Project LOKI ③

Chapter 47: Dead Men Tell No Tales III (Back to the Crime Scene)

A/N: And the spree of updates continues! Expect more in the coming days! 

LORELEI

 IT'S TIME to pick up where we left off in Ephraim Quirino's case.

Kinabukasan, maaga akong sinundo ni Alistair sa apartment para sa meeting namin kay Hel. Dahil sa dami ng mga nangyari nitong nakaraang linggo, hindi na namin naasikaso. While we still have some mysteries to solve, I thought that this might be the right time to address this. Para mabawasan na rin ang iniisip namin.

Hel texted me the location last night. Kahit words lang ang nababasa ko, I could still hear her singsong tone dahil sa tilde (~) na inilagay niya. She could have used the regular punctuation marks. Well, sabi nga nila, walang basagan ng trip. Gusto niyang magkita kami sa mismong crime scene—sa apartment kung saan namin natagpuang patay si Sir Ephraim.

You might be wondering, bakit "ako" lang ang sinundo ni Alistair? I thought that the investigation would somehow pique Loki's interest and give him back the enthusiasm that he always felt whenever there's a case to solve. Kapag kasi bored siya, 'yon lagi ang tried and tested method para magkaroon siya ng gana. Unfortunately, not even this curious incident was enough to make him leave our apartment unit.

"The three of you can do well without me," he told me after urging him to come with us. "The police will only ask you what you can recall on the night of the incident. Also that self-proclaimed daughter of mine is on the case already. I don't think that my presence there is much needed."

Mukhang hindi pa rin siya bumabalik sa dati niyang sarili. He still looked down. The dark circles under his eyes looked more prominent than ever. It might take some time before our pep talk with yesterday would take effect. I understand. Bringing back the usual him wouldn't be easy as I thought it would be.

And so, umalis kami ng apartment nang kami lang tatlo nina Jamie at Alistair. Imagine the awkwardness inside the car while we were en route to the crime scene. Nasa passenger's seat ako gaya ng nakagawian habang solo ni Jamie ang backseat dahil wala roon si Loki. Walang umiimik sa amin. Tanging ang mga song na pinapatugtog sa radio kung saan naka-tune in si Alistair ang naririnig namin.

Now and then, I glanced at Jamie through the rearview mirror, watching her mood closely. Nakapangalumbaba siya sa may window at pinapanood ang paglagpas namin sa iba pang sasakyan at building. She looked so bored since Loki wasn't around. Mukhang wala rin siya sa mood para makipag-usap.

Because of my carelessness yesterday, she found out that Loki and I wanna focus our attention on her late brother. Dapat kasi tinanggal ko 'yong sticky note na may pangalan ng kuya niya. 'Yan tuloy, nagkaroon siya ng idea. Pero wala na akong magagawa. My response? I had to lie about it. I had to pretend that I didn't know what I knew a few days ago—that her brother wasn't who he seemed to be. That there's more to him than meets the eye.

I thought I'd only be dealing with one problem today. It turned out that I'd be dealing with two.

The silence and the uneasiness inside his car must be so deafening and very awkward, Alistair had to break it gently. "Okay, guys. Do you wanna talk about what happened yesterday?"