DECODE

CHAPTER 12; Perfect Weapon [Part 1]

ASHER

I'm sitting inside our clubroom, waiting for the bell to ring telling us to go back to our rooms for our afternoon classes. I've done having my lunch and so far, nothing unusual or nasty happened. The most recent case happened was the case of Uno, Alvin Nuary. I remembered clearly how the case came to its end as I uncovered the truth behind his schemes;

"How did you say that he is thr culprit we are looking?" Inspector Mar asked as he looked at me with a surprised expression upon his face.

"Well, I knew it from the beginning. I knew that he's the one behind it for he confessed it to me earlier. He challenged me to solve the case he is going to execute. I'm just surprised on how he executed it." I answered. Still, all their faces reflect confusion and wonders about the case so I decided to cut the chase and reveal how did this devil pulled his trick.

"Well, this man here is the cunning one who did it all. He's the one who killed Marie. And he did it in a very simple way. He just needed a phone, a knife and a good acting skills." I said. I looked intently at the scoundrel lying on the hospital bed.

"First, he made the false bomb threat for us to be misled in his case. It's a decoy for his crime. He spread a fake news for us to be misdirected to his next scheme. When the bomb threat made its way to the students, it immediately spread causing havoc in the campus. And through that, he can easily proceed to his next plan since everyone is so focused on the bomb threat. No one can interfere him, not even us.

"The next thing he did was actually wait for someone to be his victim. As I have told you before I proceed to this explanation of the case, he challenged me. And he don't have any target. Just a random victim for his challenge. And when he saw Marie in their classroom, he grabbed the opportunity to execute his grievous plan. He killed her in such a way that it will look like the enemy had some hatred to the victim.

"And after committing that scene, this is where his acting skills enter the scene. He tried to act as a victim also. He even stabbed himself for that scheme. But, before he did that, he had a fight within himself first. He thought if he should continue his acting plan or not. But in the end, he decided to continue it, realising that there's no other choice left. And that's when he showed up to the crowd, bleeding and as if in badly need of help. That's how he executed his plan." I narrated. Everyone is listening to me. Inspector Mar spoke.

"What are your evidences to support the claim you have now?"

"I have a lot of supporting evidences to prove those things. First is the writings on the whiteboard. If you could all remember the bloodied writings upon the whiteboard, you will clearly notice the height of it from the floor. And the height seems matched to this guy's height. That's also why he need to act as a victim also. For him to cover the truth behind the blood upon his finger. And he did that thing by purposely stabbing his own self.

"He told us that when he was attacked, he lied beside the victim, acting dead, but his clothes says otherwise. If he's really lying beside the victim, which is a bloody place, then there should be some blood on the back side of his uniform earlier. But, I saw none. And we can confirm that fact when we look again at his uniform. The second thing that support my hypothesis is the trail of the blood that we happened to notice outside their classroom.

"Yes, the trail will be normally there if he is from their classroom, wounded, towards the ground where we saw him. But what piqued my interest is the place where the trail started. It started a few steps away from your room. It doesn't fit the fact that you're also a wounded victim since it must start from the classroom to the ground where we saw you. That suggested to me the idea that you wounded yourself on that place to act as a victim also.

"Finally, it's the fact that he is still alive. After what the killer have done to Marie, he should have done the same thing to him. He will not allow anyone to be alive in there, especially someone that has the potential to live despite of his attack and later tell the police about the crime he committed. But the fact that you only received that slight wound upon your tummy says that the killer did not intend to kill you. Or perhaps, it's the other way. You're the killer, tried to act as another victim of your own heinous crime." I said. Silence surrounded the whole place after my narration. It was broken by the voice of the cunning madman.

"Do you have any evidence to your claims? All those things are circumstantial. You don't have any definite proof on your claims! How dare you accuse me of something I didn't do but in fact a victim of!" he exclaimed. I smirked.

"Well, for that fact, I think, they're on the way now." I said. And I'm not failed by my expectations. Soon, a constable appeared in the scene. With him is the piece of evidence that will prove the guilt of this man.

"It is the thing you asked for us to look for, sir." the constable said. Even Inspector Mar was surprised by the thing he had in his hands.

"Thank you, officer. Just on time. This is the definite evidence you asked. I figured out that you will not allow simple mistakes in your crime. So I expected that there will be no fingerprints left on the murder weapon. Following that idea, then you must used a pair of gloves when you committed the crime. But, we do not found any gloves around the scene of the crime. So you must have hid it somewhere.

