Project LOKI ②

Chapter 23: Curse of Avada Kedavra (The Resolution)

"Got it!" Herschel pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

Tobias? That's the thick-browed inspector in charge of the café murder investigation where Loki and Alistair first met. Pinaniwala rin namin siya na mag-boyfriend-girlfriend kami.

Sunod na kinapkap ng kasama ko ang bulsa ng robe ni Rowen. Nakita niya roon ang phone ng biktima. He made some swiping gestures on the screen and tapped the messages icon. He showed me the "Avada Kedavra" message from an unregistered number sent four minutes ago.

"Once again, the killer sent that message first before shooting a poisoned-laced needle at their target." I folded my arms across my chest as we exchanged glances. "We've confirmed what we already know."

"The most important question right now is: how did the killer prick the victim with this needle?" He returned the phone inside the victim's robe pocket. He also removed his black cloak to cover the corpse. "As you can see, magic didn't murder your founders. Ingenuity did."

"W-Wala naman sa amin ang lumapit kay Rowen kanina!" May mga namuong pawis sa noo ni Helios. "N-Nakita n'yo namang may distansiya sa aming tatlo—"

"There's no need for any close physical contact." Loki faced the last remaining founder. "All they need is a clever contraption that can shoot this needle. They did a good job at concealing the murder weapon."

"It's probably an item that won't look suspicious even if they wave it around." I crossed the stage as if we were on a play. I drew something from my robe's pocket. "For instance, this wand. They could have disguised the blowgun into this stick. No one will suspect that it's capable of murder."

"This is the part where we apply the process of elimination." Without turning to Helios, Loki motioned his hand toward him. "You're on the stage with Rowen, just a few steps away from him. He's an easy target for you."

"But Rowen's puncture mark was on the right side of his neck," I came to the remaining founder's defense. Hindi ko na napigilan ang sarili kong mag-share ng deductions. "Helios was standing on his left. Kung siya nga ang nag-shoot ng karayom sa katabi niya, dapat nasa kaliwa ang puncture mark, hindi sa kanan."

"Right. The whole time, he was either behind or on the left of the victim. From those positions, there's no way the needle could have struck the right side of the victim's neck."

"How about Lucius?" Nabaling ako sa lalaking maputla ang mukha. Teka. Hindi yata siya namumutla, talagang gano'n ang kulay niya. "Noong nasa stage na siya, ilang hakbang mula kay Rowen, inilabas niya ang kaniyang wand. Puwedeng doon na niya pasimpleng shinoot ang karayom."

"Possible, but he would have found it difficult to aim at Rowen's neck. Yes, he drew his wand, but he would need to raise it and point where he wanted the needle to hit. That would arouse suspicions. Do you know why the victims were shot around that neck?"

Napasulyap ako sa aking robe. "Dahil sa suot na Hogwarts uniform at makapal na itim na robe, balot na balot ang mga katawan nila. Ang tanging vulnerability ay sa leeg dahil manipis ang scarf, tama? Doon puwedeng makapag-penetrate ang karayom."

"Correct. If you'll tie it to the first two murders, Lucius wasn't even in the footages. Assuming that these serial murders were committed by one person, he couldn't have done them."

"If not them, then who?"

"Someone from the crowd, someone who's a meter or two away from Rowen." Loki faced the members of the Order who got puzzled expressions on their faces. He then turned to me. "There's a lot of suspects here, but we can cross out everyone else on our list except the perpetrator."

Sa tantiya ko, mahigit dalawandaan ang members ng Harry Potter Club na ito. Sa sobrang dami nila, mahirap i-narrow down ang bilang ng mga suspek. So how would he do it?