The Open Coffin: Prelude to Murder

CHAPTER 17

                Glenn and his staff were having their dinner right in his campaign headquarters. After their dinner, they would proceed to the municipality of Sison for his campaign rally. Midway their dinner, he remembered Homer's call.

Glenn shifted his attention to Karen who was seated to his left, "Have your cousin contacted you yet, Karen?"

Karen swallowed the food she was chewing and replied, "Not yet, Sir. Maybe he's not coming after all."

"Do you have his number?"

"Yes, Sir. I have it."

"Give it to me. Detective Almendares might need it. Damn, I want this whole thing over! It makes me jumpy."

Karen brought out her cellphone from her bag, and accessed Rodrigo's number in her phonebook. Taking a pen and a piece of paper, she copied the number and gave it to Glenn.

"I'm gonna forward this to Homer. It might help him get those bastards," Glenn said. "I wonder why your cousin did not come. He did not even contact you by phone."

Glenn immediately sent Rodrigo's number to Homer via text message, "There you go."

In Manaoag Restaurant, De Vera told Homer and the two Dagupan City cops what he had just thought earlier, "Here's what came to my mind. If you can ring the cellphone of anyone of the people we're after, we can easily triangulate their location assuming that they are together in one place."

"I have Merly' number, but I'm afraid she has already changed it. I tried to call her twice, but I couldn't reach her," Homer explained.

But while he thus spoke, his cellphone sounded a message alert. When he opened his inbox, he found out that Glenn sent him a text message which read, "Rodrigo Valdez, 09307065719."

Homer smiled, "Well, well. Hope springs eternal from the human breast. I think we're still lucky, boys!"

Homer's display of optimism was enough for his three companions to become hopeful. De Vera stared at him, "What is it, Sir?"

"Attorney Buencamino just sent me Rodrigo's number. Here it is," Homer showed the number to De Vera and then to Viray and Aquino.

"We're still lucky indeed!" De Vera was very delighted. "Let's finish our meal, then we'll go to the van and start findin' those assholes."

"Can we really triangulate their location?" Homer asked in excitement.

"Of course, we can. We have the technology to do it," boasted De Vera. He was right.

"Okay, then. Let's hurry up," Homer was now beaming with confidence and excitement. His hopelessness and frustrations a while ago were now replaced by hope and optimism.

They finished their meals in record speed. As soon as they paid their bill, the four men hurried to De Vera's van. De Vera explained to them the procedure of triangulation.

"Okay, hand me over your cellphone, Sir," De Vera told Homer.

"Wait, I'll get Rodrigo's number first. Give me a pen," Homer copied Rodrigo's number on his palm. When this was done, he hand De Vera over his cellphone.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do: we connect this cellphone to the CPU with a charger's chord, like this. Now, I'm gonna activate the video-call program of the computer."