DECODE

CHAPTER 7; Phantom of the Drama [Resolution]

ASHER

The play started and the theater club started doing their best to act in front of several students who were watching the play. The play went smoothly and everyone was attached to the flow of the story.

The main protagonist was portrayed by someone and was named Mark, and the supporting actress was Irene who portrays Faith. The main antagonist was portrayed by someone dressed in a black overall and a black mask. He was named Zero.

The story went on and the crowd was screaming as the scenes intensify. Until Mark, the main protagonist enter the scene on his own, seeking and searching for Zero.

"I know you're here with me Zero! Come out and let's end this!" the actor portraying as Mark yelled in front of all of us. He's walking slowly on the stage. Not too long, the one portraying Zero entered the stage. He's slowly pacing toward Mark. The crowd became wild again as the scene intensifies.

Then, in a swift move, Zero stabbed Mark. The crowd screamed upon seeing the main protagonist being stabbed. Mark screamed in agony, a very realistic one and then fell down the stage, face first on the floor with a loud thud. Zero immediately exited the scene with bloodied clothes and knife. Mark was left alone on the stage.

Not too long, Irene entered the scene. And she found Mark lying there. She went near, and then she screamed. Also a realistic one and she fell down. The look of horror and terror is evident upon her face.

"H-Help! Somebody help! H-He really was stabbed! Help!" Irene screamed.

What?! What does she mean?!

"Help please! He's really bleeding! Please help him!" Irene screamed. All of us were shocked by this sudden turn of events.

After her scream, the students started to make noises, buzzing and whispering to each other. I immediately stood up and run towards the stage. I went towards the body on the stage. I saw the wound and it was bleeding and too deep. Goodness! Who did this?!

I immediately feel his pulse. And I found nothing. No pulse. Zay and Silver went beside me.

"He has no pulse already. He's not breathing anymore. He's dead." I told them as I look upon the man before us. Who did this to you? And why?

"What happened?!" I heard someone shouted down the stage. I saw Luke Troy, the director of this play beside of the stage, looking at us with anger. He seemed sweating as he rush towards us.

"Your actor was stabbed. He's dead. In the middle of your play." I told him. I saw the shock of terror transmitted to him upon hearing the news. He immediately went to his actor and look for himself about the situation.

"N-No. No way!" he said, scared and pale as white as he look upon his deceased actor. He's sweating also, shaking and heaving as he glance at the body on the floor.

"I told you. You did not agreed with me to supervise your group. Now it is in front of you already." I told him as I glared at him.

"I don't know! Who knows what you are telling is true. No one ever wanted this thing to happen. I'm sorry, okay?" he shouted. He's really shocked upon this turn of events as the cool Luke that I met just earlier wasn't in here right now.

"We can do nothing now. The damage has done already. We just need to solve this case for him." I told them. I nodded at Zay and Silver and started to do our duty. Around us were the students trying to see the body of the victim. I asked Zay to call the faculty as Silver and I started to examine the body.

"The wound is deep. And it's parallel to the kidney." I told Silver. He took a photo of the area where the wound is.

"It is very fatal wound. No doubt he died instantly." I nodded at his remark.

"Yes. If someone was stabbed just like this, he might have survived but for just a short period of time or like this, died instantly. I wonder who the culprit is?"

"Maybe, the culprit is still here with us. No one ever left the hall since the play started." Silver said. My eyes darted towards the door.

"Yes. You're right. The door wasn't opened again since the play started. If that is so, then whoever did this is still here with us." I said.

"What about the outfit of the murderer? We can use that to track our man." Silver said.

"Yes, of course. But I doubt if we can find someone with the same outfit again, especially if that person committed something like a mur...der." my words were trailed off upon seeing the next unexpected scene in front of me.

"What the–?! Let go of me! What are your problems?!" a man is yelling as some students dragged him and pushed him towards us.

