Chapter Two
Angel Vessel
A lot of people asked why I had chosen to be a homicide detective, but in many ways the job had chosen me.
I was orphaned when I was ten years old. My parents died in a fire that burned down our home. I was the sole survivor, because I got lucky. My school bus was late that day. If it had been on time, I would have died in the fire too. No relative wanted to take me, so I was carted into an orphanage. Then it became an endless cycle, orphange to foster home and then back again. I was too old, I couldn't assimilate into the families that wanted me, they always said. But, they just seemed afraid of me. I never smiled, never laughed. How could I?
One minute I had a happy family and the next it was gone. When I was at the orphanage, I would sneak away and go back to our house. It became just an empty lot because no one wanted to develop it, but I would just sit there for hours. To me it wasn't an empty lot, it was the home that I loved. I didn't understand why I lost everything. I was angry for being left alone.
One day I heard people talking in the neighborhood. They talked about how they pitied the daughter who had her parents murdered. I quickly confronted the gossiping older ladies, but none would give me an answer, except one.
I remember that this particular older woman would always give me a piece of candy every time she would see me walking around with my parents. She was one of the only people who didn't look at me with pity in her eyes. She told me she had overheard the policemen the day after the fire saying, that the fire didn't start by natural means. That there was a chance that this case was a murder, but there was no evidence whatsoever so they could nothing about it. That was all she knew. And that is all I needed. I needed to know the truth. And that is what brought me to the homicide division after I graduated the academy. I promised myself that I would find out the truth behind my parent's deaths and to continue to look for the truth in justice.
I got to the office, but Myungsoo hadn't arrived yet. Sitting down at my desk, I looked at the clutter. Files stacked on top of more files. It wasn't enough to just work to solve the case, there was so much research and paperwork involved. And there was always the cold cases too. Turning on my state of the art computer, I started to search for missing persons in the area.
Myungsoo showed up to the office ten minutes after me and set a steaming cup of black coffee on my desk. I smiled immediately. "You're a wonderful person." I said as I took a sip. The smell of coffee always calmed me. And I took a deep breath above my cup.
He chuckled and nodded before sitting down at his own desk. "Have you gotten any leads on missing persons?" he asked. "Not yet. We don't even know if she was actually a missing person so I have broaden the search."
"She might have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Didn't you see her clothes?" he asked.
I blinked, I had been so preoccupied thinking about the silver tattoo that I forgot to review the evidence at the scene. I closed my eyes briefly, recalling the scene of the crime. "You're right. As shredded as her clothes were, they were name brands." I recognized her top now because I owned a similar one.
"The medical examiner said he'll have a report for us in two hours tops."
"Well let's try to see what we can dig up in two hours." I cracked my knuckles and we got to work.
It was 9:30 when we finally sat down in the conference room to eat breakfast and read the autopsy report. "The victim was , brutally, given the damage." the medical examiner said. I took a bite out of my egg sandwich to refrain from cursing in a room full of superiors. "She was also tortured. Four broken ribs, fractured skill and startling bruises all over her body." he continued.
"How did she die?" Myungsoo asked. "It was the blow to her skull. We're still identifying what possible weapons it might have been."
"Were you able to run the DNA from the in the criminal database?" I asked. "There wasn't any . A must've been used." the medical exmainer said. "He covered his tracks well. There weren't any skin cells underneath her finger nails or anything on the victim other than what belonged to her." A member of the forensics team said.
This was what human beings were capable of doing to each other. It sickened me. I put down my sandwich and wiped my hands.
"You okay?" Myungsoo asked. "Yeah. I'll be fine after we put this guy in jail for life, where he can't hurt anyone else anymore."
"Her name is Kim Hana. She's the daughter of one the biggest hotel chain owners in the city. Twenty-three years old." he read off the info he gathered. She was still so young. "How'd you find her identity so fast? I only gave you an age range." the medical examiner asked. "When reviewing the evidence taken off her I saw her limited edition Rolex watch. Those all have manufacturer numbers so a few calls got us the customer list."
"Working fast like always." I toasted him with my third cup of coffee today.
"But, I'm not far behind. I found out from her social media sites that she was going to a party in the area of Gangnam where the most expensive clubs are. She was planning to be at a club called Inspirit all night. And now given the autopsy report of her body being moved post-mortem, it can be deduced that her body was just dumped in the lower districts after she was killed." I said. "Thank you for coming up with the report so quickly Dr. Cho." And bowed my head.
"No problem." he stood up to go back to his office. "It's a shame that her parents were out of town. They were contacted about her daughter's death this morning and are currently on their way back from abroad. But, it will be a few days before we can ask them if they know anything." Myungsoo said.
I looked at Myungsoo. "We're going to have to check out the club." I said.
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