the naked face || bts

five

The rest of the day went by as though he were under water. A few of the patients made reference to Ara's murder, but the more disturbed ones were so self-absorbed that they could only think of themselves and their problems. Yoongi tried to concentrate, but his thoughts kept drifting away, trying to find answers to what had happened. He would go over the tapes later to pick up what he had missed. At seven o'clock, when Yoongi had ushered out the last patient, he went over to the recessed liquor cabinet and poured himself a stiff scotch. It hit him with a jolt, and he suddenly remembered that he had not had any breakfast or lunch. The thought of food made him ill.

He sank into a chair and thought about the two murders. There was nothing in the case histories of any of his patients that would cause someone to commit murder. A blackmailer might have tried to steal them. But blackmailers were cowards, preying on the weaknesses of others, and if Ara had caught one breaking in and he had killed her, it would have been done quickly, with a single blow. He would not have tortured her. There had to be some other explanation. Yoongi sat there a long time, his mind slowly sifting the events of the past two days. Finally, he sighed and gave it up. He looked at the clock and was startled to see how late it was.

By the time he left his office, it was after nine o'clock. As he stepped out of the lobby into the street, a blast of icy wind hit him. It had started to snow again. The snow swirled through the sky, gently blurring everything so that it looked as though the city had been painted on a canvas that had not dried and the paints were running, melting down skyscrapers and streets into watery greys and whites. A large red-and-white sign in a store window across the street warned: ONLY 6 SHOPPING DAYS 'TIL CHRISTMAS. The street was deserted except for a lone pedestrian in the distance, hurrying home to his wife or sweetheart. Yoongi found himself wondering what Hoseok was doing. He was probably at home with his wife, discussing her day at the office, interested, caring. Or they had gone to bed, and... stop it! he told himself.

There were no cars on the windswept street, so just before he reached the corner, Yoongi began to cross at an angle, heading towards the garage where he parked his car during the day. As he reached the middle of the street, he heard a noise behind him and turned. A large black limousine without lights was coming towards him, its tires fighting for traction in the light powder of snow. It was less than ten feet away. The drunken fool, thought Yoongi. He's in a skid and he's going to kill himself. Yoongi turned and leaped back towards the curb and safety. The nose of the car swerved towards him, the car accelerating.

Too late Yoongi realized the car was deliberately trying to run him down. The last thing he remembered was something hard smashing against his chest and a loud crash that sounded like thunder. The dark street suddenly lit up with bright candles that seemed to explode in his head. In that split second of illumination, Yoongi suddenly knew the answer to everything. He knew why Taehyung and Ara had been murdered. He felt a sense of wild elation. He had to tell Jungkook. Then the light faded, and there was only the silence of the wet darkness.

.

From the outside, the Nineteenth Police Precinct looked like an ancient, weatherbeaten four-storey school building: brown brick, plaster facade, and cornices white with the droppings of generations of pigeons. The Nineteenth Precinct was responsible for the area of Seoul from Fifth Avenue to the Han River. The call from the hospital reporting the hit-and-run accident came through the police switchboard a few minutes after ten and was transferred to the Detective Bureau. The Nineteenth Precinct was having a busy night. Because of the weather, there had been a heavy increase in rapes and muggings. The deserted streets had become a frozen wasteland where marauders preyed on the hapless stragglers who wandered into their territory. Most of the detectives were out on squeals, and the Detective Bureau was deserted except for Detective Park Jimin and a sergeant, who was interrogating an arson suspect.

When the phone rang, Jimin answered. It was a nurse who had a hit-and-run patient at the city hospital. The patient was asking for Lieutenant Jungkook. Jungkook had gone to the Hall of Records. When she gave Jimin the name of the patient, he told the nurse that be would be right over. Jimin was hanging up the receiver as Jungkook walked in. Jimin quickly told him about the call. 'We'd better get right over to the hospital,' Jimin said.

