Close To Midnight

Chapter 33

"Jiwon?" The girl laughed, shaking her head as if she had heard a joke. "It's hardly a surprise he's gone missing. Isn't it?"

Momo looked at the missing man's neighbour quizzically.

"Well, have you met his wife? No man could live with her." She whispered, glancing warily at the wall as if the ill-mannered woman could hear her through it. "He was an odd one too. Used to spend hours at the salon doing god knows what." She looked to the side, gazing at the window.

"At the salon?"

"At old man Il-Sun's salon." She snapped her eyes back to Momo. "As long as I can remember, he has been going there. He only stopped after getting married four years ago."

Interesting. Momo noted the address of the salon, thanked the girl and rushed to her car.

___

She glanced up at the old man. He must be in his late seventies, she thought. He still had a strong grip for an older man, she observed as he cut the hair of the man sitting on one of the salon's chair.

"Have you seen him in your shop before?" She showed him a picture of Jiwon.

The old man only smiled in response. "Little Jiwon." He said fondly, as he continued with his work. "He came here as a child. As a teenager. So did all of them."

Momo's eyes darted up to his in surprise.

He pointed at a dimly lit room at the back. "I have games installed for my clients so they don't get bored while waiting."

Momo listened without interrupting him.

"They spent hours there." He chuckled. "Didn't come here for a haircut. Came for the games." The fond look on his face disappeared and he scowled as he added, "They all stopped coming few years ago."

Momo prodded gently. "They as in who?"

"The boys that were killed."

Momo pulled out her phone, bringing the pictures of the victims up on the screen. "These men?" She asked.

For a heartbeat of moment there was only silence as he squinted his eyes that were crinkled around the corner and glanced at the pictures on her phone.

He nodded sadly. "Yes. It was them."

Momo swayed on her feet a little. She felt lightheaded and dizzy.

They'd looked for the link between the victims in schools, universities, clubs, gyms- in places common sense, intelligence and training suggested two people could get acquainted with each other.

And the link came from a place that they'd have never imagined. A fucking salon.

__

Jeongyeon walked into the interrogation room where the front desk officer had pointed and said someone was waiting to talk to her.

"Is it true you made enquiries about wolf masks at my uncle's shop?" The young man asked, as soon as she stepped into the room.

"Who's your uncle?" She sat down on the chair opposite him, crossing her legs.

"Sung-Ho."

Their eyewitness. The one who was killed in a hit and run.

"I was in States completing my degree." The guy sighed, the dejected expression on his face more pronounced now. "Came as soon I could when I heard the news."

Jeongyeon spoke tentatively. "What can I do for you?"

"I want you to find who killed him." He said, and added, "I can help you."

"How?" She queried as nonchalantly as she could.

"I went to visit him before flying to US." He leaned forward and spoke in a low voice. "He came into his cubicle where I was waiting for him, muttered something about how strange it was that wolf masks were getting ordered off season in bulk."

Jeongyeon listened carefully, inclining her head.

"He picked up the box of wolf masks and shut the door." He recalled, a far away look in his eyes. "The blinds were pulled down, so I didn't see the person's face he handed it over to."

Jeongyeon shifted in her seat. She sensed a but.

"What I did see was the unmistakable glint of a dog tag." His tone was dark. "And-"

"What's it?" She didn't realise how her voice had dropped, piqued in curiosity. She kept her eyes on him intrigued.

"A tattoo." His jaw clenched visibly. "A tattoo on her chest."

"Her? As in a woman?"

"Going by the youthfulness of her skin, she must have been in early twenties." He murmured. "A girl. The killer is a girl."