Kapitel 26: The Dahlias (4)

Gayoon was busy texting Tarjun about what was going on in the party. Junwan had also assigned him to keep tabs on the case.

"Kim Joon had apparently disappeared six months ago," she typed. "For swindling money from people."

She pressed send and within seconds, got a reply.

"I've just visited some of his old colleagues," he wrote. "They said that Kim Joon always used to show off his rich lifestyle whereas in reality he had little money. He threw extravagant parties but borrowed money from others to pay for them but never returned the money and left town whenever someone asked about the debt. In fact, he was running away from the Bulgarian police because he failed to pay back some mafia. And get this: Lee Shawn and Kim Joon met in Bulgaria. There is no way Shawn wouldn't know about Kim Joon's philandering ways."

Mafia? Gayoon wondered. Did they have something to do with his disappearance? Or was Lee Shawn responsible for his disappearance? Then again, Kim Joon had many enemies. Did one of them kill him?

She was so lost in her thoughts that she did not notice a figure walking towards her.

"Hello, Ms. Jeon."

Startled, she turned around to see Lee Shawn standing there with a smile on his face.

"Ah, Mr. Lee!" she smiled back. "Sorry, I was just thinking of something and…"

She trailed off. Shaking her head, she asked, "I'm looking for my date. Have you seen him?"

Minho was nowhere to be seen. She had to return to the precinct soon and he was the one escorting her. She needed to return quickly and report her findings.

"That was quite a ruckus you made back there," he commented.

"I'm sorry if it disturbed your party," Gayoon apologized. "I just wanted a sincere apology, that's all."

"Don't worry about it!" he laughed. "I like feisty women."

Unexpectedly, he patted her arm. Upon that touch, she immediately froze and squirmed. His hand was ice cold! She knew that type of coldness very well. It was the same temperature of dead corpses and no human could be that cold unless he or she was dead.

Her dark eyes met his blue ones. His lips were curved into a half smirk, jeering at her.

"You're not Lee Shawn, are you?" she whispered.

"Smart girl," he said. "I knew you would figure it out. The moment you walked in, I knew you could sense me. The way you behaved when I was hovering around Shawn only increased my suspicions and I was right."

The spirit must have been regularly taking over Lee Shawn's body. Gayoon was no exorcist and she did know how this worked but sometimes, malevolent spirits could take over the bodies of other people. Some spirits really had no reason to do so but they develop a sadistic tendency to torment living human beings. This one was cut out from the same mould. These sorts of spirits were usually very dangerous.

"What do you want?" she demanded. "Why are you torturing this man?��

"I'm simply doing what's right," he stated. "Now little girl, this is what you are going to do. Go outside towards the dahlia bed. There is a walled room right next to it which is locked. Break it open."

"What's in there?" she asked. The spirit was leading her to some kind of trap by holding Shawn hostage.

"You'll see," he said cryptically. "Time is running out, my little pet."

"What if I don't do your bidding?" she shot back.

The spirit kept on smirking at her. He leaned closer to her ear and whispered, "If you don't, I'll grab a pair of scissors and show the guests a very bloody entertaining show. Literally."

He made a motion of cutting off the neck making Gayoon squirm in disgust. The spirit was holding Lee Shawn as hostage!

Just then, Minho appeared from behind him.

"Shawn, we were supposed to discuss our business deal," Minho reminded him.

"Oh yes!" Shawn laughed. "I was just talking to your lovely date. She's very smart and witty."

He winked at Gayoon who only gave him an icy stare. She clenched her fists. The spirit wanted her to break open that wall but why? What was in it?

Minho was engaged in a conversation with Shawn when he saw Gayoon rushing out. What trouble was she brewing now?

"Excuse me for a minute," he told Shawn.

"Sure," Shawn said. Lowering his voice, he added, "If you need privacy, then our bedrooms are always available."

Minho looked mortified while Shawm laughed at his expression. "I'm just kidding!" he claimed.

He kept on laughing. Minho shook his head and followed Gayoon who went towards the garden.

"Detective?" he called out. The party inside was going on in full swing. Everyone was in there and no one was left out in the garden. He scanned around to see Gayoon carrying a shovel and running somewhere.

"Detective Jeon!"

He followed her. What was the mad woman doing? He wondered.

Gayoon ran towards the wall behind the dahlia bed. Her bloody dress was too long! It was difficult to run in them. She almost tripped over but a pair of strong arms held her from behind.

"What are you doing?" Minho demanded but Gayoon did not reply. Cursing out loud, she ripped off the fabric till her knees. Minho was confused at her bipolar attitude.

"Hold this!" she ordered, handing him the torn cloth and darted off again with the shovel. Did she just order him, Hwang Minho, to hold her ripped clothes?

"Hey!" he exclaimed, following her. She reached a wall. It had no doors but was a rather peculiar chamber like place. The square shaped wall was completely sealed up.

"Stand back!" she shouted as she aimed the shovel at it. Minho, frowning at her sudden actions, watched as she used all her strength to break the wall.

"What the-" he began to say but Gayoon kept on hitting the wall until the bricks began to break apart. She rammed at it until the bricks fell. Dust was flying out, covering her black dress with white soot.

"Are you crazy?" he yelled at her. "Why did you do this? You could be-"

But to his surprise, she was not listening to him. Instead, she was staring at the broken wall. Or rather what was inside it. He followed her gaze to see what she was staring at. Immediately his eyes widened in shock.

Inside it, was a skeleton.