In a Maze...

Chapter 7

On his way to the law enforcement building, Mark got a call from the chief detective that Mark was to head for the place, according to the address he would send Mark. A murder, that was all the chief said.

The said place was an estate in Guro district, and Mark managed to arrive there within about twenty minutes. Simultaneously, after him, Hyunwoo arrived, and they rushed into the house, being led by a police officer, who had been at the entrance.

In the bedroom upstairs, where the crime was committed, a man, approximately in his forties, was lying on the floor, with his chest covered in blood. Seongho and Minsoo were kneeling on each side of the dead body. There were two constables standing nearby and next to them were a man and a woman, possibly husband and wife, a little bit older than the dead man.

"What happened?" Mark asked.

"A fatal shot through the heart. I'd say it was by a silenced gun, as well. This man, it's Park Youngchul, Park Byungchul's younger brother. This is all getting out of hand," Seongho said.

"So this is connected to the previous murders?" Hyunwoo said, incredulously.

"Don't know anymore whether to catch the murderer or to find out who the next victim would be," Minsoo said, with a shake of his head.

Mark's eyes turned to the window but there were no shattered glasses this time. Minsoo followed Mark's eyes and said, "It seems the murderer entered the house through the main door this time. The lock was broken."

Some minutes later, the detectives and the couple, Mark had noticed, were seated in the living-room. The husband was comforting his wife, who was sobbing quietly, probably both out of shock and in grief.

"Well, tell us what happened, starting from the time you last saw him alive," Seongho addressed to the man.

"Yes, sir. My wife and I had worked for mister Park Youngchul for years. We never expected something like that would happen. We usually were here, every morning - I for gardening and my wife for cooking and laundry. We always left here in the afternoon, after mister's lunch. Yesterday too. That was the time we last saw him alive, sir. This morning, we were here at seven. Usually mister would come and open the door for us. But this morning, it was already open when we got here. As you saw, sir, the lock was destroyed. Mister's bedroom was also open and there he was lying dead, sir."

"What was your mister doing when you left him yesterday?" Minsoo asked.

"He'd just finished lunch and saw us to the door to close it later. He always did that, sir."

"Did you find his behaviours abnormal these days?" Mark questioned.

Both the man and woman considered for a moment but then shook their heads. The man said, "Nothing strange, sir. But he was quite distracted by the deaths of his brother's second wife and her son. Aside from that, everything was just usual, sir."

The interrogation continued but nothing further, satisfactory was got. Now, everything was left to the detectives' hands. The rest of the morning and the afternoon were consumed by the detectives, conducting their enquiry about Park Youngchul's life.

In the late afternoon, they were in the meeting room, to view the information they had got so far. This time, they were by themselves, without the chief detective in the room.

"So, Park Youngchul, Park Byungchul's brother. He had invested in four different companies, one of which was Park Jinyoung's. He had no wife. Here comes the significant fact. After his brother's death - that was two years ago - he run his brother's company on behalf of his nephew, who was then still in his learning process. Altogether for four months. According to his private secretary, who worked for him within those months, Park Youngchul was against the idea of handing the company to his nephew, Park Jinyoung, who he was convinced, was unexperienced and too young for the CEO position. And it was also true that the staff preferred him to Park Jinyoung, back then. It might be true even now."

At the end of Seongho's words, Minsoo said, "Why is everyone who was murdered, connected with Park Jinyoung? Are there any more family members of the Park family? So that we could protect them in advance."

"Well, Park Jinyoung is the only one left. You know, I'm even more suspicious of him now. Apparently, there had been some sort of issues between Park Youngchul and Park Jinyoung, over the company position. What do you think?" Hyunwoo's eyes were more directed to Mark.

"I'll get to know what kind of relationship they had," Mark assured them.

Mark got to Jinyoung's apartment, in the evening. Jinyoung looked much the same as that time Mark had met him for the first time. His hair seemed to have been run through, countless times. His eyes were those of someone who had had very little sleep. He looked like a miserable mess.

"Did you not go to work today?" Mark shot his first question.

Jinyoung shook his head. "No."

"Why? Did you see the news? Your uncle's death. He was murdered. We assume, it was the same method and by the same murderer."

Jinyoung made no reply; he kept his face in his hands and his eyes were weary.

"Jinyoung, you know my duty. I need to ask you a number of questions. Did you know that your uncle didn't want you to handle the company, back then? He was sure you had no experience, and the staff also liked him better."

"I was aware of that," Jinyoung let out a groan, "But he was just reasoning when he told me that I should take more time to learn and that I had very little experience. I knew, all along, that he wanted to take over that CEO position, while pushing me to the back. I argued that I was as much capable as him. Since then, he and I had always been against each other."

"But he didn't withdraw his shares from your company?"

"No. He had the second largest shares in my company. And I know he was planning, the whole time, to find my weakness and take advantage of it. I used to like him but no more."

"Do you feel sorry now that he's dead?"

"I don't know anymore. I don't want to think about anything anymore." Jinyoung ran his hand over his face and then through his hair.

After a few minutes of silence, Jinyoung looked at Mark, "My uncle, do you think I killed him? Are you thinking that I was the one? Whether I'm responsible for those deaths, that's what you're questioning in your head?"

Mark remained silent; he felt somehow sorry to see Jinyoung looking and sounding desperate.

"Do you really believe I murdered my uncle?"

Mark had no answer; his thoughts were jumbled in his head. But in the back of his mind, he trusted Jinyoung.