•The persistence of memory• [ Taekook ]

Chapter 3: Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe

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October 16, 2011
5 days until D-day

Both detectives knew very well that all this camera talk was a prelude to some bigger game and a harbinger of disaster. A disaster that began to look more and more like a nightmare.

Although he knew and firmly believed that there was even a glimmer of hope that they would catch the man, the days and hours were beginning to decrease and they had far less time than was desirable. They have already lost one day, while the footage from that night arrived.

Taehyung knew he had another busy day ahead of him.

"I can't believe we fucking wasted the whole day waiting for the camera shots.", Taehyung spoke up as he saw his older colleague re-enter the small and stuffy office carrying two hot bitter coffees in his hand.

All the previous day he was thinking about the camera and by the next day he was again kind of despondent. He completely convinced himself that all this plowed had some higher meaning and that it was not actually a deception or a fraud.

It seemed incredible to him that someone who had been hiding for fifteen years and was perfectly precise and careful could make such a mistake. He constantly wondered why he hadn't even waited until the case was completely out of date, but had crawled out of his lair a few days earlier, leaving a trail behind him.

The detective sat with his elbows bent on the edge of the table, staring tirelessly at the screen in front of him.

"You know they are as slow as death itself. Here you go.", Yoongi said.

They sipped their coffee quietly for a few seconds, then there was a chair creak and Yoongi took his position again.

"It's obvious that the killer was careful not to leave any prints or traces, but the detective... he touched the evidence? And that without gloves?", Yoongi watched him shrewdly with a small mocking smile on his face.

"Shut up, Min."

They both looked at each other, until the funny side of the whole event outweighed all the other facts, and then they both burst out laughing.

"I'm surprised, Kim. The results of your prints have arrived. And now it turns out that you are the suspect!", quiet laughter still echoed in the empty office.

Taehyung sat still.

The laughter had long since left his face and now he could already feel the anger and powerlessness before time. He sat silently but in ambush, carefully watching on the screen every car that passed the fence that night.

"And if the culprit left fingerprints, the rain probably washed them away. And now it turns out that detective Kim Taehyung is a suspect in an expired case!", continued the senior detective.

"I have to ask you, Yoongi Min, to be a little quieter", said Taehyung sternly. "The whole case is already in jeopardy, so be kind and shut the fuck up. And yes, the case is still ongoing."

"You should have known better, Kim.", Yoongi whispered and finally removed that mocking smile from his face. He settled a little better on the uncomfortable chair, continuing to watch the camera footage.

It seemed, however, at least at first, that the lull would last forever. It seemed like they were starting all over again in vain. Ready to get up to light a cigar, Taehyung suddenly noticed something on the video. His breath stopped just as that white car stopped at that very spot.

"What...?", his words were abruptly interrupted by the shock of seeing a small rat-like man in the center of the white light cast by a light bulb from a nearby pole.