Deception

Chapter 11

    Anton still stared at his phone after Lee hang up on their phone call. He was feeling excited at the notion that he’d meet Lee that night. But at the back of his mind, he scolded himself for fraternizing with a potential enemy. But damn, he couldn’t help it. A knock on his office door interrupted his thoughts.

    “May I come in sir?” Paulo asked.

    “Go ahead.”

    Paulo was in his uniform but his hair had been unkempt, must be because of the wind from driving around. He strode towards Detective Garcia’s office table. Anton suddenly felt grim at the sight of the stack of papers that Paulo had tuck at his hands. He surely hoped that he would not be detained for long. After all, he had a dinner to attend to.

    “I hope it’s not a bad time. I have the report about the fingerprints on the photograph,” said Paulo as he handed the file to the detective. Anton immediately reached out for it and leafed through the papers. He closed the file and gave his attention back to Paulo.

    “Have a sit. You can just give me the run down. I’ll read the report later,” the detective said as his interest suddenly grew. The other man nodded and carried on to update his superior.

    “The sweepers got some hand prints on the photograph and the frame. The prints were from the same person and we traced it to a man named John Ford.”

    “Let me guess. This Ford guy is either the one in charge of the gallery set up or he is the one who enlarged the photo?”

    “Your second guess was correct. He was a staff in the Still Life Photography. It’s a small business just outside Sta. Maria.”

    “You talked to him?”

    “Yes. I visited him this afternoon. He said that the shop was fully booked on the day that a customer approached him for the photo enlargement. Ford wasn’t supposed to accept as this was a rush order. But the teenage boy paid triple the price for photo enlargement and frame works.”

    “Teenage boy?”

    Paulo nodded in affirmation. “Yes. His customer was a teenage boy who claimed that the photo was scripted for a gallery. This customer asked Ford to personally enlarge, frame, and deliver it to an address that he gave. He also gave Ford a delivery pass.”

    “Did you get the name of the boy? And what address?”

    “The address was the building where the gallery was set. Ford delivered the item by himself and was received by Ms. Morgan’s staff. The staff didn’t question him when he informed them that Mr. Arturo Galeno sent him. Ford was then trusted to hang the fully covered photograph since no hands could be spared during that busy time.”

    Anton understood that the staff wouldn’t question Ford much further especially with the pass that he possessed. He had a proof that he was a legitimate employee of Mr. Galeno. Also, Galeno’s name rang a bell. And he realized that he was one of the artists whose entry had been accepted.

    “We don’t have the name of the boy since he called himself Arturo Galeno when he met with Ford,” Paulo continued.

    Still something bothered Anton. “I thought all the artworks were kept in the warehouse where they were all judged. As I understand it, when the artworks passed the review and were to be displayed, they weren’t supposed to be returned to owners.”

    “Yes. Ms. Morgan’s team should have had the rights to keep them and transfer them from the warehouse to the gallery. But Mr. Galeno retrieved his photograph since he submitted it without a frame.”

    “Makes sense. Since he secured a slot in the gallery, he would then have his photograph framed. But… if he had it framed, wouldn’t he have to return it to Ms. Morgan’s team to be displayed?”

    “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. I sent the rookie to interview Mr. Galeno about this. According to the info, Mr. Galeno received a call that said his artwork did not really make it past the review and that the management made a mistake. The caller even told him that there was no need to deliver the picture back to the gallery and that he was to receive compensations for the misunderstanding.”

    Whoever did this had it all planned, Anton thought. It was pretty clever, too.

    “Mr. Galeno testified that he received a hefty amount of cash from a teenage boy who suddenly came knocking out his door right after he received the call,” Paulo added. “We believe that it was the same teenager. You gotta praise the rookie. He took the initiative to invite Mr. Galeno at the precinct and have him describe the boy’s face to our department’s artist.”

    Anton chuckled. “Guess we can call him by his name instead of addressing him as rookie. Anyway, you have the sketch?”

    “Yeah. I attached a copy in the file that I gave you.”

    “Better get ready then. We have long day tomorrow.”

    At last their investigation was going somewhere. He wanted to find out who this mystery person was. One thing he knew was that they were loaded enough to pay off all these transactions. He let all the information that Paulo shared with him sink. He couldn’t disclose any of these even to Eliza’s parents. But he would inform them of the progress that his team has done so far. In the meantime, he’d fetch Lee.

    Lee waited for a good ten minutes outside the hospital, waiting for the detective to show up. She knew better that Anton could have been suddenly detained and was unable to call her. She, too, was occupied because of the sudden meeting with Jairus.

    “I hope you hadn’t been waiting for too long.”

    Lee was surprised at the detective’s sudden appearance. She didn’t even notice him walk towards her.

    “You startled me Anton,” she exclaimed as her hand lay on top of her heart, feeling its beat become fast. “I get so easily startled these days. To answer your question: no, I hadn’t been here long.”

    “That’s good to hear. I don’t want a beautiful lady such as you to think that I stood her up.”

    Then the two went to an Asian cuisine restaurant to enjoy dinner. Unexpectedly, the dinner was casual and fun. Both of them wanted to temporarily get away from all the wariness of the recent events. It was a good dinner for it served as a break from work, too.

    Lee was satisfied with the delicious meal and thankful for the fun company. But she was annoyed that Anton insisted on paying everything.

    “I asked you to go with me. It seems only fair that I pay,” he said.

    “I was the one who ordered and ate the meal. I think I should give my share,” she retorted.

    “Let it go, Lee. How about this? On our next dinner, you can pay for your meal,” he suggested.

    “There’s another?” she teased.

    Anton confidently smiled at her. “After this wonderful evening? Of course I’d still want to have dinner with you.”

    Not only did Lee agree for Anton to pay for the dinner but also agreed to dine again with him. When it was time to go home, Lee filled the silence in the car by asking about Kris’ accident.

    “Like I said earlier, there were witnesses. But these were an 80 year old couple who were also on their morning walk. The shock possibly distorted their recollection of the event. After interviewing them separately, one said that the car was dark gray and the other said it was navy blue. None of them saw the driver or plate number.”

    Anton also explained that after the initial shock of witnessing a hit and run, the old couple shouted for help. And that was when one of the staff of the diner, who was taking a break, heard the two. He also described that the diner employee called the 911 and gathered around Kris while they waited for the ambulance to arrive. Afterwards, Alan exited the diner and found Kris on that state.

    “I hope you and your team could bring justice to Kris, and of course, to Eli.” They bid each other goodbye.

    Lee was already settled in bed when someone called at her phone. “I’m honored to be at your service, your highness,” the other end said. She chuckled at this familiar nickname. Only one person called her ‘your highness’ and Lee texted him earlier.

    “Glad you received my message Quin because I need your help.”

    “Aww. I feel f*****g important. Now tell me, who’s my job?”

    “Jairus Villaflor.”