It turns out that Taeyeon Kim has a total of three living descendants, Baekhyun discovers. Two great-great-great nieces and one great-great-great-great nephew. One of the nieces and the nephew no longer live in California. Baekhyun can only find Michigan addresses for them. But the other niece lives in Sacramento, only about an hour and a half drive from San Francisco.

“Don’t go by yourself,” Chanyeol says as Baekhyun is getting ready to go visit her. “Your foot is still injured.”

“I’m not driving,” Baekhyun assures him, pulling on his jacket. “Jiyong is.”

“Oh. Jiyong,” Chanyeol says, and it’s pretty obvious from his tone just what he thinks of their new investigator friend. “Even more reason for you not to go.”

Baekhyun playfully smacks him on the arm. “We’ll be back by this afternoon. Hopefully with permission to pursue the exhumation.”

“Good luck,” Chanyeol says, kissing him goodbye. “Don’t get too cozy with that guy, okay?”

“What a pair we make,” Baekhyun teases. “Getting jealous at every corner.”

“Only about good-looking guys,” Chanyeol tosses back with a grin. “Be safe, love. See you in a few hours.”

“So how long have you and the jolly giant been together?” Jiyong asks as his Mercedes Benz speeds north along the highway.

“About five years now,” Baekhyun explains, watching the scenery flash by outside the tinted window. “Longer, if you count the time before we officially came out. Our families didn’t take well to that.” He sighs, not wishing to open that particular can of worms. “What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

In response, Jiyong pulls out his wallet and opens it to a picture, showing Baekhyun. In the photograph, Jiyong is standing beside a tall, broad-shouldered man with a strong jaw and a mysterious scar in one eyebrow. “That’s my husband,” he smiles fondly. “We’ve been married for two years, but we dated for seven before that. Soul mates and all that .”

“How sentimental of you,” Baekhyun laughs, handing the wallet back. “The two of you look good together.”

“It’s because we’re both so good-looking,” Jiyong answers, and it’s even more amusing because he’s being perfectly serious when he says it.

“You’ll have to introduce us sometime,” Baekhyun suggests. “Maybe we could go on a double date or something.”

Jiyong smiles wryly. “Sorry, sweetheart, but I don’t mix work and pleasure.”

“Fair enough,” Baekhyun concedes.

They drive in silence for a few more miles and then Jiyong says, “So tell me about this great-great-great niece we’re going to meet.”

Baekhyun quickly fumbles for the papers in his satchel. “Her name is Clara Lee. She’s the daughter of Taeyeon’s sister’s daughter’s son. She’s in her sixties, so I don’t really know that she fully understood what I was asking over the phone. She seemed nice enough when we spoke, though, so hopefully she won’t give us any problems.”

Clara Lee, Taeyeon’s great-great-great niece, lives in a tiny little house near the ocean with flowerbeds out front and a fake duck in her lawn. “Classy,” Jiyong comments mildly as they walk up to the front porch.

It takes Mrs. Lee ten minutes to answer the door. She’s incredibly overweight but smiling when she opens it to them. “Yes?” she says expectantly.

“Uh, hi, Mrs. Lee,” Baekhyun speaks up uncertainly. “My name is Baekhyun Byun. We spoke on the phone yesterday about your ancestor.”

“Ah, yes,” Mrs. Lee says, standing aside. “Do come in. Would you care for some tea?”

Everything in Mrs. Lee’s little house is decorated in floral print, it smells strongly of cats, and the tea she serves them is nothing more than flavored water. Still, Baekhyun politely forces it down as he explains to Mrs. Lee what it is they want to do.

“You want to dig up my aunt?” Mrs. Lee repeats, squinting at them through her thick spectacles. “Why on earth would you want to do that?”

“You see, Mrs. Lee, we think that your great aunt was murdered and didn’t die of natural causes at all,” Baekhyun explains. “We want to find the truth.”

“I don’t see that it would help anyone much,” Mrs. Lee says stiffly, apparently finding the whole matter incredibly distasteful. “She’s been dead a hundred and fifty years, you know.”

“Yes, we know,” Baekhyun says, struggling. “But we want to honor her memory by finding the truth.”

Now Mrs. Lee hesitates. “I didn’t even know her. My parents didn’t know her, nor my grandparents. I don’t see how this really has anything to do with me. I don’t think it’s right to go around disturbing the dead.”

Jiyong steps in smoothly. “Mrs. Lee,” he says calmly. “Your ancestor was brutally murdered and her killer was allowed to go free. What we seek here is justice. Not just for Taeyeon Kim, but for victims everywhere. It sends a message to the bad guys, you see. It tells them that, even if a hundred and fifty years pass, we can still catch them.”

Mrs. Lee hesitates. “And all you need from me is my permission to dig this woman up?”

“That’s all we need,” Jiyong assures her.

“Fine,” she gives in. “If all I have to do is sign a piece of paper.”