Sunday could not go by fast enough. I had a million different thoughts about the case that day. Mostly though I thought about what would happen on Monday at 3 pm. I was going to be sitting across Jo Ana's parents at that moment in time. Would I find their daughter by then? I wasn't sure. I had already made up my mind that I was going to make an arrest by then whether or not I found her. Sometimes all that is needed is the shock of an arrest to bring out a confession. To make things real. Without the confession or a body , conviction would be very difficult, if not impossible.

Regardless of any of that, something else bothered me. On Monday at 3 pm I was going to change the world that Mr. and Mrs. Contreras lived in. I was going to destroy them. And if nothing happened according to my plan I was going to do that without any real physical evidence whatsoever. I was going to tell them that their son-in-law, their surviving daughter's husband, killed their other daughter.

Up to that point in my career that is one story I hadn't told yet. And I thought I had told them all. It seems sometimes that the life of an investigator, if he hangs around long enough, is just that, - waiting for that next story he hasn't told. I realize now what a fucked up job that is.

Danny text me to let me know the polygraph guy was set up for tomorrow. That was the 5th text that day from him. The other 4 text from him were just different versions of "Dude, you're so fucked!" and "Dude, you're so fired!". I called Jose and told him I needed him tomorrow instead of Tuesday. He did not even question it. That was a good sign.

I slept 2 hours and made it in to work at 7 a.m. I thought I was going to be the first person in but Danny was already in his office.

"Hey Dan what's up?"

"Seriously, I wouldn't miss this for the world."

"Jerk, you could help you know. Instead of waiting around for me to fall on my face."

"You don't need help. You need an accomplice. No thanks. Plus, I already set up everything in the conference room for you again."

"Okay great. Let's get some coffee before we start."

We walked to the employee snack room and drank coffee for a bit and watched the rest of the detectives stumble in to work. I realize that if this had been a regular case most of those guys would be forming a line asking how the case was going and if they could help. Everyone wants to work a murder case. But the fact is that no one believes we are working a murder case except for Danny and me. This was so different from any other case I had worked.

We filled our coffee cups and went back to the conference room. Danny had already cleaned up and put our entire file back up on the board. He had already uploaded and printed up the remaining pictures CSI had taken at the house. The room even smelled cleaner than it did on Saturday.

"Hey Dan, you're gonna make somebody a fine wife someday."

"Ha ha. You're funny. So what's the plan?"

"Simple. Guy takes polygraph. Guy fails polygraph. Guy cries. We sing Kumbaya together. Guy confesses. Guy takes me to the body. We sing Kumbaya again. Guy gets arrested. I get some sleep."

"Yeah, great plan. You're a genius. Except for one thing. Anyone of those could simply not happen. What if he passes the polygraph?"

"He won't."

"What if he does?"

"He won't."

"But if he does?"

"Look, I don't care. I don't care if he passes the damn polygraph. I don't care if he comes in with an attorney. I don't care if has video of himself dancing in the Bahamas at the time Jo Ana disappeared! He killed her. I know it and he knows it. And for that matter you know it too so shut the hell up and help me figure out where he hid the body!"

He got the hint. We both looked at what we had up on the board. We didn't think she was far from his house but that didn't help us at all. After a tenth of a mile of his house there was nothing but miles of thick brush, small ponds, and large canals. You could leave someone out there above ground and in the open and we might never find them. We found no digging tools at the house or in the cars so I was pretty sure he didn't bury her. Plus he didn't have the time. He must have either put her in the water or covered her up with brush and debris.

One of biggest mistakes investigators make is to be of the opinion that criminals are different than normal people. They think that there is something wrong with their thinking and you can't predict what they are going to do next. Those are the investigators that never solve a case. Criminals, even murderers, are regular people. They think and feel in the same way as we do. They can hurt, panic, and feel sympathy just like us. The only difference is they have made a really bad choice, willingly or otherwise, that is going to affect every other decision they are going to make from that point on. Factor that in and you will solve every case you work. Don't factor that in and you might as well not waste anyone's time anymore and quit or become a supervisor and get out of the way.

Jose couldn't have taken the body far. He didn't have time. Danny and I guessed that based on the last time of call to his in-laws that night and the time they got home gave him 40 minutes round trip to dispose of the body. We figured half a mile from the house. That didn't help much. That was still a lot of brush to cover. Danny pulled the pic of the fishing rods. If he didn't have time to scout an area he would have to go to some place he knew. We both guessed it would be very close to his favorite fishing spot. It would have to be.

Danny's phone rang. Our polygraph guy was up front in the lobby. So was Jose. Danny went to get the polygraph guy who, incidentally, was named Joe also. He was very good at what he did. He had been a police officer for 20 years before retiring. He now just conducts polygraphs for a living. He had a variety of clients in business, schools, and police departments and made good money. He was also one of the guys who told me that polygraphs were crap. Go figure.

