Entering the office, Kan and DooSan saw the others staring at them while waiting to hear interesting news from them. News that made them widen their eyes when DooSan said, „So Ari and Nam Guk Shik were in a relationship.”
Hearing DooSan talking like that, A Rim growled, „Whaat? Did So Ari have a boyfriend?”
„Yes,” replied Kan as calmly as possible. „A nobody, who had no idea what his girlfriend was involved in. He knows now.”
Yoon Suk reproachfully shook his head. „Why do I have the feeling that the one who took care to „inform” our nobody about his girlfriend’s heroic deeds was you? Just as you informed him that she’s dead, right?”
Kan showed Yoon Suk his fangs. Then, deeply breathing in to calm down, he said, „Of course, it was me who informed him. Who else? Not you while staying in this office, right?! If I had done the same as you did, then… it would have been awful for all of us. At least one of us had to help him take that black cloth off his eyes, don’t you think so?”
„A black cloth that I’m sure he would have preferred rather than hearing such news from our „good Samaritan,” A Rim told him ironically, making Kan slowly growl while his lips started shaking because of nerves.
„Are you hinting at something in particular?” The detective suddenly hissed through his teeth.
His reaction didn’t bother A Rim. She only shrugged, bored, murmuring to herself eventually but still to be heard by others, „I’m just making conversation here. Still, if my words hurt the ego of a lonely wolf, it’s not my problem.”
„Kan A Rim,” the detective growled. „Are you looking for your death?”
Seeing Kan about to pounce on A Rim and scalp her like the dog would have done to the enemy cat for those words, visibly pissed off by the „secretary’s” indifference, DooSan decided that it was time to make peace. That’s why he slowly touched the detective’s shoulder, saying in a soft voice, „Let’s bite others’throat later. Now, I think we should solve this case first. So, back to business, boy! What do you say?”
„I say that we should twist the neck of some cobras in the office first,” the detective growled furiously, heading toward his desk. While heading over there, he didn’t keep his mouth shut but growled to be heard by everybody in that office, „If this ever happens, I’m sure we’ll have peace all over the world. Particularly, in this office because… certain cobras were brought here only to suck my blood and kill my nerves.”
The detective’s commentary finally pissed A Rim off. She, jumping to her feet, ready for a fight, glared at the detective. „Was that „Cobra” about me? If yes, then… I can show you what my fangs stubbed into your throat feels, old furless wolf!” Yet, although she wanted to get to Kan and fight with him for those words, A Rim didn’t get there. This happened because of Yoon Suk, who stepped between her and Kan, who squinted at her a hint that he was barely waiting to show her how old he was, and, blocking her way, he hissed into A Rim’s ear:
„Stop pouring oil on the flames, A Rim! Just… do your job!”
„Now it’s my fault that certain quadrupeds always look for a fight in this office?”
„Yes,” Yu hissed into her second ear, making A Rim wince. Then, realizing that nobody was by her side in the office, particularly in that fight, A Rim squinted at the inspector. At all bothered to see her pissed off, Yu calmly told her, „The only guilty one here for not keeping her mouth shut is you. And now… let’s return to work because we are here for that.” Then, he looked at Yoon Suk, asking, „What’s the deal with the video you told me about? Did you find something about it?”
„Yes, Inspector Yu. And… we aren’t talking about a video but about pictures. Who found them was SuJin, by the way.”
Really proud of himself, after hearing Yoon Suk praising him, SuJin looked around. Seeing everybody staring at him, not at all convinced that the merit of those photos was his, SuJin cooked his nose. Then, he grabbed the remote control and showed them, on a big white screen, a few photos of Hamster. After that, standing up and taking a few steps through the office, approaching the screen eventually, he said, „I present you the star of this show… no one other than Hamster!”
Yu squinted at his son. „Are we talking about rodents now?”
SuJin shrugged. „You can say it so,” he said eventually, a little bored. „At least… certain people know him like that. Who in particular? Top… secret! Anyway, not this is important but who this guy is!”
„Do we have a name?” Kan feistily asked, a hint that he still didn’t calm down after the exchange of venomous words with A Rim. „Is the same as the one I gave it to you?”
„Yes, detective. His real name is Ri Ha Joon. Yet, only a few people in this world know this guy with this name. He’s generally known as Hamster, a slippery fellow, well-known in the underworld for his skills of getting rid of his enemies. Particularly, he escaped from the police’s paws because, each time they tried to catch him, they returned to the office with nothing.”
„With nothing? Are you saying that the police have been behind him not only once?”
„That’s right, Prosecutor Han. Actually, there are enough reports over the years against him, especially after he started to be seen with Min SinJu.”
