A/N: This is the last part of Chapter 44 and my 11th update in a row!
PLEASE DON'T POST ANY SPOILERS AFTER READING THIS UPDATE!
LORELEI
"THE DANGER had passed," Maggie said. "Or so it seems."
Monday came, two days after the unfortunate murder of Sir Ephraim Quirino, also known as Augustus' switch.
After we escaped from the crime scene that night, we went straight to our apartment at mabilis na nagpalit ng damit. We discarded the clothes that we wore, just a safety precaution. Loki's original idea was to burn our clothes, but we decided to bury them instead. Starting a fire might attract unwanted attention and make us look more suspicious.
It's still a mystery to us kung sino ang courier na pumasok sa apartment na pumatay kay Sir Ephraim at ipinalitaw na suicide ang nangyari. What's more baffling was the fact that he stole the laptop, external hard drive and phone of the deceased. As Loki deduced, whoever that person was, he knew very well that Sir Ephraim was in possession of some blackmailing materials.
The switch may have been turned off, but the danger lingered. We don't know kung sino o kung ano ang gagawin ng kumuha ng box. Would he be using the materials in there to extort money? Would he be releasing the materials to the public? Would he be keeping them in his collection as some sort of souvenir?
From Saturday night until Monday morning, Clark High was so calm. Walang scandal na na-expose, maliban sa mga boluntaryong umamin noong nakaraang linggo. That must be why Maggie claimed that the danger had passed. But I don't think that it had.
"May mga kakilala ako na hindi nakapagbayad sa switch sa loob ng deadline na ibinigay niya," Maggie added. "But nothing happened. Maybe Sir Ephraim changed his mind? Maybe he realized that messing around with people's secrets was a bad thing?"
Oh, yeah. Only the four of us—me, Loki, Jamie and Alistair—know that Sir Ephraim is dead. We haven't told anyone yet about it.
"Or maybe something happened to him," Rye said, his back leaning against the wall and his arms crossed. "One of his targets might have tracked him down and decided to run over him. Posible naman 'yon, 'di ba?"
That's one theory we could entertain. And the most likely suspect at the moment is someone in M's organization. Maybe Stein ordered one of his minions to find the switch. But something's still off to me. Pakiramdam ko, hindi involved ang kanyang organisasyon sa pagpatay kay Sir Ephraim. I can't put a finger on it at the moment.
"Kumusta pala ang paghahanap n'yo sa kanya nitong weekend?" tanong ni Maggie na napatingin sa akin at kay Alistair. "Meron bang development?"
Sa aming apat na nakakaalam ng nangyari sa apartment ni Sir Ephraim, kaming dalawa lang ni Alistair ang nasa execom office ngayong morning break. Meron pa kasing tatapusing assignment si Jamie habang si Loki naman ay... ewan kung bakit wala siya ngayon. He might have been slacking off in their classroom and forgot about the meeting.
"We found him," Alistair answered after darting a sideway glance at me. "We know where he's staying."
"Oh?" Napataas ang kilay ni Maggie. "Don't tell me na nakuha n'yo ang box mula sa kanya kaya hindi na natuloy ang banta niya? O baka kinausap n'yo siya at na-convince na huwag ituloy ang extortion?"
Alistair and I shook our heads slowly. We went silent for a minute and looked at each other. He must be asking me telepathically if we should tell them about what we know.
"We found him dead," I said, looking at our chairwoman. "Someone killed him and framed it as suicide. Meron pa ngang suicide note na iniwan."
Nagkaroon ng ilang segundong katahimikan sa office. We all looked down.
"That's unfortunate," Maggie frowned. "How about the box?"
Muli akong umiling nang may kasamang pagbuntong-hininga. "Whoever killed Sir Ephraim took the box. Mukhang aware din siya sa extortion business nito. Otherwise, why would he take the switch's devices?"
"Did you report incident to the police?" tanong ni Rye. "We haven't heard any news about Sir Ephraim's apparent suicide."
Sunod na umiling si Alistair. "We decided not to. Given that we sneaked into his apartment, the police might suspect that we had something to do with the crime."
Ang masaklap pa riyan, baka lumakas ang suspetya nila sa amin kapag natagpuan ang mga breadcrumb na iniwan namin. No, not literal breadcrumbs. 'Yong magtataho na kinausap namin. 'Yong pagtawag ko sa food delivery service. Hindi pa nga namin alam kung wala bang CCTV camera sa area.
"So you'll let it play out na parang suicide talaga ang nangyari?" tanong ni Maggie, napakrus ang mga braso. "Hihintayin n'yong may pumasok sa apartment ni Sir Ephraim at matagpuan siyang patay roon?"
