No enemy.
Detective Dane wrote in his small brown leather notebook. He wasn't going to lie, the interviews were getting pointless. They talked to at least twenty people; Lora's family, friends, and students with whom she had interacted, but they didn't get a single piece of information that would help the case move forward. All of them said the same things.
She was friends with everyone.
No one could ever dislike her.
She was a sweetheart.
So why? What devil could do that to her?
Could it be just a random kidnapping? Or maybe she was mistaken for someone else?
Dane was already considering that possibility. But the way she died was vicious and whoever did it might have some resentment towards her. If not, then they are possibly just completely insane. Hundreds of thoughts ran through the detective's mind. He didn't expect that his first case would be this disturbing.
"Tell the next one to come in. Why are you spacing out?" Dane snapped out of his thoughts when Arthur spoke. He mindlessly stood and headed to the door.
"Good morning, Sir." The student immediately greeted the detective once he entered the room.
"Detective Dane." He stuck out his hand for a handshake which the young man gladly accepted.
"Lorenzo del Rosario"
"Please sit down." Lorenzo glanced at the middle-aged man standing behind the rookie detective. The older's gaze was cold and darted through the soul as if he was trying to strip you until you reveal your every fault. Lorenzo managed to return a small acknowledging smile.
"He's Detective Arthur."
Arthur nodded, keeping his face neutral. For the past hours, he mostly observed the whole investigation. He would look at the students intently to somehow intimidate them and occasionally ask questions if needed.
"You must have waited too long." Detective Dane said while flipping the pages of his notebook.
"It's okay. Anything for Lora."
"You're friends with Ms. Lim, right?"
"Yes, we were close friends."
"Let's cut to the chase. One of the students we've interviewed said that you are more than friends." Arthur interfered.
"That's not true. We were not more than friends. She did tell me about her feelings. A lot of students witnessed that moment." Detective Dane looked at the glumness in the young man's eyes while recounting that moment and let him tell his side.
"And I told her that I don't like her like that. Lora is a good person and she accepted it and after that we still remain friends."
"Can't you think of anyone who could've done this?"
"No, I don't have any idea. She isn't the type who would have animosity with anyone."
"Tell us where you were last Friday night, around eight in the evening."
"I was at home with my family."
"Do you have someone who would testify aside from your family?"
"Our helpers. And we have CCTVs at home if you want to check. I would gladly provide a copy of the footage."
*******
Dane got in the passenger's seat of Arthur's 1970 Mercedes. The senior detective puffed another smoke outside of the window before starting the car engine as his colleague leaned back in his seat trying to get comfortable. The younger sighed, inhaling the scent of the new cognac leather seats Arthur recently customized. He always thought that his older partner was wealthy or living a comfortable life as they always say. Judging from how the old guy dresses, walks, and his whole aura. But these things don't match how barbaric Arthur speaks sometimes. Dane once wondered why Arthur would stay as a detective in a town like this when he should retire and go to one of those luxurious cruises. Their colleagues mentioned that his partner loves his wife so much that he agreed to stay here because she wants to.
"Who do you think did it?" Arthur asked after puffing a smoke one more time.
"We haven't even get any lead. But I don't think it is one of them." Dane was pertaining to the people they have interviewed.
Detective Arthur grunt, "I think Mr. del Rosario has something to do with this. If not, he knows something. He's suspicious of me."
"He doesn't strike me as someone who could do something heinous."
"Why? Because he looks decent, clean, and from a wealthy family?" Arthur smugly asked. "Kid! Trust me. I've been in this field for too long. I already witnessed a lot of insane people. And you'd be surprised how many wealthy and honorable people are just loose in the head. It could be as simple as him wanting to take advantage of the girl because she liked him but got rejected. They argued and then... he killed her."
"What about the CCTV?"
"That could easily be tampered. He's rich. He could hire someone to alter the video. A person could do anything unthinkable as long as they have money."
This was Dane's first case since being Arthur's partner. They don't have any useful information to make the case move forward. Dane knows that solving the case would be a benefit for his career. Otherwise, it would be a problem since Lora's family aren't just ordinary people. So here he was in their office giving his absolute best to create a case board. His red marker squeaked as he wrote "Victim" under Lora's photo, which they got from her social media accounts. Beside it was a photo of her smiling sweetly were photos of her dead body in a trash bin along with other evidence.
*******
After snatching the papers from the printer, Dane marched to Arthur's station and slid the case record to his desk.
"There was this case two years ago. A woman around seventy was found in an abandoned area in Leviste." The sudden drop in the older detective's expression didn't escape Dane's eyes.
"Did they catch the killer?"
"Never heard of this case?"
"Never." Something was telling the young detective that Detective Mariano did.
"No one saw someone dumping the body. There was no lead about the suspect and the investigation lasted for a year before until the victim's only family lost hope. It is now a cold case."
Arthur sighed. He caught a glimpse of the clock, it was already half past eight in the evening.
"We are not sure if it is connected. Chances are it isn't. Go home and rest, we can continue the investigation tomorrow." Mariano stood up and picked up the leather jacket from his seat. The old man scanned his table for the last time before taking his flask, half empty of whiskey, and finally left.
