Several minutes passed before they finally arrived at the police station, the evening sun casting long shadows across the pavement.
Felzein alighted from the vehicle first, his demeanour calm and composed, followed closely by Rosa and Melati, who stepped out with a mix of curiosity and quiet apprehension.
As they crossed the threshold into the station, a few uniformed officers offered polite nods and courteous greetings, an air of quiet efficiency permeating the place.
Without delay, Felzein approached one of the constables stationed near the entrance.
"Good evening, officer. I'm here to see Sergeant Bowo," he said, his tone measured but cordial.
The officer acknowledged him with a respectful tilt of the head, "Certainly, sir. Sergeant Bowo has been expecting you," he replied with a trace of formality, already briefed about the impending visit.
"Much obliged," Felzein responded with a slight bow of gratitude, before striding forward into the heart of the precinct.
Felzein, accompanied by Rosa and Melati, stepped into the police station with quiet resolve.
The waning evening light filtered through the frosted glass panels, casting elongated shadows across the tiled floor.
The station, though modest, carried an air of official gravity.
Upon reaching the door to Sergeant Bowo's office, Felzein raised his hand and rapped thrice.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Come in," came the brisk yet courteous reply from within.
Felzein opened the door, allowing Rosa and Melati to enter before him.
Inside, Sergeant Bowo stood from behind his desk, a genial smile already playing on his face.
"Mr Felzein," he greeted, extending his hand with professional warmth.
"Thank you, Sergeant," Felzein replied, accepting the handshake with a nod.
"Please, do take a seat," Bowo gestured gracefully to the chairs arranged before his desk.
The trio seated themselves. Felzein at the centre, flanked by Rosa on his right and Melati to his left.
A brief hush settled in the room, broken only by the distant murmur of voices from the main hall.
Sergeant Bowo allowed his gaze to drift between the two young women, then with a touch of levity, asked, "So tell me, Mr Felzein! Which of these two young ladies holds your heart?"
The question, light though it was, caught Felzein off guard, "Ah…" he faltered, clearly unprepared for such a remark.
Rosa and Melati lowered their gazes, a faint flush rising to their cheeks. Whether from embarrassment or amusement, it was hard to tell.
"They're friends, Sergeant. That's all," Felzein said at last, composed but faintly amused.
"Haha! My apologies," said Bowo with a sheepish chuckle. "I merely presumed. Well, never mind."
"I happened to cross paths with them earlier. Seemed only natural to bring them along," Felzein added, a faint smile in his voice.
"Quite right, quite right," the sergeant replied, settling back into his chair.
With a more serious air, he turned his attention to the papers before him and began to prepare what he had summoned them to see.
Sergeant Bowo crossed the room with measured steps, drawing down the projection screen with a soft rustle.
He then retrieved a remote control from his desk, his fingers deftly pressing a sequence of buttons until the projector hummed to life, casting a pale light that danced upon the walls.
With a brief pause, he dimmed the overhead lights, plunging the room into a subdued twilight that made the images on the screen all the more vivid.
"Our technicians have managed to restore the footage from your CCTV system, Mr Felzein," he said, his voice calm but purposeful.
In the ensuing silence, the first frames of the video flickered into view, a grainy but discernible scene captured in the early hours.
"This is the moment the burglary took place at your grocer's shop," Sergeant Bowo continued, his eyes fixed on the screen, the air thick with a quiet tension.
Upon the screen, two figures clad in masks appeared, each wielding a crowbar.
They paused before the shopfront, then set about prising the rolling shutter with determined force.
After several strenuous attempts, the door grudgingly yielded, granting them swift ingress.
Immediately, they dispersed, their eyes keen for any valuable spoils.
One made straight for the till, battering the cash drawer with relentless blows of the crowbar.
At last, the drawer gave way, spilling forth a modest stash of cash which he seized with haste.
Meanwhile, his accomplice ransacked the shelves, sending an assortment of goods crashing to the floor.
Finding nothing worth their trouble, the pair advanced towards the rear storeroom.
Within that dim chamber, they gathered wares fit for resale.
Cartons of cigarettes, boxes of cooking oil, and two hefty sacks of rice, each weighing fifty kilograms.
Their ill-gotten gains secured, they hurried from the premises, shadows slipping swiftly into the evening.
"The two thieves were astride a red Vario motorbike," Sergeant Bowo observed, his finger tracing the figures flickering on the screen.
"That corroborates the accounts from local witnesses. They reported spotting two suspicious individuals prowling near the shop at around two in the morning," he elaborated.
Felzein gave a slow, deliberate nod, "So the old man's story holds weight, after all," he murmured, his eyes narrowing as he fixed his gaze on the footage.
Sergeant Bowo rewound the tape, easing the speed to a crawl before freezing the frame on a single image.
On the screen were two masked men, their faces half-swallowed by shadow, yet enough detail remained to suggest their identities.
"These," Sergeant Bowo declared with solemnity, "are your assailants."
Felzein's expression hardened as he studied the image.
There was no recognition in his eyes, only a heavy sense of helplessness. He sighed, a breath laden with frustration and resignation.
Rosa remained silent, absorbed by the grim tableau unfolding before them.
But Melati, in contrast, felt a stir deep within her memory.
There was a faint familiarity to those figures.
Their stature, the way their hair fell, something tugged insistently at her mind.
Yet the precise moment or place of their acquaintance eluded her still.
So she kept her silence, a quiet resolve settling as she struggled to summon the elusive recollection.