Murder In The Old Castle
191. Negotiating

Gilda was unable to move because she was firmly gripped by a sturdy arm. He was very scared, but could do nothing. The gust of breath even felt strong in his ears, making Gilda even more afraid. He couldn't be sure who was holding him from behind.

“You must not be afraid, Gilda! I know exactly who you are. You're the city's most famous news hunter. I just want you to shut up for a moment, because I won't hurt you.”

Gilda heard a whisper of a man's voice with a heavy tone in her ear. The man immediately locked the room door, then threw Gilda's body on the bed. Actually Gilda wanted to scream, but the man gestured for silence. Gilda dared not do anything.

“How are you, Gilda? Do you know me?” ask the man.

Gilda did not dare to look at the man for too long. He seemed familiar to see this man's face, but he forgot where. As a television reporter, of course he often meets new people every day. He could not remember one by one the people he met. He just nodded to answer the man's question.

“You sure you don't know me?” ask the man again.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” lick Gilda.

“Cause, Gilda. No need to panic that way. I came here with no evil intentions. I'm here to find someone and of course I might ease the police. Do you remember when a young woman was killed in Kampung Hitam a while ago?” ask the man.

“Young woman killed in black village? Yes .. yes. I seem to remember. What does that murder have to do with you?” ask Gilda.

“I am Badi, the older sister of the young woman who was killed. I still remember, at that time you were also covering the news there,” said Badi.

“Oh, so you're the sister of the murdered woman. Then what are you going to do here?” search Gida.

“Sorry Gilda, actually I can't say it. This is a secret mission. I'm here not to hurt anyone. I'm here to demand justice for my brother who was murdered. But I hope you will help me,” said Badi.

“I? What can I do for you?” ask Gilda curiously.

“You are a very popular woman in this city, Gilda. No one doesn't know you. Whatever you do is definitely attracting attention, because you are already like a celebrity. I want you to approach the killer so I can set him up. For if I were to approach myself, it would raise suspicion. If you did, it wouldn't raise a question. Easy right?” said Badi while staring intently at Gilda.

Gilda was curious. He wanted to refuse Badi's orders, but he was afraid, because he knew Badi was one of the members of The Raymond Brothers. In the past, this group was known as a mob that often acted violently. Even the police were helpless to handle them. Gilda just sighed.

“I ... I'm not sure I can do that,” Gilda said hesitantly.

“You can Gilda! Don't tell me you can't. I know your reputation. Even I was also your past, when you had a relationship with Dimas. Don't be pretentious and naive, Gilda! I know you can do that,” said Badi.

“Then ... what good does it do for me when I get the killer?”

“You got full broadcast rights from me. You can even record the seconds I executed the killer with my own hands. Don't you want exclusive news? I'd be happy to give it to you, on the terms I mentioned earlier. How?” tawar Badi's.

“Actually I am still not sure, but ... I will consider it,” Gilda said.

“Well, right now my position in this house is almost caught. If you don't mind, let me hitch a ride in this room first, and please don't tell anyone where I am. Do you mind?” said Badi.

“Gosh! I don't want to stay in a room with you! I won't tell anyone where you are, but don't stay in this room!”

“I know what's on your mind, Gilda. You must be scared of me. I will do nothing to you. I won't even touch you. To be honest, a woman like you is not my type. So you do not need to worry,” said Badi while grinning.

“But the problem .. I don't want you here!”

“Then you will miss the opportunity to get that exclusive news, and let me do it myself. Goodbye, Gilda!”

Badi stepped leisurely, about to leave Gilda sitting on the edge of the bed. The young lady looked angry. He stood up immediately.

“Wait!”

“Why? Don't you want me here?”

Gilda was silent for a moment, trying to think deeper. After he considered, Badi's offer was really interesting. Of course the news of the arrest of the killer without police interference will be very great news. He imagined that he would become a star, his name would be mentioned, it was not even possible that his photo would adorn the front pages of the newspaper. In the end he nodded slowly.

“OK .. okay. I will do the job,” said Gilda weakly.

“Smart woman! Now I believe more, besides being beautiful you are also smart. I'm sure this task will be easy for you to do. Remember that! Do not let anyone know this task. This is our secret!” said Badi.

“Actually I wonder, who exactly is the killer? Are you sure he's the killer and how do you know?” ask Gilda.

“I'll tell you the identity of the killer later. You know the reputation of The Raymond Brothers. There's nothing we can't do. This killer we have identified based on the testimony of many witnesses from our members who were secretly stalking. We even know the ins and outs of his life. So we want to execute this killer ourselves,” explained Badi.

“Oke .. okay I believe! I hope you are not wrong to identify him. So who is the real killer? Can you tell me?” ask Gilda.

Badi just grinned. Then he took out a photo from his pocket.

“I got this photo from an unnamed source, who obviously was once close to the killer. You can see this photo!”

Badi handed a photo to Gilda. This young woman was suffocated because she saw the photo she received from Badi.

“You ... you're sure he did?” ask Gilda in disbelief.

“Yes, he did. One hundred percent I'm sure he did!”

“You know him closely?”

“Near neither. But I know him,” replied Gilda.

“That's great news Gilda. You don't need to try hard to trap him. No matter how you do it, I obviously want the killer alive. You have to bring it to me,” said Badi.

“I try ...”

