Chapter 17: Deduction Showdown: Gray Vs Jeremy

"So it's all a deal! Tamang-tama! A junior high approached me kanina and asked for our help for a mystery- though it looks like a case involving supernaturals, of course if we use the right reasoning it can be explained", wika ni Math bago pinagpatuloy ang pagkain. "Wait, hindi naman kayo matatakutin diba?"

"Of course not!", Gray said. "Ghost does not exist and if they do, they only exist in your mind." Ito na yata ang fixed answer ni Gray kapag usapang multo.

"Mas lalong hindi ako matatakutin!", wika naman ni Jeremy. "Slight lang. Hihihi."

I rolled my eyes on the thought of it. At sino ba ang may sabi sa kanila magkaroon sila ng deduction battle? Si Math? Edi siya ang sumama sa kanila! Pfft! They should be asking me and not just agree on Math's proposition. Masyado silang mahilig sa ganito!

"Okay then", Math said at hinawakan ang braso ni Gray. Hinila niya ito patayo ng mesa. "Let's not waste time. I'll explain the situation kapag nakarating na tayo sa clubroom ng homemakers club."

Gray was a bit hesitant to stand up at first but in the end he did. Pinulot naman ni Jeremy ang natitirang slice ng pizza, stuffed it in his mouth and pulled me too. Nang maitayo niya ako ay agad niyang pinulupot ang kamay niya sa beywang ko.

"Let's go Be. Para sa date natin, kakayanin! If Gray decided to play Sherlock Holmes, then I will be Hercule Poirot!" Uh, what the hell? So he's really into detective stories lately huh!

I saw Gray glared at us or was it just my imagination? Nang hinila na siya ni Math at nauna na sa amin, I immediately spanked Jeremy's arm around me.

"Hoy Je, para saan ba yan ha? And how dare you touch me anywhere you want? Tuhurin kita dyan eh!"

"Ang arte naman! Para hawak lang eh! Isa pa, I'm doing this for you! In the end, you'll thank me for this Bestie. Ganito na lang, isipin mong ako si Cupid." He swallowed what he has in mouth bago malawak na ngumiti sa akin.

"Yeah, I thought you're Poirot and now you're Cupid?", I said rolling my eyes. For me? For me, my foot!

"And that too."

"And what's with the Be huh?"

He walked in front of me at paatras na naglakad upang makaharap ako. "Be. Be kasi- kasi short for Bestie! Be, that's it."

Reasons! Ang sabihin niya puro kalokohan ang laman ng utak niya kaya kung anu-ano na lamang ang naiisip niya.

"Oo nga pala Je. I met a girl", I said when I remember Victoria. Hindi ko pa naikukwento sa kanya ang tungkol sa pangalawa naming pagkikita. Maybe it slipped out of my mind or I just chose not to tell him about it before.

"Aba! Di pwede yan! Kay Gray ka lang kaya kalimutan mo na yang babaeng yan." What the hell? Can I just strangle him to death?

"No, I mean I met a girl that you know-" Agad niyang pinutol ang sasabihin ko.

"Hulaan ko, nagsisimula sa M ang pangalan niya ano? Maria Mercedes?", he said with a wide grin.

"No-"

"Marimar?"

Uh! I put my face in my palm because of frustration.

"Maria Ozawa?"

"What the hell?" Nagkulang ba siya sa pagkain?

"Hindi rin. Baka si Mia Khalifa?"

"Ano? Sino ba yan-"

"Hep! Huwag mo ng alamin", he paused for a while and tapped his temple as he thinks. "Oh no, si Mommy D?!"

Oh please. Can I just kill him?!

"Jeremy. Kilala mo siya. Kulot ang buhok niya-" Well he loves to cut off.

"Si Melai?"

"Ano bang pinagsasabi mo diyan? Pwede ba stop cutting me off at makinig. And who said her name starts with letter M? Her name's Victoria."

