REVERSE ✓

Chapter 04: Clown In Town

"I was about to do some background checks. Glad I didn't have to waste energy," wika ni Newt at lumapit sa lamesa upang tingnan ang dyaryo. I also came close to look over his shoulder as he carefully flips the pages.

"Two years ago?"

Halos mapatalon na ako sa gulat nang marinig ang boses ni Conan sa gilid ko. He was so close that his voice startled me! When he was peeping over my shoulder, our intact attention was caught by a photograph of a girl who wore the same uniform for Reagan Academy. Sa katabing bahagi nito ay ang pamagat ng balita: Isang Dalagang Nasawi Sa Sunog.

Conan read it aloud for us. "Isang dalagang nagngangalang Jillian Aragona ang binawian ng buhay dulot ng sunog sa kanyang unit sa isang apartment sa Tulip St. Ayon sa imbestigasyon, nagsimula ang sunog sa naiwang bukas na kalan sa kusina na hindi nila — siya at ng mga kaibigan niya — napansin. Ang sabi ng isang kaibigan ay nagse-celebrate lang sila ng birthday ng biktima sa pamamagitan ng pagbibihis bilang clown kaya nila nila namalayan ang aksidenteng paparating."

My chest suddenly felt heavy after knowing the story. I've heard multiple tragedies with the same course of event and my sympathy never changed. I bet Jilliam didn't deserve to meet such demise. Lalo na't sa araw pa ng kanyang birthday nangyari.

It left a mere but meaningful lesson for me: Live your life to the fullest until you've got no regrets. Who knows if you wouldn't seeing the sunshine tomorrow again?

"Jillian Aragona . . ." Newt muttered. He then ascended his gaze to meet Ranpo's. "If I'm not mistaken, our sleeping angel was a friend of this poor victim 2 years ago. She must be one of the clowns who came to Tulip."

"Exactly."

"Somebody must be blaming Ava for the accident?" Conan asked. "Kung gayon, sino pa ba 'yung ibang kasama ni Jillian noong birthday niya? May possibility na isa sa kanila ang tuma-target kay Ava. Too bad, hindi pa siya nagiging para maitanong natin."

"I've worked on that, too — oh, scratch that. I had someone to do it for me and look upon the matter. Haplessly, he hasn't identified them for the records are lacking. Meanwhile the police force was too busy to pay attention to my simple request," paliwanag ni Ranpo at marahang pinaikot-ikot uli ang swivel chair kung saan pa rin siya nakaupo.

"If the law can do nothing we must take the risk ourselves, Sherlock Holmes said in The Tiger of San Pedro. The quote was rather inspiring," sabi ni Newt. He smiled playfully and took his hanging black overcoat and wore it confidently. "We all saw that the clown didn't bring a klunk thing through that technological eye. He must dropped the murder weapon before he reached the stores or hid it in plain sight."

Excited namang sinuot ni Conan ang kanyang blazer at nagtungo sa pinto. "Now this is what I liked."

Aalis agad sila?

"Princess," tawag ni Newt sa 'kin kaya natuon ako sa kanya. "Maybe you could extract some refreshing juices from your friend, the Ice Woman. Babysit Ran— I mean, take Ranpo with you. He's best at—"

"I never needed a babysitter, delusional shuck-face." Ranpo stopped pivoting and glared at Newt; when the latter smiled genuinely, I got the feeling that they have a satisfying friendship.

Sana gano'n din katibay ang friendship namin ni Maisie.

Wait, ano raw? Extract juices from Ice Woman, my friend? He probably called her that way dahil ang cold nito. Pero as far as I learned from Science, wala namang juices sa katawan ng tao. Nakikinig naman ako minsan sa klase, e. Maliban nalang siguro kung timplahan ang 60 percent na tubig sa katawan natin? Jusme! Ang hirap maging bobo.

I couldn't help but to slap my own forehead. How could I be that stupid? At saka, I need myself that I'm worthy of being in this club kundi iki-kick ako ng Ranpo na 'to. Extract juices probably mean extract information. It's that simple, Cassien.