The office was full of hushed whispers. Everyone knew what was going on, and it was all they could talk about, but no one wanted to get caught gossiping. Even though it was their job to find, figure out, and lock up the bad guys, there was just something taboo about talking so openly. Still, Y/N would never get used to the way her subordinates would fall silent and stare as she walked by.
"Does he look antsy?" She asked as she opened the door to the interrogation room, San, Seonghwa, and Hongjoong all congregated there.
"Surprisingly, yes," Seonghwa informed her, "Despite our assumptions that he was a confident and unrestrained killer who takes pride in his murders, he seems surprisingly nervous."
"Sweating, fidgeting with his hands, glancing around more quickly than would be expected, it all makes him appear almost paranoid." Hongjoong agreed. "You said he confessed to the crimes at the arrest site?"
"Well, not exactly. You heard what he said on the phone, though, he said it would do him no good to deny it." She reminded him.
"I don't know how well that'll hold up in court." Hongjoong sighed. "Normally, a witness testimony that's convincing enough can get a criminal like this put away. Small evidence goes a long way when a jury is swayed, but... If the witness is The Killer, I'm not so sure how they'll feel."
"I can't just testify anonymously?" San asked.
"You already know that's illegal." Hongjoong looked annoyed that he even asked.
"Plus, I don't know if your ego would allow it." She added. He shrugged, not bothering to argue- maybe it was true. Either way, he wouldn't be able to hide his true identity in court. Was there really a chance Wooyoung could wriggle out of this and escape before they had anything on him?
"He's been in there for long enough." Hongjoong said, looking over. "I think it's time we begin."
"Alright." She took a deep breath. She couldn't deny that she'd been stalling a bit, but as soon as she got into the flow of things, it would all go smoothly. They had a foolproof plan. Well, maybe not foolproof, but at least pretty good. They wanted to involve as few extraneous investigators as possible, especially with San around, so it would be limited to the four people in this room, as well as their killer.
She was going to be the one to interrogate him. On a base level, most male killers had narcissistic tendencies, even if they weren't actually suffering from the disorder, so he was less likely to see her as a threat. He had opened up to her briefly before, so there was a chance he would do it again. Also... there was the fact that Hongjoong had, obviously, wanted to know what he had told her in the warehouse, and she had refused. As much as she'd wanted to tell him, there was a chance San could find out, or at the very least that she'd make her boss worry for nothing. Either way, Hongjoong wanted her running the interrogation on the off-chance that he repeated himself.
She was first going to ask him for a confession. If he refused, they'd reset to other tactics. Showing him pictures of the murders, prodding for evidence of deception, it was all very textbook, but it would work. She couldn't wait to put this whole thing to rest. There would always be more murderers out there, but closing this case would help a lot of families cope, as well as put not one, but two of the bad guys back.
"You ready?" Hongjoong asked as she stepped towards the door.
"Yes, sir. I have my ear piece on, so let me know if any new evidence comes through."
"Come out if you need anything." What he really meant was come out if it becomes too much to handle, but that wasn't going to happen. She wouldn't let it. Not looking back, she opened the door, striding in very calmly with several manilla folders under her arm. Shutting it behind her, she sat.
"Hello, Wooyoung." He looked up at her, taking in her appearance, now in a fresh suit, but said nothing. "Is there anything we can have brought in for you? Food, water, tissue?" He let a short burst of air pass through his nose, almost bordering on a laugh.
"Is that a joke?"
"No, of course not. We just want to talk to you."
"That's a load of bullshit. Is this gonna be good-cop, bad-cop, or are you both today?"
"There's no such thing." She stated. "Now, have you been made aware of your charges?"
"Yes."
"Just in case, I'll give you a refresher." She pulled out a list from one of her files, turning it around on the desk so that he could read it, although he couldn't grab it as his hands were cuffed. She began reading out the names one by one, but he showed no reaction. It wouldn't surprise her that he didn't know the names, but his gaze was flat and emotionless. "All of these were murders committed by you."
"I didn't say that."
"Is the list inaccurate? Because the way it looks to me is that you're trying to distract me." She snarled, "But I'll tell you one thing, Wooyoung, I will not let this go. I will make sure that you pay for what you did, whether it's the easy way or the hard way. And if you want to make things difficult, I will not hesitate to drag you into trial myself. You will get what you deserve. So I'll ask you again- is there anything you want to tell me about these men and women?"
