Youngbin was escorted out of the room and towards where the body was found. He can hear Juho and the man, Chief Jung, whispering a few steps behind him and he knew for a fact that he was the topic of their conversation.

Ignore them. He heard Inseong say.

There was another person standing in front of the room and she saluted upon seeing the two people behind Youngbin.

“Well, then, Youngbin-ssi. I’ll give you some time to check the room before the crime scene techs arrive. Let me know what you find,” the chief said, tapping him on the shoulder. He nodded towards Juho and the other officer before hurrying back to the party.

As soon as the man was out of earshot, Juho wheeled around to face him. “I don’t know what you said to the chief but you better get us some results,” he said, voice deep and rumbling.

Youngbin nodded. Juho glared at him a second longer before gesturing towards the room with a shrug.

“Yes, right,” Youngbin stepped back into the room.

Thankfully, Juho and the other officer remained outside although Juho was still looking at him suspiciously.

“I’m back in the room,” he muttered softly.

Hmmm, can you check on the lock again.

Youngbin groaned. Checking on the lock would put him in the near vicinity of Juho and his searing eyes but did as he was told. He was about to reach out to touch the door when Juho strode towards him.

“Yah! Don’t touch anything with bare hands,” he barked, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and handing it to him.

Youngbin chuckled nervously. “Sorry,” he muttered reaching out for it.

“It’s an old type of lock. Those ones you just need to slide slideways,” he muttered, crouching down. Youngbin placed the handkerchief on the small knob that you hold onto to slide the lock and tried it a few times. “Wow, it moves easily even if it looks old,” he commented.

Check the other door.

Youngbin moved towards the other door. The small metal frame was hanging loosely, only one of the screws keeping it on the door remained.

Youngbin walked a few more times around the room, answering all of Inseong's questions. Twice he caught Juho looking at him weirdly but he shrugged it off.

Can we talk to the one who found the body?

Youngbin relayed the question to Juho who merely nodded and signaled for him to follow.

What do you think?

Youngbin asked as softly as he could, as they made their way back downstairs.

I honestly don’t know what to think. But i'm pretty sure that solving the mystery of the locked room would point us to our murderer.

"Are you sure that it's a murder?"

A chuckle. Maybe

That stopped Youngbin in his tracks.

“Why the are we doing this then if you're not one hundred percent sure?”  he hissed as quietly as he could.

Relax. Just talk to the witnesses first.

Youngbin pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the beginnings of a terrible headache. He could run, he could say he was sorry for stringing the police up but…

You have to see this through, kid, the bowtie said as if reading his thoughts.

"I know," Youngbin muttered, quickening his pace to catch up to Juho.

They passed by the ballroom where the party was held and Youngbin was kinda glad that the people are still in there although the arrival of more police officers made him a tad uncomfortable.

Juho led him to the room right next to the ballroom and gently opened the door.

An ungodly wailing came from somewhere inside the room and Chief Jung looked at them helplessly. From where he was standing, Youngbin can see a clump of red curled on the couch.

"Lee Siyeon. Madam Lee, if you will. She’s Sanghyuk’s girlfriend. She's the one who saw the body first,” the chief said acknowledging their arrival.

“Sanghyuk?” Juho asked.

“That’s the name of our victim,” Chief Jung replied. “As for the other details, well,” he gestured helplessly at Madam Lee.

Go talk to her.

"Uhm, sir, may i?"

Chief Jung sighed. "She's all yours. Good luck,"

"Madam Lee?"

Her wails got louder but Youngbin, egged on by the bowtie, continued to walk towards her.

"Madam Lee, i want to ask a few questions,"

Louder, kid.

"Madam Lee! I have a few questions," Youngbin screamed throwing caution to the wind. He might as well just do whatever at this point.

Thankfully, that caught her attention. She stopped and sat up, looking at him with annoyance.

"I just have a few questions," Youngbin repeated, looking a bit sheepish.

She nodded and sat up straighter.

"What were you doing when you found the body?"

She sniffled. "I-i was looking for him, you know? He's my boyfriend." she answered, tears starting to pool in her eyes once more.

"How did you know he was there? If the door was locked?"

She paused. "I heard music coming from the room."

“And you knew it was him?”

She huffed, crossing her arms in front of her. "I can just feel it, okay? Besides, Dada always goes somewhere whenever we attend these kinds of parties." she replied.

"And how did you open the door?"

"I called someone.. and he kicked the door open. "

"And this someone is?"

"Tachihara-ssi. I saw him walking around the hallway and called to him.”

