While eating breakfast, Dan noticed my far-away look and asked what was bothering me.
I answered, "Something does not add up."
"What's on your mind, kid?" Dan asked and took a sip of his coffee. He only ate banana and drank coffee at breakfast, while the rest of us were devouring garlic rice, tuyo - dried fish, sunny side-up eggs and longganisa - native pork sausage.
"If Mariano-the witness was the niece's husband, where did Mariano come from or meet her? If she never leaves the forest or goes beyond the creek."
"Did you ask the people from the village if they noticed a stranger passing through the village or walking down the road towards these fields?" Dan asked.
"Lola Mercy and her friends never mentioned a new face. We asked if there were new families who moved in that village. But
