Golden Time

He criss-crossed into the alleys as if he was playing the game of hide and seek with the guy.

He saw the guy’s raincoat fluttering before his eyes.

He felt that he could catch hold of it if he reached out his hand.

Then the guy turned the corner quickly.

Suhyuk almost skidded on the slippery road due to the rain, but managed to regain his balance.

When he raised his head, the guy was already running away into the distance.

“Huuuuuh... huuuuuuuh...”

Two roads diverged before his eyes.

He was not sure which road the guy took, but he was gone anyway.

Suhyuk began running again by taking the road on the right.

How long did he run for? He could not find any trace of the guy’s footsteps.

After all that, Suhyuk had to turn back.

The howling wind and the heavy rain kept beating him on his way to the crime scene.

When he arrived there, he found that there were more crowds, and the victim’s family cried out, unable to control their emotions.

Suhyuk showed the pictures on his cell phone to the policemen outside, saying,

“Think of Q as 12 o’clock, Clover as 3 minutes and Diamond as 2 minutes. Then, you get the time 12:32. It’s about the same time as the victim’s homicide time.”

The policemen opened their eyes wider at his explanation, and uttered out some four letter words,

“This d.a.m.ned b.a.s.t.a.r.d...”

“Is this guy now playing a murder mystery game with us?”

They gnashed their teeth in anger.

Suhyuk opened his mouth again,

“You might find more clues that the suspect left behind. And I also saw a suspicious guy.”

They glittered their eyes, asking, “Suspicious guy?”

“Yes, he was wearing a raincoat that one would wear in the army...”

Actually the guy had been looking at them, with his body hidden behind a wall.

His face could not be seen because it was covered by a hat.

Nodding at Suhyuk’s explanation, the policemen took note of his remarks.

“By the way, when are the detectives coming here?”

“I hear it will take at least fours for them to get here...”

Soon they put their notebooks into their back pockets, patting Suhyuk on the shoulder lightly.

“Nice job! And don’t ever chase after a suspicious guy even if you notice him as it’s dangerous. You had better report to us first.”

Nodding his head, Suhyuk went out of the gate when he turned back at the loud crying of the victim’s family.

When Suhyuk got back home. It was already 5am.

Inside the room he lay on the bed and examined the pictures on his cellphone carefully.

He concentrated on finding any trace of the crime in the pictures.

But he could not find any other clues except for the poker cards.

Why did he leave the cards? This was like a tool for the criminal to tell others about himself. A psychopathic tendency and a sense of superiority for others to want to know about himself?

All kinds of mental illnesses pa.s.sed through his mind.

However, he could not pinpoint what the illness was.

It was clear, though, that the suspect was insane.

He was a murderer.

While Suhyuk was thinking about the photo, the day was breaking gradually.

Pa.s.sing a sleepless night, Suhyuk got up from the bed.

Outside, strong winds were pa.s.sing through the island village ferociously.

Was.h.i.+ng his hair and face roughly, he put on a raincoat and got on the bike.

Though it was too early for work, Suhyuk pushed down on the bike pedal.

Instead of heading for the health clinic, he went to the victim’s house.

When he arrived there, he checked inside the house.

Though he could not see clearly inside because of the crowds, it seemed the detectives had not arrived yet.

Looking at them quietly he pushed down on the pedal again.

When he arrived at the clinic, n.o.body was there yet.

For it was 7:30am, well before the business hour.

When he entered the clinic, there occured lightning with thunder.

He pressed the switch to turn on the lights nervously.

Fortunately the lights went on.

At that moment, nurse Choi said from behind, “You came early, doctor!”

She was entering the clinic, brus.h.i.+ng off the wet umbrella.

“Hi, I woke up early in the morning.”

With a smile at his greetings, she suddenly brought up the topic, saying,

“Did you happen to know that there was a murder incident? The victim’s name was Heryong...”

Suhyuk nodded with a bitter expression.

“Actually I’ve already been to that place in the morning.”

“Really? What happened? Thief?”

“No, her valuable items were not robbed...”

“She was raped?”

He shook his head, saying, “I don’t know.”

“What a terrible murder! Terrible...” said Dr. s.h.i.+n, entering the clinic.

“Did you know about the murder, too?”

Suhyuk and Miran nodded their heads without saying anything.

At that moment Miran grabbed Suhyuk’s arms, alarmed by the roaring thunder outside.

s.h.i.+n clicked his tongue looking out the window and said,

“Even the sky seems very upset about the bad b.a.s.t.a.r.d murderer!”

As the day was gloomy and dark, there were few customers on that day.

Rain was dropping from the window panes in the waiting room of the clinic.

Suhyuk was quietly looking out the windows.

