Incheon Police Station. 9:13 p.m.

Min-young flipped through a document that had information regarding the victim's daughter. "Olivia Williams..." he mumbled. While he was at it he couldn't stop thinking about the murder scene. It was so brutal. The blood. The severed body parts that were scattered on the floor. 

Cutting the body into pieces...the killer probably had a serious grudge against this person...or not. The house was way too clean. So, it's possible that the murderer was a professional...but he did nothing about the blood outside the house. 

Back in Seoul, he had investigated several murders similar to this. However, this one was a bit different. Usually, the killer would take trophies from the crime scene, but there was nothing to take. There was no indication of a struggle. No defensive wounds. No one had heard or seen anything. Not to mention, the body was found inside the victim's house. Why was it in a plastic bag?

Nam-gil placed a bottle of water in front of Min-young. He stretched his hands and yawned. "What a day...First, you get demoted...and now we already have another case in our hands." Min-young didn't say a word. He grabbed the bottle of water and took a few sips.

After a minute or so, Min-young looked up at Nam-gil and asked, "Where is Olivia?"

"The victim's daughter? Well, currently she is in no condition to talk. Quite sad don't you think? Her father was the only family she had left...and now he's gone," Nam-gil replied in a low voice.

Min-young nodded. "...The only thing we can do is find out who did it."

"...right."

Min-young crossed his arms and asked, "Tell me exactly what happened when Olivia reported the murder." Since Min-young was not present during the time the report was made, he wanted to know what happened. Hopefully, he could get some information from it. 

Nam-gil scratched his head. "We got a call from her an hour after you left. We could hear her crying from the other end. She tried her best to explain what happened...But due to all the crying, it was a bit hard to understand what she was saying. What we did hear was that her father was dead. She said that he was murdered. After hearing that we immediately rushed out. When we arrived we found her sitting in front of her house...But she wasn't crying at that time. Her expression was as if...her soul left her body. When she saw us, she immediately fainted..." Nam-gil explained the entire story to Min-young. When they entered the house, they didn't find any body. After a few minutes of looking around, Hwan found a huge black plastic bag. "So...Anything interesting you have to say, Min-young?"

"I can't say anything unless we interrogate Olivia."

"I guess we're on the same boat then...Anyway, let's go eat. The others are waiting."

The two left the room and started to walk toward the cafeteria. On the way, Nam-gil decided to make some small talk. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

Nam-gil rubbed his chin and asked, "When the chief punched you earlier today...was it painful?"

Min-young smiled and replied, "Not much."

"But you looked like you were in quite a lot of pain"

"That was because of my collision with the wall."

"Ahh...But it must have hurt a bit when the chief punched you."

Min-young narrowed his eyes and looked at Nam-gil. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you see...when I first joined the police, I was grabbed by my comrades and dragged to the chief's office. Then all of a sudden, the chief threw a punch at my gut. It was only later that I got to know that it was a tradition. But what I'm trying to say is that after I got punched, I was unconscious for an hour...So, when I saw you stand up after getting punched...I...was a bit surprised."

"..."

"It should have hurt a little bit, right?!" As the captain of Team A, Nam-gil had a reputation to keep. He didn't want the other officers to make fun of him. 

...

Meanwhile, the chief was in his office finishing some paperwork. He then got up from his chair and walked toward a window in his office. What happened in the evening did not leave his mind. He was constantly thinking about it. 

'Liam Jong was not the murderer! Well, he was indeed the one who did it. But there is someone else behind this...'

All of a sudden, the chief's phone began ringing. He stared at the screen for a few seconds. The call was from an unknown number. He took a deep breath and picked up the call. "Hello?"

"I don't want to waste time making pointless chit-chat with you, so I'll get to the point. Did you close it?"

The chief hesitated before answering. "...I did."

"Did anyone suspect anything?"

"..."

"Well, Jeong? I need an answer." The person on the other side raised his tone slightly. 

"...There was an officer who barged into my office this evening...He seemed a bit mad about closing the case...He knew someone else was behind the murder."

"Was it Nam-gil?"

"N-no. It was a transfer officer from Seoul...But I took care of it. So, you don't have to worry."

"And what is this new guy's name?"

"...Park Min-young."

"Very well." The person hung up. The chief then let out a sigh of relief. He then looked down at his right hand and remembered punching Min-young with it. Goddamnit, it hurts!

...

Ji-Won chugged down a glass of Soju in an instant. The others watched him closely as he did so. They seemed quite surprised. It was Ji-Won's tenth glass and he still wasn't drunk. He had a very good drinking capacity.

"Looks like you have a talent for this," Nam-gil laughed.

"Indeed I do, Captain. I'm quite a good drinker," Ji-Won nodded. He seemed to be quite happy about it.

"You seem awfully cheerful, even though we have a new case. Is there a reason?" Hwan asked as drank his soup. 

"Well, it's not every day you get praised by the captain." 

The atmosphere was very lively. Everyone was cracking jokes and sharing funny stories with each other. They were quite exhausted. Having another case just after solving one had taken a toll on their body. Some of them had not gotten any sleep in the past few days. 

Dae-jung raised a glass of soju in the air and yelled, "CHEERS!...to Captain Min-young's demotion!" After hearing this, everyone burst out into laughter. 

Min-young raised an eyebrow and gave Dae-jung a cold stare. All of a sudden, the atmosphere turned intense. Chills ran down everyone's spine. Even Nam-gil felt a bit uneasy. He looked at Min-young and just by his expression he could say that he wasn't happy about it. He knows it was a joke, right?... But why do I feel scared all of a sudden?

Ji-Won immediately stood up and bowed. "I apologize on his behalf. You see...he's quite drunk. So, he'll just say anything that comes to his mind."

Min-young sighed. "I can't believe you guys are in the mood to joke. Even though the previous case has been closed...the real murderer is still roaming freely. And we have a new case...or did you guys forget that?"