The Sun to my Moon

Chapter 12: Jasmine

There was no way to break a piece of information to someone like this gently, Go Hae-ri thought, so she might as well say it straight out. "There is one of Edward Park's symbols on the wall in your bedroom," she said quietly.

Jessica Lee shook her head. "No. There can't be. Detective Cha Dal-geon said Edward Park draws them in blood. I would know if someone had been drawing pictures on my walls in blood."

"This one wasn't drawn in blood," Hae-ri told her. "It's something else. And it's not the same of usual shark image, but it's the same style with one of his victims."

"Andwae! You're lying," Jessica said stubbornly. "It isn't true."

"I'm not lying, Jessicassi," Hae-ri said firmly. "I wouldn't do that. I've never lied to you. If I were going to lie to you, I wouldn't start with something like this. It would be a greater lie to keep this from you."

"Show me," Jessica demanded.

Hae-ri trooped back upstairs with Jessica at her heels. Hae-ri moved the bed away from the wall and guided Jessica towards the symbol she could verify its presence for herself.

Jessica traced her fingertips along the outline. "It's sticky," she said, a look of revulsion on her face. "Or it used to be, anyway. What is it?"

"I don't know," Hae-ri admitted. "I think it might be lipstick, but I could be wrong. We'll know for sure once I send a sample to the lab for analysis."

Jessica drew her hand away from the wall. "I believe you now," was all she said, and then she turned on her heel and left the room.

Hae-ri moved the bed back to its normal position so Jessica wouldn't bump into it later, and then she rejoined the other woman downstairs in the kitchen once again.

Jessica was pouring herself a cup of tea with shaking hands, looking rather shell-shocked.

"I'm sorry," Hae-ri said, feeling horrible. She knew how useless the words would be to Jessica, but they were all she had to offer. "I thought you would want to know."

"Yes, of course," Jessica said, her voice sounding as though it were coming from a great distance away. "You were right to tell me." She curled her fingers around the cup of tea, the knuckles white. "You said you had some more questions for me?"

"We don't have to do that now if you need a few moments to collect yourself," Hae-ri told her.

Jessica shook her head. "No. You said you wanted to know more about me. I want to know why you think that is going to help you find this man, Edward Park."

"If Samael really is Edward Park, you are a fairly significant exception to his pattern," Hae-ri explained. "I'm interested in finding out why that is."

Jessica sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"How did you come to live in this house?" Hae-ri asked. "It's awfully isolated for a young woman living alone."

"I've lived here since I was a little girl," Jessica told her, a small half-smile gracing her lips. "It's been my home for almost as long as I can remember."

"You lived here with your parents?"

The smile faded. "No. I lived here with my grandmother. My parents were killed when I was very young."

"How did they die?" Hae-ri asked curiously.

A shadow passed over Jessica's face. "They were murdered," she said shortly. "The police never found out who killed them, or why."

"How old were you when they were killed?"

"I was just a baby. A little less than a year old."

"And your grandmother took you in after that?"