Park Kahi sat back in her chair, resisting the urge to groan and slam her head repeatedly on a wall. Her notes were making a cluttered mess on her desk, and there were even some papers lying on the ground (which was strange, because Kahi was considered to be one of the most orderly people in HQ). However, it was not her lack of organizational skills that was discouraging her. It was the little bird on her computer screen.

Normally, the formidable agent would not be dawdling in her work, cooing over pictures of cutesy little animals like a child. But she had brought it upon herself to solve the mystery of the mockingbird. For example, what did the bird mean? Why had the killer left one with each of his victims? Where in the world had he gotten hold of them? These questions whirled in Kahi's mind, themselves as clear as day but their answers all muddled up. It had gotten to the point where she was so frustrated with them, she'd begun to pull all-nighters in hopes of solving the riddles.

Kahi glanced at her computer again.

Delicate and roughly the size of a fist, the bird stared back at the agent with its beady eyes. Kahi grimaced. She had never been a big fan of animals to begin with. Troublesome, she'd thought, and certainly too much of a bother to care for. But now, because of this rather complicated murder case, she found herself having to deal with Mother Nature's winged children more often than before. Like now. When she was examining a photo of a mockingbird.  Although it was only a picture taken off of the Internet, it seemed to taunt her to no end.

Hey, agents, what's taking you so long?  the bird called out to Kahi. I'm right here, can't you see that? What's keeping you from finding me? I'm tired of waiting... Make some more effort, yeah?

Kahi shut her eyes. Had she just imagined the bird talking  to her?

"I knew this job had its working hazards, but I didn't think hallucinations would be one of them," she said under her breath.

"Are you okay?"

Snapping her eyes open, Kahi turned her head to see where the new source of noise was coming from. It was Amber. Holding a file in one hand, the forensics agent was staring at Kahi with a worried frown on her face.

"You okay?" Amber repeated her question. "You're looking pretty stressed out there."

Kahi sighed.

"I suppose I am," she answered almost ruefully. "To tell you the truth, this case is turning me near insane. I'm nowhere near to finding the answers than I was in the beginning. I mean, it's one thing to kill your victims with a variety of brutal, sadistic methods, but to leave a mark on them? And what's the purpose of the mockingbird, anyway? You don't know how annoyed I've become with it all."

Giving a sympathetic smile, Amber said, "Poor Kahi. I don't blame you. You know, I think this whole thing is hitting everybody hard. You should see how Dongwoo is these days- he's so stressed about the autopsy reports, he barely speaks to us. Sometimes he doesn't even say hello. And then there's Woohyun, too. You know things must be serious if he's actually willing to do work before noon."

"So I'm not alone. It's only a matter of time before someone cracks and begins to lose it... Let's just hope we catch this killer before that happens." Reaching over to her computer, Kahi closed the window with the picture of the winged creature. It was really  starting to irritate her. She started to clean the disarray on her desk, but not before sparing the younger agent another glance. "Anyways, what are you doing here? Did you need my help on something?"

"Not in particular." This time giving a fully-formed grin, Amber waved the file she had been holding. "On the contrary, I'm here to help you. I know you guys are having a hard time with this case. In fact, I'll bet this is the most difficult one you've had in a while, especially because of the mockingbird factor. But don't forget, that's what's also making it easier for you. The little bird found on all of the victims is what may help you catch the murderer."

She handed the folder to Kahi, who accepted it with a puzzled frown.

"I have a friend who works down at the police station," the forensics agent continued. "Back when we had that first debriefing, I noticed how surprised everyone was when you mentioned you didn't know where the mockingbirds came from. How did the killer get his hands on those birds? Like you and Chanyeol said, that species isn't native to South Korea. It was starting to intrigue me, to be honest. So I decided to call my friend- Lee Donghae is his name- and asked him to let me know of any illegal trading businesses in the area. Maybe the killer had them shipped here without an approved license."

"But I already looked into that theory-" Kahi began. Amber cut her off by shaking her head.

"I figured you would have. But it never hurts to double check, right? And besides, the dealers you were searching have been around for some time. This guy here," she gestured towards the file, "Is relatively new. Or at least, he's been damned good at hiding. According to the info there, the police have only caught onto him yesterday. They don't have enough evidence yet to make an immediate arrest. Still, it's enough for them to head to his place with a search warrant. Donghae and his team will be leaving half an hour from now, if you wanted to tag along."

Kahi, still creasing her brows, opened the folder. A few sheets of paper were neatly piled on top of each other. The one at the very top was an official case outline. Marked with the police station header, it had all of the information and whatnot usually included in those documents. But as detailed as the paper was, there was only one statement that caught Kahi's immediate interest.

"Han River?" she murmured.

Amber nodded. "That's apparently where this trafficker has his hideout. He has a boat in one of the harbours there, which I'm pretty sure he uses to run his business. You know, kind of like how sea trade works. Only this is the illegal kind."

"Hmm." For a moment, Kahi continued staring down at the paper. A newly discovered trafficker, right there within her reach... It suddenly occurred to her how fortunate this chance was. Here she was, fed up with her lack of answers on the case, and now Amber was giving her an opportunity to solve everything. Lady Luck was surely smiling down on her today.

Snapping the folder shut, the older woman lifted her head up. A feeling of motivation suddenly surged throughout her body- with this possible new lead, Kahi was determined to find whatever she could linking the birds and the murderer together.

