All was calm in the medical center. The initial shock of Sana and Tzuyu being shot at was gone. Everyone’s main concern now is for Sana’s arm to fully heal.

And to catch whoever tried to shoot them, of course.

Mina was instructing Sana on how to clean her wound. During this time, Tzuyu was vigorously taking down notes of everything Mina was saying just incase Sana needed help with her wound. After all, it may be the only chance Tzuyu has to touch Sana again without being backhanded in the face.

“Wait, repeat that last part.” Tzuyu’s tongue stuck out a bit as she focused on taking detailed notes.

I can’t remember the last time Tzuyu wrote something down.

“Uh, wash your hands?” Mina blinked.

“Okay, thanks.” Tzuyu wrote that instruction down and highlighted it.

It sounded important.

“Tzuyu you will have to boil your hands before I trust you near my wound,” Sana said with a glare while covering her bandaged arm protectively.

Tzuyu did nothing but nod. She also crossed out the word “wash” and replaced it with “boil”.

Idiot.

All of a sudden, the doors to the medical center were slammed open, revealing Momo and Dahyun. The two detectives were eating pizzas while talking about raccoons.

Of course.

Sana raised an eyebrow at Momo as she dropped the pizza box in the middle of the table, disregarding the fact that she’s now probably getting pizza grease all over the medical supplies.

“You guys want some pizza?” Crumbs were falling out of Dahyun’s mouth as she asked this.

“Uh, is Sana hot?” Tzuyu rolled her eyes as she grabbed a slice of pizza.

Everyone stared at her blanky.

“Yes. The answer is yes,” Tzuyu scoffed.

Idiot.

“Right… Anyway, are you guys in here because Tzuyu got hit by a roll of tape again?” Momo asked with a chuckle.

“Oh, come on! That was gorilla tape! Do you know how strong that stuff is?” Tzuyu defended herself with a whine. Why must people always remind her of her losses against inanimate objects?

“So you were hit by tape again?”

“No!” Tzuyu facepalmed.

Sana finally decided to cut in and save what little dignity Tzuyu has left. “Actually, we’re here because of this.” She turned slightly to show Momo and Dahyun the bandages around her arm.

Dahyun’s eyes became huge and she let out a whistle, “Sheesh… that must’ve been a pretty big wound… what happened?”

“Someone shot at us while we were driving. Our windshield shattered and Sana got badly cut by one,” Tzuyu explained with a frown.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Momo asked with concern.

“I’m fine guys, thanks,” Sana smiled at her concerned friends, “Mina and Chaeyoung here patched me up nicely.”

“Good thing Tzuyu brought you in here in time, leaving that large piece of glass lodged in you for a long period of time would have been really bad,” Chaeyoung replied.

“Yeah… Thank you, Tzuyu,” Sana muttered quietly.

Tzuyu could not stop the large smile from appearing on her face. “No problem! That’s what partners are for right?”

“R-Right.” Agreeing with Tzuyu always felt strange. “Anyway, we should start thinking about who shot at us. It may be someone who is connected to the robberies.”

“It must be. A random attack on us like that feels very unlikely,” Tzuyu added with a nod. She turned to face Momo and Dahyun, “Have you guys been able to figure out what those symbols meant? The shooter got away from us. We have to stop them before they hurt anyone else.”

“Wow Tzuyu, I’ve never seen you so hell bent on catching someone.” Dahyun was surprised, Tzuyu usually waited until the situation arises for her to pursue someone.

"It's different this time… they hurt Sana,” Tzuyu growled.

Momo playfully nudged Sana’s side and whispered, “Tzuyu sure is protective of you.”

“Shut up.”

“Well no, we haven’t figured it out yet,” Dahyun answered. She pulled out the notes from the folder she was carrying around. She and Momo spent all morning staring that the symbols, but they couldn’t figure it out.

Dahyun laid out all the notes on the table and everyone continued to stare at them in contemplation. After a few seconds, Mina let out a small laugh.

“Those lines look like the lines that you would see on a heart monitor,” Mina said as she pointed at the note with the sharp, squiggly line..

