Chapter 14: Key to Mystery

LORELEI

LOKI led our way to the kitchen where the producer Michael B. had gone around the time of the murder. Malalaki at mabibilis ang bawat hakbang niya kaya kinailangan naming sabayan ang kanyang paglalakad.

He was smirking. Yes, that smirk that he flashes whenever he gets too invested in a case. He’s enjoying this investigation too much. And we all know that too much is bad.

“Can you please slow down?” I asked him as we took a turn to the kitchen. Sa sobrang bilis niyang maglakad, napabitiw na si Jamie mula sa pagkaka-cling sa kanya habang humabol naman ng lakad si Al.

“There’s no time to waste now that the competition is heating up!” Loki replied with so much enthusiasm in his voice. “We need to beat the Detective Quadrumvirate before they beat us.”

“Someone died, Loki,” Alistair reminded him. That was already obvious, but Al probably felt that he needed to slap Loki with some sense of sensitivity. “There’s a dead man in that room and all you think about is competing with the other team?”

“And this is no longer that game that we thought we would be playing.” Hindi ko na natiis na pangaralan siya. I did not like how Loki walked out of the living room earlier and declared that the game was still on.

Nahinto sa paglalakad si Loki at ilang segundong tila nanigas sa kanyang kinatatayuan. We were only a few steps away from the kitchen. He slowly turned around as his dull, gray eyes gazed on us.

“So what do you suggest that we should do? Mourn the dead? Cry for the tragedy that befell on him?” he asked mockingly. “Or we could solve this murder and bring his killer to justice.”

“I’m all for justice.” Al nodded. “Pero puwede naman kasi nating i-set aside ang competition sa Detective Triumvirate Plus One. As Lorie said moments ago, this is no longer a game. This is a real crime that needs to be solved. There should be no winner or loser here.”

“The first shot was already fired earlier this evening,” Loki insisted. “There’s no stopping this war now.”

“Al’s point is that maybe, we can cooperate with our rivals instead of competing with them,” I reiterated. “Maybe we can solve this case much faster if we work with them and compare notes instead of keeping what we know from each other.”

“Lorie, para namang hindi mo kilala si Loki dear,” Jamie interrupted before our dear leader could rebut. “He is naturally competitive and he’s always on the mood to solve cases kapag meron siyang naaamoy na competition. As long as we solve the case in the end, isn’t that what matters?”

“At last, there’s someone who understands my sentiments!” Loki exclaimed. “Whether or not there are cameras rolling, whether or not there’s an officiator to facilitate the game, the show has already begun. And I’d rather be the performer than the audience in this segment.”

“I see.” Al nodded slowly. “The reason why you want to take this competition seriously is not because you are too eager to solve the case, but because you are afraid that the other team might beat us to finding out the truth.”
Kumunot ang noo ni Loki. “Excuse me?”

“You crave for competition. You are naturally competitive, to quote Jamie,” Al went on. “You want to show everyone here that you are superior. Kung makikipagtulungan tayo sa Detective Triumvirate Plus One at makikipagpalitan tayo ng deductions, walang lalabas na winner o loser. Walang lalabas na superior at inferior. At ‘yon ang ayaw mong mangyari, ‘di ba?”

“Why are you speaking as if I’m the only one who wants to emerge as intellectually superior than our rivals?” Loki asked.

“Because you are the only one who refuses to work with them,” I told him bluntly. “Alistair and I are open to the idea na makipagtulungan sa kanila. Eight heads are better than four. We might solve this case at a faster rate. I don’t know about Jamie on where she stands.”

Napatingin kaming tatlo kay Jamie na pakurap-kurap ang mga mata. Her eyes looked down, glancing every now and then at Loki. “Kung ako ang tatanungin, walang problema sa akin na makipag-cooperate tayo sa kanila. Pero! Pero confident ako na kaya nating ma-solve ang kaso kahit na walang tulong mula sa kanila. Gano’n naman talaga, ‘di ba? The four of us always close cases.”

Masyadong playing safe ang sagot ni Jamie. Saan ba talaga siya kampi? At first, kampi siya sa idea namin, tapos sa bandang huli, bigla siyang kakambyo. She’s compromising her stand just to please Loki.

