Afflicted (TLS #3 - COMPLETED)

A R T I C L E 3 - S E C T I O N 20

"OBJECTION your honor! The defense uses their own speculations to question the witness!" the prosecutor called out.

The judge stared at him for a while before shaking his head. I smiled at that. If there's any good thing in this case, it was that the judge assigned was Judge Filmore Baldevarona. A judge who's known for being fair and just.

The judge stared at me for a while before nodding.

"Overule. Continue." I politely nod at him before turning to the witness stand once again.

The old lady looked petrified, so I was trying my best not to scare her even more. She's the elevator attendant that night and she claimed that she saw three people took the elevator to Lauren's floor.

Lauren's unit is a penthouse on the top of the building. There are only two units on that floor and the other one is still vacant.

"The police said that they only saw two people inside her unit. The defendant and the victim. Isa po ba si Lauren sa mga umakyat sa floor niya?" tanong ko sa matanda.

I saw her gulped before she turned sideways to look at Lauren before she subtly stared at someone on the speculators in front of us.

"Hindi po." Namayani sa buong court ang bulungan dahil sa isinagot niya.

"Sinungaling! That bitch paid you! I knew it!"

"Mrs. Quintos, I suggest you must think before saying anything against my client. I may file you for slander," baling ko sa ginang na nakatayo na habang dinuduro ang witness at si Lauren.

I saw her daughter pulled her back kaya naman ay bumalik na ako sa pagtatanong sa witness.

"Babae po ba o lalaki ang tatlong taong sinasabi ninyo?" tanong ko.

Sandali siyang natigilan at nag-isip bago sumagot.

"Dalawang lalaki po at isang babae po ang nakita ko sa CCTV," ani niya. And that footage was another circumstantial evidence out of our list now. Mabilis na iyong nagawan ng paraan ni Roselle.

"Do you still have a copy of that footage?" tanong ko. Kumunot ang noo ko nang makita ang mabilis niyang pagbaling muli sa harapan.

"Opo." Mabilis akong napalingon pabalik sa kanya dahil sa narinig.

I already checked it and the footage was gone!

"Bago po matapos ang shift ko ng gabing iyon ay nakapag-back up po ako ng copy noon sa flash drive ko. Protocol po kasi namin iyon para in case na mag fail ang system eh may copy po kami," explain niya.

I saw how the expression on Lauren's face changed after she heard that. Maski ako rin ay parang nabuhayan dahil doon.

"May we see that footage?" huminga ng malalim si Mrs. Polentes. She nodded at iniabot sa akin ang isang flash drive.

"Your honor, may we?" hingi ko ng permiso. The judge nodded and even signaled the operator to take the drive.

The whole court was filled with silence and tension while we wait for the footage to play. Pasimple ko ring tinatapunan ng tingin si Mrs. Polentes na maya't maya ang tingin sa may speculators area.

When the operator's screen flashed on the projector, there was a long list of folders named for each floor. The operator clicked on the folder with the name '30th' and played the footage from the start.

Mrs. Polentes told her the exact time when the first visitor came. It was seven in the morning and Russel Quintos rode the elevator. He was carrying a take-out order and was talking on the phone.

There was no footage of him leaving the floor after that. But everyone gasped at the footage stamped with the time 6:30 pm. A man wearing a corporate suit rode the elevator. He keeps on looking down kaya naman ay hindi masyadong makita ang mukha niya.

Sandali kong binalingan si Lauren na titig na titig sa projection screen. Her tears were silently falling.

Konting tiis na lang.

Binalingan ko si Governor Raymond Quintos, I saw how his eyes squinted as he watched the footage in front. And then, bumaling ako sa may likurang bahagi ng korte kung saan tahimik na nakaupo si Roselle.

She was silently watching the footage. Ni wala akong mabakasang takot at pagsisisi sa mukha niya. I don't know how she was raised but she's slowly but surely turning into a monster—just like her father.

I signaled the operator to pause the footage on the scene where the man was about to leave the lift.

Pasimple akong ngumiti sa taong tahimik na pinapanuod ang bawat nangyayari. Tinaasan lang ako nito ng kilay bago muling bumaling sa footage na pinapakita sa harapan. Pinapanood niya iyon na para bang unang beses niya iyong nakita pero sa maya't mayang paglingon sa kanya ni Mrs. Polentes ay alam kong siya ang may pakana nito.

"During the investigation, there are three blood samples found on the scene. One for the victim, another from the defendant, and one from an unknown person," ani ko.

Mabilis na tumayo ang prosecutor at umapela sa judge. Because what I said wasn't written in the reports submitted to them. Dahil ang umabot sa mga kamay nila ay ang altered reports. And I would think like that too. Kung hindi nga lang napunta sa mga kamay ko ang mga ebidensyang hawak ko ngayon.

"The real and authentic investigation reports were not submitted to the prosecution." The whole court went noisy once again and judge Baldevarona needed to rule for them to stop.

"Attorney Lopez, I'm taking you know the grounds of your claims?" baling niya sa akin na agad kong tinanguan bago ako naglakad palapit sa kanya at inabot ang mga papeles na dala ko.

Tumingin ako sa prosecutor na kunot na kunot ang noo habang nakatingin sa akin. 

"The investigation was altered. The defendant was defied of her request to undergo medical examination." Muli akong bumaling sa judge bago binalingan si Lauren na nakatingin sa'kin.

"The defendant was sexually molested by this man." Turo ko sa nakahintong footage sa screen.

"And this man was no other than the victim's father . . . Governor Raymond Quintos," ani ko sabay baling sa gobernador na agad na dumilim ang ekspresyon.