"What's your problem?! Why did you–oh goodness!" the man blurted out upon seeing the body lying down the stage floor. He put his right hand over his mouth upon seeing the body. But what caught my attention is his attire. He's in a black overall and on top of his head is a mask. And what made it more intriguing is that there were bloods splattered on his costume.

"I-Isn't that Ian?" the man murmured while looking at all of us. No one answered him.

"Who are you?" I asked. The man looked at me and answered.

"John. John Libra. I'm a part of this theater club and also an actor of this play. I'm portraying Zero."

×××

I was stunned as I look upon the people on the stage with us. All the crew of the theatre club were here with us. They all look down as the reality sunk in their heads that someone from their crew died in the middle of their play.

I eyed each of them, trying to assess each of them. I only recognize two people from them. Luke and Irene were the only people I know that I've talked with. Next on them is the most suspicious one named John Libra. He's the one who portrays Zero. And he's also wearing the same attire the culprit wears the time the murder was committed. In addition to that, his outfit now was splattered by blood. That's the most intriguing part of all.

"We already let the audiences left the hall. So, what now?" Silver told me as he stood next to me. Zay stood on my other side.

"We will question these people one by one until the police arrives. We will narrow down the possible suspects in this case." I told them. They both nodded.

Zay took the names of the people here with us. Silver and I went to the middle row of the hall to start the interrogation.

After a few moments, Zay went to us and handed us the list of the names of the people with us here. I look upon the list and read the names listed on it;

Lydia Magadia

Summer Buenaventura

Kurt Christian Lim

Meg Santos

Al Rahab

Alyson Dy

Venus Maurise

Irene Lacrila

Kingsley Luzev

Orion Curtis

Andrei Zemir

Lindon Clint Chavez

Marianne Victor

Dense Martinez

John Libra

Nicole Zaragosa

Cee Monte

Net Mathilde

Luke Troy

"Base on their director, there were twenty people in their crew for this play. Listed their were just nineteen. The twentieth person is the murdered man, Ian Santiago." Zay told me. I nodded at her.

"Let's start this interrogation before the police arrive. We must–" before I could finish my sentence, the door of the hall bursted open and several constables flooded inside. Last to enter is Inspector Mar.

"Don't move! Everyone on the side! Constables, inspect the area!" the inspector's voice boomed inside the hall as the constables started to do their jobs. We stood up and went to meet the inspector.

"Asher! You're here! And with your club, huh? Found anything?" the inspector asked. I shook my head.

"We found nothing. Even the murder weapon is nowhere to be found. I wonder where it is right now. But, I am sure, it was hidden by the murderer since he left the crime scene holding the knife. Maybe, the murder weapon is still with him until now." I told him.

"You witnessed the murder?"

"Not only us, but all the students watching the play. The murder was committed in the midst of the play and the killer escaped under our noses. But I know, the killer is still with us, here, in this very hall."

"That guy? He's quiet suspicious. Why is his clothes full of blood? Are those real blood?"

"We don't know. But, he's a part of the play." I looked to Zay and she stated the details about the guy based on her notes.

"His name is John Libra. He portrays Zero on the play. And, he's the person who is the most likely behind the identity of the person who stabbed Ian Santiago in front of everyone. As of the moment." she said.

"There's only one deep wound on the victim. And it's the only cause of death of the victim." I added.

"If that is the case, we need to talk with this guy intensively. Call for him. He is the first one we will interrogate." the inspector said as he ordered his contable to call for John. Silver nudged my side.

"I think, that John Libra isn't our man." he whispered to me. I smirked.

"Of course he's not our man. That guy is right-handed while the killer stabbed Ian with his left hand." I told him.

"Oh, yes. But also, look at his shoes. No blood at all. Remember the time Zero stabbed Ian on the stage earlier, the blood splattered everywhere. And I'm sure, Zero's shoes might as well have blood on it. But his shoes don't have." Silver added. I looked at the shoes of John as he was escorted by the constable towards us. And like what Silver had told me, it has no blood.

