Double update! Go back a chapter ^^

"Kim Seunghwan looks like a saint," Dabin announced with a sigh, setting her tablet on her lap.

Sehun sat up and grabbed it from her. "I thought you were reading a book."

"Did you really?"

Rolling his eyes, Sehun handed the tablet back. "This isn't one of your cases, you know." He gestured to the long stretch of empty crystalline sand and the calm ocean. Only a pair of beachcombers walked hand in hand farther down the beach. "Vacation is supposed to mean you relax."

It had been a day since Kim's body had washed ashore. A day of silence in the investigation—and no more contact from the killer. This time, she and Sehun had come to one of the beaches on the other side of the island, a spot untainted by death. And the beach was gorgeous.

It reminded her a little of the small town where her grandparents had raised her, where she'd met her best friend, Hana. But this was quieter and less populated. Being here made her remember the good times growing up, without burying her back in the case she'd so recently solved.

Dabin fidgeted in the sand, enjoying the mid-morning sun beating down on her even as she longed to return to her research. Although part of her wanted to just forget about this case and focus on her vacation, another part couldn't stop thinking about that moment she thought she'd seen someone out in the ocean. "I'm not good at relaxing."

"I know." His lips twitched. "Okay, tell me what you learned about Kim."

"Well, he's lived here his whole life, so I figure whatever he did—or someone thinks he did—happened locally. Given the fact that we're practically the only non-locals here and it's a quiet town, the killer is probably local, too."

"The ert message could have a lot of meanings," Sehun said.

"Yeah, and I'm not seeing any warning signs in Kim's history. No charges of any kind against him related to ual assault or solicitation or exposing himself or anything like that."

"Maybe it's not personal," Sehun said. "Maybe the chief is right and the murder was staged to throw law enforcement off track."

"No." Dabin shook her head. "My guess is the word was carved on him after he was already dead, but still, you have to be pretty determined to do that to someone. And it wasn't just sliced into the body, like a message for the police might be. Those letters were jagged and deep. It was the writing of someone who was really, really angry."

Dabin stared off into the water, which was calm today after another storm last night