Fiction Short Story: Marissa’s Mystery Letter

(This is a short story fiction. Any name, a place like the real person or place, is only coincidence. This is only the product of my imagination.)

It was Sunday. Father Eriberto was in the middle of the morning mass. Suddenly a rapid gunshot fired broke the solemnity of the Holy communion. The people inside the church were shocked. Everyone rushed to the front door, others are at the door leading to the convent. Babies were crying. The senior citizens were praying so hard. Some women got fainted.

The chief of police was attending the mass when the incident happened. He was alert and rushed to the source of the commotion at the back of the Church, near the men’s comfort room. Chief Crisostomo saw a bloody middle-aged man, bathing with his own blood. Chief didn’t recognize Dione right away, a hotshot businessman in the city of Buena. Dodoy is what Dione known in the city, received multiple gunshot wounds to his body. The fatal shot was at the back of his head. His head was blown up by the unknown caliber of a gun.

Half an hour later, other gunshots were heard at the public plaza. The responding group of policemen in the Church incident hurried to head to the public plaza. A lady in a yellow dress was seen running so fast from the scene of the crime. The police stopped her, but she evaded them and wasn’t seen in the crowd of curious residents of the city.

The victims in the plaza were identified as Yole, Lito, and Buscardo. They were the business rivals or competitors of the slain Dodoy. The investigating police officer got no lead. Nobody saw what exactly happened. Or they were afraid to pinpoint the killer.

Weeks had passed and even months the police faced the blank wall with no leads.

The wife of Dodoy sought the help of the NBI to investigate the death of his husband and so the family of Yole, Lito and Buscardo did seek justice too for the three. Nobody would dare to get involved in the killing of Dodoy and his three business competitors.

The police force seemed to be inutile about the case. The people cursed the police for their incompetence. Chief Crisostomo was ashamed to walk down the street. He was looked down by the people as a lame duck. His police were only cracking down the small vendors and the like, also, kids who are selling balut were apprehended. The 12-year-old kid, Marissa, was one of those kids being caught by the police. Marissa begged for her release because her mother is sick and she needs to attend to her. She had to go home. She had to feed her mother. Her income from selling balut wasn’t enough to feed her two little brothers.

Marissa was sitting on the broken wooden bench near the record section of the police station. She’s crying. Chief Crisostomo noticed the girl, gave him two hundred pesos to buy the medicine of her mother and sent her home. Marissa took the money and thanked the chief. She hurried home. Her two brothers came running towards her, crying. “Wala na si Nanay, Nang!” (Sister, our mother passed away!).

Marissa had no choice but to accept it. Marissa doesn’t know any relatives in the city. Her father has abandoned them several years. She got no news about her father. She had to work hard especially during night time selling balut. Some night, Marissa had a better sale. It was almost early in the morning when she went home. But before she got home, she passed the Church. She prayed to the Lord in thanksgiving. Then she proceeded to police station. She wanted to see the Chief of Police.

Without giving due courtesy, she hastily went inside the office of Chief Crisostomo. The Deputy barred her from entering the Chief’s office. Crisostomo was still asleep after a night of patrolling and roving the city.

Without saying a word she tricked the Deputy and got inside the Chief’s office.  She left her basket of five pieces of balut in it on top of the table and hurriedly marched outside. It was timely that Chief Crisostomo was awakened. He saw the basket and emptied it. To his surprise, he saw a piece of folded pad paper inside the basket and the five pieces of balut. He carefully read it and then rushed outside the building to look for the bearer of the basket. He had an idea who brought the basket inside his office.

“Where is Marissa?” asked Chief his Deputy.

“Marissa was in a hurry and left the building.” the Deputy answered the Chief.

Suddenly there was a big crashing sound near the area. It was several meters away from the Police station. The Chief ran to the scene and he saw a kid lying on the street with a broken head. It was Marissa who was ran over by a speeding car.

After that gruesome accident met by Marissa, the city of Buena became peaceful. The killing of Dodoy and the three businessmen, Yole, Lito, and Buscardo was solved. The mastermind was arrested and was found guilty. He served the sentence of Reclusion Perpetua or a life sentence.

It was Marissa’s letter that led to the solution of the crime. The kindness of Chief Crisostomo was repaid by Marissa in offering her life. Marissa’s two brothers were adopted by Chief Crisostomo.

The Mystery Letter

The letter contains the name of the drug lord in the city and his hideout. The letter pinpoints the exact location of the drugs which Dodoy took possession of. Domingo is the untouchable drug lord in the city. He wants to get those drugs which were accidentally dropped from his service car in front of the Church one night. It was Dodoy who found them and hid them at the back of the Church, near the men’s comfort room. Yole, Lito and Buscardo knew that. They informed Domingo who in turned liquidated Dodoy who is about to get inside the comfort that Sunday.

Using Marissa’s info from the letter, the police operatives recovered 5 kilos of prohibited drugs at the comfort room manhole. The drugs were sealed in a plastic bag addressed to Domingo Saladan. In that same day, they arrested Domingo in his residence at Hda. Maria Luisa by the virtue of warrant of arrest issued by the city judge.

Conviction of Domingo

The woman in yellow who was seen running scared coming from the crime scene in the plaza turned out to be the state witness. She was Elisa Ramirez, the younger sister of Marissa’s mother. She saw how Domingo killed Yole, Lito and Buscardo inside the plaza, having a drinking spree. She was sitting in one of the benches in the plaza, a stone throw away from the crime scene. She clearly saw Domingo spraying bullets to the unprepared trio. They died instantly.

Justice was served. Marissa became the heroine, saving her city from the drug lord. from the menace of the drugs. Chief Crisostomo was awarded by the City Mayor for his courage in keeping peace and order in the city. The medal he received was hanged at Marissa’s tomb in the public cemetery. It was a token of her heroic deed for her city.

image by Geralt/Pixabay/Public Domain