Chapter 6: The Good Liar

Travis' POV

I was in the parking lot, specifically in the left wing of the University, when I noticed a stampede going on from the Gate Three back to the stadium where the meeting was supposedly happening. Just in time when I was about to open the door of my dark grey Lambo Veneno, a loud wailing sound of siren abruptly sprouted out of the blue. It came from a police car. If I’m not mistaken, it was the fourth one—after the first three arrived at the same time six minutes ago.

 I hurled my keys back to my pants’ pocket and walked away from my car. I stopped by the hump, and stretched my neck upwards hoping to have a wider vision of what’s taking place on the other side of the area. Students, teachers, and even some of the staff were rushing towards the same direction, having me wonder what was it in there that caused so much panic and drove everybody insane.

 

Until a good while later, a student ran past me. Like the rest of the people inside the University, he was also rushing in an incredible speed as if there were seven demons running after him. Just when he was only a stone’s throw away, I called for his attention. 

“Hey, mate! I got a question for ‘ya!” 

He abstained from running when he finally recognized my voice. I took my time to maneuver towards him, and delivered my question while I’m still on my way to save him some of his time. “Where are ‘ya off to?” I asked. Watching him panting and gasping for air made me regret my move. 

Amidst his struggles of keeping up with his breathing, he still answered anyway. “At the old building,” he started; tongue  out and forehead contracting like a dog left thirsty under the intense heat of the summer sun. “They said there was a crime scene. Something that involved the principal,” he finished. 

“Oh. Th—thanks,” I spoke in hushed tones. 

He turned his back against me, and continued his unfinished business. I returned to my car as I watched him slowly disappeared in my horizon. 

Crimes. Crimes. Murders. Murders. Finally, the time to attest the skills I inherited from my Dad had come at last. 

I was brought up to believe that I’m living for this moment. Ah, my sole purpose. “Guide me, Daddy.” 

                                         • • •

After taking a full-route outside the University that led to an abandoned and closed passage just before entering the godforsaken skid row of Area 88, I parked my car beneath the capping crowns of trees that blocked the golden rays of sundown from shining. On my spot, I could see clearly the entire situation outside of the crime scene. The mini forest was on my right, only a running distance of five minutes, while the two-storey century-old building towered itself before me; the herculean tree branches wrapping its surface greeted me with chills and bleakness I thankfully overcame afterwards. 

I thought of crashing in without getting caught. But how? There’s no way I would have used the entryway through the mini forest because sure enough, some of the forensics were there to hunt for clues. I only had two choices to choose from. And one from those two choices was so risky to be even considered a choice. That left me clinging to the remaining other. The branches. 

I reached for my monogram eclipse LV backpack on the driver’s seat, and took out some of my needed stuff on the hood of the car; I laid a pair of latex gloves, a small flashlight, a pocket-sized magnifying glass, a disposable mask, and an all-black jacket I usually used when going out at night. 

I put on everything, and when I’m all done, I thought of a strategy that would help me best and fail me less. 

I first checked the area if there’s anyone around spying at me. When everything’s clear, it’s when I began to make a move. 

“I guess I have no choice but to climb through these giant branches,” I whispered to myself as I tightened my gloves and zipped up my jacket. 

I just need to get to the second floor, and everything will be spontaneous when I get there, I thought. Though in all honesty, climbing up using only these frangible roots was never easy. I had to take it one move at a time because if I rushed everything, I might tumble down back to the ground. Falling off a fifty-meter building was never far from taking a suicide. I didn’t want that. 

That’s why I thoroughly anticipated my every move. I calculated where should I step next, in which root should I take grip, and how do I enter through the broken window without making any sound. All of that had been carefully jotted down in my memory palace, and that made the first task of my blueprint genuinely successful, and easily completed. 

I scooped my hand into my pocket and searched for my flashlight. When I got it, I lit it dim to see my way without getting noticed. There’s nothing really interesting or suspicious in the room where I got into. It’s empty. No chalkboards, no chairs, no tables, and not even a mere piece of chalk to be seen. There were nothing but only thick layers of dusts, and fear-triggering amount of spider webs everywhere. 

I moved quietly to the next room where much complicated things settled down. The first one my eyes had caught when I landed a foot inside was the over-the-hill cabinet with four layers of shelves—with one of which was left suspiciously opened. I focused the light on it and tried my best to examine it. I ran a finger over the surface of the first two drawers, and a viscid mass of dust stuck onto my glove. That only meant one thing. It was untouched for like a long, long years already. 

I bent down on my knees, and diverted all my attention to the opened drawer this time. I did the same thing, too, but the result didn’t go exactly similar to the first two layers I examined. As for the opened drawer, dusts were lesser; as if someone had already get rid of some of it by attempting to open the drawer and get something from inside. But who was it? What could be the thing that had been inside, and why would someone bother to get it? Was it so important to be driven away from everybody? 

I fished for my magnifying glass. I adjusted my flashlight to light it more, and aimed it to the bottom drawer. I drew my right eye to the magnifying glass, and took a closer look of the cabinet’s surface through its lens. I need to see at least a fragment of a fingerprint to confirm my speculation. I saw none. 

Disappointed, I returned the magnifying glass in my pocket. I opened all the drawers—one at a time—and checked if there’s anything inside. But they were all empty. Shit. 

I stood up. Am I late? Had anyone been here before me? Had anyone get rid of the evidences already? But who was it? Was it the forensics? Or was it the culprit himself? 

I lowered my mask down to my chin to wipe the sweats off my philtrum. I didn’t expect this to be hard. I underestimated my first case. I casted a tedious stare at the cabinet. My eyes were steady, and blinking was kind of impossible for me at the moment. My corneas were two little detectives of their own, examining every detail they saw despite the veil of descending darkness that swallowed everything with shadows. 