"Aysus, hindi mo naman sinabing hindi pala letter M. Si Victoria lang pa- Si Victoria?" Gone was his playful side at naiwan ang seryoso at matamlay na si Jeremy. I thought he will be like that but when we arrived at the clubroom ay agad na sumigla ang aura nito. Looks like he easily put on the mask that he wear kanina. The happy mask.

"Andito na tayo Be! Let the showdown begin!", he said and formed his fingers into a V sign at tinuro ang kanyang mata. Then he pointed the same fingers to Gray. Tsss!

I looked around on the homemaker's clubroom. If I didn't join the drama club noon, posibleng sa club na ito ang pinasukan ko. I always wanted to learn handicrafts na madalas itinuro ng club sa mga estudyante gayundin ang ibang gawain gaya ng pagsusulsi at pagbuburda. There were five students inside samantalang ang isang estudyante ay pinapaypayan ng isa habang hawak nito ang isang baso ng tubig. The three others were on the sofa with a very beautiful sewed sheet on top.

"Ano ba ang nangyari dito?", Gray asked immediately habang inilibot ni Gray ang paningin sa paligid. The students inside were surprised to see us maliban sa isa sa kanila. I bet she's the one who approached Math and consulted this.

"Kuya Gray, ako nga po pala si Ishel Lopez. Ako po ang lumapit kay Ate Math upang magpatulong sa inyo tungkol sa nangyayaring kababalaghan dito sa clubroom namin."

"Kababalaghan? Don't worry about it. Hercule Poirot is here", wika ni Jeremy at inayos ang suot na necktie. He did it proudly though.

"Hercules Poirot? Akala ko po kayo si Jeremy Martinez", nagtatakang tanong ng isang estudyante. She was the one who was holding a glass of water.

"Hercule lang, isa lang ako kaya singular. Kapag dalawa na kami, saka ka na magiging Hercules. Hahahahahaha! And oh, yeah I'm Jeremy Martinez, the one and only." He was the only one to laugh at his joke. The girl she was talking with must have laugh if only she hadn't been scared first. Base sa reaksyon kasi nito, mukhang galing ito sa matinding pagkagimbal. Lumapit si Jeremy sa mga babae at nakipagkamay dito na para bang isang kandidato na tatakbo sa eleksyon. Bahagya itong napatigil ng makipagkamay sa isa sa kanila pero agad naman siyang nagpatuloy sa pakikipagkamay.

"Tell us what happened Jenny", wika ni Math sa babaeng tila galing sa matinding pagkatakot.

"Bago po iyon magpapakilala po muna ako at ang mga kasamahan ko. "Ako nga po pala si Jenny Vallente. Sila po ang mga kasamahan kong sina Mae, Ishel at si Alice. Ano po kasi- may nagm-multo po dito sa clubroom namin. At first ay ayaw kong maniwala but then-"

She stopped and I saw how terrified she was through the look in her eyes. Dinulogan ulit ito ni Ishel at hinaplos ang likod upang bahagyang kumalma.

"What happened?"

Jenny took a deep breath. "I experienced it myself kanina."

"Please enlighten us. Anong klaseng kababalaghan?", tanong ni Math. Sa aming tatlo ay ako lang yata ang ayaw makiusyoso tungkol sa kaso na ito. Not because I am feeling a little bit bratty but because I'm kinda scared too. Alam niyo yung alam mo na hindi sila totoo pero natatakot ka pa rin?

"Ilang araw na pong nangyayari ito. May mga nangyayaring nakakatakot. Isang club member ang nakitang gumalaw ang nga rug dolls. May mga nagsasabi namang nakakarinig sila ng tunog ng halakhak ng duwende. At- at", she paused and then she started crying again. "At ang table ni Corine. We- we always find it in this clubroom kada umaga. We always keep it inside the storage room pero pagdating namin dito kada umaga ay nasa harapan iyon at may nakapatong na lubid."

"Lubid?"

