click
“Andy!” I run towards him, wrapping my arms around his neck, my eyes glinting like wet pebbles. “What happened?” he taps my back softly, comforts me in his embrace. “Let’s go out for a while, gonna buy you coffee”
click
Before we leave the room, the Detective I trust appeared suddenly.
“Det…ective… Ru…maja?” I bit off each word, my eyes are on him.
I turned my head to the interrogation room. Oh they’ve finished.
We went outside the room and met Julia in handcuffs. I gave her a cold glare, while Jason pulled her closer to comforts her, Julia is in tears and sobbing hard. She cries as if her brain was being shredded from the inside. Emotional pain flowed out of her every pore. From her mouth came a cry from so raw that even attract the eyes of the strangers inside this building. “I don’t know anything!” she said.
But there will be no mercy for this woman, I hate her so much and I don’t care about what she is saying, if she’s the one to blame, then I will sue her, whatever it costs.
“Alana” she runs into me and kneel. “It’s not me, really!” she begged so hard and cries so loud, everyone is looking at us. I didn't take a single look at her, I want to give her a lesson to learn. This is a cruel world, baby. You have no choice but to face it. The prove got your tongue. I pulled the documents out from my bag, with the cold look of mine.
“Yes, I bought that car! I’ve explained to the Detective! But you are the only one that can help me! Please let me go! They will send me to the jail until they finish the investigation, I don't want to be in jail!”
I dropped my knees beside her, whispering “Until there’s a prove that you are innocent”. I can be so cold and wicked sometimes, especially to this woman. She took my happiness and my mom with the car she bought.
“I don’t even know she bought that car, Alana!” Jason hits the wall several times until his hands go numb. I give him a shrug. “Prove me”
“I don’t know. She’s innocent” he added.
“I said PROVE ME!” I raised my voice.
Detective Rumaja clears his throat and says “Ms.Julia said she bought that car, but she was with her boyfriend that night. The day during the accident, she just figured out it was her car. We have to find the further clues about her innocence”
That simple? Wait..
This is not right.
I give him a satisfied smile, “Okay” I nod my head. Then I walk out from the police officer. Vivi chased me along until the parking lot. “Ana What’s wrong?!”. I turned my body to the running Vivi.
“This isn’t right. I think they have something to do with the accident too”
Vivi’s eyes widened, she looks confused “What do you mean?”
I rubbed my forehead and says “The minimarket’s employee.. remember?” walking in back and forth. Vivi nods her head, still questioning my statement. “That’s it!” I clicked my fingers, “Detective Rumaja is involved!”
“Hey!! Sstt!” Vivi covered my mouth, “This is police officer dumb –*ss!” she whispered.
I gave her a chuckle. “Get in the car and talk” pointed with my thumb.
“Are you sure we are leaving both of the guys inside?” asked Vivi.
I shook my head and eyes narrowed, “We just talk inside here and go out after we finish”. I turned on my car so at least we can feel the air conditioner.
“That employee told me that nobody was there to check or take the CCTV footage” I explained slowly.
“So?” she still looks confused.
“Nowadays people, Vi. You know I wasted million rupiahs to take these files” I took out the envelope, “this” the CCTV footage, and the flashdisk “and this” from my handbag. “With money” lifted both of my hands.
Vivi nods her head, at least she finally gets it. “That means it has to be something behind Detective Rumaja’s investigation?”
“Yes” I nodded, “I just found it weird. Especially when Detective Rumaja closed the case without you guys knowing it. The footage they sent to you was the real one, but edited! You told me the police sent it to you right?”
“Right, right, right” Vivi nods her head, “So what are we going to do next?”
“Julia will not go to jail without me jailing her” I stated, “Let her out and I’ll talk to her”
“Sorry, Ana. After you accident, three of us were busy with your treatments. So we didn’t even notice the police’s investigation. But.. You go girl!”
***
“Thank you so much, Ana”
Again, she kneels. “Enough” I still can’t talk to her softly.
4 of us + Julia. At Andrea’s office.
“Stand up” I said. Julia stood up, her mascara is ruined, I don’t care. She looks ugly, even uglier than me. I hate her, so I’ll never give her tissue to wipe too. Jason doesn't dare to speak a word, he knows me well when I am not in my mood. Andrea was just sitting on his desk, Vivi on the couch watching us.
“Tell me everything you know about this” I pulled the copied file from the envelope, together with the pictures of the CCTV footage.
“Tell me about the car you bought on March 2018”
Julia looked down, her body is trembling, gasping for a proper breath.
“Julia.. I can’t help you if you didn’t say anything” stated Jason, “Please at least something you know. You didn’t even tell me about the car you bought. That makes me hesitate about your innocence. You became the main suspect, Julia” he added
Talking about Julia, Jason knows nothing about her previous profile. He just know her as her secretary who lives her own since graduated from high school. Jason said he doesn’t even ask about her family, since she’s capable to work very well. I believe in Jason, he dates me for 6 years and never talked about my family too. He never cares about the past.
“I…” she stammered, afraid of talking, still shaking. I fold my arms on my chest, waiting for her to talk. She has nowhere to go, besides we are talking in a private room.
“You can’t hide. Even if you go abroad, or hide under the cave” I scared her. If she keeps her mouth shut, I’ll hurt her even more.
“I bought.. that car.. for my family”
“Your family?” I quirked an eyebrow.