Hmmm, interesting. We should talk to this Tachihara quickly.

"Uhm, thank you for your time, Madam Lee. Uh, please have a good rest," Youngbin said.

She nodded and flopped back down on the sofa.

Youngbin, look for Tachihara.

"Where is Tachichara-ssi?" he asked once he joined Juho and Chief Jung near the door.

The chief looked at Juho and nodded before the officer went out of the room.

"What do you think?" the chief asked, gesturing towards the pitiful figure of Madam Lee.

"I'm not sure, sir." Youngbin replied. "Uhm, can i excuse myself. I need to talk to my employer," he asked.

Chief Jung waved him off and Youngbin slipped out of the room quickly, hoping to find Jaeyoon first.

He went back to the ballroom, spotting Jaeyoon standing near the hallway leading to the kitchens. Youngbin carefully made his way towards the man.

"Where were you?"

"I was just... caught up with something. Listen, I-uhm, i'm helping the police with this," Youngbin said.

Jaeyoon's eyes widened upon hearing the words. "What? Why? Are you? Why?"

"Relax, will you? It's just... it's a long story. For now, i'm... a consulting detective?" he replied.

His friend gaped. "Are you serious? Do you even hear what you're saying?"

Youngbin sighed. "Look, i know this sounds weird, okay? but just trust me?"

Jaeyoon regarded him for a full minute, his eyes flashing from surprise and disbelief. "This isn't... you didn't do this right? It's not that?"

"No! Why would you even- I was standing in the room just like you?"

"Okay, okay," Jaeyoon breathed. "Just, tell me what's going on afterwards, yeah?"

Youngbin slipped off to the gardens after talking to Jaeyoon. The sight of the mountains towering over the mansion was refreshing, not to mention the breath of fresh air from the stifling mansion cleared his head.

"I can't believe this is happening," he muttered.

Thankfully, the bowtie was quiet.

I could just ignore it, Youngbin thought.

He could remove the bowtie and throw it somewhere here. In this big place, a single bowtie would be hard to find. And if they did find it, it's small enough that it'll end up in the trash.

I'm sorry.

He jumped, almost forgetting the presence of the thing-being-whatever it is.

"What?"

I'm sorry for getting you into this. I know this is a lot to handle for someone like you. But- i just- i couldn't help it. I can't let something like this go.

"Hey, bowti- Inseong. Why are you a bowtie? Why are you speaking to me? Why is it only me that can hear you?"

It’s a story for another time, kid.

"You keep calling me, kid? Are you an old dude? And why do you know a lot about this kind of stuff?"

Even I don’t remember how I ended up this way? And to answer your question, no, I’m not old. I’m only in my twenties.

“Twenties? That means you and me maybe the same age,” Youngbin exclaimed.

Well, yes. I’ve considered that, the bowtie said, a hint of laughter in his voice.

“Were you… are you a detective?” Youngbin asked. “In whatever previous life you had?”

Yes. I know I am.

The words were said with much conviction that Youngbin couldn’t help but believe in them.

"Youngbin-ssi! We found Tachihara," Juho’s voice rang from behind him, breaking the moment.

 

They did find Tachihara but he was passed out drunk in one of the bedrooms in the mansion.

Wake him up.

"What?"

You heard me. Dump some water on him or something.

"Are you serious?"

This is a murder investigation so yes, I am serious.

Youngbin let out a breath. "Okay," he said, looking around. He spotted a half empty bottle of liquor laying on the carpet floor and picked it up. Youngbin considered going to the bathroom and dumping its contents in the sink but,

To hell with it, he thought.

He walked closer to the figure on the bed and overturned the bottle on the man’s head. Juho’s made a sound that’s between a breath and an ‘eep’ and it was enough to even make Youngbin smile.

Tachihara woke up with a yelp.

"WHAT THE !!"

He sat up and glared around the room, eyes falling on Youngbin and the now empty bottle he was holding.

"YOU LITTLE ! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

He stood up suddenly and lunged towards Youngbin but Juho was there in the next second, restraining the man.

"Tachihara-ssi. This is a murder investigation. We're asking for you to cooperate!" Juho bellowed but the man continued to struggle. Juho repeated his words with a little more force. Somehow, the man stopped struggling.

"Let me go," Tachihara said sharply, tapping on Juho's arms around him.

"Will you sit down and cooperate if i do?" Juho asked.

A nod. Juho immediately release him but kept a close distance.

Tachihara huffed, making a show of straightening his collar as he did so. He eyed Juho warily then glanced at Youngbin.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Tachihara-ssi?" Youngbin started, hand absently gripping on the bottle.

