Felicine
Nakatayo ako katabi ni Eudayme, medyo nagulat nang malaman kong magkaribal pala silang dalawa.
Nakatingin kaming dalawa ni Eudayme kay Cali na kausap si inspector, bigla naman siyang tumingin sa direksiyon namin na parang sinasabi na pumunta kami doon. Lumapit kami ni Eudayme kay Cali.
"Eudy? Ikaw ba iyan, hijo?" Tanong ni Inspector Madrigal nang makalapit kami sa kanya.
"Yes Inspector, Long time no see." he said then waved his hands.
"Bakit ka na andito?" Tanong ni inspector.
"Hehe~ nagpapart-time po ako dito inspector." sagot niya na medyo nahihiya pa.
"Minds on the case in hand, everyone." Sabi ni Cali sa dalawang nag-uusap.
"Right." Sagot naman ni inspector. "The victim's name is Luisa Bautista, 34 years of age, a SPA owner. Cause of death: poisoned by cyanide. She's having a tea party with her college friends. The forensics found out that they ordered different teas for themselves. She ordered Hibiscus tea with a lemon slice for herself."
"How unfortunate for her, she wanted me to solve her blackmailing case but she met her end already before giving me the details." Cali said aloud while looking sideways at the group of the deceased.
A question in my mind then popped. I tapped Cali in his shoulder and whispered in his left ear.
"How did you found out that she was poisoned by cyanide?" I whispered to him.
"While I was checking her pulse, my nose caught a faint smell of bitter almond scent that came from her mouth." he answered without whispering back. After answering me, he turned his head to the inspector.
"Inspector, let's head to the group of the deceased and question them, they are our primary suspects because no one other than them had contact with the victim." Cali said to the inspector that he agreed immediately.
"We'll question you one by one." Sabi ni inspector sa tatlo at sabay tingin sa lalaking tahimik, matangkad, halata na nagpupuyat siya dahil sa kulay itim na makikita sa ilalim ng kanyang mata. "Starting from you." tumango lamang ang lalaking itinuro ni inspector bilang sagot.
Naglakad naman sila inspector kasama ang lalaking itinuro niya papunta sa isang table na medyo malayo sa pinangyarihan upang hindi marinig ng iba kung ano ang pinag-uusapan nila. Sumunod naman kami nila Cali at Eudayme kay inspector upang marinig ang mga sagot ng lalaki.
"Your name is Angelo Reposa, age 34 and working as a business man, right?" tanong ni inspector na ikinatango lamang ni Angelo. "Saan ka nakaupo at anong tea ang inorder mo?"
"I was sitting across Luisa and I ordered chamomile tea." sagot niya.
"Do you hate her?" tanong ni Eudayme. "Don't lie."
"Yes! She's the reason kung bakit hindi ako nakapag-attend ng negotiation about sa business deal! That was my chance to prove to my boss that I deserve to be promoted! pero nilagyan niya pala ng sleeping pills ang favorite ice coffee ko!" he raised his voice a bit and sighed. "But I didn't kill her, maybe Sheena did it because Luisa stole her boyfriend when we were in college." he said calmly.
Inspector called next the girl Angelo mentioned, Sheena.
"You're Sheena Mapas, age 33, an owner of a well-known salon and you ordered Oolong tea. We found out that Luisa stole your boyfriend when you were in college, is that true?" inspector said asking for confirmation.
"Yes, she did stole my boyfriend but I didn't poisoned her! Maybe Freddy her ex-boyfriend is the one who poisoned her because she cheated on him." Sheena said while looking at the man sitting a table apart where the poisoning happened.
"Where were you seated before she was poisoned?" Tanong ni Eudayme.
"Sa kaliwa ni Luisa." sagot naman niya.
The inspector called the man named Freddy for his turn to be interrogated. He seemed to be so calm despite what happened to their friend.
"Freddy Albar, 35 years of age, a bartender." pagpapakilala niya sa kanyang sarili.
