Little Detectives

I: The Library Murder Case °Problem°

Dedicated to: RaKy_11 for being supportive on my stories. Kahit na alam nyang baliw ako, suportado nya ako! Whooo! Love you bes!
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00 - QKH EDOODG RI PRKD OLVD

Osiris Schuyler
June 23
9:24
In a public Library where we shouldn't talk

"Ma- may..." Hingal at putol putol na sabi ng librarian samin. Napa-angat ng tingin si Celeste mula sa libro na binabasa nya. Kahit ako ay nakuha ang atensyon ko.

Hingal, maputla at takot na takot na nakatayo ang librarian. Turo-turo nya ang aisle no. 19 ay tumili sya.

"May patay! May dugo!" Sigaw nya bago mahimatay. Alertong tumawag si Celeste sa pulis bago bumaling sakin. Her eyes shone with fear. Ngumisi ako at inalalayan sya na paupuin ang nahimatay na librarian.

Kaming lahat ay pumunta sa sinasabing aisle. At isang bulagtang katawan ang sumalubong samin. May hawak na libro at papel ang lalake. Pero ang kapansin-pansin ay ang expression nya. Nakangiti na parang may alam. A piece of paper is peeking through his shirt's pocket. His neck has red marks. And on the floor is a strange sentence. It's written in blood.

Lp vruuv jrkftxn rolev blf.

"Nobody move! Stay where you are!" Buong awtoridad kong sabi. Lahat naman sila ay sumunod. Mga nanginginig o di kaya'y pinagpapaeusan. One of them is the murderer.

For about, 10 minutes dumating si Chief Lambert kasama ang mga goons o bataan nya.

His eyebrows were scrunched together and his lips are set on a thin line. Nakatungo ang nga kasama nya habang sya naman ay halatang badtrip.Ngumisi ako at humiyaw.

"Tito Tupak!" Lumingon sya at naglakad papunta sakin. Siniko ako ni Celeste at tumingin ng masama. Dumagungdong ang halakhak nya sa tahimik na library.

"Bata! Andito ka pala! Anong ginagawa mo dito?" Tanong nya sakin. I pointed Celeste and he gave me a knowing smile.

"Ah! Kasama mo pala ang girlfriend mo." Tumango-tango naman sya.

"Hindi po. Nagpasama po ako kay Schuyler (A/n: Skyler po ang pronounciation ng name ni Schuyler.) para po mag-research." Sagot ng katabi ko. Celeste is a psychologist in the making. Samantalang ako naman ay criminologist/cryptologist. Gusto kong maging katulad ni Sherlock. And Celeste, wanted to be Harley Quinn. Joke.

"Oy! Sky! Tawag ka!" Siko sakin ni Celeste. I shot her a glare which she returned to me. Sinesenyasan ako ni Tito Lambert na lumapit sakanya.

"Ano yun Tito Tupak?" Inabot nya sakin ang gamit ng biktima. Id, papel, bag at cellphone. Celeste hid behind me and made gagging noises. Samantalang ang ibang witness ay tinatanong na ng mga pulis.

"Mark Mata. 22 years old. Cryptologist." Sabi ni Tito Tupak habang tinitingnan pa ang ibang gamit. Kinuha ko ang papel at pinagmasdan ang nakasulat.

"He was strangled to death." Sabi ko habang tinatago ang papel. Celeste's hand gripped my arm and pointed something from above. Sinundan ko ito ng tingin at laking gulat ko nang may isa pa palang patay. Napasinghap si Tito Tupak at ang mga kasama niya.

Hindi malakas ang sikmura ni Cel sa mga gantong bagay kaya pina-alis ko sya. Binaba ang bangkay na nakabitin at tinakpan ng puting tela.

"Tito Tupak. This is a double murder case. Di basta-basta ang pagkakapatay sakanila. Look at her. I'm sure that she's here for about a week." In-explain ko sakanya. Tiningnan ko ang hawak na libro ng lalake. I don't get it. Why would he smile like he's at peace?

