Marcelo continued to study Pedro’s face.
“What do you see, Marcelo?”
“Strong swift jabs to the eyes. Lightning fast. The nose was broken first.”
I went over and stopped at his side. “How do you think the nose was broken?”
Marcelo raised his arm up in the air and then slashed it down fast. “The killer slammed his backhand into his face. Almost as if. . . the killer was walking away and then decided against it, and quickly turned around to attack.”
“Pedro possibly said something that he shouldn’t have and the killer responded with an attack.”
“Correct.” Marcelo leaned over and peered at Pedro’s half-opened mouth. “His teeth were kicked out, not punched.”
Exactly.
“After the attack with the backhand, Pedro must’ve fallen back. Then, the killer gave a fast kick to his face.” Marcelo shook his head. “Pedro hit the ground. The killer lowered to him and began punching the shit out of him. Left eye. Right eye. Back and forth. Over and over.”
“Lots of hate.”
Marcelo’s face showed that he understood where I was going with this.
I smiled. “And so, your thoughts on who could have done that?”
Marcelo turned away from Pedro and glared at me. “You know exactly who could have delivered that backhand and lighting fast kick. But you didn’t have me come for this did you.”
“Say the name. Please. I have to know if what my thinking is correct.”
“Lei. But, he couldn’t have done this.”
I pulled my hands out of my pocket and held them out. “Why not?”
“Too obvious.”
“Lei is pretty obvious with his emotions.” I shook my head. “Everyone knows he is in love with Chanel.”
“She doesn’t.”
“She does. She would have to be blind not to.”
“Then, Lei would know that everyone would blame him if Pedro were discovered dead.”
I gestured to the door. “Somebody bust through the door and caught them by surprise.”
“That’s very Lei.”
I pointed to Pedro. “I don't think he planned on killing Pedro. He clearly walked in on something.” I pointed to the high heels in the corner. “Some other woman was here.”
“I get what you’re saying. Lei argued with Pedro and walked away. Pedro said something stupid. Lei spun around with the backhand.” Marcelo sighed. “Romeo is gone. Like you, Lei was close to Romeo. He’s mourning too and worried for Chanel. He fucked up.”
“And he probably believes Pedro should be taking care of Chanel, not fucking with a whore.”
Lei would have never killed Pedro while Romeo was alive. Chanel’s marriage to the Coffin Cheaters’ leader, Pedro, ended a 30-year beef between families and solidified peace in the West. Meanwhile, Chanel kept her last name as was the Killer Crow way.
While Pedro never hit her, he cheated a lot.
However, Killer Crows ruled by loyalty and tradition. Chanel’s marriage would only end, when one of them was in a casket.
“Fucking Lei.” Marcelo whistled. “We can’t take this shit to Chanel. She’s still burying Romeo.”
“That's why I brought you here. What should we do?”
“You mean you don't have the answers?”
“Enjoy this moment.”
“Naw. There’s nothing to enjoy.” He shook his head. “Now we're really fucked.”
Silence filled the space.
Marcelo and I studied Pedro’s corpse.
Soft beeping sounded behind me. Then, a harp’s melody played.
“Have some respect for the dead, Viktor.” I frowned. “Put the game away.”
“Sorry, boss. I’m close to level 8.”
I looked at Marcelo. “You need to keep your people on Lei and watch him. We can’t have any more bodies. I’ll handle Chanel.”
“Fine with me. I’ll take Lei over Chanel any day. Less blood with my choice. What are you going to tell her?”
“Between you and me, Lei did this. To everyone else, Pedro is another victim of the serial killer.”
“So, we’re going to lie to Chanel?”
I would have to somehow keep pictures of Pedro’s corpse away from her. She was smart. It would take her seconds to see the difference and come up with my same conclusions.
“We must lie, Marcelo. What do you think Lei will do if we tell the truth? Chanel would have to go after him. Lei wouldn’t hurt her, but he would come for us. There would be war all over Paradise City.”
Marcelo shrugged. “If the North and South were united, we could probably handle them.”
“I never go to war based on a probably.” I placed my hand on his shoulder.
He frowned at my hand on him.
“Have your people hide the body until I’m ready to tell Chanel?”
“What?”
“The Killer Crows will be watching me and making sure that I’m serious about finding Romeo’s killer. If I do it, they’ll discover Pedro’s death before we want them to.”
“This will cost you.”
“Lei will talk to you, seeing if you know. You give him no hint that he completely botched this copycat serial killer job. And keep your people on Lei without him knowing.” I walked off, placed my hand in my pocket, and touched the king piece, twisting it between my fingers. “I’ll try to deal with everything else.”