"And the most probable place you would have hid it, is in your bag. And I requested Inspector Mar to let his constables search for your bag. And voila, the gloves are here!" and sooner, he accepted his defeat and he was turned over to the police custody.

But the most intriguing thing on that case is when I had the chance to question him about his identity;

"Who really are you?" I asked. We're inside the interrogation room of the local precinct. Inspector Mar allowed me to question Alvin about things that bugs me. And it's also the request of Alvin to talk to me that made Inspector Mar changed his mind and allowed us to talk with each other in the interrogation room, alone.

"I told you that already. I'm one of the eyes of the Spider. In fact, I'm the number one." he said, without any care at all. He seemed not stressed out by the fact that he was caught already. It looks like he doesn't care at all. He still has that arrogance and confidence with him.

"I want to know more. You said, you are number one. What does that mean?"

"It explains itself. I'm the number one Eye."

"So you do have power since your one of those Eyes of the Spider? How many Eyes do the Spider have?" I asked again. He chuckled.

"Of course eight! He's a spider, remember? And a spider has eight eyes and legs. But yes, he just have Eyes. For the legs, it's just anyone who wants to do the job, or anyone he can play with."

"So what power do you have?"

"We don't have any power. We're just a part of his game. We really serve as eyes for him. And mind you, all of his eyes were scattered around the campus. People that allows him to move freely."

"Do you know all of them?"

"Honestly, no. No one knows each other. It's just the Spider who knew everyone of us. But we do not know each other. That's why I am really amazed in Spider's cunning power and mind. I can say, he's something. A very strange case. A very tough one." he said with a smirk. I asked another question.

"How did you became an Eye?" I asked. His smirk widened as he played with the handcuffs that hold his hands.

"Really, it's a very remarkable moment. The Spider helped me when I'm in need. And in exchange, I will work for him. That's why I'm a part of his organization. And I can say, he's really influencial. Based on his power, he's really someone to be scared of." he answered. My brows knitted upon that remark.

"You met him already?" I asked. He looked at me.

"Yes." he said. I was surprised and intrigued by his answer.

"Who is he?" I asked. He smirked.

"I can't tell you what does he look like. But I can tell you the color of his eyes. They're in different colors. One is gray, the other one is red. Those are the color of his eyes." he said. I was confused by what he just said.

"What do you mean by that? You didn't saw his face?"

"No. He's wearing a face mask. But I saw his eyes. And yes, they're magnificent." he said.

"You said he's influencial. How can you say so?" I asked. He smirked.

"Well, he seems controlling several things. I once heard him that ordered one of the eyes to do a favor to him around the school, and everything falls to his plan. Whatever he says, everyone follows. That's why I can say he's powerful. It seems that he's in control of everything."

"Answer me with full honesty since I won in our game. Why did you do that case? It seems very reckless. And, I'm sure the Spider won't let it go like that. I'm sure he'll execute things correctly and neatly. But your case seemed unplanned. And I'm wondering about that." I said. He smirked again as he looked at me.

"That's the thing why I want to talk to you. I want to exploit the Spider." he said. His answer made me wonder. What does he mean?

"I'm tired of being controlled by the Spider. It is tiresome to do the same things over and over again. I want something new. And I think, this will change the whole story. The Spider is never been defeated. And I think, it would be better if I will be the one who would cause his fall. I have nothing left in me, nothing to lose anymore. That's why I thought, is fun to destroy and mess the plans of the Spider."

I don't know if I will believe him. But, it seems that everything he told me are real. But we'll see what will happen next. For now, I'm sure the Spider is not happy about everything that is happening. And I'm sure he will attack again sooner or later. What's important now is that I knew some facts about the Spider now. And it's not a blind game for me.

I am walking towards our classroom when someone accidentally bumped me. Her things fell to the floor and I helped her to pick up her items.

"Sorry." she said and immediately left. It seems she was in a hurry for her class. I continued my walk on the hallway towards our classroom.

And eventually, I arrived at the classroom. Our teacher isn't there yet so my classmates are still having their fun. I saw Zay on one corner of the room with her friends. Silver is in another group of students. I walked to my seat and just continued the book I am reading.

Even though I'm reading the book, I can still hear their noises and can't really focus on the thing I'm reading. I can hear the laughs and shouts around. And I quit reading because of the unnecessary noises around that distract me from understanding what I read. So I just settled myself in watching them.