“What we’re asking is that we become more sensitive with the situation and weigh which is more important,” Al insisted. “Our desire to bring the murderer to justice or our desire to emerge as better detectives than the others?”

Loki shrugged. “Why not both?”

“Loki!” I called him out. “Just this once, puwede mo bang isantabi muna ‘yang pagiging competitive mo? Let us work together with the Detective Triumvirate Plus One.”

“We can cover more ground if we take that route,” dagdag ni Al. “We can share with them what we find here.”

“As long as we don’t share our theory with them,” Jamie said.

“That’s a good idea.” Al nodded. “Ayaw nating maimpluwensyahan ang kanilang perspective sa kaso. Let’s give them our findings and let them form their own theories. They might find an angle that we missed.”

Napatingin sa sahig si Loki at napabuntonghininga. He went on silent mode for a while after meeting this level of resistance. “Fine, we will sort of cooperate—”

“No ‘sort of,’ Loki.” I corrected him.

“Okay! We will cooperate with them by sharing what we find in this area. Happy now?” “Do you mean those words?” tanong ko.

“I do,” Loki said.

“Good.” I nodded. “So why are we in the kitchen?”

“Gusto mo bang ipagluto kita ng pagkain, Loki dear?” tanong ni Jamie sabay pasok sa kusina. She checked the overhead cabinet. “May mga itlog pala rito at pancake. Gusto mo na bang kumain?”

Loki shook his head, entering the kitchen. “We are not here to cook. We are here to trace the steps of the suspects. Something might just jump at us.”

“Not the murder weapon, obviously,” Al noted. “Hindi itatago ng salarin ang weapon na ginamit niyang pampatay sa ganitong lugar na maraming dumaraan.”

“If not the murder weapon, maybe a clue to the locked room mystery?” I asked. “What else can we look for maliban sa bagay na ‘yon?”

“How do you think they did it?” tanong ni Al. “I watched some detective dramas kung saan gumamit ng fishing line ang salarin para maipasok sa locked room ang susi. The tiny gap under the door serves as the opening. Doon puwedeng ipasok at itawid ang sinulid na may naka-attach na susi.”

I was expecting Loki to agree with Al dahil ‘yon lang ang punto na makapagpapaliwanag kung paano na-create ang locked room. And what he replied? A chuckle. Hindi ko alam kung mino-mock niya si Al.

“You are giving the locked room mystery too much thought.” Loki opened the cabinet below and searched inside. Inilabas niya ang kanyang phone at ini-on ang flashlight.

“Hindi imposibleng ma-execute ang trick na idinescribe ni Al,” Jamie said after closing the overheard cabinet.

Mukhang wala na siyang balak magluto ng pancake. And hey, it’s way past ten o’clock already. She could serve the pancake tomorrow morning. “I recall the size of the gap under the door at nakita ko rin ang susi na ipinasok ni Gray sa doorknob. If we follow the trick that
Al described, then it is doable.”

“Thank you for your input, Jamie, but I am not inclined to think that way,” Loki said. Isinara niya ang cabinet sa ilalim at humarap sa amin. “Are you familiar with Occam’s razor?”

“Is that a brand of shaving razors?” I asked cluelessly. And I wasn’t joking. Hindi ko talaga alam kung ano ang tinutukoy niya.

“That’s a philosophical principle stating that the explanation that doesn’t require too much speculation is likely the answer,” Loki explained like a professor discussing about the meaning of life. “Let’s say that our topic is the locked room mystery. The trick that Alistair cited was too complicated. If we follow the principle of Occam’s razor, that trick is less likely the answer.”

“But so far, that’s the only trick that makes sense,” I argued. “Wala ng ibang explanation para maisagawa ang locked room.”

“Maybe you are looking too closely at the picture. Take a step back and see the bigger perspective,” Loki advised. “By the way, can you help me turn the whole place upside down as we search for something? Leave no stones unturned.”

Lumapit ako sa may kitchen sink at tumingala sa mga cabinet. May mga laman itong kitchen utensils. “What exactly are we looking for?”

“The key to the host’s room,” Loki answered, turning around to pull the drawers beside him.

