Project LOKI ②

Chapter 33: The Enemy of My Enemy (Come With Us)

CONTENT AND TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains content that might be troubling to some readers, including, but not limited to, depictions of and references to death, self-harm and suicide, graphic violence, sexual assault, strong language and more.

Please be mindful of these sensitive themes and other possible triggers. Remember to practice self-care before, during and after reading.

LORELEI

MORIARTY'S ROGUE agent struck again. But to be fair, all of his agents were rogue.

Humarap ako kay Loki. "Why would they target Monica Segundo? Dahil ba classmate siya ni Stein?"

"Monica who?" kunot-noong tanong ni Jamie. Oo nga pala. Hindi pa sila member ng club nang i-solve namin ang kaso kung saan involved ang babaeng 'yon.

"Merong ini-refer na case sa amin noon si Sir Morayta. Hindi kasi pumasok sa klase si Stein, ang pambato ng school natin pagdating sa math contests," kuwento ko habang patuloy na hinahaplos ang ulo ni Freya. Parang may baby akong inaalagaan. "We later found out that Monica had commissioned Moriarty's minions to detain Stein in the abandoned building so he wouldn't be able to attend the screening for the competition."

"It turned out that the detention was staged by him and his minions to set us up for an informal meeting," dugtong ni Loki. "If I had known he's Moriarty back then, I would have let him rot inside the locker."

That was a good trick, by the way. We had to hand it to Stein for pretending to be a victim. Even Loki fell for that ruse.

"There are now three victims. All of them had contact with Moriarty's minions." Hindi pa rin nilulubayan ng tingin ni Alistair ang hawak na plastic bag ng inspector. "Whoever's behind those incidents, he's dedicating them to that mastermind."

"Gusto niyang ipakita na kaya niyang linisin ang mga gusot?" tanong ni Jamie. "Sounds like someone we know."

"He wants to fill the big shoes left by Montreal," sabi ni Loki. "The late officer confessed that his task was to ensure there were no loose ends. Bastien copycat, if we can call him that way, wants to prove that he's also capable of the same responsibility. But we'll deal with him later. Let's find out who caused this commotion first."

Bumalik kami sa area na tinatambayan ng mga faculty member. Nanguna si Loki habang sinundan namin siyang tatlo. Maingat akong naglakad para hindi masyadong maistorbo sa pagpapahinga si Freya. They were gossiping about the student who was found stabbed.

"As I was saying earlier, the bomb threat sender is someone who wanna skip the exam." Ipinagpatuloy na ni Loki ang kaniyang paliwanag, nakataas ang isang daliri habang palakad-lakad. "Sir Morayta, you said that your class was scheduled to have their quiz today. Is that correct?"

Tumango ang math instructor namin sabay tulak sa bridge ng salamin niya. "Nai-distribute ko na ang exam sheets at nasimulan na nilang sagutan ang mga 'yon bago kami pinababa ng CAT officers."