We nodded. That's also what the killer intended.
"We hope that you can keep this a secret muna," I told them.
"We're willing to help in the investigation, should they realize that this isn't a suicide," Alistair added.
"Sa dami ng nangyayari sa paligid natin, we can't deal with everything at the same time," sabi ko. Hindi pa nga tapos ang issue namin sa box at sa killer ni Augustus, tapos may daragdag pa.
I expect that Maggie, Rye and even Sir Jim Morayta would understand why we did what we did. Telling them the truth was the ideal course of action. Andami ko nang sikretong alam at itinatago, ayaw ko nang madagdagan pa. Things might get more complicated if we chose to lie to them. Kapag nagkabistuhan na, makukuwestiyon ang tiwala namin sa kanila at baka kung ano pang pumasok sa isip nila tungkol sa pagsisinungaling namin.
"So someone is still in possession of the box, huh?" sabi ni Maggie, napasandal sa kanyang swivel chair. "Ano ba kasi itong naisipang trick ni Augustus? Even when he's still alive and even now that he's already dead, nagbibigay pa rin siya ng sakit ng ulo sa atin. I hope this haunting ends."
Basta't hindi gagamitin ng kasalukuyang may hawak sa box ang mga laman nito, wala muna kaming dapat ikabahala sa ngayon. But we couldn't still be sure. Baka may plot twist at biglang i-release ang mga material nang walang warning. Augustus was generous enough to give us 48 hours. I can't say the same for the current holder.
"Patuloy pa rin tayong mag-monitor," paalala ni Maggie. "We still need to be on guard. Ayaw kong ma-surprise tayo kapag nagkanda-loko-loko na."
With her leave, Alistair and I left the execom office. Tahimik kaming naglakad paakyat sa hagdanan at pabalik sa aming classroom.
"I'm still wondering what the new box holder will do with its contents," he said after a moment of silence. "If Stein or anyone in his organization stole it, I bet they'd use the materials to extort money. Now that we cut off their illegal funding from the Clarion, they need to find a new source of money."
Alam kong hindi tamang isipin na sana'y sina Stein ang nakakuha ng box, but if they had it, Luthor's secret would still be safe.
"But what if it's someone else?" tanong ko sabay tingin sa kanya. Bahagya kong hininaan ang aking boses dahil may mga kasabay kaming estudyante. "What if there's someone out there who's interested in the box?"
"Like one of the targets?" Alistair asked.
I nodded. Hindi ko talaga mabura sa isip ko na may iba pang involved sa "laro" na 'to.
"If they have any shred of conscience, they will turn over the box to the authorities or they will destroy it," he replied. "Kung i-e-entertain natin ang 'third party' theory mo, they should know how it feels to be blackmailed, so they shouldn't let the other victims go through the same experience."
"Let's hope na gano'n nga," I muttered. The only we could do at the moment was to hope for the best, even in the worst situations. "Pero kung ma-tempt ang may hawa—"
Napahinto ako sa pag-akyat sa hagdanan nang maramdaman kong nagba-vibrate ang aking phone. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw Loki's number on the screen. He's calling me.
"Teka lang," sabi ko kay Alistair bago i-press ang answer key at itapat sa tenga ko ang phone. "You don't usually make a call."
"I'm too lazy to text," Loki answered in a bored tone. Mabuti't sinipag siyang i-search ang aking number sa kanyang contacts. "Can you come to the Math and Physics Society room? I need a witness."
I sighed. "What did you do this time?"
"I was invited to play chess with our good old friend," Loki answered. The way he emphasized the word "friend" had a sarcastic tone in it. Mukhang may idea ako kung sino ang kalaro niya.
"Should I bring Alistair with me?" tanong ko, dahilan para mapatingin sa akin ang kasama ko.
"You will be fine," Loki replied. "Alistair might need to finish his homework, though I believe he's already accomplished that by the weekend."
"Is there anything that—"
Then he hung up. How rude.
"Sino 'yon, Lori?" tanong ni Alistair.
"Loki. He said he needs a witness or something," sagot ko. Muli kong ibinulsa ang aking phone. "Do you mind kung mauna ka na sa classroom? Dadaan ko lang 'tong si Loki."
"Sure," Alistair nodded. "If you need me there, I'm just one text away."
Nagkahiwalay na kami ng landas ni Alistair sa hagdanan. I went straight to the Math and Physics Society room while he walked on his way to our room. This wouldn't be the first time I was here. Noong unang pumunta ako rito, it was under the pretense that someone was killed inside. What we found wasn't a dead body, but the young mastermind we've been chasing for months.