'He can wait. First I want to talk to the captain of the precinct where that accident occurred.' Jimin watched as Jungkook dialed the number. He wondered whether the Captain had told Jungkook about his conversation with Jimin. It had been short and to the point.

'Lieutenant Jungkook is a good cop,' Jimin had said, 'but I think he's influenced by what happened five years ago.'

The Captain had given him a long, cold stare. 'Are you accusing him of framing Dr. Min?'

'I'm not accusing him of anything, Captain. I just thought you should be aware of the situation.'

'Okay, I'm aware of it.' And the meeting was over.

Jungkook's phone conversation took three minutes while Jungkook grunted and made notes and Jimin impatiently paced back and forth. Ten minutes later the two detectives were in a squad car on the way to the hospital. Yoongi's room was on the sixth floor at the end of a long, dreary corridor that had the sickly-sweet smell of all hospitals. The nurse who had phoned was escorting them to Yoongi's room. 'What shape is he in, Nurse?' asked Jungkook.

'The doctor will have to tell you that,' she said primly. And then continued, compulsively. 'It's a miracle the man wasn't killed. He has a possible concussion, some bruised ribs, and an injured left arm.'

'Is he conscious?' asked Jimin.

'Yes.'

'We're having a terrible time keeping him in bed.' She turned to Jungkook. 'He keeps saying he has to see you.'

They walked into the room. There were six beds in the room, all occupied. The nurse indicated a bed at the far corner that was curtained off, and Jungkook and Jimin walked over to it and stepped behind the curtain. Yoongi was in bed, propped up. His face was pale and there was a large adhesive plaster on his forehead. His left arm was in a sling. Jungkook spoke. 'I hear you had an accident.'

'It wasn't an accident,' said Yoongi. 'Someone tried to kill me.' His voice was weak and shaky.
'Who?' asked Jimin.

'I don't know, but it all fits in.' He turned to Jungkook. 'The killers weren't after Taehyung or Ara. They were after me.'

Jungkook looked at him in surprise. 'What makes you think so?'

'Taehyung was killed because he was wearing my yellow raincoat. They must have seen me go into my building wearing that coat. When Taehyung came out of my office wearing it, they mistook him for me.'

'That's possible,' said Jimin.

'Sure,' said Jungkook. He turned to Yoongi. 'And when they learned that they had killed the wrong man, they came into your office and tore your clothes off and found out you were really a little girl, and they got so mad they beat you to death.'

'Ara was killed because they found her there when they came to get me,' Yoongi said. Jungkook reached in his overcoat pocket and took out some notes.

'I just talked to the captain of the precinct where the accident happened.'

'It was no accident.'

'According to the police report, you were jaywalking.'

Yoongi stared at him. 'Jaywalking?' he repeated weakly.

'You crossed in the middle of the street, Doctor.'

'There were no cars so I-'

'There was a car,' Jungkook corrected. 'Only you didn't see it. It was snowing and the visibility was lousy. You stepped out of nowhere. The driver put on his brakes, went into a skid, and bit you. Then he panicked and drove away.'

'That's not the way it happened and his headlights were off.'

'And you think that's evidence that he killed Taehyung and Ara?'

'Someone tried to kill me,' repeated Yoongi insistently.

Jungkook shook his head. 'It won't work, Doctor.'

'What won't work?' asked Yoongi.

'Did you really expect me to start heating the bushes for some mythical killer while you take the heat off yourself?' His voice was suddenly hard. 'Did you know your receptionist was pregnant?'
  
Yoongi closed his eyes and let his head sink back on the pillow. So that was what Ara had wanted to speak to him about. He had half-guessed. And now Jungkook would think...

He opened his eyes. 'No,' he said wearily. 'I didn't.' Yoongi's head began pounding again. The pain was returning. He swallowed to fight off the nausea that engulfed him. He wanted to ring for the nurse, but he was damned if he would give Jungkook the satisfaction.

