The seven men stood over the dead body in shock before their regained their sense and sprang into action. Doctor Seokjin knelt down and pushed the General’s onto his stomach, searching for the wound that was the cause of the pool of blood and the man’s death.

“What are you doing? Don’t touch him!” Namjoon snapped.

“I’m trying to save him!” Seokjin replied, pushing his fingers against the General’s pulse point.

“I think that attempt is rather useless.” Yoongi pointed out, glancing at the pooling blood.

“Will you let me do my job in peace?” Seokjin glared at the men before going back to checking the body.

The group fell silent after that, watching intently as the doctor continued his ministrations. After a brief period of time, Seokjin sat back on his haunches.

“Well, I found the cause of his death.” He said, he reached up and twisted the General’s head to the side, exposing the left side of the victim’s neck, or rather, the long, deep cut that had ended the General’s life.

“His jugular vein and carotid artery was cut clean through.” The doctor explained. “Whoever did this wanted to make sure he died with no time to resuscitate.”

The men looked at each other uneasily, taking a step back to create more room between all of them, as if the murderer would suddenly lunge at one of them and try to slice their throats as well.

“Who did it?” Jimin finally asked the question on everyone’s tongue.

Taehyung grinned as he stepped forward. “Excellent question!” He said. “Lets find out.”

The group appraised Taehyung suspiciously. “I’m sorry, but who are you exactly?” Hoseok asked.

Taehyung blinked in surprise, seemingly taken aback. He startled when he remembered something and smacked his forehead with his palm. “Oh, that’s right! Kim Taehyung, Private Detective!” The young man introduced.

Yoongi frowned. “Private Detective?” He repeated. “What the hell is a Private Detective doing at a military meeting?”

Taehyung shook his head. “Actually, it was a meeting to discover a murderer, or were you not listening because you were too busy planning your move the second the lights went off?”

Yoongi looked shocked. “Me? You think I did it? You have no basis or fact for such an accusation!” He argued. “For all we know you could’ve done it!”

“Like a ‘Fahrenheit 451’ situation.” Hoseok added. He received blank looks once more. “Guy starts fires so he can put them out? It’s a classic?” He explained.  He sighed when no recognition appeared on anyone’s face. “Of course not. Anyway, what I’m saying is, how do we know that you didn’t kill him so you could have a mystery to solve?” A mummer of agreement drifted through the small group.

Taehyung rolled his eyes. “’Fahrenheit 451’ is about burning books, you’re thinking of something else. Besides, why would I kill someone so I could solve a mystery? Whats the fun in that? I’d already know who did it!” The Detective almost seemed insulted.

“Then what are you doing here?” Namjoon questioned.

“I was invited. He knew someone was going to kill him and he wanted me to find out.” Taehyung explained. “Preferably before he died, but well, that’s impossible now. However, to be fair, it does make things easier on my part.”

The men stared at Taehyung with shock on their faces once more.

“Easier? There is a dead body and you’re concerned about it being easy?” Jungkook spoke up.

“Well, yes, its harder to predict a murder than it is to find the murderer, this body will ensure that we’ll solve the case before the night is over.” Taehyung replied.

“We?” Namjoon repeated. “Screw that, I’m leaving before I’m killed next.” He snapped and headed towards the door, only to stop short when the detective spoke again.

“I’m afraid not.” Taehyung chuckled “No one can leave. You’re all suspects, you all have a motive which means any of you could’ve done it, as I said before. No one can leave until the murderer is revealed. Not to mention even if you tried to leave, you couldn’t, a glance out the window shows that the roads are completely flooded.” He gestured to the windows.

The men’s eyes followed his hand to the glass, the sight they saw proved the Detective correct. The lights of the hotel reflected off the rising water level that seemed to already be ankle deep.

“Now.” Taehyung began when the attention turned back to him. “Shall we begin the investigation?”

The group looked at each other uneasily, thinking through their situation. They were trapped in a hotel with a dead body and murderer, there really seemed to be no other option than to go along with the Detective. After a minute, the men nodded.

Taehyung grinned as he pulled a magnifying glass out of his coat pocket and leaned over the body, examining the cut on the victim’s neck. Several minutes passed as the detective pushed the General’s head this way and that before moving to check his hands and chest.

“Are you pick-pocketing him or finding clues?” Namjoon asked in annoyance.

Taehyung answered him with a flat look before straightening up.

“Well, the cut on his neck is clean, no raggedy edges and deep. Which means the culprit knew what he was doing.” The Detective explained. “Such a thing is no small feat in the dark. Whoever it is has had practice.” He finished, breathing on the magnifying glass and rubbing his sleeve on it.

“So it was the doctor?” Hosoek asked.
“I did not!” Seokjin protested vehemently.

“I never said that. I’m only stating facts right now. To jump to conclusions when we don’t know anything would be foolish.” Taehyung said, stepping over the body. “This is what we know; we were the only ones here when the lights went off and the only ones here when they came back on, the killer is very practiced, meaning they’ve probably done it before.” He stated, placing the magnifying glass back into his coat pocket. “And lastly; whoever planned this, planned it well.”