I had another investigator go get Jose and put him in an interrogation room for me. He hadn't been in one yet. We had only met in an office before. I needed him to sit in one just a few minutes to let it sink in while the polygraph guy set up in another room.

After about 15 minutes the polygraph guy was ready. I went and got Jose and told him it was time. I reminded him again that it was voluntary and he didn't have to take one, but it would really help us start closing up the case. He agreed. I also explained to him that the polygraph guy would have some paperwork for him to sign also indicating it was voluntary and he did not have to do this. Jose agreed without question.

I took him to the room and let the polygraph guy take over. Danny had already briefed him on the case and what questions we needed asked. This is usually never more than 4 or 5 questions aside from the polygraph examiner's control questions. Those are the questions he knows the answer to and can gauge a base line reading to compare the rest of the questions to. The whole process would take about an hour. Usually after that we meet with the examiner and get the results.

I went back to my office and Danny was waiting there for me. He was texting on his phone. I sat down at my desk got on the computer. I accessed Google Earth and printed out a map of a half a mile diameter surrounding Jo Ana's house. The area to the south was useless because there were many residential subdivisions there. I printed out another one of the area to the north where all the ponds and canals were located. There must be over a 20 miles of canals zig-zagging in all directions. This wasn't going to be easy.

I looked at the map and remembered fishing with my Dad. We had done some fishing in canals when I was little. I remember him telling me that you could catch fish if you remembered just two things. Fish like thick vegetation and moving water. Find those two things and you will catch fish. I found a spot on the map that was both of those things, with the added feature that it looked hard to get to and therefore maybe not many people would go there. I marked that area on the map.

Danny's phone buzzed. The polygraph was over. The polygraph examiner was in Danny's office waiting to brief us on the results. Danny got up and waited for me to do the same.

"Well, let's go"

"Hey Dan."

"What?"

"Do me a favor."

I thought about what I was going to say next. I wondered if my family could survive on my wife's salary alone. Dammit.

"Okay. Here it is...Go get the results. Thank Joe for us and tell him to invoice the department as usual."

"Okay, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to talk to Jose first".

"Without the results?"

I guess I must have glared at him.

"Okay, okay. Join you in interrogation afterwards?"

"No. Before you get the results call the fire department and tell them I want them out in this area right now (I handed him the map with the area I had marked). Tell them we are looking for a body and I will give them more details in a bit. Tell them I want a big presence out there. All the trucks they can spare. Also, get all the other investigators out there right now. I'll clear it with the Sgt."

He gave me the look I had just given him.

"What's the problem?"

"No problem. But hey, can I have your office when they send you back to patrol?"

"Sure. It's all yours."

I got back on the computer and logged on to the automated recording system in the interrogation rooms. I saw Jose in room #1 waiting for me. He looked calm. But I knew he wasn't. He knew all he had to do was survive today. But it really didn't matter to me what he felt. I was out of time. I was out of time and I promised Jo Ana's parents some answers today. I turned on the video recorder to the room and left my office with a file.

I went to the interrogation room #1 and sat down across the small white table in front of Jose. I told him we had the results of the test, but before we could talk I needed to read him his Miranda rights. I pulled out the Spanish form from my file and read him his rights. He signed and initialed the form in all the required places without saying a word.

The following conversation took place in Spanish.

"You failed the test"

"But sir, no."

"Don't talk Jose. Just listen."

"You failed the test. You failed every single question. It wasn't even close. You killed her. You killed your own sister-in-law."

"But sir, no. I have been looking for her. I don't know where she is. My whole family has been looking."

I let it sink in a bit. We sat there for 10 minutes and neither of us said a word. Jose couldn't keep eye contact any longer.

"Jose, right now I have the entire fire department and all of the investigators of this department out on the road looking for her. We are looking by the canals close to your house. We are going to find her."

Jose started looking down at the floor.

"I don't know what happened, Jose. All I know is that you killed her. I don't know why you would do that. It was probably an accident? Those things happen, Jose. It was an accident and then you panicked. Those things happen."

Jose was still looking down on the floor. "No sir. I didn't touch her. I don't know where she is".

"I didn't say you touched her. Why would you touch her? I said you killed her. Did you touch her Jose? Was there something going on between you two?"

We sat there for a few more minutes without saying anything. I actually considered screaming and yelling and throwing things, but, well, that's not really my style. Plus, Jose seemed in a really delicate state. He needed to be drawn out of it.

"I am going to find her and she is going to be in her own yellow bed sheet. The one that you put her in."

Jose looked up for the first time in 20 minutes. His eyes watered.

"Sir, I think, I think I want...

I cut him off. I knew what he was going to ask for. Hell no.

