- 2.4 - The Lock Picked Locker (The Complications)

HIBARA

“LEVY TICCUS!! YOU said we’re going to take recess together!” Someone shouted from behind and suddenly there was another person dashing through the hallway. Was that Janden Vher? I think I also saw his photograph on the CAT Officers board.

“You know why Levy ran. I saw you staring at him before he ran. What is it, Detective? Are you on another case that involves our classmates?” The Major said as he stood behind me.

“Alright there, Major. How about you stop prying on my business or refrain from being stupid, stop asking, and start thinking?” I retorted without looking at him, then took the white folder from my desk and left the classroom.

Of course, he’s gonna be following me. I smiled mischievously as I started running. “Hey!” He shouted as he chased me down the flight of stairs. “Detective! Stop running!”

I stopped abruptly by the second floor and he lost his sense of gravity, thus failing to acknowledge the final three steps of stairs and thumping on the tiled hallway. I laughed at his face as he glared at me.

“What’s so funny about this?” He asked, annoyed. I held out my hand, offering my help, but he didn’t take it. He just stood up holding onto the staircase railing and dusted himself off.

I erased the smile off my face and bowed my head down. For some reason, I kept quiet; not having any idea of what to do or say. I tapped my fingers on the side of my skirt and my eyes continuously shifted due to the uncomfortable atmosphere. The awkward tension was broken a few moments later when his phone rang. He answered the call straight away but I managed to catch what piano piece was his tone. I trust that my senses and deductive reasoning, even in such discomforted situations, can still be relied on. It was Beethoven’s Sonata No. 14, Moonlight.

“Put it on speaker,” I spoke upon noticing his sudden change of emotion. His cold eyes from earlier became filled with agitation. He faced me and the horror on his face became more evident than when I was observing him from the side.

He put the phone in speaker mode and held it in front of us. The caller ID shows ‘Janden’, but the voice on the other side stunned me for a good second. It was Janden, except he’s yelling from a distance. “LUKE, HELP! THIS GUY’S INSANE!” And then he was gagged. I could hear how he desperately tried to give us clues of his whereabouts.

“Mr. Salcedo—” “Don’t call me that,” he cut the abductor from speaking after he addressed him by his middle name, I believe. I did some inquiry on Loiella’s attendance folder to recall the names of my classmates; the middle initials were included in the student list and he had an S.

“DO NOT take the young detective with you or your friend stays here to die in my hands,” the abductor warned him and we exchanged looks.

“Ask him why,” I mouthed and he followed.

“Because she proposes as a threat to our existence,” the abductor answered. “I need not answer any more of your questions, Mr. Salcedo. Your forty-five minutes begin…now.”

The call ended and he is obviously panicking as he repeatedly ran his fingers through his hair. “Calm down, you blithering buffoon. DO NOT PANIC. Didn’t your Commandant teach you this? Start to think of a solution to the problem. How did the conversation go before I got a listen?”

“W-Well, he said that he’s got Janden, that… that I have to come for him, and… and that I should be alone; you knew the next.”

“He said that I should not come with you, but didn’t say I can’t help,” I began. “He’s using a voice changer so we cannot deduce who he is. Our classmate, however, managed to create a few noises that can help us determine where he is being held captive.”

“Noises? I didn’t hear anything!” He exclaimed.

“Let me finish first, would you?” I returned with an eyebrow raised. “And just to note, noises can tell you anything. Noises can give you something that you need.”

“And what’s that?”

“When Janden yelled, there was the distance which tells me that he’s being held in a moderately-sized closed space because if it’s an open space, we wouldn’t hear him clearly. The thought that he’s in a vacant classroom or abandoned room in a building was valid until he managed to slide a box that is probably beside him and kick a wooden thing that hit something metal. It was then that the thoughts became wrong. He was neither in a vacant classroom nor in an abandoned room— he was in a stock room filled with old, unused things.

“Within the span of about ten minutes since we last saw him running through the hallway and chasing Levy, the abductor couldn’t have taken him far so, conclusion: he is in AMU’s old storage facility because the new one is always being checked by the guards. Is that enough help?”

He stared at me in shock. “H-How did you manage to get all that through a single phone call?”

“The science of deduction, Major. Anyway, you and I better get going now. We both have important things to do. You can do this, Matthew,” I said and gave him a small smile before leaving.

I went to the Square and tried to observe where Irish could have hidden the seven pairs of shoes. She walked in this direction earlier so there is a probability that she had found a perfect place around this to hide her stolen items.

Standing in the middle of the motorway-surrounded Square, behind me is the Senior High Building. In front is the Eco-Savers Club’s Recycling Facility, left of it is the Materials Recovery Area, right is the long greenhouse that reached until few meters before the gymnasium’s entrance. All three are made of laminated glass walls and doors which exhibited transparency.

I smirked as I deduced where the items were hidden. Among the three, there is only one place where she could have hidden it perfectly without any passers-by noticing its oddness. I left the Square and stood in front of the MRA. I laughed victoriously as I saw the seven shoes displayed on separate shelves. I didn’t even need to open the door! The MRA for lost and found provided Irish a “hidden in plain sight” effect on her stolen items.

The next thing I did was to head for the CAT Commandant’s Office. I may have no network of students yet, but I have a few faculty members. I knocked on Room 805 then stood at attention and raised my salute. “Sir. I, Hibara W. Cake, UFD Senior Investigator, request permission to enter the office, Sir.”

