After a long day of carrying his mask as a high school student, Zeumro finally has the time to let go of his guard and sit in silence inside their office. He lessened the tightness of his school tie.
Zeumro Ignari, one of the dedicated detectives of Lakewine Police Station. He is the lead investigator of the suicide case of Margareth Yamar, which was reopened due to the authorities' suspicions that she could be actually been murdered.
He took a deep sigh. He never imagined that during his risky undercover in Olkizia High School, he would encounter someone who is doing the same thing, thus knowing and digging another piece of information that could be a huge help, but also add to the risk of danger they are deep into.
"How's school?" a man in his 50s came inside. Out of tiredness, Zeumro did not hear or feel his presence going in.
Zeumro fixed the way he sat and folded his sleeves up. "Chief. You're here."
He is Mance Luther, the current chief of Lakewine Police Station, who leads the overall investigation of the case of Margareth Yamar and the recent case of Zaranaia Watson. He has been handling cases with the help of his detectives, including Zeumro, who is with him in these two crucial cases.
Zeumro was reminded of Yeonica upon the question of Luther. But since they had a deal, he thought it was not the right time to tell his chief about the real her. She can either be a real help or a menace; he would surely figure out later on.
"The principal's kid. She seems like she just doesn't know something—it could be everything," Zeumro started.
"Edem Monica Xiago? The suspected murderer of Yamar? You told me last time that she had given Watson a warning," Luther clarified as he took a chair and sat near Zeumro. He recalled Zeumro's narration of what he witnessed before the death of Zaranaia.
Zeumro nodded. "Yes. But we could be wrong all this time. Being near her during my undercover, she doesn't look like she could murder or be an accomplice to murder someone."
Luther leaned to his seat and crossed his arms. "Usual description of most murderers we caught, Mr. Ignari. Those who were least expected turned out to be the ones who did the evil deed. Don't be fooled by what they may seem to be outside," he told his detective.
"And what you witnessed before Watson's death. She knew something would happen to Watson. Don't you think she could really be an accomplice who felt the guilt for her classmate last minute?" Luther firmly added.
Zeumro sighed, as he expected his chief would answer. "I'm not saying she's innocent. It's getting clear that she is aware of everything that has happened—something we are yet to discover."
Luther looked at him intently. "And you're trying to say is? I'm listening."
"She is being threatened," Zeumro concluded.
Zeumro has thought all of these after having a conversation with Yeonica. The pictures inserted between Zaranaia's notebook, the fact that Edem had it once, and what she said to Yeonica before she was hit and locked up inside a room. Even the gestures of Edem when she gave Zaranaia a mysterious warning—she's scared. Almost looked like a prey aware that it is being monitored by its predator.
The office became filled with silence. Luther completely understood what his detective was trying to say. As a chief, he was also once a dedicated investigator like Zeumro, and this is not the first time things like this have happened during investigations.
"I'm sending people to monitor Xiago and those around her. Continue working on your case," Luther said and patted Zeumro's back.
As Luther is about to walk away, he remembered something and turned around to Zeumro again. "Oh, right. What about that student you said before that you find suspicious? That...," he paused as he tried to recall.
Luther snapped his fingers. "Yumi Amuelga? What about her now?" he asked.
Zeumro almost forgot that he once mentioned Yeonica to his chief, but he still used her disguised name in case something might happen, like that sudden deal between them.
He shook his head, leaning comfortably on his chair once again. "She's a close friend of Zaranaia, but only since she got transferred. I've seen her at the funeral, but she's as clueless as the other students. I don't know yet if she's an important person. Looks like she's actually not," he explained, trying to protect their deal.
Luther smiled a little and nodded. He then proceeded to walk away.
Zeumro stared at his back until he was out of his sight. The investigation of Zaranaia Watson's death is not yet finished. Edem could be the only student who could uncover all of the mysteries behind the cases they are handling—both the death of Yamar and Watson. But since Zeumro is the only witness that day when Edem gave Zaranaia a warning, he must find a way to approach Edem without scaring her away or making her aware that his character, Zarco, knows something. Though as per Yeonica, Edem might already know his real identity as she knows hers. In that case, Zeumro might need the help of Yeonica to uncover the whole truth.
Zeumro cleared his mind and reached something inside the bag he used in school and put it on his table. A long envelope containing the papers Yeonica has given to him—the photocopy of the interview with their adviser, Mrs. Estiva, about the death of Alvirgo Yamar as well as Margareth Yamar, and also the copies of the past suicide cases of students of Olkizia High School.
There, he discovered that during the trial of Margareth's father, Alvirgo Yamar, a few students and teachers who were still inside the school during the incident were interviewed. He read their answers carefully, but was stuck in his adviser's part.
Among all of those who were interviewed, Estiva's answer caught his attention the most. All of them said the same thing: they were clueless about what happened, and had no idea why the school guard would kill somebody, except Mrs. Estiva.
Estiva expressed that she was also clueless, but mentioned some other information. She mentioned that the daughter of Yamar recently died by suicide, and when Estiva came to visit her student's funeral, it seemed like Alvirgo Yamar did not believe that his daughter had taken her own life. Rather, someone might have killed her, according to him. Mrs. Estiva admitted that she, herself, was also suspicious about Margareth's death.
Zeumro read her statements back and forth. She's the only one among them who got to mention the guard's daughter's death. Maybe because she was her student? He thought. She probably knew about Margareth more than anybody, as she got to observe her as her student every day.
After reading the papers about the interview, Zeumro next scanned the past cases of students of Olkizia who apparently took their own lives.
"Mance Luther," he murmured after knowing that his chief was the lead investigator of the first suicide case.
Jeasyl Maiven
Mica Le Decin
Zeumro discovered that the first two cases were handled by his current chief. He did not recall that Luther mentioned any of these before, but he did notice his urge to solve this case, leading to Zeumro disguising himself as a student.
Could it be that all of these past cases were also misclassified? Zeumro asked himself. He could not understand why Luther did not tell him about the past cases when he probably knew that it could help Zeumro solve the case faster. He might have reasons, or he just forgot about these past cases as years have already passed.
He's yet to know everything and just knows a bit of it; that's what Zeumro knows right now. And at least, the unexpected team-up with Yeonica brought him something he did not think before: the adviser's connection to their students.
How deep is Mrs. Estiva's connection to Margareth Yamar that made her say she's suspicious about her death?