Rafael is wearing a leather jacket and a helmet as he rides on the passenger seat of a motorcycle through the streets of downtown Tijuana, just south of San Diego.

The driver rounds a sharp curve but loses control of the motorcycle and strikes a curb, forcing the cycle to spin out. Both passenger and driver are tossed into tables outside of a restaurant. Tourists gather — at a safe distance — looking on in horror.

The slightly injured motorcycle driver struggles to his feet and runs toward a congested area as police respond to the report of a motorcycle accident.

By the time police arrive at the scene, the fleeing driver has disappeared into the crowd and is nowhere to be found.

Paramedics responding to the accident find the passenger, still wearing his helmet, lying motionless on the sidewalk. The helmet is carefully removed as medics discover the victim is dead.

Examination at the morgue reveals that Rafael, the corpse, has been dead for at least six hours. Further examination shows that he was stabbed numerous times. There are ligature marks on the corpse’s neck and his eyes are bloodshot, indicating he died by strangulation.

Detectives find several packages of methamphetamine in the corpse’s clothing which lead police to suspect that Rafael’s murder is drug-related.

With the knowledge that this is probably a drug-relating murder, police interest in finding the driver of the wrecked motorcycle intensifies. The investigation, up to this point, indicates that the fleeing suspect is very likely Rafael’s killer.

The question remains, "Why was the suspected killer riding through the center of town with a dead man on the back of his cycle?"

Until the case is cleared by an arrest, police can only surmise that the killer was headed to a deserted area in the outskirts of Tijuana to dump the body.