I was telling you about all the strange events that started happening on the Sunday that the body of Javier Cruz disappeared. Believe it or not, things only got stranger as that day wore on.
About 3 o'clock, Dayley, a homeless man well-known to precinct police came into headquarters with a wild story about seeing an alien from outer space. He appeared anxious and frightened. He stated that he had been sleeping in the cemetery when he was awakened by a very bright light emanating from some type of alien being he described as “at least 10 feet tall, and hovering just above the ground.” While he watched, it raised an arm-like appendage toward the vault holding the body of Javier Cruz and the heavy steel–reinforced gate automatically swung open. Immediately there was a huge burst of light from within the vault, and Dayley yelled, “When I saw that happen, I figured there might be more of them and I got out of there quick!”
We all listened patiently, although it was difficult not to snicker. Dayley typically is more drunk than sober. But he insisted that we fill out an incident report for him to sign. His parting words were, “I tell you I saw them. The aliens have landed.” Two days later we were shocked to discover that footage from the cemetery security camera corroborated at least one part of Dayley’s story: the burst of light from inside the vault. In fact the light had emitted some type of electromagnetic energy that apparently disrupted the camera’s functioning at that point leaving a blank picture. I don't mind telling you that discovery unsettled all of us.
One of our most difficult challenges was establishing a motive. Who would want to steal a dead body and why? Of course we needed to locate the associate leaders of Javier Cruz for questioning. Hopefully they would be able to shed some light on these unusual circumstances. We had a surveillance team covering the Cruz headquarters round-the-clock, but it remained empty. We finally located the leaders in a canyon residence just north of the city. Apparently the night of the murder they had all fled and gone into hiding, fearing for their lives.
We questioned each leader separately, and each one gave the same story. They didn't know anything about the break-in at the vault, and couldn't imagine any motive for stealing Javier's body. Apparently the woman who reported to police that she had conversed with Javier early Sunday morning, also communicated the same message to these leaders. They all stated they did not believe her story, and felt she must've been stressed and traumatized.
After advising the leaders to stay local for follow-up questioning if needed, we were getting ready to leave when one of them received a text message from two young men hired as bodyguards for Javier. The message was marked “urgent” and simply stated, “Javier was here and talked with us!”
We asked the young men to meet us at precinct headquarters. They were very excited, smiling and laughing. Hearing about the theft, they had visited the Memorial Gardens Cemetery to view the family vault for themselves. They returned by bus to their apartment on the upper west side of the city. At the bus stop, they were joined by a friendly man, walking in the same direction, who struck up a conversation with them.
The really odd thing about their story was that they talked with this man for over an hour before realizing he was Javier. They reported that he somehow “looked different, yet the same.” Actually it was things he said in the conversation that led to their conclusion that he was Javier. We repeatedly probed as to whether this could be a case of mistaken identity, but both men resolutely insisted that it was Javier. When we asked them where we could locate Javier, they replied they didn't know. One stated, “When our conversation ended, Javier said goodbye and just disappeared.”
After the first 24 hours, our investigation seemed hopelessly mired as we kept discovering increasingly strange and unusual “evidence” related to the case. Was it possible that Javier had not died, and perhaps the whole thing was a publicity stunt? (What do you think? What explanation best fits the evidence uncovered thus far?)
Come join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM. This is Palm Sunday and my sermon is, “The King of Glory.”
Pastor Che
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