Fatal Trouble | Y.Jw

Prologue

The dark and cold of the night gave plenty of opportunity for bad things to happen. There wasn't anything you couldn't hide in the dark. Not one person wished to go out on the cold night in November.

The local department knew this. Yet, they didn't have the forces to keep an extra watch those nights. They would have to wait for the call to come, the call that once again something had happened in town. That night it had come relatively late, the few cops on the late night shift had believed they could go a night without being called upon, but they were wrong.

The deep lines on Detective Ahn's face were possibly deeper than ever as he looked over the scene in front of him. For a year he had convinced himself and his department that they could solve this mystery themselves, but now it was the fifth incident in a year. That was at least four too many for them to keep assuring the national police that everything was alright in their little town.

"Sir?" a careful cop spoke up as Detective Ahn stood still, staring sternly at the mess on the ground in front of him. His hands were deep down into the pockets of his woollen coat that had been pulled on over his suit as fast as possible once he had gotten the call about the crime.

"I think it's time," Detective Ahn sighed heavily and slowly turned to the cops employed under his lead. Rubbing his chin thoughtfully he eventually nodded, eyes staring at the feet of the cops, "Yes... I do believe it is."

"You don't mean to pass on the case, sir?"

"I do," Detective Ahn nodded, his hands resting back into their pockets for warmth, "the situation has gotten out of hand. We're getting no new leads. The one arrested we have is not speaking. We're a university town, the next thing will be a young student in this position. We might not necessarily pass it on, but we'll need help. I will call them the first thing in the morning."

"The detectives from the northern department?" a cop frowned and Detective Ahn nodded solemnly.

"It's time," Detective Ahn decided, leaving his group of men standing in astonishment as they parted as the Red Sea did for Moses, letting Detective Ahn walk through them.

"Sir, what shall we do with the body?"

"Shield off the area. Let everything be. The northern detectives will take the case from here," Detective Ahn declared and walked out of the old warehouse building and straight into the pouring rain.

Across the street laid multiple two-story squared buildings side by side, leaving barely any space between them. Not many of them showed signs of the inhabitants being awake except one straight across from the warehouse. In a small second-floor window a young woman was lit up by the lamp in her room. A small stack of sheet music in her arms as she stared down towards Detective Ahn, her eyes wandering between the cop cars across the street. Once the young woman noticed Detective Ahn's stare she quickly turned around and rushed back to whatever she was in the midst of in her apartment.

Forgetting everything about the cryptic wall drawing and cold body in the warehouse, Detective Ahn rushed across the street and looked over the names on the mailboxes outside the house. The Young woman had without a doubt been in the right-side apartment on the second floor. If anyone in the area had seen anything that night, it would've been her.

Just as he had hoped, the young woman's name was written on her mailbox in neat handwriting. A slip of paper under a thick layer of tape to conceal it from the rain. Millie Kirk.