„Is it known the reason why the police investigated him?” Kan asked again.
„They… suspected him of being involved in drug trafficking. Yet, as I said, they couldn’t prove that, and the guy is as free as the bird.” Seeing his father seriously looking at him and often frowning, SuJin became attentive. After a few moments of staring at his father and Yu at him, SuJin asked in a shaking voice, „Something happened, Dad?”
„Yeah,” Yu harshly replied. „Something really happened here. What exactly? I’m just… curious. I’m damn curious, by the way, to find out how you know all this. Don’t tell me that it’s because you’ve also been involved in the „underworld” or I swear I’ll crack your head.”
SuJin squinted at his father. „Do I look like someone who can be involved with the mafia?”
„Absolutely!” The inspector hissed through his teeth, making everybody wince. „You look exactly like someone who can be involved with the mafia. Not only that… you definitely can be the head of the mafia. So, tell me: how do you know all this?”
„I only know this, okay?! From a confident source. A legal one.”
DooSan slapped his forehead. „Huh, a legal source. It was all that was missing: for the Antifraud bureau to be behind us for that.”
The young man grinned, satisfied. „They can try if they want. To find something, I mean… your Antifraud bureau. Yet, all they’ll win is to waste their time because the great master Yu SuJin is back to business. So, while I’m here to watch your backs, nobody can do anything against you.”
A Rim smiled. „Is this because you are the Chief of the Mafia whom everybody should be afraid of?”
„I’m only the Chief of the Mafia that cuts heads of cobras like you,” SuJin growled. After that, paying no attention to A Rim’s grimaces, he looked at the others, saying, „Honestly, they are calling him Hamster because he’s chewing everything he can.”
Such words reminded DooSan of what Ha Rin said about that young man when she and SolHi moved to SoRan’s house. This made him smile. Then, spotting the others’glances focused on him, DooSan suddenly turned serious and said, „Just a thought, ignore this! And… what could you find out about him?”
„Not much! We only discovered that he worked for Nam Guk Shik for a while. Then, he started working as a barman in Min SinJu’s club, something damn suspicious to me.”
„Suspicious?” Kan asked, standing up. „What makes you say that?”
„Just… something I’ve heard from certain „friends.” Spotting Yu’s eyes sparkling because of anger, SuJin sketched a smile when he said, „I mean… from someone who works in a tattoo parlor. He told me that those who have such jobs don’t change them so quickly. Why? They earn a lot of money there.”
„The same earns a barman in a club,” said DooSan. „We are already sure of that, right? That Min SinJu’s barmen earn a lot because… we’ve all seen what kind of motorcycle Hamster has.”
„An Arch Motorcycles KRGT-1, worth no less than 78 thousand,” whispered Yoon Suk, making everybody attentive.
Kan did more than stare at the young man, yelling into his ear eventually, „78 thousand won?”
„No, Sombe: we are talking about euros here,” said Yoon Suk smiling, seeing Kan suddenly shaking his head, as though he was trying to clear his mind. „You are actually right in being confused. Why? Maybe he earns a lot of money in that club, but… still he doesn’t earn enough for an Arch Motorcycles KRGT-1. Why? The spare parts of such things cost more than one thousand euros.”
„Something that makes you think that the police’s suspicions are real and he’s really involved in drug trafficking.”
„It might be so if he hadn’t „inherited” a fortune. Something I don’t believe because nothing like that appears in his file. Both SuJin and I checked that.”
„Or this is something that wasn’t discovered yet. The inheritance, I mean,” murmured DooSan. „We can find out this if we keep an eye on him.”
„I say to try something easier than this,” said Kan, sweetly yawning while scratching his back with a wooden scratcher. Then, still yawning and paying no attention to the others, whose glances were focused on him waiting for his answer, the detective said, „How? Let’s pay another social visit to Min SinJu.”
„A damn risky move in my opinion,” said Yoon Suk.
„Risky? What do you mean?” Yu asked.
„I’m talking about the fact that, if revealing that we are after Hamster and that we know he’s been working for Nam Guk Shik before working for Min SinJu, whom he hated to death, Min SinJu can get rid of him as he did to others. He’ll definitely do that because he won’t take the risk to have someone whom the police are investigating around him.”
„I agree with Yoon Suk this time,” said DooSan. „We aren’t sure that Nam Guk Shik’s words are true, and we can’t risk.”
„Are you talking about the fact that Hamster might have not said any bad word about Min SinJu, but Nam Guk Shik still said that to take revenge on him, suspecting him of being involved in So Ari’s death?”
