Volume 2
Chapter Nine
Crime of the Beheaded Librarian
"Liberty High is bigger than I expected." Seven said with a smile on is face.
Pasimple ko siyang tinignan. No hints of suspiciousness around him. Pero bakit naman siya magsisinungaling tungkol sa magulang niya? Is he hiding his true identity?
But Matix searched his name. He's registered. Meaning, totoong pangalan niya ang Seven.
"Friday?"
I blinked rapidly. "Hm?"
Seven smiled. "Ayos ka lang? Natutulala ka." Aniya.
I nodded. "Ah, oo. Maayos lang ako. Anyways, nalibot naman na natin ang buong Liberty High. Can I ask you a question?"
Seven's eyebrows raised. "Sure! Ano yon?"
I crossed my arms. "Why did you lie about your parents?" Deretsahang tanong ko.
Chaos told me to ask him and make him tell the truth about his parents. Binalaan din ako ni Chaos na huwag basta basta lumapit kay Seven.
I noticed that Seven stilled. "What..what do you mean?" He innocently asked but he avoided eye contact.
I held my sharp gaze against him. "Please, tell me the truth. Why did you lie?"
I was expecting him to be defensive. Iyong sisigaw at mananakit dahil pinagbibintangan ko siyanv nagsisinungaling but then, he suddenly cried. His tears were streaming down on his cheeks.
My face softened. "Hey, ayos ka lang ba?" Masuyo kong tanong.
Agad niyang pinunasan ang luha. "Sorry, it's so unmanly of me to cry infront of a girl." He sniffed.
"B-Bakit ka umiyak? Do you mind telling me?" I asked.
May kinuha ito sa pocket ng pants niya. An old picture. Crumpled.
"This picture...it's a picture of my parents before they died."
"What happened then?" I asked calmly.
"They were killed. You see, my parents are known to sell drugs and murder people. The police killed them and an organization is haunting me down."
Organization? Could it be the organization where the Agati siblings are?
Seven continued, "that's why I changed my name. Through with the help of someone, I legally changed my name so I could be free."
"I lied about my parents' names because I'm scared that people will look at me, scared that maybe I'm like my parents. Murderer."
I breathed heavily. "I'm sorry for bringing this up." Ani ko.
Seven smiled. "It's okay." His smile holds innocence.
Then, his phone rang. It rang continuously and he grunted in response. "Excuse me, I'll take this call." Anito at umalis.
Ako naman ay tumungo na sa storage room kung saan hinihintay ako ng mga tao roon.
Nang makapasok ako, bumungad sa akin ang natutulog na sina Midnight at Slate. Ang naghahack na sina Matix at Twiligh habang binabantayan ni Rebel at si Effie at Chaos na abala sa paglalaro ng board game.
I cleared my throat. "I'm back."
"Friday!" Effie called at sinugod ako ng yakap.
"Kamusta ang family mo? Naayos na daw ba ang problema?" I asked. Ngayon ko lang nakita si Effie dahil kauuwi lang nito galing sa probinsya nila.
Tumango si Effie at ngumiti. "All is clear! Maayos naman ang lahat."
I smiled back. "Mabuti naman."
Chaos stood behind Effie with both hands on each pockets on his pants. "How's the talk with Seven?" He asked.
I shrugged. "He told me the reason why he lied about his parents?"
Matix turned his attention on me. "Ano raw sabi?"
I breathed heavily at ikinuwento sa kanila ang mga sinabi ni Seven sa akin.
"That's tragic." Malungkot na sambit ni Effie.
I nodded. "I know. Kaya nga nakonsensiya ako dahil ang harsh ko sa kaniya."
Then, Rebel interferred. "He may be lying." Anito.
I furrowed my eyebrows. "But he cried! Infront of me! He was sincere."
"So a person has to cry for his story to br believable?" Chaos asked.
Rebel nodded. "Tears can decieve anyone, Friday. For now, we consider his story. But we will continue to investigate to see if he's telling to truth or not."
I nodded. Seems fair enough.
After a moment of silence, Chaos walked near me and spoke, "if something bad happens to me, just smile and be positive." Makabuluhang sabi nito bago tumungo kay Matix at Twilight na abala sa laptop nito.
