Chapter 6: Proving the Innocent (part 2)
BC SAYS:
Project Indigo is also published on Wattpad.
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First (and probably the last) out-of-the-school case na isosolve ng Team Chaos!
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Chapter Three
Proving the Innocent
Part Two
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"VICTIM NAME is Eleana Montealegre. Board Director. Reports says that she was strangled by the suspect's hands and shown signs of struggle. The glass broke at gamit ang isang nabasag na salamin, it was used to stab Eleana seven times near the heart." Saad ng police.
"The IT manager found her at the restroom at agad na tinawagan ang police," he continued, "I am allowing you to enter and participate in solving the case because of Daeril Ocampo and Monday Cortez. Daeril is the son of the last police chief at si Monday naman ay may consent mula sa step-father niyang police captain."
Ngumiwi ako. Our step-father really favors Monday pero mukhang kahit si Monday ay nandidiri rito. "Thank you, officer." Sabi ko.
Walang umimik sa amin dahil inaanalyze namin ang buong ladies restroom.
Until Chaos broke it. "What team does your father work?"
Si Wednesday ang sumagot. "He's the Managing Director. Doesn't work on any teams."
"Eleana's position is higher than your father's. She could simply fire your dad or lower his salary. What if that is the reason why Eleana was murdered?"
"That's the reason why dad would kill her?" Tanong ni Wednesday na ngayon ay seryoso na.
"Not your dad. What if Eleana was about to fire someone from the company but that someone tried to kill her to get away with it?" Chaos deduced.
"Then we should ask the other members of the board." Daeril suggested.
"Too obvious and not helpful. Thanks, anyway." Chaos said in a monotone voice.
I rolled my eyes. Kailan ba titigil sa pag-aaway ang dalawang 'to?
Sinamahan kami ng dalawang police officers papuntang office ng board members. Pagbukas ng pinto naroon ang mga board members na nakaupo at halata ang pagkabahala sa mga mukha nila.
"Who among here killed Eleana Montealegre?" Biglaan at deretsahang tanong ni Chaos na ikinagulat ng marami.
"Wala sa amin ang pumatay kay Eleana. Mabait na direktor si Eleana at maaalahanin. Lahat kami ay nasa meeting noon nang bigla siyang umalis at nagsabi na magrerestroom siya." Sabi ng isang lalakeng halos nasa thirty ang edad.
Sumabad ang isang babae, "lumabas lang kami noong biglang may sumigaw at sinabi na patay na si Eleana."
"Do you know the list of names that Eleana was going to fire?" Tanong ni Monday.
"We only know three. Sila ang napagkasunduan namin na paalisin sa posisyon." A man answered then continued, "it was Allan Rodriguez, the financial manager, Elliott Cortez, the CEO at si Jessica Cruz, the IT manager.
"Do you have cctvs near the restroom?" Monday asked.
"Yes, we have at pinanood na namin yun. The video was cut off. Noong 10 ng umaga ay maayos pa pero pagkita namin sa cctv video, naging 12 na ng hapon."
"Hm, who manages the cctvs?" Si Daeril naman ang nagtanong.
"Ah, si Evan. Siya ang duty sa pagmomonitor ng mga cctv pagdating ng 7 am - 12 pm."
"Its not possible that this Evan killed Eleana since he was at the cctv monitoring room when the murder happened but it is possible that he may be working with someone. The suspect might have paid him to tamper the cctv." I deduced.
Tumango-tango si Chaos. "But still, we have to interview this Evan."
"Monday and Daeril, gather evidences as much as you can from the crime scene while Friday, Wednesday and I, ask questions." Chaos ordered.
~~
Pagkarating namin sa monitoring room, nandoon si Evan na nakaupo na malalim ang iniisip. "So, do you work for someone?" Tanong ni Chaos
"No." Agad na sagot nito.
"During your duty, the cctv video was tampered exactly during the time of the murder. Nang bumalik sa dati ang oras ng cctv, the police were already there at patay na si Eleana. How do you explain that?" Chaos asked coldly.
"I went to the bathroom at pagbalik ko, nakita ko ang mga police na nagtatakbuhan papunta sa office ng mga board members. I got curious kaya tinignan ko ang nangyari. Noong bumalik ako rito sa monitoring room, bukas ang pintuan kahit sinara ko naman yun noong lumabas ako." Paliwanag nito.
I looked around. "Do you have cctvs installed in this monitoring room?"
Umiling si Evan.
Wednesday squinted her eyes. "You have cctvs all over the company pero sa sariling cctv monitoring room, wala?"
Chaos tapped his chin. "Are you telling the truth?" He asked.
Tumango si Evan at nireplay ang cctv video and he was right. He was there at the video na nagmamasid sa nangyayari habang nagkakagulo ang mga empleyado.
Wednesday asked. "Sino ang duty in the afternoon sa pagmonitor ng cctv?"
"Si Trev. Nakakapagtaka nga kasi hindi siya pumasok ngayon pero sabi sa log sheet, nandito na siya noong 9 am."
Chaos smiled inwardly. "Then we have our suspect number one."
"Where is this Trev?" Tanong ko.
"Hindi ko alam eh. Hindi ko pa siya nakikita ngayong araw."
Tumango ako at napaigtad nang bumukas ang pinto. Daeril and Monday entered with a two ziplocks on their hands.