"I know Jose. I know. You want to help. I don't need you to say anything. I just need your help finding the body. I know you can help me."

Jose looked at me. He was crying.

"I don't know if I can help you sir!"

"Sure you do Jose. Sure you do. You know what? Let's go. Do you like fishing? I like fishing."

"Well, yes sir I like fishing, but why?"

"You know why Jose. Let's take a fishing trip."

I got up and after a few moments he did the same. We both walked out of the interrogation room. Jose followed me down the hall toward the back exit that led to the employee parking lot. Danny and Sgt. Reyes were both in that hallway waiting for me. Neither of them looked happy. Danny came up to me and whispered in my ear. "Hey man, we need to talk". I kept walking and responded, "Did you do what I asked?" He said, "Yes, everybody is on the road". I said "Great, let's go. We are going for a ride". Reyes looked at me and said, "Don't take too long. Come to my office when you are done with him". I nodded okay and kept walking out.

I told Danny to drive and head out to outskirts of town near the area I marked on the map. He drove without question and I sat in the back with Jose. After a few minutes we were on the dirt roads that ran along the many canals north of town. There were several fire trucks and investigator's unmarked vehicles driving around.

"Look Jose. They are looking for her. It's only going to be a matter of time before they find her. I would like to be able to tell her mom and your wife that you helped us."

"I don't know how I can help you sir."

"You like fishing don't you Jose?"

"Yes sir."

"You fish around here don't you?"

"No, not really."

"Of course you do. This is a good place to fish."

We were traveling along a large canal bank. The embankments were probably 20 feet or so down to the water and the water itself was about 30 feet across and 15 feet deep. The embankments were blanketed with tall thick grass and weeds due to the recent rains. A body could be lying there right 10 feet from us now and we wouldn't be able to see it. We came up to a small concrete bridge that crossed over to the other side of the canal. We crossed it and kept driving. This bridge lead straight to the city lake which wasn't open to the public. Several canals fed into it and other reservoirs in the area. We drove back along the other side of the canal. We were getting into an area we could easily get stuck in due to the recent rains. It was the area I had marked on the map. I told Danny to slow down. Danny slowed down but said, "Hey man, check your phone. I sent you a text." I ignored him.

We were in an area with thick vegetation everywhere. There were some faded tire tracks into the area and I could see that the canal broke off into a T section and part of it headed north and the rest of it continued east back where we had started. The part that headed north looked ideal for fishing. I even spotted some fishing lines with lures attached to them hanging off some trees where fishermen had gotten them stuck. Other than that the area looked abandoned.

"Jose, look around. I think this is a great area to fish don't you?"

He picked his head up and pretended to look but his eyes were still looking down.

"I think this is a great spot Jose. Look at how high the water is. Look at all that thick vegetation in the water. Great place for fish."

Jose just shrugged his shoulders

"I don't know sir, if you say so".

"Look around Jose. Stop looking down. Look around and tell me if you have fished here before."

Jose looked up finally. He took a long look around. His breathing got faster. I told Danny to stop the car.

"Do you want to get off the car and look around?"

"If you want sir, yes, we could do that".

I saw the look in his eyes. So did Danny. Danny got on the phone and called everybody to this area. In just a few minutes we had 10 investigators and 20 firemen searching the area. I stood by the car with Jose. Jose pointed to a very dense area in the brush along the side of the canal bank. He said, "I used to fish over there. It is hard to get in there. I can't fish there anymore".

I had the Danny and the CSI guys concentrate their search in that area. Jose asked if he could sit in the car again and I let him. As we waited Sgt. Reyes showed up.

"Hey Alvarez we have everybody out here man. Did he tell you he killed her? Did he tell you he dumped the body out here?"

"No."

"What?"

"No. He said he didn't do anything. He just said he likes to go fishing here."

"Shit. Well, okay, where's Danny?"

"He disappeared into that bushy area down the canal bank about 20 minutes ago, why?"

"Well, did you read the text he sent you?"

"Nope."

"Well, maybe you should read it before we waste any more time here."

Just then the Sgt.'s phone rang. He walked off to answer it. I heard some commotion down the canal embankment. I hadn't seen any of the guys who had gone down there for over half an hour. Sgt. Reyes came back and told me that Lt. Jackson was coming over. He said that was him on the phone and he was pissed because the Chief called him on his day off and asked him what was going on. Apparently some people called the media after seeing all the police and fire department vehicles out here and the media called the Chief asking him questions.

"The Lt. didn't authorize that polygraph this morning did he Alvarez?"

I didn't answer him. Just then my phone buzzed. It was Danny. I had 2 unread messages from him.

The first text was from one and half hours ago and it read:

"Dude, he passed the polygraph. You're fucked."

The second text was the one he had just sent and it read:

"You need to come down here right now. We found something."