"Oo. Lubid. Walong taon na kasi ang nakakaraan mula nang mamatay ang isang club president dito. She died hanging on the ceiling at nasa paanan niya ang mesa na ginamit niya. They say it was suicide pero may mga usap-usapan na may foul play na nangyari", Alice said.

Eight years ago. Ibig sabihin, Jeremy and I were not yet on this school during that time lalo na sina Gray at Math. I haven't heard of such dahil hindi naman ako mahilig makipagdaldalan dati. Like I said, I am always in the library and that's no place for stories like those.

Naging seryoso ang mukha ni Gray. I don't want to think that it is because he really wanted to spend time with me on my birthday but because this is a case. It is something that always interests him. "Who else experienced those things?"

"Mostly lahat ng club members. We even hear it during a meeting", Mae said at umayos ng upo.

"If that's the thing, then ibig sabihin ay bagong club member ang salarin. This is my sixth year in Bridle and I haven't heard of stories like this in this club. Simple deduction, one who's playing pranks is a new member", deklara ni Jeremy. We're kinda surprised with his words. Minsan kasi ang puro ito kalokohan but now his aura is different. If I haven't known him as the King of Puns, I would have lined him to Gray and Khael when it comes to seriousness in cases.

"Jeremy is right", wika ni Gray. "We've been solving cases since last year and I haven't hear of this thing too."

"We are all new members", Jenny said. "Our seniors are on their classes. Sa ngayon ay kaming apat ang nandito kanina when Jenny happened to experience those scary stuff."

Kahit ako ay napataas ang kilay. "Only Jenny? This clubroom is not that big kaya kung may maririnig man si Jenny, it's impossible that you haven't heard it too."

"Nasa storage room kasi ako, chini-check ko kung may mga naiwan bang mga maaring magamit sa paggawa ng lantern at inilagay ko rin ang mga ginawa kong lantern", Mae replied. Tiningnan niya ang dalawa, like she's telling them to provide their explanations too.

"Kadarating ko lamang nang marinig ko ang sigaw ni Jenny", Ishel said.

"Ako naman ay nasa likod. Naglinis kasi kami kahapon and it was a bit dark nang matapos kami kaya ngayon ko na lamang itatapon ang mga basura", wika naman ni Alice.

"If you don't mind we'll have a little exploration in your clubroom", wika ni Gray. "And please do not leave para may sumagot kung sakaling may mga katanungan kami."

"Please yourselves. We will stay right here."

Nagsimulang maglibot si Gray sa paligid at chineck ang mga bagay na nandoon.

"Be, kiss ko para lucky charm", wika ni Jeremy at sadyang nilakasan ang kanyang boses.

Ikinuyom ko ang kamao ko at hinarap iyon sa kanya. "Eto gusto mo?"

"Be naman eh! Gusto mo talaga ng cariño brutal ha", he said in a loud voice kaya napatingin silang lahat sa amin. "Okay, I'll keep going."

Nagsimula na ring tingnan ni Jeremy ang paligid. When he saw Gray jotting down on his small notebook, he borrowed a piece of paper and a pen from one of the girls there.

"Nasa gilid nga po pala ang mesa at ang lubid", Ishel said and pointed on the corner. Lumapit ako doon at bahagyang hinawakan iyon.

"This is an old table na nasa storage room right? Pero bakit hindi yata ito maalikabok?", I asked.

"We cleaned yesterday and we dusted everthing kahit ang mga nasa storage room", Mae replied.

"You dusted? Then we can check for fingerprints ng kung sino mang naglabas ng mesang ito", wika ni Gray at bumaling kay Math. "Can you take care of it? Maybe I can ask Inspector Dean to work for the identification-"

"Don't worry about it", Math said at inilabas ang kanyang cellphone. "I made something that can help us."

"You made an application for it?", gulat na tanong ni Jeremy. I feel like he will be amazed if Math would say yes.

"No, all I did is plan it and Ryu made a software and run the program", she replied with a very wide smile.