"Yes?"

"Uhm, we just have to ask a few questions. About -the body,”

", right, Sanghyuk's dead," Tachihara whispered, settling on the bed once more. His earlier annoyance gave way to an open expression of shock and sadness.

"Right? Yeah, what do you need from me?" he asked, softly this time.

"You were the one who kicked the door open?" Youngbin said.

"Yes, yes. Siyeon ran up to me and asked me to help her. I said no at first coz but she got her hands on me and started dragging me somewhere. I remember the door not budging and she started talking that I got so annoyed so I kicked it open. And then,” He took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair.

“I didn’t understand it at first, you know. And then, Siyeon started screaming and pushed past me, I didn’t..,”

“It’s okay, Tachihara-ssi.”

“Next thing I knew, you’re here waking me up,” he ended.

“Did you notice anything weird about the room or about Madam Lee perhaps?”

He huffed. “My entire world was spinning then, I don’t think I’ll be able to notice anything weird in that moment,” he replied.

“Right, yes. Thank you, Tachihara-ssi,”

“If there’s nothing else, I’d like to get back to sleep,” the man said, already sprawling himself back down on the pillows.

Do you notice anything weird about him?

Youngbin’s eyes raked over the man. From the disheveled hair to the neck tie hanging loosely on his neck, to the discarded jacket and vest at the foot of the bed, and even to the weird piece of tape stuck on the soles of his shoes.

“Other than that piece of tape stuck in his shoe, nothing,” Youngbin said.

Hmmm, well then, that was something. Can we go back to the room, please?

“Do you think it was him? You know, maybe he and the girlfriend,” Juho said as soon as the door closed behind them.

“I don’t really know,” Youngbin answered. They spent the rest of the walk back to the room in silence.

The room was busy now that the crime scene techs have arrived and Juho excused himself as he went to talk to some of the guys. That left Youngbin standing outside the doors, wondering if he should just walk in or-

Go inside. Describe the room to me once more.

“We’ve already been there. What more is there to look at?”

Just, will you please do it, please?

Youngbin sighed. “Fine, fine. I’ll do it,”

He stepped into the room once more. Youngbin kept to the sides, making sure that he wasn’t interfering with the people working all around.

He described the room as Inseong requested and this time, Inseong kept bugging him about the smallest things. Youngbin did as he was told but at this point, he wasn’t sure which were the tools that the crime scene techs brought and the ones which were originally inside the room.

“There’s like strings and rags and more vinyls, that’s about it.”

A crime scene tech moved out of the way. “Oh and there’s like, a measuring tape, you know the one that springs back,” Youngbin said, seeing the little box stashed haphazardly on the cabinet.

“You! What are you doing here?!”

Youngbin looked around, thinking that he was the one being referred to. But all heads were turned towards the door, where another figure lurked. Said figure was another man who looked to be middle-aged. His face was flushed from embarrassment and from where he was standing, Youngbin can hear him spluttering on his words as he tried to explain himself.

“I should talk to him, right?” Youngbin asked.

Ah, you’re finally thinking like a detective!

He walked towards the man and the stirred him out of the room and into the hallway.

“I’m helping with the investigation,” Youngbin started. “Mr…”

“Mori. Mori Ougai.” The man supplied.

Mr. Mori was wringing his hands as he looked worriedly towards the room.

“Do you think they found something?” he asked.

Youngbin raised an eyebrow. Even without deduction skills or police training, this man was acting suspicious.

“How are you related to Sanghyuk, sir?” he asked.

“I’m his secretary. Well, I’m his father’s secretary but you know his father died and so I became his secretary,” Mr. Mori’s eyes were still glued towards the room.

“And what are you doing here, Mr. Mori? Surely, you know that this is an ongoing investigation?”

He whipped his head towards Youngbin. “I-ah, I-I… I should get going,” he said and walked away quickly.

“Well that was something,” Juho said as he joined Youngbin in the hallway. Mr. Mori took one last glance towards them before descending the stairs and disappearing from view.

“I should put someone to watch him,” the officer beside him said and Youngbin couldn’t help but nod.

+++++

Its already 2 in the morning and most of the people have already been sent home after being interrogated, the only ones remaining in the mansion are those the police deemed are crucial.

Youngbin was given the room where he was first taken into but he can’t seem to find any hint of rest. Inseong had been awfully quiet in the last hour that Youngbin’s starting to panic – images of him being thrown in jail filling his mind.

Youngbin!

The voice startled him and he almost sighed in relief.

