Chapter Eleven
Angel Vessel
"Grandma Choi. What are you talking about?" I asked. She grabbed my arms. "Minji, he's a killer. Your killer." She said. "How could he be?" I asked. "Ma'am, I'd be more than happy to clear up any misunderstandings." Sunggyu walked over, a soft expression on his face. He looked like he was keeping his calm well. Grandma Choi was the elderly woman who told me the truth about the case with the death of my parents. Since I had moved away, I had not seen her until now. She flinched when Sunggyu addressed her. I felt her hands start to tremble slightly.
"The lady has anxiety problems." The officer said. "I think they also said she has Alzheimer's. She's been trespassing a lot of private property."
I looked back down at Grandma Choi and patted her back gently to calm her. "Here, let me take you upstairs and give you a cup of water. Sorry Sunggyu. I'll see you soon." I gave him an apologetic bow of my head.
"No problem. I just hope that she's okay." He turned a worried face towards her. "I'll make sure of it." I smiled at him. I supported Grandma Choi as we walked to the elevator and then into the detective's office.
After I sat her down, I went to get her a cup of warm water. "Minji, you're back." Myungsoo said coming in a few minutes later. "Yeah." I gave him a nod of my head and then went to sit with Grandma Choi. "Here." I handed her the water. "Minji-ah. I saw that man before." She said in a daze. "He was there at the crime scene." She continued. "What crime scene are you talking about?" I took her hand gently in mine. The old leather seat squeaked as I leaned forward. She bent her head down to whisper to me. "He killed your parents." She said and I immediately straightened. "What? That can't be right. He's my age. He was a little kid when the fire happened."
"But I saw him!" She said standing up and the cup in her hand tipped over and spilled on me. I sputtered and wiped the water from my face. "Grandma Choi, I think you're mistaken." I said brushing my wet hair out of my face. "Sunggyu wasn't even in Korea. He has been abroad until recently." I tried to explain to her.
"I-I'm mistaken?" She started slowly. I nodded, droplets of water dripping from the ends of my hair. Suddenly someone tossed a towel over my head and started to towel my hair for me. "Yah." I complained and tried to reach for the towel but Myungsoo just shooed my hand away and continued to dry my hair. It was then Grandma Choi smiled. "You're boyfriend is very good looking. And very caring."
"What? No!" I quickly stood up and felt the top of my head hit something hard. "Ow!" Myungsoo and I both shouted at the same time. I had hit his chin with the top of my head. Forgetting the throbbing in my skull, I cupped his face. "Are you okay?!" I checked his chin. "I'm sorry." I said as I checked his jaw. "Minji." Myungsoo called my name and I looked up to see how close he was. I found my eyes trailing to his lips, but quickly changed my line of sight.
"Are you okay? I asked again. "Yeah." He breathed. Then he sighed and reached over to rub the back of my head. "Ahhhhh, ow!" I winced glaring at him and shooed his hands off. "You're such a klutz." He rolled his eyes. "Well at least your face is intact. Your future girlfriend might sue me if I damaged it." I joked and took a casual step back. His eyes pierced into mine. I looked away and kept rubbing the back of my throbbing head.
"I suppose so." He said and turned to Grandma Choi. "Hello, my name is Kim Myungsoo." He smiled warmly. "Nice to meet you." Grandma Choi smiled and nodded. Then Grandma Choi looked at the clock. "Oh! I must get to the market to buy groceries." She said. "I'll drive you." I immediately offered. "No, no. I can handle it myself. I may be old but I'm still capable." She grinned and I smiled. "Well take my number. Call me if you ever need anything." I said handing her my business card.
"I'll make you dinner one day soon." She smiled and left. Myungsoo sighed. "So we have an ID on the second woman. Jung Eunha, she's single. Lives in an apartment alone. Doctor Cho said she was dismembered soon after she died. But because it took so long to gather her body and they were subject to different temperatures and exposures, he can only say that she died almost a week ago, within a day of Kim Hana's death."
"Did you get to contact her family?" I asked. "They have all immigrated to America. She works as a librarian at Seoul elementary school." Myungsoo said and walked over to his desk. "Sorry I hadn't helped…" I looked to the ground.
"It was within my ability to handle." He gave me a small smile. "If you want to make up for it. Treat me to dinner." He said and I nodded. "Sure thing."
Suddenly the door to the office opened. "Detective Kim, Detective Park. Doctor Cho told me to come and tell you, forensics found skin fragments underneath the nails of Jung Eunha." My eyes widened. That was the most physical evidence we had so far. "We are in the middle of running DNA tests."
"Please let us know when there are results." I said and the assistant nodded before leaving. I sat back down in my office chair. "I'll search if there is any relation between the two women." I said. "I already looked." Myungsoo interrupted and I looked up from my computer screen. "Wah! Do you even sleep?" I asked. "Some nights are better than others." He pushed away from the desk. "There is nothing linking them as of right now."
Then he sighed.
"It's about time we go to the club that Kim Hana was at last to see the security footage and ask the owners, bouncers, frequent customers." Myungsoo grabbed his jacket. I pulled the towel that I hadn't realize was still there off the top of my head. "I'll drive." I said and we headed out.
Since it was still early afternoon, the club wasn't actually open for business but after a couple of knocks on the door, someone opened the door.
My eyes widened. It was Woohyun.
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