Fallen Angel | k.sj

Chapter 24

"It's a match. The lab reports found traces of the blood of Lee Yuri, Yoo Jaehwa, and Song Haewon as well as the fingerprints of both Choi Misun and Choi Minchul. Additionally, though it was pretty hard to gather since it was six years ago, we were able to detect a blood sample that belonged to Hwang Jisol," the lab analyst explained.

It was like music to our ears. I swear I thought I'd start crying then and there.

We had finally found the murder weapon. After all this time, the core element of this case was in our possession.

Seokjin wrapped me in a one-armed hug, kissing the top of my head.

"This couldn't have happened without you, angel," Seokjin cooed.

But our moment of basking was cut short by the voice of a hurried officer.

"Detectives! Choi Misun and her lawyer have spoken and they're ready to talk with you now."

I cast Seokjin an unsure look. After we had caught her the other day she had refused to talk until she got a lawyer. So her parents spent a good chunk of their savings to get one for her. Kind of ironic if you ask me.

Seokjin waved the burner phone in the air.

"Maybe we can get that burner phone from her too," he remarked.

I sighed, "That'd be the dream. Not that she has a choice anyway."

The two of us headed upstairs and straight to the interrogation room where our lady in orange was waiting.

The lawyer, her parents, and she looked at Seokjin and I like we were some sort of deranged animal. I didn't blame them. It must've been hard to process.

But the air was thick with something else. Regret, disappointment, acceptance.

"It's so tense in here. Cheonsa, I suggest getting mom and dad out, otherwise, she won't be courageous enough to talk."

Ah good ol' Jisol.

But I heeded her advice and asked her parents to step outside while the four of us talked.

The second they were gone and we sat down, her lawyer got down right to business.

"I'm going to be honest with the both of you, I'm not even sure why I'm here, but anyway, these are the conditions my client wants. Misun is willing to plead guilty to the three counts of murder which she confessed she did commit and she's fine with having three life sentences stacked against her. The only condition of a 'deal' that she wants is that her brother, whom she will tell you everything she knows about, gets charged with one count of murder as well as premeditated for all four of the murders. She also wants the breaking and entering charge from the incident at the Yoo's dropped. She says he planned all the murders four weeks in advance."

Seokjin and I were shocked. She was really just giving up. She had been caught and she felt there was no way out. But she intended on dragging her brother down with her.

It made me curious.

Misun's lawyer nudged her, encouraging her to talk.

"Right. Look, let's not sugarcoat anything or drag this out longer than we need to. I...I killed Song Haewon, Yoo Jaehwa, and Lee Yuri. I attended each of the respective 'dive' parties with them after convincing them it'd be fun. Though the girls and I had already been in talks before. Yuri and Haewon had trusted me as a 'friend' and Jaehwa...she was my girlfriend who I deliberately played so that I could do this. I did it because I was mad at them for being so fortunate. I was mad at them for firing my father and shortchanging people who couldn't afford to be shortchanged. Yes, I was the one who foolishly made the bracelets to mess with them and I was also the one who robbed the Yoo's house in an attempt to steal all the polaroids of me so that you wouldn't know I was dating her. Seems like you found her diary though. I was mad at all of them. And when I told my older brother how I felt, that's when he admitted to me that he had killed that Jisol girl six years ago. I was shocked when he started implanting these ideas in my head about what I should do to the girls, but I had always been close to my brother and trusted him. So I thought that this would be the best course of action."

Seokjin and I were at a loss for words. Normally, we'd question why she told us so easily and see if she was covering up for someone else, but we already knew it was her. Jisol already knew it was her. We all did.

Seokjin seemed to have read my mind and asked, "Why were you willing to tell us all this?'

She swallowed hard, "Guilt, maybe regret, but mostly, I'm just tired of it all. Ever since that day in the warehouse, after I got shot, he didn't even take me to a proper doctor. He brought me back to this weird house and removed the bullet himself. It hurt like a bitch but he told me we had to stay hidden. Suddenly, I was a prisoner there. Only he ever went out to get anything and even that was rare. I wasn't allowed to go out, talk to anyone, or do anything really. That day I went to the store, I had snuck out and walked because I was so tired of being trapped there. And so when you caught me, I just kind of accepted it, I guess."

"And that gun that you had..."

"The very same. I used it to shoot the fourteen shots into each of them and Minchul used it on Jisol."

I sighed, there was still one piece of evidence I needed to see.

"Misun, I need to see the burner phone," I said.

Her resolve wavered. I could sense what she was feeling. The second she gave that up, it would solidify her fate. That phone held contents that would put her away for good.

Seokjin tried to get it from her but she refused to hand it over.

"Hold on. I have something we can exchange," I said.

I stood up quickly and ran to my office and searched through my drawer.

Inside was a small familiar leather book.

"I'm sorry she did this to you Jaehwa. I'm going to make sure she realizes what kind of person loved her," I murmured.

I went back to the interrogation and sat down again.

Misun eyed the book in my hands warily.

"What is that?" She asked.

"Jaehwa's diary. She only wrote in it about you. I'd be willing to let you hold onto it in your temporary cell while we await trial IF you give me the phone," I negotiated.

She bit her lip before reluctantly handing over the phone and snatching the dairy.

I motioned for an officer to take her back to her cell and went back to my office with Seokjin.

"So that happened," he sighed.

"Yeah. But now we have the most vital piece of evidence," I reminded.

We spent the next few hours reading through every text exchange done on this phone which of course happened to be only between Misun and Minchul.

It was horrifying, especially for me to read, because Minchul in detail explained how he planned to kill me and when he actually did it.

Terrible flashbacks came back to me.

"Okay, but now we need a plan to catch him. We shouldn't raid the place he's staying at because he's probably already run since Misun hasn't come back," Seokjin said.

I studied Misun's texts carefully.

"No, but I have a better idea. I have a plan, but it's kind of crazy."

And so I told Seokjin my plan that I had made on a whim with the help of Jisol because she was an angelic genius.

The first step of my plan was exploiting Minchul's weakness.

And I knew just how to do it.

Me: Minchul, I need you to meet me at (location) on Friday at 8 pm. I'll explain more later, but the cops found me when I snuck out so I ran away. But now I have a plan on how we can avoid them forever.

[Read at 4:37 P.M.]