"How should I know? I've never murdered anyone a day in my life. I don't recognize any of those names." This caught her off guard. He had been so open before, almost cocky. He was the type of person that wanted the credit for what he'd done once he'd been discovered. Sure, he didn't need it, or else he wouldn't have been able to stay anonymous for so long, but this innocent act? He had to know it wouldn't get him far.
"You were caught with multitudes of evidence suggesting your position in a trafficking ring. Now that you're here, it won't be long before we can match your DNA to evidence from the crime scenes of the murder. You really want to go this way?"
"I never said anything about human trafficking. I'd be happy to talk to you about that once I have a lawyer present."
"You h... Excuse me?"
"I have the right to a lawyer. If I can not afford one, the court will assign one to me. Asking me if I've been read my charges- I've been read my rights, too."
"You're serious."
"Yes, and I'd like one as soon as possible- I can give you the number to call them, or I can do it myself."
"You have no documents. You are completely off the record."
"What are you talking about? I've lived here my whole life, I have my birth certificate, my social security, drivers' license-"
"You don't have any of that."
"Well, not on me. I admit, it's off that I'm not carrying my license, but if we just go to my house,"
"Your house?!"
"Of course. A house that I would be happy to let you search, sans warrant, after I've been given my lawyer."
"Wooyoung-" She began to say. She was slipping up big time, here. Her emotions were getting the best of her, but she couldn't help it. He was completely throwing her off. Was this his plan the whole time, to come in here and then pretend like he had nothing to do with it? If he walked today, he'd be long gone within the hour, and even if they could find him again, arresting him a second time would cause a lot of red tape that she wasn't sure they'd be able to cut through. "You don't want to do this. Just talk with us, you've already cooperated with the arrest, we can lessen your sentence."
She knew she was lying through her teeth. It wouldn't matter how much he cooperated, for all these murders, he would get life in prison seven times over. That is... if he was convicted. He said nothing, still just looking at her. His nervousness was now nowhere to be seen, washed over by this apathetic, lethargic stare he was looking around with.
"You're really not going to talk to me?"
"I have the right to remain silent." She wanted to scream. What was the point of her interrogation skills if she couldn't use them. Still, if she kept pressuring him, any confession she got could be argued as coercion. Finally, she grit her teeth, standing up quickly from the table, almost knocking over her chair.
"Fine. We'll get you your damn lawyer. But don't be surprised when this ends badly." She stormed out of the room, all but slamming the door behind her. She knew she was going to get heat from Hongjoong for her behavior- she hadn't exactly operated like a professional. When she walked out, though, it was just San and Seonghwa staring at her, albeit from near opposite sides of the room. It was clear that neither much liked the other.
"Where is he?" She asked, deflating as the adrenaline in her blood turned to frustration and sadness.
"He's, uh..." Seonghwa swallowed anxiously. "He's with Mingi." As soon as he spoke that name, her bones turned to ice. She was familiar with the man. He wasn't all that scary or cruel, but just his presence here meant that things were about to be a lot bigger... And a lot more public. Song Mingi was not only Hongjoong's superior, but their company's head man. He decided where cases went, helped with the legal side of things, and he had the ability to make or break these decisions. If they were going to continue interrogating Wooyoung, he could allow that to happen, or make it stop. And something told her he wasn't just here to visit.
Walking towards Hongjoong's office, she wondered if it was rude for her to interrupt. She decided she could get away with it if she just pretended that she didn't know Mingi was there. Putting a hand to the doorknob, she pushed it open, voices immediately flooding her ears. They were in the middle of what sounded to be a very well-kept argument.
"What do you want me to do, Hongjoong, my hands are tied."
"We have a murderer sitting in that room right now, and you want to offer him a plea bargain?"
"It's not my authority to do that, but I think if we could get rolling in that direction, we have a much better chance of getting him put away. I'm doing this to help you, we're not even sure he's guilty."
"Of course we do! We have confirmation from the man who made him a killer!"
"How am I supposed to find a jury that would trust anything Choi San says? For all we know, he's planned it so that the real Argonaut escapes and he goes to join in for a new killing spree. I refuse to give an innocent man life in prison."
