The Charmed Thief

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (II)

NAALIMPUNGATAN si Ley at ang unang bumungad sa kanya ay isang hindi pamilyar na silid.  Ilang beses niyang kinurap-kurap ang mga mata bago napagtanto ang posibleng kinaroroonan.  Pagkatapos nilang kumain ng tanghalian ni Sasha, dumiretso sila pabalik sa suite ng mga ito.  Ang huling naaalala niya ay nakaupo siya sa couch sa may living room.  Nakatulog marahil siya sa paghihintay sa pagtawag nung apprentice ni Sasha.  This must be Sasha's room.  Ibinaon niya ang mukha sa unan.  She could smell his scent.  A combination of expensive cologne and smoky sandalwood.

Napabalikwas siya ng bangon.  Ano bang ginagawa niya?  Sniffing his pillow, that's definitely a new low for her.  Tiningnan niya ang oras sa wristwatch at nagulat nang makita na lagpas alas-sais na ng hapon.  Halos apat na oras din siyang nakatulog.  Dali-dali siyang tumayo at lumabas ng silid.  Nakaupo sa may living room si Sasha at nakatutok ang mga mata sa laptop, samantalang sa tapat naman nito ay naglalaro ng PSP si Parker.
 
Nag-angat ng mukha si Sasha mula sa laptop at tumingin sa kanya.  "Oh you're awake.  Tamang-tama, I was just planning to call room service.  Dito ka na mag-dinner.  Anong gusto mong kainin?" tanong nito na ipinatong na ang laptop sa center table na katapat nito.

"Before that, did your apprentice contact you?"  Naupo siya sa tabi ni Parker.

"Yes."

"Anong sabi niya?  Did she find out anything?"

"Your friend was hunting for gold.  Lots of it," wika ni Parker na hindi inaalis ang mga mata sa hawak na PSP.

Marahas siyang bumaling dito.  "Anong ibig mong sabihin?"

"Parker, let me do the talking and just play your game," wika ni Sasha dito.

"Anong ibig sabihin ni Parker sa sinabi niya?" baling na tanong niya sa binata.

"The papers on the whiteboard were copies from the journal of Rogelio Roxas.  Isa siyang locksmith na nanirahan sa Baguio noon.  On 1961 he met a man named Fuchugami who claimed that his father had been in the Japanese army and had drawn a map identifying the location of the legendary," huminga muna ito ng malalim bago nagpatuloy, "Yamashita Treasure."

"Wait- the Yamashita Treasure?"  Tumango ito.  Naalala niya ang nabasa niya sa whiteboard pati na rin ang sinabi ni Parker.  "Was Shane looking for that treasure?"

Ang Yamashita Treasure ay tumutukoy sa war loot na ninakaw ng mga sundalong Hapon noong World War II.  Pinaniniwalaan na itinago 'yon sa mga kweba, tunnel, at underground complexes dito sa bansa.  Pero sa nakalipas na limampung taon, wala pa talagang nakakapagpatunay na nag-e-exist ang nasabing kayamanan.

"Let me finish telling you the history first.  So Roxas organized a treasure hunting party based on the map drawn by Fuchugami.  Sometime in 1970, his group began digging on state lands near Baguio General Hospital.  They discovered a system of underground tunnels.  They found a ten-foot thick enclosure on the tunnel floor.  They broke throught it and found a three-foot gold Buddha statue.  They also found, under that concrete enclosure, were piles of boxes.  Binuksan ni Roxas ang isa sa mga kahon na 'yon and it contained gold bars.  The group pulled the golden Buddha and that one box.  Several weeks later, Roxas returned to blast the tunnel closed.  But not before taking twenty-four gold bars, samurai swords, and other artifacts.  Kailangan niya ng mas maraming manpower para mailabas ang lahat ng laman ng tunnel.  Natatakot siguro siya na may mas mauna sa kanya na gawin 'yon.  So he just blasted the entrance para walang sinuman ang makahanap no'n.

"Plinano niyang ibenta 'yong mga kayamanan na natagpuan niya, the gold bars, the golden Buddha.  But too bad for him, the President of your country that time had other ideas.  Dumating sa bahay niya ang mga tauhan ni Marcos, they came there under the guise of NBI agents.  They took everything.  Of course Roxas retaliated.  He went to the media but that didn't help.  He just ended up being arrested and tortured.  The men who tortured him were asking about the rest of the treasure.  Nobody knew if he gave out the information or not."

"So Shane was looking for the remainder of the treasure that Rogelio Roxas discovered?"