"Ryu?", magkapanabay na tanong namin ni Gray. Did she say Ryu? Ryu aka Apollo slash the perverted devil? Ryu na pinsan ni Gray? Ryu who loves to pissed the hell out of me?!

"Yup", she said popping her lips. "Ryu Vander Morisson."

"Close kayo?"

"Sort of."

Bigla na lamang napaubo si Jeremy. "Mapapel talaga", he said in between his coughs.

"Did you say something Jeremy?".

"Wala. Sabi ko paano mo pinagawa iyon sa kanya."

"Ah. That? He came to me one day telling me to assign another person for the mascot instead of Amber. I wonder why he would ask me gayong hindi naman si Amber ang nasa mascot. It wasn't Amber's assigned day dahil tapos na iyon so I made an arrangement. He would make a software that would immediately matches fingerprints and viola! Success!"

Ryu asked Math not to assign me as a mascot?! Maybe it was after the day that he saw me wearing it. I haven't told him that it's the only day that I'm wearing it. At bakit naman siya concern doon? Bakit kailangan pa niyang gawin iyon?!

Gray looked at me with a puzzled expression but I immediately shoved it away.

"Fingerprints? Ngunit makikita niyo ang fingerprints naming apat diyan dahil pinagtulungan namin yang buhatin upang ilagay sa tabi", tila nagulat na sagot ni Jenny. Bahagya pa itong napatayo. I was a bit surprised by her sudden outburst.

"That's fine. If ever may isang fingerprint na hindi nagmatch sa inyo, it means that wala sa inyo ang nananakot dito. As simple as that."

She become a little bit calm bago ito naupo. Naging mas komportable naman ang tatlo. Jenny was running her hand on the hem of her skirt. Si Ishel naman ay napatingin sa paligid.

"Ipaghahanda ko kayo ng juice", wika ni Alice at agad na tumayo. She happened to step in Mae's foot at bigla na lamang nadapa sa sahig. She huddled on the floor near the sofa at nagmadaling tumayo.

"S-sorry!", Mae said at akmang tumayo upang tulungan si Alice pero mas nauna na itong tumayo.

"Ayos lang." She gave her an assuring smile bago pumunta sa tila kusina ng clubroom.

Sinuri ni Gray ang lalagyan ng rug dolls. Napansin kong bahagyang napakunot ang kanyang noo at tila may pinulot doon sa gilid. He wrote something on his notebook at patuloy na naglibot.

"Who do you think will win Amber?", tanong ni Math sa akin nang tumabi siya sa akin. Like me, hindi siya nakisali sa dalawang lalaki. Maybe she's really serious when she say that it will be a deduction showdown between Jeremy and Gray.

I want to roll my eyes. Ano namang panama ni Je sa deductive skills and keen observations ni Gray? Hindi naman sa minamaliit ko si Jeremy but I do not think that he can much wits with Gray. "There's no need to ask such question Math."

"You lack confidence in Jeremy?"

"No."

"Ah, you just trust Gray so much."

Napaisip ako sa sinabi ni Math. Did I really trust Gray to much kaya namamaliit ko si Jeremy? I chose not to say a word at iginala ang paningin sa paligid.

"Ang Corine ba na sinasabi ninyo ay isang club president? 13th club president to be exact." Napalingon kami kay Jeremy dahil sa sinabi niya. He was looking on the wall where the photos of different girl hang.

"Oo. Paano mo naman yan nalaman?"

He made a face at the girl and look on the wall again. "Simple. Your descriptions on the wall skipped the 13th president. See? Mula kay Delgado na 12th president, the next frame's description is the 14th president."

"Why did you tear down her photo?", tanong ni Gray sa kanila. Nagkatinginan ang mga ito at nagpasahan kung sino ang sasagot.

"S-sabi kasi nila ay sinumpa daw si Corine. She's the 13th president at nagbigti pa siya. The current president decided to tear down her photo dahil nagdadala siya ng kamalasan sa club", nag-aalangang sagot ni Jenny.

