Haruki woke slowly as the sunlight streaming through the windows struck her eyes. She groaned and passed a hand over her face.

“Hey,” came Jessica’s whisper from somewhere to her left. The detective groggily blinked her eyes open, head lolling to the side, and saw her roommate standing in the doorway, a bathrobe wrapped over her pajamas.

“Hey,” she replied. She sat up, frowning slightly at the rustle of silk sheets. “Where am I?” She rubbed at her temples to ease away the hints of the migraine forming there.

Jessica rolled her eyes. “My apartment, remember? Your Chief Park said it would be best if you stayed with someone after what happened last night.”

Haruki nodded slowly. “Yeah. I remember.” She sighed and stretched her arms above her head, climbing out of the bed. Then she paused. “Jessica, did you sleep on the couch last night?”

“I figured it was only fair, since I didn’t go through anything that traumatic,” Jessica said simply.

"I’m sorry.”

Shrugging off the apology, Jessica asked, “You’re still coming to Krystal’s funeral this afternoon, right?”

“Of course,” Haruki said automatically. “I just need to go home and get some work done first, but I promise I’ll be there.”

“I can drive you home,” Jessica offered.

Haruki nodded. “Thanks.”

Jessica smiled slightly and headed towards the bathroom. “Jessica!” Haruki called after her. Her roommate glanced back at her. “You know, you don’t have to act like I’m about to fall apart. Nothing’s changed.”

Jessica gave her a long look and nodded slowly.

They both knew she was a horrible liar.

Donghae felt no pity as he watched the guard lead Sungmin through the door, his colleague’s hands still cuffed together behind his back. He sat down on the opposite side of the glass, facing Donghae, and offered him a wry smile.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon. What do you want now?” Sungmin asked.

The man was a mess. His eyes were red from the sleepless night he’d had and the shapeless orange jumpsuit hung loosely on his body. It was hard to believe this was his colleague.

No, this wasn’t his colleague. This was the killer.

Donghae’s eyes hardened and he laced his fingers together. “Why?” he asked simply. Sungmin said nothing. “What motive did you have?”

The only response was Sungmin’s lips tightening further.

“What was your reason for killing all those people? Especially those girls. What did they do to deserve what you did to them?”

Still nothing. Donghae’s hands clenched into fists and he told a deep breath to calm himself.

“How could you string us along like this for so long?”

Sungmin’s eyes seemed to darken, but he remained silent. Donghae slammed his hands on the counter.

“How could you do this to Haruki?” he hollered.

At that, Sungmin sighed and shook his head, before speaking. “I answered those questions last night, Donghae. I am innocent. I swear it.”

Donghae just pursed his lips and leaned back in his chair.

Sungmin sighed again. “I know you don’t believe anything I say,”

“How could I?” Donghae snapped. “You wanted to meet with her. You specified the time and place. And you showed up. What, did you think we’d let you walk away?”

“I didn’t ask to meet with her, Donghae,” Sungmin hissed. “I got a text from her phone, telling me she wanted to meet with me at that store, so I went!”

“She wanted to meet with you so that her nightmare would end,” Donghae snapped. “You stalked her for a year, you targeted girls you knew she would become emotionally attached to, you threatened her roommate’s life…” He shook his head, though his eyes never left the other man. “She thought the only way to make you stop would be to give into your demands. Do you have any idea how hard that was for her? She’s never given in to anything before- that’s how hopeless you made her feel! Do you know that?”

“Donghae, I do know Haruki, probably better than you do, and-”

“Well, I’m glad you admitted something-”

“I was her friend!” Sungmin snapped. “Her only friend, damn it. She was the first and only female member of our department and none of you ever let her forget that! From the day she joined us, you mocked and ridiculed her, calling her ‘girl cop’- she hated that! Did you know that?”

Donghae couldn’t answer. He remembered teasing her, of course, but he’d never thought she’d take it so seriously. He’d never meant any of it…though now that he thought about it, some of the others might have…

“I was the only one who respected her skills and treated her right,” Sungmin growled. “I was her best friend in our department. And you’re using that against me.”

“You say she texted you?” Donghae asked after a long silence. Sungmin’s eyes lit up slightly and he nodded. “When?”

“Around 6:30.”