Kumunot naman ang noo ko. Anong ibig sabihin nito? May masama bang mangyayari? Parang nakakakaba naman. Sana walang mangyaring masama kay Chaos o kahit kanino man. The last thing I want is my friends getting hurt.
Napatigil ako sa pagsasalita nang nag alarm ang laptop ni Matix sanhi ng pagkagising nina Midnight at Slate.
"What the hell's happening?" Slate asked while yawning.
Midnight rubbed his eyes. "What's the alarm for?"
Matix cussed. "A murder just happened." Anito na ikinatigil naming lahat.
"What?" I asked.
"I hacked the school's cctv and programmed my laptop to sensor any murder happening around the school. It alarm when it sensors a murder." Matix fastly typed in the keyboard.
Then he gasped. "The librarian's dead. She's dead in her office but apparently, no one's found her yet. The cctv in her office sensored the murder. The footage of the suspect killing the librarian was deleted."
I nodded. Parang kilala ko na kung sino ang suspect. "Isa lang naman ang kilala nating magaling maghack na mamamatay tao rin, X." Sambit ko.
Tumango ang iba. "Let's go. We need to investigate." Ani Midnight na akmang lalabas ng storage room.
But Chaos stopped him. "Wait." Anito.
"What?!" Midnight asked impatiently.
"We need to call the police." Aniya.
Agad namang sumagot si Effie. "I'm on it." May tinawagan ito sa phone. Probably her dad.
"We need to wait for the police to arrive to voucher us to come in. I'm sure the other librarians won't allow us to enter the office." Ani Chaos.
He's making sense. Although we're announced as the official detective group, having this many, eight students investigating the scene might be prohibited and damage the evidences.
Makalipas ang ilang oras sa paghihintay, dumating na ang police at nagkaguluhan naman ang mga estudyante na ngayon lang nalaman ang sinapit ng librarian. Pati ang ibang librarians ay nagulat nnang nalaman patay na ang kasama nila.
What shocked us the most is how brutal the murder of the librarian was.
Pugot ang ulo nito. Ang katawan ay nakahandusay sa sahig habang ang ulo ay nasa office table nito. Ang mga kamay nito ay nahiwalay na rin sa katawan. The killer chopped off both the head and arms of this woman.
"We already got a hold of the evidences. Pwede na kayong pumasok. Report to us if you found any other evidences." Anang ama ni Effie at umalis para makipagusap sa ibang police.
The eight of us entered. Wala na ang katawan but the smell of blood is still fresh.
"Where do we start?" Slate asked.
"We search for other clues and evidences. Kung paano pinatay ang librarian at kung sino ang pumatay."
Midnight grunted. "Damn, undercover is better and easier than this." He commented.
His other siblings answered by saying "true."
"Wala namang kakaiba sa office na 'to. Walang ginalaw ang killer. Pumasok lang ito, pinatay ang librarian at umalis agad." Twilight said.
Si Chaos naman ay tahimik na hinahawakan ang bawat bagay na nakikita sa office.
He then rapidly stomped his feet on the floor that made a creaking sound. He called me. "Friday! Come here."
"Bakit?" Nagtatakang tanong ko.
"I need someone heavy to stand on this part to see if it creates a creaking sound."
Nalukot ang mukha ko. Ano daw?! Heavy person?
"Kailangan talaga, ako?" I asked, frustratingly.
Chaos nodded. "You're still cute nonetheless."
I just rolled my eyes then stood at the floor kung saan tinuro ni Chaos.
It made a creaking sound and to my surprise, it went deep down a little.
Nagigpit akong napakapit sa braso ni Chaos at mabilis na umalis sa pwestong iyon.
"Bingo." Ani Chaos at nakangiting inaalis ang wood sa floor.
When the wood is removed, a piece of paper is found. Covered in blood.
2-A45 4-P74 1-Q31
Ayan ang nakasulat sa papel.
"Those are book numbers. Ani Midnight.
"Did the librarian hide that?" Twilight asked.
Chaos answered. "Obviously. Maybe she wrote this to let the police know who the killer is."
Kumunot ang noo ko. "Pero bakit naman niya itatago?"
Rebel crossed his arms. "This is just my deduction but what if the killer stabbed the librarian but when she still had consciousness, she wrote the note. When the killer found out, he chopped the librarian's hands and head off and hid the note so he could not be found."