"Hey, let me have some! It seems your food is delicious." I heard the voice of Raymark. I turned to see him, asking for some foods from his friend Anthony.

"Fine. Just take some. I will just look for my phone." the latter said.

I turned away from them and looked on the corner where Zay and her friends are. Julee Reyes is among them. And I can't stop noticing her genuine laughs and smiles. I wonder how you could acquire such genuity from someone. I think it's the bond you had with that person that caused you to show your genuine side to them. The more comfortable you are with the people around you, the more genuine you become to them.

I turned to the other group where Silver is. They're also talking about stuffs and they seems to have fun around each other. I just sighed and decided to sleep. I wonder how can they endure talking about things that are unnecessary and uninteresting.

I decided to sleep and just let them talk with each other. I rested my head on my arms at my armrests and closed my eyes. Not a minute passed when I heard strange noises around.

"A-Ack! Ack!" I raised my head upon hearing that choking noise. I also heard chairs being moved violently.

"Hey, bro! What is happening?! Bro!" I heard the panicked voice of Anthony. I turned and saw a very disturbing scene.

"Ack! Ackk!" my eyes widened upon seeing Raymark, choking upon the floor.

"Hey, help! Help us! Call for help!" we immediately went to Raymark and tried to help him. We tried to let him drink water but it doesn't help.

"What is happening?!" Zay asked in panic. I shook my head.

"I have no idea."

"Call the faculty! Let us bring him to the clinic!" shouted by Ariel, our class president.

"Raymark! Raymark, wake up, Raymark! We will help you. Let's go!" Anthony tried to wake Raymark up as we try to carry him out of the room. But the latter do not respond anymore.

"What the–?! Raymark, wake up!" Ariel tried to slap Raymark, but still no response. Everything is chaos. Everyone is at a loss as to what to do to help oyr classmate. Everyone is panicking to aid him.

I tried to see if Raymark is still alive. I checked his pulse. I froze when I found no pulse on him. No breathing also.

"What? Is he still alive?" Ariel asked. I just shook my head in response.

What happened to him?

×××××

The police arrived at the crime scene while everyone were asked to wait outside as the investigation is ongoing. The faculty staffs were also around, in wonder of what happened to another student in their campus. All of us were in shock about the sudden death of our classmate.

"He's Raymark Andrade. He's our classmate. And the last time we saw him was earlier before his death. He seems in good health and having fun with his friends earlier. Until the time he seemed to be choked and died in front of us." I told Inspector Mar as we look at the body in front of us. As usual, we're allowed to enter the crime scene and also served as witnesses to the incident.

"He was choked?" the inspector asked. I nodded.

"Yes. He's pounding his chest earlier before he died. And he can't speak properly also as if something's blocking his throat. That's why I said he seemed to be choked by something. Probably by the food he ate." I said.

"Do you know the food he ate earlier?"

"I don't know. But I know someone who can answer that question."

After a while, the friend of the deceased student, Anthony Andover arrived. He was pale and seems really unnerved by the sudden death of his friends. He seems lifeless in front of us.

"It seems he's really shaken by the sudden death of his friend. He is not in his usual self." Zay whispered to me. I agree on her on that thing. It really seems that way based on the look of the man in front of us.

"Everyone will be out of his usual self when this kind of thing happened, especially to a friend of yours. It's really a very sudden death." Silver added. Inspector Mar started the questioning with Anthony.

"Are you the friend of the victim? Can you tell us what happened before the accident?" the inspector asked. Anthony was slow to answer his questions. And he answered it in real grief.

"Yes, I am his friend. He is my best friend. He is very dear to me. I have nothing to say anymore since they already told you everything you need to know. I will just tell what happened. He ate my food with me and after a while, he choked. We tried to help him but it fell in vain. Until he died in front of us." he said, his voice are cracking, and his eyes were filled with tears. I can see the shock and the pain on his expression.

"What is the food he ate?" Inspector Mar asked.

"He ate my food. Spaghetti. Mama cooked it for me to bring here. And that's his favorite food so normally he would ask me for some. I never thought he'll die with that food. If I know it will kill him, then I should have left the food in our house or did not give him any. It is my fault. I killed him." Anthony said. I can see pain in his eyes. Regret is evident in him. And how I pity him because of that.

