AN: Considering the quiz, I have to say it. You guys really did a good job with your theories. Well, You just went a little far from lol ...
I noticed many of you started adding numbers to numbers but ................ Could Y/N do that in a few minutes? If you remember she just stared at the notes .......... No math, no numbers so as Sherlock Holmes once said 'You see, but you do not observe.'— "A Scandal in Bohemia" (1891)
You read the chapter but you focused only on the notes, you should have considered Y/N's reaction because it was one of the steps to solve the quiz.
Second thing, I gave two hints: 12 and Months .............. So, it's something that's related to months and ............ It's 12.
Hmmmmm what could that be?
Well, thank you guys for your words, it made me happy that you even tried TT
The answer will be in this chapter lol
.
Chapter Forty - Seven,
"I....... I knew it......" You swallowed, hands shaking while holding the piece of paper "It's h-him!"
(PS: Based on a true story)
The chilling words you read took a few seconds to reach your brain and it only led you to fall on the ground on your knees, with no energy to stand nor power to speak.
You recognized the words, the same you saw in London's police department when you were studying about serial killers from the past, but only today, only now you remembered seeing this name and those words on your father's desk twenty years ago. The dream you had earlier was more of hidden memories from when you were five with your father.
The Zodiac.
The Zodiac killer, an unidentified American serial killer who is believed to have murdered at least fifteen people in northern California between 1968 and 1969.
The murders were the subject of intense investigation and media coverage, particularly because of the killer's taunting letters to newspapers and phone calls to police and detectives in charge of the case. His letters, sent from 1969 to 1974, were signed with a symbol resembling the crosshairs of a gunsight and typically began with the phrase, "this is the Zodiac speaking."
It was said that detectives who received his letters were forced to quit under a heavy threat from the killer, and those who challenged him ended up dead alongside their families.
W-wait..........
Your mouth was dry at this point, the silence in your living room was never loud, heart-pounding, and threatening to stop. You have never felt this fear before.
I.............. I d-don't have a family, I have nothing to worry about............. I will be o...........
"J-Jungkook......." Hearing his name from your own mouth was the scariest thing you felt, you tried to move but fall on the floor again, feeling suddenly dizzy as your head throbbed badly. "N-No............No no....." Once that first tear broke free, the rest followed in an unbroken stream. You bent forward where you sat on the floor and pressing your palms to the mat, you began to cry with the force of a person vomiting on all fours.
No.
No.
No.
NO NO NO NO...........
I need to move.
You forced yourself to stand and run toward the door, "Pl-please be there............ P-please........... " With tears blurring your vision you hardly made it. "P-please........plea-"
You opened the door wide and looked at the place Jungkook was sitting.
He's not here.
Your heart skipped a beat, the world suddenly went silent....No...........No that can't be hap-............"Ju..........."
"Y/N...."
You swore you'd have passed out if you didn't hear his voice.
After his fight with Taehyung, Jungkook decided to come back and wait for you telling himself that the pain he feels every second pass and you don't come out to him as his own punishment, he wasn't returning if he was, to be honest, earlier today he almost gave up but now..................
He saw how you run toward him, threw your arms around him."Jungkook......I........," You sobbed as he stood there confused, "L-lie to m-me.............lie to me a-all you w-want......... Just......just don't d-die........" It seemed to him that he could feel your heartbreaking as you clung to him. Shaking, crying, and scared for some reason. "D-don't leave....."
Don't die?
What's going on.
He didn't understand what's going on but he tightly hugged you back, "I won't! I will never!" He told you but that only made you cry more. "What's going on, Y/N?" he asked but you didn't answer.
The thought you suddenly had when you read the letter then when you didn't find him outside was killing you inside, even though it was only for a few seconds but you have never felt powerless and hopeless in your life, you don't know if it's the timing or something else but............ One thing you were hundred percent sure of.
Jungkook being hurt will be the thing that will end your life for good.
Now that the idea crossed your mind, everything you went through in your life sounded normal.
Everything Jungkook did, didn't matter at the moment.....
"Hey..... It's okay!" He hugged you even tighter as you tried to calm down and tell yourself to forget the thoughts by hearing his heartbeat and feeling warmth but it was harder than you thought.
Feels like all the tears you hid for years decided to escape now. It was painful for Jungkook to see you like this, especially since he doesn't know the reason you are this scared. All he could do was embrace you and let the torrent of your tears soak through your shirt.