I came to the front. To the chalkboard where a few writings were left unerased. I loomed before it, and struck it with my flashlight. The written words revealed themselves. 

"BIENVENIDOS AL AÑO ESCOLAR 1919-1920" 

“Spanish?” I asked my self. Why am I so shocked? This was written a century ago, of course I should have expected this, right? But I have not. 

I touched the writings. In one smooth swipe, the dry and powdery substance faded away. To me, it was oddly questionable. I didn’t know that a chalk as frail as this would last a hundred years if  scribbled on a chalkboard. Fascinating. And highly suspicious. 

I stepped back. I was about to get out of the room and transfer to the next one when all of a sudden, I heard an indistinct chattering from within a spitting distance. I dropped to the floor in two breaths. I turned my light off, and stuck my ear on the wall. I tried my best to eavesdrop every audible words that echoed despite the darkness and silence. I closed my eyes. Concentrate. 

“That was close.” 

“Yeah. And you almost got us all caught.”

“It wasn’t my fault!” 

“Stop denying, Yuri. It was clearly your fault! I told you to leave your stupid book to the infirmary but you didn’t.”

“It dropped accidentally!”

“Accident or not, it could have mostly send the four of us in jail.” 

“Stop it already! Just be thankful that the police didn’t see us.”

“Geodie’s right. And we only have a limited time to spend here. Any minute from now, the police will also search this place for possible evidences, too. We must keep in mind that this is still part of the crime scene, and what we are doing is tampering with evidence. Although we haven’t find anything yet, we are already attempting a criminal offense. So, be careful not to get caught.” 

I took a deep breath. What are they doing here? I’m a hundred percent sure that they were my classmates. Those were the voices of Vhynz, Yuri, Geodie, and Rabiya. But again, why are they here?

Their footsteps were never loud, but I could still hear them walking away. It melted in the air along with their careful whispers. I must admit, everything that Rabiya has said were all true. Impressive. 

I crawled towards the doorway either to check if the four of them were gone fairly away from the room I was in, or if anyone from the investigation team were going on their way upstairs. When I was about to recover myself from crawling, my right knee accidentally hit something that caused a clanging sound to reverberate in the room. In a blink of an eye, my heart skipped a beat. They must have heard that. 

I hurriedly grabbed my torch out and cast the light upon the floor. There, just few inches away from the crack, I saw a handcuffs. I turned the light off, clipped it inside my brief, and crept my fingers on the surface to reach for the metal fastening. I maneuvered going back to the cabinet, and hid myself in case someone would come to check what was that sound and where did that came from. 

While clutching it between my palms, I drew the thing near my nose and gave it a sniff. The lights were out, and my sense of sight was useless. It was the very moment that my nose got it’s first contribution to my claimed investigation. 

Sniff. Think. Sniff. Familiarize. Sniff. Bingo! 

It stunk like rust and blood. A seemingly long-time rust. A newly tainting of fresh blood. 

I took my jacket off, and tied its sleeves together. I inserted the handcuffs inside, and held it like a tote bag. 

The sound of footsteps grew loud, and the flashes of light shined randomly. Shit! They are here. 

I sprinted out of the room, and ran straight past the other rooms until I reached the one where my classmates were in. While panting, I warned them. “The police are now in the stairs! We need to get out of here!” 

They all jumped in shock. 

“Travis?”

“What the hell are you doing here?!” 

I summoned a heavy blow. “There’s no time to explain! If you want to escape from this place without getting caught, you have to follow me!” 

Rabiya bit her lips. Despite the brewing shadows, I saw her sweats trembled instantly down to her neck. “Okay. What should we do?” she said, calming her self and trying not to panic unlike the others. 

“We need to—” before I could even say the first half of my statement, the clattering sound of the footsteps came towards us. It made me cover my mouth with my left hand, while and looked at them with huge eyes as I sign of keeping quiet. 

I faced the nearest window. Luckily, it was also broken. I snapped my fingers lightly to call for their attention. When we’re all gathered by the window, I pointed them the giant roots attached on the walls. 

“We’re using this to go down,” I whispered. “I know it’s scary. But we have to do it.” I faced every single one of them. “We can do this. I’ll go first.” 

I threw out of the window my  jacket with the handcuffs inside, and squeezed myself into the frame. I held tight of the nearest vine, and let it swung me away. On its third swing, I released my right hand and grabbed the nearest branch of the tree. Like a monkey, I transferred from one branch to the stronger other. 

When I landed successfully, I tossed the vine back to the window where Rabiya was waiting to catch it. I tore down some of the twigs to clear the way. I waited for her to swing the vine with her, and with great timing, I caught her in my arms. I helped her balance her way to the other branch of the tree without giving her the risks of falling off to the ground. When the two of us we’re done, the process became a lot more easier for the others. 

The last to leave the window was Vhynz. While he was waiting for the perfect moment to catch the vine, I assisted the girls as they made their way down. I told them to proceed to my car which was on the right side facing the building, and wait for us there. Luck was indeed on our side because I and Vhynz were already beneath the umbrella of leaves when the officers arrived at the window. They stayed for a minute in the room. When they’re gone, it’s when I and Vhynz took our time to run across the abandoned road of skid row 88 where my car and the girls were waiting for our successful arrival. 

We all entered in the car. I started the engine, and drove away like nothing happened. 

Because nothing really happened. When the time comes where the officers find out that my car was there parking around during the investigation, I would only say that I was depressed, and the only way for me to snap out of my depression is to surround myself with trees, while singing in harmony with the birds. 

That will work. Because according to my Dad, ‘If I really want to be a detective, I must learn first how to fabricate a story.'