And it felt like deja vu all over again. Pagbukas ko sa pinto, nadatnan kong magkaharap na nakaupo sina Loki at Stein. A small table stood between them, and on the surface was a chessboard. Loki was playing white while Stein was playing black. How fitting.
"Hi, Lorelei!" Stein greeted, waving his right hand at me. Parang gano'n kami ka-close, ah? "It's nice to see you."
"Well, I can't say the same," I replied, rushing to Loki's side. I don't know exactly why he needed me here. Gusto niya ba ng moral support sa laro nila?
"I thought you'd be bringing in the cavalry," Stein said, moving his knight. "Why didn't you ask Jamie and Alistair to come in here?"
"I don't want you to feel intimidated," Loki replied, moving his knight too. "Lorelei is enough. Just a warning: She has a stun pen that can render you unconscious if you try to do anything funny."
I slid my right hand into my pocket and held onto the pen. Naka-ready ako sakaling biglang may gagawing 'di kahina-hinala itong si Stein. Come to think of it, hindi pa niya na-experience ang matamaan nitong pen ko.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt any of you," Stein replied, moving his knight. Pagkatapos ng kanyang move, napatingin siya sa akin. "By the way, don't bother recording our conversation. We have a phone jammer here."
I know. Ginamit na niya 'yon noong una kaming nagkita rito. I thought of secretly recording him back then, but my phone didn't work. 'Yon din siguro ang dahilan kung bakit dito niya naisipang maglaro. It made him feel safer and more comfortable to talk.
"So what do you want?" Loki asked, raising his gaze at Stein after moving his bishop. "Is this the part where you say you've won? That you found Augustus' box first? Go ahead. Gloat like a toad. Rub it in our faces."
"Won?" Stein chuckled, reclining on his seat. Kakatapos lang niyang ilagay sa igalaw ang kanyang pawn. "I'd say that our match is a draw, to put it mildly. Not this chess match. The other match where we look for a box. If you ask me, we both lost."
Loki's hand holding his pawn froze in the air as he stared at his opponent. "Lost? So you don't have the box?"
"What's the point of denying it?" Stein replied, watching Loki put a pawn two squares ahead. "If I had the box, I wouldn't need to invite you here for a chat."
"Kung wala sa amin ang box at wala rin sa 'yo, nakanino?" tanong ko. I've already considered the possibility na hindi siya ang nagpadala sa courier na pumatay kay Sir Ephraim at kumuha sa mga gadget. That's why his admission didn't come much of a surprise to me. But the mystery still intensified.
"Now that is the question," Stein answered, smiling at me. Ginalaw na rin niya ang kanyang knight. "I had this strange feeling since Augustus died. Something tells me that something's off. Don't you feel the same?"
"Up until today, I didn't know that you have feelings," Loki retorted. "We learn something new every day, as they say."
"Oh, come on, Loki!" Stein snickered. "I didn't order Augustus' death. I didn't order any of my men to kill Sir Ephraim. A gunshot, really? How many murders involving guns have I planned? Zero. I would have asked them to use poison instead. Much cleaner. A lot less messier."
"Teka, paano mo nalaman na patay na siya?" tanong ko.
"I had you followed by my two best stalkers and thieves," Stein replied, moving his knight again. "They followed you from your apartment to the other apartment that you found. But they got knocked off. Unconscious for hours. Paggising nila, paalis na kayo sa unit. They checked what's inside and they found the dead body."
"And you don't suspect that we killed the poor man?" Loki asked, raising his gaze at him.
"As you said, Lorelei has a stun pen. Alistair has some skills for physical combat," Stein enumerated, raising two of his fingers. "If worse came to worst, you would have disabled him physically, not kill him with a gun and make it look like a suicide."
"Teka lang," I muttered as I furrowed my brows and touched my chin. "Kung may umatake sa mga ipinadala mong tao na nakasunod sa amin, that means—"
"Someone else was following you," Stein finished my sentence. "Kung hindi n'yo napansin 'yon at hindi napansin ng mga tauhan ko, we can assume that whoever this person is must be a professional."
"If he's right, possible kayang siya rin ang nagpanggap na courier?" bulong ko kay Loki. "That's the only explanation na magme-make sense."
"What we can conclude from Saturday's events is that there's a third party involved here," Stein said. "A wild card in play."
Wild card, huh? Something that we didn't expect. That does make a lot of sense. Mula sa pagpatay kay Augustus at sa kanyang switch, hanggang sa pagnakaw sa kanyang box. We thought that this is a game between us and M's organization. But the recent circumstances floated the possibility that there's someone else involved. A third party.
