing a sad smile. "I didn't know that he chose this place to follow the Smiths."

Khael's face stiffens but he remains silent.

"He wants to tell them what he knows but I disagreed. S-sorry," she cries, "I'm so... sorry."

Khael sighs hopelessly. "Now the possible lead to the killer of Mr. Smith is gone," he says in deep sadness as he stares blankly to nowhere.

"Drake Tabor was killed to keep him silent," Detective Ching says, shaking her head from side to side. "The MaXa killer is cleaning up."

I sigh.

Drake holds a puzzle piece to the no-progress MaXa case. But I guess, that piece would be buried along with his dead body and the MaXa mystery will remain veiled.