A Murder Just Lots Away

A private community like that of Gran Europa is probably the least likely to have crimes taking place. Well, that was what I thought before. Until one fine afternoon, after a series of seemingly normal everyday routines, I was approached by our neighbor in the said community and was told, "Na'y gipatay! (Somebody's been killed!)" At first I thought I misheard it and that he said, "Na'y namatay! (Somebody died!)" so I just brushed off the worries thinking that somebody just died of old age. Besides, I have not really been socially open with my neighbors ever since we moved here, and would just prefer to observe them from inside our house, or if I was outside, I'd try not to make an eye contact with any of them. (I got issues, I know.) But when I left to go downtown, I was shocked when I passed by a house just three lots away from ours, hearing wailings and shoutings of women who sounded like they were crying their lungs out. And just outside that house, a few people (three or four) gathered around talking in fast sentences. I could vaguely hear the words "gidunggab (stabbed)", "gi-rape (raped)" and "kawat (burglary)" emanating from that conversation. That was when my curiosity made me walk closer to the scene.

I noticed that everybody was panicking yet trying to compose himself. The wailing women were brought out of the house by a concerned neighbor, who later went away to call the police. One of the women, a 40-something motherlike figure, was without hesitance answering the questions bombarded to her by a now growing curious crowd gathering around them, including me. The other, a 20-something tomboyish woman, was still wailing and crying in utmost despair, rolling on the floor and punching the ground with her weak trembling fists. After I gathered the necessary data, I made a few helpful remarks to aid in the crime-solving before going away.

As I went away, I felt like I was in a mystery story. Honestly, I felt like I was Conan Edogawa, or some other fictional figure who seems to attract crime wherever he goes. I felt a sense of pride being able to give those hopefully helpful remarks to people. However, I also felt unsatisfied for not being able to see the scene of the crime. Despite that, the feeling of excitement provided me motivation to know more about this mystery laid out in front of me.

After a few hours, I came back and saw people carrying cameras and microphones on the front gate, unable to pass through. I hurried past them and ran towards the crime site as fast as I can. I was obviously excited. I witnessed a number of curious people now standing around our block. There were private cars, as well as police cars. A thin yellow plastic marked with "POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS" was set up around the house where the incident took place. Men in uniform were coming in and out of the the house carrying important evidences for the crime. It was already growing dim and the street lights were the ones providing aid for us to see. At this point in time, my sense of hearing became stronger than my sense of sight, and I became aware of most of the conversations taking place.

And from what I had gathered, I made this "article-like" story:

CAGAYAN DE ORO -- August 11, 2014, at around 14:00, a lifeless, naked body, that of a 27-year old college student identified as Riza Saguindan, was found in a bedroom in the top floor of a rental two-storey house in Lessandra Subdivision, Gran Europa, Brgy. Lumbia. The body was discovered on the victim's bed face down, covered with a bath towel, a pool of blood underneath, by a close lesbian friend and her mother, who claimed to have constantly contacted her through her mobile phone the night prior, to no avail.

Neighbors around the area claimed that there have been blackouts that night, and no suspicious sounds or sights were noted around the neighborhood. The immediate neighbor, however, noted that after the electricity returned, the victim's front door was open while all the lights were closed with no sign of movements inside, despite persistent name-calling. Hence, the concerned neighbor called upon the attention of a roving guard, who in turn called the resident's registered mobile number, which happened to be that of the victim's mother. Nonetheless, she insisted that her daughter was just inside the house, leaving a hint that burglary might not be a problem. The guard and the neighbor did not enter the house and closed the already-locked door before leaving. The next day, upon the discovery of the body, it was revealed by the family members that there was a male visitor whom the victim invited to have "shots" with, the afternoon prior to the murder. The male visitor was seen leaving the subdivision alone at around 20:00, carrying a bag. He rode a motorcycle which he thought was a "habal-habal" and was dropped off at SM Supermall. Incidentally, the motorcycle driver was in fact another guard on duty, who noted that the actions of the man was "hurried" and "restless" during the transport.

The Philippine National Police and Scene of the Crime Operatives are currently investigating the whole case. As of this writing, it was assumed that the victim might have died of hypovolemia secondary to acute blood loss caused by penetrating thoracic injury via multiple stab wounds. The murder weapon used by the perpetrator to penetrate her back with more than twenty stabs was believed to be a sharp icepick-like instrument. Electronic gadgets, including a cellular phone and an iPod, were nowhere to be found. There were no signs of forced entry. Witnesses are currently being interrogated, including the man in question, as to how the events in their stories unfold.