Chapter 1: BRUTAL CRIME
1 BRUTAL CRIME
The crime rate in the City of Manila was the lowest in decades. Drug pushers and addicts are almost virtually nonexistent. Newspapers are almost out of business for lack of bad news except for the occasional stupid scandals of celebrities with fading popularity. So, the news about a brutal massacre of a doctor and his family in Ermita, Manila came like an electric shock.
Brando, a retired marine, was having his breakfast and sipping his daily black coffee when he saw the heartbreaking news flash on TV.
“Oh, my God!” he thought.
He personally knew the victims. Dr. Glen was his neighbor many years back and when the doctor asked him to be the principal sponsor on his wedding, he gladly obliged because the good doctor saved the life of his youngest son when he accurately diagnosed the infection on time and performed a successful surgery.
Now, as tears flowed down his cheeks, his feelings turned to anger! Who could have done such ghastly deed on a harmless family? The new Manila mayor vowed to give justice to their longtime residents and ordered a thorough investigation. Initial reports stated that the suspects were robbers and members of the “Akyat Bahay” gang (group of burglars breaking into houses), because they stole all the jewelry, cash, computers, mobile phones and other gadgets. There was also a report that Dr. Glen’s young daughter Andrea was sexually abused during the burglary.
Brando realized that the perpetrators were professionals, not just petty thieves! The investigators reported that the CCTV cameras of the doctor’s house were disabled by the suspects. When they asked the Barangay Chief for a copy of recording of the street camera in front of the house, they said that the CCTV on that area was malfunctioning. So, they reviewed the recordings on the next blocks, but found no unusual comings and goings. Most of the vehicles that entered the street were from the residents, and there were no suspicious vans or trucks. The suspects could not have carried the items on foot!
The authorities are facing a blank wall, and could not find any person of interest that could be linked to the crime. But they promised to continue relentlessly to catch the culprits.
But Brando was unconvinced. He will make his own investigation and vowed to hunt the culprits one by one! He felt that there was something fishy about the CCTV recordings!
