When Red Means Danger

016

As the hours passed, the darkness was consuming the sky and the night was proudly announcing itself but Dahyun was wide awake. She couldn't even count how many cups of coffee she had already drunk or whether her heart was palpitating from fear or from the caffeine. She needed to stay awake for her own sake.

She was lying on the bed with her blanket covered over her, but she was more than alert. She paid attention even to the slightest noise that she would hear. She knew that any moment, her biggest fear would come, and she knew that she needed to face him – to face Hansung. She thought that she would not only be a further burden but also prove to be futile in the resolution of the case if she keeps acting like a scared cat. She accepted the case of V because she wanted to prove to her brother that she was capable but then it seems like she was making Jungkook do all the work.

I couldn't just count everything on Jungkook. I should know how to protect myself. I should help him solve this crime, she told herself.

She was the only one who had access to Hansung, and she was about to use it to her advantage.

She had defied her brother, and instead, left her window open. It was an invitation to danger, a danger that she was prepared to face. When the window creaked and the sound of footsteps echoed in the room, Dahyun fluttered her eyes open. The sound of leaves rushing, and branches swaying filled the air, before a familiar voice replaced it.

"Did you miss me?"

----------

As Jungkook stepped inside the unit, the chalk drawing of a small body welcomed his sight. He bit his lower lip as his mind suddenly pictured the scene that Yoona had narrated to him which was the sight of a four-year old kid being stabbed to death. He sighed before he shook his head and proceeded on walking further.

"This place is in ruins," Jimin commented with a frown as he followed behind.

Jungkook remained silent at first as his eyes observed every detail of the burned unit, but unfortunately, the fire has left a little more than nothing to investigate. The unit was relatively large compared to others since it was inhabited by more than seven people. There were only a few marks of what had been the living room, the dining room, and the bedrooms, with chalk drawings of where the bodies were found. In the first bedroom was a bed with two drawings of bodies and as he glanced at Jimin, the latter figured out that he was waiting for a report.

"The married couple, heads of the family, was found here and it seemed like both of them were handcuffed to the headboard of the bed before they were stabbed, and of course, burned," Jimin said after he took a look at the folder that he got from his bag.

Jungkook let out another sigh before taking a couple more steps and the second bedroom came into sight. Compared to the first one, there were two beds but there was only one drawing of a body which was pictured as sitting on the floor, at the edge of the bed.

"This is where the oldest victim was found. I guess no handcuffs for this one since he's already too weak to escape death," Jimin whispered and as Jungkook's steps continued echoing in the unit, he too, continued speaking, "And the remaining three female victims were all found in the living room, two of them sitting on the big sofa, with bodies in a fetal position, hands near their feet. The other one was handcuffed on the table as she was seated on the floor."

Jungkook could only imagine the scene as he stared at the burned sofas at the living room. He sighed once more as his feet took him in the kitchen and seeing that it was the most devastated place in the unit, he knew that it was where the explosion came from.

"It's odd," were the first words that Jimin heard from Jungkook since they entered the apartment. The male then put his hands on his pockets as he looked at Jimin and continued, "It was just a couple of minutes. Ms. Im saw the youngest victim being killed, she ran and saw the police, then there was an explosion and a big fire followed after. The police are saying that it's all because of an LPG tank – the one for kitchen use."

"An LPG tank explosion would definitely be more than attention-catching but for it to actually be the cause of a fire, that would be rare. Even if there is fire, an LPG this small would just cause a fire that is meant to be also small and short-lived," Jimin replied, getting what Jungkook was trying to imply.

"And an LPG tank wouldn't explode unless it is exposed to great temperature. Using an oven or even a stove to heat an LPG tank would definitely be time-consuming," Jungkook added.

Jimin furrowed his eyebrows before exasperatingly saying, "Come on Kook. Just spill your idea out. I can't keep up with all this science."

Jungkook let out a small chuckle before his face turned serious once more as he said, "The fire occurred first before the explosion, and the explosion just exacerbated the fire, causing it to be bigger."

"You mean that the unit was burning first?" Jimin asked.

"Or the kitchen first."

"But for a fire to spread quickly, you'd need to spread a flammable liquid at the area," Jimin tried to argue but then his eyes widened upon an idea suddenly occurring to him. He mumbled, "There's a gasoline station on the next street. Of course. It was easy for V to get his hands on a couple of gallons of gasoline to make these possible."

"There's a loophole on our guess too," Jungkook replied. He then teasingly urged his friend, "Come on, Jimin. You can do it."

There was a long silence as Jimin just stared at the ground until he said, "The time-frame doesn't make it possible. If he had murdered his whole family, he would at least need twenty minutes to set the whole fire and explosion but then, the witness saw him killing and after the witness ran outside, there's already an explosion."

"Unless he had someone who helped him," Jungkook replied.

"Hey," Jimin bellowed. He let out a sigh before he yelled, "You're making things more complicated! We have to know the reason first behind V setting the whole building on fire!"

"He or maybe they, didn't set the whole building on fire," Jungkook retorted. "Just their unit."

"But there are two more units – "

"- which were affected but did not greatly suffer like this," Jungkook had to cut his sentence. He sighed again before saying, "There's only one reason why a murderer would set the crime scene in fire."

"And that's to erase the evidence," Jimin bit his lower lip.

---------

"This girl?"

"Yes. That girl. A week before the crime on the next street, this girl kept buying four gallons of gasoline, each day from this store," the cashier told Jimin and Jungkook. He pointed at himself before continuing, "I know because I was always the one in duty at this store when she buys. She bought a total of twenty gallons I think."

Jungkook glanced at the picture of one of the victims in the folder before looking back at Jimin who also had confusion written on his face. The male sighed before pointing at a corner of a store and as Jungkook followed Jimin's gaze, he told the cashier,

"Can I get a copy of your CCTV footages?"

"Y-You have to talk to our manager for that," the cashier sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.

"Okay. Could you please call your manager now?" Jungkook asked and as the cashier was just about to turn, he added, "And oh, in the next few days, you'd be getting a request to be our witness in the case."

The cashier just nodded anxiously and the two watched from the see-through glass how he asked another employee to take his place and next, how he approached his manager who threw a glance at them before nodding.

"Yoo Min Ji. Why do you think did she help V?" Jimin broke the silence that lurked.

"I don't know," Jungkook whispered, "But it certainly cost her family's life and hers too."

"A psychopath's manipulative after all," Jimin repied. He then let out a long sigh before saying, "I'm actually getting scared. What if at the end of it all V is just manipulating us? What if he's just making Dahyun help him escape this, and what if he's going to kill her too once she becomes useless to him – "

"That's what we are trying to prevent, Chim," Jungkook had to cut him off again, "But I'm certain at the end of it all, we would know which Kim we are actually dealing with, or if there is a really a question of which."