Adventure in the World of Crimes

2.26 Unexpecter Traitors

Continuous shutters and flashes of cameras filled the Hudson Station as the reporters and cameramen were trying to find the best angle for their segment about the biggest news lately. The culprit was revealed, and he was now being cuffed inside as they brought him out of the station which ensued chaos.

"On Monday, an inmate was found dead with multiple bruises, broken bones, and recently, it was reported by the victim's autopsy that he died from a subdural hemorrhage, a bleeding occurrence outside the brain which causes by a severe head injury. Upon the police investigation, they found out that it was a murder case, and one of the night shift's police officer was the one who killed him."

The camera was darted to the police officers who were holding the criminal who was already cuffed, his face was void of emotion, head bowed deeply, as the reporters were pushing each other just to have the best shot of the man.

Warren came into the Merit's residence with shoulders down, he was almost dragging his feet because of how tired he was. When he opened the door of the house, there was no one in the living room, but he could hear noises in the kitchen so he went straight there after removing his shoes, he saw Mrs. Merit cleaning Senior Merit's stitches while T was eating on the side.

He sat on the wooden stool beside the busy kid who was slurping a soup from his bowl and rice beside him. He closed his eyes for a moment, with his back resting on the backrest of the chair and his head hanging, the two old people letting him rest for a while as Mrs. Merit finished cleaning her husband's wound.

After a while of silence with which only the kid's slurps and the soft sound of the electric fan on the side was heard, Warren finally opened his eyes and sat up straight. He looked at the two senior who was already looking at him.

"Have you eaten, Warren?" Warren lightly shook his head, "I'll get you a meal." Mrs. Merit suggested, standing up from the chair across the senior, as she took her purse on the table. "Junior, come with me."

"Thank you, Mrs. Merit," Warren gratefully said as he watched the woman nodded and smiled at him back with T holding her hand as they walked out of the room.

He had been going straight to the man's house after his shift. Two days in the hospital, Senior Merit was able to be taken care of at home, and he had to inform him of everything that was happening so he had to go to him every day, and Mrs. Merit never failed to buy him a meal.

"What happened? You look so tired." Senior Merit asked, sitting up and raised the pillow so he could lean back. "Is it the g**g?"

Warren shook his head, remembering what happened earlier. "It was said to be Sergio Carpio. His ID was caught on one of the comfort room's stall with spots of blood, and upon checking it, that was the victim's blood. So that made him instantly the criminal."

After his conversation with Officer Leo, they saw the officers running to them and shouting, their eyes wide as if they found something shocking as they call every officers there to see what they found, and that's where they saw the ID.

"How did he react?"

"Furious. He even hit his subordinates, maybe for exposing him. However, I find something off." He said, placing his hand under his chin. "I asked the inmates if they saw Sergio Carpio last night, but they said no, or even heard his voice but they still said no and followed with validation that they will immediately notice if he's around because he liked to visit them first thing and beat them up."

Senior Merit snickered, "He beat them up, he still deserves to be there."

"Yes, but it didn't settle the victim's justice. Though he beats the inmates, he was framed for killing the man, and the real culprit should also be in jail." Warren defended, then his expression changed, "Or already in jail. I remembered I haven't interviewed the g**g members yet."

"You should. Of those inmates, these g**g members are the hardest to appoint, they always create fights, especially the leader, Guillermo. He usually bullies the officers, that's why no one, even Sergio's officers, often visit the second floor."

"But, that will be confusing. The inmates will not be able to get out of their cell without the keys which only officers hold, so the g**g members were probably inside at that time of dawn and every cell was locked, unless of course if they neglected to lock those two cells which were impossible and ridiculous." Warren stated, thinking heavily as every scenario he thought was playing in his mind with occasional furrowed of brows and squinted of eyes.

Senior Merit, however, was admiring the young officer as he put the slightest things with the effort of thinking and considering the circumstances. If it was him, the case would already close and he would let the prosecution judge Sergio Carpio who was found as the culprit with heavy evidence against him, and not think of any other things.

