Meanwhile, in front of the campus where Syafir and Pio studied, the two of them were hanging out beside the main road, conveniently near a Transjakarta bus stop. They looked serious as they read a news portal displayed on Syafir's smartphone.
They were reading an article about a strange murder committed by a pair of killer demon golek dolls, Arjuna and Srikandi. Their appearance had been preceded by the emergence of the Purple Robe and the Golek Goddess.
"THIS IS INSANE! What a savage murder. The victims can be drained dry after losing all the fluids in their bodies. And it was done by golek dolls shaped like Arjuna and Srikandi," Syafir said, speaking to himself. Pio responded after remembering something related to the incident.
"The culprits were the Arjuna golek and the Srikandi golek, right? That reminds me of Srikandi. She always carries the Arjuna golek and the Srikandi golek. Could she be the killer?" Pio said, his mouth hanging wide open and his expression showing that he was thinking hard.
"DON'T BE RIDICULOUS. She lives in Jakarta, while the incident happened in Puncak. Besides, aren't the Srikandi and Arjuna golek dolls not hers alone?" Syafir argued, rejecting Pio's accusation against Srikandi, as if he were defending the mysterious girl. For whatever reason.
"But before that pair of killer demon golek dolls appeared, there was a figure wearing the Purple Robe, carrying a human-faced golek on its right shoulder. Isn't Srikandi crazy about the color purple and a golek enthusiast?" Pio said, trying to convince Syafir that Srikandi was the murderer. Syafir flatly rejected the idea.
"Don't jump to conclusions based on your own assumptions. We don't have any solid evidence yet," Syafir shot back, then scowled at Pio.
"It's hard arguing with someone who's in love. Even when that person is obviously wrong, you'll defend her until you DIE!" Pio declared, returning Syafir's scowl as he stared toward the Transjakarta bus stop.
"LET ME!" Syafir snapped. He put his smartphone into his small sling bag after closing the news portal.
Pio continued staring toward the Transjakarta bus stop, where a bus arriving from the west had pulled in.
The passengers spilled out of the bus one by one. One of them was Srikandi, whom Pio could see from across the street. He immediately pointed her out to Syafir.
"Fir, look. Your dream girl Srikandi is here," Pio said, pointing his right index finger at Srikandi as she drew closer to them on her way to campus.
Hearing Pio, Syafir looked in the direction he was pointing. Srikandi's presence became clearer and clearer in his view. Then he smiled meaningfully at Pio.
"Your eyes are remarkably sharp, Pio Sanjaya Pratama... You can spot Srikandi from that far away," Syafir said, using Pio's full name before smiling at him.
"That's because my eyesight is still perfectly normal, Syafir Surya Bumi..." Pio replied casually, using Syafir's full name in return.
Srikandi finally arrived in front of the campus. As usual, she simply walked on with a blank stare, paying no attention to anyone—not even Syafir and Pio, whom she seemed to regard as if they did not exist at all. Srikandi had never really known either of them.
After Srikandi disappeared from view, Pio spoke again.
"She just walked right past without paying attention to anyone. Not even her admirer," Pio said, clearly taking a jab at Syafir.
"That's what I like about her. She's cool and mysterious..." Syafir replied, imagining Srikandi's face right in front of him, a broad, dreamy smile floating across his own face.
"Mysterious in a suspicious way. What if she's the killer? And what if she has something to do with Ari's disappearance?" Pio said, sounding deeply suspicious of Srikandi and her golek dolls as the murderers, despite having absolutely no evidence.
"But I still don't believe any of your accusations."
"Then we'll investigate Srikandi and Ari's disappearance this past week," Pio declared, refusing to change his mind. This time, Syafir had no choice but to go along with him. He wanted to prove that Srikandi had nothing whatsoever to do with Ari's disappearance or the murders.
"All right. We'll investigate Srikandi." When Syafir agreed, Pio became overjoyed. His long-held obsession with becoming a detective had finally come true—even if only as a detective in his own version of the profession.
So happy was he that he threw his arms around Syafir and hugged him tightly.
"That's more like it. We're a detective duo, after all. We have to solve this case as quickly as possible," Pio said cheerfully.
"Yeah, but let go of me. People are going to think we're a gay couple again," Syafir said anxiously.
Pio released him just as a girl approached. It turned out to be Angel.
Angel was beautiful, with an oval face and a high-bridged nose. Her shoulder-length black hair hung loose, blowing in the wind.
Unlike Srikandi, who was cool and distant, Angel was friendly and outgoing with everyone. She also hit it off quickly with anyone she had just met.
"What were you two doing, hugging like that?" Angel asked, her huge question mark of a look making Pio fidget awkwardly. Syafir, however, looked completely unfazed and answered her casually.
"Nothing, Ngel. Pio gets like that when he's happy. He just turns me into his doll," Syafir said, making it up as he went.
"I thought you two were..." Angel didn't finish her sentence.
"You thought we were a gay couple?" Pio asked, a grin spreading across his face after he said it.
"Yeah, something like that..." Angel replied, then glanced at the watch on her left wrist.
"Class starts in ten minutes. We'd better head inside now," Angel urged, walking slowly as if deliberately giving Pio and Syafir time to follow behind her.
"She's right. We'd better get to class," Syafir agreed, getting up and walking off, with Pio beside him following Angel from behind.