"If that's the case, then the culprit is someone who wants to live such thought. Binubuhay niya ang mga tsismis tungkol diyan. Does any club member has connection to this Corine?", tanong ni Gray sa kanila. Muli silang nagkatinginan bago sabay na umiling.

"Of course they wouldn't tell kung konektado man sila kay Corine. That would expose their motive of joining the club", wika ni Jeremy. "For now we will resume our investigation."

Nagsimula ulit silang maglibot sa kabuoan ng clubroom. Jeremy kneeled and inspected under the sofas. Geez, ano namang makikita niya doon? Bahaga siyang napakunot-noo at may kinuha mula sa ilalim which I decided not to pay attention.

When he saw Gray put down his small notebook, he reached for it discreetly at bahagyang binasa iyon. By the time that Gray reached for his notebook after closely examining something, natapos nang basahin ni Jeremy ang mga naroon. I gave him a glare but he only replied with a peace sign and look for another thing to observe.

"Alam ko na kung paano pinagalaw ng salarin ang mga rug dolls. We just need more angles that will lead us to the one responsible for this. Matagal ka pa ba diyan Math?", wika ni Gray.

"Just a little. Kailangan ko ng i-match ang fingerprints na nandito sa kanilang apat."

"Hindi ba sinabi ninyo na ang mesang iyan ay nasa storage room? Posibleng ang naglabas niyan ay ang may access sa susi ng clubroom. She could have moved it last night o kaya ay kaninang madaling araw."

"Lahat kami ay alam kung nasaan ang susi. W-we keep it under the rug", Mae said. "Pero imposibleng ako ang nagpunta dito kagabi! Matatakutin ako!"

"Mas lalo na ako!", dagdag ni Alice.

"Done!", masiglang wika ni Math bago inilapag ang cellphone sa isang tabi at tumakbo papunta kay Gray. She whispered something to him. Obviously she's on Gray's side. Agad namang nakakakuha ng pagkakataon si Jeremy. He let out a wicked smile bago kinuha ang cellphone ni Math at tiningnan iyon. He paused for a while and was drowned in deep thoughts hanggang sa makabalik si Math at agad na kinuha ang cellphone mula sa kanya.

"That software comes in handy", wika ni Jeremy na may kakaibang ngiti.

"Of course, what do you expect from the famous Apollo?", Math replied before fishing the phone into her uniform's pocket.

"Thanks to that, now I know who the culprit is", deklara ni Jeremy at sabay kaming napatingin sa kanya. Basing on his facial expression, he really is serious.

"Alam mo na?", halos magkapanabay naming tanong. When he smiled and nodded, I pulled him to the corner of the room at kinausap.

"Je, stop fooling around! Seryoso tong kaso na ito-"

"Be-"

"Stop it. Masasapak talaga kita!", I warned. He made a face at biglang sumeryoso.

"But I really know who is behind this!"

"By how? After seeing Gray's notebook and Math's phone? Look at your paper", hinila ko mula sa kanya ang papel na hiniram niya kanina. He draw something there which looks like a pig. "Oh ano 'to?"

"Hey! Akin na nga yan. Dinrawing ko yan kanina while singing Small circles in my head. It's like this", he said at muling nagdrawing sa papel at kumanta. "Small circle, small circle, big circle. Small circle, small circle big big circle. Ears mama, ears papa-"

"Here's! Hindi ears!"

"Be, different schools, different songs! Don't judge! Tsaka tenga ang ginuguhit ko kapag kinakanta yan!" Palusot niya. Pfft!