Dane watched the whole thing before settling in his chair. He ran his hand through his hair. The frustration and exhaustion started to creep in. He stared at his monitor and then at the case board he put an effort into making, still wondering.
Who the fuck are you?
*******
"It's Lorenzo! Who else could it be?" Nadia answered with conviction when Elissa asked Olydia who she thinks is the hottest guy in their university. Nadia was pouring popcorn into a huge bowl sitting on the kitchen counter. Olydia immediately shot Nadia with a you-know-me-very-well look which she earned a shrug in return.
They were on the topic of how their cafeteria should add cream puffs and Ben & Jerry's when Elissa suddenly switched to how she should get into a serious relationship and just stop flirting around, leading them to the question. Sometimes Olydia would have a hard time keeping up with the topics.
Movie night in Olydia's apartment is their thing. And it was Elissa's turn to choose a movie. Of course, her friends knew that it would be some gory film, if not a murder mystery or something similar. If it's Olydia, she would definitely pick a Nicholas Spark. Nadia has questionable taste, Elissa once said, as it would always puzzle her and make her ask questions half of the time during the movie.
"I bet the husband did it. It's always the spouse, you know." They were forty minutes into the movie when Olydia voiced out her thoughts. This seemed to ignite Elissa's excitement when she started shifting in the bean bag twice her size, trying to get more comfortable while spewing her theories. Their ballerina friend was just watching them getting too invested, nodding to whatever was making sense to her.
*******
Lorenzo was busy tapping the keys to his laptop. Across him was Olydia who was squeezing her brain for ideas she could suggest to make the book fair more interesting. She didn't want the man to think that she was useless. Olydia wanted to impress him. She had been thinking that this might be heaven's giving her the chance to get close to him, so she wouldn't let this go to waste.
"Do you want to take a break?" Lorenzo averted his attention from his laptop, and Olydia was caught off guard. She was staring. She did try not to, frustratingly staring at the blinking cursor on her tablet's screen. She had listed three activities that they could include at the fair. Maybe an opening performance or a speech by famous local authors. Lorenzo on the other hand was listing all the publishers they could contact to put up a booth to sell their books.
"Yeah, sure. We could also discuss our ideas after." Olydia suggested.
"Sounds good," Lorenzo, seemingly contemplating something, looked at Olydia while she was putting away her stuff. "Do you want to go for a coffee?"
Olydia stared at him, eyes gleaming, and nodded "Sure!"
They went to Catalia Café. It's a good thing it is inside their University because it would be a hassle walking in the rain and get their shoes wet. But the weather was perfect and cozy for a cup of coffee and small talk, Olydia muffled a smile at the thought of them together.
Lorenzo settled in his seat, after placing their order on the table. "So... are you enjoying this?" he asked. Olydia pursed her lips, widened her eyes, she let out an unsure hum.
Did he mean hanging out together?
"You know this whole book fair thing."
Oh! Right, the book fair.
"Or is it stressing you out?" Though he let out a soft chuckle, he looked somehow apologetic. Olydia speculated that Lorenzo could be feeling sorry for dragging her to help him, which she was more than willing to do.
"No! I'm enjoying this. Just like what I said. I love books, so I'm excited about how this event will turn out." It's true. She was genuinely enjoying it more than she should, whatever the reason was, she still got to spend time with him.
"So tell me, aside from books, what are other things Olydia is interested in?" Lorenzo had no business asking the question like that, saying her name like it wouldn't affect her to the very core. It's not his fault though, he didn't know about her gushing over him for years. This made Olydia having difficulty to talk, it was nerve-racking. She admits that she could be a little awkward when she's alone with him, but she's glad that Lorenzo was making an effort to make conversation.
"Hmmm... Just typical, I like hanging out with my friends. Mostly study whenever I'm alone. There's not much interesting going on with my life."
"No, I like that. I like that you love studying. Not most people do."
"So where do you usually hang out with your friends? Coffee shop? Bars?" Lorenzo curiously asked, trying to find out more.
"We tried to go once. It turns out, it wasn't our thing. But we always try new cafes. Sometimes movie nights, Elissa, one of my friends, loves True Crimes. Then, we always go to the bea—"
Olydia paused. She thought she must be blabbering too much as she noticed Lorenzo was just staring at her. But it wasn't bad. He was looking at her— lips curving upward and a pair of eyes looking like they were watching their favorite film.
Stop being delusional, Olydia. She reminded herself.
"Sorry, am I talking too much?" Olydia had to ask to prevent herself from drowning in her mirage thoughts.
"Olydia, I asked you. That means I want to know you."
Huh. Does he want to know me?
He's just being friendly.
But will it be too much to think that he might be interested in me?
Because if he's not, he wouldn't invite me here. We can have our breaks separately.
Olydia, maybe he's just feeling bad because he dragged you into this.
Right!
Lorenzo might have noticed that she was lost in a trance "I mean, if we're going to work on the book fair together..."
"Yeah... of course! We should at least get to know each other, right?"
"Right!" Lorenzo answered, fondly looking at the woman in front of her— not in a romantic way, not yet maybe. Meanwhile, Olydia was silently praying that someone will kidnap her or drag her away from there because what the fuck was she thinking?