I think I got it! The lock room! I think I figured it out!

+++++

“This better be good, Youngbin-ssi!” Juho warned, stifling a yawn as he walked inside the music room.

Youngbin nodded, not trusting his own voice. The bowtie had explained to him how the locked room was perfected and he was still reeling from everything.

“Are we waiting for someone else?” Juho asked, to which Youngbin just shrugged.

“I have finally figured out the mystery of the locked room and I believe a demonstration would be best,” he announced, repeating the bowtie’s words.

Youngbin pulled out a measuring tape, a roll of strings and a brown tape from his pocket.

Next, he placed the measuring tape under the cabinet nearest to the gramophone and taped it down. He then pulled the tape, tied a string near the hook and taped the other end of the string on the vinyl. He then hooked the measuring tape on the gramophone’s arm.

He looked back at his audience, taking careful note of everyone’s expressions.

“Juho-ssi, please go out for a while,” Youngbin said.

The officer looked towards Chief Jung and the latter nodded. Youngbin closed the door behind Juho and resumed the demonstration.

He tied a string on the small knob of the sliding lock and walked back to the gramophone where he wrapped the other end of the string around the small rod in the middle of the turntable. When all this was done, Youngbin the gramophone.

He let the vinyl make several turns causing the string tied to the lock to grow a little taut. Then, he placed the arm gently on the top of the vinyl.

He can feel the chief’s eyes looking at him as music swelled all around them.

After a minute, two things happened.

First, while the string wrapped around the turntable rod grew taut, it managed to pull with it the lock and slide it in place. Youngbin had asked permission to screw back the other part of the lock for the demonstration and right now, the brass lock slid securely in place.

Second, as the string taped to the vinyl tightened, it managed to lift the tape measure’s hook off of the gramophone’s arm. The tape zipped back to its case under the cabinet, carrying the vinyl with it and effectively hiding it from view.

Now, it has become a locked room, the bowtie whispered.

Youngbin couldn’t help the gasp that escaped his lips earning him a quizzical look from the chief.

“Juho-ssi, open the door,” Youngbin shouted. Immediately, the door rattled in place as the officer tried to open it from the other side.

“Kick it,” Chief Jung said as he and Youngbin moved to the sides.

They heard Juho counting down to three before the doors blew wide open. And behind Juho was one other person.

“This better be good,” Tachihara-ssi said scratching the sleep off his eyes.

“Ah, Tachihara-ssi, we finally figured out the mystery of the locked room,” Chief Jung said carefully.

“And, what has this got to do with me?” he asked taking tentative steps inside the room.

“We figured that the gramophone was the key. Would you mind picking up the vinyl before I explain things,” Youngbin quipped.

The man nodded absently and walked towards the exact same cabinet where the vinyl was. Tachihara laid a hand on the cabinet and was about to crouch down when he suddenly paused.

“Tachihara-ssi?” Chief Jung’s voice broke the silence that was slowly enveloping them.

Tachihara straightened and slowly turned to look at all of them.

“You were outside when Youngbin started the demonstration and yet you went towards the exact place where the vinyl is without any hesitation,” the chief’s voice has turned deadly serious, the weight of his words hanging in the air around them.

Tachihara bowed his head. “I want my lawyer,” he mumbled.

++++

Juho gave him a ride to his apartment the next day. During the drive, the officer was telling him of Tachihara’s confession but Youngbin was too sleepy to really take note of the details.

“Hey, one last thing, how did you know it was Tachihara?” Juho asked as he pulled out in front of Youngbin’s building.

“The kicking the door thing,” Youngbin said, remembering what the bowtie told him that night.

Juho remained silent waiting for him to continue.

“The force that’s needed to kick that door open and also the fact that you have to kick it exactly where the lock is,” he continued. “Remember Tachihara saying that his world was already spinning? When we interviewed him about it?”

The officer hummed, clearly trying to remember that particular statement.

“Anyway, if he’s as drunk as he claimed to be, he would have a hard time doing that. Also, when we got to the room there were no traces of the strings and other stuff so obviously, as soon as Madam Lee went screaming to the party, he cleaned the place up.”

“Hmmm, okay,” Juho muttered.

“Well, if there’s anything else, I’d like to get some sleep,” Youngbin said, sliding off the police car without waiting for the officer’s response.

You did good, Youngbin-ah.

Youngbin chuckled. “Yeah, well. I didn’t really do anything,” he said.

Hmmm, but you managed to put up with me. That’s a feat!

He shook his head. “Can we talk about this some other time, please? I really want to get some sleep.”