"Where are you going?" Leana asked as Yeonica prepared her school bag. Well, kind of?
"Where else? To that darn school, obviously," she answered.
"Hasn't Mr. Felmor told you? He wants to see you today."
Yeonica turned around and faced her. "Really?"
She opened her phone and checked her messages. It took her seconds to find her boss' message due to the many group chats related to school.
"Ah, I see it now. These group chats are so noisy that I thought opening my messages would just give me nothing."
Leana chuckled as she stirred her favorite coffee. "Sucks to be a student again."
"Guess I'll be absent today."
"Just tell them you're sick or something. It's not like they'll be suspicious."
"But why does he want to see me? I'm sending my observations and reports to him every day."
Leana shrugged off. "I don't know. Maybe he wants to be your classmate?"
Yeonica laughed at her. "Or maybe he wants to be Yumi's father?"
After changing into her working clothes and doing her face, she rushed outside Leana's apartment and went on her way to the office.
"Woah, I surely miss going to work," Yeonica mumbled after reaching her destination.
She's walking in the hallway, and everybody is greeting her like they have not seen her for a year. As if everyone there is her friend and did not stab her in the back once.
She was almost at Mr. Felmor's office when someone she knew went out of his office.
"Mrs. Estiva?"
Her eyes widened, and she quickly found a position to hide her face, even though she looked exactly nothing like her character, Yumi Amuelga. Better be sure.
Mrs. Estiva finally walked past her. "What is she doing here? Inside Mr. Felmor's office?" she confusingly asked.
"Welcome back here, Ms. Harmie," Felmor said in a welcoming tone. Yeonica almost threw her shoulder bag at him as she walked towards him.
"Good morning, sir. Am I seeing everything right? The adviser of class 3 just came here?" she directly asked him, deadly curious.
Felmor looked at her. "Oh, you see each other outside? How about your cover?"
Yeonica shook her head. "No. I avoided her. And it's not like she'll recognize me. Do you happen to know each other?
Felmor shook his head this time. "Not personally. Remember when we interviewed the teachers and students who happened to be still inside the school when Mr. Protacio's murder happened? Your adviser was one of those teachers."
Yeonica recalled. It was Leana together with her other co-workers who interviewed them. "Why was she here?"
"I called her here," he answered, which made Yeonica confused.
"What? Why?"
"Why? Don't you want to get help with that thing you're investigating?"
"What do you mean, sir?"
Felmor pulled his drawer and got something inside. It's an envelope. He handed it to Yeonica. She almost threw herself out of the window.
"That's the information about the suicide case of Margareth Yamar, your former client's daughter," Felmor explained.
Yeonica looked at him confusedly and scanned the papers inside.
"Based on those papers, which were completely ignored by the investigators, Ms. Yamar's death was suspicious."
"What the hell?" Yeonica almost had nothing to say after digesting the information she never knew existed.
Written on those papers, Yeonica also discovered that Mrs. Estiva had given a statement regarding her student's death. Apparently, her own adviser, despite her student being a bully, was also suspicious of her death.
"So, you're telling me that Margareth Yamar's death—"
"Isn't suicide at all. She was murdered. And you're right, it looks like her father, Alvirgo Yamar, was avenging for her daughter's death, which the investigators concluded to be a suicide," Felmor continued.
This time, a part of everything made sense to her.
Being devoured by her thoughts, Yeonica went home, drowning in the piece of information she just found out.
Those made her think that there's a possibility that all the other suicide cases were also misclassified. Like Margareth's misclassified death that turns out to be a homicide.
Out of these, she dug up again the records behind Olkizia High School's suicide cases, especially the first ever case, which was handled by her mom. Since the repeating incidents started happening after it, Yeonica thought that maybe all the misclassified deaths started in the very first case.
Case Record: Suicide of Jeasyl Maiven
Date: September 13, 2014
Lead Investigator: Mance Luther
Summary:
On the 13th of September 2014, at approximately 5:05 AM, the Lakewine Police Station received a report of suicide in a house located in Lakewine City. The body of Jeasyl Maiven, a 16-year-old female, was discovered in the bedroom, hanging from the ceiling.
Initial Findings:
Upon thorough inspection, no signs of struggle were found. There were no signs of other people's presence aside from the teen. A handwritten note was placed on the top of Jeasyl's bed, addressed to her mother and father.
Witness' Statements:
Mrs. Joane Maiven, mother of Jeasyl, was awakened due to the loud noise coming from her daughter's bedroom. She and her husband, Mr. Jasper Maiven, checked their daughter's bedroom, but it was locked. No responses were heard despite all the calls and knocks. They opened the door with the spare key they had and found Jeasyl's dead body hanging inside.
Forensic Evidence:
The tools, such as rope and chairs, were documented and collected, as were the notes left by Jeasyl. It was found that no signs of defensive wounds were on the body of Jeasyl Maiven.
Conclusion:
Upon the investigation and evidence collected, it was concluded that the death of Jeasyl Maiven was due to suicide by hanging.
Additional Information:
Mr. and Mrs. Maiven requested a reinvestigation due to the assumption that someone may have forced their daughter to take her own life. It was rejected many times by the lawyers and prosecutors due to a lack of evidence and was considered a mere assumption.