He could feel you clench your fists, not knowing whether to be relaxed or still be scared. He could hear your silently screaming, suffocating with each breath you took holding onto hope.
Just what the hell happened?
"No matter what's scaring you Y/N, Please know that I am here!" He ran his fingers through your hair, time and time again, in an attempt to calm the silent war within your mind.
God, what if I didn't come?
What if I was late?
It was Jungkook's turn to get scared of his own thoughts now, only he was able to stop when you talked.
"T-Taehyung........ C-call......Call h-him" You tried to speak and take a deep breath, he slowly felt you pulling away from a little, hands still clenching on his shirt as if you were scared he'll leave. She didn't believe me when I said I won't leave.
"Why? what's going on?" The man looked at your teary eyes, a scene that totally broke him. You were a mess, eyes as red as blood, cheeks wet with tears, barefoot and trembling. "Tell me, Y/N!"
You suddenly looked around in panic then held his arm and run inside the house, quickly closing the door then dragged him with you to the living room.
"My p-phone........ Where's my phone........" Jungkook didn't recognize the girl next to him. You were always sure, confident, and strong but now all that he saw was a scared girl who's panicking.
He run toward you and placed both his hand on your shoulders, "Listen to me Y/N." You stared into your eyes, "Breath Baby, okay?...... Slowly!" He told you.
You swallowed and did what he said.
Yeah right, I should focus now.
I won't be scared.
I can do this.
Nothing bad will happen.
You nodded.
"Alright, You said call Taehyung...... "He slowly told you and took his phone from his pocket and showed it to you, "I will call him, just sit here ....." He gently guided you to the couch and made you sit knowing that you could barely stand, he sat next to you.
A hand holding yours and the other calling his friend. He doesn't know the reason but if that will calm you he'll do it.
You gazed at the paper you throw on the flood earlier but looked away quickly.
No...... A coward bastard won't scare you......... Jungkook is fine............ The ball is in your court now.
You'll win.
It has always been like that.
I will fucking kill whoever this asshole is.
You closed your eyes and took a deep breath while Jungkook was calling his friend.
Relax Y/N
"He's on his way!" Jungkook caressed your hand, "Jimin and Jin also!" He smiled at you, he told Taehyung to get the boys as well hoping you'll feel less scared if more men were around you.
"My p-phone......" You told him, "I need to call the c-chief!" You swallowed, trying to control your breath after all the stupid crying.
"Is it something about work?"
You nodded, "K-kind of!"
"Let's wait for Taehyung, alright? he'll call him if it's needed." Jungkook added, now holding both your hands. You nodded again. You couldn't talk right now and the man understood that. You just needed support and he was there to give it all to you.
On the sofa, he moved closer and hugged you again, no words said, just him having you inside his arms.
Tears started to fall again, but this time silently.
You didn't cry because you were scared now, you cried because it felt good.
Having someone with you when things get hard. Someone who can hug you and tell you you'll be okay.
After your parents disappeared, you don't remember having someone your heartfelt at ease with, even Mrs.Kim. The doctor who adopted you when you were 17, was nice and caring but after the traumatic experiences you went through it took so much to even talk to people again. She died before you could have a nice conversation with her or even thank her.
Coming to South Korea alone helped you move on, feel a little safe compared with being in the same county with the man who almost ruined your life completely.
She gave you a new name, a new home, and a brand new life.
You were thankful for her.
But....... What you feel about Jungkook is totally different, even though he lied and used you for his own benefits you still feel safe and comfortable with him.
You told him to stay away but he stayed. As if he knew your heart wanted him to stay even if your mind asked him to leave.
And....... Maybe
Just maybe.....
The idea that you don't know when he lies may be a good thing for you.
When someone else says 'You'll be fine' you immediately know they aren't sure so it doesn't help you at all.
But when he does......
Even if it's 50/50 chances, you still can believe him......
He might be telling the truth.
I might be fine.
Everything might actually be okay.....
So....
Even if he lies, even if he just said it to calm you down.
He said it.
You can believe him.
It's enough for me.
"I don't know what happened, Y/N but........ I will tell you something!" He whispered while running his fingers through your hair gently, "No matter what it is........ It will pass and you'll be okay, I will be with you and as I said before............. I will never leave!"
You bite your lips and nod.
Yes, it might be true.
It's crazy how you could jump from saying you never want to see him again to clung to him like a child to their mother.
.
You closed your eyes and didn't know you actually slept until you heard the doorbell.
