DETECTIVE FILES. File 2 (COMPLETED)

CHAPTER 10: EYE

Chapter 10: Eye

All I can hear was my shout nang bigla na lamang akong nahulog. I was expecting to hit on the hard floor ngunit sa halip ay bumagsak ako sa isang malambot na cushion.

Uh, where am I?

Madilim doon kaya kinuha ko ang cellphone na nasa bulsa ko and used it as a flashlight. I looked for a switch on the wall and when I found one ay agad kong pinindot iyon at umilaw ang paligid.

I was amazed to see where I was! It was a huge library with thousand books in it! Malalaki ang shelves doon at may mga hagdan pa upang makaakyat sa mataas na mga shelves! I saw a study table with a picture frame. Lumapit ako doon and I picked up the picture frame. Larawan iyon ng dalawang lalaki na nakasuot ng Army uniform. At the back of the frame were some writings.

"May you continue to see the beauty of life Pal."

Truly, Elton.
July 12, 1945

Jedidiah Wheatly was a soldier? Bakit hindi iyon nai-kwento ni Hazel? May mga nagkalat na papel doon kaya isa-isa ko iyong tiningnan.

Jedidiah Wheatly.

Iyon ang nakaukit sa mesa. This must be his secret library! I scanned the papers at may mga nakasulat doon ngunit hindi iyon tinapos.

I, Jedidiah Wheatly, do make this last will and testament —

there was an inkblot on the paper kaya hindi iyon natapos at ganoon din ang ibang mga papel na naroon! Well this just means one thing!

There really is another will! I felt the excitement in me! Nanaig ang kagustuhan kong tulungan sina Hazel at ang iba pang umaasa na maaring may iniwan si Jedidiah sa kanila. I looked around the place at saka ko lang naramdaman ang takot. Just like the other part of the house, the secret library was made of red bricks with eyes on it.

I looked around the area and opened every folder na naroon. I totally ignored the eyes that were staring at me. Nabuksan ko na lahat ng drawer at envelope doon ngunit wala akong nakitang dokumento doon. Did he hide it on one of the pages of the books?

I rolled my eyes on such thought. There's no way I'll be scanming the thousand books in this library! Napakalawak niyon at nababaliw ba siguro si ginoong Jedidiah kung inipit nga niya sa isang libro ang kanyang habilin and put it randomly in the shelves. Duh.

I sat down on the chair at nag-isip ng maaring hanapan ng nga dokumento. I've read in mystery novels na tinatago ng iba ang mga kayamanan nila sa ilalim ng kama o kaya ay kung saan. Kung mga dokumento naman ay inilalagay nila iyon sa likod ng nga antique na orasan o kaya ay sa mga jars at iba pa. I looked around for clocks but I never saw one so I dropped the possibility that he had hide it on a clock. Wala naman akong ibang nakikita sa paligid kundi mga mata at libro.

I stared at the wall for a while and I noticed something. May nakasulat sa ibaba ng malaking mata na nasa harap mismo ng upuan.

P S E D U I O ~

Pseduio? Ano naman ang ibig sabihin niyon? Did Jedidiah write it as a clue? I looked for a dictionary but I couldn't find such word. Was it a name of a person? Jediah's pet? Baka naman iyon ang gumuhit sa mga mata. Artists usually signed their artworks, right?

But I doubt on such thought. Those words were large na para bang sinadya upang makita. Or maybe Jedidiah had bad side and decided to vandal on his library's precious wall.

I observed closely at the biggest eye and it was staring straight at me. Uh, malamang sa akin ito nakatitig dahil ako ang nasa harapan nito. I tried looking at my back and it was a painting of an eye. Lumapit ako doon and observed it closely but there wasn't anything strange about it. Nang hawakan ko iyon ay gumalaw iyon and that's when I decided to look at its back at may nakasulat nga doon!