Martha Murder Case Investigation: Day 26

Lara Murder Case Investigation: Day 6

Reyna Murder Case Investigation: 2

The investigation again seems a bit halted, but they have more clues than they need to direct themself in a way so that they could collect some evidence and hints of the case. The team of Daniel, Runo, and Maya was designated for the Martha case in the beginning, but now they have three cases to investigate and they might have a fourth if they didn’t rush the process. They spend the next few days poring over the evidence of present cases while her details are being investigated by Daniel and Runo separately, in an attempt to piece together the puzzle. There is hope, but they just need to find the right path that leads to it.

And now, as she is going through the recent case files analysis, once again, she comes across an unfamiliar name. It is a woman named Angela, a possible witness to the Reyna murder that emerged just now. She believes this serial killing to be a revenge crime. She mentions the records of Reyna’s bullying history, which were not in any of the previous files. She also mentions the bully victim, Jeana, who was apparently hurt so much in the bullying incident that she has been in a coma ever since. And she recently woke up. Angela believes that it is Jeana taking revenge on her bullies. And Reyna is one of them. 

She believes that Jeana is throwing each party involved from the roof. She also mentions that she herself could be the final target of the murder. She claimed that at the time of this bullying incident, someone else attempted to harm her. And Angela was suspected before, but never found guilty of the bullying. She claims that Jeana was in a rage and promised to murder her the second she could. The coma is documented to have happened after a month of the incident. Hence she believes that Jeana hired someone in the past to finish her as the first target of the murder before and then it would have been Reyna but the hired person suddenly vanished into thin air, only later to be found dead in the same way he was ordered to kill others, by falling from the roof. Before Jeana could do anything, a coma happened and thus all were safe. Until now, of course. 

This was the end of her testimony, but there are a few contradictions here. First, it was proven by forensics that these murders did not happen due to the fall injury. In fact, there was no fall injury, even though it might look that way to someone who would see them in that state.

Second, it is not easy to erase the records and there were no records of any case proceedings or trial at all. It won’t be necessarily impossible in today’s world where every corner can have someone corrupt and willing to sacrifice integrity for the sake of cash. But it would be hard.

Third, the forensic report did not mention any such bruises, marks, or anything else that would provide enough evidence to consider Reyna as a victim of severe bullying that could lead her to a coma state.

Fourth, the guy she talked about was a contract killer, who died in a fall accident during a shootout. Didn’t have enough connection with this case either. 

Most importantly, Angela didn’t seem to have any direct, documented evidence to prove that she knew Reyna at all. 

These are major red flags for her testimony, leading them to question her motives. But, since someone came forward, Maya didn’t want to waste the lead. There could be something that might help the process. 

With this thought, she invites Angela for a quick question-answer session. Angela agrees to the meeting, but she requests it to be at the coffee shop instead of the bureau. Angela is not suspected of anything at this point, so there is no basis to insist on her visit to the interrogation room. Legally, at this point, she has the privilege of choosing the place of comfort for her. So, Maya agrees and confirms the visit to the address she received. Later that evening, Maya and Daniel drive to the area and Daniel stays in the car, observing her from afar.

When Maya arrives at the coffee shop, she sees Angela sitting in the corner chair, nervously looking at the ground. Maya approaches her, introduces herself, takes a seat, and starts the conversation. 

Maya: Thanks for agreeing to this. I know this must have been a difficult decision for you.

Angela nods, her eyes darting around the room. Her hands rubbed each other unconsciously in an attempt to hide her nervousness. 

Maya: Don’t worry, you are helping me in this case, and that’s all. I’ll record the audio for future reference if you don’t mind. I just need a few answers.

Hearing this sentence, Angela comes back to reality and then abruptly starts talking.

Angela: Sure. Yes. I didn’t want to get involved, you know, but I knew I had to say something. I recently witnessed something, but it was never investigated because the news vanished into thin air, like it never happened.

Maya nods, letting her know that she is listening with the full intent of agreeing with her and ensuring that she feels believed. Maya leans in, listening intently. After completing the recording setup, she continues. 

Maya: So, if you don’t mind, can you let me know a bit more details about what you saw? It will really help me with this case. We all want justice for the victim.

Angela takes a deep breath and starts her story. She was returning home late that night when she saw a man lurking in the shadows. She thought it was odd, so she stopped in her tracks to observe him. And that’s when she saw him pull out a knife and approach a woman who was walking by. Angela was too scared to do anything, but she watched the incident take place in horror as the man stabbed the woman and then disappeared into the night.

Again, the details are there, but they are filled with inconsistencies and stab wounds won’t make the marks that were found on Reyna’s body during the autopsy. But since Reyna was indeed stabbed, it was possible that Angela only saw 1 part of the murder process. She is exaggerating things. Maybe her mind is playing some tricks, or she is lying in a few instances, but overall her reaction, emotions, and story match the incident. Terror can distort people’s memories. But still, this could be a crucial piece of information. Maya smiles and proceeds with a few more questions.

Maya: Thank you for telling me this. By chance, do you remember anything about the man? What did he look like?

Angela shakes her head in disagreement.  

Angela: I didn’t get a good look at him. It was dark. But I remember his eyes. They were cold and dark, like coal. He was in the corner of the building. 

Maya feels her heart race as she hears those words. Could it be the same man who had been following her? But also, if she did not see the face correctly, then how did she see the color of the eyes? It is weird as well. But that is no surprise. Her testimony is filled with inconsistencies. There is nothing that seemed to connect directly to form actual suspicion at this point. So she decides to consider this a delusion, for now. And moves forward. 

She thanks Angela again, and advises her not to leave the city, then leaves the coffee shop, deep in thought. Gets into the vehicle and shares the audio clip with Daniel. It took 10 minutes at most. So, it was quicker than they imagined. But, something is better than nothing. They drive back to the bureau and send a copy of it to the profiler. Then the team creates a documentation of all the possible truths and lies in her testimony. There are a lot of lies, but there are some truths as well.

To further investigate Angela, Runo helps with the technical footprint reports, and her background check is also conducted to see what kind of connections she may have with the victims. Is there any connection with the other leads? Is there any direct or indirect connection between the victims of this case? Who knows what else is there, waiting to be revealed? 

She knows that she has to find the details soon. Also, she needs to investigate this man as well. There could be a possibility of finding what she was thinking. 

Maybe there’s more to the story. And she needs to do it fast. She can feel things are getting worse, and she knows that she is running out of time with each passing day. Her nerves are starting to react to paranoia. Her thoughts don’t always stay positive. She is starting to have negative thoughts about her life but is pushing it to the best ability. She is strong; she believes that. She knows that. She also knows that her health will not allow her to be in this position for long enough to wait for things to settle down. She knows she would need to move faster, faster than she ever had.