"But if we get him on a plea bargain for trafficking, he'll be out in less than a decade!"
"It's better than nothing."
"Letting a monster walk free is better than nothing?! It's not better than anything! I've had half my agents out risking their lives for this, and you want me to tell them we got the bad guy, and he gets to go away for, what, five years?"
"Now listen-" Before they could continue, she coughed awkwardly loudly, causing both their heads to snap in her direction.
"Y/N," Hongjoong said quickly, "What are you doing here?"
"Wooyoung is lawyering up. I did my best, but he refuses to admit to anything."
"He's denying all charges?"
"Well, not the trafficking charges. He says that he'd be willing to discuss that with us once his lawyer is present, but that he has no recollection of any of the victims' names and he's never committed a murder." Mingi glared at him, as if to say, I told you so. She cringed at the thought of what he must be feeling right now, mostly because of her.
"Do you think he may be innocent?" Mingi asked her. It would be so easy to throw Hongjoong under the bus right now, but...
"No, sir. I'm 100% confident that this is our guy, I'd stake my own reputation on that. We just have to find a way to make him confess." Mingi looked wholeheartedly disappointed in her answer.
"Look, Miss... It's L/N, right?"
"Yes."
"Maybe you'll see where I'm coming from with this, since Hongjoong seems to be a bit too invested. We could take Jung Wooyoung to trial with what little evidence we have, risk losing, and he walks free forever."
"Or?" She asked skeptically, sensing a dichotomy.
"Or we offer him a plea bargain, he'll most certainly take it given the circumstances, and he gets locked up."
"For a little bit." She repeated, just as her boss had. Some things would never change.
"Agh, you're just as insufferable." He spat. "Don't you understand the complications here?"
"With all due respect, sir," she looked him in the eye, "There's nothing complicated about this. He murdered tens, if not hundreds of people, many of which we haven't even discovered, and he deserves life in prison. That's all there is to it." She took a step back. "And it's my job to put him there. If it's alright with you, I'm going to go get him his lawyer so that we can keep this process moving along." Before the two men could say anything else, she left.
Walking to the break room, she put a k-cup into the coffee machine, slipping a mug underneath and pressing the buttons. She wasn't even doing it because she wanted coffee, she just needed something to do. If anything, she could give it to San. The whirr of the machine revved up, a small stream of liquid and vapor pouring from it. She couldn't contain herself anymore. Kicking the cabinet the device sat atop, she screamed as loud as her lungs would allow. It wasn't one of those high-pitched, fear riddled scream, but rather one from her gut, a shout of fury and defeat.
"Everything okay?" A deep voice asked from behind her. Turning, she saw San leaning up against the doorframe.
"Yes. No. Maybe. It's just- ugh!" She was trying to avoid going into another outburst, but she was starting to become overloaded. "This isn't fair."
"You want him to get what he deserves."
"As if you'd understand the concept of people getting what's coming to them."
"You'd be surprised. But you didn't answer my question." Sighing, she pulled the mug out, still frustrated, but now with a foot that hurt from kicking the cabinet.
"Yes, I want him to get what he desevres. But it looks like that's not gonna happen. Mingi seems to think we won't win the trial, and he wants to let Wooyoung off with a plea bargain for human trafficking."
"Now, a woman I know once very recently told me that I couldn't possibly understand justice, but," he pretended to ponder cartoonishly, "that doesn't sound very fair."
"It's not." She grimaced, "But there's nothing I can do about it."
"That's not true."
"It's out of my authority." She insisted. "If I can't get a confession out of him, there's nothing to be done. He'll go to jail for a few years, and then..." There was a moment of silence, and then he perked up a bit.
"I think I have an idea."
"An... idea."
"Yes, I think I have a way that you can fix your frustrations, and Wooyoung can get what he deserves. I know him better than anyone here, after all, I'm fairly confident in myself." Well, that was no surprise... But what was he saying? Did he think he'd be able to get a confession? Even if he could, would one elicited by another criminal count for anything in a court of law?
"...How so?"
"Would you be willing to meet me tonight?"
"Meet you?" She asked, confused, "I'm literally in charge of you, San, we're going home together."
"Oh, you didn't hear?" He smiled. "Seonghwa's babysitting while you work out the whole lawyer situation. After all, you're going to want to interrogate him again before they've had too long to talk, no?" She supposed that was true, but... Seonghwa and San alone?
