inclement ｜choi yena

II

The forensic pathologist approached Eunbi, who was sitting at her desk, chugging her orange juice. "Detective, I have completed the autopsy and I was fascinated by what I discovered. The laceration on her throat was caused by a butcher knife. Does it ring a bell in your head?"

Eunbi's eyes widened and thought for a moment. "The murder spree case 8 years ago," she said.

"Every wound on the girl's body was caused by the same butcher knife. The former serial killer had been dead for years. Someone out there is replicating the long, forgotten case. I suggest you go to the school and see if you can get any clue that could give us a lead." The forensic pathologist handed Eunbi the autopsy report and left. 

Eunbi opened her laptop and went to search the old files related to the murder spree case that took place 8 years ago. 

Stone City Murder Spree

Date: September 2010

Number of deaths: 24

Eunbi called Chaewon to come to her desk. "8 years ago, this took place," Eunbi said as she showed the file to Chaewon.

"How come there is no record about the killer?" Chaewon asked.

"We never got to see his face nor did we manage to get his identity. He burnt himself in acid before we managed to get to him."

Chaewon answered, "If our recent case is so similar to the one 8 years ago, then it must mean that the killer right now knows something that we don't."

"Agree. We are heading to Silver Stone High. Just like last time, the killer's target is students. Female students. We would need to keep an eye."

"We shall get going then."

.   .   .

"Yena! Have you heard about the murder?" Hitomi called out as she ran towards Yena.

"What murder?" Yena asked, looking puzzled, ironically.

"Yamada Noe from Class 2. She was found dead in her apartment last night. Police said her head was almost detached from her body."

"Oh god! Who would do such a thing?"

"I know right. Nasty stuff." 

Yena excused herself for a while and went to search for Yuri. Yuri had been Yena's best friend since she was young. There were only two people who knew of Yena's recent activity: Yuri and Yujin. 

Yena saw Yuri sitting at the cafeteria, chortling hysterically with Yujin. "Hey girls. Heard about the murder?"

"Ya. The killer was ruthless,"  Yujin giggled. "Let's see how far the killer can go."

Yena frowned. "You shouldn't be laughing at that. Besides, it is similar to the murder spree that took place 8 years back."

"I wonder how the killer found out about that in detail..." Yuri looked at Yena.

"Same here." Yena grinned. The two girls stood up and walked with Yena to class. 

.  .  .

"Good morning class," Ms Bae Yoon Jung greeted. "I am sure all of you by now would have heard about the unfortunate case of Yamada Noe. In order to protect the rest of you, The police have announced a curfew of 7 pm for all female students. Now, please greet Detective Kwon Eunbi."

Eunbi entered the classroom and greeted the students. "Hi girls. The murder that took place yesterday is not something that should be taken lightly. The brutality of it should instil fear among all of you. However, the police will make sure that there will not be any more victims. I hope that all of you will put your trust in us."

Eunbi smiled and left. She had no time to waste. The killer is still out there and she knows that if she doesn't find out who the killer is, more people will die. Eunbi walked to the parking lot, where Chaewon was waiting, standing outside their car. 

"So, how did it go?" Chaewon asked.

"Nothing special. Just told the students that they shouldn't worry too much."

"I'm sure that worked," Chaewon remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"What else am I supposed to say? That they should go home and hide under their blanket?"

"Relax. I was just joking. Don't be too serious, alright?"

"Sorry, I am just really stressed out. I have been in this field for about 9 years now and you can't really say that you get used to this type of cases. I have handled many different murder cases and every single one of it gave me chills. It's just not humane to do such a thing."

Chaewon kept quiet and entered the car. As a young detective, she had a lot of things to learn. Eunbi took Chaewon under her wing from the very beginning and they have created a special bond with each other. Chaewon knew that Eunbi would never allow her to be hurt. She respected Eunbi because of that. 

"Lunch is on me today," Eunbi said. "Let's get a good meal before we continue our dreaded work."

.  .  .

Yuri, Yujin and Yena sat next to each other on Yena's bed. Yuri asked, "So, who is your next target?"

"Well, make a guess?"

"It's hard. We didn't really settle on a criterion. You said that it would be random."

"Let's keep it random. So, time for me to reveal victim number 2. Erii."

"Wow. Sounds easy," Yujin said confidently.

"How do you want me to do it?" Yena asked, hoping to hear some creative suggestions.

"Well, you didn't bring home any food when you killed Noe. This time, take her stomach, intestines and liver. Take it and leave. However, before you go and kill her, check that there are no surveillance cameras around. Noe's place was a shithole. No cameras at all. People could easily get robbed and killed there," Yujin stood up, opened her bag and took out a scalpel.

"I stole this from the Biology lab just now. Should be handy."

Yena took the scalpel and examined it. "Sharp enough. I still prefer my butcher knife, though."

Yuri interrupted, "We don't need to worry about those surveillance cameras. I just found out Erii lives in the outskirts of the city, alone. It would be an easy kill."

"Perfect. I guess we are all set," Yena grinned.

Yena was about to leave when she hesitated. "The weather today is good. In order to replicate the Stone City murders, I need to be the inclement killer. It needs to be unpleasantly cold and wet for me to kill. Today just isn't the right day."

Yuri and Yujin sighed and retorted, "We thought we could eat today!"

Yena laughed sinisterly, "Not today, not...today."