“𝘿𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙢! 𝙇𝙖𝙮 𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄'𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙢. 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙢. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙬𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙝𝙞𝙢.” 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘈𝘴 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘎𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.

 

‘𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘜𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘓𝘶𝘪𝘴?’

 

𝘈𝘴 𝘐 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘝𝘦𝘯𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢…

 

𝘓𝘶𝘪𝘴 𝘍𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘰'𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘤𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘴.

 

“𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙚,” 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥.

 

𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.

 

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘐 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦.

 

Dust filled my breath when I slowly opened my eyes to a dark room. My eyes circled the place and recalled the events that transpired.

 

When the wall cracked, I entered it and discovered sheets of paper. My heart raced as I scanned the papers. It was twenty-one pages too like the one I discovered earlier — 320-340. There was nothing special about it. With each step I took closer and closer, I felt a fluid gush down my nose. I tried to aid it but I collapsed. Then that dream, which I don’t remember now, suddenly flickered in my thoughts. 

 

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦... 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳. 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦.’

 

I slowly got on my feet and noticed a small drawer next to the pages. Upon closer inspection, I saw a blue UV light object inside. I pondered its purpose but couldn't come up with an answer, so I decided to leave it there.

 

I explored the simple yet enrapturing room, but after all, I realized it was just a plain and dull wall. I was about to just focus on the pages when something caught my attention.

 

I had a glimpse of a pound symbol and three empty lines at that moment — #_ _ _.

 

“𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗲?” I pondered aloud. Experimenting with various codes, it suddenly dawned on me. 

 

"𝗔𝗵! 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗿𝘆!"

 

Entering the code "𝟮𝟰𝟬" — the last page featuring the music sheets — triggered the appearance of an attached case. Hastily opening it, I eagerly examined its contents. Inside were several papers resembling the diary pages. I ran my fingers down the papers

 

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴 1 𝘵𝘰 319 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦 341…’

 

It dawned on me that these were the authentic diary pages. The initial pages were filled with writing, but the subsequent ones were blank.

 

𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝟯𝟮𝟬-𝟯𝟮𝟮:

Dear Luis, you left Antipolo and Leo and moved to Angono. They had a homey village there — Marwood. your life was not the same anymore but was great. All’s well… not until your daughter Jena got sick and you needed money. You worked honorably but it was not enough for your daughters’ medication. You didn’t know what to do, not until the news reached you. Leo was transferred to Angono.

 

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘦.’

 

𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝟯𝟮𝟯-𝟯𝟮𝟱:

Hi, Luis! This day, you remembered the money rightfully yours. The money you’re supposed to get from the cases you worked on together with Leo. The one that you didn’t get because Leo got all the spotlight. You confronted him about it and tried to get it but he became so greedy to hear your arguments. So you think of a plan to get all your money back. 

 

Filled with anticipation to uncover Luis's intentions for acquiring his money, I turned to the next page only to find a perplexing riddle poem inscribed upon it. 

 

𝙄 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠,

𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙧 𝙇𝙀𝘿 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝,

𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚,

𝙄𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚.

 

"𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗶𝘁? 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗲'𝘀 𝗷𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲? 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗺 𝗜 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?!" I exclaimed in exasperation.

 

Overwhelmed by the riddle, I feel as if my mind is on the verge of bursting. Opting to depart the location, I plan to resume the investigation the following day. While driving, I contemplate potential methods to unveil the contents of the upcoming pages.

 

Returning home fatigued, a sudden recollection of the written phrase struck me: "𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴?" The words were: ‘𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.’ Confused, I was unsure of what to do at that moment, so I decided to get some sleep.

 

Shortly after, a sudden power outage occurred. I grabbed my phone in search of light and discovered a flashlight. Retrieving it, I recalled phrases from the sheet: ‘𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬, 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.’

 

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰! 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘳! 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘶𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬?’

 

I immediately went to the place beyond the wall and looked for the attached case I left inside. The answer to the riddle last night was light!

 

I was filled with excitement to see what would happen. I pointed the light on the blank page and there I found a letter.

 

𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝟯𝟮𝟲-𝟯𝟮𝟵:

Dear Luis, your initial plan was to sneak into Leo’s house to claim your money back. However, a better plan presented itself — not just to get what is yours but to see Leo suffer and have his downfall.

 

I surmise what Luis meant by a better plan.“𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗟𝘂𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺 𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗟𝗲𝗼?"

 

𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲: 𝟯𝟯𝟬-𝟯𝟯𝟰:

Dear Luis, you are the better detective. Yes, you and Leo are both detectives but you have the edge! You are the mind behind your successes. Leo was just the body! Being the great mind you are, you discovered that L