MAVIEL

FATE, HANGGANG kailan mo ba ako paglalaruan?

Kung kailan dadalawa lang kami sa tea shop, doon mo naisipang hamunin kami. Hindi ba pwedeng hintayin mo munang makabalik si Sigmund o si Nikolai?

Don't get me wrong. May tiwala ako kay Landice. Sigmund wouldn't speak so highly of him if his deduction prowess wasn't the best. Ang tanging concern ko ay baka mahirapan akong makipag-coordinate sa kanya lalo na't hindi niya ako pinapansin.

I swiped the iPad screen to the right and unlocked it. The "challenge" greeting faded and another message flashed.

LET'S PLAY A GAME.

"Not worth my time," bulong ni Landice bago siya muling bumalik sa favorite corner niya. Was reading his favorite book more important than this challenge?

"I don't think so." Ipinakita ko sa kanya ang mga sumunod na salitang nag-flash sa screen.

If you ignore this message, some of your customers will die.
If you accept my challenge, you can save their lives.

Landice might have realized the possible danger brought by the ominous iPad. I may not see his eyes directly, but I could tell that he was staring at the screen.

Accept or ignore? 'Yan ang dalawang choices na sunod na lumitaw. Dahil senior ko si Landice, I let him choose for us. He clicked the "accept" button and once again, the text on the screeen changed.

LET'S PLAY DEDUCTIONS!

I will give a murder case scenario. You need to find out who's the killer and how he killed the victim. If you get it right, I will tell you how I plan to murder some of your customers. If you get it wrong, you know what will happen to them.

Do you wish to continue?

It said na gusto niyang makipaglaro sa amin. But how could he or she play with human lives na parang piyesa sa chess na pwede niyang itapon o isakripisyo for the sake of a game?

Landice answered yes. Nag-fade into black ang screen at sunod na lumabas ang picture ng isang cafe.

"Is it now worth your time?" tanong ko, but he refused to answer or even give me a glance.

Thanks to this so-called challenge, may ideya na ako kung paano makukuha ang atensyon ng malamig kong workmate. It might come in handy in the future.

At the moment, we had to focus on the game. Isa-isang ipinakita sa amin ang mga tauhan. Was this a scene from an actual movie? Or did the challenger film it somewhere?

Unang ipinakilala ang babaeng nakasuot ng pabilog na salamin at pasulyap-sulyap sa kanyang relo. Her hair was tied to a bun with only a few loose strands dangling. Her name, according to the character box that flashed on the screen, was Angela the secretary.

Sunod na lumitaw ang lalaking parang bunot ang buhok na kakalabas lang ng men's comfort room. Napatingin din siya sa kanyang relo at nagkomento kung gaano katagal ang kanilang boss. His name's Benedict the executive assistant.

Isang babaeng may kulot na buhok ang sunod na ipinakilala. Maingat niyang iniangat ang chocolate cake mula sa box at inilapag sa table. Inilagay din niya ang isang kutsilyo sa mesa. She was introduced as Carla the assistant manager.

Sa labas naman ng coffee shop ipinakita ang panghuling tauhan na kakababa mula sa isang taxi. He was a short and plump man. He had a habit of rubbing his finger near his nostrils and sniffing from time to time. He is Victor the boss.

"So the story will revolve around those four characters?" komento ko sabay sulyap kay Landice na nakatutok ang mga mata sa video. Kumuha ako ng kapirasong tissue at isinulat doon ang mga pangalan. "One of them is going to be the victim while the other three will be suspects."

"Don't state what is obvious," he muttered.

I rolled my eyes as we continued watching the video. Pagbaba ng taxi ni Victor, sinalubong siya kaagad sa entrance ni Angela. The two shook hands and exchanged pleasantries before they came inside.

Nagsitayo sina Benedict at Carla sabay kanta ng "Happy Birthday" song. The coffee shop staff sang along with them and clapped their hands. Nahiya tuloy si Victor at sinabihan ang mga kasama niya na huminto na sa pagkanta.

