Fatal Trouble | Y.Jw

| 9 |

The door almost barged up to the almost empty apartment. Both Jake and Heeseung abruptly turned once Jungwon marched in, one hand holding a bottle of cognac and the other holding his woollen coat. The same arm holding open the apartment door and keeping it from slamming into the face of who followed him.

"You did not-" Heeseung started as he dropped his transcript onto the table, Jake glancing up from his notebook which he was reading in the large armchair.

"Well, look at you two... out of your suits for once," Jiyeon snickered with a large envelope under her arm.

"Jungwon, we said no attachments," Jake sternly reminded as Jungwon hung up his coat and walked into place the bottle of cognac on the table in the room, "we never get regular people involved."

"Excuse you, I transcribed your entire hearing today," Jiyeon remarked with a small frown, "be thankful Sim."

"She knows some things," Jungwon excused as Jiyeon wandered over to look at the noticeboard, casually handing over the large envelope to Jungwon.

"It doesn't have the list you idiot," Jiyeon murmured calmly as her eyes darted around on the board.

"I know," Jungwon hummed, "I needed new eyes on the clues," Jungwon casually excused and threw the envelope on the table, an old newspaper sliding out and partially onto the table, "what do you see?"

"A shit ton of nonsense," Jiyeon murmured quietly as Jungwon wandered over to stand beside her, "get me a cup."

Jungwon hummed and calmly glanced over at his shoulder to look at Heeseung, pointing towards the half-empty cognac bottle. Heeseung looked at him in disbelief before rolling his eyes and pouring up a small mug. Jungwon handed the mug to Jiyeon and she sipped while glancing about.

"You have the reading club on here," Jiyeon pointed out and Jungwon hummed as he looked over at the book club's logo of a tiny pine tree growing from a book on the board.

"Pinetrees," Jungwon excused as Jiyeon wandered over and pointed to a picture of a sad woman in her thirties.

"She was in the book club," Jiyeon murmured, "graduated seven years ago. She used to work in the tiny office where... the brewery is," Jiyeon slowly realised, "before the brewery it was a tiny office for some... uh... I've been told it was some telemarketing office. She did the statistics there, I think... They moved out of the building due to rent and further down in town in a cheaper place. I was at a job interview there before they closed completely."

"How long ago?" Jungwon questioned.

"Since they closed?" she sighed.

"Both."

"I did the job interview there... about a year ago... I think I had just finished my first semester. Pretty sure," Jiyeon hummed with a small nod, "they closed... it was before the summer... maybe seven months ago? Yeah... Seven or six months ago."

"Hm..." Jungwon hummed quietly and glanced around on the board, "how long have you been a transcriber?"

"A year and three months," Jiyeon muttered, "I wanted to change jobs because a case got... yeah... too close to home..."

"Park Eunyoung, 32, murdered six months ago. The first and only female victim... so far," Jungwon listed and Jiyeon nodded quietly, "most peculiar of all-"

"They didn't take advantage of her sexually either before or after death," Jiyeon finished with a small nod, "abnormal circumstances for a female murder victim. I know."

Jungwon kept on staring at her for a few more seconds as she quietly held the coffee mug like it would warm her hands. The only thing in it was cognac. Her eyes stayed fixated on Park Eunyoung's face as if there was some familiar connection with her.

"Since her, it's been two men," Jungwon continued and Jiyeon nodded quietly, "why?"

"It'll be a woman again," Jiyeon remarked, "All the men have been in their forties or late thirties have they not?" she questioned and looked over at him. Jungwon nodded quietly, "It's new that the book club is mainly women. For decades it was a man-only club. So... if it has anything to do with the book club; the younger the victim, the higher the chance that it'll be a woman. Thing is... the majority of new graduates move away... chase careers in larger towns. But it isn't about the book club, is it? How could it be," she snickered slightly and looked over at Jungwon who hummed quietly and picked at his lips, "I should get home. I'm not helping with anything."

"Get a taxi Miss Young, it's late," Jake remarked and Jiyeon only snickered at him before downing her mug of cognac.

"The budget is tight this week. I promise I'll run," she assured with a small smile before starting to button up her coat and tugging it tightly around herself.

She glanced about the room before turning her eyes to Jungwon. Somehow he seemed to understand what she was asking of him. Acting casually he followed her out to the door. 

"Get home safely, alright?" Jungwon questioned as he stood in the open door to the apartment. Jiyeon could still see the two others behind him.

"Close the door," she murmured and Jungwon frowned before stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind him. It didn't automatically lock, so it'd be fine, "the murders started in another nearby town. The newspaper... it's a year old."

"You did have a clue in that envelope," Jungwon murmured in realisation and Jiyeon only shrugged, "what else are you hiding?"

"Nothing," Jiyeon murmured quietly, "just solve this quickly and..." she sighed and pulled on a pair of knitted gloves, "If I somehow end up on that wall, promise to tell me."

"You'd only be on the wall if you were involved with the case," Jungwon pointed out and Jiyeon glanced at him.

"Tell me if I end on that wall. Victim. Suspect. Anything. I want to know," Jiyeon sternly continued, "please?"

"I... well... okay," Jungwon eventually nodded before digging his hand into his pocket and getting out an old crumbled money note, "get a taxi, alright? For your own safety."

"Thanks," Jiyeon smiled slightly and took the note, "I'm sure I'll see you at the next interrogation."

"Sure will," Jungwon hummed with a small smile as Jiyeon rushed down the stairs, "goodnight Miss Young."

"Goodnight!" Jiyeon's voice echoed back up the stairwell.

Jungwon waited for a taxi to pull up to the curb outside, looking out of the stairwell windows. First, when he saw her get into a taxi did he return to the apartment and wandered straight to the table. Picking up the newspaper.

"So? Now she's in danger," Jake questioned and folded his hands across his stomach.

"I'm gonna need the entirety of the Pine Readers up on that board. I suspect they're all possible victims. Both current and past members," Jungwon murmured quietly and flipped through the newspaper, eventually landing on a page that had been highlighted and notated in every column, every footnote anything that could be notated or highlighted had been, "she was in danger regardless of whether or not she was here tonight. If anything, we kept her safe for a good thirty minutes. That's the most safety she can be sure of until we figure out who's been murdering these people."