Chapter 11: Silence
As I walk my way home, I saw Mateo walking through the halls of the hospital. What is he doing here? Does he seriously want to rage war and visit his ex?
"Mateo!" I say as I call out to him.
He turns to me and he walks towards me. I see a notepad on his hand with a pencil held through the spirals of the notepad. It seems that he is not here for a visit at all.
"Rose, I thought you've gone home," he says as he walks towards me.
"What is your business here?" I ask bluntly.
"I am doing our business," he corrects. "I've come to investigate and make an article as we are supposed to do. I have been walking around and asking men and women for what they know. I have even asked the guards. For a five-star hospital, they really need to replace the guards. They admitted that they were asleep when it all happened."
"They're not asleep," I say firmly. "They were not paying attention. This hospital has terrible security."
"Well, anyway, I took the liberty of asking for the footage," he says. "A guard and I went through the security footage of the entire night and we saw Mr. de la Rama getting out of the building alive. Then, next thing we know, the footage is suddenly broken then it turns back on only for a janitress to go back inside the building in a frightened hurry. We managed to follow the janitress' trail and after the incident, she immediately ended her shift and went her way home."
"Do the cops know this?" I ask.
"No," he says. "Apparently, the cops stopped doing their search. It was as if they had been paid to do so. I asked the same guard and he said that the cops stopped coming here. They had urged every media to keep a hush-hush about it. Apparently, someone paid every major media outlet a huge sum of cash to keep this story off the papers and the news."
"It could be the de la Ramas," I suggest. "Perhaps they would want privacy."
"No, apparently, they do not care about that," he says. "Nothing moves the investigation forward since the media and the cops had been paid to keep silent."
"Does that mean that the boss also received a kickback?" I ask.
"I don't think so," he says. "But, I am also not sure.
I am stunned by all that's been happening. Whoever person involved in this matter must have been powerful. They managed to take down the security footage at the time of the murder. They managed to keep a silent murder without making a noise to make it subtle. More importantly, they managed to keep all forms of investigation silent by paying each company that would dare investigate silent. We are journalists. Of course, we are going to search for the truth no matter what happens. Searching for the truth has always been my life.
Well, I have a degree in Mass Communications, but seeing a lot of documents in my lifetime, I always managed to do my own investigation and conclude. This has been my life. But now, I shall have to search for the truth when everyone else did not dare to do so.
"Anyway, let's just investigate this matter and pass it over as an article," I say flatly. "Do you have the picture of the janitress?"
"I managed to take the screenshot of the footage," he says. He takes out a sheet of paper and it shows a zoomed in photo of a janitress that is in her thirties looking frightened after what she saw. Her noticeable feature is her high cheekbones. That is pretty much it after I take a close look at the lady. It's not a high-quality photo since it is a security footage and it is zoomed in.
"Have you found this lady yet?" I ask.
"I have been asking around all day," he says. "I have not managed to find this woman. Maybe I should ask her fellow utility workers."
We walked around finding a janitor and moments later, we found a young man that seems to be in his early to mid-twenties and he seems annoyingly enthusiastic about his job.
"Good afternoon, madam and sir," he says as he mops the floor joyfully.
Alright, this is kind of shocking. It is as if SpongeBob SquarePants came to life and took the form of this man. The only thing that's lacking now is that he looks like a kitchen sponge and use himself to mop the floor.
"Yeah," I say steadily. "Anyway, may we ask a simple question?"
"Of course," he says like a SpongeBob. "I would ready to serve a visitor."
"Have you seen this woman?" Mateo asks bluntly as he pulls the screenshot out. The young man looked at it carefully and it seems he is trying to remember who she is.
"Oh, that's right," the young man says. "That's Ms. Jane Herrera. She works the afternoon shift here. Did you know that she has three children and she had to – "
Then, suddenly, a woman in her thirties walks right up to us. She has the high cheekbones prominent on the woman in the photo. Her hair is tied in a ponytail and she looks weary today.
"Robert, quit it," the woman suddenly says.
"Sorry, Jane," the young man says. "But I was only telling the cops the truth."
"Why don't you go get lost for a while," the woman called Jane suggests. "I need to talk with the 'cops'. You have no business here."
