Where In The World Are The Killers?

Explosive Secrets

 "You know something, Adalet?" Jack inquiries as he and his partner relax on the lounge's couch.

"I know a lot of things," Adalet bragged, flipping through her magazine, "you're going to have to be more specific!"

"I'm beginning to think there's some higher being or mystical power out there that is making us have these unforeseen stops," he responded, "after all, Fili swears we had enough fuel to get to Japan, and yet here we are in Busan refuelling!"

"You know the Chief doesn't like when you have these existential crises," she says, looking up from her magazine.

"I can't help it when we keep ending up in random places!" he exclaimed, "next thing you know, someone's going to come running in here telling us about a murder or something!"

"Guys!" Elliot yells, running into the lounge, "I've just intercepted a phone call about a dead guy at a crash site!"

Jack gave Adalet a look while gesturing wildly at the teenager.

Adalet rolls her eyes, closing her magazine, "yeah, yeah, I see what you mean... But Elliot, if the body is at a crash site, wouldn't he just be a tragic casualty of the accident?"

"Not when the guy was just found dead away from the crash, not in it!" he reported, "I've already got the address for you to check it out!"

"And what demes this murder Bureau business?" Jack asked, having intended to spend the day relaxing while the plane got fueled up.

"How about the fact that the guy was driving a bus full of kids on a field trip?!" Elliot replied sharply, "what if the killer attacks them next?!"

"Jeez Elliot, I've never seen you so concerned," he remarked, "if you think Adalet and I should go to the crash site, we'll check it out!"

"I've read this magazine before anyways," Adalet chimed in, tossing the magazine on the coffee table, "let's go, Jack!"

Like Elliot had said, he had already programmed the address into their Jeep's GPS. They followed the directions and were led to the outskirts of Busan, where they quickly spotted a bus that had skidded onto the side of the road. It looked like the tire had blown, but thankfully the bus hadn't rolled or fallen over; the driver must have been able to control the bus enough to stop it against the guard rails.

They parked close to the traffic stop and showed the police officer their badges. They were let inside the crash site and walked past an ambulance to the opposite side of the bus where the body was located. Lo and behold, a body slumped against the driver's side front tire.

The guy was in his mid-sixties with fair wrinkled skin, a receding head of white hair, and dark brown eyes behind a set of simple wire-framed glasses. He wore a South Korean bus driver's uniform, but his tie was missing. He also had the top of his shirt unbuttoned, and they noticed red marks around his throat.

There wasn't much around the body, but Hunter found a small pile of broken plastic close to the bus door. But other than that, the area was clean. Or as clean as a bus crash site can be...

"Well, Elliot was right about this guy being murdered!" Adalet announced, examining the victim's neck, "it looks like he was strangled!"

"But why would someone kill a bus driver?" Jack questions, "you'd think everyone would be happy that he saved all these kids!"

"We're going to have to investigate to find out!" she replies, "Elliot notified the rest of the team after we left, so they shouldn't be here soon to collect the body."

"What do you think these pieces that Hunter found are from?" he asks, picking up the pieces, "I can see wires, so it's probably electronic... You'll need to repair it to find out what, though!"