“As I recall, na kay Gray pa rin ang susi ng kwarto ng host,” Jamie said. “And no one took that key away from him.”

Al was starting to rummage in the trash bin that only had a few empty bags of chips when he clicked his fingers. Lumingon siya kay Loki, tila nagliwanag ang mukha. “Now I get it why you brought that Occam’s razor up. You’ve thought of a much simpler solution, haven’t you?”

“Indeed.” Loki shot a sideward glance at him. “When you found out that the culprit set up a locked room mystery, you tried to think of clever ways in which he pulled it off.”

“Are you saying that he created an illusion na locked room ang crime scene?” tanong ni Jamie bago isinara ang pinakailalim na drawer na binuksan niya. “You saw it yourself, Loki dear. The key under the floorboard was a fake and the real one was in the victim’s pocket.”

“What if there isn’t one, but two keys?” tanong ni Al sabay buhos ng mga basura sa sahig. Nothing to worry about. Madali lang pulutin ang mga kalat at iilang lang naman.

“You have limited your perspective by thinking that there’s only one key,” paliwanag ni Loki habang patuloy na nangangalkal sa mga drawer. “You are used to watching mystery series where they always make you think that one key is all there is.”

“So whoever the culprit is, he or she created a duplicate of the key?” I asked. “Obviously that means, pinagplanuhan talaga ang murder na ‘to way before the show started.”

“The crew without a doubt conducted an ocular in this mansion,” Loki nodded. “Someone created the layout, assigned the rooms, borrowed the keys, and made a duplicate.”

“That way, the culprit only needed to create an illusion that the room was locked from the inside,” Al deduced. “Para ma-mislead tayo sa pag-iisip na komplikado ang trick na ginamit ng salarin.”

“That is brilliant!” Jamie exclaimed. “Ang galing talaga ni Loki dear ko! I’m sure na hindi ‘yan naisip ng Detective Quadrumvirate! They might be thinking about the same trick that Al described.”

“I’m only applying the principle of Occam’s razor,” Loki said. “So I’m not a hundred percent certain that I am right. But it’s the explanation that I’m inclined to believe in. Anyway, let’s focus on the search, shall we?”

The next ten minutes in the kitchen was nothing but silence . . . and rustling of plastics and clinking of utensils. Itinaas namin ang mga appliance—binuksan ang microwave oven at tiningnan ang loob ng rice cooker, etc.—pero wala kaming nakitang susi. Tiningnan na rin ang bawat sulok ng kusina ngunit ni anino ng susi, wala kaming naaninag.

“Mukhang wala talaga rito ang hinahanap natin, Loki dear.” Jamie wiped off the beads of sweat on her forehead.

“What if the culprit flushed it in the toilet?” tanong ko.

“He wouldn’t do that.” Loki shot down that possibility. “We can check the septic tank and search for the key no matter how dirty it might be.”

“What if he kept it in his body?” tanong ni Al na katatapos lang pulutin ang mga basurang nagkalat sa sahig.

“He wouldn’t do that as well,” Loki replied. “That’s too risky. A random body search can be done at any time and it is not in his advantage to hide the key in his possession. Maybe we should move on and check outside the mansion.”

“Where the writer Arturo Cruz smoked?” Al asked.

“That’s right.” Loki nodded.

We left the kitchen and walked down the hallway.

Naaninag namin ang Detective Triumvirate Plus One na nasa kabilang wing at tila tsine-check ang mga kwarto. They must have also started searching for clues in the suspects’ belongings.

“Kailangan din ba nating i-check ang kanilang mga room?” tanong ni Jamie.

“If we still have time,” sagot ni Loki.

“Or we can ask them later kung may nakita silang kahina-hinalang bagay sa kwarto ng mga suspek,” I added. “We can also share with them what we found in the kitchen and outside the mansion. This is what I’m saying kung magkakanya-kanya tayo. Magiging redundant na ang pag-search natin sa bawat sulok ng mansyon.”

“But a second look is worth a shot, isn’t it?” Loki insisted. “They might have missed something because they aren’t as thorough as us.”

“I thought you have agreed that you will cooperate with them?” Al reminded him. Loki may not be good with names, but his memory is sharp that he could have remembered the vow he made less than thirty minutes ago.

