Erased (Chaelisa Au)

Chapter 10: The Spider's Web

See, here's the thing, the reason why Tzuyu got so interested in the case. About five years ago, a terrible killing spree took the lives of 10 young women. Five had been students from YG University, another five were scattered around the nearby colleges and high schools. All victims shared one thing, they were loners, sort of outcasts, and they didn't have many friends or much of a social circle.

And in that case, one graduate student who was kind of a good man was arrested and convicted.

Except he was innocent.

And when Tzuyu heard the tale of what had happened back in Dr. Manoban 's hometown regarding three teenage girls who went missing and was eventually murdered, with a poor weird kid taking the blame while proclaiming his innocence, the alarm bells started ringing in her head.

Especially when she found out that Det. Park was framed for Mr. Myoi's murder after the two started digging about what they found.

That about a year before, two girls were found murdered just outside of the town they lived in. The man arrested also claiming his innocence.

And in between the period of time that separated those cases, two or three girls went missing in areas close to Dr. Manoban 's hometown, close to Seoul , and more recently in the city itself where most of the possible connection the new cases had to the old ones got buried beneath all the other active killings, acts of violence, and disputes going about in Atlanta.

That's why Tzuyu knew.

Her instinct was screaming it inside despite her exterior calm demeanor.

It had to be just one person.

One person with the same modus operandi.

One person who was starting the kidnappings and killings again.

The person who framed Lisa, killed Dr. Manoban because he caught a glimpse of his face from an attempted kidnapping about two days ago, the person who framed Jihyo's father, the person who killed all those past girls and Mina's dad...

Yes... it was only one careful and scoundrel.

And Tzuyu...

Tzuyu swore she would help her friends hunt this person down.

"I wonder if she's doing okay." she heard Mina say as she and Jihyo were organizing a few files in their makeshift base of operations - a small office space for rent near some small city college campus - taking Tzuyu out of her reverie.

"Who?" Jihyo had asked. "Lisa Manoban ?"

"Yeah." Mina then replied. "Do you think she knows something too?"

"I don't know. Dr. Manoban said she was in the dark when you spoke yesterday afternoon, right?"

"Yeah, he mentioned that." Mina said. "I think we should help her."

"We first have to look for her." Jihyo then said, and Tzuyu couldn't help but agree with that sentiment.

So she stood up, grabbed her car keys and immediately headed out.

Perhaps, even with Dr. Manoban 's death, helping Lisa Manoban would lead them to a breakthrough.

Jeongyeon couldn't help but feel for Lisa. That morning, the news was still going on and on about how she was a wanted fugitive. She helped Lisa make some kind of make shift bed on the floor with a thick comforter, a blanket, and a spare pillow the night before and decided to let her rest and sleep in that morning. Poor thing had just gone through the worst possible event of her life.