Before you start reading this Episode, let me introduce my new characters first.
There are two detectives (Lisa Manoban and Park Jin-young) who will try their best to solve the case of Missing Ms. Son. And there's another officer (Kim Dahyun) who will help them track Ms. Son's whereabouts with the use of technology.
Okay, let's start now!
*****
**The last thing that Tzuyu said to Mina was, “Don’t call her number, better ask the cops to track it down. It will be safer for her than ringing it.**
**Mina realized that she’s right. Calling her might cause more trouble if her intuition is right, that Bam is responsible for Chaeng’s disappearance. So instead of dialing her number, she dialed her father’s number and told him what’s going on.**
**Her dad has connections in the police department in their town. Knew a lot of people who could work on finding her missing girlfriend. Unfortunately, her mom and dad are on a business trip and staying in a hotel in the city at the moment she called him. But her dad promised to call someone from the department and report the event. She didn’t mention that she’s suspecting something or suspecting someone. She just said that one guest was missing, and so unlikely for that guest to be out for that long, which convinced her dad that something is not right.**
**After half an hour of waiting, two detectives entered the café discreetly. One was a tall slender man that you will mistakenly think for a high-school boy. His hair was neatly pushed on its side, and the only thing that will convince you that he’s suitable for this job is the coat and tie he was wearing. It makes him look professional though his face says otherwise. The other one was a stern-looking lady who’s walking a foot ahead of the boy-looking detective. She’s wearing a white button-down shirt neatly tucked in under her black coat. Mina led them to her office after they introduced themselves as Detective Park and Detective Manoban. She doesn’t want her guests to panic just by seeing detectives in her café. Sana and Ryujin followed the three without waiting for their invitation.**
**No one took their seat after Ryujin closed the door. They stayed standing in the middle of the room in a circle. Then the two detectives pulled their notepads and pens on their pockets before they started to ask questions.**
Detective Manoban: What was the name of the guest?
**The stern-looking detective asked. It seems that she’s the one in-charged in this investigation rather than the young-looking detective on her left.**
Mina: Uhm… Son Chaeyoung. She was staying in room 505. And she’s been here for about a week now. We could send you her check-in details if you need them.
**The two detectives nodded and scribbled something on their notepads, especially Detective Park.**
Detective Manoban: What makes you think she’s missing? It’s not over twenty-four hours yet, so we couldn’t rule it out as a missing incident. Maybe she just found something on her way. Don’t you think so?
**Mina shook her head immediately. She knows it’s hard to believe and the detective is right, twenty-four hours hasn’t passed yet. But she doesn’t want to wait one whole day just to strengthen the probability that Chaeyoung’s missing and not in a good state.**
Mina: It is unlikely to happen, detective.
**Her voice was weak, but Detective Manoban had sensed the certainty on her tone.**
Detective Manoban: Looks like you knew the guest so much, Ms. Myoui. What makes you so certain?
**Mina was a bit hesitant to answer the detective’s question, but there’s no point in that. Every single piece of information they’ll give them will be a huge help to find her.**
Mina: ‘Cause… ‘cause we started dating after a few days of her stay here.
**Now she let it out. It might sound funny for these two detectives to know the truth. But what’s important to her right now is to solve this thing than to save herself from whatever people would think about her.**
**Detective Manoban studied her for a while. Maybe a full minute or so. Do they run out of questions to ask? Mina thought.**
Detective Park: Hmm… all right. So, when did you last see her?
**It’s now Ryujin’s turn to answer the question since she’s the last person to see Ms. Son. She already dug her memory numerous times if there’s something odd when they were driving in the town and even when they reached the bookstore. But she couldn’t find any clue that the author has the intention of ditching anyone.**
Ryujin: I’m the last person who saw her. We were together this morning. We drove to the town I think at nine after she had her breakfast. Then we stayed at the vintage bookstore to buy the book she saw there yesterday. But… but she only stayed there for just half an hour, I guess. She left me immediately telling me that she’ll drive back to her room to take a nap.
