The Lie Beneath

Chapter 21 : The missing piece of the library

I looked at him. "You're still thinking about the memento trail."

"Oh yeah. But now? We've got new variables. A tech nerd with energy to spare, and a killer who's one step ahead."

"Make that half a step," I said. "We're catching up."

And with that, we headed toward the next clue. knowing the deeper we went, the more dangerous it would become.

Pumunta kami sa station ng campus police, the other team ay wala dito dahil inaasikaso nila ang mga bangkay ng mga biktima, Pagpasok namin agad kong naramdaman ang bigat ng atmosphere. Tahimik ang paligid, maliban sa patak ng wall clock sa sulok. Nasa harapan ng whiteboard si Marcus, nakatayo, hawak ang isang marker pero parang wala siyang balak magsulat. The board was already filled with scattered timelines, crime scene sketches, and printouts of student IDs.

"Marcus," I called softly.

Napalingon siya sa amin, and my chest tightened a bit seeing how sunken his eyes looked. His usually clean uniform was slightly wrinkled. Nakakunot ang noo niya.

"Rhianne." His voice was low and hoarse. "Anim na ang patay ngayong araw. Anim! In one damn day."

I nodded slowly. "We know, I'm here to help." I reassured him. He slightly calm down now.

Lazarus, on the other hand, was... smiling. "I mean, I know it's horrible and tragic and all-really, it is! but this? This is also extremely fascinating. We're dealing with someone smart, strategic. Para tayong nasa loob ng isang live crime novel!"

"Lazarus, not now," I muttered.

"What? I'm just saying, when else do we get to see a serial case unfold this cleanly? Every move, every layer-it's becoming my energy." He twirled his pen like a wand. "Morbid poetry."

Marcus let out a long sigh, then turned to face us fully. "Ano'ng meron kayo? Please tell me may bago kayong lead. Hindi ko na kayang maghintay ng isa pang bangkay."

I stepped forward, opening the folded paper in my hand. "We were in the library earlier. We asked for the logbook that tracks who borrowed the rare books."

"Okay. And?" Marcus prompted, hopeful.

"Wala na. Nawawala 'yung logbook," sagot ko. "Locked drawer daw, hindi basta basta nawawala. Pero ngayon, gone. Someone took it." I explained.

Marcus closed his eyes and leaned on the edge of the desk. "So whoever planned this... they're cleaning their tracks."

"Exactly," Lazarus piped in, now bouncing slightly on his shoes. "It's like they're daring us! Challenging us! And i'm here for it."

Marcus shot him a look, but Lazarus just grinned. "Anyway," I continued, "My current theory is that these deaths are connected, not random. The killer's not just picking names out of a hat. There's a system. A pattern. That's what we're trying to decode."

Marcus nodded slowly. "And you're sure it's one killer?"

"Honestly?" I shrugged. "Yeah."

"And the stolen logbook just made it worse," dagdag ni Lazarus. "Whoever did this wants to stay ten steps ahead. But they didn't count on us being fast learners."

Marcus rubbed his face with both hands. "Okay, so what now? What's the next move?"

"We need access," I said. "To every corner of student data you can authorize, especially activity logs, footage, library access records. Online communications if we can swing it."

Marcus looked uncertain. "That's a lot of clearance. We'll have to go through admin."

Lazarus leaned on the back of a chair. "Convince them. Tell them we're the best chance you've got. Because we are."