“Are you crazy!” he screamed.

Selina threw her head back.

“Yes call me crazy,” Selina told, “anyway just do what I tell you alright?”

“Do you want to die or what?” he shouted after her.

Selina grabbed a doughnut for herself as she made her way out. She came to a stop by the lobby and stared at the man by the desk. His broad back really reminded of her someone. Deciding to figure it out for herself Selina shuffled her feet until she was near the desk. She eyed him as she passed by while taking a bite out of her doughnut and continued to walk on.

“Excuse me miss,” someone called, “you dropped your ID.”

Selina spun around on her foot and headed back, “Oh…thank you.”

She took the ID from the man who was standing next to the person she’d been eyeing and couldn’t help, but turn to look at him as he turned around. Selina’s mouth dropped open.

“Evan!” she shouted.

The man stared at her as if he didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Don’t you remember me? Selina? We went to high school together,” Selina told pointing to him then to herself.

He stared at her blankly.

“Let me refresh your memory then,” Selina began, “oh yes! When we had a joint gym class I was chasing after you for the ball and I accidentally pulled down your pants! Don’t you remember?”

He gave her a ‘What are you crazy?’ look.

Selina covered , “Sorry. You might have not wanted to hear that huh?”

Selina glanced at her watch, “I have to go now, but since we both work under the same company I’m sure we’ll meet again. Bye bye!”

Selina hurried out the door and grabbed a taxi, “Police station please!”

===

Jiro fished out a manila folder and turned back to Selina to let her see it.

“Jasmine Bai, 16,” Jiro told, “dated her boyfriend for a year. A friend reported to the police that they had an argument a few days before she went missing.”

“And the argument was about…” Selina said moving her head about as she stared at the files.

“Something about her seeing another guy,” Jiro replied.

“A break up?” Selina asked.

“Could be,” Jiro agreed.

“Am I allowed to see gruesome pictures?” Selina asked.

“Excuse me?” Jiro said.

“Aren’t there pictures of her dead body?” Selina questioned. “There are always photographs of the victim after they’ve been found dead. It’s used to look for indefinite clues and such.”

Jiro stared at Selina then pulled his drawer open. He opened a folder and laid it out for Selina to see.

“They captured this much in the autopsy room and these are from when she was first found,” Jiro explained.

He wasn’t surprised at Selina’s calmness figuring she must have seen dead bodies as much as he had. Selina looked through the pictures almost feeling sad.

“She could have had a big life ahead of her,” Selina said as if to herself, “it’s a shame she was killed.”

They were silent.

“Have you identified the object that was used to strangle her?” Selina questioned. “I thought a piece of cloth would have been used, if not his bare hands but it doesn’t look like it. There are dent like marks burnt into her neck. Some sort of metal?”

“Some sort metal,” Jiro repeated.

“What kind of metal is flexible enough to be used to strangle a person?” Selina asked.

“Her boyfriend has been located outside of Taoyuan,” he told changing the subject. “It looks like he bought a ticket to Chilung this morning.”

“Is he on the run?” asked Selina.

“Maybe he doesn’t want to stay in Taoyuan or it could be taken as he wants to get away from the grief,” Jiro explained, “but in other words he doesn’t want to get caught guilty so he’s planning to run away.”

“Let him run,” Selina said, “we’ll tailgate him the opposite way.”

Jiro frowned.

“Lets say we’ve already caught the killer. All we need to do is spread this on the news then he’ll stay put in Chilung until we gather more evidence from Jasmine’s family. During this time we have to stay put ourselves,” Selina explained. “Even if they’re in mourning, finding peace for the spirit is more important. Should we make a trip to Taoyuan?”

===

Aaron sat behind his desk on his large chair still amused by the girl he’d run into. He had caught her eyeing him and he was about to ask about her strange behavior. A smile curved at the corner of his lips when he recalled Selina telling him about gym class. He had never seen her before and he hadn’t gone to the same high school she had.

“Aaron!” a loud demanding voice cracked into his thoughts.

Aaron turned to see his younger twin brother walk into his office.

