The Disney Princess Murders

CHAPTER 13

"Hyungs, I got a location for you."

"We're listening Kook."

"We're at the mountains, Inwangsan to be exact."

"Are you sure it's Inwangsan, there are many mountains in Korea."

"Positive. The peaks are granite, unlike the others."

Detective Lee spoke up, "Inwangsan covers millions of miles, where do we start?"

Namjoon nodded in agreement, "Kook, is there anything else you can give us?"

"We are near the base of the mountain, located in a small clearing surrounded by a heavily wooded area, close enough to hear water, but not see it. I also noticed an overgrown biking or hiking trail nearby. The only landmark I can give is a large tree that is split in half with another growing down it's center. The split tree itself, looks burnt."

Both detectives and agents were scrambling over the maps of Inwangsan as Jungkook gave what description he could of his location.

"Jungkook, where's Changmin now?"

"Left, said he needed to head into town for more supplies."

Detective Park nodded, "If by town, he meant Seoul, than we've got 2-3 hours to work with."

"If he's traveling to and from the mountains by vehicle, he's gotta be driving something better equipped for the territory, his sedan isn't gonna cut it."

Jimin spoke next, "I'll call around to the rental agencies, see if Changmin's name pops up," he informed the group as he pulled up all car rental agencies in Seoul on his laptop and set to work making calls.

"Inwangsan is a major tourist site, and has one major hiking trail, the fact that Jungkook didn't see or hear anyone means he must be far enough away to go unnoticed, yet close enough for Changmin to gain easy access to whatever vehicle he's using."

"Agreed, Yoongi, Hoseok, head to the mountain, ask the tourists, hikers, locals, anyone and everyone if they've seen Changmin around the trails or in the local areas."

"Got it." Hoseok said, grabbing the copy of Jang Changmin's employee photo the University provided, and headed out the door with Yoongi.

"The military has posts all over that mountain," Jin said, "we should get in touch with them, they may know the location Jungkook spoke of."

Namjoon hummed in agreement, "Good idea, let's go."

"I'm coming too." Taehyung announced.

Namjoon nodded, and together the three agent Kim's exited the war room.

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Jungkook did all he could do from his end, all he can do now, is hope it was enough, as he waited for rescue.

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"Thank you for meeting with us Major."

The army major shook each agents hand in greeting, "Of course."

"I'm agent Kim Namjoon of the NIS, this is agents Kim Seokjin and Kim Taehyung."

"Major Son, pleased to meet you gentlemen. If you'll follow me." The major led them into the base and through the halls to a room where a table was covered in maps dotted with colorful pins.

"We've marked all potential areas where an individual could hide," the major bent over the map, "blue pins are small clearings near the mountain base, yet surrounded by thick enough forest to not be seen by hikers or campers. All are about a mile to a mile and a half from the river."

Jin looked over the map, "Can any of these locations be seen by any of your lookout posts?"

Major Son shook his head, "No, they're in our posts blind spots. The clearings are difficult to get to and can be dangerous areas depending on the time of year, so the areas are off-limits. On rare occasions, we're called in to search for lost hikers who entered the areas despite the dangers, or were unaware of them, but other than that, we don't really enter the areas, as I said, they're difficult to get to."

"But not impossible." Taehyung said.

"Correct."

"Our agent also mentioned an overgrown hiking or biking trail." Namjoon said.

The major nodded, "This, and this," he began, running a finger along one winding line on the map, then another, "are old hiking trails. This one was closed as it runs through military territory, the second was closed because of hazardous terrain."

"What about the tree?" Taehyung asked.

"As I said earlier, we don't patrol these areas due to the dangerous terrain unless necessary, so we haven't seen such a tree, however, we did have a forest fire years back due to a lightning strike. Lucky, we were able to put it out quickly," Major Son pointed to one pin in particular, "the fire started here."

Jin turned his attention from the map to Namjoon, "That's where we start looking."