Chapter 2
1253 Words
“Hindi nyo po ba nakita si Ally?” tanong ng teacher ni Ally sa mga police. “Sabi po ni Mang Jose, naihatid nya po si Ally dito.” Nag-aalalang turan ng teacher.
“So far, ma’am, wala po kami nakitang bata dito.” sagot naman ng Police.
“Diyos ko!” Naiiyak na bulalas ni Teacher Lora.
“Ma’am, kayo po ba ang tumawag sa mga pulis?” lumapit ang isang may kabataan pa na lalaki. He was probably only 24 or 25. He looked the youngest sa lahat ng mga police at investigator dito. She noticed him arriving with the NBI team earlier. He was not in uniform but was wearing a light blue long sleeves button down shirt na tinupi ang manggas hanggang siko.
“Opo. Nag-alala ako nang hindi sya pumasok. Mr. Rossi calls pag-hindi papasok si Ally. Sabi din ni Mang Jose na matagal syang naghintay kay Ally na lumabas. Ally is rarely absent.”
Tumangu-tango naman ang kausap. “Aiden Loyola. I’m with the NBI team.” He removed his gloves and extended his hand.
“Lora Reyes po. I’m Ally’s homeroom teacher.” Teacher Lora shook his hand.
“Did you come here before you called the police?”
Tumango naman si Lora. “Pagdating ko may mga bubog ng basag na salamin. I called out several times pero wala pong sumagot.”
“Aiden.” May tumawag naman sa kausap nya. “Get in here.”
“Can you wait for me?” sabi naman nito sa kanya at pumasok sa workshop where he was called.
Aiden came to the site with Joe’s team. The team went from room to room to gather evidence. The workshop was the last room they were going through. He picked up a new pair of gloves to wear.
“Look.” Itinuro nito ang isang school bag on a chair behind a small desk.
“Have you taken photos?” Aiden checked. They need photos of the scene in its original state.
“Yes, and we have dusted already.”
Aiden noticed the fine dust everywhere and was sure the team had lifted for fingerprints already.
He picked up the bag and opened it. He scanned through the contents -- books, notebooks, pencil case. He saw a drawing book and leafed through it.
“She got home. She was here. I’ll ask for a search team to go through the grounds.”
Tumango lang si Aiden. He looked at the board.
I have cities, but no houses,
I have mountains, but no trees.
I have water, but no fish.
What am I?
“Ensure that the police keep the place under control for another 48 hours.” si Aiden.
Their team was called in around 10 am, it was 3 pm already. The bedroom was where they found Mr. and Mrs. Rossi’s dead bodies. Mr. Rossi was lying down near the wall. Mrs. Rossi was on the bed. Parehong naliligo sa sariling dugo.
“Joe, do we have the update on Mrs. Rossi’s car?”
Joe was still talking to someone on the phone. He quickly wrapped up his call.
“Not yet. Aiden, we don’t have 48 hours. Director Mendez wants to have a media update tomorrow at 8 am.”
“s**t. We have to find the girl first.”
They moved to a tent they had set up outside. Nandoon din ang dalawa pang kasama sa team ni Joe. They are processing the pictures from the case and uploading them to their system.
“Paki-tawag si Teacher Lora.”
Someone stood up para sundin si Aiden.
Lora entered the tent hesitatingly. She was given a plastic chair to sit on in front of Aiden, a plastic foldable table between them. A paper cup with some water.
“Can you describe Ally? What is she like?”
“She’s smart. She’s only 13 but already in Grade 10.”
Tumangu-tango si Aiden.
“Tahimik. Masunurin. Wala sya gaanong kaibigan pero baka dahil she’s introvert. She keeps to herself but she is very sweet.”
“What time does the school bus pick her up?”
“6:30. She’s the first pick-up.”
“How long was the school bus waiting?”
“Hindi ko po alam.”
“Did Mang Jose just wait?”
Aiden noticed that Teacher Lora was confused with the question.
“Did he try to check? Bumaba ba sya?”
“Hindi ko po alam. Sabi nya nakailang busina daw po sya.” Lora felt weird na pino-po nya si Aiden but Aiden did not feel bothered at all.
“When you got here. What did you notice?”
“Yung basag nga po na bintana.”
“The gate, was it open or closed?”
“Naka-awang ng kaunti.”
Aiden already checked the gate. It can be opened with a number code from outside but it is easily opened from inside. There was no forced entry.
“Did you leave after calling the police?”
“Bumalik ako sa sasakyan.”
“Did you notice the rock that kept the gate open?”
“A rock?”
Tumangu-tango naman si Aiden. “It’s okay. Anything else you can recall?”
Umiling naman si Teacher Lora. “Can you find Ally?” naiiyak na tanong nito.
“We will find her.” Aiden said.”Please leave your contact information with the team. We may need to call you again.”
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Aiden has been going through the pictures taken by the team. Paulit-ulit trying to find clues. Dumidilim na sa labas. They just have over 12 hours to make a major breakthrough on this case for the big wigs to announce on their press con.
The story about Antonio Rossi and Sarah Pineda murdered in their home was all over the news. Media was camped outside the gate controlled by local police.
“Aiden, the search team doesn’t have good news.”
“How wide have they covered so far?”
“5 hectares.”
The entire property was about 10 hectares of wooded area. They have brought in K9 dogs and a small team of Rangers to track. It was becoming a multi-agency case already. it cannot get any high-profile than this.
“The Rangers?”
“The team captain reported that there are no tracks of anyone going in.”
“Let’s continue until there is absolutely zero light out there.”
Tumango naman si Joe and talked to someone on his radio.
“What are you looking at?” tanong nito matapos magbigay ng instruction sa radio.
There were 5 pictures on his laptop. The table and chair in the library, the cupboards in the kitchen, the open wardrobe, some paintings in the workshop that could have been leaning on the wall but fell over and an imprint of a hand that formed in the thin dust under the bed.
Tiningnan naman nang mas malapitan ni Joe ang pictures.
“That chair was pushed out from under the table. The cupboard is slightly ajar. The clothes in the wardrobe looked like they were ruffled through… You get what I mean.” si Aiden.
“Someone was looking for something,” Joe said.
Umiling si Aiden. “Someone. Someone was looking for someone. She’s here, Joe... She’s in the house.
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Author’s Note:
See you next episode. I don’t know when! Haha. Please check out Lucas + Lexie’s Waiting for You while waiting. :)
- Writer