You immediately pulled away from Jungkook and stood up.
"I will open it, stay here!" He smiled at you but you didn't do what he said, you ended up following him to the door.
You don't know what might happen.
And you already promised yourself to protect Jungkook at all cost.
"Hey Y/N!" Jimin waved his hand and smiled brightly when he saw you standing behind Jungkook.
You just painfully smiled back at him then looked at the other two men entering the house. Jin had a very serious look on his face after seeing how tried you looked but he didn't say anything and just walked with the other as all of you walked back to the living room.
"She needs to talk to you........It's apparently something related to work!" Jungkook said to Taehyung with no emotions, they were probably not on good terms.
"Work? Didn't you ask the chief to move out from our team?" Taehyung told you. confused that you even asked for him after what he said and how you walked away from him because of everything.
You sighed and looked away, "Can you follow me, I need to show you something!" you said, your voice couldn't sound weaker. the men could see how exhausted you were and that stopped them from asking any questions.
They followed you to the office room and you watched how they looked around in awe, pictures, notes all over the wall, files and reports everywhere, coffee mugs and pills almost on every table.
"Are you trying to kill yourself, Y/N?" Jin couldn't stay silent after he knew you have been working nonstop.
"That's not important right now!" You said making Jin roll his eyes. He should have known that this was your way to forget everything. He should have stayed and washed over you.
You walked toward the wall near the desk, looked at Taehyung then said. "As you might know, I asked the chief to give me the most difficult unclosed cases-"
"Why would you do that?" Jin suddenly interrupted you. "You asked me to give you time alone to think, but look........ this is your way of thinki-"
"Jin Hyung!" Jungkook walked and held Jin's arm, "Please......... let her talk." he added. Jungkook knew this was serious, it's the only explanation for the reaction you showed earlier.
You watched Jin sigh and walk to sit on the nearby chair. "Fine"
"Sorry, Jin............ I will tell you everything later!" You said then turned to Taehyung again. "Anyway....... I already finished the cases 2321 to 2332."
"Those are the unsolved ones that happened earlier this year!" Taehyung walked toward you, curious about what you'll say. When Jungkook called and asked him to come to your house with Jimin and Jin he thought you'll talk about what happened but he never expected you to bring work into this. "12 cases in a row, different but non was closed."
You nodded, "I just finished the last one yesterday, I gave the report to Mingyu and he already deliver it to the DA. I believe the offenders were arrested by now!"
"Wow....... You could do that only in five days? Guess we really needed you to join our Police after all." Jimin said making everyone look at him, Jin rolling his eyes over how stupid you were.
"I w-worked hard," You told him and looked away.
"So........ what about them?" Taehyung asked again.
"Those are the offenders' profiles, I wrote them down just in case." You pointed to the notes on the wall. "I only found it suspicious when I started the case N° 2355 aka the 12 victims case................. I first thought it was just a coincidence but it's more than that."
Taehyung raised an eyebrow in confusion, "You mean there's a connection between the 12 cases you already closed and ............. N°2355?"
"The number 12? They are 12 cases and this new case is about 12 victims!!" Jungkook joined the conversation and walked to sit near you as if he's giving you moral support. "But you said the 12 cases were different and from different offenders?"
"Yes, it was.......... But those offenders have something in common! something that can't be a coincidence!" You said, you watched the men scan the notes and you waited for a while for them to think.
"Different age, different names, different occupations.............. All I see is different, what connection could it be?" Taehyung asked and the other two agreed.
"Exactly, everything is different........" You said, looked straight at the wall, and continued, "Lee Ji Hoon, born on 23.03.91 which is between March 21-April 19 and that's Aries Dates, Kim Sung Min, born 30.04.90 that's is between April 20-May 20 and it's ............ Taurus Dates and so on.........." You took a breath "Their Zodiac signs............... All the offenders have a perfectly different zodiac and also perfectly in order with the case's dates, from Aries to Pisces!"
The men's eyes widened and they all looked again at the notes focusing on the date of birth of the 12 offenders.
No one said a word for almost two minutes as they were all probably thinking.
"It's true!" The young detective was the first one to speak, biting his lip as he stared at the wall, "It's hard to say it's a coincidence!"
"What if they were related to some sort of cult or......... psychopathic group or something? " Jungkook suggested.
"I............... I h-have seen something like that before!" You bite your lips and looked down, fists clenching as you tried not to cry again, "In my father's office, when I w-was.......... five!"
