“Anong tungkol sa pagiging witness ko?” she brought up the thing we had avoided discussing earlier. I looked at her closely before I started speaking.
“On the night my father and Ronaldo died, I found out you were there before it happened. I don’t know why you had to visit Ronaldo at that hour… Could it be that you already knew about—?” I wasn’t able to finish my question when she nodded, as if she was certain about what I was about to say.
“The truth is, I went there to talk to him and ask for an explanation about what he did to my mother. That’s where I learned everything…”
“That your real father is Ronaldo,” I finished for her. She nodded slowly.
“What does L have to do with this?”
“That same night, L also came. He’s the man you met wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and black pants. Do you remember his face?”
Her eyes narrowed, as if she was forcing herself to recall the face of the man she had seen before.
“He has a triangle-shaped face. A strong jawline… Not very thick eyebrows… He has a pair of dark brown irises. His nose is pointed. His lips aren’t that red…” she described L in broken fragments. She glanced at me and then continued walking. I fell into thought, trying to piece together L’s face in my mind.
I just followed her until we reached the escalator going down. “Are we going home?”
She didn’t answer. She seemed busy staring at the book she was holding.
“Aren’t you hungry? If you want, let’s eat first. My treat.” I offered again. She turned to me and smiled. There was something strange about that smile… I don’t know if it’s just me, but I felt uneasy. It was like something bad was going to happen, something I wouldn’t like.
“Aedrian… Are you a detective?” she asked again, but this time her tone was different. I thought about it… what did she even mean by that question?
“I know you’ll say no, but yes—you are. I saw how solving cases made you happy, so I don’t want to be a hindrance. I saw how you love unveiling mysteries… Whoever tells you to stop, just don’t. Find answers to your questions… Find L.”
The lights suddenly went out. Shouts filled the entire mall because of the blackout. I couldn’t see anyone around—not even my seatmate.
“Nica? Nica? Where are you?” I called, but no one answered. Fear started rising in my chest… where was she?
I tried to look for her, but I could no longer feel her presence. In the darkness, I had no idea where to go… no idea where to search.
All I saw when the lights came back on was a woman soaked in blood, lying lifeless at my feet.
“NICAAAAAAA!!!!!”
The loud sirens of ambulances and patrol cars echoed through the mall. People panicked because police had entered the area.
“Is there a drug addict here? Oh no! Maybe this is a drug deal meeting spot! OMG! Tokhang is real!”
“Idiot! What tokhang? Someone died! She jumped!”
Police immediately cordoned off the crime scene where the lifeless woman lay in a pool of her own blood. I felt relieved when I realized Nica was not the dead woman on the floor.
Speaking of Nica…
Where are you? Where did she go? Why didn’t she say she was going home?
“Please! Don’t block the investigation! You’re causing chaos!” a police officer shouted while pushing back the crowd.
The constant camera flashes from the forensic team made it even more overwhelming. Add to that the noise of people whispering and asking questions. I really wasn’t in the mood to solve another case right now. Especially since I couldn’t get Nica out of my mind. What if something happened to her like in Marco’s case? What if she’s chasing the culprit right now? I tried to calm myself and stop thinking negatively. I’ll call her. Yes, that’s right. That’s the best thing I can do.
I was about to take out my phone when someone spoke…
“Aedrian! You’re here? Again?” Leo asked in disbelief, as if we had met again at the worst possible time. His expression also showed annoyance, probably thinking he could finally rest after the earlier case. Apparently not.
“Unfortunately.”
“Why are you at every crime scene? I’m starting to get suspicious of you.” I couldn’t tell if he was joking, but I also thought about it. Why was I always here? Did this case also involve L again?
“Wait, what are you doing here? Don’t tell me you skipped class and went wandering around?”
I scratched my neck.
“I was with Nica…”
“Ahh… Have you talked to her?”
“Yeah, she said she was there and visited Mr. Ronaldo to ask for explanations about her mother’s death, and that’s also where she found out that her real father was the one who killed her mother. That night, she also saw L. She saw his face.”
“Really? Then she could describe him to us so we can make a sketch and get a picture of the real serial killer. I’ll check the list of previous criminals to see if there’s someone similar.”
“Yes, I can vividly imagine the murderer’s face based on her descriptions earlier. My seatmate is a big help.”
“What do you mean vividly?”
I smiled. “L has a triangle-shaped face and a strong jawline. Not very thick eyebrows. He has a pair of dark brown irises. He—” I stopped mid-sentence when something suddenly hit me.
“Is there a problem, Aedrian?” Leo asked.
“How can someone vividly describe another person’s face when it was covered?” I closed my eyes, trying to stop the memories from coming back—especially the warning that I should not trust my seatmate.
“I’ll be the next one to die, but before that happens, I’ll tell you what I know. Don’t trust the people around you… especially Nica.”
“I think I need to talk to Nica right now.”