"Ayaw kong may nakikialam sa laro natin," may buntong-hiningang sabi ni Stein. "This game has always been about Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty. No other participant is welcome to play at our table."
"Check," Loki declared as he placed his rook three spaces away from Stein's king.
Stein captured Loki's rook by moving his queen. "Imagine if there are three players in chess. Things will get really messy, don't you think? Oh, a checkmate! You shouldn't have left your king undefended."
Loki clicked his tongue. I may not be good at chess, but I could say na wala na siyang move. Tumayo na lang siya't naglakad palabas ng room. I followed behind him.
"Let's play this game again, shall we?" Stein asked.
***
Throughout the day, we have been on our guard. But so far, walang leak na nangyari. Walang scandal na na-expose. Everything's still calm and peaceful in Clark High.
Whoever this third party might be, either they have decided to not use the blackmailing materials or they haven't decided yet on what to do with them. I hope they abandon the idea na gamitin ang mga file doon.
By three in the afternoon, I was checking our school app, still looking for any suspicious email. Nakailang refresh na ako pero wala pa ring bagong message na pumapasok. Mukhang mas nai-stress ako sa pagbabantay kaysa sa actual na expose, ah.
As I was getting bored, naka-receive ako ng text message mula sa isang unknown number. Bigla akong kinabahan. How did they get my number? Was it from the new keeper of the box?
"Check your locker," the message read.
Kumunot ang noo ko. Wala man lang kahit anong identification.
"What's up, Lori?"
Iniangat ko ang aking tingin at napansin nakatitig sa akin si Rosetta.
"May natanggap ka bang blackmail message?" tanong niya. "Napaka-weird nga, eh. Hindi man ako nagbayad pero wala namang nangyaring expose. Feeling ko talaga, prank lang 'yong nag-send ng email na 'yon. Na-scam din pati 'yong mga kaibigan ko."
"Ah, wala 'to," pilit kong ngiti. I pressed the power button of my phone, making the screen turn black. "Na-wrong send lang siguro."
"Okay!" tugon ni Rosetta at muling bumalik sa pagbo-browse ng kanyang phone.
Like an unexpected call, I don't usually entertain messages from unknown numbers. Baka tama ang hinala ko, na hindi talaga ako ang intended recipient ng message na 'to. But something's bugging me. May bumubulong sa akin na gawin kung ano ang nakasaad doon.
Wala namang mangyayaring masama, 'di ba?
Mabuti't wala pa ang instructor para sa last afternoon subject namin. Hindi rin kalayuan ang locker area kaya madali akong makababalik sa classroom sakaling prank lang 'to. Nagpaalam ako kay Rosetta na i-message ako sakaling dumating na ang instructor namin.
"Saan ka pupunta, Lori?" tanong ni Alistair nang palabas na ako ng room.
"May itse-check lang ako sa locker ko," sagot ko.
"Do you want me to—"
"I think I can handle it myself," I told him as I waved my hand. Dumiretso na ako sa hagdanan patungo sa ground floor.
Dahil mahigit isang oras pa bago mag-ring ang school bell, bilang sa daliri ang mga estudyanteng palakad-lakad sa hallway. Pagdating ko sa locker area, wala ni isang estudyante ang nandito. Most students who go here must still be in their classes.
I walked past the rows of lockers and went straight to the fifth one. Huminto ako sa aking locker at chineck muna kung may gasgas ang keyhole nito. Someone might have tried to force it open. But seeing no scratches, I took out my key and unlocked the door.
To my surprise, I saw something that I wasn't expecting there. An external hard drive in red and black casing. I swear that I had no hard drive with that color! So paano napunta 'yan sa locker ko?
Pagkakita ko roon, bigla akong kinutuban. Inilabas ko ang hard drive at masusing sinuri ito. Walang note na nakalagay kung kanino galing o kung ano ang laman nito.
The first thought in my mind? This might be the Augustus' box. I don't know kung bakit nasa locker ko at kung bakit sa akin ibinigay. Assuming that it was what I thought it was.
There's only one way to confirm it.
"Hello, Al?" I said after dialling Alistair's number. "Sorry kung naistorbo kita. May itatanong lang sana ako. Alam mo ba kung ano 'yong itsura ng hard drive na nasa desk ni Sir Ephraim sa apartment niya?"
"Oo naman. Loki and I used the flashlights on our phones while searching the unit. Why?"
"Tell me, does the hard drive have a casing?"
Ilang segundong natahimik si Alistair, inaalala yata kung ano ang nakita niya. "Yes. Black and red, kung 'di ko nagkakamali."
My jaw dropped. Halos malaglag ang puso ko habang nakatitig sa casing ng hawak kong hard drive. This might really be the box!
