LORELEI

AUGUSTUS MORAN, the editor-in-chief of Clark Clarion and one of Moriarty's generals. The first time I heard of him was when Clarion's literary editor Agatha Cortez told me that their EIC was a fan of my stories. Weeks later, I personally met him during the Petrarchan Poem case, where they asked us to find their missing literary writer.

Not once did I think that the bespectacled, respected head of our student publication was connected to the depraved organization of a young criminal mastermind. Wala sa itsura niya. Journalists are supposed to be pursuers of truth and justice. But his affiliation with Moriarty made me think that he is part of what may be a cover-up to the same truth and justice that have eluded our hands.

Thanks to the late Officer Bastien Montreal—may he rest in peace and pay for his crimes in the afterlife—we unmasked one of the mastermind's important chesspieces on the board. Being the chief editor, he can control what is printed on our weekly papers. He can—in Loki's own term—shape public opinion, make the obscene platable and make heroes the villains.

Of course, I haven't forgotten what he attempted weeks ago. Sinubukan niyang sirain ang reputasyon ng QED Club. Sinubukan niyang pagmukhain na kami ang kontrabida, na gawa-gawa lang namin ang mga kasong na-solve namin.

In the end, he failed.

"Let's dispense all the niceties, shall we?" Loki responded bitterly, spitting the word "niceties" like poison. He had every right to be mad at the young man before him. Not only did Gus try to destroy us, he also tried to have Loki expelled and sent to prison (not really, Loki's still seventeen) by implicating him to a series of blackmailing incidents. Remember when his laptop containing the forbidden Pandora's Box was stolen? That would have been the nail in the coffin.

"By all means!" Augustus nodded. "But I am sincerely sorry about what happened to your little club. I'm a fan of your adventures, thanks to Lorelei's blog about your cases. I find them extremely engaging. We are going to print our literary portfolio soon, once the budget is ready."

Right. When his literary editor approached me for the first time, she asked if they could print some of my blog entries. I agreed because I wanted more students to know about what we do. Kailangan naming i-promote ang club namin no'n para makakuha pa ng maraming kasong pwedeng i-solve.

But it's all for naught now. The QED Club is no more, but in name and status only. We are still here, alive and kicking, ready to solve another case that may come our way. And voila! A case has already presented itself: the curious case of Augustus Moran.

"Such a shame that it wasn't you who brought us down," Loki chided, smirking sheepishly. "You risked almost everything back then to try to destroy us. I wonder why you are still the editor-in-chief. You should have resigned for allowing a fake news to be printed on paper. That's the most honorable thing that you could have done, if you had any shred of honor."

"Well, fake news is an oxymoron," Augustus corrected him, touching the bridge of his eyeglasses. "All news stories should be based on facts. See how the words "fake" and "news" contradict each other?"

"Thank you for that insightful trivia," Loki sounded uninterested for the short journalism lecture. "Let's call a spade a spade, shall we? You printed lies. You fed everyone in the campus lies. And you should have hanged your head over the embarrassment."

Students around us began whispering to each other, like buzzing bees. The editor-in-chief darted them a sideward look, probably trying to read the mood of the crowd. Malas niya dahil nasa panig kami ng katotohanan ni Loki.

Kung anumang kasinungalingan ang ipinakalat niya noon, na-debunk na ang mga 'to. We were already vindicated. Napilitan pa nga silang mag-post ng announcement tungkol sa pagtanggal sa news writer at editor dahil sa misleading na balita.

"We make mistakes every now and then," Augustus sighed, trying to save his face. "We based our stories on sources who had first-hand knowledge on the issue back then. If three people say that the sky has turned red and they believe they are telling the truth, we have to write the story the way it is. The same happened in your case. Our sources corroborated the same angle. No one retracted their words. We also got your side, remember? Fairness? Check."

"He said, she said, huh?" Loki scoffed. "No good would come out from debating about journalistic ethics, if you had any. You were biased. You were hell-bent on destroying me—on destroying us—and you failed miserably. Try again next time? Perhaps sooner? Before you fall along with your master?"

"I have no master." Augustus straightened his necktie. "I do not serve anyone."

