Nandito kami ngayon sa information desk at nagtatanong tungkol sa tatlong suspects. May pinakitang ID si Akane at agad namang ipinakita ng babae ang data nila. After a while, she gave us a printed sheet of their information.
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"This is really weird," bulong ni Akane noong nasa labas na kami.
She was right. Sabi ng nasa information desk, 'yong first two digits ng room number ay kung anong floor sila at ang last two ay ang room number sa specific floor. Ibig sabihin, Roberto Garcia was in the same floor as the victim, while Ace Francisco was directly below her, and Sarah Angeles beside him.
"At halos sabay-sabay din silang nagcheck-out, which was after the second murder. 'Di ba around 6:30 P.M. siya namatay? This is getting weirder and creepier," dagdag pa ni Akane.
Pagdating namin kay Miyu ay pumasok kami at nagulat ako nang makita ko sina Ma'am Reina at Sir Hayate sa loob.
"Eh? Why are you two here?" tanong agad ni Akane.
"We're also investigating a case and our evidence led us here," Ma'am Reina explained. "Then nakita namin sina Riye at Reiji."
"How's the case?" tanong naman ni Sir Hayate at hindi ko alam kung kasama rin ba 'to sa evaluation namin.
"May suspects na po kami pero hindi pa rin namin alam kung sino ang murderer," sagot ko.
"I see."
"Pasensya na at hindi namin kayo matulungan," sabi naman ni Ma'am Reina at doon ko lang na-realize kung gaano karaming cases ang inaasikaso sa Tantei High araw-araw. "Lahat kasi ng teachers ay nagkaroon ng assigned cases."
"Cases like what?" biglang tanong ni Reiji at nakita kong nagtinginan sina Ma'am Reina at Sir Hayate.
Mukhang top secret ang cases na hina-handle nila kaya lalo lang nakaka-curious. Dinivert naman nila agad ang topic sa case namin kaya sinabi namin ni Akane ang nakuha naming information, at gano'n din ang ginawa nina Riye at Reiji.
"Jackie Crisostomo was the third victim. He was 29 years old," sabi ni Riye.
"He and Mr. Victor were working in the same company," dagdag naman ni Reiji.
"Ah. And me have additional information about the suspects. Aside from being Ms. Reynalyn's, ex-boyfriend, Mr. Roberto Garcia was also in the same company as Mr. Victor and Mr. Jackie, but he resigned last year. So basically, he knew all the victims."
"Sarah Angeles also knows the three because all of them were her clients. The three made a deal with her but they ran away and never paid her so she was searching for them. Lastly, Ace Francisco is a medical student in the same university as Victor when he was in college. We also found out that the the other two victims were also from the same university so there's a high chance that he also knows all of them."
Pagkasabi nila no'n ay parang bumalik kami sa simula. Lahat sila ay kilala ang tatlo at wala kaming lead tungkol sa motives nila.
"Wait lang, saang company nagtatrabaho sina Mr. Jackie at Victor?" tanong naman ni Akane.
"Giblo Chemicals," sagot ni Riye at parang may na-realize siya. "Ah, nee-san, kung doon din nagtatrabaho si Mr. Roberto dati, he could have an access with various chemicals . . . like hydrochloric acid."
"Right? And he can easily call Mr. Victor and Jackie since they were co-workers while Ms. Reynalyn was his ex-girlfriend."
"Then Ace Francisco could have done the same thing," Reiji argued.
"O baka naman 'yong deal na sinasabi ni Sarah Angeles ay chemicals?" dagdag ko.
Natahimik kaming apat. Tinry ko ring basahin kung anong iniisip nila kaso sarado ang mga isip nila. Alam kong lahat kami ay may kanya-kanyang suspect na naiisip and we were all trying to prove it to ourselves.
"We already have evidences and information, we just need to connect all of it," sabi ni Akane. "And I think, kailangan nating hintayin sina Hiro at Ken dahil baka may nakalap din silang details."
Napatingin na lang ulit ako sa pictures para maghanap pa ng posibleng clues at napakunot ang noo ko nang may mapansin akong kakaiba. This figure . . . I think I saw this before.
I browsed the pictures and saw something that felt familiar. Ugh. Kung kalian kailangan kong maalala ang mga bagay-bagay ay saka naman hindi nagco-cooperate ang utak ko.
Bigla naman akong napatalon nang mag-ring ang phone ni Akane at mukhang gano'n din ang naging reaksyon nila dahil pare-pareho kaming naghahanap ng iba pang clues. Ni-loud speaker ni Akane ang phone at nilapag sa table.
"Hello, Akane?" bungad ni Ken.
"O, bakit? Nasaan na ba kayo?"
"Pabalik kami sa agency." Bakit parang hinihingal siya?
"Ha? Bakit kayo babalik r'yan? Akala ko ba dito kay Miyu ang kitaan?"
"Basta! Bumalik na rin kayo ngayon dito, ngayon na! We're running out of time!"
"What? W-wait! Ano bang nangyayari? Bakit kayo nagmamadali? May humahabol ba sa inyo?"
"Shit! Ken, come on! Basta umalis na kayo!" sigaw niya at narinig din naming ang boses ni Hiro.
Akane was right. Mukhang may humahabol nga sa kanila. Napatayo bigla si Reiji at kinuha ang phone ni Akane.
"Are those Shinigamis?" tanong ni Reiji at natahimik kaming lahat. Kasabay no'n ay ang pagiging busy ng kabilang linya kaya napatayo kaming lahat.
Agad namang pumunta sa main screen si Reiji at nag-type ng kung ano. Lumabas sa screen ang "Shinigami System Alert" at bigla akong may na-realize.
"Hindi kaya ito 'yong case na sinasabi nina Ma'am Rein at Sir Hayate?" tanong ko.
"Yan din ang naiisip ko," sabi ni Akane. "But we have to solve this case first before worrying about that."
I looked at the pictures again and that moment, realization hit me.
"Uhm, I think I know who the murderer is," mahina sabi ni Riye habang nakatingin sa picture na hawak niya.
"Me, too," sabi naman ni Reiji.
"I guess we really belong in the Atama family," dagdag ni Akane habang nakangiti at nakatingin sa phone.
Doon ko naalala kung saan ko nakita ang figures nang napatingin ako sa design ng phone case ni Akane.
"And I think we all have the same killer in mind," I concluded.
