So, Who's The Culprit? (completed)

CHAPTER 24

THERE'S NO CULPRIT AT ALL?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"With humor, I'll kill you all, for killing is what I specialize."

I read the message out loud when I finally saw the reason why they were all stunned. It's written on a red ribbon inside the cup of Starbucks. Hindi namin agad ito nakita kanina dahil nasa pinakailalim ito ng cup. Also, the oleander that the culprit used to poison Jairo also blocked the lower part of the cup to prevent the message be obviously noticed by Jairo before drinking it.

"He's really smart," Gab stated. "He can mix the oleander or place it at the bottom of the cup but instead, he intentionally placed it at the top to prevent noticing his note before Jairo drinks it. If ever na na-notice 'yun ni Jairo kanina, he might not drink it."

"Let's check the CCTV," I broke in. Gusto kong pumunta sa Ospital kung nasaan si Jairo ngayon. However, choosing him won't really solve anything. Baka andoon na 'yung mga magulang niya or 'yung kapatid niya na si Andrew. Besides, I need to prioritize solving this case first para masiguradong hindi na ito ma-uulit sa kanya o kung kanino man.

Agad naman kaming umalis at nagsimulang gugulin ang mga laman ng CCTV. Fortunately, madali naman namin itong nagawa with the help of Nathaniel. He's an IT expert, after all. Examining the CCTV and storing the videos from it is his forte.

"I think this is it," Nathaniel stated tapos ay may ini-rewind itong video at ipinakita sa amin.

"Who is that guy?" Kean asked nang nakita niya na ang video. "I've never seen him before. Transferee ba?" Nilingon nito sir Topaz.

"We don't have any transferee," sagot naman ng aming principal.

"Wait——rewind it," Gab instructed at agad namang sinunod ito ni Nathaniel. "There! Pause!" utas pa ni Gab. "Okay, now zoom. Zoom to the head part," She ordered again. In an instant, Nathaniel successfully zoomed the video just like what Gab instructed.

"Damn it! It's impossible na makikilala na'tin 'to. Maybe this identity doesn't even exist. Fvck!" Gab cursed out of frustration.

"Why?"

"She's wearing an ultra-realistic face mask," she explained. Agad naman kaming lumapit sa laptop ni Nathaniel at tinitigan ang tinutukoy niya.

"Look," she instructed again at tinuro nito ang mukha ng lalaking nasa larawan. "His face skin tone doesn't match on his hand's complexion. Ta's 'yung sa leeg, nakita niyo ba 'yung line that is separating the two different colors? That's probably the difference between his real skin tone and his mask. Mas maputi masyado ang sa lower neck niya compare sa mukha niya."

I was impressed by how observant Gab is. I checked the video that the CCTV caught and she was right. Mabuti na lang talaga maganda 'yung quality ng camera na meron 'yung CCTV na ipina-install ni Gab; If hindi, we might now wasting our time accusing an innocent person already. Iba na talaga ang mga teknolohiya ngayon, they already have a lot of good camera quality and even create a human face mask that looks realistic.

"How about the voice? Maybe we can track him using his voice. We can ask Jairo about the description of the voice kapag gumising na siya," Kean chime in our conversation. Agad naman akong umiling doon upang maipakita ang hindi pagsang-ayon.

"He's new here, remember? For sure he can't provide us comparison sa boses na narinig niya at boses ng mga estudyante dito. Kahit na rin si Miguel, diba narinig mo rin 'yun? Even though you heard the voice still those are just circumstantial evidence," tugon ko naman.

"You're right, Cheryl. Additional to that, the fact that they were able to create believable masks also shows that they are also capable of changing someone's voice. I know this might sound absurd but probabilities are endless. After all, we can't underestimate technologies nowadays," Nathaniel commented.