The Stray Kids of Edogawa Rampo

The Telephone Conversation

THE TELEPHONE CONVERSATION

“A puzzle piece...”

D E V A U G H N Vasquez
December 4, 8:42 pm.
SM Mall of Asia

My mind is very clouded with Twelve’s voice right now. Sa buong agency, ang boses niya ang pinaka nakakairita sa lahat dahil ‘pag nagsalita siya, laging kalokohan at problema ang dulot niya sa’min. But this time, it’s different. I kept replaying what Twelve said in the HQ in my head so I can’t slack off to this job. I can’t go around underestimating kids. Tama naman siya. But I don’t really get why they’re so focused on this case. Ilang taon na akong private investigator sa District 2 at di hamak na mas maraming kaso ang dapat kong hawakan kesa sa isang Facebook post. I get it that they just want to make sure, but when Twelve talked about that Edogawa Rampo, it seems like a sense of urgency and panic welled up inside the HQ.

“How dare you let a woman do the work?” lumingon ako at nakita ko si Crysa. Her brows are arched and I just replied with a sigh.

“You know what, ‘di naman sa masama akong tao, but case without murder bores me,” I said and ran my hands through my hair.

She shrugged and sat down on a monobloc chair beside me as we watched the police do their rounds of inspection. “You’re right. Bodyguard duty isn’t our cup of tea.”

I nodded and we rested in peace. Mag-aalas-sais na nung makarating kami rito and we asked the officer-in-charge to fill us with the current details. They inspected the whole MOA grounds to look for a planted explosive but they saw none. We helped searching inside the mall but it’s negative, wala din kaming nakitang pasabog. We asked all the guards in the entrances if there’s any suspicious figure that entered the mall pero wala rin. Di ko na tinanong kung may nakita ba sila sa mga bag dahil alam ko naman na ‘di talaga nila ini-inspect ang bag ng mga pumapasok, tinutusok lang nila ‘yon ng stick ‘e. The police are also inspecting the seaside for possible threats and we’re currently waiting for their report.

“If they’re all threatened with the post, bakit ‘di nalang nila i-cancel ang concert?” I asked, more to myself, as I rubbed my chin. “Move it on another date, or in a different venue. They can hold it in Quirino Grandstand or in a closed space like Araneta Colosseum. Malawak ang Manila.”

Crysa shook her head, “The management of the Montenillo Grand Hotel and Casino hasn’t released a statement regarding to this case yet. The mayor just asked the police to do a thorough investigation about it and make sure that this place will be bomb-free before and during the concert,” she said, twirling the tips of her hair with her fingers. She grinned at me, “Mukha katulad din sila ng boyfriend ko na hindi naniniwala na seryoso ang bomb threat na ‘yun.”

I smirked, “Oh, shut up.”

“Well, I can’t blame you though. We’re not newbies in this industry and we’re so used to handling murder and serial killing cases, but I think instead of this, we have another thing worth of our suspicion.” She moved her legs to and fro. “Don’t you think it’s weird?”

I looked at her, “You noticed.”

Tumango siya, “At palagay ko hindi lang ako. Even Mia and Ash noticed it. June and the others are hiding something from us, I can tell.” She replied. “There’s more to that post. June and Twelve sounded so confident that the threat is something we should take seriously.”

“It’s because of the name,” sabi ko. She looked at me, waiting for more information. “Nang mabanggit ang Edogawa Rampo sa HQ, nagbago ang mood ng lima. I think they know something that could be associated with that Japanese mystery author. Isang bagay na ayaw nilang ipaalam sa’tin.”