Momo and Dahyun’s necks nearly broke when they immediately looked at the note.

“Mina… You’re a genius!” Momo shouted with glee.

“I could kiss you right now!” Dahyun praised Mina’s smart thinking, giving Mina a bear hug.

“Don’t.” Chaeyoung growled.

“Uh-” Mina got cut off by an excited Momo.

“You must right! Everything starts making sense when we think of them in that aspect! The tiles probably represent a hospital’s floors. The bed is could be a hospital bed!” Momo started off.

“The cross could be the health symbol that you see on medical buildings!” Dahyun pointed at the red cross that was in their own medical center, “and the horizontal line... it may represent the heart monitor of someone’s whose heart stopped beating.”

“All of that makes much more sense than your theory earlier!” Momo teased Dahyun.

“Wait, what was your theory earlier?” Tzuyu was very curious.

“Let’s not talk about that-”

“But I want to know!” Tzuyu stomped her foot with a pout.

“Fine, fine,” Dahyun sighed.

“I thought the notes meant that there is a really sleepy, religious construction worker who has a passion for badly drawn art.”

Everyone silently stared at Dahyun except for Tzuyu, who was slowly nodding.

“I can see you how got that.”

The -

“But everything else makes much more sense now! We may be looking at a criminal who works in a hospital or is connected to one in some way,” Dahyun exclaimed happily, “we couldn’t have done it without you Mina!”

“Why aren’t you part of the detective’s team, Mina?” Momo looked up at Mina with shining eyes.

“I can never get myself involved in those dangerous situations that you guys get into.” Mina chuckled.

“Yeah, people like us would get stupidly hurt,” Chaeyoung patted Mina’s back in understandment, “like, the worse-than-Tzuyu kind of stupidly hurt.”

“Hey!”

"And who would put bandaids on your oos if we weren't here?" Chaeyoung teased.

"Why you-"

“There you guys are!” Jeongyeon walked into the medical center.

“Deputy!” Everyone immediately straightened their shoulders and gave Jeongyeon all their attention.

“Our victims received another note. It was left on all of their porches,” Jeongyeon said.

“What did they say?” Momo asked.

Jeongyeon held out the papers for them to read. They all had the same thing written on them.

Tonight is the night. I will ruin all of you... just like how you all ruined him.

Dahyun gasped. “They’re definitely going to kidnap or murder someone.”

“We have to work fast.” Momo nodded.

“We’ve figured out the symbols though, maybe we’re one step closer to finding our suspect.” Chaeyoung pointed out as she gestured at the notes.

Sana listened to everybody silently before speaking, “So, we know where we should investigate next...”

“A hospital,” Tzuyu finished.

“Which hospital should we go to first?” Sana asked as she looked at her coworkers.

“I think you should start with the one that’s just 3 blocks down the street,” Chaeyoung said as she pointed at the cross symbol, “This cross has a white dot in the middle of it; the hospital down the street has a similar symbol on their doors.”

“Alright, thanks a lot guys!” Sana grabbed Tzuyu by the ear and started dragging her out of the medical center. Tzuyu could be heard shouting even through the closed doors.

“We are so going to whoop this guy’s !”

______________________________________________________________________

Tzuyu and Sana quickly went to get keys for another police car since their previous car clearly needs to be repaired. As they were entering the car, Tzuyu couldn’t help but fess over Sana’s injury again.

“Are you sure you wanna go back out? I can always go by myself,” Tzuyu looked over Sana’s arm worriedly.

“Of course I want to go with you! That bastard tried to shoot me! It’s personal now,” Sana growled. Tzuyu smirked and nodded.

“I like this side of you,” Tzuyu admitted, “it’s y.”

Sana rolled her eyes. “You’re incorrigible.”

“You like it.”

“Shut up and drive to the hospital.”

“Okay.”

They arrived at the hospital in record time. The two girls rushed inside the hospital and immediately walked towards the receptionist.

“Yes? How can I help you?” The receptionist smiled at the two. She gave a look of surprise as they two detectives showed their badges.

