Karma is Her

THE WINDOW

The next morning Soo Jae and I went the crime scene together. The police found something outside the building.

"What did you find?" Soo Jae asked one of his partners. He showed us a footage found from the CCTV camera located on the tree close to the windows of the building.

"Someone climbed in the apartment form the 6th floor." The officer said. "But the apartment below is empty, nobody lives there."

"What?" Soo Jae got mad. "How could someone have possibly climbed through the window when there is not even a balcony?" he wondered.

"Is there anything else we need to know?" I asked our partner.

"Yes, the owner of the apartment visits it every month to check its condition. He visited it 2 days ago as his son will be moving there soon." He explained.

"Have you contacted him?" Soo Jae asked.

"He lives out of the city and apparently has no connection with the murder. We still need to check the security footage of 2 days before though." The officer said and we went to check the CCTV footages.

It was found that when the owner of the apartment visited it, some delivery guy delivered some goods and was not found getting out. He got locked inside the apartment.

"Bring the owner in for interrogation, now!" Soo Jae ordered.

In the meantime, Soo Jae and I went to ask other people living in the building if Min Hyuk and the owner on 6th floor had some kind of clash between them which might be related to it. I t was concluded that they never even met each other.

"The culprit might've used the opportunity of the owner visiting the apartment and must've tricked him." I guessed.

"That might be right. This means that the culprit might've kept an eye on both of them for quite some time." Soo Jae assumed.

"He was sure he can easily hide their and climb up the window." I added.

"That means he also knew Min Hyuk sleeps with his window slide open! He must be someone close to him to know."

"Wow! He indeed is someone clever." I believed.

"The way he crushed Min Hyuk's throat, he's more like a psychopath!" Soo Jae said crossly.

In the evening the owner at floor 6th was brought in for interrogation. He was found innocent and had no connection with the delivery guy. He stated that he only ordered some light bulbs because his son is going to shift there soon and the some bulbs were not working. He thought that the delivery person left when he saw the box placed on the kitchen table, so he decided to lock the apartment and leave.

"I've summed it all up!" I said proudly after the interrogation.

"What? Explain me too." Soo Jae asked me curiously.

"The culprit kept a keen eye on the manager and the owner, when he found that the owner visits his apartment every month, he waited for the opportunity and when it came, he took the role of the delivery guy and stayed at the apartment for the day and at the night he climbed up the window and murdered the manager." I stopped to catch my breath. "And also, he was the one who made the reservation at the restaurant to keep his wife away."

"It fits, but why do you think he cancelled the reservation?" Soo Jae wondered.

"It may sound absurd, but it was his escape plan." I cleared.

"What? You mean he wanted to blame it all on his wife?" he asked.

"Maybe. But, he actually called his wife back because he knew she'll make a fuss and gather people around and he'll leave easily during the fuss."

"No that can't be. We checked the footages, everyone there was identified and questioned."

"Soo Jae! Isn't it the only possibility? I mean, the culprit wasn't seen leaving through the window neither was found at the crime scene. Let's check the security footages again, this time I'll come too!" I said convincingly.

What I suggested fitted perfectly. The same delivery guy was found merged between the crowds of 12 to 14 people who came to help the deceased's wife. He cleverly hid himself among the people that it was impossible to spot him at first sight, he got himself out of the camera range successfully. What we found on him in the camera was just his ankle and sneakers of one leg which were of no help.

"The culprit was still in the house when Min Hyuk's wife came???" I was stunned. For a moment I had no idea what I was thinking? Whether the culprit is a psycho? A maniac? Or a professional murderer who is so confident in himself, that no one can catch him even if he is present at the crime scene? The man is untamed!

"He's got nothing to fear, neither the police nor his life!" Soo Jae acknowledged.

After we were done checking the cameras, we received a phone call from police station's crime lab. Min Hyuk's throat was crushed by using only the index finger and the thumb. No fingerprints were found on the victim's body.

"Woo Yeon!" Soo Jae called me with a bothered face. "You say, the culprit made the reservation at the wife's restaurant, right?"

"Hm!" I nodded.

We suddenly realized that we can track the culprit by the phone number he used, but unfortunately the culprit wasn't this dumb. He didn't use a private number but instead he made the call at a phone booth just around the same restaurant. We even checked the CCTV footages, there was no suspicious guy calling around that time.

"He was locked in the apartment Soo Jae, he wouldn't be the one making the call! Someone else should've done it for him." I suggested.

It was nighttime, we reached home without any luck in finding the culprit. To me it was just a case to help my friend, but for him it was his job. He was more frustrated and angry than I was.

"Damn it! What should I do?" Soo Jae held his head. "How can a police investigator be so bad at his job? I know exactly what happened and how but still can't find a clue! This is driving me crazy!"

"Don't worry! We'll find a clue soon." I tried to comfort Soo Jae, but he seemed hopeless.

Changing the topic I said, "I'll get dinner ready!"

"Forget it! I have no appetite." He said and left for his room.