“The ventilation. It’s quite big. Enough for a person to fit in.” said Hellen.

“Yes. But it is quite high from here. Hori probably wouldn’t be able to reach it even if she jumped from above the desk” said Dimitri.

“What if people from outside attacked Hori through this?” said Hellen.

“Wowow, attack? This is clearly a goddamn suicide case!” yelled Aldart.

“Hey, do you have a map of the path of the ventilators?” asked Fushichin.

“H-hey, hold on, not so fast! Someone being inside the ventilator? That’s ridiculous.” said Aldart.

“Why? It makes sense. And this vent seems surprisingly big. Someone could fit inside it easily” said Hellen.

“Even if someone were to enter this vent, people would notice the amount of sound it would make.” said Vernonia.

“But you were all sleeping. Or gone. Would you really notice?” asked Hellen.

“And it will just break down anyway. And besides, the ventilation route that extends to the fifth floor is pretty long. You couldn’t possibly climb up that without slipping and falling or breaking your bones.” said Aldart with frustration.

“Haha, despite being a detective, you’re the one who is being argued down.” said Kyong with a laugh.

Hellen looked with a frown.

“Come on, let’s check the other rooms.” said Casey.

Entering the second room they found a similar room. The bookcase, the bed, the desk were all too familiar.

“This is Fasha Olvert’s room.” said Vernonia.

“It looks exactly the same. I don’t know what we should investigate here” whined Kyong as he strolled around.

He picked up a book from the bookshelf and read it.

“Are the contents of the books exactly the same in each room?” asked Kyong.

“No, not really. We just found some cheap books to place here from the library.” said Aldart.

“There has to be a trick to this” grumbled Hellen as she walked around, checking the drawers to find the toilet papers and sanitizers.

“Hmm, hey do you know why Fasha was imprisoned? What was her sentence?” asked Fushichin.

“She was sentenced for life. She was a pretty aggressive fellow. Killed 6 people.” said Kyong.

“6 people?” gasped Hellen with fear.

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“Ahh, but she had her reasons. She was abducted and was forced to become a prostitute, a sex slave in the underground brothel controlled by the mafia. She made a friend there and then decided to get out of the hellhole. And tactically she eliminated her captors and guards of the place and made her escape. After she got out, they met the cops. The cops helped the ladies reach their home and family but unfortunately the news of the killings broke loose and the cops searched for the person responsible. And Fasha took the fall for it by confessing. She perhaps thought that her sentence would have been lighter, but she was almost sentenced to death but thanks to the defense attorney pointing out the condition in which these killings took place and how she saved a person’s life, they managed to convince the judge to give out a life sentence.” said Kyong.

“What? Seriously? Life sentence for killing bastards who treat women like that? Bunch of sexist shitheads!” yelled out Hui Ying.

“I’m surprised too. Doesn’t all of the killings constitute as self-defense?” asked Hellen.

“Not really all of them. On the footage shown in court, there were some who ran away from her but she stabbed them or shot them down. Just because you were exploited and a victim of human trafficking, doesn’t automatically give you the right to go on a killing spree against your captors unfortunately.” said Kyong.

“I don’t know, chief. You can argue that if she hadn’t killed those people, they would have brought more reinforcements or hide and attack her from behind.” said Fushichin with bitterness.

“Hey, don’t tell me that, I wasn’t the judge on that case. I personally wouldn’t wanna imprison such a skillful and badass lady. I love women who can kick my ass, what can I say?” said Kyong with a sly smile.

“You said you were paid to look into this case, by whom?” asked Hellen.

“By her friend, Mina, I remember. She was a fellow victim of human trafficking and was forced to be a prostitute just like Fasha. Fasha killed those men and allowed Mina to escape so Mina said she owes her life to her and wanted me to look into the case.” said Kyong.

They entered the third room.

“This is Blaire Namida’s room. She was sentenced for life.” said Vernonia.

The detectives strolled around the room. Looking for anything different or interesting.

“Huh, the desk is placed in front of the bed.” said Kyong.

“Yes. I heard that Blaire enjoyed writing quite much. So much so that it was a vital piece of evidence to convict her in her trial. She kidnapped and raped 14 year old boys and wrote about her experience in her diary quite extensively” said Vernonia.

Hellen almost threw up by the sound of it, Hui Ying cringed at the comment.

Kyong looked down under the bed and said curiously “What do we have here?”

He pulled up a book from underneath the bed. The title said “The tales of the handsome Rabbit.”

Kyong flipped through the pages speedily, and soon his eyes fell down on a writing.

“Hey, I think I found something. It’s something someone wrote with a pen” said Kyong.

“Goddammit, I told the inmates not to scribble on the books. They never listen.” grumbled Aldart.

“I’m sorry for making this book into my personal diary but I sincerely indulge in writing about my daily endeavors and experiences so I hope my dear jailors would forgive me. There are no blank notebooks inside the bookcase, not many inmates inquire of it, which is quite unfortunate.” said Kyong, likely reading the diary entry out loud.

Kyong flipped the page and continued: “This is the fourth day of my solitary confinement. Perhaps smashing that guard’s meaty rod in my hand was a mistake. It was sincerely a little prank on my part but they took it very seriously. Being trapped here alone with my thoughts and desires seems to wear me out more. And worst of all, the guards seemed to have lessened the quality of their food, just to spite me no doubt. I could only hope to somehow escape this dreadful dungeon and return to a carefree life where I could indulge in more intimate acts with my princes in white gown. Alas, it is nothing but a haunting desire as of now.

September 16th – 1 am

Something strange is happening. There are sounds inside the ceiling. Person or perhaps, people are walking above, inside the ventilator maybe? The ventilator opened! Someone threw a can and gas is spreading from it! Help!”

“What the hell, let me see that!” said Fushichin and quickly jumped in and arrived next to Kyong to read the writing.