***

Inside the small house located behind the old house with ancient nuances, Ms. Mariyati was sitting on a chair in a state of distress. He did not stop thinking at all when the foreign figure locked him in the balcony. Actually he had tried to scream, unfortunately no one heard, because at the same time there was an unexpected incident in the back area of the house. The woman was accompanied by Mr. Paiman who was stroking her shoulders so that she felt a little calmer.

Dimas sat in front of him. Actually he did not want to question Bu Mariyati, because he knew the woman was still in a bad state. However, there are also important things that he must solve so that this problem does not drag on.

“I'm sorry, Mom. I have to ask you this. Because it's important,” said Dimas.

“Iya, Sir. Please ask. I will answer as far as I know,” said Ms. Mariyati.

“So as told by Mr. Paiman earlier, that there has been an extraordinary event when we work. Some put poison in one of the bottles of drinks that children drink. This makes me very angry and curious, who exactly did this cunning deed?”

“Yes sir, I prepared the bottles because I knew there would be filial work, so I prepared six bottles early in the morning, and all I put on the kitchen table, so that each can take as needed,” said Bu Mariyati.

“Iya is right Ma'am. We asked the girls to provide a drink. And each one took two bottles. But strangely there was one of them who took three bottles. The question is where did that one bottle come from?” said Dimas.

“Sorry Sir! I only prepared 6 bottles. Not more. If in my opinion, if only one bottle of drinking water is a very easy thing to get. In the warehouse many bottles of used drinks are empty, and someone could have taken one to fill with water,” explained Bu Mariyati.

“I've guessed it's Mom. Because the bottle containing toxic drinking water I saw was a bit different from other bottles. The packaging is like it has been used for a long time. It's really annoying. This is really sneaky.”

“Jadi ... so how, Sir?” Mr. Paiman made a sound.

“You two have nothing to fear. Tomorrow morning, Mr. Reno will come to this house, and I will return to gather all the residents. I'll reveal everything. Right now the evidence I gathered is sufficient. The important thing is that we all have to be vigilant so that tonight there is no new incident. I suspect, the perpetrator was reckless to put poison in the glass bottle because he did not act at night. And in my opinion, the poison was not directed at Rudi, but at anyone who happened to drink it. Rudi was just not lucky, because he happened to drink first,” terka Dimas.

“Good Sir. Later in the night I will be on full alert guarding the children's room. There can be no more tonight, or the nights that follow. I agree, whatever the villain does must be stopped!” Mr. Paiman said excitedly.

“Sorry, sir. Today, I cannot cook for children. Because frankly I am still shocked by the incident,” said Bu Mariyati.

“It's okay, Mom. I will order food from the outside for them. Oya, Mr. Paiman. Now let's talk about who exactly is the intruder in this house? Is he an ordinary thief who wants to take children's stuff or what? Or was there any hidden intent from that intruder?” ask Dimas.

Mr. Paiman just shook his head, because he did not know anything.

“I don't know myself either, Sir. If I look at the broken padlock, it looks like the intruder is highly trained. The padlock was broken in a very neat way, it does not seem like an ordinary person did that,” said Mr. Paiman.

“Hmm, so who's going to this house? How am I curious? Is he still in the house or out?”

“Begini, Sir. All I remember from that guy, he was a big tall guy, with a shaved run-off, but .. somehow my gut feeling was that guy wasn't evil huh, sir? He also told me he would not be evil. He's just looking for someone. If he's evil, maybe I've been killed times sir!” Bu Mariyati also explained.

“Searching someone? This is a question for me. Who exactly is he looking for here?”

Mr. Paiman and Ms. Mariyat fell silent. They had no shadow at all, who exactly this secret intruder was.

Suddenly at the front door, there was Rasty knocking on the door. Dimas opened the door immediately. Rasty looked confused.

“Sorry,Sir. Is Bu Mariyati there?” ask Rasty.

“There inside, Race. His condition is no good anymore. Why Ras?”

“Then that is ... We talk outside only yes, sir!” take Rasty.

Dimas agreed to Rasty's invitation. He said goodbye to Mr. Paiman and Ms. Mariyati, then stepped following Rasty who walked to the front yard. Dimas was curious, it seemed like there was something Rasty was about to point out. The girl then stopped in front of a bush under a tree. A foul smell was smelled from under the tree, so they had to cover their noses.

Rasty pointed to the carcass of a cat under a tree, with a body that began to rot, even maggots in the belly of the carcass of a cat. Ants are also swarming on the cat's body.

“I want to show the carcass of this cat Sir to Bu Mariyati. Because yesterday Bu Mar again looking for his lost cat. So I thought this was Missing cat Ma Mar,” Rasty said.

“I've seen this cat. Yes, his name is Great. She's the missing cat, Miss Mar. But .. how could he die like this. There's a foam scar in his mouth. He was poisoned too. Maybe the killer tested the poison on this cat before sprinkling it on the drink. What do you think, Ras?” ask Dimas.

“Wah, I dare not conclude sir. I have no idea at all about this. But if it was the killer who poisoned this cat, it would be heinous. Didn't think that he could poison this funny creature,” said Rasty.

“In this business there is no more heart and no heart, Ras. He killed a pregnant girl, let alone killed a cat. He was born a murderer, no matter what the underlying motive. Tomorrow, there's Mr. Reno. And we will reveal who is really behind all this,” said Dimas.

“Bapak already knows?” ask Rasty curiously.

Dimas just nodded with a smile. Rasty's getting curious. He can't wait for tomorrow, when Dimas and Reno will uncover who really is the perpetrator of all this chaos.

***