Chapter 31 Xeno (pt 1)

I take the files in my hand and sit before my desk. Most of my fellow workers have already left so I'll not hesitate to light up a cigarette here.

I put a stick of cigarette in between my lips and lit it up. The papers in my hands are flipped as I read through them.

These are all the data I could collect in the past couple of weeks about Rosalyn.

She was raised as an orphan.

When she got into university, at the age of 22 she moved places and rented a house nearby. Suddenly she had a 7 year old son by then.

"What's more surprising is that she has absolutely no hospital record of pregnancy or any rape case." Was she so good at hiding her child at such a young age? Or could it be…

I flip the papers.

Anyway her reputation hit rock bottom when the news of her son spread throughout her university.

"Damn. That must've been tough for her." I blow out the smoke.

Somehow she graduated with a passing mark and applied for jobs. For some reason she couldn't keep continuing and had to change her jobs several times.

"I'm guessing it must've been for her son."

At her last job she met Mr Arran. Since she wasn't very stable at her job, she quit before anyone even heard the news of their affair.

"That's why Mr Arran's co-workers couldn't exactly tell who he used to meet."

Their affair lasted even after she quit. Mr Arran rented a house in which they all were supposed to live together. But suddenly they had a heated quarrel one day and Mr Arran disappeared.

"Did she kill him?"

I smack the files on my desk and rest my back with the rolling chair. I grasp the cigarette in between my fingers and pull it out to blow.

If she actually killed him, she must be seriously intelligent to hide him almost this perfectly.

She obliterated his phone. Not only that.. she took it somewhere far from her place, crushed the phone into pieces as well as the SIM card. The police couldn't recover his call logs. Thanks to apps nowadays, people don't usually talk with cell numbers. So his SIM call history wasn't very helpful either.

My phone buzzes.

What is he..

I stare at the message he sent me.

He's asking me to check my mail?

I put the phone away and open my mailbox on the desktop.

Oh. Its the forensic report of the bone we found in dogshit.

My eyes can only turn wider on every passage that I read through. I've been through so many cases but this type never fails to send shivers down my spine.

The bone sample almost entirely matches with Mr Arran's DNA!

Considering where we found the bone.. someone might have fed the dogs Mr Arran's arms!

I relax myself and pinch the top of my nose to relieve stress.

No no no. Its just too horrendous. There remains a possibility that the bone might have somehow submerged from the soil due to rain. Or the dogs might've dug it out. Yes. That must be it!

No. If he died a few months ago, his body wouldn't decompose so fast as to turn into bones already.

No no no. If. The dogs dug it out.. where are other of his bones?

The old man that I am, I'm still not too willing to accept the vulgar reality that actually might have happened.

I sigh.

I'm stressing too much.

Taking a deep inhale from my cigar, I glance down at the monitor.

The hidden camera that I planted before Ms Rosalyn's house is picking up images.

I recall planting the camera right after i talked with the landlord and before Sain. The place isn't very advantageous but the angle is perfect. I can see the doors of both houses, though the lower part is covered with leaves. I can only see their upper bodies. Thanks to it, I found out immediately that Ms Rosalyn set her house on fire enabling me to save her.

The place was a good spot though. No one noticed to this date that I'm keeping a watch on them.

I watch the video footage closely.

Two unknown men entered their burnt house.

I note the times on my palm. "From around 9:30 to 9:45."

But why did they go there? I saw Sain going inside his home at around 4 and hadn't left since. They probably aren't there to meet him.

For a while there are no activities.

The thunder is also flashing hard. It's hurting my eyes.

I roll around with the chair when abruptly at 10:40 another person shows up in front of that door.

"Another man? No. His physique tells me its a boy. Wait. Isn't that that kid? Eclise."

What is he doing there?

Instead of visiting Sain, he went inside the burnt house. Why?