Chapter 4: Interrogation

          Minho rewinded the surveillance video and pressed fast forward. Throughout the entire length of the video, absolutely nothing happened. All night nothing was seen in the still darkness.

          “This is absolutely ridiculous.” Minho massaged his temples. Yuri served him some warm coffee and breakfast. “How can the left-over food just disappear like that from the refrigerator without a trace?”

          Key continually inspected the refrigerator for any signs of holes or ways for the food to be taken. Just like the drawer where Soo-Young kept the snacks in her room, there was no way for it to be taken from the inside.

           “Hm, this food disappearance is really strange…,” Eunji said thoughtfully. “If it was actually a prank, then we’re dealing with a genius psycho. Kudos to him or her though for coming up with this crazy joke.”

          “Kudos my ,” Soo-Young cursed as she chewed some bread. “If this was actually caused by a prankster, I will surely skin that person alive when I find out his or her real identity.”

***

First suspect was without a doubt, Yuri. She is the person closest to Soo-Young around. If anyone would play a prank on Soo-Young, it could possibly be her roommate. However, so far, there haven’t been any evidences that would actually prove that since the surveillance cameras did not catch anything significant on camera at all. If Yuri actually had something to do with the missing food and/or the apparitions, she would have to leave her room at night—which was not caught on camera either. With what the team knows so far, Yuri never left her room. Taemin did, however, overhear a possibly-suspicious phone call that she made last night. They will have to interrogate her to find out a few things.

“Taemin, you said you didn’t see Yuri Noona that night in the Sherlock Headquarters, right?” said Key.

“No. I assumed that she stayed in the room and slept all night. Even I slept that night up until I heard Soo-young Noona screaming,” Taemin explained.

“It still doesn’t prove that she’s innocent,” said Minho with his deep voice.

Everyone agreed.

Next suspect was Taeyeon, and possibly Sunny and Tiffany. Taemin saw them as nothing but suspicious. However, they barely know them. They just met the three girls last night. It is also possible that it was Taeyeon that Yuri called last night. They don’t really have any evidence for that either unless they take a look at the call logs of Yuri’s and Taeyeon’s phones. They’ll do that during interrogation.

Then, Jonghyun remembered something. “Key, do you remember that scary Noona at the donuts shop before we started our case?”

“Oh, I think her name was Jessica Noona?”

“Soo-Young Noona and Yuri Noona said that she recommended the apartment. She could actually have something to do with this too. I think we should ask her some things too.”

***

          After calling up Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, and Jessica for one-on-one meetings, the Sherlock Team interrogated them that afternoon at the Sherlock Headquarters. They actually just set up a table and chairs out in the Sherlock Headquarters small, covered basketball court. Minho also set up a camera to record the whole conversation.

          Before the other suspects arrived, Yuri was the first to be interrogated. Yuri walked out with Taemin and Jonghyun out in the small covered court and sat on the chair. “I didn’t even do anything and you’re interrogating me…,” she whined.

          “So Yuri Noona, tell us why you are innocent,” Jonghyun began. Key, Onew, Minho, Eunji, and Soo-Young watched from the living room.

          “Because I am innocent! I’m just minding my own business and Soo-Young just goes off complaining about imaginary ghosts. About the missing food, I did not take it. You saw nothing in the cameras about me taking anything from the fridge or going into Soo-Young’s room to secretly steal her snacks. It’s obviously not me!” Her hand gestures were getting worse. She raised her hands a few times to emphasize some words.

          “Can we see your call log?” Jonghyun asked.

          “Well I don’t see why not, since I am innocent,” Yuri immediately handed over her phone to Taemin. He then checked the call from last night. As expected, the person she called was Jessica and Taeyeon, who were also suspects.

          “What’s your connection with Jessica Noona?” Taemin looked up from browsing through the call log of her phone.

          In a calmer tone, Yuri replied, “She’s our friend ever since high school. Now she works as a realtor. When Soo-Young and I got accepted into the university, she suggested that we live in that apartment since it was brand new and fully furnished.”

