The woman guided the two detectives into her home, led them to the living room, and then went to call her husband. Like her, her husband had a pale face and deep dark circles under his eyes. It was clear they both had not slept well and had been crying extensively. Detective Oh could empathize with their distress. Their child was missing, possibly kidnapped, and there was no way to know if he was safe, where he was, or what had happened to him. Although Detective Oh had never been a parent herself, she deeply understood their anxiety. They sat at the table, and the couple joined them. After a moment of silence, they exchanged brief pleasantries. These steps were part of the techniques to ease the forthcoming interrogation. Making people comfortable was a crucial phase. If they felt at ease, they might disclose information they had overlooked the night before amid their agitation. At least, that was what Detective Oh and Jinhwan hoped.

“I reviewed the statements you made to the police last night,” Jinhwan said. “I found it particularly intriguing that Mr. Kim referred to your son’s abductors in the plural. I wonder if this choice of words might relate to something you couldn’t fully explain at the time. Do you have any enemies or problematic relationships that could have led to this? Is there anyone you suspect might have harmed you?”

Mr. Kim appeared to ponder this for a moment. Detective Oh sensed that even Mr. Kim was unsure why he had used that particular phrasing. It might have simply been a way to express a concept, but Jinhwan seemed convinced there was a deeper significance.

“I’m an architect. Occasionally, I reject projects and have disputes with clients who want their proposals approved. I’ve had some intense disagreements, particularly with clients who were in a rush to complete their projects. Once, I had a legal issue with a contractor, but I wouldn’t describe them as enemies, and I can’t imagine any of them holding a grudge severe enough to make my son disappear.”

Jinhwan pulled out his laptop and began typing rapidly. The sound of his fingers tapping on the keyboard was the only noise in the room for a while. It was Detective Oh who broke the silence next.

“Do you recall if any of these individuals you had conflicts with had a specific reason for needing the construction done so urgently? I’m not just referring to normal economic reasons but to any particular circumstances that stood out in your memory.”

The man thought for a moment. “They were all small-scale entrepreneurs, none of whom were particularly important or influential. The projects involved small apartment complexes, a few underground parking lots, and maybe a couple of stores downtown. These were relatively minor business ventures, and the delays they experienced did not cause significant damage to their businesses.”

Detective Oh said, “To ensure thoroughness, it would be helpful if you could provide us with the names and contact details of these people. It might seem like excessive caution, but we believe it’s crucial to explore every lead and not overlook any details in order to bring your son home as quickly as possible.”

The man began to list names, and Jinhwan diligently recorded all the information. They also inquired about these individuals’ daily routines, when they usually left home, went to work, which supermarkets they frequented, and their relationships with neighbors, colleagues, and close family members. They gathered several names and addresses. It was clear that there were days of relentless investigation ahead of them. While the police would be out in the field, the detectives would sift through every connection between this family and others.

They spent a few hours at the parents’ home of the missing child before leaving. Detective Oh felt a deep sense of melancholy. It was as if the parents’ tension had seeped into her. Jinhwan noticed this change in her mood and was tempted to offer comfort or suggest something, but he wondered how far he could go without it seeming inappropriate. After all, they were colleagues, with her being his superior, and aside from that brief outing to a bar, they had never socialized outside of work. Despite Jinhwan’s efforts to catch her attention, it was as if Detective Oh saw nothing beyond their professional relationship. Perhaps she wasn’t interested in a personal relationship, or maybe she didn’t find him attractive. These thoughts troubled the young man, completely unaware that Detective Oh felt a similar intense attraction toward him. For Detective Oh, the attraction was more physical and less emotional, but no less powerful.

The library was almost empty, with only a few students fervently cramming for exams. Detective Oh had no interest in fiction or academic texts. She walked straight to the area where acetate copies of newspapers were archived. To access the materials, one had to return a small plastic card and place the acetate under a light that would project the newspaper onto a screen. The equipment was far from cutting-edge—indeed, quite outdated—but it performed its task adequately.

First, she examined all the news reports from the previous months related to kidnappings or assaults. Most of the perpetrators had been identified and brought to justice, but some were still at large. Detective Oh focused primarily on these cases. In most instances, there were few clues about these individuals, apart from some vague descriptions. Occasionally, alongside the news snippet, the relevant article would feature a sketch of the suspect. These were rough drawings with clear lines and highlighted distinctive features, intended to help recognize a person, perhaps by spotting them randomly on the street.

However, Detective Oh did not lose heart. She gathered all the material she could and then left the library. It was clear that solving this case would not be easy. When she returned to the police station, she noticed that Jinhwan had not yet come back. She wondered where he had gone, if his absence was somehow related to the call he had received, or if he was still investigating the missing child case, possibly on his own.

She stayed in her office for several hours, carefully examining all the profiles of the people whose names appeared in the newspaper. Then, she compared them with the list of names Jinhwan had transcribed during the conversation with the missing child's parents that same morning. None of those names matched those of the criminals who had been caught. However, she still discovered some interesting things. One of the clients with whom the child's father had had disputes was previously involved in a scandal; it seemed he had been caught photographing teenage girls outside a high school. This incident almost cost him his job, but it appeared he had resolved the issue by paying the girl's family a significant amount to withdraw the complaint.

When she left the police station, it was already late at night. Before heading home, she stopped at a fast-food place to buy a basket of fried chicken. She ate it while driving, being careful not to grease the steering wheel with her fingers. After parking, she wiped her hands with a wet wipe. She got out of the car, locked it, and started walking along the underground garage of her apartment building. The sound of her heels echoed in the empty space, and it was only because she paused to listen to the click of her own steps that she noticed the sound of another pair of footsteps, very different from her own.