What the old detective hadn't noticed was that his assistant had actually left the scene suddenly after noticing that it was precisely when he had answered the call from the first witness in the case and that she was about to arrive at any moment.“Boss, I have to go now, I’ll call you later and tell you why…” were her last words before Aldo arrived looking to find her.“Sir, sir...!?”, the police department receptionist draws Santiago’s attention as she approaches the old investigator who was sitting with the civilians and thinking. “Hi, sorry...” if you noticed, the detective.“Your guest and what appears to be her lawyer have already arrived.Remember that you will need the room...? And Mr. Garcia asked for it to be brief?”, she passes on the delegate’s message.Since the assistant had not arrived on time and had not called or responded to the detective's attempts to speak to her. The old man realizes that he will have to interrogate the witness alone.This witness was not just an
“I will be providing a request that, after analysis, will give me the right to have access to all the material collected by the police relating to this case...But you are traveling and when you come it will be a little late to contribute any information you can give me now. Before your return, I intend to have the whole case resolved. That was the reason for, first of all, inviting her to be here and have access to her contribution.The person who hired me, who prefers to remain anonymous, even to me, which certainly must have a reason, only let me know about the crimes and provided me with a suspect so it's up to me to find out if there is enough evidence to follow the line of investigation from the starting point provided to me.I'm starting with you, following my intuition, or rather, the path that I think is the most obvious.”, explains the detective, believing that dialogue can break paradigms.“I understand that currently there is a bureaucratic side that limits a person in the
“Okay, that sounds reasonable.The witness is a lady who, routinely, at the same time, according to her every night, interrupts a TV program with the aim of taking her pet to do its business outside the walls of the house where she lives alone...Her dog used to always signal to go out at the same time.That way she didn't even need to look at the clock.One night she left her house and walked to a vacant lot, about 2 blocks from where she lives. The same place as always. At that moment, she came across a man whose hands were still covered in blood and kept a type of razor in one of his pockets.He, according to her, still looked in her direction, but because she was in a darker place and the light was directly on his face, he certainly didn't see her.The witness described him as being approximately tall, around 1.85m tall, with very black hair, brown eyes, with a well-defined physique... sharp nose, thin lips, no beard or mustache...Nothing very precise, however, regarding the fac
“I'll start from the beginning, detective...I dated Alejandro for a month, that is, in a relatively short time we became engaged. This condition lasted at least until two weeks ago... Some gossip magazines criticized it saying that it couldn't last because it was a relationship between two people who didn't know each other for the time necessary for a structured relationship. However, I already knew him very well...Many people know..., except you, of course..., that I worked for years, on several of his productions, before and after we became intimately involved...”, she insinuates. “You're right, I didn't know..., but that's not the way I usually work, it's just...”, The detective once again tries to explain, but she interrupts him, ignoring him.“The time that many critics didn't count, but I did, was the time I worked alongside him. These opportunities for coexistence are the ones that create bonds that lead to attraction, passion and, finally... love. And in the case of a man
“To me it looks like the script of a film... a novel...”, says the somewhat bored investigator.“It was the same conclusion that my producer reached...! When I told her how it all started... She wanted the world to see us both...!”, she remembers.“I know... It's a shame that my assistant isn't here to learn about how to fall in love, she missed class!”, says the investigator, already feeling more bored in the face of so much romanticism outside the context of the case and, especially taking into account that finding it strange She said she was in a hurry.“Can I get back to the topic, investigator...?I believed the intention was to find out from me, who Alejandro Hernández is!”, she argues. The detective realizes that he is being sarcastic and says, “yes, sorry..., you can continue, I promise to restrain myself and wait until you get to the point that interests me as an investigator.“Thank you very much detective!”, he says sarcastically.“You can continue...!”, he repeats.“As I
“He will only be guilty when one day, in this unfair and extremely ungrateful world, it is determined that hundreds of good actions are actually evil!Do some research and you will see that... he alone... did more for people than hundreds of initiatives by dozens of people who consider themselves good...!” she guarantees, already showing impatience. “It's not up to me, taking into account that I don't have enough evidence to determine who may... or may not... be guilty or innocent..., but in general I learned that human beings are not in a position to measure in the right measure, neither love nor hate”, says the old man in response to her statements.At this point she adds, “whatever..., but if there really were crimes, if there is a real suspect..., it could even be very similar to him, but it could never be him. Have you ever thought about this possibility?I guarantee that Alejandro's heart only drives him towards good...And it has always been and will be like this...”, she says
