01.2 Selenelion

Dan took the case to the North Coastal Sheriff’s Station. Here the police obtained copies of all documents from the storage facility entitled to a Joseph Fellon. Lease Agreement, Application Forms, a Driver’s License from Baton Rouge, letters of notices sent via mail to the client before entering a default stage before auction; 120 days impending. They could not reach this Fellon.

Captain Jean Mayron said, “If San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is not interested, we hire a private investigator to find about this case. Where’s that East boy who left us a year ago? I hear he has an investigation firm. What was his name?”

“She was fired,” corrected Jonathan Simms.

“Of course,” the captain frowned, “he was fired because, Jon, our boys were messing with him. Oh daddy! He is not a she…”

“Her name is Sarin. She calls herself Natalia. She runs a karate class. Actually, Muay Thai.”

“As you say,” muttered the captain, “this chap is good at interpreting this kind of stuff. Call him. Ask if he can dig something. Find who is behind the camera.”

“She is a working girl,” defined Simms, “Are you sure about this?”

“I guess so,” replied the captain, “we can’t waste our time. We ask for a manifest, not an enquiry. Pay him under ‘stranger-danger’. If he finds a connection to deep water, we take over.”

Meanwhile, at the Country Club in Reseda, Sarin Pholporn made his appearance in the Red Corner. “Three times WAKO San Diego Champion, Mono from Honolulu!” announced the ring-announcer. Sarin returned wai greets to the audience. He wore a red outfit, black gloves and a single ankle guard on his left foot with enhancing bands around the biceps.

“In the Blue Corner…” continued the announcer,
“from Culiacán Rosales, Sinaloa, Mexico, Isidro Garcia, El Rayo!” He was squarely nicknamed for fast moves like the bolt of lightning.

One by one, they performed the opening rituals. Mono’s Ram Muay Wai Khru was a bit long in a kneeling position backed by Sarama music for boxing.

Sarin, better known as Natalia, born in Halawa in Honolulu, grew up in a boxing ring. His father was a Muay Thai athlete from Bangkok. And his mother belonged to the Lua clan of the ancient Hawaiian martial art of bone breaking. At the age of thirteen, he brought home a gold medal from an AAU Karate Tournament in New Orleans, in the special art form of kata and came third in kumate fighting. He became too committed to the fighting rings during his high school years. Sarin always wanted to hit someone. His parents posted him to San Diego Miramar College where he majored in Criminal Science.

Somewhere down the line, he wanted to become a different person. He wanted to stay away from fights. He knew he grew up with that fighting instinct. He tried hard to quit the gyms where he spent usually eight hours of the day. He discovered a way to keep him preoccupied and that by transforming into a woman.

He was a member of Breakforce and continued to kickbox in the rings during those years between 1985 and 1987. He appeared in the ring as a male and convert to a woman secretly away from the ring. He earned a good income. Boxing and martial arts grew popular everywhere in California. Particularly, in 1985, Peter Smit fought his first international tournament – the Open Ocean Pacific Kyokushinkai Championship – in Hawaii, where the Dutch beat six opponents on one day and picked his nickname; ‘The Hurricane’.

Sarin decided to quit the fighting club. He joined San Diego Sheriff’s Department. That did not go well. He was suspended within a year.

In 1987, he opened a martial arts training gym for juniors called ‘The Wai Khru’ – that means the ritual of respect. And in the following year, he formed a private detective agency with Diego Cavanes as his boss and a team of retired kickboxers. Diego Cavanes was a former professional boxer, holding a WBO California Champion title, and a retired police officer. They called this agency; ‘Teep Lab’.

At this point, he was talking to his coach, Lupe, about his retirement from kickboxing. Even Lupe was not sure that Mono, ‘the Monkey’, could win against El Rayo who was holding a Mexican featherweight title. He was fast and four inches taller than Sarin. Mono happened to be a nickname he used in the rings but it originated from his schooling days in Hawaii among classmates. He stood 163 cm tall, 52 kg in weight and classified as flyweight.

At the end of three rounds, it proved to be fast, entertaining and bloody. Both took blows and yet gave no chance to develop a strategy. It seemed El Rayo was in a dominating position.

Lupe wondered if he made a mistake. Mono had not shown up to regular practices and yet he picked him with so much faith. Anything that goes in Chuck Landis’ Country Club is big – from Merle Haggard to Tom Petty, James Brown to Guns N’ Roses. This tournament was on live telecast.

Then in the fourth round, Mono made a break with a series of spearing knees. El Rayo stumbled down on his back. Mono was far better with his footwork. Mono took a quick turn and instead of a rear kick, he delivered an elbow on his jaw. There was suddenly hope.

Fifth round turned out with more grappling and yet Mono did a couple of Judo throws. That tall El Rayo hit flat on the floor. It ended in an even bout. Finally, the scores came revealed. It was not a draw. It was a win for Mono – all down to instinct.

Natalia Phol arrived in a Ford Bronco SUV. She was a stunt driver and a speedster too. She emerged as a transgender – transformed into a woman. A long narrow face, smooth black hair and physique that belonged to a thin woman though her boobies were fake. She wore blue denim pants and black high-heel clogs. Those officers at the duty desks crowded to take a look at her. Natalia was ushered to the Sheriff’s Office.

Natalia took a glance at the items and reached a disturbing conclusion. Whoever behind the camera was following a murderer. She insisted to carry on with the case. Sheriff’s Office gave her the green signal provided that she’d do it voluntarily. She could not claim the case or a payment. Captain Mayron said, “We’ll be here to back you if you need help.”

Natalia found that the syringe and needle never being used. There were fingerprints everywhere. She was able to distinguish two different thumb prints. One that left imprints everywhere and obviously the possessor of the contents that she coded as ‘Kit’. The other’s appeared strong and fewer that she dubbed as ‘Kat’.

She sensed the whole puzzle in her hand. It only required to put the pieces together. She even got a picture of a man to follow. Sheriff’s Office provided an FBI posted profile on him.

His name was Thomas Avon Cyril, born October 13^th 1945, in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Anton and Sinéad Cyril who were tobacco estate owners; a family business following for many generations. The Cyrils grew up with grandparents whose ancestors were slave traders. Years ago, Thomas Cyril lost both of his parents, survived by two sisters and two brothers. Thomas was the eldest. The tobacco estates fell under their ownerships and Thomas became a billionaire.

The house on Church Street in Charleston, South Carolina, was purchased by the Cyrils in 1969 and ran a Bed & Breakfast. In 1980, Sinéad died and this historic house that survived 200 years of wars, earthquakes and hurricanes just stood bare. Anton Cyril died in 1983 and Thomas couldn’t inherit this six-million-dollar mansion. According to the report in her hand; it remains under the process of probation with the Supreme Court of South Carolina. One may wonder; it has taken long for a probate case however, with these cases, it may take even longer. Only way to know about this case was to contact the law office of the Cyrils – Jacob Lawrence PLLC.

“Six million dollars!” grumbled Natalia, “Way too high for an old house!” Only thing that distracted was her voice.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Simms said.

“That was six years ago,” uttered Natalia, “Now I have to dig for it in the East Coast.”