“Tell dad it’s alright for me to open up the cabin,” his twin shouted. “There’s no reason to keep that place locked up!”

“Evan,” Aaron’s stern voice called.

His brother immediately became still.

“Don’t you think this is pathetic?” asked Evan. “It’s been 10 years…”

“Evan,” Aaron called again. “Just go back home.”

“You are all the same!” he shouted and slammed the door after him.

Aaron stared at the door. Was Evan in his right mind? The cabin had been closed off from public after the girl had been found dead there. Aaron, himself, hadn’t ever dared to step a foot there ever since. Why in the world would Evan start speaking about that cursed place?

“Sir? Your father’s on the line,” a voice from the phone came.

Aaron pushed a button and picked up the phone.

“Is Evan over there?” a worried husky voice asked.

“He just came in,” Aaron replied.

“He hasn’t taken his pill yet. I’m afraid he might start talking nonsense,” his father said. “I’ll send someone to pick him up.”

“Alright then,” Aaron said then hung up.

Aaron leaned back in his chair letting his mind drift off. An hour later he found himself walking down the stairs glancing into the journalism office. It was loud in there and he could hear tapping on the keyboards along with the loud noises of papers being turned over.

===

Jiro followed Selina up the stairs that led to the Bai household. The wind swayed the growing weeds and flowers that surrounded the stairs. Everything was silently quiet and Jiro wonder if anyone was home at all. Selina stopped in front of the closed wooden door and he paused behind her. Selina knocked on it without hesitating and finally after a few knocks they could hear the door being unlocked from behind. A short old woman stood there looking up at them. Her face could tell anyone that she'd been working hard all her life. She'd knotted her gray hair into a tight bun.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“We came to talk about Jasmine,” Selina told.

The old woman’s face became stricken with an expression that was filled with both anger and sadness.

“We’ve already stopped talking about it. Please go away,” she told with a tone to her voice telling them she refused, no matter what, to speak to the authority.

“Please wait,” Selina insisted. “You have to help us. We just want to find the murderer. How can you bear to let her die like that?”

“Please don’t talk about it!” the old woman screamed. “Go away! I can’t help you!”

She slammed the door, but persistently Selina threw her hand out and hand ended up being banged between the door and the stone wall. Jiro turned to stare at Selina feeling shocked. She didn’t shout or cry, but her hair had slid pass her shoulder.

“I want to help bring peace to her spirit. No matter what her spirit won’t be able to settle down happily until we bring her killer down,” Selina told emphasizing each word slowly so the grandmother would understand her seriousness.

The old woman turned to look at her helplessly, “We’ve already said what we could. There’s nothing else...”

“Please just help us,” Jiro said stepping up next to Selina.

The woman looked at them then gave up. When she turned away Jiro glanced at Selina.

“Are you alright?” asked Jiro.

“I’m fine,” Selina replied then followed the old woman.

There was a small table in the room they had entered. The strickly pale wall papers were peeling off the walls and there was an old smell in the house that attacked their noses. The ground was hard and uncomfortable, family pictures hung about the walls, and there were no furniture around, but a four sided table in the middle of one room. This seemed like an ancient house that lacked the modern feel every other house had.

“Sit down if you want to talk,” the old woman told.

“Is Jasmine’s room available?” asked Selina dismissing the invitation.

The old woman glanced at her then showed them down a short hallway without protesting. Her footsteps were heavy and Selina couldn’t help, but feel creeped out by the way they lived.

“She slept in here,” her grandmother told, “if you want to look through anything go ahead, but I don’t know what you’ll find.”

Jiro watched as Selina stepped into the closet sized bedroom and start opening drawers without hesitation. Selina stopped once to glance at the picture of Jasmine, her smile was bright and full. Turning away from it Selina opened her dressers and walked over to her small bed which was crouched under the window. Selina bent down and looked under the bed.

“What are you looking for?” asked Jiro.

“Girls usually keep diaries or journals,” Selina replied. “Maybe she kept one too.”