Mrs. Eunice Harmie, a lawyer from the Lakewine Law Firm, soon handled the case of Jeasyl Maiven. It was soon closed after a few trials due to a lack of evidence and support.
After reading the records of the first-ever case, Yeonica compared it to the other cases. As she has observed before, all the ways used were almost the same. Either by hanging or jumping off somewhere high.
Mica Le Decin
Amber Kim Lee
Jiesel Escura
Matthew Hanada
Rowana Alkine
These students were all students of Olkizia High School. The locations of their bodies were just within Lakewine City, which is where the school is located. Some of them were found inside the school, and some were found in the front of an abandoned building near the school.
All of their similarities were already suspicious. How is it that there haven't been any reinvestigation before?
Lastly, Yeonica clicked on the records of Margareth Yamar.
Case Record: Suicide of Margareth Yamar
Date: November 18, 2023
Lead Investigator: Zeumro Ignari
Summary:
On November 18, 2023, at approximately 6:15 p.m., the Lakewine Police Station received a report of possible suicide outside the abandoned building located behind Olkizia High School. The bloody body of Margareth Yamar, a 17-year-old female, was discovered in front of the building.
Initial Findings:
Upon the thorough inspection, no signs of other people's footsteps aside from the teen were found. No note, just the school bag of Margareth.
Witness' Statements:
A street food vendor, Mr. Naldo Garcia, was on his way home, pushing his cart on the sidewalk. He suddenly heard a loud, dropping sound coming from the nearby building. He checked what was in there and found the body of Margareth, drowning in her own blood.
Forensic Evidence:
The scene was documented, and the things left by Margareth were collected. No signs of defensive wounds were found on the body.
Conclusion:
Based on the investigation, it has been concluded that Margareth Yamar died as a result of suicide by jumping.
Forcibly squishing her brain, Yeonica messed her hair in devastation. "I'm not smart enough for all of these," she murmured. Everything is just not right.
She sighed heavily as she massaged her head. "Right now, I need to know who's the killer of Margareth. If she was really murdered, there might be something I can get, no matter what it is and where."
Yeonica threw herself on her bed. "Aaah. If only I could ask my mom. Why the fuck she went to heaven so early?" she said while punching the pillows and kicking the blanket.
—
"Oh, Yumiiii! You're not sick anymore?" Zaranaia greeted Yeonica as soon as she saw her walking towards her table.
Yeonica smiled at her. "I guess so. You miss me?"
"Ha!" Zaranaia jokingly rolled her eyes.
"Just what really are you doing for you to get sick? It's not like you're busy studying. I know your scores!" Zaranaia said as she checked Yeonica's forehead using her palm.
"Hey, you're bad! It's just a simple fever. Maybe because of the foods you made me eat last time?" Yeonica threw back.
"No, you're wrong!"
Yeonica laughed at her. "You kid. You watched too many reels."
"Talking like a big girl," Zaranaia said, chuckling.
Yeonica, for a moment, stared at Zaranaia. Attempting to ask her something, which she has been repeatedly asking.
"Zaranaia. By the way, I know I have asked this many times, but I am really curious."
Zaranaia, who is currently arranging her bag, responded without looking at her. "Oh, what?"
"Do you know anything about what Margareth was like as your classmate? Even just a little info? Those students talking about her in the hallway keep bothering my mind," she lied, giving Zaranaia an excuse.
Zaranaia thought about it for a few seconds while still doing her thing. "Hmm. If I can remember it right, she's short-tempered. Almost everyone gets into her nerves, even those students who are not our classmates," Zaranaia shared.
"Aside from being a bully, maybe one of her hobbies is annoying her classmates by throwing papers on their heads. I don't know anymore. That's what I just observed," Zaranaia continued and shrugged off.
"Wait a minute, I'll just put these things in my locker," she said to Yeonica, and she made her way to the back of the room, where their lockers are located.
She just nodded at her and let her do what she needed to do. Yeonica secretly laughed at Zaranaia's bag, as it was so unorganized. "Typical student," she murmured. She even saw her notebook below her table.
Yeonica picked up Zaranaia's notebook and was about to put it back inside her back, but something inserted inside the notebook dropped.
She looked down and saw some pictures. Yeonica picked them up.
Looking at these pictures, she was stunned for a moment. It seems like an electric shock went straight to her system, leaving no safe area inside her body.
The pictures were photographs of Edem being bullied by Margareth and Mezily. The other one was Edem with her father—the principal. Some were pictures of Margareth alone, bullying other students inside the school.
And lastly, the picture of Edem being followed by Zarco, and there's her behind the two. That time she and Zaranaia went to a convenience store, and she accidentally saw Edem and Zarco.
All the pictures were obviously captured secretly. The angles were always behind something.
Zaranaia's footsteps brought her back on track quickly. She immediately hid the pictures behind her and faced Zaranaia. At that moment, Edem came inside the room, followed by Zarco.
"Yumi? Why? What's wrong?" Zaranaia's question made Edem and Zarco stop as they were just near them.
Yeonica couldn't process everything. She alternately looked at Edem and Zarco, but she stared at Zaranaia the most.
She thought she already knew her too well. All the background checking and observations were clear, and she sees her as a kind-hearted kid among all the students in Class 3.
But maybe some of those people who are seen as lovely and good are the ones who are actually evil and dangerous. Trusting someone so easily was a mistake.