"Not according to what I know," Loki said, narrowing his eyes into slits. "Unfortunately, my source is already dead so there's no way for me to verify the information. I might need to call a necromancer to resurrect him and put his statements on record. You know him personally, don't you?"

Everyone around us was visibly confused—creases on their foreheads, squinted eyes, wrinkled noses. Hindi rin kasi nila alam kung ano ang katotohanan sa likod ng editor-in-chief na kaharap namin. We would expose him eventually, when the right time comes.

Loki turned his back on the four-eyed editor and lifted a copy of the magazine. "Thank you for the feature, by the way! And thank you for immortalizing our legacy. Don't worry, we will return the favor by immortalizing you in one of the cases that Lorelei will write about soon."

I rolled my eyes. Bakit biglang nadamay ang pangalan ko? I gave Augustus one last look before following my companion. Loki's veiled threat did not budge him. In fact, he was looking pleased, as if he had been waiting for another moment to go toe-to-toe with us. That smirk... That smirk that reeked of mischief. Something might happen soon. And we better prepare for it.

"Why did you provoke him?" I asked as soon as we were out of the editor's earshot. I tried to keep up with Loki's pace. He was walking faster than normal, striding along the crowded hallway. Pinagtitinginan kami ng mga estudyante na parang may artistang dumaan sa harapan nila.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting you to start the conversation, but thank you for saving me from the trouble." Loki spoke, glancing sideways at me. This was the second time that I rolled my eyes. I can't say if he was still upset that I was ignoring him this morning. "Since the Clarion incident a few weeks ago, Augustus must have suffered a great deal of embarrassment. In public, he is the editor-in-chief who let an erroneous report be printed. In private, he's one of Moriarty's chesspieces who failed to bring us down. Imagine the double slap on his face and ego. He must be so bored for not being able to do anything. Moriarty probably ordered him to cease any action against us."

"So your strategy is to force him to act?" I asked, my eyebrows almost meeting. "You wanted to rattle his cage?"

With the casual bored look on his face, Loki started flipping over the magazine pages. Natigil siya nang makita ang feature page tungkol kay Stein Alberts, ang Math prodigy ng Clark High. The young man wearing rectangular spectacles looked far different from the person we know. He was radiating with innocence through his smile and brilliance in the way that he was staring at the camera.

"I have zero idea on how Augustus can harm us other than destroying our image through the Clarion," he confessed, running his fingers over some paragraps on the Stein Alberts article. "He can try the Zory Bernales strategy where he sets loose a reporter to hound us, but he already used that trick already and failed."

"No one can drown the truth with a deluge of lies," I remarked. That's already tried and tested. Augustus could attest to that statement. "If he won't feed the campus with fabricated lies about us again, in what way can he fight back?"

"He ain't the killer type so I doubt he would try to murder us," Loki shook his head slowly, jogging up to the stairs while reading. "Let us wait for him to be on the offensive. In the meantime, we can start our own investigation."

"The magazine!" I blurted out, peering down my own copy. "Nabanggit niya na nagkaproblema sa pagre-release ng budget kaya na-delay ang pagdi-distribute ng mga magazine. We can prove if Jamie's intel is correct should we look into the Clarion's budget report!"

"If we can spot and prove a discrepancy, we can move our pieces and declare checkmate on Augustus," Loki added, closing the magazine. "We will have a leverage against him and we can ask him for information that can incriminate his boss. Oh, I can see Moriarty's defenses crumbling from afar."

Sa tuwing may nakasasalubong kaming estudyante sa hagdan, napapatigil sila sabay tingin sa hawak na magazine. Yes, we are the two students on the cover. I couldn't bear their quizzing stares as if my photo was on a wanted poster.

Loki and I reached the less crowded third floor and turned left to the silent hallway. "We need to strategize today on how we can proceed with this operation. This is Augustus' reckoning that was long overdue already."

Huminto kami sa tapat ng Room 315 kung saan napansin naming naka-padlock na ang pinto. May nakapaskil na papel na may salitang "NO ENTRY." Loki and I exchanged glances.

"Right," Loki sighed, his eyes blinked while reading the signage. "Our club has been disbanded. So why did we go straight here?"