Detective Manoban: Why didn’t you leave the bookstore with her?
Ryujin: Uhm… I didn’t know she has a plan to leave that early. I even told her she tricked me ‘cause it wasn’t our initial plan. I thought we’ll stay there and read some books at least after late lunch, but then she reiterated to me that her plan is just to buy the book she mentioned to me last night.
Detective Manoban: And you didn’t notice something amiss? It seems like she has a plan of going somewhere. Maybe she just doesn’t want any of you to know her whereabouts.
Ryujin: I don’t think so, detective. Maybe, we’ve only known each other for a few days, but for that few days that she’s here at the hotel, it’s so unlikely for her to stroll around somewhere. She’d rather sit with her laptop at the corner of the café than walk outside. She’s a… well, I don’t know if you’d heard her before, but she’s C.Y. Son, and she’s a writer.
**That being said, Detective Manoban kind of believes that maybe they’re right. That Ms. Son might not be someone who just goes wherever she wants. But what she doesn’t know is, there’s another face in the story. And Sana couldn’t wait anymore for them to ask the most important question. So she gave herself a way to interrupt everyone and drop what she knew about their childhood friend, Bam.**
Sana: Well, the reason why we think something happened to her is because of our childhood friend, Bam. He’s…
**She paused. Not sure what’s the appropriate description to give to these two detectives.**
Sana: He’s still into Mina. And he came back here the other day to see her again.
Detective Manoban: What makes you so sure he’s involved with this?
Sana: I know it’s wrong to speculate on something since he’s our friend, but someone told me he’s insane, a psychopath. I also don’t want to believe it, but all I want is to protect my friend here from him until this thing about Ms. Son occurred.
Detective Park: Psychopath?
Sana: Ye—yeah. A friend told me earlier that he’s seeing a psychiatrist in Canada. But she didn’t disclose what diagnosis he has. I’m just wishing that whatever it is, he won’t end up doing something gruesome to someone.
**The two detectives eyed each other. It looked like a love triangle, they thought. But they didn’t voice it out. They just kind of understand each other that way.**
Detective Manoban: Did anyone of you tried to call Ms. Son?
Mina: No. We don’t have her number with us. Her vacation here was booked by her best friend, so every piece of information we have in our system is not hers. But we already got her number from her friend.
**Then Mina took her phone and showed them Chaeng’s number, which they immediately scribbled in their notebook. She also retrieved a photo of them from their first dinner together, so they’ll know who they’re looking for. Detective Park asked Mina to send it to him so they’ll have a reference when they ask the people in town.**
Mina: Will you… will you please track it instead of… calling it? ‘Cause if she’s in danger, calling her might cause her more trouble, right?
**Both the detectives nodded, agreeing to what Mina just said. It will most likely get the perpetrator’s attention and might push him to do something unlikable to her.
Detective Manoban: You said you drove to the town by nine, who’s car did you two use?
Ryujin: Uhm… hers, detective. We parked two blocks away from the bookstore since it’s the nearest parking lot in the area.
Detective Manoban: What’s the car?
Ryujin: It’s a grey Toyota Yaris, and we parked it almost in the middle of the parking, facing the road.
**Detective Manoban nodded, finally figured out where to start their search. The two detectives pocketed their notebooks and pens to readied themselves to work on it.**
Detective Manoban: I think we now know where to start. We’ll check if her car is still there and ask some folks in town if they see her. We’ll call you Ms. Myoui if we find something. And about your friend, we’ll check him out, too. Check if he has an alibi or something.
Mina: Thank you, detective. I’ll keep my line open.
**Then the two detectives exited her office, while the three of them stayed worried inside. Mina feels helpless ‘cause she can’t do anything to save Chaeng but to wait with the progress of the investigation.**
Ryujin: Well, let’s just pray to God that she’s just wandering somewhere else and not being captive by…
**She hates to say it, and she hates to believe that the guy she knew since she was little would do something bad to someone.**
Ryujin: by Bam.
*****
Detective Park: Looks like a love triangle, don’t you think?
