บท 175: the first ever murder

"He was long gone by the time they arrived, the stupid bastards. I filed a police report and all, but nobody ever came back to talk to me about it. Guess they figured if I didn't die, it wasn't worth the trouble."

"When did this happen?" "Round April—no, wait. May.

It was May, last year."

Santina and Mikael exchange glances, then turn to James, who merely acknowledges their questioning looks with the slightest tilt of his head.

Mikael refocuses his attention on Emong. He's plainly angry. And while Mikael can understand that he would dislike Dennis intensely after last year's confrontation, it still did not escaped his detection that there seemed something else simmering beneath his anger. And he remembers Mr. Carlos's words in the church that afternoon: Dennis wasn't the only one.

"Did you like Mr. Gorospe?"

Emong's face twists into a sour smile.

"Like Gorospe?"