Because the crime was punishable by reclusion perpetua, the Garcias could not use bail and Felix would have to stay in jail for the duration of his trial all the way to sentencing.
Not that they could have afforded it even if there was bail.
They could barely afford to keep their family afloat during this time. Just like the Tariqs, their family consisted of more than a dozen people. The difference was that they were mostly adults or teenagers, so the cost of living per person was significantly higher.
And their combined wages were just barely enough. Not many were fluent in English and had blue collar jobs.
Because of this, Felix was seen as the hope of their family. The only one to be a straight A student, to achieve a scholarship in Holmwood University. They had put all their expectations for a better life on him…..
And now this happened.
"Please help us, Sir! My son could not do this, he is innocent!" Mrs. Garcia begged.
Roland tried to calm her down. "It's fine, Ma'am. It had just been the preliminaries. We still have a long way to go in this retrial, but for today, I say that what mattered was we made a good impression to the judge and the jury."
"I do not understand…. W-When will this be over?" She was weeping.
Roland just did his best to calm her down. "Soon, Ma'am.I promise. Where is Mr. Garcia, by the way?"
"Sniff…. He needs to work because we have no money anymore. He is so tired, he could not even look at Felix anymore…. I know he believes in his son but it's been so many months since he was in jail….."
Roland's heart clenched for this poor family. "It's going to be alright, Ma'am. How about you go home for now? I will visit Felix. There's some things I need to ask him."
Once he had managed to comfort the weeping mother, he set out to follow the police cars that brought the similarly devastated boy in handcuffs to the detention center.
Felix had done his best in the preliminary trial, but it was difficult to convince people with hard evidence against him.
The murder took place at 11:57 pm. It was in one of the dark alleyways in the more isolated parts of the streets. There was a CCTV camera on the main street, but they experienced a malfunction at that time. Even the street lamps went out, and it was a new moon night with no stars in the sky.
The victim was Dahlia Nieves, a fellow student and friend of Felix Garcia. They were going to the same school, and often took the bus together. Then they would walk the way home together as well. Dahlia was a beautiful girl, and she already had a boyfriend, so police were considering whether it was a crime of passion or carefully planned revenge.
But Felix claims to have no interest towards the victim beyond platonic. He doesn't have any history of mental disorders or any of his family.
Still, he was found sleeping on the dumpsters with hands full of blood that matched the victim's. He was holding the murder weapon, the knife that slitted Dahlia's throat and peeled off the skin of her face.
After everything that Paul told him and the circumstances of the crime, Roland became even more certain that Felix was innocent…
And that the true perpetrator may not be of this world.
It was easier for someone with money like him to arrange a meeting with a suspect for a heinous crime like this. The tabloids were already going crazy, so the police force was stricter on who to let in. But with Roland, everything was always fast.
Just bearing the name of Faust could get him almost everything he wanted.
Almost.
The truth was harder, and required real effort beyond financial ones.
He was now seated in front of the 19 year old boy accused of murder, and even grievous desecration of the dead. Felix looked nothing like that, as he shifted his large and bulky frame over the tiny chair offered to him.
The glass pane dividing them had grown a bit foggier because of the boy's nervous breathing. Two officers keep watch by the sidelines.
"How have you been, Felix?" Roland asked in the most comforting tone he could muster.
He knew how difficult it must be for someone with anxiety disorder and PTSD to experience something like this. He took his time with Felix, since he could always spend a few more cash to extend the duration of his visit.
"I-I'm fine… Mr. Faust…." It took all of the boy's effort to respond.
Roland smiled softly. "Just call me Roland. I'm here to help you, you'll be alright. I need to know more about what happened that night, if you don't mind."
Felix's chest heaved even more under the small orange suit that he was made to wear. It felt like the buttons might pop out soon.
"W-What do you want to know?"
"The area where you last remember before passing out… Was it near a bar called the Circus Cabaret?"
Felix's eyes widened at this. "Y-Yes! That's the one….. It's actually the last thing I saw before I got knocked out!"
The adrenaline in Roland's veins kicked up a notch at this response. "I see…. How did you get knocked out again? You said you had been hit, right?"
At this, Felix became a bit shifty again. He furrowed his thick eyebrows together.
"That's what I remember and what I told the police but….. But it just happened so fast. And it didn't feel like I was hit by a weapon or a fist, I just….. There's this heavy weight that pressed on me and I-I….. No, I might have just imagined it. Because there was nothing."
"What do you mean there was nothing?" Roland asked.
"The source of impact…. I couldn't see it. It just knocked the air out of my lungs and I couldn't even tell where it hit me. It felt like my whole body got hit, and I fell on the floor…. Seeing those neon signs of the Circus Cabaret."
Roland wrote this down quickly on the memo pad he had been carrying. "What did the police say about this? If you had been knocked, maybe there was a witness—"
"They don't believe me on anything at all!" Felix said, exasperated. "They said that though some of the bar patrons did see me fall down, I just stood back up and followed after Dahlia. But I don't remember doing that at all! I just… I feel like something entered—"
"Something entered your body. Something foreign, alien."
Roland knew that feeling very well.
He shook a little, but tried to push it away. Felix blinked wide at these words, as if he had come to realize something.
"Aliens….. That's it. That's what it was. My body must have been possessed by aliens."
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