But who left it in my locker? Why would they give it to me? Why me specifically?
"Bakit, Lori?" tanong ni Alistair.
"I t-think I found the box!" I stammered. Hindi ko alam kung matutuwa ba ako o mababahala. "I-I'm not yet a hundred percent sure, but my gut feeling tells me na ito nga 'yon. Let me show you pagbalik ko sa room para ma-confirm mo."
And then I hung up.
I have no idea what's going on or why this happened, pero kung ito nga ang Augustus' box, it's our turn to put Stein and his organization in checkmate.
But Loki finding out Luthor's secret once he accessed the contents of this hard drive worries me.
Anyway, ang importante ngayo'y hawak ko na 'to. Mamaya pa namin mako-confirm kung tama nga ba ang hinala ko. I needed to keep it secured. I needed to make sure na—
BIP! BOP! BIP! BOP! BIP! BOP!
Wait, what?
Wasn't that the "Mary Had a Little Lamb" tune? The melody created once you typed in Moriarty's phone number?
"Found it," a female voice said.
I slowly shut the door of my locker. Pagkasara ko nito at paglingon ko sa aking kaliwa, I saw a familiar face smiling at me. She's talking to someone on the phone. Natulala lang ako sa mukha niya habang pinapanood ang pagbukas at pagsara ng bibig niya.
I wanted to say something. I wanted to ask something. But I couldn't because of the shock.
No, it can't be... Why of all people...
"A-Ano'ng ginagawa mo rito?" nauutal kong tanong sa kanya. Napalunok ako ng laway. Lalong humigpit ang aking hawak sa hard drive. Ayaw ko mang maniwala sa narinig at nakita ko, but my mind was already putting two plus two together. It was already telling me the obvious.
She's one of them! She's part of M's organization!
"Actually, napadaan lang ako rito," sagot niya. "Coincidentally, nadatnan kita rito sa locker area."
Napahakbang ako paurong. I roamed my eyes around. Kaming dalawa lang ang nandito. I could try to run, but I don't know kung may kasama pa siya sa labas na nag-aabang sa akin.
"I don't want anyone to get hurt, Lorelei," she said as she stepped forward. "We're friends after all, aren't we? So why don't you give that thing to me? Trust me, it's for the best."
Wait a minute. I still have my stun pen with me. Pwede ko siyang gamitan nito para makatakas ako sa kanya.
I took a deep breath and shut my eyes for a few seconds. Pasimple kong ipinasok ang aking kanang kamay sa bulsa ko. I gripped on my stun pen.
Things developed so fast, I don't know what's really going on. I hope that this was just a dream. A very bad dream. But it wasn't. Kahit ilang beses ko pang sampalin ang sarili ko, alam kong ito na ang reyalidad.
"Here. Take it," sabi ko sa kanya. I stretched my left hand holding the hard drive.
"Thank you, Lorelei. You really are a good friend." Lumapit pa siya sa akin, akmang aabutin na ng kanyang kamay ang hawak ko.
In the blink of an eye, I pulled out my stun pen from my pocket and stabbed it at her with all my strength.
I thought I had already hit her, but she grabbed my wrist before my pen could touch her skin.
"I knew you would pull that stunt," she smiled, struggling with my hand.
Pinilit kong iabante ang aking kamay pero masyadong mahigpit ang pagkakahawak niya sa pulso ko. She was pushing my hand toward me!
Bzzz!
There was a loud thud as my body collapsed on the floor. I couldn't move an inch. Nakatulala lang ako sa kisame.
Darn it... Augustus' box was... already in my grasps.
"Sorry, Lorelei. I have to do this. I hope you understand."
Rosetta smiled at me triumphantly as she held the hard drive.
q.e.d.
A/N: You already saw it coming, didn't you? Well, now, they're complete. Ladies and gentlemen, the Moriarty 5!
For those who might ask, "Is this your plan since the beginning?" Yes! The clues have been there. Some of you may have missed them.
I will refer you to the 2016 artwork of M and his generals, illustrated by COFFEEBREAKREN.
Now, this is the revealed version:
At this late in the game, I'm merely confirming what some of you have already theorized. I don't wanna change what I've always intended just to surprise you or make a plot twist that you didn't see coming.
If I changed "Rosetta" to "Maggie" or "Lorelei" (which is absurd, by the way), then I would be cheating.
Some of you may still have questions, but I hope the next chapters will answer your concerns.
See you in CHAPTER 45: THE SCARLET THREAD!
If you've enjoyed reading this update, share your thoughts or theories on Twitter using the hashtag #ProjectLOKI! But please, NO SPOILERS!