"Even if you returned it in secret, we were gonna find out one way or another."
He continues. "I feel no pity towards criminals, or for those who are about to become criminals when they grow up."
Jason made his stand clear, telling between the lines that Jane could not elicit any feelings of sympathy or pity from him.
It was a predetermined game– no matter the moves Jane made, with the fact that the phone was seen coming out of her bag, she was destined to lose.
"Alright. Everyone have their answers now. Does anyone else want to say something?" I ask, subtly referring to Nicky who kept making false accusations about Ron.
She remains in her chair.
This time, I make it clear that I'm referring to her.
"Does anyone else want to say something to someone, particularly to Ron?"
Still, she makes no move and almost couldn't manage to contain the anger that burst in me.
"Fine!"
Everyone flinched– Nicky included. Their eyes shut tight for a second, their hand twitched on their table, and for a split second, they were breathless.
Jason regains his composure before going on. "This'll be a day to remember then."
The whole 'trial' took place in around 26 minutes in the room. Fortunately, we were the last class to use the room.
Rodrick, who was standing on the side with Elle, takes the initiative to pack my laptop up.
"Oh, thanks a lot," I whispered to him.
"No worries," he replies as he pats me on the back.
I face everyone again. "Thank you, everyone, especially for those who contributed their thoughts and honesty in solving this case."
Many of our classmates lightly nod from their seats, others remained motionless, and Jane manages to be calm again.
"Maria, you'll find your phone in Miss Doll's office."
She nods and smiles.
"Thank you all. You may go now."
Ron immediately went up close to Jason, shook his hand, and said "Thank you for clearing my name."
"No worries."
Ron gives Jason a pat on the back before going his own way.
The room was vacated in a matter of 3 minutes, with Elle, Rodrick, and Maria staying behind.
"Hey! You did it!" Elle's optimism seems to have returned.
I corrected her sentence. "We did it."
"You managed to make it work, like you said," says Rodrick as he hands me my laptop.
"None of this would've worked without everybody's help."
Maria speaks up. "Thank you."
"It was all that I could do."
Elle, however, felt like giving the case a few more thoughts.
"May I just ask what if you didn't have the video of Jane returning the phone? What would've happened instead?"
"We'd have to make do with the circumstantial evidences that we got, that she could be pregnant, the house in Tondo, the 9:52 in the dark. In other words, we'd have had a harder time coming up with a conclusion."
Rodrick clarifies. "So basically, what got us the win is the video?"
"Exactly."
Rodrick sighs. "Close call."
Jason clears his throat. "Shall we go get Maria's phone?"
Elle agrees right away. "Yeah, let's go."
...
A few weeks later.
YOU ARE READING
No Honor Among Thieves
Non-FictionA group of like-minded students gives their best to pull the thief hiding among their classmates into the light.