"Then, this guy is crossed out already. If that's the case, our real man framed someone, but failed to do so. He must be a left-handed too. But, nonetheless, I think we still need to listen to what this man has to say. Who knows, his words could give some more light to this mystery." I told him. John Libra is now in front of us.

"Let's go to the back row. Let's talk things over there." Inspector Mar said and lead the way to the back row. We followed behind them.

The interrogation of John Libra started soon upon all of us took our own seats. I told Zay to jot down notes while Silver and I listen closely to John Libra's testimony.

"I-I'm John Libra. One of the actors of the club. I'm the antagonist on the play. I portray Zero. And this is my costume. This isn't real blood, it's just artificial bloods for the play. I don't know what happen since so I'm changing costume earlier. I have double roles in this play. You know, I also act as one of the students there so I need to change costume every now and then."

"You also act as one of the students there? What do you mean by that?" Inspector Mar asked. John Libra elaborated.

"The story is about a group of students, experiencing terror happening on their class. And it was made by someone from there class also. Zero is the codename of the student who kill his fellow classmates. In other words, I'm the student who kills. That is why I needed to change costumes to portray both of my characters. I'm sure you saw me in some parts of the play." he said and looked at us. I nodded.

"Yes. I remember you in some parts of the play. Well, I already knew you were the killer upon seeing you for the second time as the student since your uniform is a bit messy than the others. And also, you were sweating, meaning you're doing some more job than the other student portrayers. But, enough of that. Continue." I said. I heard Silver and Zay muttered something but didn't heard it clearly. I just ignored them.

"So, you are switching costume when the incident happened?" Inspector Mar asked John. The latter nodded.

"Yes. I'm changing costumes that time. And that time also, my costume is not with me since it was handed to someone who said would apply fake blood on it. And I heard the scream of Irene before I heard a knock from the outside of the dressing room. I opened it and saw the black overall there, thrusted inside a paperbag, already have these artificial blood on it. So I hastily put it on. But when I came out, they started dragging me here."

"You are not aware of what happened onstage?" John nodded.

"Is there anyone who can verify and support your alibi?" the inspector asked. John shooked his head.

"Let us say, your testimony is true, then there's a big question about your clothes at this moment." I said. They all diverted their gazes to me.

"What is it?" the inspector asked. I explained to them the part that I noticed.

"You told us that all this time, you're just inside the dressing room. Where did you put that black overall you're wearing right now?" I said. He gazed to me.

"About that, I'm certain that this costume is not in the dressing room that time. I thought they are already applying the artificial bloods on it. Then someone knocked on the dressing room and found this in front of the dressing room."

"Do you have any idea who might put that costume there?" Zay asked this time. John shooked his head.

"Sorry, but no. I didn't saw the person who put this overall costume there."

"Then, whoever that person is, might be the one who used that black overall to commit the crime." Silver said.

"If so, then those bloods might not be artificial bloods, but real bloods from our victim, Ian." Zay concluded. I smirked at those analysis of them. They already spoke up what's inside my mind.

"If that is so, then we can infer that whoever committed the crime knows all about the play, that he managed to sneak in between the scenes and choose the scene that is most preferable for him to commit the crime, as well as knowledgable even in the costume and props area.." the inspector added.

"Most probably. And there's only few people who knows the story very well. And among those other people on the stage, we can narrow down our suspects to very few people." I said.

"And they are...?" the inspector said, waiting for me to continue.

"Scriptwriter." Zay said.

"The main characters." Silver added.

"The director." I finished. We all look at the people on the stage. Now, we're getting somewhere in our investigation. We must speak to those people mentioned to further proceed in this investigation.

"Great. Call them one by one, and we'll question them individually." inspector said and ordered a constable to call for the scripwriter. After a few moments, the constable came back with a single lady beside him. She's pale and seemed nervous as she approached us.

"Are you the scriptwriter of this drama?" the inspector asked. The girl answered in a low and quivering voice.

"Y-Yes. I-I am the scriptwriter of this play. W-Why?"