“Okay! Okay!” Parehong itinaas ni Loki ang kanyang mga kamay na tila sumusuko na. “We will share our intel with them. But! We may conduct a second search at the areas they looked into if we find their results lacking. Fair enough?”

“Fair,” Al and I agreed in chorus.

Nadaanan namin ang hall kung saan naabutan namin ang pagdating ng producer, writer, at director kanina. They also happened to be the three primary suspects with shaky alibis at the time of the crime. Their raincoats were soaking wet that they had to remove them and placed their umbrellas into the rack.

Nagawi ang tingin ko sa rack na may mga basang payong. A puddle of water formed under them. Somehow that reminded me of the pool of blood that formed near the victim’s head.

“May idea na ba tayo kung paano pinatay ng salarin si Damian?” tanong ko. Napahinto kaming apat sa gitna ng bulwagan. “We may have the key to the locked room mystery—well, pun intended—but we haven’t talked about how he was killed.”

“The other team thinks that the killer used a blunt weapon,” Al recalled, caressing his chin gently. “Hinampas niya sa likod ng ulo ang biktima at nagawang ipuslit ang murder weapon palabas ng kwarto.”

“He probably wrapped the weapon into a plastic,” Jamie said, twirling her braided hair. “Nang lumabas ako kanina sa kwarto dahil hindi ko makayanan ang madugong scene, napansin kong walang blots ng dugo ang sahig. Naturally, the murder weapon must be dripping blood. Kaya malamang nabalutan niya ng plastic o cloth para walang tumulong dugo.”

“May hindi lang ako ma-connect na isang factor,” Al’s tone went serious. Loki shot him with a stare. “Assuming that victim was hit by a blunt weapon forcefully from behind, there should be a splash of blood on the clothes of the killer, right?”

“Ah! Tama!” Jamie nodded, raising her right forefinger. “Pero wala ni isa sa mga suspek ang nagpalit ng damit. I can still remember what they were wearing when we saw them here. Walang nagbago . . . unless they had another clothing with the same brand.”

Loki smirked. The fact that he hadn’t said a thing since I opened the topic possibly meant he had another idea in mind.

“That is one explanation,” he said, holding the handles of the barn door and opening them. “What if I present another explanation to you?”

Umuulan pa sa labas ng mansyon at ramdam namin ang bugso ng hangin. Jamie tried to look for the light switch. When she flipped them, nothing happened. Inilabas na lang namin ang aming mga phone at ginawang flashlight.

“What if there’s no murder weapon at all?” Loki continued as he roamed the light from his phone on the floor. The mansion has a porch kaya hindi kami nabasa ng ulan. I doubt that Sir Arturo would smoke under the rain. Dito lang siya sa porch nanigarilyo.

“But that’s impossible!” I commented. “Kung walang weapon, paano napatay ng salarin ang biktima? Did the host slip and smack his head on the hard floor? I’m just repeating your joke back at the crime scene.”

Napaluhod si Loki at inilapit ang kanyang ulo sa sahig. “He smacked his head on the floor, but not intentionally. Someone else did.”

“Hey, Loki dear, marumi d’yan!” Jamie tried to pull him up. “Alam mo namang ayaw kong marumihan ka, ‘di ba? At saka ano bang hinahanap mo r’yan?”

“Traces of cigarette ash. It might lead us to where the writer was standing when he was here.” He dusted off his pants and turned to us. “Oh, you must be wondering, ‘But the victim would have made a fuss if someone’s bashing his head on the floor!’ Or something along those lines. Remember what you saw in the crime scene and try to make inferences.”

Jamie shut her eyes. “Except for the body and the pool of blood, there’s only a one liter water bottle. Wala ng ibang kakaiba.”

“The victim was drugged.” Al got what Loki was pointing out. “May naglagay ng pampatulog sa tubig na ininom niya. When the host fell unconscious, the killer started slamming his head against the floor. And that’s how he died. Hindi na kailangan ang murder weapon.”

“That makes sense.” I nodded. “So the mystery of the invisible murder weapon and the method of killing were already solved. Ang hinahanap na lang natin ngayon ay ang susi na magde-debunk sa locked room mystery.”