„It might be, SuJin. Also, it might not be true. At the same time, if Ri Ha Joon hated Min SinJu before, he might have had a real reason for this. We have to find out that reason, just as we have to find out why he started working for the one he hated. Yet, let’s find this out without endangering anybody.”
„Maybe you’re right, Prosecutor Han. Yet… how should we find out all this? From SuJin’s friends? If yes, I doubt they know too much about this.” Kan’s words made the young man squint at him as though asking him by a glance, „Don’t you trust me or what?” Yet, he calmed down right away when he felt his father’s hands squeezing around his shoulders, something that hinted to him that if he didn’t keep his mouth shut, he could have gotten into serious problems with Yu. Then, making sure his son was silent, Yu looked at DooSan, whom he found thoughtful.
„Do you have any idea about how to solve this, Prosecutor Han?”
„Yeah, I might have one. What kind of idea, I’ll tell you when I have more details about this. For the moment I say to catch this Hamster.”
„Are you intending to bring him for an interrogatory?”
„No, Yoon Suk. What I intend to do is to tell him that we are behind him.”
„I’m sure he knows this already,” growled Kan, cooking his nose. „At least I have the feeling that he knows. Why? The fact that the police couldn’t catch him so many times before tells me this.”
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„Something that hints to you that someone important watches his back, right?”
„Something like that, prosecutor. Who? It might be Min SinJu, just as it might be whoever.”
„Even so, it might be worth the risk. Who knows?! With a little bit of luck, we catch this Hamster and cut his mustache.” Happily smiling because he found his joke damn good, DooSan took the phone out of his pocket and headed toward the door, hinting to everyone in the office that his conversation had to be secret.
Staring at the door that closed behind the prosecutor, SuJin frowned. „Damn suspicious in my opinion.”
„What exactly?” His father asked.
„The prosecutor’s secrets, for instance. Why? Because, only one person in this world could make him smile like that. Someone who’s supposedly a ghost right now. Or, once Nuna is gone, Mister Prosecutor in charge has decided that he has a free path to other women. If it’s so, I’ll take care to spoil his mood.” Then, thoughtful, SuJin returned to his place to make sure he would be left alone to chew his thoughts and ideas of revenge against DooSan, whom he considered a fishbone stuck in his throat since SolHi preferred him and not others.
***
Throwing a file on her stomach, something that took SolHi by surprise so much that she’d been about to fall off the couch from the living room, HanSol sketched a weird smile when SolHi squinted at her. Then, folding her arms over her chest, she sat on the coffee table that was in front of the sofa and stared at SolHi, who was browsing the file. Seeing her frowning, HanSol also frowned when she asked, „What?”
„Nothing. I was just wondering if it’s all or if you still have some „tricks” up your sleeve, in the same place where you forgot the „hello.” Yet… forget it: I’m not here to teach you things.”
HanSol burst into laughter, standing up. The „hello” is for educated people and not for ghosts who seized my couch. Yet, be as you wish: hello!”
SolHi squinted while staring behind HanSol, who approached the window eventually. „Was this straight from your heart or irony?” HanSol didn’t answer, something that surprised her a lot. That’s why she also stood up and, taking the file with her, SolHi approached the window. „Something bothers you?”
„Honestly?” SolHi nodded. „Yes, there are a lot of things that bother me. What exactly? The fact that there are a lot of ghosts like you in this world, including those two whom you asked me to investigate.”
„Ghosts? Are Hamster and Jackal ghosts too?”
„Yes. At least that’s what I found out while trying to get track of them. Yet, I found nothing, although my trustful agents browsed any important file. Besides their names, something that seems fake to me, there is nothing else in the system about them.”
„Not even in the National Data Base?”
„Nope. If there’s been one there, it’s gone now. Or… there are files I have no access to.”
SolHi stared at her. „You don’t have access to such data? Are they top secret agents or what?”
„I have no idea! Even so, I’m sure that they aren’t agents. Yet, I still think that someone damn important is behind them if he had the power to clean everything he could about them. The only one I could find out something about is Hamster. What exactly? That his name is Ri Ha Joon, that he’s about 30, and that he’s been a performer in the past.”
„A performer?” HanSol nodded. „What kind of sport?”
„Track and field?!” This answer made SolHi swallow hard, remembering the night before when YuSan threw the hammer toward her with a certain precision, something that made her think about this for a very long time.”
„I should have thought about this right from the beginning.”
„About what?”
„About the fact that… the one who hurt me eight years ago and the same that killed the victims last night was a performer in throwing the hammer. A simple man couldn’t have gotten ever such a performance.”
„Something that makes you think that our assassin might have been a performer too.”