As expected Selina spotted a rectangular shaped object under the bed, but it had been pushed all the way to the wall. Selina half laid down and stuck her leg under the bed. Within a minute she had gotten the diary out. It was a regular notebook with blue clouds and random animals flying up to the sky.

“Someone said Jasmine had an argument with her boyfriend a few days before she went missing,” Selina said. “Have you heard anything about it?”

“I don’t know,” the old woman told.

“Where are the other family members?” asked Jiro.

“They went out to the garden. Maybe they’ll know something,” the grandma replied.

Selina turned to Jiro, “Something’s been bothering me. Her boyfriend’s name wasn’t listed in the reports. What exactly is his name?”

Jiro turned to the grandma, “Excuse me.”

The old woman turned around. She had been glancing down the hall as if expecting anyone to walk down the hall any minute.

“Jasmine’s boyfriend…his name…” Jiro said.

“He called himself Derek,” the grandma replied, “they’re home.”

Jiro and Selina turned to hear voices coming in from through the door. They followed the grandma out and stopped in the room they had first entered. A young boy, a bald man, and a tall woman paused.

“We have guests,” the grandma said, no emotion whatsoever took place in her voice.

“I thought we already said we won’t be answering any more questions,” the father told.

“Jasmine’s spirit is not yet in peace. This young woman wants to help find the killer,” the grandma nodded toward Selina.

Selina glanced toward the family members searching through their faces for something she didn’t know.

“I’m an investigative reporter, Selina Ren,” Selina introduced herself then Jiro, “this is Jiro, the cop that is accompanying me.”

“I’m Bai He,” the father introduced himself, “this is Bai Hua and Bai Er.”

A few minutes later Selina and Jiro found themselves sitting at the small table with the father first.

“Jasmine was a really sweet girl she played and took care of the children in the village. She wasn’t someone you could get angry with,” her father explained, “but Derek happened to arrive in the village one day. Jasmine disappeared from home a few times, but she always returned.”

“Did she ever tell you anything?” asked Selina. “Like anything about her relationship with Derek?”

Bai’s face turned sad and he didn’t say anything. Selina felt bad about pushing him to answer her question so she waited for him to gather up his emotions then reply to her.

“Money…disappeared bit by bit,” he began.

Selina could feel something new spark up in the mystery.

“She brought Derek over a few times, but he seemed like a well mannered lad,” he told then tears began to erupt in his eyes.

He sobbed for a bit and Selina could feel her heart go out to him, but how many times had she witnessed a family member cry their hearts out for the beloved dead? It took a few minutes for him to regain himself.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I got angry with her and we argued. She told me Derek’s family needed help so she was just lending him our money, but I knew better. That kid was bad.”

“Did you tell the police he was nice and caring?” asked Jiro.

His teeth chattered as he tried to go on, “He threatened me that he’ll would never let us see her if I said anything.”

An hour later Selina and Jiro found themselves sitting on the stone steps by the door trying to think things over. Jasmine’s mother had declined to say anything further about the matter so they decided to stop questioning them. They just needed to find something else that would help lead them to the capture of Derek.

“Are you going to be staying the whole day?” a gentle voice asked.

Selina and Jiro snapped out of their thoughts to see a young boy in a blue shirt and jeans standing at the middle of the stairs. He was carrying some bowls with him. His silky hair landed at the top of his forehead as he looked up at him.

“I’m Bai Er,” he introduced himself.

“Hi I’m Selina,” Selina introduced herself.

“I’m Jiro,” Jiro chipped in.

He looked up at them as if he knew something, “The village became less lively after Derek arrived. He stayed by himself in a small house at the corner of the street and my sister often disappeared with him.”

Jiro and Selina glued their ears to his voice attentively.

Bai Er looked around before continuing on, “There was gossip around town that he was hiding out from the police. Derek never talked to anyone except for my sister. I saw her taking money from my dad’s drawer, but she told me not to say anything or she’d run away and never come back.”

“Did you witness anything peculiar about Derek or Jasmine?” Selina asked.

“I overheard her asking him about a spiraled metal chain he always wore as a belt.”