“Do you know these people?” Sana pulled out a folder and placed down pictures of all the families that have been robbed.

“I only know these four. They work here; some are doctors and some are nurses,” the receptionist replied as she pointed at four pictures.

Tzuyu and Sana looked at each other in the eyes and thought the same thing.

This can not be a coincidence.

“Have you noticed anyone here that has been upset with these individuals?” Sana asked.

“Not really… People get upset at our employees often; mainly because of all the stress of being in a hospital and all that,” the receptionist shrugged, “but now that you mention it, we did have a pretty bad case of an upset person recently…”

“Upset how?”

“I believe he was a family member to one of our patients. He was extremely upset when we ended our patient’s life support,” the receptionist replied.

“Someone’s life support was terminated?” Tzuyu raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, one of our patients had been on life support for quite a long time. All of the patient’s family members agreed to end their life support... except one person, they completely refused that idea. Now that I think about it, I think the four employees in these pictures were the main caretakers of that patient.” The receptionist’s eyes widened at the realization.

“Do you know who this person is?” Sana asked quickly.

“I don’t. He never said his name, he only showed up on the day that we ended the patient’s life support. He got really upset; threw tables and chairs around, broke items, and harassed doctors,” the receptionist replied.

“Do you have footage of that?” Tzuyu asked as she pointed to one of the security cameras in the hospital.

“Unfortunately no. We delete footage after a few weeks. It’s probably gone by now,” the receptionist answered sadly.

Just our luck.

“Do you remember what he looks like?” Tzuyu asked.

“I'm afraid not, I see tons of faces a day.” the receptionist apologized.

“How are we going to figure out who this guy is?” Tzuyu rubbed her forehead.

“I don’t know, but we’re running out of time. The criminal is going to strike tonight,” Sana replied, shaking her head in frustration.

“Damn.” Tzuyu kicked the floor. The two stood there in deep thought, trying to think about what their next course of action should be.

Tzuyu suddenly looked up with wide eyes.

“I know who did it.”

“What?” Sana looked at Tzuyu confused. The receptionist did as well.

“Come on!” Tzuyu grabbed Sana’s hand and dragged her out of the hospital.

“Bye?” the receptionist said to no one.

______________________________________________________________________

“You know who did it?” Sana asked Tzuyu as her partner sped down the street. Tzuyu didn’t say a word and focused on reaching her destination as soon as possible.

“Tzuyu!” Sana shouted. Again, silence.

Tzuyu didn’t say anything as she arrived at their destination, the courthouse. Before Sana could even blink, Tzuyu took off her seat belt and dashed inside. Sana groaned before following her, she’s not in the right shape to be chasing people.

“Judge Jihyo!” Tzuyu shouted as she caught in Jihyo in a hallway.

“Y-Yes?” Jihyo looked at her in surprise. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest, Tzuyu literally came out of nowhere.

“I need a warrant for someone’s arrest,” Tzuyu said. When Sana finally caught up to her, she was panting and holding onto the wall for support.

Tzuyu sure can run fast when she isn’t being a lazy bum.

“For the arrest of whom?” Jihyo asked.

“A suspect for our robbery case,” Tzuyu replied.

“What evidence do you have to issue this warrant?” Jihyo raised an eyebrow.

Tzuyu looked at Sana. “Remember that first guy we interviewed?”

“Yeah, but what-”

“He had no pictures of his family anywhere in the house, unlike all of our other victims.”

“That doesn’t mean-”

“And that vase,” Tzuyu continued, “Why would a robber leave such an expensive-looking vase? All the valuables in the other houses were gone.”

“I don’t know, but-”

“When I touched that vase, he got really defensive, remember?”

Sana nodded. Jihyo just raised an eyebrow as she watched the two detectives slowly reach an epiphany.

“The vase wasn’t empty.”

“What?” It was Sana’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

“It wasn’t empty. At first glance I thought it was dirt or sand, but now when I think about it, it seemed like ashes were inside. I think they were human ashes,” Tzuyu explained.

“That’s a long reach…” Jihyo said slowly.

