“Thank you everyone, for being here today.” Sungjong was pacing up and down the lavish drawing room of the Kim Mansion. All of its inhabitants were gathered there, seated on the sofas and couches. Most of them looked nervous and were avoiding each other’s eyes. Suzy and Suggyu though seemed to be looking at each other too often, as if they were communicating through their gazes. Mr. Kim looked stern.

“I hope you have a very good reason for bringing us here together Mr. Lee.” Mr. Kim’s voice was slightly rough, and it was clear that he wasn’t anticipating this meeting. He had hoped for Sungjong to solve the case and tell him who the culprit was – such an elaborate family meeting was definitely not what he had in mind.

“Yes indeed. I believe I’m in the last phase of solving the case.” Sungjong smirked, glancing at everyone. The butler, who was standing behind Mr. Kim’s chair, trembled.

“So you know who stole the key?” Jaemin asked; his eyes shining with curiosity.

“I believe so. But first, I must ask a few questions.” He turned towards Mr. Kim to seek permission and the elderly nodded.

Sungjong clapped his hands together.

“Perfect! Okay, so starting with Mr. Kim.”

The man looked surprised.

“I’ve told you everything I know -”

“No interruptions Mr. Kim, just answers,” Sungjong said coldly. The playfulness in his eyes was gone momentarily to be replaced with a burning intensity that quelled even Mr. Kim. “Good.”

Glancing around the room once more, he started again.

“So Mr. Kim, you told me that nothing was taken from the locker, right?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, but when I tested your observation by hiding one of the boxes, you couldn’t tell it was missing. Do you know each and every thing that’s inside the locker?”

Mr. Kim looked dubious.

“Well – I –don’t open the locker that often…”

“What confused me was, you had said you didn’t take out anything from the locker and that nothing was taken by whoever stole the key but something was clearly missing. The inside of the locker is dusty but I saw a square patch of clean surface - something small and squarish was there but it had been removed. Like…a box maybe. Blue velvet perhaps, containing a diamond ring…”

Myungsoo stood up abruptly.

“I don’t want to be here. I have to go to work.”

Sungjong approached the standing man amidst gasps from everyone.

“Don’t you think this makes you even more suspicious?”

Jaemin asked in a hushed voice, “Myungsoo? He stole the key?”

“I didn’t steal the key!” Myungsoo said through gritted teeth.

“May I have the box please?” Sungjong said in a sultry tone which made the man shiver. All the people in the family watched with bated breath as Myungsoo put his hand inside his coat pocket and dragged out a blue, moth-eaten jewelry box.

Sungjong took the box and returned to Mr. Kim.

“I believe this belonged to your late wife?”

Mr. Kim opened the box and immediately color drained from his face.

“Yes, and this was in the locker.” He looked at Myungsoo with disgust on his face. “You – how dare you!”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves Mr. Kim, because as Myungsoo said, he didn’t steal the key. And I believe him.”

“What?” everyone chorused. They looked confused, even Myungsoo himself.

“But you said Myungsoo stole the ring, so he has to be the one who stole the key,” Suzy reasoned, looking at him skeptically.

“I found the box in Myungsoo’s room by chance. He had put it on his bedside table, and locked his room so that no one can find it. But Miss Bae, you stay in that room too right, why didn’t you see it before and let Mr. Kim know?”

Suzy opened to speak but she couldn’t utter a single word. She looked to her brother for help, but Sunggyu was gazing at Sungjong, open-mouthed.

Smirking, Sungjong turned to Mr. Kim, whose head was bent.

“Myungsoo stole the ring, but he didn’t need the key after that. He put it back in the drawer, right Myungsoo?”

The man he was addressing nodded.

“Myungsoo wanted his mother’s wedding ring. He loved his mother, and in a conversation I had with him, I figured out he doesn’t have the same feelings for his father. This ring, he told me, has been in the Kim family for years. I believe it’s the tradition to pass on the ring to the new bride from generation to generation?”

He looked at Mr. Kim for confirmation who slightly nodded.

“The new bride is going to be Suzy, so Myungsoo removed the ring, so that she couldn’t have it. He didn’t want to tarnish his mother’s memory by passing on the ring to her.”

Suzy was very red in the face.

She said angrily, “What do you mean by that, detective? Why wouldn’t he want me to have the ring when we’re getting married -”

Sungjong laughed out loud, cutting across Suzy. She glared at him but he was unfazed. He looked at her directly and said, “Because Miss Bae, you’re not getting married to Myungsoo at all.”

Silence fell around the room, broken by Dongwoo’s hysterical sobs. He was at Mr. Kim’s feet, bawling his eyes out and shouting, “I didn’t Mr. Kim, I didn’t, I swear I didn’t tell him. I wanted to but I couldn’t.”

Mr. Kim’s ear had turned red and his eyes had become slit-like with anger. He looked like he was ready to tear something apart with his own hands. Sungjong stooped down beside Dongwoo and helped him to his feet.

“There there Dongwoo, hush now. Dongwoo didn’t tell me anything. In fact, no one did. You guarded this secret well but honestly, you insulted me by thinking I wouldn’t find out.”