Donghae shook his head. “That’s impossible. She’d already left the party to meet with…” He scratched the side of his neck as he glanced up at the ceiling, thinking. “No…she couldn’t have…”

6:30 had been the appointed meeting time with the killer. Donghae knew his partner wouldn’t have done anything to interfere with that.

“You’re saying you were framed?” Donghae asked.

Sungmin shrugged. “I don’t know what’s going on, okay? I have no idea what’s been going on in your case, since I’ve been busy with my own. All I can say is that I’m not guilty.” He stared at Donghae intently, but Donghae was looking to the side, lost in thought. “Do you believe me?”

“I’m done, thanks,” Donghae told the guard. “You can take him away.”

“Donghae! Damn it! Tell me! Do you believe me? Donghae!” Sungmin’s yell was cut off by the slamming of the prison door as he was hauled away.

Donghae walked back to the front desk, nodding at the guard. “Can I look through the items that were confiscated from Lee Sungmin after his arrest last night?”

“Of course,” the guard replied. He left the room and returned with a small plastic bin. Inside a Zip-lock back were Sungmin’s wallet and cellphone, the only items that had been on his body at the time.

The detective pulled on a pair of Latex gloves and opened the bag. He pulled out the phone and flipped it open, heart sinking as he flipped through the messages.

Friday, 6:30pm.

From: Morita Haruki

Sungmin, I desperately need to talk to you alone. Do you mind missing the party?

The address of the clothing store followed, but Donghae just shook his head, baffled. That couldn’t have been from his partner, no matter how much it sounded like her. But since she had her phone with her when she left, there was no way anyone else could have sent a text from her phone.

Unless…

Donghae dropped the phone in the bag, uttered a quick “Thanks” to the guard, and sprinted out the door, tossing his gloves into the nearest trashcan as he ran.

She was supposed to be working; she needed to write a statement about the arrest to give to Sooyoung before reporters started making up their own stories and finish writing her case report, but she couldn’t force herself to focus. Haruki glanced at the files scattered about her desk, then turned back to her computer screen, which showed a photograph from the department’s Christmas party last year.

Sungmin was standing beside her, the two of them slightly off to the side. His hand was on her shoulder as they smiled at the camera, and as she looked at the picture, she shuddered slightly.

All the other pictures were the same. Casual conversations, innocent contact, a simple, friendly work relationship.

They’d always been friends, ever since she arrived. He’d been the only one to really welcome her- Chief Park and Siwon had been polite and told the others to be the same, but it was clear they had their doubts about her capabilities. Sungmin was the one who had shown her around the office, explained the other detectives’ quirks, and brought her coffee to help her get through those first few exhausting days.

She’d never thought it was any more than that. Had she been wrong about him all along? Either he was a really convincing actor, or the other men had been right, and she wasn’t suited for the job. How could she call herself a detective when she couldn’t even see that the culprit was by her side all along?

When had it all started and how did she not realize what was happening? Even when she was put on the case, he still greeted her every morning with coffee and a smile. He’d been nothing but encouraging throughout the whole case, telling her that she would figure it out- had he been mocking her? Was he laughing as he watched her and Donghae running into the dead ends he planted? Did he get a thrill out of her mounting despair as the body count piled up?

Haruki sighed and rubbed her forehead. Most importantly, though, had she done something wrong? Had she angered him somehow, leading him down this obsessive and crazed path, tormenting her for revenge?

Her cellphone buzzed and she jumped. She glanced at the caller ID before answering. “Jessica. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“Are you coming over soon? The funeral starts in an hour, and, well…”

Jessica didn’t want to be alone when people began coming up to her to offer her their fake condolences and shower her with false pity.

“Yeah. I’ll head over there right now.”

“Did you eat yet?” Jessica asked.

“Huh?”

She could almost hear her roommate rolling her eyes. “You know, food, calories. You haven't eaten anything since the bagel I forced you to swallow, have you?”

Haruki realized with a start that she hadn’t moved from her computer ever since she sat down. “Uh…”

"Eat,” Jessica ordered. “I don’t want your stomach drowning out the minister.” With that, she hung up.

Haruki sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time and tossed her phone onto her bed, before shutting down her computer. No more brooding for now. She needed to change into something acceptable for the funeral.