"We found evidence." Monday grinned.
"What evidence?" Tanong ko.
"This one," tinaas ni Monday ang ziplock na dala, "is a black dreamcatcher."
"That's Trev's." Biglang sabi ni Evan.
"Saan niyo nakita yan?" Tanong ni Wednesday.
"We found this featherless dream catcher on the elevator and we followed the small feathers na mukhang nalagas sa dream catcher. It lead us here, in the cctv monitoring room."
Tinaas naman ni Daeril ang isang zip lock na hawak, "this is a work badge and it belongs to Elliott Cortez," humarap ito sa akin at kay Wednesday at si Monday naman ay nakatungo lang, "your father."
Daeril continued, "we found this on the ladies restroom below the sink."
Bumagsak ang balikat ko. So it was really dad. He really killed Eleana.
"Wait.." biglang sabi ni Chaos.
Lahat ay napatingin sa kaniya. "That badge is a fake." He said.
"Why?" Tanong ni Wednesday.
"Look very closely. May watermark sa ibaba. You can't see it at first glance but when you stare at it carefully, you could see the small and blurry watermark." He explained.
Tinignan namin ang work badge at oo nga, sa ilalim ay may watermark pa ng site na ginamit para makagawa ng fake work badge.
"We still have a suspect to interview. We have Trev and we won't stop until we prove that Mr. Elliott Cortez is innocent." Chaos said.
"We need to know who created that badge to frame Mr. Cortez."
"Uy, Trev!"
Napalingon kami sa pinto nang bumukas iyon at sumigaw si Evan.
"So you're Trev?" Tanong ni Daeril.
"The one and only." Sagot ni Trev nang nakangisi.
"Your duty is in the afternoon pero bakit ka pumunta rito ng 9 nang umaga?" Monday asked.
Trev sighed. "I came here early for my employee compensation. I am leaving this company and my position."
"You came back to this monitoring room. Why?" Tanong ko.
"I want to see the place where I worked for five years." Trev shrugged.
Chaos breathed heavily. Alam kong nabobored yan at hindi nakikinig.
"Then who could've possibly tampered the cctv videos?" Tanong ni Chaos sa sarili.
"Si Ma'am Jessica po ang IT manager ng kumpanya. Magaling siya pagdating sa computer at may technical skills. Sakaniya inaasa ang paggawa ng mga bagong badges kung sakaling nasira ang original." Sagot ni Trev.
I smiled. We are down to one last suspect.
Jessica, the IT manager could have possibly created that fake work badge to frame my father and hack the company's cctv footages to edit and tamper the videos. Bakit hindi ko naisip yun kanina?
"Where is her office?" Tanong ko.
"Third floor."
~~~
We are so close to proving my father's innocence. Monday called the police to escort them inside Jessica's office.
"Jessica." Tawag ni Chaos sa dalaga.
Tumingin sa amin si Jessica. "Anong maipaglilingkod ko sainyo?"
"We know you're guilty." Sagot ni Daeril.
"Guilty of what?" Naguguluhang tanong ni Jessica.
"The murder of Eleana Montealegre." Chaos and Daeril answered in unison na ikinangiwi naman ng dalawa.
"Hindi ko siya pinatay! In fact, ako pa nga ang unang nakakita sa katawan niya and Elliott Cortez was there outside the restroom."
Chaos took a step forward. "Humor me then. Eleana wanted to fire you from your position for being an irresponsible and careless IT manager. When you found out that she wanted to fire you, you created the what you think is the most perfect plan. You created a fake work badge to frame Elliott Cortez. Then you used your skill when it comes to techinals and computers to hack into the company's cctv to tamper the footages. You strangled Eleana using your hands and when the glass shattered, you used one broken piece of glass and stabbed her seven times. Why would you frame Elliott Cortez, huh?"
Namumula sa galit ang buong mukha ni Jessica. Nang hindi sumagot, binalingan ng tingin ni Chaos ang mga police. "Posasan niyo na siya—"
"I framed him to get him out of the position. I had a deal with Eleana that when Elliott is removed from the position, ako ang papalit pero nalaman ko na isa ako sa aalisan niya ng trabaho. I was fuming mad so tried to kill her." Jessica confessed. She was sobbing until the police cuffed her and walked her out of the room.
"We need to get Ms. Jessica's statement first before we bail Mr. Elliott Cortez out. Thank you for solving the case." Saad ng police na itinango lang namin.
"Does this mean, dad is free of charge?" Tanong ni Wednesday. Tumango ang police. Naunang nagsilabasan sina Daeril at an mga kapatid ko. Naiwan kami ni Chaos sa loob ng office.
"Thank you, for helping me out." Pasalamat ko.
Nakapamulsang humarap sa akin si Chaos. "That's nothing. This case is too easy to solve so no thank you needed."
I smiled. "But still..you helped and that's what matters."
Tumango lang si Chaos hanggang sa may police na pumasok at inabutan kami ng papel. "May nagpapabigay. Hindi ko kilala kung sino eh. Ibigay ko raw kay Chaos Salazar." Saad nito at umalis na.
Binuksan ni Chaos ang papel and words were stated:
MISERY STARTS NOW
-The Beast
~~
BC SAYS:
Reminder lang po: Daeril, Monday and Wednesday are not officially part of team Chaos. Taray diba? Hahaha wait for more chapters and you'll meet them soon!
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