Hector couldn't believe what he had to deal with. True, as the first, head sergeant, experience had made his work effortless. But right now, the man in front of him made it somewhat challenging.
The cold, damp smell of the interrogation room created a tense atmosphere for everyone involved. After receiving two files from his assistant, Hector requested to be alone. His assistant gave him a questioning glance before leaving the room, allowing Hector to handle everything on his own.
The door shut. The air was still tense, yet Hector took immediate action. Scanning the files like child's play, he suddenly stopped, stared at the page for a few seconds, then placed the paper in front of the stranger.
The man in no state of mind just stared at the table, with saliva drooling from his mouth. His brown, dead eyes never left the paper, given that he was a drug addict, Hector had enough idea that the man could at least read.
"I'm gonna go straight to business". Hector flooded his arms, knowing that the man was completely harmless. "Where is 000?".
[000 means: zero zero zero, as zero spelled three times].
The man said nothing; it was expected since he hadn't uttered a single word since he was brought here. Hector sighed. He leaned forward towards the paper and pointed at a specific trait.
"It says here you used to work as an official drug pharmacist, running a small pill store in 'Smile Bright Carecenter', a place that promised parents to cure their abnormal children".
Still not a word from the man, he sat there, rigid as stone. Hector kept speaking, "We were supposed to investigate that care center since the third generation was sponsoring it. Those golden spoons said that place was some choice for their next heir. You know, to continue the generation, but the thing that shocked us more was the fact that the center was getting rid of kids, wait, not kids, they were more like treated as lab rats".
Finally, the man's eyes looked directly at Hector. 'Now that's a response,' Hector thought, and continued. "They were treated like trash, parents weren't allowed to call their kids, and murder always met the end of them. Say, you used to work there, right? Tell me, how was it?".
The man just blankly stared at Hector, his hands trembling, sweat pouring from his forehead, and constantly blinking. At that moment, Hector knew he had hit the right mark.
"I'll take your silence as 'good', knowing the fact that you used to test opium on children. You used to love doing that, right? Well, your past, that's not what I'm after. 000, the girl who caused a huge rebellion seven years ago, was coming after you, wasn't she, but then she let you go. Why?".
The man became stiff as a rock. Seconds later, he trembled again, but this time it was intense. He began to bite his lips and scratched his fingers till they began to bleed. This became disturbing to Hector as the man's drool somehow carried blood, and the fact that he was staring at Hector as if this was intentional.
Hector frowned, knowing this was too much for the man. He begins to close the files and starts to stand up, but finally, the man spoke.
"Deal", he said in a low voice.
"I'm sorry, but could you please repeat that?".
"She said to make a deal". The man said with his dry voice.
"What kind of deal, what did she say?" Hector asked immediately.
The man took a deep breath and said, "I don't know how, but she found me. Even in my rags, she found me. At first, I didn't recognize her, but after she, she_".
The man began to breathe heavily, his pupils constricted, and his face began to distort. "Hey! Take it easy". Hector quickly fetched the man a glass of water. He drank slowly and calmed down.
"You good?". Hector asked in his calmest tone.
"Yes".
"You think you could continue?".
"I think".
The man took another deep breath and said, "When she found me, I didn't recognize her first, but when I saw the gleam of blue hue in her eyes, I knew it was her".
"Blue hue, got it. So about the deal?".
"She told me about that time, seven years ago, she said that I got lucky and the others were in a much worse state than I am. She said she would let me go if I did something for her."
"And what was that?". Hector grew curious.
"She told me to drive away, down the south, over the bridge, and fall into the narrow alley".
'Driving south', 'Over the bridge', 'Narrow alley'.
Those were the places where Cora's car caused a huge ruckus. But why did she tell him that? Much to Hector's surprise, the man did carry out specific orders, but those were too specific.
Hector, keeping his head down, trying to sum up the clues, 'Driving south', 'Over the bridge', 'Narrow alley'. What does it all mean?
He took a page from the file and wrote down the words, 'Driving south', 'Over the bridge', 'Narrow alley'. He constantly stared at what he wrote. 'Driving south', 'Over the bridge', 'Narrow alley'. And then it hit him.
He removed some words, knowing where it was leading, and was only left with: 'South', 'Bridge', 'alley'.
South Bridge Alley, the abandoned building, the place where third third-generation Galvic made his visit.
"Shit".
"What happened?" asked the man, who looked puzzled.
Hector finally raised his head up, tired from the constant troubles the third generation had bestowed upon him, and said, "I'm gonna quit my job".