“I know, but this kind of thing isn’t unheard of. Many people cremate dead bodies instead of burying them. Most of the time they’re kept in a container too,” Tzuyu replied.

“What are you thinking then?” Sana asked, giving Tzuyu the benefit of the doubt.

 “It could be the ashes of the patient that lost life support. Our suspect must have been angry at the doctors and nurses that allowed it to happen.”

“And want revenge of some sort?” Jihyo started following along.

Sana’s eyes widened. “He must have staged his own robbery so that he can look like a victim!”

“Exactly,” Tzuyu winked.

Sana and Tzuyu both look at Jihyo again with hopeful faces. The Judge thought about all the information that was presented to her again before giving the detectives a reluctant look.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t give you two a warrant for his arrest without substantial evidence,” Jihyo shook her head.

“But-” Tzuyu tried to say.

“What you have is a hunch, a guess,” Jihyo pointed out, “I need more than that to give you a warrant.”

Tzuyu sighed before nodding, disappointed with this outcome. Sana placed her hand on Tzuyu’s shoulder in comfort.

“Let’s find more evidence.” Sana patted her shoulder once before exiting the courthouse.

We’re NOT letting this guy go.

Tzuyu nodded and was about to follow Sana outside. Before she reached the doors, she turned around and looked at Jihyo.

“I’ve never been wrong,” Tzuyu reminded her.

“I know, that’s why I really hope you can find me some more evidence so that we can lock this guy up for good,” Jihyo replied with a small smile.

A big grin appeared on Tzuyu’s face before she gave the Judge a salute and quickly left the building.

“I knew I wouldn’t regret assigning her here.” Jihyo nodded to herself with pride.

______________________________________________________________________

“Sana, slow down!” Tzuyu shouted as she saw Sana waiting impatiently near their car.

“We can’t waste time, it’s almost evening.” Sana tapped her foot as the car was unlocked.

“You seem to have a new resurgence of energy,” Tzuyu chuckled while she fastened her seatbelt.

“You’re never wrong, Tzuyu,” Sana said, “Never.”

“I just hope we can get this guy before it’s too late,” Tzuyu sighed. Sana rested her hand on Tzuyu’s and squeezed.

“We will.”

“You seem to be okay with touching me recently,” Tzuyu smirked as she drove to their suspect’s house, “what happened to not wanting to touch me with a ten-foot pole?”

“We held hands when I had a big- glass shard pulled out of me.” Sana shivered at the memory. “I can excuse a few light touches.”

Tzuyu beamed in happiness. She certainly wasn’t going to complain.

“Also,” Sana began, “we clearly had drunk last night. Anything remotely close to behaving like a ‘prude’ should be thrown out the window.”

“Thrown out of our police car’s broken windshield,” Tzuyu chuckled.

Sana shook her head.

“Too soon.”

______________________________________________________________________

Tzuyu and Sana arrived at their suspect’s house in a matter of minutes. They almost reached the door when Tzuyu suddenly stopped moving.

"What?" Sana asked worriedly.

"These are nice flowers." Tzuyu admired their suspect's yardwork.

Are you kidding me?

Sana gave three hard knocks on the door before their suspect opened it.

“Y-You guys again? What do you guys n-need?” he stammered, shaking a bit. He was very fidgety. The girls looked at each other with a knowing look.

Definitely suspicious.

“Sir we have a few more questions to ask you,” Sana stated. The man nodded nervously.

“Ask away.”

“Where were you this past week?” Sana asked.

“I-I told you, I was at a ski resort-”

“Uh, I don’t think so,” Tzuyu butted in. She pointed at the flowers on his lawn, “Those are yellow hibiscus, yes?”

“Yes, but I don’t see what that has to do with anything-”

“These flowers require a lot of water,” Tzuyu pointed out, “I would know, I killed a yellow hibiscus before.”

Sana looked at Tzuyu with a confused look.

Is she really talking about his lawn right now?

“How could your yellow hibiscus live so well, if you have been gone for a week?” Tzuyu asked, “you were supposedly not around to water them for a week, right?”