'I went through the records at City Hall,' said Jungkook. 'What would you say if I told you that your cute little pregnant receptionist had been a hooker before she went to work for you?' The pounding in Yoongi's head was becoming steadily worse. 'Were you aware of that, Dr. Min? You don't have to answer. I'll answer for you. You knew it because you picked her up in night court four years ago, when she was arrested on a charge of soliciting. Now isn't it a little far-out for a respectable doctor to hire a hooker as a receptionist in a high-class office?'

'No one is born a hooker,' said Yoongi. 'I was trying to help a fifteen-year-old child have a chance at life.'

'And get yourself a little free ass on the side?'

'You dirty-minded bastard!'

Jungkook smiled without mirth. 'Where did you take Ara after you found her in night court?'

'To my apartment.'

'And she slept there?'

'Yes.'

Jungkook grinned. 'You're a beauty! You picked up a good-looking young hooker in night court and took her to your apartment to spend the night. What were you looking for- a chess partner? If you really didn't sleep with her, there's a damn good chance you're gay. And guess who that ties you in with? Right. Kim Taehyung. If you did sleep with Ara, then the chances are pretty good that you continued sleeping with her until you finally got her knocked up. And you have the balls to lie there and tell me some cock-and-bull story about a hit-and-run maniac who's going around murdering people?' Jungkook turned and strode out of the room, his face red with anger.

The pounding in Yoongi's head had turned to a throbbing agony. Jimin was watching him, worried. 'You all right?'

'You've got to help me,' Yoongi said. 'Someone is trying to kill me.'

'Who'd have a motive for killing you, Doctor?'

'I don't know.'

'Do you have any enemies?'

'No.'

'Have you been sleeping with anyone's wife or girlfriend?' Yoongi shook his head and instantly regretted the motion.

'Is there any money in your family- relatives who might want to get you out of the way?'

'No.'

Jimin sighed 'Okay. So there's no motive for anyone wanting to murder you. What about your patients? I think you'd better give us a list so we can check them out.'

'I can't do that.'

'All I'm asking for is their names.'

'I'm sorry.' It was an effort to speak. 'If I were a dentist or a chiropodist I'd give it to you. But don't you see? These people have problems. Most of them serious problems. If you started questioning them, you'd not only shatter them; you'd destroy their confidence in me. I wouldn't be able to treat them anymore. I can't give you that list.' He lay back on the pillow, exhausted.
Jimin looked at him quietly, then asked, "What do you call a man who thinks that everyone's out to kill him?'

'A paranoiac,' said Yoongi. He saw the look on Jimin's face. 'You don't think I'm... ?'

'Put yourself in my place,' Jimin said. 'If I were in that bed right now, talking like you, and you were my doctor, what would you think?' Yoongi dosed his eyes against the stabs of pain in his head. He heard Jimin's voice continue. 'Jungkook's waiting for me.'

Yoongi opened his eyes. "Wait... Give me a chance to prove that I'm telling the truth.'

'How?'

'Whoever's trying to kill me is going to try again. I want someone with me. Next time they try, he can catch them.'

Jimin looked at Yoongi. 'Dr. Min, if someone really wants to kill you, all the policemen in the world can't stop them. If they don't get you today, they'll get you tomorrow. If they don't get you here, they'll get you somewhere else. It doesn't matter whether you're a king or a president, or just plain Jane. Life is a very thin thread. It only takes a second to snap it.'

'There's nothing- nothing at all you can do?'

'I can give you some advice. Have new locks put on the doors of your apartment, and check the windows to make sure they're securely bolted. Don't let anyone in the apartment unless you know them. No delivery boys unless you've ordered the delivery yourself.' Yoongi nodded, his throat dry and aching. 'Your building has a doorman and an elevator man,' continued Jimin. 'Can you trust them?' 

'The doorman has worked there for ten years. The elevator operator has been there eight years. I'd trust them with my life.'

Jimin nodded approvingly. 'Good. Ask them to keep their eyes open. If they're on the alert, it's going to be hard for anyone to sneak up to your apartment. What about the office? Are you going to hire a new receptionist?'