Chaos tuned out Rebel na ikinagalit nito at humarap sa amin. "Let's scatter and find these books. It might lead to the killer." Aniya. Si Rebel naman ay ilang beses minura si Chaos. I just chuckled. Sino bang hindi magagalit. Nagsasalita ka pero hindi nakikinig sayo ang kausap mo.
We then went out to head to the book shelves. Twilight, Effie and I are finding a book with the number A45. Though hindi ko alam kung ano ang ibig sabihin ng number sa unahan. Ang number 2.
Sina Matix and Chaos naman ang naghahanap sa librong may number na P74 at sina Midnight, Slate at Rebel naman ang sa Q31.
"Found it!" Effie shouted while waving the book.
Lumapit naman agad kami kay Effie. "What book is this?" Twilight asked.
It has a title A Seven Letter Word by Kim Slater.
"We just have to find out the purpose of that number before the dash." Ani Twilight.
Then I spoke. "Could it be that the number before the dash represents the clue word?" I deduced.
Effie and Twilight's face lit up. "Then ang sabi sa note, 2 ang number bago ang dash. So that means, Seven ang clue word natin dahil Seven ang second word?"
I nodded so does Twilight. "tara na. We have to report this to the others." Ani Twilight at bumalik na kami sa storage room.
Nang makarating, we waited for minutes until the other came back. Each holding a book in hand.
"Alam niyo ba ang meaning ng number bago ang dash?" Effie asked.
Tumango sila. "Yeah. We got 'Me'". Sagot ni Midnight.
Matix raised his hand. "We got '"killed'"
I stilled. If Midnight's group got Me, while Chaos's group got Killed and we got Seven, does this mean....
Mabilis kong kinuha ang mga libro at pinagdikit dikit. Binasa ko naman ang note. Tama..the answers were correct.
"What?" Rebel asked.
Twilight and Effie looked pale too. Mukhang alam na nila ang sagot.
"We got Seven." Sagot ko naman.
The others stilled and Chaos spoke, "then does this means..."
The answer leads up to:
Seven killed me
• • •
"Dad, we know who killed the librarian." Ani Effie.
Damn that Seven. Napaniwala niya ako sa story niya. Awang-awa ako sa kaniya tapos mamamatay tao pala siya?!
"Really? Who? We also caught the culprit."
We stilled. Nahuli na nila si Seven?
"You already caught Seven?" Naguguluhang tanong ni Effie.
The chief furrowed his eyebrows. "Seven? The culprit is James Montemayor. He already admitted to his crimes."
"But Seven Velasquez is the reall killer!" Rebel defensed.
Umiling si Chief. "James montemayor also told us the same thing. We checked and during the time of the murder, nasa fifth floor siya nasa board games room daw. His alibi is correct. There's cctv in the hallway. Nandon siya."
We stilled. "Oh siya. Mauna na ako. Dadalhin ko ang suspect natin sa presinto. I'll call his parents since he's just a minor." Anito at umalis.
Napatingin naman ako sa police car kung nasaan ang "culprit".
He was crying and shouting like he was begging us for help.
Once again, we failed to serve justice. Another student is framed of murder.
Bumaling naman ako sa Agati siblings nang may maalala. Seven was in the board games club room? Anong ginagawa nun don?
"We're gonna go to our room and check if something's missing." Ani Slate.
Tumango naman kami at pinanood lang ang magkakapatid habang tumatakbo palayo.
Looks like Seven is mysterious after all.
After in amidst of silence, Chaos's phone rang. It continued to beep rapidly. "Excuse me." He said and took the call.
Lumayo ito sa amin habang kinakausap ang nasa phone. I can clearly see how his face paled while talking to someone on the phone.
Sino yun?
Naalala ko naman ang sinabi ni Chaos sa akin kanina:
"if something bad happens to me, just smile and be positive."
Nang matapos si Chaos sa tawag, lumapit ako sa kaniya. "Are you okay?" Tanong ko.
He stilled for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine." Sambit nito.
"You're gonna be okay, right?" Kinakabahang tanong ko.
If he tells me he's gonna be okay, the I'll trust him.
Chaos didn't answer but instead, smiled and took my hand. "Let's go. I'm hungry."
And in that moment, I knew that something bad will happen...