"Do not be tricked by what you see now, sometimes the most unimanginable thing is the truth!"

-Shinichi Kudo

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Chapter 13:
A Symbol Solution

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ZANE

I had just caught up with her when she stopped and turned back, her russet brown eyes fixed on us once more.

"Sir Jerick, have you seen anyone suspicious lurking around here?" she asked, facing the man in formal attire with a calm expression

"And most importantly, why are you looking for our help and not the police?" I interjected, stepping closer to them.

The man shifted his gaze from me to Raine, his eyes narrowing slightly. He moved towards her and asked in a hushed tone, "Is he your friend?"

Raine nodded subtly, her smile tight yet polite. "Uh, yes," she replied.

"Well, to answer your question, Mr...?"

"Nuñez. Zane Nuñez, sir," I stated.

"To answer your question, Mr. Nuñez, Raine here is a good friend of mine," replied Sir Jerick. "The De Verra family has been assisting me for a long time."

Oh, so the De Verra’s also helped them before. They’re truly skilled, and I’m glad the company still trust them, even though I don’t yet know what happened to her parents.

"And why did I call her? Simply because of my instincts — no crime, just that strange symbol," he added.

I fell silent and let them proceed as they wished. It was up to them; I wanted no part in it for now, to avoid making things worse.

Sir Jerick sat down on his gray swivel chair and opened his sleek computer. "That’s not the only thing bothering me. This is what I saw on the CCTV footage: that symbol just arrived here a while ago."

He displayed the CCTV footage. Inside the room, no one else was visible; only the rotating security guard appeared on multiple monitors around the building.

As we entered our current location, we saw him shut the door. But before it could latch, darkness abruptly swallowed the room, and all five CCTVs went blank at once.

Just as I braced myself, a hand landed on the keyboard and pressed the Spacebar, freezing the video. "Try not to blink. See what will happen next," urged Sir Jerick.

"Why? What’s the prob—" I started to ask myself, but he quickly resumed the video.

"It was a two-minute brownout," I added.

"Power interruption," both of them corrected, looking at me as if I had said something that triggered them.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"It was a power interruption. Brownout is a slight decrease in voltage," Sir Jerick explained.

"Oh, okay." I should have just stayed quiet.

The video continued, and I noticed the paper with the symbol was now visible.

Once again, a hand landed on the desk, this time clutching the computer's mouse. With her gaze fixed on the screen, Raine rewound the video by two minutes. 12:05 a.m.

I recalled lying in bed at the flat when suddenly it grew dark. During those moments, I picked up my phone and started reading comics to distract myself, unable to fall asleep after everything that had happened.

After two minutes, the security guard was no longer at his usual post and was now standing downstairs.

"Where's this guard right now?" Raine asked.

"Wait, Raine. You’re not a police officer, are you? Do you think it’s alright to just interfere like that? What if something bad is happening here?" I questioned, worried about her actions and the potential implications.

"There's nothing wrong with asking," Jerick answered me.

Since the elder responded once more, I had no choice but to remain silent. They can do whatever they want.

"Anyways, Jacob told me that his sister, Hannah Cortes, can't come today because she'll be leaving now for Hong Kong as an OFW," he added, shifting his attention to Raine.

"Hannah’s just part-time here, then," Raine muttered to herself.

"Hannah temporarily replaced Jacob while he was recovering after his hospitalization," Sir Jerick explained.

"Oh... I thought she was with Ma'am, who has the same name as mine but with just one 'R' in the name, when she went to London," Raine added while observing the room.

"How did you know that? Just because she's not here?" Mr. Jerick asked.

"I just saw her post earlier that she's back in the Philippines," she replied. "And there’s a small Big Ben keychain on the desk, along with a strawberry-designed sticky note. Beside it is a photo of a place with '221B' written on a door."

Both Sir Jerick and I glanced at the desk, our eyes settling on what she pointed out.

"If you're developing an attraction to her, please don't pursue it. She has no plans yet to find a partner," my companion suddenly blurted out.

Is she serious about that? What is she thinking?

"I'm just a close friend of hers," Jerick chuckled. "I'm just pleased that she gave me a souvenir from a place I've always dreamed of visiting, not because of work."

Raine smiled. "I was just kidding. Now, excuse me. I'll just need to look for something."

Mister Jerick nudged his swivel chair with his foot, moving it aside. "Actually, that’s what I need," my companion said, her gaze fixed on Jerick. He rose from his seat and handed the chair to her.

Raine took her seat and adjusted the chair to match its position from last night’s CCTV footage. As I glanced behind, I noticed eyes observing us. She settled in, elbows on the table, head resting on clasped hands.

Doing nothing only deepened my drowsiness, a stark reminder of my sleep debt from last night. To rouse myself, I decided to take a stroll.

There were three cubicles between the boss’s desk and the one with the symbol on the computer. From every angle, it remained hidden unless someone approached that corner. Positioned at the far end, in the left corner of the room, it faced the window.

There were three sticky notes present, but one in particular had a familiar symbol resembling three lines: one line slanting left and another line touching it to the right. Above this open triangle shape was a small vertical line.

The desk was neat, with papers neatly arranged on the side.

"Was the window locked during those moments?" I faintly overheard their conversation. "You really need to fix the security here. If Ms. L finds out, she might retract her gift."

Finally, Raine pushed herself up and approached where I was standing. "Did you touch it?" she asked.

"I didn’t touch anything there, alright?" I defended myself.

From her pocket, she pulled out a small, circular object. When she opened it, a tiny magnifier, about the size of a new ten-peso coin, was revealed.

She held the lens up to the computer screen, scrutinizing the surface intently. After a moment, she paused, her eyes narrowing as she examined a specific area.

"There's nothing unusual here," she replied. "We need to go home now, sir."

Sir Jerick nodded, a tight smile on his face. "Alright then. Thank you for your time," he said.

We walked back toward the elevator, with Mr. Jerick accompanying us to the exit. As they talked about business matters, their words flowed around me, unintelligible. All I could think about was getting some sleep and rest.

"I hope nothing bad happens or will happen," Sir Jerick remarked as he held the door open for us.

"Let's hope so, but don't be too sure. Anyone here could be a suspect, even you, sir," Raine whispered in a teasing tone.

"If there are any more suspicions here, I'll let you know," Sir Jerick added.

࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

After a brief detour, we made our way back to the flat. I considered striking up a conversation with Raine to keep myself awake, but her furrowed brow and distant gaze suggested she was lost in thought.

Upon arrival, I changed into more comfortable clothes and headed to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, I spotted the chicken my aunt had bought yesterday.

"Oh, ice cream!" I exclaimed, spotting a container in the freezer. I was just about to ask Raine if she wanted some, but when I popped the lid off, I found only last night's leftover adobo instead.

"Just heat that up. We'll have it later since you didn't get any groceries," Raine said, stepping out of her room in fresh clothes.

Eating this for later? This?