I promise you I'm not broken, I promise you there's more

More to come, more to reach for, more to hurl at the door

Goodbye to all my darkness, there's nothing here but light

Adieu to all the faceless things that sleep with me at night

-- The Amazing Devil, Farewell Wanderlust

Seoul

Korean Empire

14 October 19—

Judge Seo Jin-gu's house had never been Yo-han's home. He had left long before his father was promoted, and even longer before his father earned enough to buy this house. On the few occasions he visited it he had never been able to stay long. His father rarely remembered his existence, and a few days of his stepmother's presence was all he could bear.

But it was his half-brother's fifteenth birthday. Yo-han had no pressing cases at the minute, so he made a special trip back to Seoul.

Hyeon-su was the only person genuinely glad to see him. The minute Yo-han arrived at the house his half-brother swooped down on him and began talking. Hyeon-su had always had an amazing ability to talk without pausing for breath. Once he had managed ten minutes at once; Yo-han had timed him.

Experience had taught him it was impossible to get a word in edgewise. He allowed himself to be dragged into Hyeon-su's room and shown all of the gifts their father had bestowed on his younger son. Yo-han couldn't help reflecting that their father had never given him anything for his birthday, and only had made the most perfunctory acknowledgement of his coming-of-age ceremony.

Finally Hyeon-su ran out of presents, but he hadn't yet run out of breath. To Yo-han's surprise the next thing he produced was an envelope.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"This came for you in August. I hid it before Mother could see. I would have sent it on, but I didn't know where you were. You don't write enough! What does it say? I can't read English. Is that English? Who's it from? Oh, a newspaper! Is it about one of your cases? Tell me all about them! Look, I framed the photos you took of the whale!"

Yo-han took a deep breath. "Hyeon-su, could you please stop talking for five minutes?"

Hyeon-su immediately closed his mouth and sat down. He kept his eyes on the clock. Clearly he was going to make sure he said nothing for exactly five minutes and no longer.

Yo-han unfolded the newspaper clipping. It was indeed in English. A short article described a recent production of Richard III at a famous London theatre. After praising the lead actor it added — and these words were underlined — a short paragraph praising Mr. Leopold Colman's portrayal of Buckingham.

He checked the envelope just to make sure an assassin didn't know his father's address. No, it had been addressed to "Detective Seo Yo-han, care of Seoul Police Headquarters".

Another folded piece of paper was attached to the newspaper with a paper clip. Yo-han opened it. The writing was untidy but still legible, even for a non-native English speaker.

Shame you can't be here!

In spite of himself Yo-han laughed.

The five minutes were up. Hyeon-su leapt to his feet. "What does it say?"

"Oh, nothing, really. Just an update about an actor whose career I am following with interest."

Hyeon-su looked bemused and mildly disappointed. Then he remembered he'd forgotten to order tea and ran off to rectify his mistake. Yo-han reread the newspaper and the note.

Of all the ways a criminal could taunt a detective, this was certainly one of the most foolish. Yo-han now knew exactly where Colman had been and how long he had been there. Any amateur could easily trace him with that information. There were two possibilities: either Colman was so suicidally over-confident that he thought he could evade pursuit...

Or he wanted Yo-han to chase him.

Either way, Yo-han was sure he hadn't heard the last of Mr. Colman.

THE END