She switched her computer off and looked at Amber. "Tell me again what time your friend's leaving?"

----------

"And here's another mystery within the mystery."

Hoya crossed his arms and leaned on the side of his car. About half an hour earlier, he and his partner, Kris, had decided to make a little trip outdoors. More specifically, they had set off with a certain neighbourhood a short drive away as their destination.

It had only taken fifteen minutes to arrive. The current time was now 9:35AM. Hoya, ever the punctual person, was well aware of this fact. He didn't consider it proper to visit people so early in the day. But as soon as this thought had appeared in his mind, he'd brushed it off. It didn't matter anyways, what time they were visiting this particular house. He knew there would be no people inside of it. How could there be? The sole owner of it was dead.

Hoya stared at the house that had once belonged to Lee Seonwoong. It was lovely, he had to admit. The front gate had an elegant, almost Victorian feel to it, matching the circular windows and winding porch. There were pansy flowers planted alongside the driveway- if he remembered correctly, Seonwoong had been quite the active gardener- which was almost like an opening act to the brilliant garden in the backyard. Hoya had seen pictures of it before. During the first debriefing, Chanyeol had passed around photos of his case: shots of the trampled grass, the body lying crumpled on the ground, the fallen basket of red strawberries...

He shook his head and forced himself to continue speaking. "It's been a week and a half since the first kill- the murder of Lee Seonwoong. Since then, we've been doing everything we can to uncover clues from his past. If we're going to catch the killer, it's crucial that we learn about the victim's character and story... But to do that, we'd need a significant amount of help from his family or anyone who was close to him."

"And that's where the 'mystery within the mystery' part comes in, I suppose," Kris added in his baritone voice. He, too, was staring at the empty house, the expression on his face indicating he was deep in thought. "We have virtually nothing on Lee Seonwoong. Aside from the generic information- what his previous job was, for instance, or his family lineage- there's nothing we know about him. All of his relatives are either dead or out of contact. Not even his neighbour knows much about who he was."

The shorter male made a frustrated noise. "Annoying, isn't it? We can't interview his wife or siblings, because they're all deceased. His daughter is still alive today, but we haven't been able to make any contact with her whatsoever. You know, Youngjae was telling me yesterday how he discovered she'd changed her phone number. She'd moved out of her old house, too. There's no telling where Seonwoong's daughter might be."

Kris also released a deep breath. "If only there was some way to track her down. I think- no, I know- if we had the chance to interview her, we could find a connection between her father's past and the reason behind his death-"

"Who are you?"

A sharp voice cut through Kris' speech. Instinctively, Hoya uncrossed his arms and turned around. His hand strayed closer to his left hip, where he kept his gun in its holster at all times. At least, it was there when he was on duty. One could never be too careful when working in a field of crime and murder.

To Hoya's surprise and slight disappointment (he had been itching for some action lately), it wasn't a dangerous ex-convict who had approached them. Instead, it was a woman. Tall, middle-aged, and with a surprisingly tanned complexion, the fierce scowl on her face told of her disapproval of the investigators.

"Who are you people?" she asked again in a louder voice. "What do you think you're doing here?"

Undeterred by the woman's glare, Kris reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his badge.

"We're with the CSI," he answered smoothly, showing no trace of his previous frustration. That was Kris for you- even though he only seemed to wear a smirk or a frown most of the time, he had enough acting talent to put Hyun Bin out of business. "Our apologies if we startled you, ma'am. We just dropped by on official business that had to be attended to. We'll be leaving after a few minutes, so if you could hold tight until then..."

The woman visibly relaxed.

"Oh, you're with the CSI... Thank goodness. Forgive me, but when I saw you standing in front of this house..." She paused for a second, stealing a quick glance at the Victorian-style building before them. "I thought perhaps you were here to settle debt matters."

"You mean like loan sharks?" Deciding he wouldn't be needing his gun after all, Hoya pulled his own I.D. out and showed it to the lady. He didn't really blame her for what she'd assumed of them. With their crisp, professional attire, serious expressions, and the way they had been watching Seonwoong's house, anyone could have mistaken them for debt collectors. "Sorry to disappoint you. We're actually working on a case right now. I don't know if you've heard or not, but there was a murder here more than a week ago. Unfortunately, there isn't much we know about the victim. We're hoping that when we learn more, it'll help us pinpoint the killer faster... But in the meantime, please excuse our interruption."

Upon hearing Hoya's words, a strange look passed over the woman's face. Was it sadness, maybe? Sorrow? Regret? Whatever it was, it softened the severe frown she had worn before. "I heard about that. The victim was the person who had lived here, was it not? The elderly man who loved to spend his free time in his garden? I remember he used to have the most wonderful tiger lilies..."

Kris furrowed his brows a bit. "Yes, you're right about that... But if I may ask, how is it that you sound familiar with Mr. Lee? You talk as if you had known him back when he was alive. Had you been acquainted with him prior to his death?"

The woman turned to stare at the house again. This time, however, there was something different about her composure. As much as she tried, she couldn't quite hide the single tear that was running down her cheek. "Of course I did. We were more than mere acquaintances. Lee Seonwoong was my father."

[A/N]  And so the plot thickens... Again, I'd like to make some major revisions to this chapter, but I'm so caught up with things that I know I won't have the time... But thanks for reading so far! (And just because I'm a total troll, there won't be any Myung/Jong/Yeol for the next few chapters ♥)