"Old habits," I muttered.

My mind was also preoccupied with our discussion about Augustus that I forgot we no longer had access to our old clubroom. Nasanay na kaming pumunta rito kapag nagpaplano kaming i-solve ang isang kaso. I could still remember, though it was just like yesterday, when Loki hated his chair because Luthor sat in it, when Jamie played blind chess with our club president and when Alistair first came to the clubroom to inquire about joining us.

Perhaps, one of the memories that I hold dear was the first time I came to Room 315, not to inquire about membership, but to ask Loki for his help on sniffing out my creepy stalker. How nostalgic.

"You told us that you are going to accept Professor Morayta's offer of joining the executive committee," I reminded him after offering a moment of silence to our former headquarters. Would we ever step inside that room again, I wonder?

"Perfect!" Loki exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. "We need access to the Clarion's budget reports. Once we join the execom, we will have the power to request the necessary documents."

"Do you think that they will let us conduct an investigation on the Clarion?" I asked curiously. "Sa pagkakatanda ko kasi, hindi nila tayo basta papayagang mag-investigate ng kung ano-ano kapag under na tayo sa kanila. And have you forgotten that Margarette is the chairwoman of the execom?"

"If that happens, we will resort to our old methods," he said with an air of confidence. "They haven't changed the lock of the accounting office for three years. I won't have any problem picking the lock."

"That might get us into trouble!" I protested.

"Why are you so surprised, Lorelei? Trouble is our trade," Loki smirked. He never concerned himself with the possible consequences of his actions. "Anyway, classes are starting in a few. Let's meet at noon in front of the execom office. I will text the details to Jamie."

I flinched at the mention of her name. Sumaglit sa isip ko ang mga nangyari dalawang gabi na ang nakararaan. Jamie on the phone, talking to Stein. Jamie admitting that she was working for Moriarty. I told her that I have already forgiven her, but a tinge of doubt remained.

With nothing left to say, Loki walked away, waving his right hand.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as well as the reservation in my mind.

"Do you really trust her?" I asked after mustering enough courage. "Despite everything that she was?"

Loki came into halt, looking at me over his shoulder. "I trust what Jamie is, not what Jamie was. And she is one of us, remember? The best we can do is trust each other."

Hndi na ko ako humirit pa at hinayaan siyang magpatuloy sa paglalakad. It was kinda strange for me to hear him drop the word "trust." He suspects everyone! An exaggeration, yes, but for Loki to say that we have to trust each other, there must be some good reason behind it.

Despite everything, I still trust him. My instinct told me.

We wouldn't be meeting until lunch time so I went on my way to our classroom. Halos lahat ng mga estudyanteng nakasasalubong ko, may hawak na magazine ng Clarion. Every time I walked past these students, I could hear them murmuring, "Siya 'yong nasa cover, 'di ba?"

Thanks to Augustus and his team, we sort of achieved celebrity status this morning. I still hate getting people's attention. Their curious stares, their doubtful whispers. I couldn't stand being looked at for more than a second.

"Here comes the celebrity!"

Someone jumped out of hiding from a pillar and surprised me. I instinctively clutched onto my chest, my heart almost skipping a beat. Rosetta, with her flowing long hair, held a copy of her magazine up directly in front of my nose. Naglabas pa siya ng permanent marker at iniabot sa akin.

"Pa-autograph naman, Lori!" she said in a singsong voice. I sighed as I grabbed the marker and her copy. Lalo tuloy akong pinagtinginan ng ibang estudyante. I could have shooed her away but all eyes were on me. Kapag ini-snob ko siya, makikita ng iba at baka magkalat pa ng tsismis.

Wait a minute. What if that's exactly what Augustus was trying to pull off? He wanted us to taste a teensy bit of fame and expected us to react poorly! He might have thought that we weren't capable of handling ourselves well. Except Jamie. She was already popular long before she joined our club so she already had a taste of it. Alam na alam nga niya kung paano magpaikot ng tao gamit ang kanyang charm.

Nah, my thought was absurd. Augustus wouldn't resort to such a cheap ploy. If he were to strike, he would strike harder.

Ano bang isusulat ko rito? My legal signature? My complete name? Or the nickname that Rosie and the others use to call me?