"As a matter of fact, we already come up on some ideas and theories about this case. Now, we ended up in one theory that is aligned to the testimony of John Libra. And that is the murderer committed the crime by using his great knowledge about the flow of the story, interfering and entering the scene just to commit the crime. And, you're one of those people who likely to commit the crime based on that analysis." I intervened. I saw how the few colors left upon her face drained.

"M-Me. I-I swear, I have nothing to do with it." she said with slight panic evident upon her face.

"Let's see about that. Let us hear your alibi."

"Tell us your name, what is your part on this play and where are you at the time of the murder." the inspector told her. We all listened to her alibi. All of our attention was on her now.

"I-I am Summer Buenaventura,the s scriptwriter of this play. And, it's true I'm very familiar on the whole flow of the play. But, i-it is also true that I have nothing to do with what happened to him. I can never kill any person." she said.

"You did not answer the question of your whereabouts on the time of the murder." I told her. She gulped upon hearing my remarks.

"I-I'm on the backstage, calling for the people needed for the next scene since that's my job to do. I'm looking for John earlier since it was his scene with Ian already. I'm just surprised to see him on the stage earlier. Then, I'm readying the characters for the next scene when I heard the loud scream from Irene. I looked to know what happened and there, I saw that people gathered around Ian. That's all as to my whereabout on the time of the murder." she stated.

"That's all? Do you happen to see where the guy in black overall went after the deed?" the inspector asked. Summer shooked her head.

"I am sorry, but I don't know. I immediately went to the stage when I saw that there's a commotion here."

"So, you did not see the culprit's destination earlier, huh? But, surely, there's a gap upon the scream of Irene and the exit made by the culprit in black overall. So, what can you say about your whereabouts that time?" I asked.

"As I have said earlier, I'm readying the cast for the next scene. I'm preoccupied so I do not pay much attention to other things that time. That's why I failed to notice the person you are saying passing by." she answered. I nodded.

"What is your relation with the victim?" the inspector asked. Summer shrugged her shoulders.

"N-Nothing. We have no connection or any relation with each other. We don't talk to each other a lot. We are not close friends. We only talk about the play. And apart from that, we don't have any more interaction with each other."

"I see. Well, will you at least write your own name on this paper, as well as your position on the production." I told her and handed a sheet of paper from Zay. She did wrote her name. After that, we let her leave.

"So, let's proceed for the next suspect?" I asked. Inspector Mar agreed and he ordered his constable to call for Irene Lacrila, one of the people who portrays an important role who can be in every scene, or at least, involve in many scenes on the play that could make her familiar to the flow of the story. She's also the assistant director, so it's not unlikely to happen.

"Give us your name and your part on this production. State also your whereabouts on the time of the crime. And your association with the victim." the inspector said. Irene looked at my club first before she diverted her gaze to the inspector as she answers his question.

"I'm Irene Lacrila. I'm one of the crew of this club. I'm one of the main characters also, with Ian, the guy who died earlier. I'm also the assistant director of this production. And yes, I'm familiar, no, I memorized already the whole sequence of scenes in our play. But, I give you my word that I have nothing to do with this whole affair.

"I'm waiting for my next appearance on the scene. I am at the entrance of the stage, watching Ian and John's part. Then, I saw everything that happened. John stabbed him there in front of all the audiences. At first, it's still a part of the act. But when I realised that it wasn't an act anymore, I can't help but be worried and be sick at the same time. I came on the stage to see more of what happened to Ian, then. You witnessed everything after that."

"Well, what's your relation to the victim?" I asked.

"None. We don't  have any relation or what with each other. So, I have nothing to do with him." she said bluntly. It seems she had recovered already from the shock of the death of Ian that happened just earlier.

"Well, do you have any more questions?" Irene asked. Well, I'm convinced she's not the man we're finding so I nodded to Inspector Mar telling him that I don't have any more question to ask her.

"Kindly write your name here and your position in the production in this piece of paper." Silver said and handed her another sheet of paper from Zay. She did wrote her name down and her position in the production. Before she left, she asked one question.

"Why you need to do this all if we all know that John is the one who did it?"