But Warren was the opposite. He valued justice more than the settlement of the case, which often ended up as a wrong judgment, for the sake of someone to be blamed, they would capture anyone even innocent.

Mrs. Merit arrived with two plastic bags, a plastic black bento box was inside the first one, and four red plastic cups with four straws secured in a cup holder were on the other. She gave the bento box to Warren and one cup of carbonated drink as she also lent the other two to Senior Merit and T.

"We'll move on Friday," Mrs. Merit uttered, sitting across Warren who was now eating. "Can he live with you, or you live with him?"

"Hon, it's fine. I can handle myself. Nothing will happen to me. However, you have to make sure that you two are good." Senior Merit replied, protesting on someone had to be disturbed to take care of him.

"Your enemy has nothing to do with us, our house there was secured, unlike here. You need Warren with you." The woman insisted firmly like she knew better and her husband couldn't do anything but follow.

'"I will live here until everything is fine, Mrs. Merit. I will be Mrs. Merit while you're gone." Warren interjected with a bright smile, his mouth full of food as he said it, so T patted his arm and motioned to close his mouth, to which Warren did so and apologized.

"Then if Warren insists, it's fine. I'll go back to work tomorrow. After three days of not being there, I already missed a lot that has happened and it was all chaotic. The police now, I'm sure, is facing backlash for the news today." Senior Merit said, sipping on the cup while looking at nowhere.

"Better. We'll go upstairs and fix our things. Just call me when you need something." Mrs. Merit said, standing up and lending her hand for T to cling to.

The two watched them go to the living room until they couldn't hear their steps and T's questions to her mother about his school and friends if he will change school, Mrs. Merit answering him with full of attention and slowly for him to understand better.

"Shouldn't we reveal more of what we have in our hands so the chaos will only ensue once?" Warren asked, mouth empty. "I could ask for a friend to spread the information," Warren asked after a while, he already finished the food and emptied the cup of drink, and started picking those up to throw on the trash bin.

"Not yet, Warren. Once we have an idea of who is this person behind the crimes, we could now settle it. We should also talk to Sergio Carpio, I know he knows a lot." The senior answered, arms and legs crossed, following Warren's moves.

"Ah! In that sense, the interview, I haven't called Officer Pierce and his superior Police Detective yet, I don't know their numbers, do you perhaps know any one of those two?"

Senior Merit stood up, going inside the living room, and took his brown long coat that was laying on the couch's armrest, Warren following behind and curiously looking at the old man. He saw him pulled out his wallet on the long coat's jacket, opening it and taking out a white card there.

"I remembered Police Detective Leira has given me her calling card for anything that she could do of help. And as far as I know, they are always at work, twenty-four-seven in duty because she's a detective." He explained, giving it to Warren as he sat on the single couch and motioned Warren to call the number.

Warren took out his phone and messaged the number first, telling her it was him and he will call. He disled her number and with only two rings, she answered.

"Officer Warren Valore? Senior Merit's assistant?" A female voice, certainly Detective Leira, answered. He heard a man's bouce at the background asking if it was really Warren, and by the low but bright voice, and also the continuous inquiries that the woman was not answering, it was Pierce.

"Yes, Detective. I just want to ask about the findings."

"Findings of what?" The woman replied confusedly that made Warren creased his forehead.

Senior Merit raised his brow to silently ask, he sat on the long couch near the senior and put the call in the loudspeaker.

"Good evening, Detective. You're on a loudspeaker." He greeted and informed.

"Good evening, Senior Merit. What is your assistant talking about?" She asked again,

Like Warren's expression, Senior Merit creased his forehead in confusion. "I sent my two officers in your station, Detective, with two men who tried to kill me by injecting poison in my body while I was in the hospital. It was around eight in the evening so assumingly they reached your station at nine to nine-thirty of Monday night. Didn't you see them?"

They heard her repeated the time as if tracking down their time back on Monday. "As far as I could remember, we were in the station from lunch to midnight because we were working on a case. But no one came there, especially from your station."

"I knew it."