Chapter 278 - War Of The Leagues (8)
Jina and Hobin were in the police station, observing Kim Hwangjoon's corpse. Kyuhyun was on an extended break so his replacement was Doctor Jung Nancy, a half-American forensic expert who worked part time with the police. She was in her late fifties and quite efficient in her work.
The doctor was leaning over the body, her gray hair tied in a bun while her beady eyes examined the corpse. Jina winced as Nancy touched the slashed neck, checking the extent of the cut.
"Yup, it aligns with the other cases," she muttered. "There's a hair here as well but no DNA match. I ran the tests through my server but it's kinda shocking."
"Shocking?" Hobin frowned. "How?"
"The hair doesn't seem to belong to a human," Nancy revealed. "In fact, it seems to be from some kind of animal but I can't find a match!"
Jina and Hobin glanced at each other. Animal? Was it possible that the demon had the appearance of an animal like Maggie? Or was it due to the fact that it was a demon and not technically a human anymore?
"The autopsy results will be out in a day," Nancy went on. "But preliminary checkup seems to indicate that the killing method is the same. We might be looking at a serial killer."
"I'll talk to the tech team and see if the Blue Fish site can be taken down," Jina said. "They tried but we'll have to continue with our efforts."
"We'll come to collect the reports," Hobin said and they bid farewell to the doctor. Once they were outside, Jina turned towards him.
"The twins and the girls are still playing the game!" She exclaimed. "This demon is becoming more dangerous. What if it hurts them?"
"I doubt it," Hobin stated. "I can tell that this demon is doing its job. It doesn't care about anything else as long as its part of the deal is done."
"We don't know that! What if it attacks the kids? They're in danger!"
Hobin was in deep thought. "Myungsoo…" he began. "We should talk to him again. I feel like we're going to get more answers from him."
"His father won't let us talk to him," Jina said warily.
"We'll have to try," Hobin reasoned. "I feel as if we're missing out on a big clue. Let's go and talk to him. He might not know who SJS66 is but he might know what the demon is doing."
Jina was not so sure but there was no harm in trying to find new clues. They were nowhere near to catching the demon and time was running out. If the demon claimed more lives, then it was going to be a disaster.
They got into Hobin's car and sped off towards Myungsoo's house in the city. Twenty minutes later, they pulled up in front of an apartment building.
"This is the address he gave me after he recorded his statement," Jina said. "I'll text him to come down."
She took out her phone and sent him a text, requesting him to meet with her. To her surprise, the reply came fast.
"He agreed!" She gasped.
"He's pretty shaken up after his friend's death," Hobin muttered. They waited in the car for a while. A lone figure was coming out of the building and spotted their car. It was Myungsoo.
He ran towards their car and got into the passenger seat.
"Is everything alright?" he asked, panicking a little. "Am I in trouble?"
"No," Jina assured him. "But the thing that killed your friend also murdered someone else in the city."
Myungsoo's face went pale with fright.
"A-another murder?" He stammered. "B-but I didn't do anything!"
"We know," Hobin said. "But this is also connected to the Blue Fish."
"I gave my statement already!"
"There must be something you missed," Jina pressed. "Anything weird, maybe? Like, did something happen to you or someone you know after you made that contract with the Blue Fish site? Other than Yisub and Youngoo's deaths, is there anything which happened to you?"
Myungsoo was struggling hard to answer. He was thinking hard until something seemed to have hit him.
"There is!" he realized. "I don't know if it's related but…"
He pulled up his sleeve and showed them his wrist. Hobin and Jina took a glance at it, their eyes widening in horror.
"What the fuck?" Hobin muttered as they stared at the familiar symbol. It was the same sign they found at the murder sites of Sungki!
"This is the pentagon sign with the cross and star!" Jina gasped. "When did this appear on your wrist, Myungsoo?"
"I guess it was after I signed that contract with the Blue Fish," Myungsoo muttered. "Youngoo had it too. He showed me. It was on his chest."
Jina quickly took out her phone and called Nancy. The doctor picked it up after a few rings.
"Doctor Nancy!" She said at once. "Is there any sort of pentagon tattoo on Youngoo's body?"
"Is it the tattoo of a pentagon, star and cross?" Nancy asked from the other end. "Yes there is."
Hobin and Myungsoo watched her, worried. Jina hung up the phone and turned to them.
"Youngoo has the tattoo," she revealed to Hobin. "This is a problem."
"P-problem?" Myungsoo stammered. "W-what problem?"
"Nothing," Jina told him. "Just…just go home."
There really was nothing they could do for him. The guy's soul was damned but in a way, he deserved it for wishing death on an innocent person. Whether now or 3,000 years later, his soul was damned to Hell and he was going to have a painful afterlife.
Myungsoo was fearful but got out of the car. Jina and Hobin waited until he was gone.
"The guy is screwed," Hobin sighed. "To think he actually wished someone was dead and ended up killing him…"
"I can't even arrest him," Jina murmured. "He's gonna live a happy and healthy life while Yisub suffers."
They were silent for a while, lost in their own thought chain.
"This isn't fair!" Jina suddenly exclaimed. "Why does he get to live a free life after killing someone? I know he thought he was joking but it wasn't! It was not a joke! An innocent person died and even if Myungsoo's soul is damned to Hell, he's still gonna live a long life! He'll have a family, a career and probably die of old age someday. But Yisub won't experience any of that!"
"Maybe," Hobin said. "But we're gonna make sure he never forgets his guilt."
"What do you mean?"
"Well…I gave cookies to Maggie and told him to use his hocus pocus to teach Myugnsoo a lesson."
"And?"
"Every night, whenever Myungsoo goes to sleep, he ends up having nightmares about Yisub and several things in his head scream out that he's a murderer," Hobin shrugged. "This is causing him serious insomnia. Maggie couldn't refuse the cookies and ended up putting a lifelong curse on him."
Jina was shocked but her lips formed a small smile.
"That is petty and I love you for it!" She grinned and pecked him on the lips.
"What else do I say?" He sighed. "Your family has been a bad influence on me."
"I know," she winked. "But you've seen nothing of our pettiness. My dad is the pettiest one."
I know, Hobin added in his thoughts with a smile as he drove away.