“What a heavy rain!”

Folding her arms, Miran approached him who had his eyes fixed outside.

Then their heads turned to the side because they heard some voices from outside.

Two men in raincoats came inside.

“Welcome!” said Miran.

At her greetings, one of the men, who was dusting off the umbrella, presented his ID card, saying, “My name is Kang Taewook, and I’m a detective. Are you Dr. Lee Suhyuk?”

Miran turned her head to Suhyuk at Kang’s asking.

“Yes, I am.”

When he approached Kang, he held out his hands.

“Nice to meet you. I’m detective Kang Taewook.”

Another man, sitting beside Kang, lowered his head, his eyes fixed on Suhyuk.

“My name is Jang Taesan.”

“What business brought you here?” asked Suhyuk.

“We’re here for the murder case. Are you available for a moment?”

Suhyuk nodded his head slowly.

The detectives and Suhyuk sat on the waiting sofa, and Miran offered them coffee.

Sipping coffee, Kang opened his mouth,

“I heard that you visited the scene yesterday.”

“Yes, I did. I wonder if this information I give are helpful...”

“Take a look at this,” said Kang, showing him a cellphone.

It displayed a picture of the three cards.

“How did you know this?”

“I could make an educated guess because it coincided with the victim’s homicide time.”

“I see.”

Nodding his head, he turned over the pictures on the cellphone one by one.

One of the pictures showed the suspect’s footprints.

“According to the police here, the suspect might have disabilities...”

Slurring his words, Kang looked at Suhyuk.

For Suhyuk not only made an educated guess about the meaning of the cards, but reminded him of the fact that the suspect might have disabilities, which Kang surely had missed.

Suhyuk, looking at the pictures on the cell phone, opened his mouth,

“As you know, if you look at the suspect’s footprints, his walking is not consistent. That’s my a.s.sessment from my viewpoint as a doctor, so it may not be true. It’s just my guess.”

“Are you saying it might not be true?”

“Yes. Did you find any clue other than the cards?”

At Suhyuk’s asking, Kang took his hand to the inside of his pocket, shaking his head.

Soon he took out a sealed card, left behind by the suspect.

Looking at the card in Kang’s hand, Suhyuk said,

“I think this guy is turning a person round his finger. That means he is very circ.u.mspect. I wonder if he has any disabilities...” said Suhyuk.

“I see,” said Kang, nodding his head.

He continued, “Did you say you saw a suspicious man near the crime scene?”

“I didn’t see his face though.”

“Was he a man with a limp?”

Suhyuk shook his head, saying, “No. His height was around 175 cm.”

“Thanks for your cooperation, Dr. Lee. We might visit you again later. Sorry to bother you like this.”

At that moment Dongsu came to his mind, who hopped from one place to another to catch a suspect like a detective.

“You’re welcome. Take care then.”

The detectives headed to the entrance, wearing their raincoats again with a frown.

Streaks of rain were becoming more and more fierce.

The second hand of a watch was pointing to 5pm already.

Choi Miran sorted out the files before she left the office.

Then she turned her head to the entrance, where a middle-aged gentleman was folding his umbrella.

“Come on in! You must have had a lot of trouble coming up here due to the rain.”

At her kind words, he made a smile, saying, “I’m okay. Is it too late now?”

He was in his late 40s.

“No, not yet. We still have time to see the patients. Which pain brought you here?”

“I stumbled, with some bruises on my arm.”

Choi cast her eyes toward his arm.

Even though he wrapped it with bandages, there was lots of blood stained there already.

“Looks like you’re a new patient here. May I have your name and address?”

He offered her his ID card.

She was surprised after confirming it, which read ‘Jo Jungwhan, 57 years old.’

While typing on the computer, she was quite surprised in her heart.

She thought he was in his 40s, but he looked so young for his age.

“Please wait a moment here.”

Nodding his head, Jo sat on the sofa in the waiting room, looking around slowly.

Then she came out of the clinic office where Suhyuk was working.

“You can go in now.”

She felt it more appropriate to send him to Suhyuk rather than Dr. s.h.i.+n.

“Come on in,” said Suhyuk, greeting Jo.

Then Suhyuk cast his eyes at Jo’s legs because he was limping.

“Did you have your leg hurt too?”

“No, it was hurt when I was a child.”

With a bitter smile he sat on the chair.

At that moment Suhyuk’s eyes opened wide.

“Why are you looking at me, doctor? Is there anything wrong on my face?”

“No, no, sir...”

“Let me remove your bandage first.”

Standing up from his seat, Suhyuk approached him to unwrap the bandage.

While watching Suhyuk unwrapping his bandage, Jo asked suddenly,

“I heard that the suspect left cards at the crime scene, right?”