          “Why’d you call her last night?” Taemin pressed on.

          “I just called to tell her that Taeyeon, Sunny, and Tiffany visited the apartment. Sica and I are really good friends. I call her often. Besides, Taeyeon, Sunny, and Fany are her friends too.”

          “Oh, so they all know each other…,” Key thought as he watched.

          “Is that all?” Jonghyun raised an eyebrow.

          “Okay, maybe I laughed with her a bit about Soo-Young’s persistent ghost problem too,” Yuri admitted. “This still doesn’t even prove anything.”

          “It says in this call log that you called Taeyeon Noona immediately after you called Jessica Noona. Why?” Taemin asked some more.

          “I just wanted to wish her and the other two a safe cab-trip home. Is that bad?”

          “Is that all?”

          “Okay, maybe I had a few laughs about Soo-Young’s dilemma with Taeyeon over the phone too, but I am not causing any of her ghost and food problems!”

          “Do you have any grudges against Soo-Young Noona?” Jonghyun changed the topic.

          “Grudges? Even if I did, I wouldn’t do anything stupid like ghost pranks!”

          “Is this yours?” Jonghyun held a piece of paper up for Yuri to see. Even Taemin and everyone watching from inside the headquarters were caught off-guard. They did not know that Jonghyun had something like that either.

          Yuri looked closely. Her eyes dilated—a possible sign of humiliation or fear. She knew exactly what it was. “H-how did you get this? Did you go through my room without my permission?!”

          “Yeah, Hyung, how come you never told the rest of the team about this?” Taemin looked at this interrogation partner.

          “I found it lying in plain view on your desk when you and Miss Soo-Young stayed here at the Sherlock Headquarters the other night. I stayed in your room that night for your information. Go ahead, tell me what it is.”

          “Stop. You already know what it is.” Yuri was getting angrier by the minute.

          “I want to hear it from you. You have to confirm it for me.” Jonghyun cupped a hand behind his ear.

          “Fine. It’s a list of my frustrations! When Soo-Young does things that I don’t like, I write them all down so I can get back at her! I like doing that to sort out my thoughts. But I am telling you this—I honestly do not have anything to do with the stupid ghost or the disappearing food!”

          “It says here that Soo-Young and her friends used to playfully bully you when you were a kid. Is that true?” Taemin said as he began to read the contents of the paper.

          “Yes. Soo-Young, Jessica, and their other friend Hyoyeon used to enjoy intimidating me back in grade school. I was so scared of them back then that I talked to them too respectfully. But that was a long, long time ago! Now we’re all friends, even if they are still a pain in the sometimes.”

          “Oh, but it’s still written here. It means you still can’t forgive them for that,” Jonghyun stated. Key began taking notes inside the headquarters.

          “Look, I just like reminding them of that to show them how annoying they used to be! This has absolutely nothing to do with the case!” Yuri said angrily.

          “You’re just a possible suspect, Noona. If anything, this just shows that you have a motive. It doesn’t prove you guilty yet,” Taemin explained calmly.

          “But if you want to confess now, then go ahead and save us all the trouble of uncovering everything,” Jonghyun bluntly added.

          “I already told you, I am innocent. Try as hard as you can, but you won’t find anything on me. I am clean.”

***

          Next person they interrogated was Taeyeon. According to Soo-Young, Taeyeon was her grade school and high school classmate. Soo-Young was an advanced student, so even though she was younger, she never addressed her eonnis, including Taeyeon, respectfully.

          “What? You think I have something to do with the ghost and disappearing food?” Taeyeon looked at Jonghyun and Taemin and sneered. “Look here, young men, I live like fifteen blocks away from her apartment. Why in the world would I waste my time scaring that tall girl? Playing a prank on her may sound fun, but I wouldn’t waste my effort on it every single night.”

          “From the way you and your friends visited last night, I got the impression that you have been to the apartment before, have you, Noona?” Taemin asked as he looked into her eyes. Her expressions changed from mischievous to serious that possibly hid guilt. Too bad Taemin wasn’t fooled so easily.

