BXBX NOVEL Chapter 119 - A New Case
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....
That night, the police station was buzzing with busy officers. There were several accidents around the highway due to the sudden rain and many people were hurt so the officers were running all over the place. Moreover, many new cases also came up for the homicide department and they were engrossed in the paperwork and case files.
"Just a regular day at work!" Woohee groaned as she threw the files aside.
"Keep working," Jiwoon muttered, not looking up from her file. She was reading the cases diligently without break which made Woohee gape at her.
"Second boss, how the hell do you manage to read all that?" she asked. "Isn't it tiresome?"
"I don't like to miss out on any details. Where are we on the murder-suicide?"
Woohee sighed and took out a file from the large stack in front of her. She handed it to Jiwoon.
"Park Jongwha…" Jiwoon read. "This is really strange. He had no prior mental health condition and his familial ties were good. The boy was about to transfer his credits to a college in the USA and was set to fly off next week. Why would he throw all that away like this?"
"The youth nowadays are weird," Woohee remarked which made Jiwoon frown at her.
"You're only three years older than him. You fall in the same generation!"
"Oh well…"
Jiwoon shook her head and kept on reading the file. It made no sense to her. There was no way a perfectly healthy boy of that age would go bonkers on his family and kill them before killing himself. Moreover, the sale of weapons to citizens was illegal. How the hell did he get a rifle?
"Any witnesses to this?" she asked.
"I think the neighbor's kid said he heard some commotion that night at the Park's residence," Woohee said, glancing at one of the documents. "But he isn't a direct witness because he only heard a commotion. I called his parents today but they said that the kid has to undergo an appendix surgery tomorrow so he's at the hospital now. Maybe his parents will be able to let us talk to him?"
"I'll go," Jiwoon said. "You can stay here. There's a shit ton of cases waiting. What's his name?"
"Kim Baro. National Hospital."
Jiwoon nodded and set off towards the hospital. She got into her car and drove off towards the hospital.
….
"Baro, are you feeling any pain here?" Siwan asked as he pressed on the child's stomach. The boy was around ten years old and was having his appendix removed in a few hours. His blonde hair was matted with sweat because his abdomen hurt a lot and the boy was sobbing.
"Not there," Baro mumbled. Siwan raised his palm a few centimeters to the right.
"Here?"
He pressed the part and Baro let out a yelp. "Got it," Siwan nodded.
"Doctor, when can I eat?" Baro begged. "I'm hungry!"
He was pouting in annoyance. Siwan smiled and replied, "If you get well soon, then your mom is going to make you many scrumptious dishes. What do you like to eat the most?"
"Pizza!" Baro said in a hopeful tone.
"Then let's make a deal. If you can go without food for the next two days, I will treat you to your favorite pizza! But for that, you cannot eat anything for two days."
Baro was now conflicted. He wanted pizza from the kind doctor.
"Promise?" he mumbled, holding out a pinky finger.
"I promise," Siwan winked and touched his pinky. He patted Baro's head before heading outside the room to talk to his parents. To his surprise, a familiar figure was standing there with his mother, talking.
"I'm sorry I had to intrude," Jiwoon was telling them. "But the sooner I could get the information on that night, the better we will be able to solve the case. And I don't want to disturb Baro after the surgery when he will be in recovery."
"But he's in a lot of pain," Baro's mother was saying. "Taking his statement now…"
"It won't take long!" Jiwoon quickly said. "And you can be there when he's talking to me. I'll make sure that it won't take more than five minutes. I'm sorry for this. But witness testimonials are crucial and we have to take them within the first twenty four hours…"
"What's going on?"
The women turned to see Siwan approaching them. Jiwoon was slightly surprised to see him there before recalling that he worked at the same hospital as Hobin.
"Why are you here, detective?" he questioned Jiwoon.
"Baro heard something last night at our neighbor's place," Baro's mother replied. "This morning, they were found dead. Apparently, their youngest son killed the family before committing suicide. Baro was about to tell us in the morning but his appendix suddenly started to hurt and we brought him here."
"It'll take me only five minutes," Jiwoon promised. "If he's in a lot of pain or doesn't want to talk, I'll leave."
"Doctor, is he well enough to talk?" Baro's mother asked.
"We can supervise him while the detective questions him," Siwan nodded. He exchanged a worried look with Jiwoon before stepping aside to allow her into the ward.
Baro was awake but pale and weak. He spotted the unknown lady walk towards his bed and drew a chair to sit on. His mother and the doctor were also there.
"What's...going on?" he mumbled.
"Baro, this is Miss Jiwoon," Siwan told him. "She wants to ask you something about what you heard last night."
The boy was a little skeptical of Jiwoon. Sensing his fear, she smiled at him and took out something from her handbag.
"This is for you," she said. It was the latest edition of Spiderman and his eyes lit up when he saw it.
"I thought you'd be bored here all by yourself, so I brought this for you," Jiwoon said in a gentle tone. "Do you like comics?"
"I do!" Baro said in a weak tone. "Thank you, Miss Jiwoon."
"Does it hurt a lot?" Jiwoon asked him. "I remember when I had appendicitis, it was really painful."
Baro nodded. "It hurts like crazy!"
"What do you want to do when you get well?"
"I want to eat pizza!" Baro exclaimed. "And play football. I used to play with Jongwha bro almost everyday. He told me that he's going to the USA and will play football there! But…"
The little boy trailed off, feeling a little sad. "Jongwha bro is now dead."
"You must be very sad," Jiwoon remarked. Siwan was studying her with curiosity. Usually, the police would just rush into taking the statement but she was building a rapport with the boy to make him feel at ease.
"I wasn't that close to him but he was a good guy," Baro replied. "But last night, I heard something through the walls."
"Through the walls?" Jiwoon frowned but it was Baro's mother who now spoke up.
"The flats in our building are built in such a way that Baro and Jongwha's rooms are adjacent," she explained. "The walls are thin as well."
"What happened next?" Jiwoon asked Baro. She now shifted her position to face Baro directly, looking genuinely concerned about him.
"I heard...someone scratching the wall," Baro recalled. "And then, Jonwha bro's voice came through the wall. But it wasn't just his. It felt as if two people were talking together."
There was someone else? Jiwoon wondered.
"It was one sentence," Baro whispered. "The...they said, 'Beezan will find you again, my little pet'."
Beezan?
Baro winced in pain and was about to sit up but Jiwoon gently laid him back. "You should rest now," she said.
Siwan rushed forward to check his vitals. Thankfully, Baro was fine so Siwan administered a mild painkiller so that the child could sleep. Jiwoon thanked Baro's mother and left the room.
"Detective!"
Jiwoon was in the corridor when she heard Siwan calling for her.
"Is everything alright, doctor?" she asked.
"Wanna grab a coffee?" he offered. Jiwoon was a little hesitant. She was not a person who would easily hang out with strangers especially after her work was complete. Siwan seemed to have sensed her hesitation.
"Consider it my gratitude for your help last time!" he said quickly. "Besides, the coffee at our cafeteria is good!"
Jiwoon thought for a while but shook her head.
"That's okay. I have to go back to the precinct. Maybe another time."
With that, she quietly walked away leaving Siwan a little confused. She was talking to the child quite normally and even at the police station, she was courteous to him. But something was bugging Siwan ever since the day he formally met her. For some reason, she looked awfully familiar to him but he could not recall where he had seen her.
Am I mistaken? He wondered. Then he shrugged off the thought and decided to go back to his office. He glanced one last time at her retreating figure before she disappeared behind the elevator doors.