No one spoke. Dongwoo’s sobs were the only sounds heard in the room. After 5 minutes when the butler had calmed down, Sungjong started again.

“Right off the bat, something didn’t feel right. Mrs. Kim passed away only months ago but there are no pictures of her anywhere in the house. I visited Mr. Kim’s bedroom, but there were two pillows laid out on the bed, like it was made for two people. But I wasn’t judging then. What intrigued me was the fact that Myungsoo’s bed was made for one person only, when Suzy and Dongwoo had both claimed that they share the same room. I couldn’t search Myungsoo’s room to check for her belongings, but I didn’t need to. Because I searched Mr. Kim’s room and I found everything a girl needs, stashed away behind Mr. Kim’s clothes in the cupboards and drawers. I believe it was a precaution so that I wouldn’t find out the truth?”

He turned to Suzy in askance but she looked away, fuming. He then turned to Mr. Kim, who after a long time, nodded. Sungjong’s smirk grew.

“The reason I wanted to check your rooms when you weren’t there was because of the suspicion I had that you were lying to me. Suzy said she and Myungsoo met at Mr. Kim’s office. I went to check at Mr. Kim’s office – Suzy was indeed a junior secretary to Mr. Kim but Myungsoo had never been to Mr. Kim’s office so there was no chance of them meeting, let alone falling in love.”

He looked at Suzy to see her reaction but she wouldn’t still look at him. He continued.

“So Mr. Kim fell in love with Suzy while she worked for him, and then he decided to marry her. But Mrs. Kim had recently passed away and marrying one of his young, office staffs would bring bad name to both the family and the company, so it had to be secret until a certain time. So Suzy quit her job, moved into the Kim Mansion and started preparing for the wedding. But for this, Mr. Kim had to tell his family members, his sons.”

“I believe Jaemin had nothing to say about it, but Myungsoo would be seriously hurt because he was close to his mother.”

Jaemin shook his head.

“It’s not like I supported it, but what could I say, I was an outsider to begin with.”

“From what Myungsoo told me yesterday, I believe he had objected to this marriage?”

Myungsoo and Mr. Kim were quiet, so Jaemin said, “Yeah, they kind of fought. But it’s not like it changed anything.” He shot a furtive glance at his father, who had his eyes fixed to the ground.

“True,” Sungjong sighed. “So Myungsoo did the only thing he could, he stole his mother’s wedding ring so that Suzy didn’t become its owner.”

“That’s all very well, detective,” Mr. Kim finally spoke. “But you said Myungsoo didn’t steal my key. So who did it?”

“Glad you asked.” Tired from pacing around the room, Sungjong took a seat beside Sunggyu from where he could see everyone in the room. “Who else do we have now that Myungsoo’s out of the picture? Suzy? But she doesn’t need to steal the key; she can use it any time she wants. That leaves Jaemin and Sunggyu.”

The two men straightened up in their seats but said nothing.

“Jaemin, you said you wanted to be a musician but your father prevented you from achieving your dreams, right?”

The man in question nodded.

“So we have Jaemin here, who doesn’t have a job, a future and he is depressed about the girlfriend who left him. He could do two things now – let it be the way it is, or try to change it. I believe Jaemin tried the second path. You told me that ‘sometimes you do what you have to do’? It was in another context but I realized that is what Jaemin had decided to do – take charge of his future. And to do that, he needs to be secure financially. Given Mr. Kim’s attitudes, you’d probably not get any help from him, you probably didn’t even make it in his will so you did what you had to do – steal the key to the locker – one place which holds large amount of cash. Your original plan was to remove cash bit by bit in batches. The key and the locker, together with your father getting married – you were sure that the theft of the key wouldn’t be reported by Mr. Kim to the police. But you hadn’t thought that he might call in a private detective, right?”

He turned to see Jaemin trembling badly. Mr. Kim was staring at him, astounded. It was as if he couldn’t believe his son, let alone anyone, would have the courage to steal his key or his money. Sungjong knew Jaemin couldn’t answer him so he carried on.

“So Jaemin stole the key from Mr. Kim’s room and Mr. Kim is not there until very late. But that room has another occupant, who is far less busy than Mr. Kim. Jaemin had probably thought he had chosen the perfect moment when he wouldn’t get caught. But will I be wrong Miss Bae, if I said that you saw him stealing the key? Or at least you had seen him going in or coming out of Mr. Kim’s room when no one was there?”

Everyone turned to look at Suzy, who slowly nodded.

Mr. Kim looked baffled.

“Why didn’t you tell me then?” he asked her outrageously.

Suzy looked on the verge of tears.

“I didn’t want to stir up trouble between father and son…”

Sungjong clicked his tongue.

“Wrong answer, Suzy. Mr. Kim, she didn’t tell you on spot because she took this as an opportunity. By revealing this very information a little later, she could have achieved a lot.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Suzy growled, glaring at Sungjong.

“I’m sure you do,” Sungjong said, smirking.