          “Yes. Look, even Soo-Young knows about this,” Taeyeon confidently replied.

          “Really? How come I don’t remember anything?” Soo-Young wondered as she watched the video from inside the headquarters. Key and Onew briefly looked at her and back to the video.

          “So, does that mean that she’s lying?” Eunji wondered.

          Then Taeyeon continued, “Jessica suggested this apartment for me and Tiffany a few months before Soo-Young even knew that the apartment existed. But then Sunny said that she wanted to live with us too so we ended up taking a different apartment with three rooms about fifteen blocks away. I don’t know if Soo-Young still remembers this but it is true.”

          “Oh…yes I do remember now,” Soo-Young said in realization.

          “So she’s telling the truth after all,” Eunji thought out loud.

          “We can’t be sure about that. Maybe it is the truth, but not the whole truth,” Onew corrected her.

          “I heard that Soo-Young used to call you ‘midget,’” said Jonghyun as he intertwined his fingers on the table.

          “So what?” Taeyeon raised an eyebrow.

          “Nobody likes being called a midget, even if it’s true. I know because everyone in the Sherlock team does that to me since I’m the shortest. Tell me, do you like it when a tall person such as Miss Soo-Young insults your height?”

          “No, of course not,” Taeyeon pouted.

          “Gosh, all they’re doing is making me look bad!” Soo-Young exclaimed as she was watching the interrogation video.

          “What does this even have to do with anything?” Taeyeon sharply asked.

          “It could just be a motive for revenge,” Taemin explained.

          “Tch…I seriously had no idea that she had ghost problems until she told us last night when we threw her a house warming party with all of you in it.”

          “From what Yuri Noona said, you, Soo-Young, Yuri, Jessica, and Sunny all used to be classmates from grade school to high school. Is that true?” Jonghyun asked.

          Taeyeon gave a heavy sigh that showed how annoyed she was getting. “Yes. So what?”

          Taemin sat up straight on his chair. “By any chance, did you two plot this whole prank together?”

          “What?!” Taeyeon was flabbergasted. “I told you, no! Stop accusing me when you have absolutely no solid proof! I have nothing to do with this!”

***

          Next person was Sunny. Just like Taeyeon, she was Soo-Young’s classmate back in grade school and high school. Soo-Young also liked insulting her height.

          “It’s true that I get so annoyed when Soo-Young insults my height. Not everyone happens to be born with long limbs, you know! Why’d she have to rub it on our face? I never understood that. If I was taller, I’d totally thump her head! But I don’t have anything to do with that stupid ghost. I only knew about it when Soo-Young mentioned it last night when we visited. She totally deserves it though. She needs to stop eating all sorts of junk every once in a while.”

          “Aish, Sunny, that little punk…,” Soo-Young mumbled.

          “You like the fact that this whole ghost thing is happening to her?” Jonghyun looked surprised to hear it from her.

          Realizing that she made a mistake in admitting something, Sunny turned quiet and answered back in a softer voice, “Oh…Well, I’m only looking out for her…but that doesn’t mean I am a part of this ghost prank!”

          “Still, that could be enough to make you a suspect.”

***

          Next person was eye-smiling Tiffany. Looking through her record of Soo-Young’s recounted history with her, she seems to be the most innocent out of all the current suspects. In fact, they found nothing that could make her suspicious at all. They questioned her anyway.

          “How do you know Soo-Young Noona?” Taemin asked.

          “Uh, first, I met Taeyeon in high school, and then she introduced me to her friends, including Soo-Young,” Tiffany said a-matter-of-factly.

          “Soo-Young Noona said that you were a transfer student from the United States.”

          “Yup. I wasn’t very good with my Korean back in the day, and Soo-Young had trouble with English too so I wasn’t very close to her. Taeyeon helped me a lot with my Korean so now I can speak quite fluently.”