"Well, we're convinced that John isn't our man." Zay said. "He's innocent."

After that short and quick interrogation, we let Irene go. Inspector Mar looked at all of us.

"That's fast. Why did you let her go easily?" the inspector asked.

"Well, she's innocent. We're sure of that. Now, let's proceed to the last suspect." I answered him. After a few moments, Luke was escorted to join us. Our eyes met and I noticed something peculiar on his way of looking me.

"What do you want? I do not have anything to do with all of these craps." he said immediately upon sitting in front of us.

"Tell us your name, your position in this production and your whereabouts on the time of the murder." Inspector Mar said. Luke eyed him with obvious disgust as he answers his question.

"I'm Luke Troy. I'm the director of this play. May I know why you need to question me in the first place?" he gazed at all of us. The Luke Troy I met earlier is back now. It seems to me he's not that shocked of what happened to one of his crew.

"We believe that the culprit has a vast knowledge of the whole play to intervene in the middle of the play and commit the crime. And you're one of those people who might know the play very well." I told him. He eyed me sharply, like those of the daggers.

"I don't know anything about this crime. I'm watching the play, sitting just right over there, on the second row. I'm watching the play the whole time. I don't have any idea about this whole affair. I'm just directing them and no responsibility or such in this affair. Why don't you ask John? He's the one portraying Zero, maybe he's the one behind this crime." Luke said.

"Can someone prove your alibi?" the inspector asked.

"Maybe the couple sitting beside me." he answered.

"Why did you appear from the side of the stage if you were watching on the audience's side? And, if ever, what caused your short delay upon seeing the ruckus on the stage?" I asked directly looking at him. I saw the glint of surprise that appeared upon his face for a short period of time but he managed to compose himself again.

"What do you mean?"

"If you are relly watching the play, you might easily notice that there is something wrong in the act and immediately responded to it. But instead, we came to the rescue first before you do. Do you think it's kinda strange for a director to not act immediately after seeing something strange is going on on the stage while his play is ongoing?" I asked. I saw his grim look at me upon my saying of that line.

"Well, about that, I checked my crew earlier so I went to the backstage. I am checking them there when I heard the scream of Irene. I first thought that it was still part of the play, and yet when I noticed that all of the people were gone to the stage, I went and look for myself. And there, I saw the ruckus happening on the stage." he answered. I saw his lips curled into smirk as he look at me. Now, I see.

This guy has something to do with this whole affair. I knew it from the beginning, but I confirmed it just now. Now, what I need to do is find something that can pin him to his crime. I must play with this man.

"If that is so, you should have seen the culprit when he exited the stage, right?"

"Well, I did saw John and did bumped to him. But, I did not suspected him for I am hurrying towards the stage. By the way, John is here, why don't you arrest him?" Luke asked. I smirked.

"We're about to do. Thank you for your copperation. But please, write your name here and your position on this crew. Thank you." I told him and stood up from my seat. Silver, Zay and Inspector Mar all looked at me with their questioning gazes.

"Let's arrest the culprit of this case." I told them.

×××

We are all standing on the stage waiting for the thing I asked from a constable to get for me. All of the people present when the murder took place is here with me. John is beside Inspector Mar. I told him to stay beside John. Irene and Luke is here also, waiting for the next event to happen.

"Here's the thing you asked for me to take, sir." the constable arrived and handed me a bottle of the luminol I asked him to get. I thanked him after that.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the long wait. We can now proceed to the main part of this whole affair. The ending part of this whole outstanding play." I announced. I got their full attention as they look at me as I speak on the center of them all.

"Well, as we all know, someone was murdered here. Ian Santiago was killed and stabbed by someone in a black overall. We all witnessed how the crime was committed. And in the midst of the chaos, someone appeared in just exactly the same attire we had saw who attacked Ian. That's John Libra, the actor portraying Zero in the play." all their attentions were diverted to the man standing beside Inspector Mar.