I wonder if the Detective Triumvirate Plus One also arrived at the same conclusion. We may have taken separate paths, but there’s only one destination at the end: the truth.

Nagpatuloy si Loki sa pagte-trace sa mga cigarette ash. Mukhang ordinaryong dumi lang ang mga abo kaya siguro kinailangan niya pang amuyin. We went farther into the porch until we reached the spot kung saan mas maraming cigarette ash.

“He stayed here for a while.” Loki pointed at a certain spot. “If he were the killer, where would he hide the key?”

Tumingin ako sa moist na lupa sa tapat ng kinatatayuan namin. “He can bury the key nearby. Hindi na siya masyadong lalayo dahil baka malakas ang ulan kaninang tumambay siya rito. Well, that’s assuming he is our killer.”

“Something’s off on that ground over there.” Itinuro ni Jamie ang parte ng lupa na limang hakbang mula sa amin. “It looks . . . disturbed. Na parang may humukay roon.”

Nagtinginan sina Loki at Al bago sila tumapak sa lupa. Their shoes got some mud as they walked toward the ground that Jamie pointed out.

“Huwag kayong masyadong magpabasa!” paalala ni Jamie sa kanila. “Baka magkasakit kayong dalawa!”

“Solving this case is more important than keeping ourselves healthy,” Loki said. Of course, for him, a murder case takes precedence over his well-being. “Isn’t that right, Alistair?”

“Let’s just say that both are equally important.” Al smiled.

“Kailangan n’yo ba ng pala?” tanong ko.

“No, thanks!” sagot ni Loki bago tumingin kay Al. “What are you waiting for? Start digging?”

“Me?” nagtatakang tanong ni Al.

“I can’t get my hands dirty.” Loki showed him his hands.

“And it’s okay for me get mine soiled?” Al asked. And after locking into stares with the man before him for three seconds, he took out his latex gloves. “Fine, ako na ang maghuhukay.”

Hindi na niya kinailangang laliman pa ang hukay dahil agad siyang may nakapa roon. He immediately pulled it out and brought it on the floor of the porch. Isang nakatuping manipis na raincoat na may bahid ng magkahalong putik at dugo. Al unfolded it and found what we were looking for.

“Teka, ‘yan ang suot na raincoat ni—” Jamie did not need to finish the sentence. She only looked at us and we gave her a nod.

“Looks like we know who staged the fake locked room mystery,” Loki remarked.

“Nand’yan lang pala kayo!”

Our heads turned to the direction where we came from. Nagpakita ang hapong-hapo na si Jeremy sa harapan namin. Mukhang inikot niya ang buong mansyon para mahanap lang kami.

“Ang akala ko, umuwi na kayong apat,” dagdag niya.

“What can we do for the member of the Quadrumvirate?” Loki asked, kneeling near the unearthed raincoat.

“It’s Triumvirate Plus On—ah, nevermind!” Jeremy knew when to give up. Kahit ilang beses niyang paalalahanan si Loki, the latter wouldn’t bother remembering what he said about their team name. “Na-solve na ni Gray ang locked room murder. Pinatatawag niya ang lahat sa may crime scene.”

“Oh, really?” pagulat na tanong ni Jamie. I can’t say if she’s genuinely surprised o umaarte lang siya na talagang nagulat. “Ang bilis n’yo naman! Kami naghahanap pa ng clues.”

But they did not know about the buried key here so how could they explain the locked room trick? Did they follow a false lead? Or the trick that Al explained earlier?

“Ano’ng meron d’yan?” Lumapit si Jeremy para makita ang nahukay naming raincoat. “Para saan ‘yan?”

“We were sidetracked by a treasure hunting quest,” Loki answered as he got to his feet.

Pagtingin ko sa raincoat, wala na ang susi na nakapatong doon. Loki must have hidden it when Jeremy appeared.

“Do you mind keeping that raincoat, Alistair?” Loki asked. “We might need it for the rain later.”

Al nodded and picked up the muddy coat with stains of blood.

“Shall we watch your friend’s deduction show?” Loki told Jeremy. “Oh, by the way, I need to have a word with him.”

#