The Open Coffin: Prelude to Murder

CHAPTER 14

                The man whom Vincent saw was actually Homer Almendares disguised as a local tourist. In his job as a detective, Homer had to master the art of disguising because this was vital to his job. He had already impersonated a priest, a garbage collector, a professor, a nun, to name a few. Now, he was Homer the local tourist. He brought along with him a traveling bag and a camera to lend credence to his disguise.

As soon as he approached the receptionist's desk, the pretty receptionist greeted him with the most pleasant smile, "Good morning, Sir. Welcome to Manaoag Hotel. How can I help you, Sir?"

"Yes, you can help me," he said and showed him his badge, " Don't worry, I just want to ask some information." He made his tone reassuring because he noticed alarmed expression on the receptionist's face.

"To begin with," Homer said, "Do you have customers by the name of Victor and Vincent Camba?"

"When did they check in, Sir?" the receptionist asked nervously.

"How should I know? That's why I'm here asking, right?" Homer tried his best to be friendly.

The receptionist checked on the computer by clicking the search button and typing the indicated names. The result was negative.

"We have no customers named Victor and Vincent Camba, sir," she said.

Homer showed her the pictures of Victor and Vincent, "Look closely at these faces. Do you recognize them?"

The receptionist shook her head, " No, Sir. I haven't seen them before."

Homer pressed on, "This morning, around eight or eight thirty, three people checked in: two men and a woman. Who are they?"

"I'll check, sir," she said. She accessed on the computer the date April 27, 2082.

The receptionist took note of two customers who were checked in by a certain Bernard Castro. They were checked in at 8:23 AM, of April 27, 2082.

"Yes, Sir, we had two customers who checked in this morning," the receptionist said.

"Who are they?" Homer asked.

"The man's name is Leonardo Dominguez, and the woman is Myrlina Dominguez. They are husband and wife. They have separate rooms."

"Isn't that odd to you—a husband and a wife checking in but of separate rooms?"

"I think so, Sir. But we have no right to ask why they wanted separate rooms," the receptionist

said.

"Where did they come from?" Homer again asked.

The receptionist replied, "Sir, they came from Labrador, Pangasinan. They registered as local touristst."

"They were booked for how many days?"

"The one who made reservation for them said that their stay here is indefinite," she replied.

"Thank you for the information,Miss," Homer smiled and returned to his car.

He decided to change his car's location so as not to arouse suspicion, especially by the people he and the Dagupan cops were monitoring. He chose a spot where he could still see the hotel's entrance. He would inform Viray and Aquino his new location later. Then he began to contemplate on the current situation. Obviously, Victor and Vincent were using assumed names. Bernard Castro could either be Victor or Vincent. Leonardo and Myrlina could be Leonard and Merly, respectively, posing as husband and wife.