Detective Rivalry

Chapter 8: Long Time no See (Part 3)

Felicine

We all gathered at the crime scene because the two boys will now put an end to this poisoning case.

"Are you ready?" bulong sa akin ni Cali. I nodded at him though my hands are cold. 

Kinakabahan ako dahil ito ang unang beses na tutulungan ko ang mga pulis sa pagidentify nang kung sino man ang may sala.

Nakatayo sa gilid sila Angelo, Sheena at Freddy, they are accompanied by 2 officers.  Si inspector naman ay nakaupo at matamang nakatingin sa aming dalawa ni Eudayme na nasa gitna.

Cali's eyes are closed, leaning on the wall and concentrating. Eudayme has his wide smile plastered on his face na parang katatapos niya lang magperform ng isang play sa theater. Ako naman ay kabadong-kabado dahil baka mali ang maituro ko at mapahiya.

"Handa na ba kayong tatlo?" tanong sa amin ni inspector.

"Yes, inspector!" masiglang sagot ni Eudayme. 

"Then begin." inspector gave us the go signal. Eudayme then stepped forward and began his revelation.

"Let's make this revelation exciting, shall we?" his smile became a smirk and looked at the three. "According to you all, Angelo ordered a chamomile tea and is sitting across Luisa, Sheena ordered Oolong tea and is sitting at the left of Luisa, and lastly, Freddy ordered Bluechai tea and is sitting at the right of Luisa." he said, still his eyes are locked to the three. "Now, the first question is, who poisoned her? Given the circumstances, you all ordered different teas. The poison was found in the tea of the victim. The second question enters, How did the culprit poisoned her?" he asked and looked sideways to see what Cali is doing. Nakasandal pa rin siya sa pader at nakapikit ang mga mata.

"You're letting me continue and ruin your deductions?" sabi ni Cali habang nakapikit pa rin ang kanyang mga mata. He must have felt the stare of Eudayme.

"Of course not!" Eudayme said. He returned his gaze in front and continued talking. "Moving on, different teas, different colors, the culprit took that advantage to poison Luisa. How? simple. The culprit put something in his own tea to change its color and make it red. That something is the lemon slice." he said. Pumunta naman siya sa crime scene at may ibinulong sa isang forensic officer, tumango naman ito at kinuha ang isang tasa. 

"What's that?" tanong ko sa kanya ng makabalik na siya. He just winked at me then headed to a table. Inilapag niya doon ang tasa at may kinuhang lemon slice.

Lumapit na din ako sa table upang makita kung ano ang nasa tasa. I saw a blue liquid. Maybe its a tea? 

"What you are seeing is a Bluechai tea. Now, when I put this lemon." he put the lemon slice on the tea. Everyone was in shock to see that it changed its color. From blue, it became red like the victim's tea. 

"How?" Sheena asked.

"The acid of the lemon causes it to change its color. He put the poison in there and let the victim drink it." he said. 

"Wrong." we turned our heads to the one who just spoke. Cali slowly opened his eyes and walked towards our direction. "Your culprit is correct but the way he did it is wrong. You made it too complicated. Remember, Eudy that the poison is in the tea not on the cup." 

"Really? How is it wrong?" Eudayme asked him while crossing his arms.

"If he did that, why is he not poisoned? If he really did the science experiment, he should have done that with his tea. It is a fact that by using alkaline baking soda, he can bring back the original color of the tea, but the forensics found the poison in the victim's not his." he explained to Eudayme then turned to the three suspects. "Lahat ba kayo uminom ng tsaa?" he asked the the three and all of them nodded. "Now, explain how on earth did he avoided the poison if all of them drank it?" he asked the speechless Eudayme.