Our client greeted us politely as soon as he joined us on the table. I decided to desist from the word war between me and Sandro.

Conan Solaire looked around. There was no air of dejection around him.  "Where's Mr. Sylvensen?"

Sandro didn't even flinch. "Due to some circumstances, he won't be able to make it today." he offered as an explanation. "However, do not feel troubled. I was convoked here as a substitute."

Great. He was convoked here as a substitute. Ni hindi man lang siya nag-abalang pansinin ang presensya ko.

Conan nodded then turned to me. "Pardon my rudeness. We've met before, right? I didn't catch your name."

Sasagot pa lang sana ako ngunit naunahan ako ng katabi ko. "She's the fiancée of Mr. Sylvensen. Don't mind her."

I wanted to punch Sandro hard on his face. He was demeaning me, for heaven's sake! It's like he's setting me aside! Ni hindi man lang niya sinabi ang pangalan ko!

"Congratulations on your engagement." Our client told me, his eyes twinkling in bliss. "I still wonder where and when have we met before. You look awfully familiar to me."

Napalingon naman si Sandro sa direksyon ko, nakataas ang isang kilay at hinihintay ang sagot ko. "I'm sorry but I'm not quite good in recalling faces from the past." sambit ko.

Conan gave me a small smile. "My instinct tells me that we had cross each other's path not too long before this case."

Sandro offered the food to him and he gladly accepted. We watched Conan as he relished his lunch. Their conversation started smoothly and no significant details were given at first. I, on the other hand, was left cogitating on my seat.

Until my thoughts reached one name.

Gabriel.

I suddenly felt dejected. He vanished the day before yesterday, yet to me it seems like it's been a while since I last saw him. Kung nasaan man siya ngayon, I just hope he's doing fine. That's my only wish.

"I understand the need for your privacy, but we need to know more about your relationship with Stellar Lumina." Sandro's statement caught my attention, drawing me back to reality. "I assure you that there's no personal interest involved in this acquirement of information. We're just trying to dig out something that might be useful to the case."

He tried to sound polite but to me, it's just the usual boring and flat voice. Ewan ko lang kay Conan kung nagbago ba sa pandinig niya iyong boses ni Sandro.

"No need to explain. I understand." he replied to Sandro. "What exactly do you want to know, Mr. Concepcion?"

It's the first time I heard Sandro's surname. Concepcion?

Hmm... Not bad.

"As much as possible," Sandro rested his chin on the back of his hand. "I want to know everything."

I remained quiet on my seat, anticipating his narration about how everything started. Gusto ko ring malaman dahil hindi ko naman naaalala ang lahat.

"I met Stellar four years ago. Magkaklase kami noong Grade 7 pero hindi pa kami masyadong malapit noon." kwento ni Conan sa amin. "I was in a popular circle of friends while Stellar was a bit... isolated in the class. Nag-uusap lang kami kapag kailangan."

Tahimik lamang na nakikinig si Sandro. Ako naman, pinaglaruan na lang ang mga kamay ko habang nakatulala sa kawalan.

"She was an ordinary girl. Well, that's what I thought. When we reached Grade 8, someone from our class physically assaulted he. Pinagtulungan siya ng mga kaklase naming babae. That's when her life story became the talk of the town. Kumalat ang balitang ampon daw siya."

"An adopted child?" Sandro whispered while kidding his lips. "Do you know anything about Stellar's foster family?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but Stellar was never open about her foster family. She didn't like talking about them. But she mentioned that it was a well-off family."

Sandro heaved out a deep sigh. I could see the disappointment on his eyes. If Conan had known something about my foster family, would that make a big difference? 

"Going back to the story, that's when the two of us became close. Ako kasi ang umawat sa mga kaklase naming nanakit sa kanya. Starting that day, we formed a bond, a friendship.

"Years had passed when she decided to drop out from school to work for the meanwhile. Ang alam ko, naglayas siya mula sa pamilyang umampon sa kanya. Hindi pa niya kayang paaralin ang sarili niya kaya napilitan siyang huminto sa pag-aaral at magtrabaho muna."

I was rendered speechless.

"We kept in touch. We promised to meet from time to time, but it only happened thrice because our schedules never agreed. And then we just kinda lost contact with each other since both of us were so busy. Kailan ko lang siya ulit nakita, noong nabalitaan ko sa isang kaibigan namin na pumapasok na ulit siya, night shift nga lang ang mga klase niya dahil irregular student na siya."

"She ran away from her foster family, huh?" Sandro wondered out loud, his eyes filled with curiosity.

"One night, we bumped into each other again. I treated her a bite then asked her to come over my unit for a small get-together with our friends. Pumayag naman siya. Pasensya na pero hanggang doon na lang ang naaalala ko, Mr. Concepcion."

"I see. But what can you say about the fact that your semen was found on her private part? Does that mean you really had sex?"

Conan smiled. "I won't deny that."

"Did you force her?" Muling tanong ni Sandro. "Because if that's what happened, then you'll face more charges. I'd rather you drop this forgetting act if you really want to get out of here, Conan. You need to cooperate with us." paliwanag ng kasama ko.

"I'm not pretending to forget. I didn't kill her, so I'm confident that I will find my way out of this place without the need to pretend and to look stupid." Conan remained unfazed. "Although the evidence is pointing me as the culprit, my plea won't change. I'm innocent. Someone else needs to be here."

"Stop sugarcoating your words. Just tell me the truth. Did you kill her or not?" Sandro queried through teeth clenched. Mukhang nauubusan na siya ng pasensya.

Conan pursed his lips. "I did not."

"Did you force her into sex?"

"No."

I was startled when Sandro slammed his hands to the table. "Liar. If you didn't force her to do so, then why did she run desperately away from your place? Why did she try to escape from you?"

Nagsukatan silang dalawa ng tingin.

"Don't mess with me, Conan Solaire. I told you, if you want to get out of this mess, you need to cooperate with us. Now let me repeat the question and don't you ever answer me with a blatant lie. If you didn't force her into sex, why did she run away?"

A deafening silence engulfed the three of us.

"Because Stellar is in love with somebody else, Mr. Conception. She realized halfway that she shouldn't be doing that with me." Conan replied in his usual placid voice.

He remained impervious on his seat.

"Why did she run away, you ask? Because there's somebody else. That's one thing that I can remember clearly, because it hurt. A lot."

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