**He asked as he fastens his seatbelt and before pushing the start button of their car.**
Detective Manoban: Looks like it. But we’re not sure yet. I’ll send her number to Officer Kim to track the location of her phone. But for now, let’s drive back to the town and look for her car. If it’s still there, their speculation might be right, that their friend Bam is involved with this.
**Detective Park snorted. He hates love triangle. Most cases they handled with this kind of issue always end up gruesome.**
**But instead of asking more about their new case, Detective Park asked Detective Manoban something else. Something that instantly changed the mood of the latter. Now he’s wishing that he should just shut his mouth up and kept it to himself, instead.**
Detective Park: Aren’t you meeting Jennie tonight?
**He heard a heavy sigh as an answer. Okay, I should not have asked any more. He thought. Then he continued to press the accelerator until it reached sixty.**
Detective Manoban: I canceled it. And as always, she couldn’t understand why.
Detective Park: Didn’t you explain it to her?
**Detective Manoban sighed again. There’s no point in explaining things to her. She won’t accept it anyway. They’ve been together for three years now, but she still couldn’t understand the gist of her job. That she’s always on call.**
Detective Manoban: You know what, sometimes it’s better to think about the case where handling than working on my relationship. She’s getting more and more difficult to understand lately.
**Detective Park didn’t answer. He just doesn’t know how to handle a relationship. Well, he’s never been in one, so he doesn’t know how women think.**
Detective Manoban: She keeps on nagging at me with a lot of things. Blaming me about everything. Telling me I no longer love her, and that she’s at the last part of my priorities. For Pete’s sake, Jin-young!
**She’s almost yelling. But Detective Park doesn’t mind, though. He thinks that his partner should blurt it out than keep it to herself. That’s actually what their psychologist always tells them, that the reason why they have partners is not just to have someone to look at their back in their operations, but also to have someone who will listen to them with their problems. That will keep them sane all the time.**
Detective Manoban: I don’t know why she couldn’t understand why I need to work my ass day and night. I want a promotion, and you know that, Jin.
**Well, that’s the reason why relationship sucks sometimes. Detective Park thought. Sometimes they make you feel incompetent that’s why he doesn’t want to involve himself with one.**
Detective Park: Guess that’s one of the reasons I keep myself away from women. I don’t want to be controlled.
Detective Manoban: I guess I didn’t foresee that she’ll eventually turn to be so controlling, you know. Anyway, is that the parking lot?
Detective Park: I think so.
**Then Detective Park pulled across the street of the parking lot. There are still a few ones parked on it even though it’s already eight. Then both of them get out of the car and crossed the street and examine each car. There’s only one Toyota Yaris parked on it and it matches Ryujin’s statement. That they parked in the middle of the parking, and that the color of it is grey.**
Detective Park: Is this it?
**Detective Manoban nodded, and then circled at the driver’s side. She pulled a flashlight into her pocket and checked the inside of the car. Nothing is in it. Not even the book that Ryujin told them that she bought early this morning.**
Detective Manoban: She didn’t reach her car.
Detective Park: You think so?
Detective Manoban: If she did and was forced to ride to another car, the book they mentioned she bought earlier should be here. But it isn’t.
**Detective Park crouched down to check if it’s under the car. No books or purse or anything. Then he circled checking if there’s CCTV in the area that will cover the entire parking. He saw two, and he’s sure that it will cover the whole parking lot leaving no dead spot.**
Detective Park: I’ll check with the parking attendant if we could get a copy of their CCTV.
**He runs to the parking attendant leaving Detective Manoban at Chaeng’s car. She took a picture of its plate number and sent the details again to Officer Kim before calling their forensic team to check the car for fingerprints and other clues.**
**This is now indeed a missing person incident and not just someone who went out for a walk. Although they don’t have a definite clue yet, she doesn’t want to treat it lightly. If they say that the person they’re suspecting is a psychopath, then time is of the essence in this case. They need to hurry and find more clues.**
Wow I can't wait for ep 28
ReplyDeleteMe tooooo!
Deletefightin' author-nim!
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