Chapter 7

El pollo pequeño diner

Between San Agustin and Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

June 5th, 1993

The sun has just hit its peak for the day as the duo sit outside the 'El pollo pequeño', a quaint little establishment located next to a small gas station on the road back to Puntarenas. The duo are enjoying their cold beverages, cooling down under the large terrace roof's shade. Local music blasts through a small speaker in one of the corners. Donald takes a sip from his drink, a pineapple juice slushie, the chilled drink stings him in the back of his throat.

Artega is sitting in front of him, drinking his locally brewed soda from a straw while making notes in his notebook. Next to the notebook are his case files, Donald is still feeling unsure about what transpired an hour earlier and clears his throat before asking him something.

"So, Artega, I've been wondering. How widespread is this chupacabra rumor?"

Artega looks up, staring Donald in the eyes.

"Pretty widespread, local town traders gossip as much as drunken Hollywood stars." Artega jokes, Donald can't help but release a small chuckle as a result.

"But it must've started somewhere, right?" Donald continues, taking another sip from his juice.

"If you're asking for a point of origin, I'm afraid I don't know." Artega admits, shaking his head. He looks down to write again, but immediately stops, looking back up at Donald again. "Why do you ask?"

Donald thinks carefully before answering.

"I was just wondering, I find it curious how a myth like that could spread in such a sparsely populated area. I mean, did anyone even see this thing?" Donald is careful as to not rouse any suspicion. While Artega may think the case is shut after shooting that puma, Donald isn't so sure. Not after seeing that footprint on the floor earlier today.

"I mean, those locals back there were adamant it was this 'chupacabra' figure, but have any of them seen it?" Donald continues, Artega lifts his shoulders.

"Wild imaginations I suppose." Artega says. Donald notices Artega is recollecting something in his mind. "There was this one man though." Artega says carefully.

"There was this, uh, port worker, that I had to interview a few weeks after the first animal murder. Hospital nurse said he was rushed to the Puntarenas hospital after an incident at the dock. The man was completely in shock, kept muttering 'chupacabra' until he completely shut down. By the time I interviewed him, he was catatonic, not responding to anything. Completely shut down." Artega explains.

"That's terrible." Donald says quietly.

"Yeah, now that I think of it. He was working at your InGen dock."

The news hits Donald by a truck.

"Really?" Donald says, Donald tries to hide his shocked expression.

"Yeah, when did that happen again?" Artega stops to think. "Ah! December '91. I remember now." Artega explains confidently.

"December '91?" Donald thinks to himself. The date rings a bell to Donald, for around that time, the first batch of raptors managed to flee their paddock. His father only managed to recover 4 of the 5 raptors. It suddenly dawned on him, the raptors were found close to the eastern docks, near the water. Donald quickly sips from his drink to alleviate that gnawing throbbing sensation in the back of his throat.

"What happened after?" Donald continues, Artega shakes his shoulders again.

"I don't know. I didn't give it much attention."

"I see." Donald says, his thoughts still on the possibility a raptor may have gotten off the island after all.

The pair are distracted by a dark-haired waitress who brings them their food.

Artega thanks the lady as she departs back to the kitchen. Muldoon looks at his plate. He had ordered a chicken filet, covered in a spicy tomato sauce alongside some mashed potatoes and green beans. It looks far more appetizing than the goat he had seen half-devoured an hour ago.

"Enjoy!" Artega says while he grabs the chicken burrito from his plate.

The two start to eat, although it's clear from the start that the cop has a far stronger appetite, chomping down hard on the burrito as if it was his first meal in days.

"While doing this investigation, I discovered that this is the best place to eat." Artega states matter-of-factly, his mouth half-full with bits of bread, chicken and vegetables. Donald looks behind the man, noticing an InGen bus full of workers driving past them on the road.

"Oh really?" Donald divulges him with some more small-talk.

"Absolutely." Artega says while

"So, you've spent a lot of time in this area?" Donald carefully asks.

"Yeah, most if not all the animal deaths are from this area." Artega admits, Donald stares at the treeline behind Artega, thinking hard once more.

"What kind of area are we speaking of?" Donald asks, interested in hearing more.

"From Puntarenas all the way north of Punta Morales." Artega says while cleaning his hands. He grabs a paper out of a brown envelope and hands it to Donald. He accepts the paper, realizing it's a map. The map is marked with various locations, each date-stamped. The earliest date he can find is close to the InGen Site Indigo harbor, just a few miles north from the port. He also notices the concentration of marks are south of Las Loras. More than a dozen different dates are written around the same spot.