“My neighbors-”

“You told us that you don’t talk to your neighbors. ‘Never’ is the word that you used, I believe,” Tzuyu countered.

“My… My family must have watered them.” He started sweating.

“Wasn’t your ‘family’ with you on your trip to the ski resort?” Tzuyu continued to hammer him with questions. Sana actually looked amused at Tzuyu’s random interrogation.

She sure knows how to get them right where she wants them.

“Oh, that’s right. I’m sorry, this whole robbery situation has me a bit lost.” He scratched his head and diverted his eyes.

“So, how did your flowers live this long? They would have died quickly without constant watering, especially if it’s been a week,” Tzuyu pointed out.

“Maybe there was rain-”

“It’s been sunny all week,” Sana interrupted, “not a cloud in sight.” Tzuyu mentally fist bumped Sana.

“I don’t know who watered them, okay?!” the man suddenly shouted, he was very frustrated now.

“Where is your ‘family’ anyways? I don’t hear annoying laughter in the house,” Tzuyu asked as she admired his flowers. Sana rolled her eyes as she realized that Tzuyu will probably want to buy some yellow hibiscus after this.

I wouldn't be surpised if she asks him to recommend a flower shop to her while she locks him up.

“They’re away, I didn’t want them to get hurt tonight… I saw the new note today,” the man answered quickly.

“Where are they? We can send some of our police officers to scope out the area for you.” Tzuyu smiled with fake concern.

“I-It’s fine, they can handle themselves.”

Tzuyu and Sana looked at each other and shook their heads. It was then that Sana noticed something in the driveway.

“Nice blue car…” Sana suddenly said. Tzuyu looked at it immediately with wide eyes.

“What?” the man was genuinely confused.

“It’s just… you know, we had an issue today with someone driving a blue car.” Tzuyu looked the man in the eyes, practically glaring at him as she remembered what he did to Sana.

“Plenty of people in this city have blue cars…” the man defended himself.

“You’re right… but your tires look a bit on the rough side, as if you tried to quickly drive away from something,” Sana cut in this time, examining the familiar-looking blue car.

“Those tires are old!” the man yelled, completely frustrated with all the statements the two detectives were saying.

Tzuyu tsked in disapproval. “That’s not safe, you’re supposed to have your tires replaced if they’re in bad shape.”

“Can we just stop talking about my car?” the man was sweating bullets now.

“Hmm…” Sana faintly nodded before facing the man with determination in her eyes.

“Sir, we’re going to have to ask you to come down to the station,” Sana stated blankly.

“What? Why?!” he yelled angrily.

“For the theft and threatening messages you imposed on four homes and families,” Tzuyu replied in a obvious-like tone.

"You think I did this?!"

"If we didn't would we be asking you to come down to the station?" Tzuyu asked with a 'duh' tone in her voice.

“Do you have a warrant for my arrest?” the man smirked.

“No, but we believe we have probable cause-”

“But you guys don’t actually have anything on me! You can’t arrest me!” he argued, “I studied my rights recently! I know all about how this works!"

Well that doesn’t sound suspicious at all.

He slammed the door shut before either woman could say another word.

“He practically admitted it,” Tzuyu said as she stuffed her cold hands into her pockets.

“We can’t do anything without proper evidence,” Sana shook her head sadly before walking away from the house. Tzuyu slowly followed her, but not before giving one last admiring glance to the yellow hibiscus.

“Those threatening notes he left today, he’s supposed to act on them tonight,” Tzuyu reminded.

“I know. That’s why we’re going to have to stick around and watch what he does.” Sana mentally groaned at the thought of sitting in a car for hours.

“A stakeout?” Tzuyu grinned in excitement as she opened the passenger side door for her partner, “been a while since we did one of those.”

“Yeah… but it’s necessary for this case,” Sana sat in the car and wrapped her coat tighter around herself, “and can you turn on the heater? It’s cold in here.”

“I can think of one way to warm us up.” Tzuyu wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“Just turn on the damn heater.”

“Okay.”

The two detectives sat in a comfortable silence as they kept their eyes on the suspect’s house.

Now we just have to wait.