"Believe me! I do not know anything about all of these things! I am innocent. I don't even have motive to kill Ian. Please, believe me." he exclaimed in panic.

"We believe in you. Who stupid criminal who had just committed a crime will let the people see him in the same attire he had when he committed the said crime? Well, we believe your innocence, that's why we conducted interrogation with the selected people only. Zay, will you please tell them the result of our interrogation with the selected people?" I said as I nodded at Zay. She nodded and advanced forward to the center of the stage. All eyes were on her now.

"Yes, we did conducted interrogation with selected people only. It's not random selection. It was based on the conclusion where we all ended upon hearing first the testimony of John Libra. Our conclusion there is that, someone might have stolen the costume of John, pretended to be him, intervened in the play at his chosen time, the perfect time for him to commit the murder, and slip back from his own self. If we will accept that theory, it's possible.

"So we gathered all the possible people who might have the chance to memorize the whole series of scenes in your play and can intervene in the play at his chosen time. And we ended up in just few people; the scriptwriter, the main characters and the director. Those were Summer Buenaventura, Irene Lacrila and Luke Troy. We already interrogated John so he's not interrogated again.

"We heard the stories and alibis of all the mentioned people. We learned their whereabouts on the time of the murder. At lahat sila ay nagsasabing wala silang kinalaman sa krimen. Which, we think, is unlikely. We heard a single line that proved one of them is lying." Zay said. I joined her on the middle of the stage.

"Yes. Someone from them lied to us. Maybe he thought we can't figure it out or it's just he can't find any other words to convince us. Silver, kindly report us the situation of the crime scene at this moment. Please update us first about the evidences gathered regarding this case before we reveal the one who did it." Silver joined us on the middle of the stage.

"Well, about the state of the current situation, the evidence gathered were just those alibis and testimonies of the suspects we gathered. We still don't have the murder weapon in our possession, as well as we do not found any other black overall that might be used by the culprit in his crime. We found nothing that can be used as evidence." Silver reported.

"Then why are we still here? You don't have any evidence to disprove John as the culprit. So why not take him already." Irene said. I smirked.

"You already forgot that someone told a lie when we're getting your alibis and testimonies. From that lie, we already see through the whole mystery of this case." I told her. I can see confusion and questions upon their faces.

"Let us proceed to the analysis of the evidences we have. As Silver had told you earlier, we have no physical evidences to account with, just the testimonies we had gathered. Now, the first person we talked with is John Libra. As I have told you, we believe he's innocent since no one will commit murder and let them see him on the same attire as he was when he committed the crime. If so, then all he will tell must be the only truth.

"Now, he told us that he's inside the dressing room the whole time, waiting for his costume there. He is waiting for his costume that was supposed to be being added by artificial blood. Then, after some time, he heard a knock from the outside of the dressing room and when he opened it, he just saw his costume in a paperbag. He did not saw who put that black overall there. If so, then that clearly tells us that he's not aware of the whereabout of his costume. From that, we can say that the real culprit might have stolen and used the costume to commit the crime and then put it there just after he had used it.

"If we're to accept that theory as the truth, then that means one thing and that is that the costume we're finding is the one that John is now wearing. So, the real culprit is now free to be himself. And, fortunately, the man we're finding is here with us." I said. They started to make noise, whispering with each other.

"And that man is none other than you," I pinpointed a single person with us. "It was you, Luke Troy." I saw no hint of surprise on the face of Luke. He just look at me with a serious face.

"Him?! Why him?" Irene asked. I answered her.

"Remember the time that someone was caught because of his own tongue? That someone from the people we interrogated lied to us? That's you." I told Luke. He straightened his body and put his hands in the pockets of his pants.

"Why me? What's your basis?" he asked. I smirked.

"Remember the time you claimed that you happened to bumped the culprit when you're going to see what's happening on the stage? Well, that is a big lie. Why? Simple. It is because if you really bumped with that person in the black overall costume, then you should blood stains on your clothes, too. The blood should have touched your clothes. But, your clothes has no touch or any identification of blood. That means you really did not bumped with that person.