"Five?" Taehyung repeated.
You nodded, "I w-wasn't a child who had an interest in dolls or barbie houses, instead I used to string along with my father to his work!" You took a deep breath and walked to take a seat, "My father was a pathologist!"
"Oh a pathologist I see-........... Huh?" Jimin blinked, "And by string along with your father to his work you mean at ........... the morgue? when you were five?"
You nodded, "Yes, the concept of my father's work was simple to me .............. determine the cause of death to prevent others........... So, it didn't scare me a bit!"
"Oh seeing dead people being .......O-Opened didn't scare you" He swallowed then looked at Jungkook" .... When Jungkook was five he used to be frightened by Mrs.Choi's cat statue!" Jimin laughed, "Some people are built differently!"
"Hyung, this is not the time" Jungkook rolled his eyes shyly and they landed on yours, he swallowed when he watched the small smile you gave him before turning to Taehyung again.
He smiled.
"Anyway, I was saying.............. " You cleared your throat, "One day when I was with him, he was working on a case of five people dying, one of them happened to be a Korean person, I don't know if my father was in charge of the autopsy of all of them but I found the information about the victims on his desk so I just read it."
"You were able to read at five?!" Jimin said again.
"The fuck Hyung, ....... You already know how smart she is so............... care to shut up?this is serious! " Jungkook sighed again.
"Sorry!" He shyly apologized and went to find a seat in the corner.
"Yes Jimin, I was able to read at five....... well, it was actually at four but yeah whatever!" You sighed, "So.........I was saying, when I saw their date of birth I joked with my father saying, the victims were born from Libra to Aquarius." You paused, "At the time I didn't care about it until............. I remember it today when I saw those!" You looked at the notes and they all followed your gaze.
"You mean............" You watched Taehyung's eyes widening.
You nodded. "I think it's the case our parents were involved in! I was joking when I said it but my father may have thought about it a little further...... " You bite your lips when you said that. "Because ........... a similar one happened in 1968 in California........ Known as the Zodiac killer case!"
"The Zodiac killer?"
"An American serial killer that was responsible for at least 15 murders, It's an unsolved case from 1968." You said, "He was known as the zodiac killer because of letters he used to send newspapers and detectives in charge of the case. His letters were signed with a symbol resembling the crosshairs of a gunsight and typically began with the phrase, 'this is the Zodiac speaking.' He was a blood merciless killer that was not only responsible for murdering the victims but also the detectives in charge and their families!"
You paused to look at Taehyung, he was looking down, fists clenched and totally speechless. And, it didn't take a genius to guess what he was thinking.
In fact, he was a lot calmer than you expected.
You cried your heart out as a reaction to this but he just kept it in check.
You bite your lips and decide to tell him everything you know now, from all the people in the world, you know how much it hurts not knowing what happened to the people you love the most.
"Two years ago, TMZ and a team of cold-case investigators identified a man named Gary Francis Poste as the Zodiac Killer. No one is one hundred percent sure Poste was the real Zodiac, They said they uncovered new forensic evidence and photos from Poste's darkroom and one image features scars on the forehead of Poste that match scars on a sketch of the Zodiac............ Poste passed away in 2018 at the age of 80 but............ Even if he wasn't the real one, I don't think the Zodiac will be alive now." You paused to take a breath .............. " I believe that the Zodiac was responsible for what happened in 2002, your father was probably asked to join the investigation because of the Korean person who died in London. Maybe they started investing in the theory of the Zodiac after what I told my father."
"B-but why there were no reports or files about it?" Taehyung asked, voice trembling.
"I don't know!" You shook your head. "Maybe they weren't supposed to investigate it in the first place......... The Zodiac case was a shame to the police worldwide!" you sighed.
"Y/N?" Jin walked toward you, understanding now why you were consistent in your words even though you were tried. "Are you doing okay? You don't have to talk about it now...... It's too much when you are that exhausted!" He told you, his tone full of concern. He knew how much your parents' case meant to you.
You shook your head, "I have to!"
"And...... You think this case is a copycat or the ...........s-same person?" Taehyung asked you.
"Considering the victims and the way they died, the killer can't be above 40." You said, "I think it's a copycat."
"How are you sure it's his copycat? Just because the zodiac signs?" He asked again.
You bite your lips and looked up, at Jungkook first then at Taehyung, "I........... I r-received a letter!"
To Be Continued ........