- Chapter 1 -

Do Kyungsoo rapped sharply on the wooden door, trying to ignore the thick smell of tobacco permeating the air. An envelope was clutched in his hand, the crimson wax shining beneath the glow of the gas lamps lining the corridor's walls.

"Come in."

The room was dark, save for the smoldering embers in the grate. He walked in, stepping around piles of books, broken pens and crumpled papers littering the floor. The man was probably in bed, smoking one of his pipes despite the housekeeper's admonishments. Not to worry, he had replied when she had brandished her duster in disapproval. I promise to purchase another if I ever manage to burn this house down.

"What is it?" Byun Baekhyun drawled, lifting his pipe from his mouth as Kyungsoo approached. 

"A letter."

"At two in the morning?"

Kyungsoo grunted. He should have been in bed, nice and warm beneath his covers, but he had been jolted awake by the blasted doorbell, which had rung and rung until he had opened the front door. A grubby boy had handed him the envelope before disappearing into the night. He would have tossed it aside if it were not for the name hurriedly scribbled in black ink.

"It's from the Inspector."

His friend sat up, snatched the letter from his hand and ripped it open. After scanning the paper, he looked up, his mouth grim.

"Get the carriage. You're coming with me."

~*~

"They found her in the river," Baekhyun said. They sat in the carriage, speeding down the cobbled streets towards the docks. Kyungsoo shivered despite the protection of his hastily thrown-on cloak, wishing that he had allowed Madame Kim to persuade him into buying the one with the fox-fur t.

"Was she a noble?" Bodies in the Han River were as common as rats in the sewers, so there must be a reason behind the Inspector's urgency.

Baekhyun tracing a gloved finger over the silver pommel of his walking stick, staring out into the night. "Perhaps. Though the same cannot be said for the others."

"The others?"

"She's the fourth girl they found this month. There were enough similarities between the other three to make me alert the Yard."

Within a half hour, they arrived. The docks were eerily quiet; there was nothing but the sound of creaking wood and lapping water. Ships of all sizes loomed over them, hulking shadows that rocked in the wind. The crescent moon shone dimly above, obstructed by dense grey clouds.

"Mr. Byun?" A cloaked figure walked briskly towards them, his lamp a hovering ball of light in the darkness.

"Inspector. I trust you ensured the body was not disturbed?" The man, Inspector Lee Jinki, nodded wearily. His jaws were scruffy, his hair unkempt, and the prominent bags beneath his eyes was a clear indication of the sleepless nights so common to crime investigators in the city. 

"Come with me."

They followed Inspector Lee towards the end of a pier, where a small rowboat sat swaying in the water. Two officers were huddled around a prone figure whose long hair was splayed out on the wooden planks.

Kyungsoo forced himself to look at the body. She couldn't have been a day older than fourteen, her cheeks still round as a child's. Her white nightgown was mostly clean, despite the filth in the river. Her pale skin was unmarked and her expression as peaceful as if she were asleep. He watched as Baekhyun bent over her, pulling out a small knife and slicing off a piece of cloth from the hem of her dress.

"Thank you Investigator. That will be all," Baekhyun finally said, rising to his feet. "I shall send word if I require your assistance."

"Yes, of course," Inspector Lee replied with a slight bow. Kyungsoo was always surprised by the amount of respect that his friend commanded, despite his age. Most twenty-two-year-olds were too busy studying, gambling or drinking to bother with solving murder cases.  

Together they made their way back to the carriage. "So, what did you notice?" Baekhyun asked once they had settled into the plush seats.

Kyungsoo thought about what he had seen. "She probably wasn't in the river for long, a day perhaps? There were no obvious marks, so if it was not suicide, then she may have died from poison or even suffocation."

Baekhyun nodded. "A plausible hypothesis. However, you did not mention her hair, a chunk of which had been recently cut off, nor her burnt fingertips. Oh, and you also missed this."

He handed Kyungsoo the scrap of cloth he had collected. In the middle of the white fabric was a dark, red stain.