Didikit na ang tip ng marker sa cover nang mahinto ako. Another signature was already on the cover. Namulagat ang mga mata ko at bumuka ang aking bibig. My chin trembled.

"Are you okay, Lori? Bakit parang namumutla ka?" Rosie tilted her head to one side, her eyebrows knitted.

Ibinalik ko sa kanya ang magazine na hindi pa napipirmahan at tumakbo papasok sa classroom. Rosie shouted something but my mind was busy with my own thoughts that it completely blocked what she was trying to say.

I stopped at the doorway, catching my breath from the short run. My classmates inside were huddled around one spot. They all turned to me, curiosity etched on their faces. Hindi sila usually naglulupong sa isang lugar maliban kung nagpaplano silang i-boycott ang klase namin.

"Hey, Lorelei! Congrats sa pagiging cover ng magazine!"

"Manlibre ka naman, oh! Sikat na kayo!"

"Wala yata siya sa mood. Huwag n'yo nang lokohin."

Nilapitan ko sila para makita kung ano ang pinagkakaabalahan nila roon. I was expecting that they were gathered around a certain someone. To my disappointment, wala silang taong nilulupungan doon.

I recalled what I saw on the magazine cover. Was I only imagining things?

"Long time no see, Lori."

With widened eyes, I stood frozen on the ground for a moment. My mind was processing if what I heard was real or figment of my imagination. That voice... I couldn't be mistaken. Imposibleng nagkamali ako ng dinig. Slowly I turned around to face the person who spoke behind me.

His dazzling smile. His hair swayed to the left. His sparkling brown eyes. His stature that stood taller than anyone in the room.

"Alistair!" I cried, leaping at him and hugging him as tight as I could. He caught me in his arms and embraced me back. Nangilid ang luha sa mga mata ko, pinigilan ko ang pagtulo nito. I tried not to cry this early in the morning.

I couldn't believe it. Tama pala ang kutob ko kanina. He's back!

Just when I was about to sign Rosie's copy, I saw my childhood friend's signature on the cover. Kaya nga napatakbo ako rito sa room para i-confirm ang hinala ko. Hindi ako namalik-mata kanina.

"Why didn't you tell me na papasok ka na ngayon?" I pulled myself from him. He also let go of me. Ilang segundo ko siguro siyang tinitigan para masigurong totoo nga ang nasa harapan ko. "You have my number. You could have texted me!"

"I want to surprise you and the others," he replied, his lips forming a curve. That smile that I have missed since the day he was attacked in the clubroom. That time, I thought we would lose him. Blood around his head. His body barely moving. But thankfully, he is still alive and given immediate medical attention.

"Okay ka na ba talaga?" tanong ko. He looked stronger than the last time we visited him in the hospital. He lost a few pounds obviously. "Did your doctor allow you to return to school?"

"Don't worry, I have been undergoing therapy since I woke up," he assured me. "I have regained most of my strength. My doctor said na walang problema kung papasok na ako. It might help improve my condition. Enough about me. How are you?"

I was about to answer but a loud, popping sound interrupted me. Nagkalat ang confetti sa paligid namin. I turned to the direction where they came from and saw Rosie holding a party popper.

"Let's officially welcome back our friend Alistair!" she announced, full of vim and vigor. A round of applause followed. Al thanked everyone for the effort.

"Saan mo nabili 'yang party-popper?" tanong ko.

"Oh, I've been keeping it in the shelf, waiting for the day that I can finally use it," Rosie answered, playing with the cylindrical contrainer. "And that day is today! What a fitting way to welcome Alistair with a bang!"

"On the way na si sir! Papagalitan niya tayo kapag nakita niya ang mga nakakalat na confetti!" sabi ng isa naming kaklase.

"Hoy, Diaz! Ikaw na kaya ang maglinis nito?" Rosie ordered the guy seated in front. My classmates started arguing on who's going clean the mess.

"So much happened over the weekend," I lowered my voice, in response to Al's question moments ago. "You would be as surprised as I was."

"Looks like I have a lot of catching up to do," he sighed. "Go ahead, I'm listening."

q.e.d.