Euclid Shellingford (Volume 2)

CHAPTER 26.2: The Case of Mistaken Identity (Part 3)

“Shall we start?”

Sinenyasan ko si Razor at saka nito ipinakita ang laptop. Nagtatakang tumingin naman ang tatlo dito.

“Since mukhang nasabi na sa inyo ni Inspector kanina ang tungkol sa  pagkamatay ni Mr. Gerona, I’ll get straight to the point. You were all gathered here because I believe, ah no… I am definitely sure, that his killer was among the three of you.”

“That’s ridiculous!” narinig kong bulong ng isa sa kanila. She has long brown hair at mukhang bagong manicure lang ng mga kuko.

“So alam mo na kung sinong pumatay sa kanya? Pwede bang sabihin mo na agad dahil may meeting pa ko!” inis pang sabi ng isang babae. She has short hair and long eyelashes. Sa gawi niya ngayon, nasisiguro kong siya ang huling kameeting ni Mr. Gerona.

“You are Ms. Carla Pauluan?” pagkumpirma ko dito.

“Yeah, so?” nakataas pa ang kilay na sabi nito.

“And you are Ms. Yoane?” baling ko sa babaeng may mahabang buhok. Tumango naman ito bilang pagsang-ayon. Napatingin naman ako sa babaeng kararating lang, probably from the restroom. She must be Ms. Jaime.

“Mr. Gerona died because of the stab wound on his abdomen. It penetrates some of his limbs which results to excessive bleeding. Aside from that, there were no scratches found on his body and his phone was found just above his hand. Ibig sabihin, he was attacked by surprise. The killer also deleted the number she used to call the victim in the call logs but fortunately, we were able to retrieve the data.”

Nagthumbs-up sign pa si Razor sa’kin. Ipinakita ko sa kanila ang lahat ng call log na naretrieve sa cellphone ng biktima.

Incoming call. 9:42:07 AM 09***913456
Incoming call. 9:43:50 AM 09***732458
Incoming call. 9:44:05 AM 09***478901
Incoming call. 9:45:06 AM 09***590379 (deleted)
Incoming call. 9:45:59 AM 09***590379 (deleted)
Outgoing call. 9:47:10 AM 911
Outgoing call. 9:47:22 AM 09***590379 (deleted)
Outgoing call. 9:47:56 AM 09***913456
Outgoing call. 9:47:59 AM 09***732458
Outgoing call. 9:48:04 AM 09***478901
Outgoing call. 9:48:08 AM 09***123425
Outgoing call. 9:48:12 AM 09***590379 (deleted)
Outgoing call. 9:48:16 AM 09***567158
Incoming call. 9:48:20 AM 09***590379 (deleted)
Outgoing call. 9:48:24 AM 09***900112
Outgoing call. 9:48:28 AM 09***314456
Outgoing call. 9:48:30 AM 09***590379 (deleted)
Outgoing call. 9:48:34 AM 09***057890
Missed call. 9:49:00 AM Sir Samuel
Incoming call. 9:50:12 AM 09***590379 (deleted)

“So,  Ms. Carla, why did you call Mr. Gerona right after your meeting?” Mukhang nagulat naman ito sa biglaang tanong ko.

“G-Gusto ko kasi sanang ipahanap sa kanya yung sister-in-law ko na naglayas ng bahay a month ago. May hiniram kasi yung malaking pera sa’kin at kailangan ko ng maningil kaya kinuha ko yung serbisyo niya. Luckily, nahanap naman niya yung maldita kong sister-in-law at yun yung binigay niyang report sa’kin kanina. Sabi ko sa kanya, I’ll just transfer my payment via bank kasi wala akong dalang cash so after that meeting, I went to the nearest bank and wired my payment. Tinawagan ko siya para sabihing natransfer ko na yung pera. That’s it!” mahabang paliwanag nito.

Napatangu-tango naman ako.

“Pero teka, paano mo nalamang sa’kin yung unang number na tumawag sa kanya that time?” napatingin din ang iba sa’kin.

“Your appointment on him was at 9:30AM and the first call he had after all his appointment began at 9:42AM. Since I have deduced earlier that you were the type of person that doesn’t really want to wait, I assumed that you just have him gave you the result of your request kaya ganun kabilis ang meeting niyo,” paliwanag ko sa kanya. Napatangu-tango naman sila.