"What's around this area?" Donald asks Artega, who quickly glances at the paper while still chewing. He holds his hand in front of his mouth while he empties it through swallowing. Only when his mouth is empty does he answer.

"Goat farm, they took the brunt of loss here. They reported a lot of goats killed, and that's not including the disappearances." Artega explains, taking the paper from Muldoon.

"Yeah, they must've lost like three-dozen goats at the very least." Artega continues, Artega gestures towards Donald if he wants to inspect the papers further, but Donald shakes his head.

"So, are puma's common around here?"

"Quite common, yes." Artega confirms while sliding the paper map back into the enveloppe. "Although, they're usually a bit more inland. But who knows, perhaps a pack of puma's decided to migrate south." Artega says questionably, waiting for Donald to confirm his theory.

"Certainly a possibility." Donald says quickly, indulging the man's theory while simultaneously slicing a strip of meat off his filet.

"So, what will you do with the animal?" Donald asks, witnessing how Artega shoves the last third of his burrito down his gullet in one go. Artega chews for a few moments before answering.

"I'm going to take it back to San José today to bag as evidence, maybe even dissect it's stomach for goat contents." Artega cleans the edges of his mouth with a brown napkin.

"You do know that it's unlikely this very same puma is responsible for all these animal slaughters." Donald states while scooping up a mouthful of potatoes.

"Oh, I know. But hopefully this will be enough to convince them to finally close the case, and I can finally go back to San José." Artega admits.

"You certainly seem to be in a rush to close this. I thought you were keen to prove we're the big bad guys setting dino's loose." Donald asks jokingly.

"Not at all, to be fair I don't believe in the hocus-pocus nonsense the politicians and commandants think. No, I just want to go back home to my family at this point. After more than a year, you grow tired of looking at half-eaten animals." Donald notices annoyance in his voice.

"I don't know, you seemed very adamant back there." Donald says while drinking the last of his juice.

"Posturing, I might be keen to close this case, but that still doesn't change my disdain to your company. Besides, I like to see these gringo's sweat bullets." Artega now finishes his glass of soda. He notices how Donald is not even half-way through his plate of food and quickly glances at the wall-mounted phone inside the establishment.

"I'm going to make a call real quick. Please enjoy your meal." Donald nods while the cop stands up from his seat, slowly walking inside.

Donald looks at the brown envelope, the thick bundle of papers intrigue him. But he resists the urge to look. A few minutes later, he can hear Artega yell through the phone, drawing the attention of the few other customers. Donald looks around to see Artega slam the phone back on the wall. The lady who served our food yells at Artega, who yells back at her. Artega quickly quiets down however and gestures towards her apologetically. Whatever Artega's call was all about, it wasn't good news. Artega walks back towards their table, Donald quickly turns before he's able to notice him staring.

As Artega sits down, he exhales hard through his nose.

"Well, guess we're stuck with each other a while longer." Artega says defeated.

"What happened?"

"I'm to bring the dead cat back to San José and then return back here to continue the investigation." The look of his face is a mixture between annoyance and frustration.

"They're not convinced it's a puma, huh?" Donald interjects, Artega nods.

"No, they want us to investigate another disappearance, something broke into a chicken pen last night and caused some carnage. But that'll be for tomorrow, I gotta bring the dead cat in first." Artega says, gesturing to the lady inside to bring the bill.

"You seem very upset by this?"

"Mister Muldoon, I don't know if I said it before, but I hate this assignment. I've been doing this for too long and spend too much time away from home. I just want this to be over with by now." Donald looks at Artega while he grabs his wallet. Donald tries to reach for his own, but the cop quickly puts his hand on Donald's shoulder to not bother. The lady arrives with the bill. Artega glances at it and reaches for a few coloured bills in his wallet, handing it to the lady. While the plump woman smiles at Donald, she refuses to do the same towards Artega, probably still angry about what happened just before. She plucks the money from between Artega's fingers and leaves the table.

Artega smiles while she leaves.

"So, I'll drop you off at Puntarenas and then go to San José, I'll pick you up tomorrow morning around 10 to continue. Sounds okay?" Artega asks, Donald nods approvingly. The pair wrap up everything at their table and slowly begin walking towards their vehicle.

"Guess we'll get to know each other a bit more." Donald jokes, Artega smiles but Donald notices the smile isn't genuine.

"Guess we do."