Cho Miyeon sat in her chair, typing away at the computer sitting on her lap. The time was 10:32 AM. She had consumed three mochas that she had ordered from her local fast food stop. Her leg was shaking as her fingers fired away at the keys, almost as fast as her brain cells delivered signals to them as she continued on with her likely important business.

“Hey, Miyeon, I’m going out tonigh-”

“Damnit, I was on level 29.”

“On tetris?!”

“Of course, what else?” Miyeon looked up at her colleague as she typed what was probably the nickname ‘CHO’. “I was about to beat my high score…”

I sighed and said the phrase spoken by me all-too often: “Pics or it didn’t happen.”

Miyeon turned her computer around, showing the scoreboard. She had, in fact, reached level 29. “Extraordinary,” I murmured. “Oh, I’ll be going out tonight,” I continued, louder this time.

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Miyeon stood, going to the window of our living room and pulling the curtain just far enough to the right to see out of it. She turned back to me. “Or perhaps not, Doctor.”

I sighed and turned my head to the door of the flat as it was opening. Mrs. H emerged from the entrance. Behind her was Seo Soojin of Scotland Yard. “Morning lot,” She said, looking around at the mess that was our living quarters.

“Morning, Seo,” Miyeon responded. “You come bearing a new case, I presume?”

“When do I not?” The officer asked, picking up a couple of papers on the coffee table, which Miyeon rushed to grab out of her hands. She put the papers on the mantle.

“You were saying?” I prompted Soojin.

She looked over at me. “Yes, of course,” She started, pulling a few papers out of her coat pocket. “Have either of you heard of Beauregard Manor?”

I thought about it. “Isn’t it supposed to be haunted or something?” In my peripheral vision I saw Miyeon roll her eyes and turn to look out the window.

Soojin nodded. “There’s a legend that if you enter the mansion and open your body up to the spirits, your body will be, well, opened up quite literally. I don’t believe in hauntings and whatnot, but last night a 19 year old girl identified as Suzie Neyra was found with her intestines pouring out. The murderer left no traces, none that we noticed anyway.”

“Boring,” Miyeon murmured.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to Soojin. “Go on,” I told her.

Soojin murmured her thanks to me before continuing. “Additionally, two females and one male around her age have gone missing. We suspect it has to do with the murder.”

Miyeon turned back to us both with a new gleam in her eyes. “Now that makes things more interesting,” She said, a wicked smirk on her face. Had I not known her, I might've suspected her to be the murderer.

“I'll email you the details later. I can get you access to the crime scene now, if you'd like.” Soojin looked at Miyeon for instructions.

I shared a look with my comrade, who then looked at Soojin. “Why not?”

***

As I followed Miyeon inside, I couldn't help but look around at the trees. Their leaves wear a dazzling array of warm hues, combinations soft on the eyes and heart. I looked forward to see Soojin knock on the door to the manor. The place was large, and I could hardly imagine what kind of folk lived there.

The door opened to reveal a woman in roughly our age range, older than me and younger than Soojin. She smiled softly. “Oh, hello, Inspector.” Her voice was nice, with a relaxed tone to it.

Soojin nodded to the woman. “Evening, Miss Jeon, is Inspector Yantararak here by any chance?” Minnie Nicha Yantararak was a colleague of Soojin. She was an intelligent woman in terms of practicality, but, as Miyeon had on multiple occasions so gracefully put it: “the woman had absolutely no creativity and was lacking horridly in a sense of free will”.

“Yes, she arrived shortly before you, actually,” The woman, Miss Jeon, answered.

“May we come in?”

The woman nodded, and the three of us filed in from the porch, with myself in the rear. “Ma'am, this is Detective Cho Miyeon and her comrade Dr. Song Yuqi. This is Miss Jeon Soyeon, the keeper of the house.”

“Please, just Soyeon. And it's a pleasure to meet the both of you,” Miss Soyeon said, presenting a hand to shake.

“Same to you, ma'am,” I responded, taking her hand and shaking it with a smile while looking over at Miyeon, who's focus had already shifted elsewhere. I moved closer to her. Crime scene investigation wasn't my thing.

“Before you ask, the body was obviously moved last night. Shuhua examined it, of course.” Soojin began to lead us to the room where the body was found.

Upon entering the room, I took a moment to look around, examining the area (as best as I could, considering the fact that I was in no way on the same level of deduction and observation as my friend). The area was a sitting room, lavish, but clearly unused. I moved to the area where the body was found, where I found Miyeon kneeling down, carefully examining the floor. “What could she possibly have been doing here?” Miyeon murmured just loud enough for Soojin and I to hear.

The two of us exchanged a look and sighed. “Seriously?” Soojin asked.

Miyeon sat up, straightening out her back. She turned to of both, and her confused look showed that she was dead serious.

I rolled my eyes. “Miyeon, you dingbat, it's obvious.”

She stared back at me. “What? I, the master of deduction, don't know. What makes you so sure of it?”

Soojin stuck two fingers to her temple, shaking her head in exasperation. “This house is supposed to be haunted,” She said.

“And?”

“And, you idiot,” I continued. “Tomorrow night is Halloween.”