CASE FILE

CHAPTER 4.5

THE MYSTERIOUS IMAGE

“Thanks, Mr. Baek ” Jungkook said. “That information may be important!”

With a wave, they started down the the road, hopefully mulling over what they had just learned. When they had visited the MAC Agency, the firm’s receptionist had first referred them to the account executive who had prepared the Knights of the Round Table ad for their furniture-manufacturer client. This executive, who proved to be a small, dark, fashionably dressed man named Min Hyuk, had told them almost at once that it would be best if they talked directly to the firm’s president.

Perhaps, Jungkook now mused, Min Hyuk had been anxious to avoid talking to them for fear they might know about his acquaintance with Choi Sooji.

When Jungkook and Chaeyoung got to Seoul College, they walked in the lot where the cherry bomb had exploded the night before. A student directed them to the college’s TV studio. Thy found Min Yoongi ensconced in a workroom of the studio, surrounded by monitor screens and the optical and electronic equipment that he used in editing his tape of last night’s rock concert.

“Have any more hidden firecrackers gone off?” he inquired with a grin.

“None since that one you discovered under the car, thank goodness.” Chaeyoung chuckled. “As a matter of fact, I need your help again, if you can spare the time.” she said.

“You mean to check out those mysterious video tapes Hoseok mentioned on the phone? Sure, I’d be glad to. What exactly am I supposed to look for?” Yoongi asked the teen detectives.

“Anything that doesn’t seem to belong on the tapes. They’re a series of music videos—as Hosoek may have told you—but I’ve a feeling something else may have been inserted here and there, maybe something that would appear on the screen for a fleeting instant.” Jungkook explained what he had just learned about subliminal perception from Professor Kai.

Min Yoongi nodded. “Yes, I’ve heard about that sort of thing being done, but I’ve never run across an actual example. What you’re asking me to do should be quite interesting. I’ll get on it right away.”

They thanked him as they left the room. Jungkook mind was already busy on the next step in his investigation. If the video tapes had indeed been doctored in the way he suspected, it could mean only one thing—that someone had deliberately tried to frame Baek Kyung and ruin his professional reputation.

But who . . . ?

Jungkook and Chaeyoung decided that the best place to search for the culprit might well be one of the three ad agencies that claimed Baek Kyung was guilty of copying layouts.
"And we may as well start by checking out Min Hyuk", she mused. If he had dated Choi Sooji, he might easily have seen her copy of the Statue of Liberty photo—the layout that had started all the trouble. And as account executive for the MAC’s furniture client, he must have been involved from the very first in preparing that Knights of the Round Table ad—the second copied layout.

Almost without pausing to make a conscious decision, Jungkook and Chaeyoung found themselves reaching at PSY Road instead of going straight home.

There was only one person who might be able to tell her something about Choi Sooji’s acquaintance with Min Hyuk, and that was Lee Se-Joo.

The Duo in the driveway of the Kwons’ white chateau and rang the bell. Mrs. Woo-ri, was eager as Lee Se-Joo for news , opened the door and led them into the living room. But when Jungkook brought up the name of Min Hyuk, Se Joo almost scornfully rejected the notion that he and Sooji had ever been romantically involved.