Everyone stays silent until she recovers herself and adds, “no matter what you hear, the accusations against him, if they truly exist, are false. You will never hear anything come out of my mouth other than that. And I am, as you said, the closest person to him.”, she states.“I promise to take this into consideration...We are all influenced by the moment and by emotion and maybe on another occasion you will remember something and... feel free to tell me”, concludes the researcher.The model says in response, after throwing her hair back, “about the project, what I have to say is “yes”. It's big, it's his... and I'm not going to be part of it...Someone close to him revealed to me that, “I don't fit into the drama, unless it was in the final part, where I would play myself... I confess that I didn't understand this statement, but it doesn't matter if my name won't appear in the credits in the end, I was part of his life and no one can take that credit from me... I'm not the target o
The model opens her bag to put the card and what the detective had written and give it to her. At that exact moment, Gaspar turns around and catches her with one of her hands inside her bag. Soon she takes advantage and takes a pack of pills that she usually carries with her, inside her.“Gaspar, I need some water”, she shows him the pills.Immediately the man looks around and, upon finding the water fountain in one of the corners of the room, he heads towards it.At the moment when the lawyer is filling a disposable cup, facing away from them both, she approaches the old man and whispers, “Alej is good, but like everyone else, he also has enemies...and”, soon she becomes Compose yourself, because there is no time to finish the sentence.Moments later, in the parking lot, the lawyer helps her get into her car and as he approaches, before closing the door, he says, “you did relatively well..., but we need to talk a little as soon as possible”, in a tone that makes her uncomfortable.“I
As in a flashback, the old detective can review some words of his corrupt colleagues, where one of them said:“Santiago..., everything in life has a value..., it has a cost or a motivation. Tell me how much a fair... is worth? Some compliments like: congratulations on having done your duty well...!?But if we are paid for this and... if we are ready to receive payment for it, what value does praise have after a duty done? When you do what must be done, it is nothing more than a duty that we are morally obliged to...!”In parallel to this, investigator Santiago found himself receiving, not surgery for his wife, but what he received from a doctor and, from the health system that his taxes paid for, was a compliment.But even though at that moment the price paid for integrity was irrelevant to covering the old detective's real need. He remains intact until now, aiming to receive the agreed amount from the client who hired him, making it worth the effort for the service provided which, de
Now, since taking on this first case as a private investigator, he has enough to pay three professionals who come back every 8 hours to take care of his wife's needs at the most expensive hospital in the state.He passes straight through the double bedroom, which is more reminiscent of a hospital, and goes straight to the second bedroom where there is barely enough space for a wardrobe and, upon opening the doors, he looks for a specific set of clothes.He takes out a well-tailored black suit that he had only worn a few times, only on special occasions, and places it under the bed, then takes off the informal clothes he often wears and goes into the tiny bathroom to take a shower.When you change, you look like another man. Add a nice red tie and a pair of shiny shoes.One night he had had a nightmare where he performed the same ritual as now, but to go to his wife's funeral.He looks at one of the walls in the room and sees the last photo he took with her.The smile that became not o
“I'm sorry..., but the good news is that everything can be fixed, everything can be fixed..., even if it's just one way...If there is any unforeseen event, we will talk to you by phone. From today onwards, we won't see each other in public... I don't want you to suffer anything because of my recklessness in talking to that model and her ex-fiancé’s lawyer. The stupid thing was done by me.”, the old detective still laments.“I clearly understand, boss!”, she shows that she is willing to be guided by the old man, even though she knows that she still has a broader vision of everything that needs to be done and the necessary care.“Know that I will make an effort to overcome this situation that ended up exposing us to danger.... I still don't know how, but I have to find a way around it...Maybe releasing us from the case to the Police Department... anyway, I'll think about it.”, he says, showing concern.“I'll also think about something and, if I come up with an idea, I'll let you know,