          “So, Taeyeon Noona is your best friend?” asked Jonghyun.

          “Yes. If she was planning anything like pranking Soo-Young I would definitely know about it. But she isn’t doing anything like that at all so please let us all go off the hook. We’re innocent. If anyone could be the criminal, it’s Yuri or Jessica.”

          “You could just be saying that to protect yourself,” Jonghyun said bluntly. “I mean, if Taeyeon goes down, you will be dragged down with her so you’re trying to keep it from us—assuming that Taeyeon is a part of this, which is, of course, just a mere guess.”

          “Well I’m not afraid of anything. Taeyeon and Sunny are both innocent and so am I. Maybe Soo-Young is actually just hallucinating. None of you even saw the ghost even with Eunji close to her all night, right? The ghost may not even be real.” Then Tiffany crossed her arms. “I don’t know about the missing food though. Who cares anyway? The reported missing food is not even healthy or expensive so why bother find out who’s stealing it?”

          “Are you discouraging us right now?” Jonghyun looked at her with great suspicion.

          “I’m just saying…”

***

          When Jessica arrived in her usual late fashion, the Sherlock team finally got to talk to her. She was the least cooperative out of all of them, considering the fact that she was intimidating too.

          “So, you work as a realtor?” Taemin asked.

          “Yes,” she replied with a cold, scary stare.

          “Soo-Young Noona had been telling you about the ghost and yet you insist that the ghost doesn’t exist.”

          “Well duh. I would know if the property I sell was a haunted house or not.” Jessica held up her nails in front of her and stared at it. Then she looked up at Jonghyun and Taemin and began asking them questions herself. “Tell me, has any of you seen the ghost?”

          Both shook their heads.

          Then she continued, “Does the apartment have any hint of ‘haunted’ in it at all?”

          Both shook their heads once more.

          “You all saw it for yourselves that the entire building was perfectly secure and brand new right?”

          Both nodded.

          “Then what exactly is wrong here?”

          “Look, Miss Jessica, the whole purpose of this questioning is for us to figure out who could possibly be trying to harm Soo-Young Noona with such a dumb ghost prank,” Jonghyun explained as kindly as he could. He was a little scared of her.

          “And since I recommended her the ‘haunted apartment’ you decided to shoot your arrows at me?” Jessica asked some more. It seems like she was the one interrogating the two boys. “If anything, So-Young has probably just gone insane. I mean, no one else saw this stupid ghost anyway except her. Plus, the only one affected by the missing food is Soo-Young anyway. I suggest that you take her to a hospital or something. If she can’t appreciate her realtor friend’s services then she should just say so.”

          Then Jessica stood up from her chair and said as she glanced at her watch, “Well, I still have a job to get back to. Be happy I sacrificed my break for this. I’m leaving.”

          None of them could stop her from going since everyone was sort of intimidated by her. She became colder than usual because all she was trying to do was be a nice friend to Soo-young and give her a nice apartment to live in, but she got nothing but complaints.

Yuri walked her out of the headquarters and said something to Jessica as she got in her car. To Taemin, that was another suspicious act. In fact, everything is becoming suspicious to the Sherlock Team. Maybe they were just being paranoid.

“What did you say to her?” Taemin asked Yuri.

“Nothing, just ‘safe travels,’” Yuri shrugged. Taemin scratched his head. He can’t read minds but something seems really off. Maybe he was being too cautious and his mind was even playing tricks on him. Minho massaged Taemin’s stressed shoulders to calm him down.

Anyway, the whole interrogation did not confirm anything as of yet since everyone insisted that they were innocent. One or all could be lying. Key paced back and forth trying to connect all the available facts together. It is possible that all of the suspects could have something to do with the prank since all of them could have a motive. However, since there was absolutely no proof that any of them did it besides their mysterious ways of acting, the Sherlock team still couldn’t point a finger on the victims. Maybe they need to do more research? Then there’s this other possibility: What if it really is a food-stealing ghost?”

Who is responsible for this ghost apparitions and disappearing food?