Serial Codes

The Bullet Code: Digits through the Signal

Examining the case myself made my stomach full. George didn't treat me as a suspect for now but an associate because of the extraordinary points I brought. The idea excites me in justifying my friend's death rather than the pleasure of mystery-solving.

"I will summarize the infos we got for now," George exercised his knuckles and afterwards concentrate on our notes, "The watchman of the Apartment where your friend stays was deeply asleep. All the lights of Apartment has been turned off except for first and second floor's balcony and some rooms. No clues indicating burglary. The corpse is facing down the floor. A small hole on his lower back indicates he was shot but there is no sign of gun. There's a 4-inch space between the limit of his feet to the edge of a cabinet with books forming 'U' on top. Near the left foot of the dead is a table with a suspended telephone containing a perpendicular line and a number."

"The hole and blood spatter on his rear body part only mean that he was shot from his back," I emphasized, "This is supported by his horizontal body falling away from the gunpoint, thus lying down on the floor backwards. I mean, if he was shot in front then his back should be on the floor instead of his front body."

He focused his gaze to think, "But it doesn't make any sense to have a person shot him in a 4-inch space. Pwede nating isipin na nilipat ang bangkay niya bago ito iwan kung saan ay nasanggi ng suspek ang telepono. If that was the case, then the killer himself put the number. However, what is the meaning of the message he left?"

"But George, there is also another possibility as you see," I pushed my glasses to produce an effect, "The books. They're arranged in a different manner, out of commonplace."

I anticipated that we will be both intrigued by the mystery. He was a creator of such, after all. Maybe if he filtered information out of it, he will use it for own purpose. It's the same way he studied the 'Lee' cases. He used those cases to distract a comrade of mine. Now that I think about it, the reason why I'm still here can mean that he plots a competition against my detective friend or George's archnemesis.

Surely it's the cause why he begged his Dad and muster his efforts into closing the crime. He is a type of person who won't exert muscle for another person's sake because he only thinks about his own interests. This hidden agenda of his can be a benefit to me who believes on acquiring the deserved justice of a friend.

"We can't ignore it, I know."

I waited for him to suggest another direction to look at. The sound of phone in his pocket distracts our train of thinking. At a single nod and writing on a piece of notepad, George end the call.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Dad's squad. They got the crime scene files I requested and we can access the crime scene now. The neighbors who called the police knows who you are so protect yourself and wear a mask or cap when going there. They also able to obtain the fingerprints of the telephone and Dain's fingerprints on his cellphone and it matched. They didn't get any new information from his phone except for your last texts. It was confirmed that he was shot from his back. No fingerprints over the place other than Dain and yours. Also, they said they find something that might interest us." my company reported with satisfaction.

He reached for one butter bread, "Men should have energy when tracing the steps of a dangerous criminal."

His words made me reflect. A dangerous criminal, huh?

I almost sprang when an idea flew across my mind.

I grabbed my phone and texted the person which appears to be of great help in this situation. When I'm done, I returned my gaze to George, "Can I also request for the names of Dain's neighbors?"