“I got the message, honey. You can rest assured about me!I admit that it's good to hear this to be aware...Just a moment and I’ll give you the address and opening hours of the clinic”, he promises, as he opens his leather jacket and takes out his notepad.“Boss, if I finish it soon, I can go to the production company.It’s no problem for me... I could even pretend to be a fan or someone from the press, who knows...”, she suggests when offering.“It could be, but in cases like this, in my experience, the places we go to initially can take us to others successively, and if more and more is contributed to our line of investigation the best thing to do is to follow the flow or like me and my colleague called it: “the path of stones”.I didn't mention this to our contractor, but based on good investigative experiences, that's how it always worked in the cases in which Garcia and I got very far into the evidence. When we start an investigation, it guides us...What we need is similar to a
The next dayIn the same meeting place.During the days in which the two found out about the case they were supposed to investigate and were also able to meet in person, it was the time in which the suspect was on a series of recordings in different parts of the world in one of his own productions. Where he was also working as a director.Now, according to the actor's schedule, he is back in the country.The moment has come when the pair of investigators will have access to both the suspect and everyone professionally linked to him. Where, for the most part, I was also accompanying him on trips.One of the factors that led the client to believe that the third crime would happen on the same day as the others within a year was the detail of the suspect's agenda to bring him back to the same country where the last two occurred.“Now let’s start and the most challenging part of our work...?” asks investigator Rebecca or old detective."That's right! The list starts with one of the suspect
“But I see that even so, you appear to have overcome this, let’s say, deficiency in structuring.”, believes the old man.“Thank you, boss, but what you see now was the basis of a lot of therapy and medication..., which I still depend on.”, she confesses.“I'm very sorry, unfortunately I don't have much to say about this because I had a family who provided what I certainly needed...”, he reveals.“But it's okay... I'm surviving...!Thank you for listening to me, it made me feel better...”, she thanks.The old man's humble and sincere manner has always worked well in providing comfort to whoever he chooses to listen to.“My mouth doesn't always come out with the right words... and at the right time... on the other hand, my ears don't usually disappoint me...”, he acknowledges.“I understand..., but we ended up losing focus, boss. My story is another story. Let's focus on what brought us together. That's what interests us at the moment. After we help put this killer in jail, it will defi
“I don't know if it's any consolation, boss, but I was also in the corporation and at the time it also seemed like another system, or rather, it was another system.Now I'm also trying to understand... and adapt without having to take risks.In short: we don't know exactly who we are dealing with, but from the photos of the crimes I saw, even though there was an explicit degree of cruelty, which if it were made public would leave many people outraged.There is clear evidence that these crimes are being treated with total disregard by the bodies responsible for investigating them.We are not fools. Everything shows that whoever is behind all this has the power to intimidate, bribe and even silence people...”, she says, showing complete indignation.“What you are telling me makes sense and, given the fact that we, police officers, took an oath to commit ourselves to defending law and order...We must morally seek justice or justice to be done.I see that it seems that I have focused a l
“Now it makes sense that you were late. Disappeared in the blink of an eye, appeared only after the model left...”, understands the old man.Knowing that he was deceived by her was a very bad feeling for the old detective, as it went back to some episodes during his police career in which several colleagues deceived, manipulated and even accused him of treason.“I'm sorry, I'm really sorry... I even wanted to remind you about the importance of being discreet in accordance with what I had already studied and because it was one of the details highlighted by your client and, thus, justifying my absence.But I want to take this opportunity to say that there was still another factor that contributed to my sudden disappearance, which was when I noticed an agent, from the police department you were about to go to... coming towards us...”, she tries to complement and thus justifying even more abandonment to the boss. She made it clear that everything had gotten out of control.Boss, I hope I'
The two remain silent for a few moments. She worries more and more about her boss who proves to be a sprinter in a competition who already feels defeated, even before taking the first steps. Still behind the starting line.“Think about your wife who, despite being in the hands of professionals, sustained her life. This is only possible thanks to her determination to accept this case..., boss...”, she recalls.Listen This is nothing new for the old retiree.Before the assistant presented this scenario and the right thing to do, his conscience had already convinced him to do so after consulting his old heart.“But speaking of a valid motivation, which justifies commitment to a complicated and risky case like this Rebecca, tell me what motivates you to continue even though you seem to be, and in reality, are, much more aware of the complexity of the case than I am. ...?” asks the experienced investigator.“I asked myself that question too, boss.And I would have been left without a convi