7:32 PM Wednesday, December 13

Another day, another case.

Driving down the city street, I instinctively glance up and around, keeping my eye out for any stragglers hanging around the area.  The neighborhood itself is composed of mostly just brick-red apartment buildings, typical for side streets off the main road. The main street is a strip of small restaurants, coffee shops, banks, and a market; just enough to provide for a small community.

A few blocks ahead, I notice a line of parked police cars followed by an area marked off by bright yellow police tape.

That's my site, I think to myself.

I park on the other side of the police brigade and exit the car.  I stroll over to the scene, buttoning up my wool coat, stopping right behind the tape, and peering down at the pavement.

I smell the blood before I see it.  Not that it makes me sick anymore; I’ve been in this business long enough to become desensitized to it.  The deceased man lays on his back on the ground in a pool of blood. The zipper on his dark blue fleece parka is open, revealing a cream colored sweater stained red by his blood.  The source seems to come from a deep gash across his neck. Fallen grocery bags surround him, their contents spilling out and bathing in the scarlet liquid.

“Can I help you, Miss?”

My train of thought is cut off by a police officer standing in front of me.  I take my badge out of my pocket. “Detective Lim Hee Chan. I was assigned to this case,” I answer authoritatively.

The officer lifts the tape to let me pass under it.  I sign the sheet the officer hands me to note that I’m present at the scene.  The officer hands me some cloth booties and latex gloves. I place the booties over my shoes immediately and stretch out the gloves, making my way over to the body.  The entire scene is covered in labels and rulers as officers take pictures with their cameras to record evidence of the scene. The man’s eyes are strangely closed rather than open.

“Detective!”

A smaller man with a round face carefully saunters over to me and I greet him with a small nod.  Officer Yang Yoseob is colleague of mine who I’ve become friendly with at our station. I trust him with a camera, but being the way I am, I still feel the need to give him orders, and he always lets me.

“Evening, Officer.  I’m sorry you had to be here this late,” I greet respectfully.

“It’s part of the job,” he shrugs, walking beside me.

I put the gloves on carefully, signaling that I’m ready for business.  “I want every piece of evidence photographed. Every strand of hair, blood spatter, bruise, and foreign object.  I want it all photographed and the copies on my desk by tomorrow morning,” I order, taking my notepad and pen out of my jacket pocket.

“Yes, Detective.”

I stare down at the body and the deep gash across his neck.  Someone definitely knew what they were doing.  “Do we have an ID on this man yet?” I ask.

“Yes, we checked his wallet.  His name is Kim Seokjin, age 25,” Yoseob answers as I write the details.  “He lives in the apartment complex just two blocks down from here on the 13th floor.”

The 13th floor?  So he lives on one of the top floors with the multiple bedrooms.  “Did you try contacting the family or anyone at his apartment?”

“Yes, we sent Officer Lee Gikwang a few minutes ago to the apartment.”

“Where is the witness who found the body?”

“The witness was not a civilian, Officer Yong and Officer Son were doing their normal patrol of the area when they found the body at around 7 PM and called it in.”

I make a note of that and look around at the scene itself.  I scan all the evidence and frown slightly. “Has the murder weapon been found yet?”

“Not yet, we are waiting for the K9s to come in and sniff around for it.”

If it’s not at the scene, it should still be around if here at all.  I turn my head towards the alley between the two buildings, a strip of tape blocking it off.  My eyes fly back to the corpse before spotting a trail of bloody shoe prints starting from the body’s head towards the alley before stopping at the tape.  I pause for a moment and stare at Officer Yoseob levelly. “Did you check inside the alleyway garbage dumpsters?”

The officer’s eyes downcast.  “No, Detective...” he admits.

I sigh and call out to the rest of the field crew, “Someone please check inside the alleyway garbage for any evidence.  There’s obviously a blood trail leading down there.” I also note the passive blood drops leading into the dark space, but stops about 3 feet from the body.  The killer obviously retreated that way.  I return my attention to the grocery bags around the body.  “And I want CCTV footage from the nearest supermarket and this entire block leading to here.”

“Seokjin hyung!”

I turn to see a short man with mint-colored hair running at full speed towards the scene, a taller dark haired boy running behind him trying to catch up, and the officer - who I’m guessing is Officer Lee Gikwang - running after both of them.  Immediately, a group of officers gather in front of the tape to block off the crime scene. I follow them from behind, watching as the shorter man bullets straight into the officers.

“Let me see him!” he roars, tears streaming down his face.

I push one of the officers aside.  “Let me talk to him,” I order. The officer lets me through and stands behind me.  From close up, I see the man’s features: a somewhat rounded face, small eyes, and round nose defined over pale skin.  He’s breathing hard from running and crying. “Detective Lim Hee Chan. Do you know Kim Seokjin?” I ask.

“Yes, he’s my roommate,” he chokes out, leaning on the tape.

“And your name is?”  I take out my pen and notepad again.

“Min Yoongi,” he answers before pushing on the tape.  “Detective, you have to let me see him, I just need to see his face-!”

“I’m very sorry, Yoongi ssi,” I answer firmly, “I can’t let you into the crime scene or else the evidence will be-”

“No, I need to see my hyung now!”  He tries hopping over the tape, but the dark haired boy behind him wraps his arms around him to stop his hasty action.

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