“Don’t harass her,” Mr. Kim ordered.

The detective put his hands up.

“Mr. Kim you probably didn’t feel the need to look into her background, but I did. You shouldn’t have told me your old address Miss Bae. You probably thought I wouldn’t look into it, especially since I didn’t note it down, but it was up here.” He pointed to his head and smiled as he saw Suzy’s face drain of color. “Everyone in Manwongdon knows about your colorful past. Quite a record you have – forgery, fraud, burglary even, but you’re not alone. They mentioned your partner.”

Sungjong got up from his seat and stood to face Sunggyu who was sweating profusely.

“Sunggyu – except, not Bae Sunggyu but Kim Sunggyu. You two are not siblings – partners in crime, lovers too I suppose.”

Suzy screamed and fell face forward onto the carpet. Sunggyu hid his face in his palms, still sweating. Mr. Kim looked from Suzy to Sunggyu, lost for words.

“You shouldn’t have lied about your job Sunggyu. What manager has their artists’ posters up in their room – don’t you already see them enough? You were too much like a fan, which aroused my suspicion about the blatant lie. I just had to check with Cube Entertainment.”

“So – so they were here to steal dad’s money?” Myungsoo asked in a daze.

Sungjong scoffed.

“Not quite. They probably thought they should retire from their job. They had been incredibly lucky in the past, avoiding punishment but I guess they wanted to settle down. For that you have to ensure you’re so rich that you wouldn’t have to work a day in your life. So Suzy started from the beginning, getting a job at Mr. Kim’s office, seducing him and if her plan succeeded, marrying him. Once she is Mrs. Kim, she could manipulate her husband to write out her sons off the will. That’s where Suzy could use the story about watching Jaemin steal the key – once he actually stole money or any other valuable, she could divulge what she knew and knowing Mr. Kim, he’d definitely disown his son. Myungsoo is already in trouble with his father for revealing he’s gay. Suzy earlier told me pointedly that Myungsoo must have liked it when I visited him so if she let enough people know that Myungsoo was gay and the word went out in the market, his father would definitely do something as drastic as disowning him or at least writing him off the will.”

Suzy was still on the floor while Mr. Kim had relaxed back into the chair, staring blankly at the ceiling.

“So after that, Mr. Kim just had to disappear. That would leave Mrs. Kim in charge of the Kim estate and no one would blame the young girl, who lost a husband so soon, for remarrying. Thus, it will end in the reign of Sunggyu and Suzy.”

“D-disappear? You mean kill him?” Myungsoo asked fearfully.

Jaemin looked appalled while his father turned deathly pale.

“They wouldn’t have really done that, murdered him?” Jaemin said, glancing at Sunggyu who still had his face in his hand.

“Oh I believe they have started it already. I asked this question to all of you, and even at Mr. Kim’s office because it seemed a bit weird that Mr. Kim couldn’t remember the contents of his locker properly. He ran a multinational company – it’s almost impossible that he’d have a bad memory. Both Myungsoo and Jaemin confirmed that he has a sharp memory although during recent times he seemed a bit dull. Dongwoo agrees and so do his staffs at the office. They also told me how he had been often ill in the past few months. Everyone had thought of this as age finally catching up with Mr. Kim but if you look at it carefully, it started around the time Suzy moved into the Kim Mansion.”

Mr. Kim got up from his chair and dashed towards Suzy. He gripped her by her shoulder and made her stand up.

“You witch! You’re trying to kill me?”

“No no – it’s all a lie – the detective he’s lying -”

Sungjong took something out of his pocket. It was a handkerchief, which he laid down on the glass table and moved the corners apart. There were a few leaves wrapped in the handkerchief.

“Velesseya – quite a rare plant, but Miss Bae’s favorite I suppose since there is one whole plot dedicated to them in the garden. Pretty neat but their fatal charm is pretty obscure – but I’m sure Miss Bae knows?”

Suzy sobbed harder and tried to hide her face in Mr. Kim’s chest but he pushed her away forcefully.

Sungjong acted as if nothing had happened; he continued calmly.

“Put very simply, they act as slow-acting poisons. Taken orally, they slowly damage brain tissues and in about 6 months, you’re pretty much a goner.”

“Oh my God!” Mr. Kim fell back in his armchair, gripping his hair tightly with his hands.

“It’s alright Mr. Kim, you probably had it for about a month because she had to get the seeds and plant them and then have them grow. But I suggest you call on a doctor.”

“Please forgive me darling I -”

“Shut up! Right now!”

Sungjong supposed that a fair bit of family drama would ensue now. His job was to point out the criminal, not deal with them, so he decided to call it a day. He told Mr. Kim that he’d call him later and took his leave. It was up to Mr. Kim to decide what to do with Suzy and Sunggyu and his sons. Sungjong motioned to Dongwoo who nodded reassuringly. He had asked the butler to remove any firearms Mr. Kim might possess out of his reach so that no one got fatally harmed.

He was about to go out through the door, when he heard Jaemin say, “Wow, this family’s a messed up melodrama.”

He couldn’t agree more.