Taeyeon smiles and pulls Tiffany a little closer, exhaling as she takes the time to revel in the warm hug. "Be safe, you hear? And text me as soon as you land," she tells her softly.
"So dramatic, this cheesy inspector. I'm not flying all the way to the other side of the globe," replies Tiffany with an amused smile, loosening her hold to pat Taeyeon's head, finding the inspector extra adorable today. "I'll see you again tomorrow or in a few days tops. Why are you so clingy all of a sudden? You even helped me pack. You never help me pack."
"I don't know. I guess since we didn't get our planned getaway after all..."
"It's okay. We'll get to it." Tiffany leans in for a peck then steps back, grabbing her carry-on. "Bye. Solve this case and don't get hurt while you're at it."
"Will do. Send Jiyoon my love."
Tiffany nods and walks out of the hotel lobby with Taeyeon alongside her, into the waiting police car that would take her to the airport. She waves goodbye for one last time before the car drives away and she loses sight of her wife.
When Taeyeon arrives at the station, she's surprised to see an officer in uniform escorting Lee Geunil and a person in suits towards the exit.
"What..." She stares at the men in confusion then turns her head to see Lieutenant Park and Yoona, looking grim. "What is going on?!"
"He lawyered up and since we can't charge him for murder, the lawyer decides that he could leave," explains Lieutenant Park.
"And you're letting him?"
"There is nothing we can do, Unnie. He already passed the lie detector test and the DNA test result came back negative. His blood doesn't match the blood drops on the victim," Yoona says.
"What about the mitochondrial DNA test?"
"They're working on it. We only told them to do it a couple of hours ago. It would take time although we have emphasized that it must be put on the highest priority considering our suspects can now escape the island."
"He's still a person of interest in this case," Lieutenant Park adds. "So I'm putting my men on his tail. He shall not leave town without us knowing about it."
"Honestly though," Yoona speaks in a low voice as they walk to the lieutenant's office. "Judging from what we've found out so far, I think it's pretty clear that he's innocent."
"Has he remembered where he was between the time he confronted Kim Hweegyeong at that bar and when he passed out at the other bar?" Taeyeon asks.
"He said he was drowning his sorrows at a restaurant while grabbing supper. We sent our men there to interview the owner and show her his picture. She confirmed that he was there until closing time. She said that she had to send him away by force because he just wouldn't leave even though the restaurant was closing," says Lieutenant Park. "Captain Im has also checked his whereabouts after that through his phone records. He kept trying to call Seunghwan even in his drunk state so we could map his movements using cell tower triangulation. He never went near the hotel during the time of the murder or at least he didn't make or receive a call near that area around that time.
"I hate to admit it but if the evidence says he's innocent then we have no choice but to believe it. Evidence don't lie. People do."
"So we're back to square one?" asks Taeyeon.
"Not really. We still think that he holds the key to this case. Plus, we will have his brother under surveillance as well and he's certainly suspicious," Yoona replies. "I hope the mitochondrial DNA test can help us. In the mean time, I've asked Juhyun to help me map Sunil's movements using the same method we used to map his brother's movements during the night of the murder. Maybe we'll find something."