„That’s right. Actually… I don’t think that’s a coincidence that Hamster, a former performance athlete in Track and Field, is with Min SinJu right now, someone who also seems to be involved with Han YuSan.”
„And… all this makes you think because, as far as we know, the real Han YuSan hadn’t ever been a performance athlete.”
„Exactly. From what I could find out from DooSan, his brother was a good sportsman. Yet, he hadn’t ever been a performer. Still, he’d been good in martial arts, basketball, and archery.”
„Yet, none of these sports has something to do with Track and Field. Besides the basketball, where the performer needs strength to throw the ball, the rest of the sports are usual.”
„Yes. Everything that happened in the past or has happened lately is strange. Particularly, what happened to me and Lee SoRan is strange. Then… there is the last night fire and the death of the two spouses, killed by someone who’s damn good at throwing the hammer or any other hard object, something our Hamster is also good at.”
„Even so, I don’t see the connection between him and our assassin, SolHi.”
„You’ll see it as soon as I finish my thought. For starters, tell me: do you remember that I’ve told you that SoRan and I have similar scars?”
„On the back of your heads, right?” SolHi approvingly nodded. „I remember. So?”
„Well, I’m not sure yet how SoRan got hers, but… I’m pretty sure how I’ve gotten mine. How? Because… I have it after a flying hammer hit my head eight years ago. When? The night Han YuSan or his double is supposed to have died. And, the same night, as last night, the one who threw the hammer didn’t do that from close but from damn far away.”
„Just as the performance athletes do. Something what Hamster…”
„…could have done but he didn’t. Why? Because, before seeing YuSan in the sawmill building, Ha Rin and I saw Hamster leaving. We had even been forced to hide to avoid being caught by him.”
„Maybe he didn’t kill anybody last night but could have done that eight years ago, don’t you think so? He wasn’t a teenager at that time but a young man about twenty, a strong one if judging by the fact that he was a member of the National Team.”
„Still, it’s not him the one who hurt me that night. Why am I so sure? The attacker’s physical. That one was a very strong man when Hamster, despite his physical training, is only the shadow of that one. Plus, let’s not forget that Hamster was a good sportsman at that time, at the peak of his career. I don’t think he would have risked it and his future by killing someone in an old abandoned warehouse. Besides, he didn’t have a reason to kill YuSan, if it’s true and he’s dead.”
„Now you mentioned this, I think you are right. Even so, I’ll check if YuSan and Hamster had something to do with each other at that time.”
„You can try, although I consider this a waste of time. We can do something else though like… focusing on details.”
The ringtone of SolHi’s phone made both of them wince. SolHi even stared at the screen of the phone for a while, making HanSol curious. „Who is calling you?” Chief Kim asked eventually.
„DooSan. And… it’s strange because, though I gave him this number, we made it clear to call each other only in exceptional cases.”
„This might be one if he calls. Pick up!”
Approvingly nodding, SolHi picked up the phone. Yet, she put it on speaker for HanSol to hear what DooSan told her, something that amazed both of them, particularly to hear him mentioning Ri Ha Joon’s name. „How did you know that?” She asked eventually.
„SuJin. He’s the one who found this name. How? Don’t ask me. A thing is clear here: that we are sure that this is Hamster’s real name, just as we are sure that he’s been working for Nam Guk Shik before working for Min SinJu.”
„Before? Are you trying to say that Min SinJu and Hamster didn’t know each other?”
„Honestly, Chief Kim: I have no clue. It’s what Nam Guk Shik says: that he introduced them. He also said that Hamster couldn’t swallow Min SinJu. Even so, he’s one of the most important members of his organization now.”
„Something that seems strange to me,” said HanSol, thoughtful.
„To us too, trust us! More than that, it’s strange the fact that we don’t have access both to our Data Base and the National Data Base to check the information related to them.”
„As though they are really secret agents.”
„That’s right. Actually, Hyun Shik already told me that you had the same bad luck as I had while investigating them.”
„You are actually right. We’ve also got to a dead end in this investigation. Something that seems damn strange to me because I’m sure that both he and Jackal aren’t part of DOC or any other Governmental organization.”
„Even so, they are more protected than any other secret agent,” said SolHi, thoughtful, making her interlocutors attentive.
„What do you mean?” DooSan asked.
„I was just thinking about something that Bear told me.”
„The same Bear from Dja Iun’s gang?!”
„Mmm, the same. He said that someone he knows had infiltrated Min SinJu’s organization.”
„Did he tell you who his man is?”
„No. All he said is that’s better for me not to know the identity of that person to protect him.”