Without another word, the young man called Robert suddenly walks away with his mop and drags the mop with him. He seems to be highly frightened of Jane. The janitress lets out a brief sigh as we watch the foolish SpongeBob mop away like he has been chastised by Squidward to get lost.
"I'm so sorry about that, madam and sir," Jane says apologetically. "But why have you come here? The investigation has been called off."
"Did the de la Rama family say that?" I ask in a whisper.
"Madam, if you please, I do not want to discuss these matters at all," she says dismissively. "We are to know nothing, see nothing, hear nothing, and say nothing."
"Miss, we are doing our private investigation and we are not bound by the law or 'bribe' that had happened," Mateo says. "Please comply with our investigation. Since no one else would dare find the truth, we are here to devote ourselves to the truth and search for it anyway. Or, perhaps, you would rather let this mad killer at loose and go on another killing spree. Which would you want?"
"Sir, you do not want to mess with these people," she says in a warning. "The one we're dealing with is involved with the elite."
"Don't bother yourself, woman," I say flatly. "We are already involved with the elite. How harmful can this killer be?"
"Have you heard that the mastermind already paid almost everyone – "
"We know," Mateo interrupts. "We are not scared about that, woman. Say the truth. Tell the story and we will say nothing about you. We will keep your identity anonymous and the truth shall prevail."
I cannot believe that we actually pressured this woman to tell the truth. I can understand her fears as a witness. I gaze into her eyes and all I can see are eyes of fear for she has seen what the elite can do at most and they can always get away scot-free for almost every crime they commit. I'm sick of seeing the elite do that. I'm here to take down anyone involved in the murder.
"Alright, I will tell," she says.
Then, she tells a detailed account of what happened. Apparently, there were three murderers wearing ski masks and gloves. One made Mr. de la Rama unconscious with chloroform, one held his body tightly, and one was prepared to stab him with a knife. It was a silent murder indeed. When Mr. de la Rama was finally unconscious, the man stabbed him trice. One managed to call their apparent 'mastermind' but they were speaking in a foreign language that is why Jane did not know what they were saying.
As she was about to walk away, a man almost tried to make her unconscious but she pleads for her life. In exchange for her life, she must keep silent and their 'boss' will do the rest to silence the investigation. Jane agreed to their terms and she ran away in a frightened haste.
"I tell this to you right now," Jane says once more. "Do not cross with these people. Please, if you do not want to die, stop this."
"We thank you for your cooperation," I say brushing of her words. "Your words will be helpful."
Then, we walked away without saying another word. As we stepped out of the building, it seems that as if no murder had ever existed. There were no chalk markings, police tape, or anyone asking around except for us. Now, it truly confirms Mateo's investigation that no one will now dare to investigate this matter. It was as if money can truly silence almost everyone, but I will not be silenced. We will conduct our own investigation without the aid of the authorities.
"So, what do we do now?" I ask my partner for investigation.
"We try to find the men," he says. "I know it sounds crazy, but it will come around. This is far too dangerous to come around. If our national police can be silenced, then this person must be involved with the government as well."
We were walking our way from the hospital to the nearest bus stop. As we walk, I have a terrible feeling as if someone is following us. Suddenly, I saw a man wearing all black carrying nothing at all that has been following us for a while. I only need to flash a grim look at Mateo to inform him and it turns out he feels it too.
We walk briskly to try to lose the stalker, but instead, when we went into an underground passage, another man that looks like the man stalking us came before us. We tried walking back but the first stalker is right behind us. We are all but trapped in this underground passage.
"Hand over the evidence," the man says bluntly.
"No!" I exclaim.
"Little lady, your silence will be rewarded greatly," the other says. "Now, hand over the evidence and let's just forget this little incident, shall we?"
I looked at Mateo and it appears he is not willing to release the notes and the screenshots we have. We are journalists. We always push for the truth and inform the masses no matter what happens! The truth must always prevail. It only took one agreeing nod from each other that we are not going to release what we have.
"No," I say once more.
And just like that, more of their men came and there was a dozen of them. I guess they are ready to take us away. They form a circle around us. They pulled their rifles out to point at us to threaten us into submission. Still, I do not flinch with what they're doing. I stood firmly and still without saying another word. Silently, I am praying the five decades of the rosary once more. I know that nothing can help me now and all I am asking for is a miracle to come from above.
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