The news about Herbert's death disrupted the whole city. The police immediately started investigating. Elton had to cancel all the classes to give room for the investigation. However, because the victim is a student of Elton High School, the police speculated that there's a reason why the culprit dumped Herbert's body in several spots in this school and that the culprit could be someone inside Elton. Hence, everyone, including the principal, teachers, and students, is a person of interest.
Elton has a two thousand total estimated number of students. That's a lot of people to investigate. And to do that, the PNP had to declare a campus lockdown.
The gates closed around 11 AM, which caused an uproar inside the school. No one is allowed to go out until a thorough investigation, which means everyone would stay inside the school premises until the police say so. Every student marked as 'clear' can leave the school, but until they obtain that, they'll have to stay inside and cooperate with the investigation.
"We'll have to stay here for at least two days? Seriously? Why are we being treated as criminals all of a sudden?"
I heard a student say while I was busy collecting the list of all absentees in class 9-C. The kids are not allowed to go outside their classroom unless they need to go to the restroom. Their homeroom teacher's still busy going through the class master list, which leaves her with no time to reprimand her students.
I looked at the student who spoke and watched her as she stayed looking at her reflection on her cellphone screen, fixing her smudged lipstick. Her seatmate saw me looking at her, so she awkwardly hit her with her elbow.
The girl looked at me with hints of shock. I guess she realized why am I looking at her.
"Here's the list of absentees, Miss Nase," the homeroom teacher said and handed me a piece of paper with the list. The list includes the absentees' names, addresses, and guardians' contact numbers.
"Thanks, Ma'am," I said as I took the paper. But before I left, I faced the class. I stared straight at the girl who complained earlier and said, "We are not being treated as criminals; we are simply being investigated. A student of Elton High School just died. Let's all be sensitive and at least cooperate. Let's not slow the police down in tracking the real culprit. This is also for everyone's safety."
I smiled at the homeroom teacher before leaving. I have collected the names of all the absentees in the ninth grade, so the next thing I need to do is hunt down officer Gavia to give him the list he asked me to collect.
I went to the SSC office and saw him talking to Jacob. Their conversation seemed pretty serious, but unlike what I assumed it was, Jacob's trying his best to help with the investigation since Herbert is one of his friends.
"Sir, I already have the list you asked me to collect," I said as soon as I made it in front of them, intentionally interrupting their conversation.
They both looked at me When I handed the list to officer Gavia. He looked at them for a while, giving me a chance to look at Jacob.
Jacob gave me an awkward smile before looking away, touching his nape. I'm glad he could still understand the meaning behind my every look. I tilted my head, gesturing for him to go away, which he did after making up a reason to leave.
"Officer, I'll be heading back to my class. If you need anything, you can ask for me," said Jacob.
"Oh, yeah. Sure. Thanks for the information," Officer Gavia then replied.
Jacob smiled at me before he left, but I acted as if I didn't see it. Officer Gavia called one of his colleagues and handed him the list. Even the absentees couldn't escape the investigation because Herbert's family is not just influential and wealthy— Herbert is the only grandson of the district's congressman, the former Police Major General of the PNP.
"Faye," officer Gavia called. "Would you mind touring me around?" he asked.
"As if I have any other choice?" I half-jokingly said, which made him laugh, but his laughter and playfulness didn't last long when he displayed a straight face and replied,
"Yes, you don't have a choice because you're one of the two thousand persons of interest for this case,"
***
Officer Gavia is more than just a police officer. I can tell that he has a sense of duty, and just like any other young professional, he's ambitious. The thought made me laugh, tho.
"Do you know anything about Herbert?" I asked while watching him roam around the boy's restroom in the senior high department. There's a shape of an upper limb drawn on the floor of the third cubicle, which was the spot where the victim's right upper limb was found this morning.
"He's the victim," officer Gavia replied without looking at me. He's carefully inspecting every corner but still hadn't found anything significant.
"I mean, aside from the fact that he's the victim,"
Officer Gavia sighed before turning to me and nodding his head. "Former Police Major General Kaharian is his grandfather, and he's---"
"Herbert is your brother's bully." I cut him off.
Officer Gavia froze at what I said. He reacted exactly the way I had expected him to react. This isn't an attempt to help him, though. I'm curious whether he would remain as enthusiastic as he is after knowing such a thing about the victim. And also, to make Herbert take all the blame and save Jacob.
"What did you say?" he asked silently, almost murmuring.
I looked down, trying to act as hesitant as I could before repeating, "Herbert is Rayland's bully. He's the person who picked on him the most."
He stayed silent, and I observed him. His lips curled upward into a seemingly faint smirk. The look on his face was a mixture of surprise, pain, and ...happiness? Of course, he's a human. He lost his precious brother because of bullying and knowing that the bully who caused your beloved family pain is now dead somehow provides the feeling of satisfaction and comfort.
At least, that's what I concluded.
"Well, that was...unexpected," he said before giving me a fake smile. "Let's go. Let's inspect the back gate." Then he walked past me, completely shrugging off what I just told him.
My jaw dropped. "That's it?"
I twisted my upper body to look at him with furrowed eyebrows.
"What?" he asked as if he was clueless.
"You're still interested in getting to the bottom of this despite knowing that bastard bullied your brother?"
"Of course! Getting to the bottom of this is my job. Are you expecting me to take my hands off of this case, walk home, shut the door, and cry as if Rayland could crawl back up from the grave to console me? No. That's what you, immature kids do, which is totally different from how adults handle things. Did you get that? If yes, come with me to the back gate because I need you there." Then he walked out, leaving me.
Did he just call me immature? Wow! I guess getting a promotion is as important as his brother. Or perhaps, he's trying to win the higher-ups or the pantaloon's favor?
I walked out of the room, almost running to catch up with him. I looked at him as I tried my best to match his wide steps, but all I could do was half run. "Does this mean you'll stop pestering me about Rayland?"
"No," he replied.
I frowned. "I already gave you the answer, didn't I?"
Officer Gavia stopped and turned to face me, twisting his feet as if some higher-ups commanded him to face left. I got distracted by the sound of his feet as they stomped in place, forming a perfect 45-degree angle.
"Seriously?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you still in training or something?"
He ignored my lame comment. He leaned forward, looking at me with narrowed eyes. As if he was implying that I am acting suspiciously. "If it is the only answer I am looking for, I wouldn't be pestering you in the first place."
Then, he stood straight. "I appreciate the information you gave out so easily for this experiment, Miss Nase. But you see, your plan of stopping me from investigating my brother's suicide using this case won't work. I studied for years and trained for months, do you think I will fall for such tactics? No."
I was stunned by how observative and quick-witted he was. Those words left me speechless that even after he gave me that one mockingly sweet smile, I couldn't bring myself to display any reaction. I watched his back as he walked along the empty hallway leading to the back gate, which has been closed for eight years.
After a long moment, I managed to let out a sneer.
Police Staff Sergeant Raymond Gavia... My guts were right...all along.