Royal Academy's Case File

Chapter 9

We are here at the scene looking at the dead body of Jeffrey. The same spot as where Thea and Thomas died.

Napahilamos ako sa sa aking mukha habang tumutulo ang luha ko. For the third time, I am looking again at another dead body. What the hell is happening? Why are my students kept on dying?

“How did this happen?!” I shouted as I can’t contain my emotions anymore.

“M-may narinig po akong ingay kanina ng pauwi na sana ako. K-kaya tinignan ko po,” Mara said na mukhang nanginginig din dahil sa nangyari.

“But why in the same spot as Thea and Thomas?” Harris said na mas nakadagdag ng takot na nararamdaman ko.

Harris suddenly ran kaya tinignan ko kung saan siya tumungo at bakita ko siyang patungo sa mens’ dorm.

“Why do these things kept on happening at this school?” narinig kong may nagsalita sa tabi ko at nakita kong ang pulis na nakausap ko noon ito. They inspect the scene at kinuha na ang bangkay ni Jeffrey.

Humahangos namang dumating ang Directress. She covered her mouth pagkakita sa bangkay. “What the hell is happening?!” she exclaimed.

I walked back habang nakatungo ang ulo. This is so much for me. I just…can’t watch them die one by one. I needed to do something.

I was just walking while looking down nang mabunggo ang ulo ko sa isang dibdib. Umangat ang mata ko at nakita kong si Harris yun. Biglang tumulo ang luha ko that’s why I slowly put my head on his shoulder. I was so weak today and I just needed to cry it out.
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“The tuition in this school is 100,000 per sem. That’s 200,000 per year. We have the best facilities and curriculum because of these hardworking parents na nagpadala sa mga anak sa school na ito. That’s why the students work so hard.” I looked at the wide green field.
Nandito kasi kami ni Harris para pakalmahin ang mga sarili namin.

“So…they don’t want to pay all that money just to become a failure,” pagdudugtong ni Harris. I am currenly telling him about Alex and why I decided to teach here.

I nodded my head. “Alex was struggling financially. They barely paid her tuition fees without loan assistance. Pero dahil sakin, sabi ng Directress na kailangang umulit siya ng isang taon dahil sinabi namin na nag-cheat siya. Alex…chose to kill herself instead.” Pinunas ko ang luha kong tumulo.

“No one taught us it’s okay to lose once or twice and even if we fall down at times. We were only taught that everything will be over for us the time we fall down.”

Harris is just listening to me which I am most thankful for. “There was no such thing as the Royal Test Card. Alex just worked hard. Royal Test Card didn’t exist in the past…” I looked at him. “but it exists now. Thea had it.”

“But not for Jeffrey and Thomas. I checked Thomas and Jeffrey’s emails kaya pumunta ako sa dorm nila, but there’s no email about that,” sambit niya. “Na-delete lahat ng files nila from last week pero walang file about the Royal Test Card.”

“So are you saying that the kids’ death are not related to the Royal Test Card?” tanong ko dito.

Umiling niya. “No, there’s definitely a connection. You don’t have to be at the person’s computer to delete the emails. If you just know the username and password, it’s possible from any other computer.”

“They were deleted from other computer? Pero ang email ni Thea ay na-delete mula sa computer niya. For Thomas and Jeffrey, it was deleted from other computer?” takang tanong ko.

“That’s right. What I can't understand is that Thea’s emails can be deleted from another computer. But the culprit chose to delete it from Thea’s computer. For what reason?” he asked while looking at me.

Naalala ko naman ang babaeng nakita kong lumabas mula sa room ni Thea kamakailan. “She didn’t come to delete Thea’s works.”

“The Royal Test card. She came to delete the downloaded file of the Royal Test Card. The secret that the culprit wanted to hide is the Royal Test Card file,” Harris concluded.

“Pero bakit sa mismong computer ni Thea niya dinelete ito while Thomas and Jeffrey from other computer?” takang tanong ko.

Napaisip si Harris. “Sabi mo na may babaeng lumabas mula sa kwarto ni Thea, right?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Jeffrey and Thomas were male students. It wouldn’t be easy for her to enter the boys’ dorm, so she doesn’t have choice but to delete it from other computer.”

“So, kung mahanap natin ang babaeng ito, we can already solve the mystery,” I concluded.

“Nakausap ko na ang kaibigan kong pulis. I put in a request to track the IP address where Thomas and Jeffrey’s emails were deleted from. He will call me soon, kaya malalaman na natin kung sino ang nag-delete ng mga emails.”

Napangiti akong tumingin kay Harris. “You put in a formal request? You didn’t hack into their computer or something?”

Tinaliman niya ako ng tingin. O…kay? I chuckled on my mind.

“I wanted to. I can do that you know. But I don’t want to deal with another problem. So, yeah.”

Actually, napahinga ako ng maluwag. I know that we are nearing for the truth and I should prepare myself for it.