"Blow the candle, boss!" Carla said as she held the cake with both hands.

Hinipan ng kanilang bossing ang kandila at muli silang nagsipalakpakan. Kapansin-pansin na walang ibang tao sa paligid nila. They probably reserved the whole place for this celebration.

On the tissue paper, I drew the table set-up of the four characters. Victor was seated in between Angela (on his left) and Carla (on his right). Benedict sat opposite to him.

So how would the culprit kill the victim? Hindi naman siguro niya basta-basta sasaksakin ang biktima lalo na't may ibang matang nakamasid sa kanila.

I shot a sideward glance at Landice who seemed to be too absorbed with the case. Sinubukan kong basahin sa mukha niya kung ano ang iniisip niya. But I failed. Unang-una sa lahat, hindi ako si Sigmund na kayang basahin ang microexpression ng isang tao. Pangalawa, walang reaksyon sa mukha niya kaya wala talaga akong mababasa.

Solving the case would be more engaging kung sanang nag-uusap kaming dalawa. He could share his thoughts to me and tell me some pointers when solving a case. But he did not.

Isinerve na sa kanilang table ang tig-iisang cup of black coffee. Victor raised his hand to call the attention of the waiter and asked for creamer. But his executive assistant Ben stood and volunteered to get them from the condiments corner. Dalawang sachet ng creamer ang ibinigay niya sa kanyang boss.

I had a gut feeling that Victor would be the victim. Parang naka-focus sa kanya ang camera most of the time. If I were the killer, how would I kill him? Not the most common method obviously. Could it be poison instead?

Sinuggest ni Carla kay Victor na hiwain na ang cake. Iniabot niya ang manipis na kutsilyo sa kanyang boss. The cake was sliced into four equal portions and given to each person around the table.

Thirty minutes passed — based on the clock in the video — but nothing happened. Patuloy ang pagkukuwentuhan at pagtatawanan nila... until Victor excused himself and went to the men's comfort room. He was pale and sweating.

Mukhang tama ang hinala, siya nga ang mamamatay.

But to my surprise, nakalabas pa siya ng comfort room makalipas ang ilang minuto at maaliwalas na ang pagmumukha. Maybe he only had an upset stomach kaya nagtungo siya sa banyo? I took note of it para gawing reference mamaya.

Nagpatuloy sila sa pagkukuwentuhan, pag-inom ng kape at pagkain ng cake. Binantayan ko ang bawat galaw ng tatlong nakapalibot kay Victor, feeling ko kasi, isa sa kanila ang papatay sa kanya.

Strangely, isa-isa rin silang nagpa-excuse sa kanilang boss. Pumunta sa women's washroom si Angela upang ayusin ang kanyang lipstick at maglagay ng make-up. When she returned, Benedict stood next to have a bathroom break in the men's comfort room. Upon his return, Carla excused herself to smoke outside.

Habang nagtatawanan sila, napahawak ang kanilang boss sa leeg at tila nahihirapan sa paghinga. He was gasping for air. His employees gathered around him and asked him what's wrong. He tried to respond, but he ran out of breath and collapsed on the floor.

So who killed Victor?

The police arrived at the crime scene immediately, led by a middle-aged man with muscular build. He was wearing the blue GOA uniform of the police and his nametag had the title "inspector."

"The victim died due to poisoning," he said, reading the autopsy report. "According to our medical examiner, the poison that killed him is wolfsbane. Maraming na-detect na traces nito sa kanyang kamay. Meron din sa ilalim ng kanyang nostrils, sa hawakan ng cup at tinidor na ginamit niya. We also searched the areas in this cafe, but we found no other traces."

Wolfsbane? That sounded familiar. Saan ko nga ba... Ah! Doon sa pinuntahan naming greenhouse ni Sigmund kanina. What a coincidence na gano'n din ang involved na lason sa kasong ito!