The door opened revealing a man in his forties, wearing his neatly ironed plain white shirt and black slacks, with shined garrison belt and leather shoes. He returned the salute and gestured for me to enter his office. I couldn’t help but observe the surroundings— very well-ordered and pleasing to the eyes. His table was at the middle, his uniform donned on a mannequin by his right-hand side, and his photographs with all the batches he handled arranged on the wall by his left. Behind his chair was a shelf that held his proof of excellence. His name and position were presented using a tabletop wooden nameplate: Mr. Victor S. Moon, CAT Commandant.

“What brings you here, Ma’am Hibara?” He asked as he sat on his chair. He motioned for me to sit which I respectfully declined. I won’t take long anyway.

“Sir, I want to ask at least two of your cadets to return the stolen items that I found in the MRA to their respective owners. Considering I have only spent a week here in the university, I do not know who the owners are, except for one which is my classmate, Sir.”

“You mean to say, there happened a theft case? Did you tell the campus police about this matter?”

“Yes, Sir. Chief Velasquez is on the move to bring the culprit into custody, Sir.”

“Very well,” he said and picked up his radio. “Colonel, come and take two Lieutenants with you to my office.”

“You have direct contact with the Corps Commander,” I said, out of the blue. “Oh, I apologize, Sir. I couldn’t refrain myself from speaking my observations most of the time.”

He chuckled. “It is alright, Ma’am Hibara. That is quite normal for a detective.”

We spent the waiting time chatting about some very important things until we were cut by three knocks on the door. “Sir, we, Col. Christopher Blanchard, Corps Commander, and Lt. John Suarez and Lt. Louie James of Honor & Escort Company, request permission to enter the office, Sir.”

Mr. Moon didn’t stand up, open the door, and return the salute. Instead, he replied in his authoritative voice, “Carry on,” and the three people who announced their presence entered the office. “Lieutenants, I would like you to accompany Ma’am Hibara to the MRA to retrieve and return the stolen items to their respective owners.”

“Sir, yes, Sir,” they responded and we stepped outside. Mr. Moon proceeded to his talk with Col. Blanchard.

“Would you like to be a part of my network?” I asked from nowhere and the two gave me questioning looks. I turned back to the door and knocked. I opened it, tilted my head inside, and asked, “You, Colonel. Would you mind being part of my network?”

“Ma’am, what network are you talking about, Ma’am?” Col. Blanchard asked, eyeing the Commandant like he’s asking him about it.

I opened the door for a better view of his confused face and Mr. Moon who is smirking. “I am looking for people who are fitting to assist me in some… things.”

“What kind of ‘things’, Ma’am?” Lt. James asked, now sounding interested. The name cloth of their GOA helped me in recognizing them.

“Just… investigation things,” I answered and he smiled.

“I’m in,” he said and looked at Lt. Suarez. “If he’s in, then me too.”

“Brilliant!” I commented. “You, Colonel?”

“You were that student who defended the First Battalion Adjutant from Jacob Valle, right? I’ll think about it, Ma’am,” he answered then I turned to the two new members of my student network. “Hmm, okay. Lieutenants, let’s go. We have some stolen items to return.”

We arrived at the Materials Recovery Area and they each picked up three pairs of shoes. I took Esmilzo’s and walked in the direction of the JHB. I knocked on the open door of our classroom; Mrs. Mel Bonifacio, our Math teacher, was drawing Cartesian planes on the whiteboard. “You were late, Hibara,” she welcomed.

“I apologize, but I have come to return Esmilzo’s stolen shoes,” I said, raising the pair of shoes in my hand. The blonde boy ran towards me and took his item, thanking me for retrieving them. “Did Chief Velasquez pass by?” I asked the teacher.

“Yes, Chief was here. He was looking for Irish and Levy,” Mrs. Bonifacio replied, earning herself a disbelieving look from me.

“He was looking?” I repeated for clarification and she nodded. “Yes, those two weren’t here.”

“Son of the Devil!” I grumbled and ran out of the Junior High Building.

The moment Levy realized that I already know his identity, he decided to flee but Janden followed him so he had to call a person who would abduct our innocent classmate. After Janden was gone, he contacted Irish and informed her of my discoveries, and then fled together. The guards wouldn’t let students out of the university during class hours so… Where could they be?

“Chief Velasquez! Chief, did you find them? Irish and Levy,” I asked as I arrived at the Campus Police Station, chasing my breath. I also placed the white folder on his desk.

“No, Hibara. They have escaped! They didn’t attend this hour’s class.”

“Have you sent your men for a search?”

“Yes, but I’m afraid they might have left the premises. We couldn’t find them anywhere!”

“But how—” I suddenly stopped as I thought of an answer. A place without any guards… A place without anyone to notice a person leaving or entering… “—an abandoned gate, YES! Of course, they fled by using an unguarded passage! There’s always an abandoned gate in big schools; that’s the only plausible reason for their disappearance.”

Chief Velasquez picked up his radio. “The culprit must have escaped through Gate 5. I repeat; the culprit must have escaped through Gate 5.”

“Chief, watch that folder and give me an exit pass for Gate 1. I’ll run for it,” I said and opened my palm in front of him.

“You can use your ID. I’ve told them—”

“THANKS, CHIEF!” I shouted as I quickly ran far from the station. I could imagine him shaking his head after I abruptly left in the middle of his speech.

The east wind’s coming to get both of you, White and Black.

I am… coming to get you.