"It is not your fault. Everything is a shock, and I'm  sure you don't want what happened to him. It is not your fault. There were just things that will happen that we do not expect, and will never expect to happen. Do not blame yourself." Zay said to Anthony. The lad just cry in front of us. Our classmates consoled him.

"Did you found any poison in the victim?" Inspector Mar whispered to me. I shook my head.

"No. I smell no poison. No cyanide can be detected to the victim. He also did not show any sign of cyanide poisoning. I think, he really died in accident. He was really choked."

"If that's the case, then, it will be rule out as an accident. It seems nothing is unusual in the food they ate. And there wasn't any traces of any poison in the victim. So, everything is settled. It's just a mere accident." Inspector Mar said. No one spoke. No one can argue that fact. We're just sad on the way he lost his life.

"It is settled. It seems there is no foul play in this incident. Officers, take his body already. Sir, it seems nothing strange really happened here. It is a pure accident that he died choking. It is pitiful and shocking, really. But we can't do anything about life. It is how it is. So unpredictable. We are sorry about the lost of his life." Inspector Mar reported to the head of the school. Zay, Silver and I decided to leave the crime scene already. We're not needed in there anymore.

"I cannot help but be sad about what happened to Raymark. It's so sudden." Zay remarked as we arrived in our clubroom.

"Yes, I agree. It is really a shock. I never thought that thing can actually happen in real life. I do not want to die in that way." Silver added. I just sat in there with them as I remember the last time I saw Raymark. I never thought that thing will happen to him. It's so sudden.

As the two of them talk about what happened to Raymark, I am still thinking about it, too. I don't know but I can't remove it in my mind. It keeps on nagging me. But why? Is there something off in it? But what could it be? Maybe I'm just overthinking.

I tried to remove the thought in my head and tried to collect myself. It's just a grievous and sudden accident. We also inspect the scene and nothing is off about it. I'm just overthinking.

"Are you coming with us? We sre going to eat in the cafeteria." I was snapped back to reality when I heard Zay asked me. I immediately shook my head to them as an answer.

"Okay. We will just eat in the cafeteria." she said. I nodded.

"I will eat slowly this time. I do not want to choke and fail to drink water. I do not want to follow Raymark so soon." Silver said as they go out. Zay hushed him in his bad jokes. But then something popped inside my head. That's it! That's the thing that bothers me!

The time we tried to give Raymark water earlier. I know, some water entered him, but he's not saved by it. We succeeded to give him water, but it did not helped him. And, that's off! That doesn't fit the first conclusion of death! He should not die being choked since we had him to have water!

Then if that's the case, what really happened to him? What happened to Raymark earlier? Was it really triggered by the food? And if it was, then what's inside that food? I need to go back to our classroom. I'm sure there must be something that will help me understand more about this case.

I immediately stood up and went back to our classroom. There were few people there since the place is now restricted for the students. I asked an officer to let me in and since they know me, they let me in. I immediately went towards the area where the body was located earlier. The crime scene was cleaned already. The body was not there anymore, as well as the food the victim is eating earlier.

But something caught my attention. Something that is lying on the floor, at the place where the body was earlier. It seems a folded paper. I carefully picked it up with a towel upon my hands to cover my fingerprints to preserve this potential evidence.

I unfolded the paper, and found myself looking upon a periodic table. The unusual thing about this one is that some shapes were written upon it. They're all scattered in different elements. In Argon, there's the pentagon. Rectangle was written in Selenium. Square was written in Nitrogen and triangle on Iodine. Circle was on the Carbon.

My brows knitted upon seeing them. What are they? Do they mean something?

I felt a vibration from my pocket. I took out and found a text message from an unknown number.

Those are my favorite elements. And I can say, they are very lethal too. I can say, it's the perfect weapon. Do you agree with me?

-Spider.

Chill flowed in my system as I saw the message. The Spider put this in here? So, that means he's connected to what happened to Raymark earlier! And, he's on the loose again! And he's on his game again!

But before that, I need to decipher what does he want to tell in this periodic table? Lethal? And can be a perfect weapon?

Argon...Iodine...Selenium...Carbon...Nitrogen...

What does he want to tell?! I tried to analyse the clues he left. I tried to turn over the clues he gave me and try to figure out and make something that make sense in accordance to his text message. Until something hit me that let the chills flow again in my nerves. Could he mean...

Ar...Se...N...I...C...

Arsenic?!