Chapter 45: The Scarlet Thread VIII (Rusty Trust)

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A/N: Third update for this week! We're on a roll! This was supposed to be the solution chapter on the coded message, pero medyo napahaba. Hehe~ Enjoy reading!

 Hehe~ Enjoy reading!

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LORELEI

I THOUGHT our job would be easy. My expectation was kinda high since I was partnered with Jamie to talk to people who might have noticed something strange on Augustus on the day of his death. Ipinagmamalaki kasi niya ang kanyang charm na kaya niyang makuha ang mga sagot na hinahanap namin.

But it turned out that I was wrong. Wait. We were wrong.

"Hello! Can you talk to you for a minute?" tanong ni Jamie sa unang estudyante lumabas sa isang classroom.

"Sure! Tungkol saan?" masiglang tugon nito nang nakangiti.

As soon as our afternoon period was finished, nagkita kaming dalawa sa tapat ng isang classroom. Our first stop was Augustus' class. Hinabol talaga namin bago pa tuluyang umalis ang mga estudyante roon. She was pretty certain na may mag-i-stay pa nang ilang minutes matapos ang class dismissal. Gano'n daw kasi ang ugali niya noon. Kadalasan daw ng mga naiiwan sa classroom, 'yong mga tsismosa.

"Classmate mo si Augustus, right?" tanong ni Jamie. May natunugan akong kalungkutan sa boses niya. "I'm really sorry about what happened to him. But we wanna ask kung may napansin ka bang kakaiba noong araw na namatay siya? Did you notice him eating, drinking or snorting anything suspicious?"

Biglang nawala ang ngiti sa mukha ng estudyante, tila ninerbyos. What's with his reaction?

"Pa-Pasensya na," tugon nito. "Nasabi ko na sa campus police ang sagot sa tanong mong 'yan. Baka pwedeng sa kanila n'yo na alamin."

Jamie flashed an awkward smile. She looked surprised na hindi tumalab ang kanyang charm. "Pwede mo naman sigurong i-share sa amin kung ano ang sinabi mo sa kanila, 'di ba? Sharing is caring!"

"Sorry talaga." Umiling ang estudyante at naglakad palayo kahit hindi pa namin siya tapos kausapin. "Baka pwedeng iba na lang ang kausapin n'yo."

We watched as he quickly walked away from us. Hihirit pa sana si Jamie pero pinigilan ko siya. As much as I wanted to get information, we shouldn't force it from someone who doesn't want to tell us anything.

Sinubukan din naming tanungin ang iba pang estudyante na nasa loob ng classroom, but they all gave us almost the same answer.

"I've already told the campus police about what I know. You better ask them."

"Sorry, hindi ako pwedeng magsalita tungkol diyan. Tanungin n'yo na lang siguro ang campus police."

"Sinagot ko na 'yan noong isang araw. Hingin n'yo na lang 'yong sagot ko sa mga nagtanong sa 'kin."

Maging sa Clarion office, halos parehong sagot ang nakuha namin mula sa isa sa mga editor nito. I wasn't familiar with the staffers except that female editor who asked me if I wanted to submit my blog entries for their literary folio.

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