"If so, then you're lying to us. You never told the truth. You just come up with a big lie that dug your grave deeper." I told him. He just look at me sternly for a moment, but then after that, he spoke.

"What now if I lied? That doesn't prove anything. You still don't have any evidence to prove that I killed Ian. You don't have any definite evidence to pin me against the crime." he said, smirking at me.

"You are right that we do not have the evidence to support our claim with us here. It is because all those evidence that you're claiming that we don't have were all still on your possession." I said and smirked at him. I saw the color upon his face drained.

"W-What do you mean?"

"Silver, would you be so kind to perform an experiment with me? Thank you. Now, I want you to pour this thing to everyone's shoes. This is luminol, a detecting agent. It will detect bloodstains to anything if there is really bloodstains there. It will glow if it detected bloodstains. Pour this on their shoes. I'm sure, the killer's shoe will have bloodstains on it. This will prove your innocence, all of you." I told him. I handed him the bottle the constable gave me earlier.

Silver started pouring the luminol on the shoes of everyone. I watch how he do the thing I asked him to do. I also watch Luke's expression as Silver is slowly advancing toward him, holding the luminol. Our eyes met and I saw despise on it.

"If you're not the criminal we are finding, let Silver pour some on your shoes." I told him. I saw his jaw tightened. I smirked.

Silver removed the lid of the luminol bottle and reached for Luke's shoes. He poured the luminol on it and the most surprising thing happened. Luke, in front of all of us removed his shoes from the hands of Silver and the luminol poured on the ground. I smirked.

"See? You're afraid, because you're the one who did it. You thought your shoes might incriminate you from the crime you committed. You are the one who stole John's costume, pretended to be him and chose to intervene on the part of the play where the two of you were the only people on the stage. You stabbed him and then tried to frame up John. But you failed. We saw through all your lies.

"All the features of the culprit matched to you. From all the other likely suspects, you're the only one who has the strength of stabbing someone with such great force that it pass through an organ. Next, you're left-handed. I already proved that the time you wrote your name and position earlier when we interrogated you. I told you we're about to arrest John so that you will be put to ease so that you will loosen yourself. And, it worked! You let your guards down." I told him. His face is grim as he look at me.

"But still, you can't prove that I am the culprit with just that! Give me definite proof!" he exclaimed. I smirked.

"Well, for the last proof, it's tucked in behind you. The knife you used on the murder."

×××

We succedded in solving the case. Luke Troy is the one who did it. We really found the knife tucked in behind him. Now, Luke was sitting inside the police mobile, leaning and acting calm while handcuffed on both hands.

"Well, about that, the murder weapon isn't around so I concluded that the culprit must have it on him. And, when you're talking with us, you never lean on your seat which isn't usual for a prim and proper man like you. From that, I can say that there's something behind you. And, I thought that's the murder weapon, and I am right!" I told Luke as we're talking before he will be turned over to the police custody.

"I see. Very brilliant. One more thing. From where did you get the luminol earlier? I'm sure our school don't have that kind of thing here." he said. Luke is now like his old self, composed and prim. It seems he's not bothered by going in to prison at all.

"About that, that's not really a luminol. Just water." I told him and smile. I saw the surprised look upon his face. And then, he shook his head and smile.

"Very brilliant, indeed."

"My turn to ask. Why did you kill Ian? Is there someone who asked you to do it?" I asked him. He smile.

"Will you be so kind to give me my bottle of water beside you? Thank you. About that, yes. In fact, you know him very well. He's a sly man. A man as brilliant as you. And, I'm one of his eyes." he answered. My brows knitted.

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say, the spider is playing with you in his web. His eight eyes were looking directly at you. I'm one of those. But, still, many more to come." he said, smiling and then drunk his bottle of water. I just watch him.

"Remember this first encounter of ours, you will see it again. Soon." then, an unexpected thing happened. Luke began convulsing while his eyes roll to the back of his head. Strange liquid pour down from his mouth.

What had just happened?