Bago pa ako mabaliw at mabagot sa kahihintay ang iba pang naroon ay kinuha ko na sa kanya ang papel at agad na nilakumos iyon. "Jeremy, I know you took a glance at Gray's notebook as well as Math's phone after she took their fingerprints and matched them. Posibleng magkaroon ka ng theory out of it but you only copied their findings and-"

"Hep! Copying from one person is plagiarism pero kapag more than one na, it's called a research. So I came up with my conclusion after a research." He smiled at me bago ako hinawakan at hinila pabalik sa kinatatayuan namin kung saan naroon ang iba at naghihintay sa amin.

"So, shall I start my deduction?"

Nagkatinginan sina Gray at Math while I used my palm and covered my whole face.

"I want to spill everything in a systematic way but I'm afraid that I can't since I'm in hurry. So I will be straight to the point. The culprit used a white thread, the one that's used in stitching to make the dolls move. Gray, show them he thread that you found and explain how." He really sounded like he was an expert to this.

Kahit nagtataka ay sumunod pa rin si Gray sa sinabi ni Je. Inilabas niya mula sa notebook ang isang sinulid na puti. "I found this near the rug dolls. Maybe the culprit passed this thread on the back of the dolls. Ikinabit niya ang kabilang dulo sa kung saan at hinila ang kabila while hiding."

"Ngunit paano naman niya tinaggal iyan?", tanong ni Ishel.

"By simply pulling. Kaya naiwan ito", Gray replied.

Jeremy clapped his hands. "Good job Gray. Now let me ask you your alibis kanina. What did you do before coming here?"

"I had a class", sagot ni Jenny.

"I fixed some amendments tungkol sa house rules ng club", wika ni Alice.

"Kumain kami ni Mae", Ishel replied.

"Then everything is clear. The culprit is Alice", nakapamulsang wika ni Jeremy.

"Stop blabbering! Paano naman naging ako?"

Maging sina Math at Gray ay nagulat. "Pero bakit ganoon Jeremy?! Sa kanilang apat, si Alice ang walang fingerprint sa mesa which means she doesn't touch it."

Tila nabuhayan ng loob si Alice dahil sa sinabi ni Math. "See? Then how could it be me?!"

"That's a lame reasoning Math. Iyan ang pangunahing rason kung bakit siya ang salarin." He looked at the three girls. "Let me ask you again. Sino sa inyong apat ang humawak sa mesang iyan?"

"Pinagtulungan naming apat na buhatin iyan", wika ni Mae.

"Then...." Gray raised his eyes and darted his eyes towards Alice. "Then it means that you concealed your fingerprints in the beginning upang ilabas itong mesa but you forgot to remove whatever you have in hand nang pinagtulungan niyo na iyang buhatin."

"Pero hindi siya nakasuot ng gwantes o kung ano man kanina", apela ni Jenny. "She helped us with bare hands."

"Glue."

Napatingin kaming lahat kay Jeremy. Glue? Naghahanap ba siya ng glue?

"She used glue. I noticed it kanina when I shake hands with everyone. May glue sa kamay niya", he said. Tahimik lamang si Alice na nakatayo doon, slowly digesting in her mind every word said by Jeremy.

"But how about the voices that we heard? I'm sure she's not capable of producing those sounds all by herself", Jenny said and looked at Alice.

"Could you please show everyone what you got under the sofa pagkatapos mong magkunwaring nadapa kanina? I saw tapes under the sofa kaya sigurado akong may nakalagay doon and you retrieved it before we might discover them."

Bigla na lamang may bumagsak na maliit na speaker mula sa kamay ni Alice. She got it from her pocket after hearing Jeremy at nagsimulang umiyak. From that action, I'm pretty sure that she really did it.

"I-I'm sorry. It was just a fun prank but I enjoyed watching everyone got scared. I'm really sorry..." Her voice cracked and she burst into tears.

Which means ....

I looked at Jeremy with a wide eyes as he smirked at Gray.

"Tayo na Be, may date pa tayo", he said and pulled me by the wrist palabas ng silid at hindi na pinakinggan ang mga eksplenasyon ni Alice sa iba pa niyang kasamahan.

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-ShinichiLaaaabs