Over a decade has passed since the resolution of the M case. What happens to the members of the QED Club after? Is their bond as strong as when they were still in high school? Or did they start to grow apart?
FUTURE OF THE QED CLUB is a special volu...
A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! This is my Christmas gift to everyone who supports the adventures of the QED 4!
This is going to be a novella, so expect it to be much shorter than my other novels—probably fewer than 50,000 words and around 10 chapters.
I hope you'll enjoy reading it! Your feedback will also be much appreciated!
Oops! Ang larawang ito ay hindi sumusunod sa aming mga alituntunin sa nilalaman. Upang magpatuloy sa pag-publish, subukan itong alisin o mag-upload ng bago.
LORELEI
"This court finds the defendant... not guilty."
HALF OF the courtroom erupted in applause while the other half gasped as the judge pounded the gavel. The defendant—or should I say ex-defendant—looked so shocked that his jaw almost dropped. Lumipas ang ilang segundo bago tila nag-sink in sa kanya ang desisyon. He turned to his lawyer on his right, his eyes went wide at the latter. Napayakap siya rito at halos maiyak sa tuwa.
I was watching the whole courtroom drama in the gallery along with other spectators. My laptop was open and my word processor was waiting for me to fill it with more words. Kanina pa ako nakaabang at nagta-type habang nakikinig sa promulgation of judgment. This was the most recent controversial case in the city. A woman was found murdered in her apartment and her live-in partner was immediately suspected and arrested by the police.
I wasn't just here to listen to what was the latest development in the case. I wasn't also here as a family member of the accused or the defendant. I've been assigned by my editor to cover this trial. Ilang buwan ko ring sinubaybay ang mga hearing nito. Sa wakas, tapos na at may desisyon na ang korte.
For this news, I prepared two drafts: one for a guilty verdict and one for a not guilty verdict. All I needed to do was to add more details for the initial article to be posted on our site. I-a-update ko na lang kapag nabigyan na ako ng copy ng full decision.
As soon as I was done re-reading my article, I accessed my web browser and opened my email. C-in-opy and paste ko roon ang isinulat ko at i-s-in-end sa aking editor. We needed to break this news as soon as possible, given the interest of our readership. The details may still be incomplete, but at least we'd be the first to put out what the court decision was.
Isinara ko ang aking laptop at mabilis na ipinasok sa loob ng bag. I rushed out of the courtroom and prepared my phone for recording. Sumabay rin sa akin ang iba pang reporter na nagko-cover sa trial na 'to. While we work for different media companies, we're not totally competitors. Magkakakilala at magkakaibigan pa nga kami—to a certain extent.
"Grabe! Akala ko guilty ang magiging verdict ng judge!"
"Ang hina kaya ng ebidensya ng prosecution. Hindi pasok sa beyond reasonable doubt na threshold."
"Magaling din kasi 'yong abogado ng defendant. Na-counter niya 'yong arguments ng prosecution."
"Kung hindi 'yong live-in partner ang killer, e 'di sino?"