"We learned that the deceased cheated on you, is that correct?" tanong ni inspector kay Freddy.
"Yes, but I didn't poisoned her, she may have cheated on me but I don't care anymore, that was in the past already." he said.
"What tea did you order?" Bigla namang tanong ng kanina pang tahimik na si Cali.
"Bluechai tea." he answered.
After that, the inspector asked one of his subordinates to assist Freddy on going back to where the rest is seated.
Cali and Eudayme are quiet, thinking carefully and not sharing their thoughts to each other. Iginala ko ang aking paningin sa buong cafe at nakitang kami na lang pala ang natitira dito, maybe inspector let the other customers go since they have nothing to do with the case. I looked at my wrist watch and was surprised to see that it was already 1:40 pm, I'm late for my afternoon class!
"Don't leave yet, I still need your insights about this case." sabi ni Cali na napansin yatang aalis na sana ako.
"But the class." I informed him.
"You're excuse, I told the inspector to inform the school that you will not be attending afternoon classes due to an emergency." he explained. I sighed in relief because of what I heard.
Napaisip naman ako tungkol sa kaso nang biglang may ibinigay sa akin na papel si Cali.
"My deceased client gave me this yesterday, its a screenshot that was sent to her by the blackmailer." he informed me. Kinuha ko naman sa kanya ang pirasong papel at tiningnan ito.
09873645298 (Unregistered Number)
SAT AT 9:38 PM
I know you very well Luisa, though you do not recognise me.
This is not fake, follow my instructions.
Prepare a 1 million peso and put it in a brown cash envelope.
Go to the Dupin Cafe on August 26 at 3:00 pm and put it on top of the table 5 and leave the cafe after 5 minutes.
If you will not follow my instructions, expect something bad that might ruin your reputation.
You do not need to apologise because it won't change anything.
That was the message that the blackmailer sent to Luisa.
Wait! August 26 is today! That realization made my eyes widened in shock. I suddenly approached Cali to ask him about the money.
"Cali!" I called him. "Did the police found a brown cash envelope inside her bag?" I asked him that made him smirk.
"Yeah, there is. Why?" he asked that made me frown.
"Hindi mo pa binabasa ito?" I asked him and he just shook his head that made me dumbfounded. Bakit hindi niya binasa? Sa kanyang client naman yun ah. I turned to him to ask why.
"I am entrusting you to solve that blackmailing case while I will solve the poisoning case." he emphasized the word "I" then looked at Eudayme sideways.
"My, my. Is this a challenge my dear Luca?" Eudayme approached Cali with a smile on his face.
"No need, I'm sure that I will get it, AGAIN!" Cali retorted emphasizing the word "again."
"Don't be so full of yourself! I know that I will get it this time." said Eudayme.
"Just give up Eudy, you are no match for me." Cali said while putting his hands inside his pockets.
Bago pa man makasagot si Eudayme ay pumagitna na si inspector sa kanilang dalawa.
"Now, now. Why don't you two just team up?"
"NEVER!"
"UNREMARKABLE!"
Sabay na sabi ng dalawa na dahilan para mapabuntong-hininga si Inspector,
"You two are hopeless." sabi ni inspector nang may kasamang pag-iling.
"Inspector!" Tawag ng isang forensic na papunta sa direksiyon niya. "Base sa nagawang examination, matatagpuan ang lason sa tsaa ng biktima." the inspector then thanked the officer after giving the information.
Lumapit naman ako kay Cali para magtanong tungkol sa blackmailing case ngunit hindi ko na naituloy nang maramdaman kong nag-iisip siya ng malalim.
"Only the victim is wearing a make-up. She ordered hibiscus tea with a lemon slice. Angelo ordered chamomile tea and is sitting across the victim. Sheena ordered oolong tea and is sitting at the left of the victim. Freddy ordered a bluechai tea and is sitting at the right of the victim. The poison was found on the tea of the victim. The question is, who and how was she poisoned?" he whispered to himself but I heard it clearly.
