THE DARK SIDE

CHAPTER THREE: NOTE AND DRUGS

"WHAT the hell's going on now? Migz just told me you found a note?" Brent's brows furrowed, a knot of frustration tightening in his forehead. Migz, the resident tech whiz of their team and whose brain is a computer CPU.

"Yeah," Athenz confirmed, still reeling from the discovery. "I found it under my windshield. Must have been left there while I was at the Green's estate."

"Who's so eager to wrap thing up?" Brent questioned, his voice laced with suspicion.

"I don't know," Athenz admitted, shaking his head. "It couldn't be Green. I was with him the whole time." And honestly, Green wouldn't be that stupid to leave a note in his own territory. He knew damn well he'd be the first suspect.

"Or he could have sent some of his men to do it," Brent countered. "But wouldn't that be incredibly stupid? Doing it right under his nose?"

Athenz was about to respond when his phone buzzed. Guane's name flashed across the screen.

"Guzim," he answered, "What's up, Guane? Any luck with the note I sent you?"

"Hey, Major," Guane's voice was tinged with disappointment. "Sorry to disappoint you, but there's no print on the note. And the printer and computer used to produce it are generic. Just like those found in any computer shop."

Athenz wasn't surprised. He'd expected as much, given that the note was printed, not handwritten.

"But," Guane continued, her voice taking on a more serious tone, "I did find something interesting during the autopsy. You might want to come down here so I can explain it to you properly."

"Okay, Guane," Athenz agreed. "We're on our way."

"IT's FENTANYL," Guane announced, her voice grim. "I found traces of fentanyl in the syringe you picked up. Also, the blood test on our victim came back positive for fentanyl. He's been drugged."

Athenz and Brent exchanged worried glances. "What? Wasn't that banned in the country for a long time?" Brent asked, his mind racing.

"You're right, Brent," Guane confirmed. "Fentanyl has been banned in the country and is classified as a dangerous drug under RA 9165, as you already know. It was used in medical treatment before because it's a very effective pain reliever, but its high potential for abuse, severe side effects, and other dangers led to its ban."

"If our guy had a gun in his hand, which he obviously used to kill the victim, then why the hell use an injection to drug him first?" Brent blurted out, frustration evident in his voice.

"In order to set up the crime scene," Athenz replied, his eyes narrowed. "He couldn't make it look like a suicide if he simply shot him anywhere. It had to be the head."

"So we're dealing with an amateur here?" Brent scoffed. "A professional would surely know we'd be running an autopsy, right? And an expert wouldn't leave a bomb like that syringe lying around, just waiting to be found." He gestured towards the syringe in Guane's hand.

Athenz countered, "Or he might have intentionally left it there to make us think he's an amateur, to throw us off the trail."

"So what's the Cause of Death? Is it the drug or the bullet that took his life?" Athenz asked, his voice laced with a hint of uneasiness.

Guane met his gaze, her expression grim. "It was the bullet. The massive intracranial hemorrhage and brain destruction caused his death. The force of the impact was devastating."

Brent, who had been about to ask the same question, simply nodded, waiting for Guane to continue.

"And the time of death?" he finally asked.

"It would be between 11 PM and 12 AM," Guane replied, her voice steady despite the gravity of the information.

The air in Guane's office thickened with tension. This case was far from over, and the truth was proving to be more elusive than they initially thought.

ATHENZ and Brent returned to the office, greeted by a wide-eyed Migz who had clearly been busy digging into the case. "Anyway, Mr. Green's alibi checked out," Migz announced, "He was at the home for the aged yesterday, and the nurses confirm he stayed the night."

Athenz nodded, "Okay, so he's out. What about the CCTVs on the hotel? You able to flip something off that?"

"No luck there," Migz admitted, "But I've been looking into our victim's transactions the afternoon before he was found dead. Seems like he was meeting someone in the restaurant." He paused, staring at them expectantly.

Both Athenz and Brent shrugged in unison. "Come on, Migz," Athenz snapped, "We don't have all day for a guessing game!" Brent just shrugged, used to Migz's dramatic pauses. Apparently, this was how he earned his nickname "Guess Who."

Migz chuckled and clicked the enter button on his keyboard. "Viola!" he exclaimed. "You know this guy?"

Athenz stared at the photo on the screen. A gorgeous young man in a lab gown appeared, the photo searing in his mind, then recognition came. A spitting image of the photo he'd seen at the Green mansion. "Wait! That's Mr. Green's son! What the hell was he doing with our victim before he died?"

Migz's face fell. "You know him?" he asked, his excitement visibly deflated. He'd been waiting for their reaction.

"I just happened to see the Green family photo when I paid Mr. Green a visit this morning," Athenz explained.

"What do you got on him?" Brent asked, eager to shift the focus back to the investigation.

"Okay, your guy's Eric Green, 34 years old, single," Migz rattled off, "He graduated from Ateneo de Manila as c*m Laude with a degree in Medical Technology. Certified chemist, just a year ago. This guy's actually a walking cabinet of medals and trophies. I can say he's a genius in science."

"Guess we're paying our little genius a visit then."