„Something that makes you think that the secret information about Hamster might be ensured by someone else and not by Min SinJu, right?”
„That’s right, HanSol. Even if I don’t know Dja Iun’s boys very well, I’m still sure they are capable of finding a way to protect those involved with them.”
„By entering the National Data Base.”
„Yes, DooSan, this might have happened. Yet, there is something else that makes me think about this.”
„What exactly?”
„The fact that Dja Iun found out details about your brother’s case and what the Prosecution accused me of at the trial.”
„He could have found out that by entering the Police Data Base.”
„Yes, he could have found out all this by entering the Police Data Base. Thus, if it’s true what I suspect and Dja Iun was connected to a really talented hacker, the same might happen to the members of his gang.”
„And… if all these are true, sooner or later Hamster contacts the gang.”
„Or… he’s not Bear’s guy and we are just simply wasting our time, HanSol. Anyway, now that the boys trust me, I’ll try to stay around them and find out what they are involved in.”
„You forget one thing, SolHi,” said DooSan eventually.
„I forget? What exactly?”
„That none of Dja Iun’s boys has the money or the connections to watch someone’s back. Even if they entered the database, they couldn’t have kept that information secret. All they could have done was delete it.”
„And we are back to the mysterious person that might be involved in this, someone who is more influential than anyone we know.”
„Or the one involved in all this is someone we know very well.”
„Min SinJu!”
„And… this guy again. I have the feeling that we willingly entered this vicious circle.”
„Maybe! Yet, we are sure of one thing now, Chief Kim: we aren’t chasing ghosts.”
„You might be right, Prosecutor Han. Yet, no matter what, we are still working with ghosts right now. I’m not talking about you, SolHi, but about others, including Jackal and Hamster.” SolHi suddenly winced, making HanSol insistently look at her. „Did you remember something?”
„Yes. Park Yu Ra and Gu SilGi. DooSan, do you remember them, right?”
„Of course! Those involved in the human trafficking, right?”
„Exactly. If I’m not mistaken, Captain Lee has supported first the idea that they might have worked for Min SinJu.”
„And, if this is true, they might know Jackal and Hamster.”
„Yes, HanSol. I don’t think you know the real story of the two lovers while DooSan and I know it very well. We also know what kind of stinky business they’ve been involved in, the same business as Min SinJu has. Thus, if we can convince them to talk in exchange for an interesting offer, we can solve this case.”
„We can try that, SolHi. Yet, I don’t think it’ll be easy to make them talk. Let’s not forget how hard it was for us to catch them and make them talk last time.”
„I don’t forget that. Still, I think it’s worth it for us to try this.”
„I also think so. That’s why: count on me for that! Now, let’s get back to Jackal! Have you been able to find out something about him?”
„No, Prosecutor Han. Unlike Hamster, who has a name, this one is a real ghost. We couldn’t find out his name or any other details about him. Only some initials, but… nothing concrete.”
„Initials that don’t tell you too much, right?”
„Something like that. And… there is something else strange here: the fact that, looking by his fingerprints in the database, something we could get with the help of someone we had infiltrated in Min SinJu’s club, this guy is officially dead.”
„What? He’s dead? But… how is this possible? We both saw him.”
„Yes, we saw him. Yet, this doesn’t mean that he’s „alive,” said SolHi ironically. „The same happened to me, right? It might have also happened to him because… let’s not forget that money can do wonders, and Min SinJu’s hand doesn’t shake if he has to waste money for his business.”
„I agree with you both now. I also think Prosecutor Han is right: we need more than fingerprints to check someone, something like his DNA. Even if this guy is „dead,” if he’s been involved in something that stinks, we can connect him with those cases. If it’s true, we might be also lucky to connect Min SinJu to that.”
„This sounds like SF to me already, but… let’s hope we’ll be lucky!” Said DooSan eventually, thoughtful. „For starters, I say to find out everything we can about Hamster. I’ll start by paying a visit to Park Yu Ra and Gu SilGi. You two… just wait for news because you’ll receive them very soon.”
Saying this, DooSan suddenly hung up the phone, taking both SolHi and HanSol by surprise. They found strange the fact that he didn’t say goodbye to them or say something to SolHi because „He could have asked me to talk with him alone. He could have told me that he missed me. Yet, keeping silent, he only lets me know that our suffering barely starts, although I’ve been thinking it is over.”
Such thoughts made SolHi sad that evening. In front of the window and looking at the outside night, SolHi allowed thoughts to overwhelm her. She also allowed the worrying in her chest to control her. Why? Because… all those strange events were somehow related to two names: Min SinJu and Han YuSan, just as she couldn’t understand what could have connected the two of them.