It would take her mind off things, no matter how morbid that sounded. No good would come of dwelling on all of this. She’d have to wait until she could talk to Sungmin herself.

With her back turned to the bed as she rummaged through her closet, she didn’t hear her phone ringing, desperately calling for attention.

“Come on, come on,” Donghae muttered as he struggled with Jiyong’s computer. It was password-encrypted, but using one of the tactics that Jiyong had taught him, he managed to figure it out.

He glanced through the files from the past few days, finally clicking on a folder labeled “MH.” His partner’s initials. Inside was every bit of data that Jiyong had gathered on their case.

And there was something else. The most recently edited folder was labeled simply “Phone.”

“What are you doing?” Donghae asked, as he watched the hacker plug Haruki’s phone into his laptop and type furiously on his keyboard.

"I’m cloning it,” Jiyong replied.

“And that means?”

“I can check and see what she receives. Like if she gets another message from our friend the lobotomist, she won’t be able to lie about it. Basically, I have another copy of her phone on my computer,” he explained. He unplugged Haruki’s phone and reached into a drawer, pulling out a cheap-looking cellphone and plugged it in. “And now I have it on this phone.”

“So…everything on her phone is on that one?” Donghae asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Exactly,” Jiyong replied. “It’s an exact replica of the inner workings of her phone. Completely illegal, of course. You won’t tell her, right?”

An exact replica of her phone. Jiyong had her phone. He could check her messages, answer her calls…

Send texts in her name…

Why hadn’t he thought of this earlier?

Donghae flew out the doors, rapidly dialing his partner’s number. No answer. She was probably with Jessica at Krystal’s funeral. He’d have to hope she’d be safe.

No…

No, that was ridiculous. Sungmin’s arrest gave Jiyong plenty of time to act. After all, who would be looking for a killer that had already been caught?

Donghae paused only to check that his gun was loaded. Then he jumped into his car and sped off towards his partner’s apartment, praying all the while that he wasn’t too late.

It wasn’t until Haruki climbed into her car that she finally checked her phone. Jessica had texted her the address of the funeral home a while back, but she hadn’t bothered to write it down. They’d be meeting there first, then driving to the cemetery with her parents and all the other people who came. She hoped Luna and Amber would be there. It might give them closure.

She frowned. Two missed calls from Donghae. That wasn’t too unusual. He was probably just checking up on her to see if she was alright after last night’s event. She’d call him back after the funeral.

There was an unread text as well, though, sent from an unknown number last night, after the arrest.

An unknown number?

Instinctively, she glanced behind her as if she were being watched, but of course there was no one watching her, because Sungmin was behind bars. Still, her finger shook as she clicked “Enter” to open the text. She felt her hands freezing as the message slowly sank in.

“Did you really think you could catch me like that?”

It couldn’t be…it was a joke. It had to be a prank or something, because they’d arrested him…

…had it all been a set up?

She read the message again, her stomach twisting with fear and disgust and anger. “Stupid,” she whispered, covering her face with her hands. How could she be so stupid? To think that she could make a deal with someone so twisted? This man enjoyed tormenting her; he must have been laughing his head off when he saw her despair as her best friend was hauled away. Oh God, he’d been stringing her along for fun and she’d fallen for it. She’d really truly believed it would work.

Stupid!

No, there would be time for plenty of time for berating herself later; she had to tell Donghae. They were both in danger.

As she began to dial, a sweet smell began to fill the car. She whipped her head around when she recognized it, eyes widening as a cloth was pressed to her face.

Chloroform…

Her phone dropped to the floor as she struggled. Need help… Her assailant pinned her hands against her lap, thwarting her attempts to fight back. She tried to hold her breath as long as she could, but her lungs betrayed her, inhaling the overwhelmingly pungent gas. Her head began to swim, her ears began ringing…

Haruki’s eyelids fluttered shut and she slumped sideways into the passenger seat. Her attacker carefully, almost lovingly shifted her body into the backseat and drove off, dropping her phone out of the car window as he did so, making sure the back wheels ran over it. He checked in the rearview mirror to make sure nothing but debris was left of the phone, then adjusted it so that he could see his unconscious passenger.

And he smiled. 

A/N: No spoilers in the comments, please. Any comments/questions/complaints/etc. about specific things in this chapter may be PM'd to me. Merci beaucoup!