Later that day, I phoned Calvin at home. I felt more at ease knowing we could discuss freely in our own homes.
“Your sister owned a camera, right? Does it have a strap with it?” I went straight to the point which Calvin had probably become accustomed to.
“Yes, it does,” he replied eagerly. “It was pretty heavy so she always wore it around her neck.”
“Do you think she had the camera with her when she went to school that day?”
“I’m not sure… why?”
I was still for a moment, knowing my next question could throw him off. “I’m sorry for asking this, but… have you seen… the position of her body when she was found?” I treaded carefully to lessen the impact but I could feel it still hit him hard.
I apologized again and waited for his response. And after a long pause, he broke the silence.
“She was… she was facing the ground,” Calvin said bitterly.
“I’m sorry you had to answer that. But it supports the theory I have in mind.”
“What do you mean?” His voice lightened up a little bit.
“Hey, Calvin, remember that dent on Nicole’s chest? I think she still had the camera around her neck by the time she fell. It was the object that hit her chest.”
“But why was it not found with her?” he said, catching up.
“It’s because someone stole it. There was somebody at the place when she died. And that person had the guts to take away Nicole’s camera after she fell. For them to go that far, they clearly wanted to hide the evidence because they’re guilty.”
“So, someone really was involved in my sister’s death.”
“Nicole was probably taking pictures again for evidence the day she died,” I said, getting shivers from my own words. It felt more true now that I had voiced out my thoughts.
“And then she got caught and was forced to jump from the rooftop?” Calvin said, resentment evident from his voice.
“It’s possible…” I shook my head at the grimness of it. “The workers had already left by then. Nobody could have seen them.”
“Do you think the criminal still has her camera?”
“I doubt it. If I were him, I couldn’t afford to hide important evidence like that. It’s most likely he already disposed of it a long time ago.”
“So what are we going to do now?” The boy sounded desperate. “The missing camera is proof that someone else was involved. If we can persuade the police, they can rule out suicide and might start investigating again.”
“For now, the lead that we have points to Augusto Pier, the Head Administrator, and Rosita Estrella, the former Finance Head. But since Ms. Estrella is not in the school anymore, it would be more convenient to investigate Mr. Pier first.”
“But why them in particular?” Calvin asked.
“I believe one wouldn’t be able to manipulate a lot of transactions that easily, unless they were sitting in high positions. It would be safe to start from them, I guess. Also, my gut is telling me so.”
We talked a little bit more, then the call ended, leaving me with my thoughts.
As we make progress with the case, the more complicated things have become. I'm not sure where it might lead us, but we can’t give up just yet.
For now what we need is concrete evidence, and a place where the culprit cannot escape.