"That's the thing.  According to some conspiracy theories, Marcos managed to find the rest of the treasure and that became the famous Marcoses 'ill-gotten wealth'."

Parang biglang sumakit ang ulo niya.  "You mean, hindi galing sa pangungurakot 'yong kayamanan ng mga Marcos kundi galing sa kayamanan na natagpuan ni Roxas?  Then if Marcos really did find those treasures, what the heck was Shane looking for?"

"There's a passage in Roxas' journal.  He discovered that the head of the Buddha statue was removable and inside he found two handsful of uncut diamonds.  According to what he wrote, he took the diamonds and burry it somewhere in Baguio.  Maybe he unconciously foreseen that the treasures he found will be taken so he burried the diamonds as a fail-safe.  Mas malaki ang posibilidad na ang mga diyamante na 'yon ang hinahanap ni Shane kesa sa posibilidad na yung natitirang kayamanan na iniwan ni Roxas sa tunnel ang hinahanap niya.  Looking for those gold was like looking for a needle in a haystack.  It's more probable that she was looking for the diamonds especially if she had a copy of a rough sketch where Roxas burried it."

Hindi naman niya mapigilang sumang-ayon sa sinabi ni Sasha.  Maipapaliwanag no'n kung bakit nasa Baguio si Shane nang mangyari ang krimen.  "Was that really enough for her to get killed?"    

"Yes."

"And what is your basis for saying that?"

"She didn't have the original copy of the journal.  She only had a photocopy of a few pages.  Ibig sabihin, somewhere out there, someone has the copy of the original.  What if this someone and Shane teamed up to look for the diamonds and once they found it, this someone realized that he wanted it all for himself?"

"So he killed Shane out of sheer greed?"

"You'd be surprise what people could do for a bit of money," komento ni Parker na hindi pa rin inaalis ang atensiyon sa nilalaro.

Now Ley officialy has a headache.  Alam naman niya 'yon, maraming kayang gawin ang isang tao para sa pera.  The reason there were gangsm drug cartels, hell, thieves, was because of money.  Dapat ay hindi na siya magulat kung may tao na kayang pumatay dahil sa pera.  "Paano natin hahanapin ang kung sinumang tao na 'to na nagmamay-ari nung journal?"

"I already thought of that.  I had Intel looked into Shane's phone records.  At sa nakalipas na tatlong buwan nung nabubuhay pa siya, she had been in constant contact with one number.  Most of the calls made by this number was International calls, but the last two weeks before Shane died, the call came from a local network.  Which means, he was overseas most of the calls and then he was back here now."  May itinapat ito sa laptop at pagkatapos ay iniharap 'yon sa kanya.  "And that number belonged to this guy."

Napatitig siya sa larawan na nasa laptop.  It was that of a man who was probably just a few years older than her.  Hindi niya mapigilang maramdaman na parang nakita na niya ito sa kung saan.  Then something inside her brain clicked.  "I- I saw this guy.  At Shane's funeral." 

Kung ito nga ang may kagagawan sa pagkamatay ni Shane, then he's really one sick bastard, going to the funeral of the person he killed.  But somehow, it made sense.  Hindi natagpuan sa mga gamit na dala ni Shane nung namatay siya ang cellphone nito.  Kung natagpuan 'yon ng mga pulis, then they could have checked her phone records.  Kung nakita ng mga ito ang madalas na palitan ng tawag ni Shane at ng lalaki, magkakaroon sila ng pagdududa and they could have questioned the guy.  But the police never questioned him.  Posibleng kinuha nito ang cellphone ni Shane nang patayin nito ang kaibigan. 

"And there's more.  This guy's name is Francis Roxas.  And he's one of Rogelio Roxas' grandson."

Nagulat siya.  Mas lalo lang pinagtibay ng impormasyon na 'yon ang hinala niya.  Bigla ay napuno siya ng galit.  Galit para sa lalaking ito.  Nakuyom niya ang kamao para mapigilan 'yon sa panginginig.  "Where is he now?"

"He's staying at their family's ancestral home in Baguio."  Tumayo ito at lumuhod sa harap niya.  Ipinatong nito ang kamay sa nakakuyom niyang kamao.  "We'll find him, Ley.  And we won't stop until we know the truth."

Ibinuka niya ang kamay at pinagsalikop 'yon sa kamay nito.  Seeking a bit of comfort through the heat of his palm.  At ang tanging nagawa niya ay tumango sa sinabi nito.