Starting from South America, speeding through the world

Chapter 33 Cause and Effect
"Please, gentlemen, help me find my son."

The air was stifling in the reception room of the El Salvador City 13th Precinct.

The paint on the wall has peeled off, revealing the cement underneath.

Yellowed files were piled on the table against the wall, and the screen of an old CRT computer was lit up.

A middle-aged woman stood in front of the counter, clutching her faded cloth bag tightly with both hands, her words filled with despair: "Please help me, even... even his corpse."

The two police officers in front of her remained unmoved.

One of them sat lazily in a chair, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, flicking a metal lighter in his hand with a snapping sound.

The woman's shoulders trembled, as if she were about to faint at any moment.

After a long pause, the smoking policeman finally glanced at her and asked dismissively, "Name?"

"Thiago, Thiago da Silva."

The policeman casually flipped through a few pages of the notebook on the table, and without looking up, asked, "What did your son do?"

"No! He didn't do anything wrong! He's not a bad person, he just got caught up in some...bad things."

"Oh?"

Another policeman jokingly asked, "Let me guess, is it drug trafficking or human trafficking?"

The woman gripped the cloth bag tightly, her knuckles turning white: "They made him run errands, but he's not a bad kid, he... he just wants to survive."

The policeman, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, chuckled and reached out to pull open a drawer on the table.

There were four or five stacks of green banknotes inside.

He tapped the money between his fingers, his tone playful: "We'd be happy to help, but resources are limited right now, so—you know what I mean."

The woman lowered her head and looked away in a flustered manner.

"I...I have no money."

Her voice trembled, but she still mustered her courage, "But... but he's one of yours, he's your informant."

The policeman, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, flashed impatience in his eyes, slammed the drawer shut, and his tone turned cold: "Madam, you can't just say things like that. Accusations without evidence are very dangerous."

The woman panicked and quickly shook her head: "No, I'm not making this up! Your captain personally chose him! My son told me himself! He wouldn't lie to me!"

The policeman chuckled and lit a cigarette: "Hypothetically speaking, and you're telling the truth, he's probably dead by now."

So please accept my condolences.

Another policeman quickly added, also appearing indifferent.

The woman's face drained of color instantly, her legs went weak, and she could barely stand.

"Madam, if you have nothing else to do, please leave as soon as possible. We have other cases to handle."

The policeman, who was smoking, showed no pity for her and waved his hand to chase her away.

The woman's breathing became rapid.

This was her last chance.

Closing her eyes, as if making a decision, she asked, "What if I have important information? Can you help me find Thiago?"

The policeman tilted his head back, exhaled a puff of smoke, stared at the ceiling, and said nonchalantly, "Go ahead and speak."

"But... sir, could you please grant my request first?"

"Either talk or leave." Another policeman tapped the table impatiently.

The woman shuddered in fright, but tried to compose herself: "I...I have information about those two wanted criminals, and I'm willing to give up my share of the bounty."

This time, the two policemen exchanged a glance, and their expressions finally changed.

The smoking policeman sat up straighter and looked back at the woman: "Go on."

The woman swallowed hard: "My youngest son, Roberto, saw that Asian man in the Tabajar district on the day the arrest warrant was issued."

"If that were all, it wouldn't be useful; we would have known that already."

“No, that’s not it! Roberto knows a Mexican man who said that the two men were picked up by the Mexican man after they left the hotel.”

"When did this happen?"

"Around five o'clock in the afternoon." The two policemen became noticeably serious.

"What's that Mexican man's name? What do you know about him?"

"Everyone calls him Spring. Roberto doesn't know much about him, only that he arrived in El Salvador about a year ago."

“He had at least three accomplices who would disguise themselves as taxi drivers, pick up victims, and then rob and kill them.”

"Madam, the clues you provided are still too vague. There is no name or appearance, making it difficult for us to take effective action based on them."

"I...I still have his phone number."

"telephone number?"

The woman shakily took a slip of paper from her cloth bag and handed it over.

The policeman, who was still smoking, took a look and then stubbed out his cigarette in the mineral water bottle.

He gave his companion a look to calm the woman down, then got up and went upstairs.

Pushing open the door to the office around the corner, I saw a young man in a vest sitting in a worn-out leather chair, staring intently at his computer.

Without wasting words, the policeman slammed the note on the table in front of him: "Check this number."

The young man was startled and hurriedly closed the page that had been muted.

"Dude, could you give me a heads-up next time?"

He complained awkwardly, shifted his posture, and then picked up the note to glance at it. "What's this?"

"Something that can make you a lot of money."

"Making it so mysterious."

The young man shrugged, placed the note next to the keyboard, tapped a few times, and brought up the telecommunications database query interface.

Data began to pop up on the screen, and his gaze gradually became focused as he rapidly scrolled the mouse, filtering through the activity records of the numbers.

After a few seconds, he shrugged: "Unfortunately, the prepaid card wasn't registered with my real name."

The police officer sat down at the table, clearly unsurprised.

"but."

The young man frowned and continued typing: "It appeared in a case record six months ago."

"What case?"

"An armed robbery occurred near an abandoned factory in San Cristovan."

"The police arrested two suspects at the time, but the main culprit was not found. Several numbers were stored in their phones, one of which was this one."

"What's the current situation at that factory?"

“At the end of last year, someone reported that the place was being used as a temporary hideout by gangs, but when the police went to search it, no one was there.”

"However, in recent months, people have heard gunshots there again."

"The bureau didn't take it seriously and had someone dump all the bodies out of our jurisdiction in the middle of the night."

"Ha, the crime-solving rate, right?"

The policeman slapped the young man on the head in an annoyed manner.

"Business is important. Are there any other clues?"

"That's all."

After the young man finished speaking, he thought for a moment and then asked, "Do I need to report this to my superiors? Apply for court permission to access the CDR?"

Upon hearing this, the police officer was caught in a dilemma.

Report it up; the credit and reward definitely won't be yours.

If we don't report it, he can't handle all of this by himself.

After hesitating for a long time, the police decided to first break the news to the captain, ask for some resources, and go to the abandoned factory to scout it out.

If I can find some clues, even if they have nothing to do with me, I can still show my face in front of the colonel.

(End of this chapter)