"How do you plan on getting into my house?"
"Your spare key?"
"But I..." She had never told him about the location of her spare.
"I have my ways." He said. "You don't break out of jail by asking for permission. Anyway, I'll text you on the office phone you gave me, it should have your contact information. I'll let you know what I'm thinking."
"You can't just tell me now?"
"Well that would ruin the fun." He winked.
"I don't know about this, San..." She would get in heaps of trouble, even if whatever plan he was so evilly devising ended up working. Hongjoong wasn't really the 'forgiveness, not permission' type. Not only that, but Mingi now had a scrutinizing eye over them as well. If she were to mess this up...
"Take the day to think about it." He waved a hand dismissively. "You have a lot of work to do, anyway. We'll continue this conversation later." And with that, he walked out, not even pausing for her response. She would never completely understand him, no matter how hard she tried. How much of it was his own personal quirks, and how much was acting just to throw her off?
He'd told her to think about it, and think about it she did. All day, she found herself drifting off as she filled out paperwork, trying to figure out exactly what he had planned. If she'd told herself weeks ago that she'd be in this situation now, it would have been laughable. And yet, she was actually considering meeting a convicted serial murderer with hundreds of manslaughter and torture charges under his belt at an undisclosed location just so she could do her job properly. She couldn't tell if it was heroic or pathetic.
Seonghwa and San left around 6P.M., but her work was only just starting. Wooyoung was now in with his lawyer, and there would be another interrogation to conduct. She was growing tired, already on two days of no sleeping. It wasn't the first time she'd had to marathon like this before, but it was taking a toll on her, both physically and mentally. She wasn't sure how effective she'd be. Still, she had to try.
"Go home." She heard Hongjoong say from the doorway to her office. Looking up for her computer, it took her a few seconds to process his words.
"W-what?"
"Go home. You're tired, you need rest. I'll have Seonghwa come by to check on you later."
"B-but Wooyoung, I still need to-"
"Mingi and I are handling the next interrogation. It's all just going to be formalities, anyway. I'll tape it for you so you can look over it. You're no use to us if you go to the hospital for fatigue. I've arranged for someone to drive you, as well, so don't worry about anything. You'll be fresh in the morning, and we can get back on this."
"I-"
"I'm not taking arguments, Y/N." He said shortly.
"I... Yes, sir." He nodded gratefully as she stood to pack her things.
"And thank you, Y/N." He looked away from her, as if embarrassed to make eye contact. "I know I can be... demanding. But you've done well."
"Thank you, sir."
"Get home safe."
"I will." She was escorted by one of the firm's drivers, bringing her safely to her door. She thanked him, unlocking it and slipping inside, breathing a sigh of relief as the familiar smell washed over her. She was already more relaxed- her home, the right temperature, everything was familiar, and there were no serial murderers to deal with.
Wait... speaking of serial murderers... she had completely forgotten about San's words. But he hadn't texted her anything. Where was he? And where was Seonghwa? They were supposed to be here together. Pulling out her phone, she dialed her intern's number quickly. It only took him a moment to answer.
"Y/N? Is everything okay?"
"Y-yeah, I just wanted to ask where you were? I though you were supposed to be here... too..." She added the last bit onto the end in case San wasn't with him. She didn't want Seonghwa to think she'd lost him. As kind hearted as he was, he'd definitely report her immediately.
"Oh, no, I left... a few hours ago? Mingi sent someone else to take care of San, said that I needed to rest, but I think he just wanted one of his own guys on it."
"Oh, okay... Sorry to bother you, then."
"It's no trouble at all! I'm glad to hear you're home. They must have let you off early, then?"
"Yep." She laughed, a bit tiredly. "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I'm kinda..."
"Oh! No! Yeah! I'm sorry for keeping you- have a good night!"
"You too, Hwa. Thanks for all the hard work." There was a moment of silence, and then he said,
"Don't worry, Y/N, we'll get him."
"I know we will." She smiled, even though he couldn't see it through the phone. "Goodnight, Hwa." Her smile wasn't long lasting, though, as she walked to the kitchen, pulling a sticky note off the table. The address written on it was taunting her with the reminder that she wasn't yet able to rest.