Not wanting to destroy his concentration, I went to a table near the primary suspects to solve the case that was entrusted to me.
09873645298 (Unregistered Number)
SAT AT 9:38 PM
I know you very well Luisa, though you do not recognise me.
This is not fake, follow my instructions.
Prepare a 1 million peso and put it in a brown cash envelope.
Go to the Dupin Cafe on August 26 at 3:00 pm and put it on top of the table 5 and leave the cafe after 5 minutes.
If you will not follow my instructions, expect something bad that might ruin your reputation.
You do not need to apologise because it won't change anything.
Paulit-ulit kong binasa ang sinend ng blackmailer pero wala pa ring pumapasok sa isip ko kung sino sa tatlo ang nasa likod nito. Out of frustration, I picked up my phone and went to google. I was about to tap the search bar when I noticed an article about people being confused to spelling some words. The picture of the article is the national flag of America and UK.
I stared at the picture for a minute then remembered something. I now know how to identify the culprit behind the blackmailing case. I looked at the three suspects with a victorious smile.
"I see that you already solved it." Cali appeared out of nowhere. "Tell me who is it. Oh never mind, I don't want to spoil the fun." he continued then went straight to the three.
"During your tea party, did something or someone interrupted the fun?" he asked to the three.
"Meron, yung time na ipinakita ni Angelo yung bagong product ng company niya. Tumayo siya noon at pumunta kay Luisa para ipakita sa kanya ang facial product ata iyon since SPA owner si Luisa." sagot ni Sheena.
"Who was the first one to arrive?" singit na tanong ni Eudayme. Hindi ko siya napansin na lumapit sa tatlo.
"Me." Sagot ni Freddy.
"Then I was the second one." Sabi naman ni Sheena.
"And me." Angelo said.
"That makes the victim last." Eudayme said.
"Nung dumating na ba kayo, nagorder na kayo agad?" tanong ko naman na dahilan upang lahat sila tumngin sa akin.
"Hindi, nakasanayan kasi namin na hintayin muna na dumating ang lahat bago umorder." sagot ni Freddy.
"Sino ang pumili ng tsaa niyo?" tanong ko ulit.
"Kami, actually, every year na magsasama-sama kami, 'yon na ang inoorder namin, hindi na namin pinapalitan." sagot ni Sheena.
Napaisip naman sila Cali at Eudayme ng malalim habang ako ay nag-iisip rin ngunit hindi ganoon kalalim.
"Teka nga lang." sabi ni Freddy. "Bakit kayo nangingialam sa pag-iimbestiga? Estudyante palang kayo oh kasi nakasuot pa kayo ng uniform niyo, except for this guy." turo niya kay Eudayme. "You should let the police handle this. A mere high school brats can't do anything to solve this case."
"Excuse me for being a brat." Sabi ni Cali.
"Pardon my rudeness, sir, but we aren't just mere high school students, in fact, we helped the police lots of times." Sabi ni Eudayme.
"Level of difficulty is nothing because we can solve anything referred to us." Cali said.
"We may be just high school students but we assure you that we can solve anything." Eudayme said.
"Because we are Detectives from the Veritas High School and I am the best!"
"Because we are Detectives from the Veritas High School and I am the best!"
Sabay na sabi ng dalawa. Napapalakpak naman ng kamay si Sheena dahil sa kanila.
"Yow boys!" I called them both. "Is that some kind of your speech?" I asked them but they didn't answered me.
"Fine! You guys are not just a mere high school brats, but a detective." Freddy surrendered.
"Hey! The three of you, do you already know who's behind the poisoning case?" tanong ni inspector nang makalapit siya sa amin.
Eudayme and Cali just smirked to each other and turned their heads to the inspector.
"Let the curtains rise and the show begin." Eudayme said in a proud tone.
"This will be remarkable!" Cali said with his smirk.
ITS TIME FOR THE REVELATION TO BEGIN!
~RIVALRY~