บท 79: Pin

They asked how she'd gotten away. She told them about the knife. "I stabbed him. Somewhere around the waist, I think."

Jowon got on the radio to relay the information. "Every hospital in town will be looking for him now," he said briskly. "If the asshole tries to get medical attention, he's screwed, blued, and tattooed. Uh, sorry, ma'am. Pardon my French."

Go Ara sat with Mapo in the crowded waiting room while Jowon phoned the station house for further instructions. She was still shivering, not with cold.

"You know. Miss Go Ara," Mapo said quietly, "I've had some bad experiences in this job. You want to know how I handle them? I close my eyes, and I imagine I'm in my favourite place in the world. It has to be a peaceful place. A place where nothing bad ever happens. You have a place like that?"

"I.... I think so." She was thinking of a park back home where she liked to spend her summer afternoons, a green place of trees and laughing children.