Decrypting mysteries

What kind of Cipher? Is it Atbash? Ceasar? Vigenere? What is it?

"Alis bata!" Utos sakin ng isang lalaking naka-uniporme ng investigator. Ang ama ng kaaway ko na si Bal. Great. Just what I needed. I rolled my eyes then moved.

Lumapit ako kay Cel na naka-kuyom ang kamay.

"C'mon Cel. Let's get out of here." Anas ko at ngumiti sya. Her smile reminded me of Mona Lisa. She really need to stop smiling like that.

"You took something, didn't you?" She said once both of us are out of earshot. I smirked and showed her the paper. She gasped then shook her head.

"Magugulat pa ba ako? Ikaw pa ba, Sky?" Buhat buhat ang mga libro para sa research nya ay natapilok sya. Natawa ako pero at the same time naawa. Napaka-tanga kasi. She just shrugged it off then walked like nothing happened.

"You should be aware na hinahanap na tayo nina Joanna at Night." Sabi ko at ngumuso sya.

"Gusto ko ng cake." Turo nya sa café. Tumango ako at tinulungan na sya magbuhat ng mga libro nya. Ganto ba kabigat ang dina-dala nya araw-araw? Kaya pala sya maliit.

"Oh, kayo pala ulit. Halika, hahandaan ko kayo ng meryenda." Galak na sabi ng waitress. Nilabas ko ang papel at tiningnan ang nakalagay.

Ep st ot ob.

Kumunot ang noo ko at nagsimulang mag-sulat sa notebook. What does this mean?

"Lp vruuv means I'm sorry. It's Caesar's cipher." Biglang salita ng katabi ko. I raised my head at her.

"What? I happened to stumble across your desk. Besides Sky, madali lang i-solve ang Caesar cipher." Katwiran nya pa. I looked at her in awe. Umalis sya sa upuan nya at tumabi sakin.

"See here, it's not a complicated code." Turo nya sakin.

"Because, why would the victim write it in complicated code if he's dying?"

"Then try to solve this." Binigay ko sakanya ang papel at kumunot ang noo nya.

"This doesn't make any sense."

"And I thought woman doesn't make any sense either." Sabi ko at ngumiwi sya.

"Hi, I'm Mona. This is the café's specialty. Cherry Popped tart with Lava cake." Nagsalita ang isang babae at napataas ang kilay ko. Di pa kami umo-order ah?

"I already did Schuyler. You were into that code. Kaya ako na ang um-order." Cel answered. I laughed and pulled out a brush and a pony. Pinatalikod ko sya sakin at sinimulang suklayin ang buhok nya. Her black silky hair that smells like Strawberries.

"Eps tot ob. This is Atbash's Cipher. And it's message is non sense." Pagpapatuloy nya. Over-under-over-under. I proceeded to braid her hair.

Why would anyone wanted to kill someone at the library? Then hang another corpse in the air? Pero ang nakakapagtaka ay yung amoy? Bakit wala kaming na-amoy?

"It's message is Vkh Glg Lw. It's bull." She huffed while I proceeded to braid her hair.

Does the two somehow have a connection? Maybe he killed her then he committed suicide?

"Nah. It's not suicide. If it's suicide then he should killed himself while feeling remorse." Pagpu-putol sakin ni Cel. I looked at her reflection through the window.

"Bakit sya nakangiti? Diba kapag alam nilang kapag malapit na silang mamatay ay nakakaramdam sila ng saya. Kasi, alam nilang di na sila masasaktan?" Tanong ko sakanya. Ngumisi si Cel at winagayway ang papel.

"Because the code says 'She did it.' Yung unang code it's in Atbash. Then nung na-decode ko na. It's in Caesar. I tried many types of decrypting it. Pero di sila parehas." Anas nya at sumubo ng tarts.

"It's not Suicide, Sky. Because 'She did it.' "