“How do you expect to find the killer with only that to go on?” Yoongi demanded.

“Don’t worry. They’ll slip up eventually, there is no way they can last a whole night without revealing themselves.” Taehyung assured the military officer. “It’s a shame they probably won’t kill again.” He pouted.

At his words the six men gapped at him in horror.

“What? The more dead bodies the more evidence.” Taehyung shrugged. “Now, let’s go take a look at the fuse box, shall we?” Taehyung smiled and pushed through the group, heading to the double, oak doors. He paused when he realized no one was following him, he glanced over his shoulder.

“I think we should stay together, might not want to lose sight of the murder and give him the chance to escape.” And with that, Taehyung stepped through the doors and into the hallway, the rest of the men close on his heels this time.

The ride down to the basement was tense. The only one who seemed at ease was Taehyung, who had taken out his magnifying glass and was twirling it around in his right hand.

“Excuse me, Detective Kim?” Jimin asked from the back of the elevator, gaining everyone’s attention.

The Detective hummed as he acknowledged the red head’s words.

“You said the killer had practice with that type of wound and that he must’ve killed before.” Jimin paused before continuing. “What’s to stop him from killing again?”

Taehyung looked behind him at Jimin. “Well, nothing, if we don’t catch him, but I suspect you were talking about him killing one of you tonight.”

At Jimin’s nod Taehyung laughed. “He won’t, this murder was motivated and since no one here know each other well enough to have a motive, I think we’re all pretty safe.” Taehyung blinked and tilted his head to the side as a thought occurred to him. “Or until we get close to finding out the culprit’s identity. In which they might kill us to keep their secret, but we’ll deal with that when it comes up.” The Detective grinned and nodded to himself, as if pleased with that answer and turned back to look at the front of the elevator.

It dinged not shortly after, letting the seven men know they had reached the basement. Taehyung pushed aside the cage and stepped into the dim lighting that was coming from the flickering light bulbs that hung in the middle of the room. It was barely enough to make out anything and so Taehyung pulled out a flashlight from his short’s pocket and clicked it on. He turned to the six remaining men that stood in the elevator, just now recovering from what the Detective has said.

The light danced over the men. Yoongi grimaced and shielded his eyes with his hand. “Can you point that somewhere else? You’re blinding me.” He snapped.

Taehyung shrugged and jerked his head. “I believe the fuse box is that way.” He said, then promptly turned and walked in the direction he had gestured to.

Quiet footsteps made their way across the basement floor as a pale blue light bounced off the walls. When they found the fuse box, the cover had been removed and was on the floor, leaning against the wall just below it.

“Looks like whoever did it didn’t have time to put the cover back on.” Namjoon commented.

Taehyung shook his head. “No, that’s not it.” He mumbled as he peered at the contents of the box, after a minute of staring, he placed the flashlight in between his teeth and took ahold of what appeared to be a small, black, battery charger. He tugged experimentally at it, but when it showed no signs of budging, he repositioned his hands and with one firm yank, removed the contraption from the fuse box.

The flashlight tumbled from its place between the Detective’s teeth, dislodged by the jarring action, and fell to the floor with a loud crack, then rolled a foot or so away, but not before the light glinted off something, catching Taehyung’s eye.

The Detective pressed the small box into Seokjin’s hands as he knelt down and with one smooth movement, picked up the flashlight with his left hand, while with his right, he grabbed the reflective object and deposited it into his coat pocket. He then straightened and passed the flashlight into his now empty right hand.

“What is this?” Seokjin asked, turning the contraption around as the five men observed it.

“That is the cause of the black out.” Taehyung announced.

“Yeah, its military made, I’ve seen a few of them before, they’re designed to trip out fuse boxes and cause black outs. But this looks like a prototype.” Yoongi agreed, taking the box from Seokjin.

“You see, it wasn’t because he didn’t have time to replace the cover, it was because it wouldn’t fit over this little device here.” Taehyung explained, catching Namjoon’s eye. “The killer probably thought he’d have time to come back and remove the box and put the cover back on before leaving.”

The men looked up from the box that Yoongi now held, all of them thinking the same thing.

“Then who did it?” Jungkook asked, finally voicing the question in all of their minds.

“Ah, excellent question. I’m not sure, however, I do have a great place to start.” Taehyung answered, as he started back towards the elevator. “Whose room is closest to the basement?”

Jimin raised his hand slightly. “Mine is.” He replied as they all stepped into the box that would take them up to Jimin’s floor, yet, this time the elevator felt as if it had more space.

“Then we’ll start with yours and make our way from there.” Taehyung decided.

“Does this elevator seem less crowded to anyone else?” Jungkook suddenly asked.

The men frowned at the young man’s words and looked around. Taehyung counted silently to himself, unsure as to who was missing.  When the answer finally came to him, he smacked his forehead with his palm and asked a question that made everyone pale.

“Where is Mr. Jung Hoseok?”