Black, Blue, and Gold (Book 2)

One Step at a Time (Part 14)

"Why do you say that?" asked Lisa from the back seat.

"She answered all our questions and cooperated with everything. She didn't know much, she said, and denied all involvement but she gave us permission go through her apartment and even her bank account. She said she had nothing to hide and I believed her. We found nothing on her. No relation to that convict Ji Seungjin and no criminal record. She's just an ordinary nurse, a mother of two and wife to a bank clerk downtown."

"I see. But you're still detaining her, right?"

"For now. But we can't hold her much longer. There's no reason to do so since she's been very cooperative with the investigation."

"Then we'll get to her first. Seul, maybe you can talk to her?" said Lisa.

"On it."

"Chaeng-ah, let's go drill that morgue staff. I have a feeling that he's very much involved in the body switch."

"You got it. Can I be bad cop?" Chaeyoung turned to look behind her and grinned. "I'd like to keep my roles consistent and I was bad cop last time I saw him."

"Okay. But that doctor is mine," said Lisa. "I want to know why Seungjin is on his Facebook."

"He's all yours." Chaeyoung turned around to face the road ahead and noticed Sehun furrowing his brows. "Lis... I mean, Inspector Manoban, is our team leader, Sehun. She's in charge."

"O-oh. I see." Sehun stole a glance at the woman sitting in the backseat through the rearview mirror. "Then I better pay attention and learn a thing or two."

Lisa gave him a small smile. "Be my guest."

--

The nervous young man turned his head when the door opened. He recognized Chaeyoung and instantly tensed as he watched her and Lisa took their seats across from him.

"Do you still remember me?" asked Chaeyoung as she opened the folder in her hands.

"Y-yes."

"Heard you were going to skip town, Hyeonwoo. You do know that running makes you look guilty, right?" She kept her eyes on the paper.

"I-I've been planning this trip for a long time."

"Really now? Then how come your supervising pathologist didn't know about it? You would've told him about taking a few days off for this trip of yours, wouldn't you? I mean, he's technically your boss."

"..."

Chaeyoung finally lifted her head, giving him the coldest stare she could manage. "Oh yes, we asked. He had no idea of your so-called planned trip." She closed the folder then handed it to Lisa while fixing her eyes on him. "Look. We've just spent 4 hours in the train. We're tired, it's late and you're complicating things, holding up our investigation. What's worse, you're lying to us."

The tall inspector leaned forward and lowered her voice. "My teammates have been attacked and we suspect that Ji Seungjin, that convict whose body we can't seem to find, is behind these attacks. So if you're somehow involved in letting him escape from the hospital, we're taking you down for being an accomplice to attempted murders of law enforcement officers. You can really kiss your degree goodbye because you'll be rotting in prison for a long time."

The young man swallowed and trembled, sweating under Chaeyoung's ruthless glare.

"Calm down, Inspector Park." Lisa reached out, pulling Chaeyoung back by the arm.

She then looked at the scared Hyeonwoo. "My apologies. My partner has had a rough week. We all have, actually. And yes, it was a long trip from Seoul and we're pressed for time. So let's just... quickly start from the beginning. Oh and I'm Inspector Manoban Lalisa, by the way, also from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency."