Everyone in the house woke up to the sound of sirens. Tom had been missing since the day Matt killed him, nobody had checked the oasis, because Tam Lin and Matt were the only two people to know about it.
Well... they WERE the only people to know about it, until NOW.
Tom's bloated body was found covered with maggots in the oasis. The body was nearly destroyed by parasites, but the peashooter in the shirt-pocket pocket confirmed it was him. Tam Lin happened to have left a water bottle in the oasis the last time he went, and there were finger prints.
Tam Lin was soon brought in as the only suspect, and Mr. Alacran had him executed. He was killed by firing squad, the way of execution used in El Patron's childhood, when Aztlan was still called mexico.
Matt felt guilty, he had unintentionally put an end to his bodyguard's life, now he couldn't go back to the oasis without thinking of Tam Lin's death. He wept by the statue of the virgin next to his bed, almost wishing he hadn't killed Tom.
The next day, Matt realized even more consequences from his actions, Maria was weeping over the loss of her sister, Emilia, Who Matt had killed the day after he killed Tom. This was yet ANOTHER think for Maria to cry about, besides the loss of her mother.
Mr. Alacran was having a hard time wrapping his head around what Steven had said. Although he hated Matt, he couldn't possibly think of him as being capable of murder. Perhaps Tam Lin was the murderer on both occasions, Tom and Emilia, they were very similar murders. But who killed Willum and Rosa?
Anyway, shortly after Tom was found, Mr. Alacran, his father and the remaining kids boarded a plane to Ireland, deciding to only return to Opium if the murderer is caught.
Newspapers around the world were filled with the same headline, "Four Strange Deaths in Opium, At Least Two Murders". It was the talk of the world. Most people believed El Patron had an assassin to kill them, but why would he want to kill close family and friends?
It was baffling. But if there was one person that no one suspected, it was Matt. Only a handful of people in the entire world knew Matt existed, and the people who knew about Matt basically pretended he didn't exist.
Matt was pretty happy to have the Alacrans gone, El Viejo was the only one who wasn't evil, and even HE didn't like Matt very good. Matt asked Celia who she thought the murderer was, and she just said she isn't going to tell.
Matt went to sleep that night with dread of what was to come. His only source of happiness were his thoughts and hopes for next day, El Patron's birthday.