"Dahil kayong tatlo ang kasama ng biktima bago siya nawalan ng buhay, you three are being considered suspects in this case," dagdag ng inspector. "We ask for your consent to come with us to the police station."

The next scene was a shot in an interrogation room. One by one, the three principal suspects were questioned by the police.

"Do you have any motive to kill the victim?"

"Wa-Wala!" nauutal na sagot ni Angela. Garalgal ang kanyang boses at hindi makatingin nang diretso ang mga mata. "Mabait na boss si Victor at lagi niyang iniisip ang kapakanan ng empleyado niya. Kung may dapat kayong tanungin, si Benedict 'yon! I believe that he has a grudge on our boss dahil pinangakuan siya ng promotion pero hindi natupad."

"Thank you for your cooperation. We will call him next," tugon ng pulis.

Sunod na humarap sa kanila ang executive assistant.

"Oo, totoong pinangakuan niya ako at nagalit ako sa kanya," depensa ni Benedict. Unlike the first suspect, he maintained his composure. "Ngunit matagal nang isyu 'yan! Naintindihan ko kung bakit hindi niya muna ako prinomote. You know what? You should ask Carla. Kung sama ng loob ang pag-uusapan, baka siya ang meron."

"Paano mo nasabi?"

"Our boss' position was initially offered to hers. Ngunit dahil sa office politics at malakas si Victor sa management, he got the position instead."

Hindi na siya nagtagal pa sa interrogation room kaya pinapasok na ang pinakahuling suspek — ang assistant manager.

"Who told you about that?" tanong ni Carla matapos sabihin ng pulis ang naikwento ng kanyang kasama. "Yes, I admit na sumakit ang loob ko na sa kanya napunta ang posisyon. But as a consolation, they promoted me to assistant manager. Whatever issue I had before with him, that's water under the bridge already. Maybe the one who killed him is someone with the most recent issue."

"Like who?"

"His secretary, Angela? There are rumors going around the office that Victor was sexually harassing her. Natanong ko sa kanya noon kung totoong minomolestiya siya ng boss namin. She confirmed it but she said that she couldn't do anything about it. After all, malakas si Victor sa management."

The iPad screen faded into black and a question in white text flashed:

WHO KILLED VICTOR?

Tila nakaramdam ako ng sakit ng ulo matapos panoorin ang buong murder scenario. Thank God na hindi actual na nangyari 'yon dito sa tea shop.

"Show your worth, part-timer."

Another surprise. Landice was first to strike a conversation with me. At mukhang gusto niya akong hamunin.

"Prove yourself worthy to be one of us," he added, turning around to return to his favorite corner. "Kung talagang karapat-dapat kang maging detective ng cafe na 'to, you can solve this case with minimal or no help from me."

"W-What? Teka, wala pa ako sa point ng training kung saan tinuruan akong mag-solve ng isang murder case!"

"I asked you to solve the case, not to make excuses."

He uttered those words in monotone, but they sent chills down my spine. Napalunok tuloy ako ng laway. Naalala ko sa kanya ang professor namin sa Logic na hindi mo mapakiusapan.

"Su-Sure, I will try. Are you going to solve this case as well?"

"I have already solved it," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I know who the culprit is and how he killed the victim."

Napakurap ang mga mata kong nakatitig sa kanya. Unbelievable. He did not have to watch the video again. He did not have to take note of any crucial detail. And yet, he already came up with a conclusion? Was he even human?

"Hindi sa gumagawa ako ng excuse, but maybe you can already input your answer?" tanong ko. "Remember? Whoever left this iPad has an intention to kill some of our customers. Their safety should be our concern, tama?"

"Your theory first," he answered without looking at me. "They want to play a game. You play with them."

Kung gano'n, nakasalalay sa akin kung maililigtas kaagad namin ang mga customer. What a huge responsibility for a novice deductionist like me!

"Do a process of elimination," Landice said. "That's the only advice I can give."

~M~