“Yes.. I still live in an apartment. But my dad came back from Texas with my brother.. and I bought them that car so they could travel around without cab”
“So? Do you have an idea with this car accident?” I show her the picture of me crashed by the XUV car she bought.
“When I found out the plat number, I contact my family. Turns out..” she exhales a deep breath. “They told me the car is stolen” she continued.
“Do you have a proof?” I asked.
She shook her head, “No, but I did ask my brother about it, he told me he parked the car in a building. When he came back, the car was gone”
The car was gone.. he parked the car inside a building before it's gone. So the car is stolen?
“Where’s the building?”
“I can tell you where. But please don’t drag my family into this”
Now, time to ask about her family. I can’t just trust her this way.
“Tell me, why you dad came back from Texas”
“My dad and my brother has a small restaurant there, my dad is a single parent. Once he felt old and enough, he came back with my brothers, plus their business there isn’t good anymore. They open a small restaurant here, my brother the one that manage it since my father has retired”
She looks innocent, I feel pity all of sudden but I can’t just believe her that way.
“Why do you cover the accident?”
“I know nothing about it. Once I heard the car accident, I immediately go to the police officer, to report my missing car that day, then I met Detective Rumaja”
Suspicious suspect, Detective Rumaja.
“What happen to him? What did he tell you?” I asked, still with sharp and cold looks of mine.
“He told me it was okay.. he can handle it and I am totally innocent. He told me to not worry too much about the accident”
Detective Rumaja, how can he be so sure about Julia’s innocence the day I had that accident?
“Bring us to the building”
***
XX Building?
This is the biggest bar in this city. I look at Julia once, she looked down, still trembling.
We barged in to the office. 5 of us, standing like a gangster.
“We don’t have the footage!” the man said strictly, but his eyes told us everything. I caught him lying from his eyes, that terrible blinking unwitting eye movement. I turned my head left and right to find something to trick him. Then I found the photo of the building’s CEO, a man with suit and his name under the frame, and the CEO of something in capslock. I pointed the picture, I was lucky, he looks young.
“Do you know how old is he?” I asked. The man confused, “The CEO? Maybe in his 25th or 27th?”
“Then.. he is?” I asked again. He looks confused, he is about to talk again and I know it is going to bullshit. From his eyes, I can see the wheels spinning in his head. I cut him off right away before he starts talking “That means he knows what nowadays’ technology. There’s no way for him to buy the old style CCTV that keep the footage in a memory or clips, or the automatically deleted footage at a certain time. NOWADAYS WE USE CLOUDS! WHO KEEPS THEM FOREVER! AS LONG AS YOU HAVE THE ACCOUNT” I gasped for breath, I’ve been talking without full –stop. The man stuttered, his face went pale.. “But….” He still insists to reject us, but he has out of his words. He went blank. Jason took out few red color money. “Please let me in”
“Jason!” I looked at him, I was trying to not waste any rupiahs on this man. The man nods his head. But see? Everything needs payment, even for the truth.
The footage shows us the clips of a man with black outfits appeared from the emergency stairs, we only can see his head, like maybe wearing a mask, cause I can see his hair is tucked by a thin white rubber. He took something from his pocket and then drive the car away.
“Show me the emergency’s footage” I said.
“We don’t have emergency CCTV, but this might help” he said. He types something on his keyboard. The CCTV that faced the emergency entrance.
The man came from nowhere, his face is not clear. He puts his mask on before going up to the emergency stairs.
“Show me, when he drive out to the exit”
“You mean the scanner?” asked Andrea. “Yep” I nod my head.
“I don’t know how he had this parking ticket with him” said the man.
“My brother never took out the ticket with him, because he forgets easily, he always put the ticket inside his car, near the gears, where he always puts his phone when he is driving” explained Julia.
“Nah. Then. Show the picture when he scanned the exit ticket”
This man must know something about Julia’s brother, he is so sure about the car and the parking ticket. If he took cars randomly, it might be hard for him to leave without scanning the ticket, since there’s someone patrolling around the parking lot too. He can’t trick parking technology easily, since this building is quiet modern too, under the young CEO.
“Ah, he knows we are going to have his picture, he looked away”
“Damn it” I slammed my open palm on the table.
“Eh..zoom this” Vivi said, “This” she pointed the screen.
“His hands?” I asked.
“He is wearing gloves” added Julia.
“No..this” Vivi pointed the tattoo on his wrist.
“A butterfly?” Jason quirked an eyebrow, “A man with butterfly tattoo? Is he a trans or something?” he sniffed a smile, then a cheesy snorty laugh. We aren’t joking right now, but Jason seems familiar with this tattoo, he really thinks this is ridiculous.
“Stop it” I slapped his arm. “You make no sense”.
“No time to joke Jason, it’s not funny” added Vivi, Andrea just scoffed.
“I’m not joking. But the butterfly just seem familiar!”
“WHAT?” four of us plus the CCTV man turned our heads.
Jason startled. “I have a trans friend that create this butterfly tattoo in her neck, the same butterfly pattern, and because he changed his … you know .. so I called it HER.. can’t imagine he actually threw his d*ck away, and add jelly to his chest. Ew! I can’t imagine how he bury his ex d*ck. She told me the tattoo has meanings by the way”
“This is not a stand –up comedy, Jason!” Vivi gave him a death glare.
“Okay, we got it..” I nod my head, “Now.. bring me to your trans friend”
The only clue, the exact butterfly tattoo his transgender friend had.
Wait, I don't know he has a transgender friend!
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