Both of them looked at each other with suspicion.

“How do you know?” Jina asked. ​​

“How do you know?” Hobin shot back. Jina shot him a dirty glare.

“Jaebum interviewed the neighbor and they told him about the girl’s history with drug use,” she stated. “She got hooked on them after meeting a guy named Beomsoo last year. He’s a known drug dealer.”

It was partially true. Jaebum did ask the neighbors and got the information from them. Jina just happened to know it beforehand from the ghosts. But she was not going to tell that to the guy in front of her.

“Her boyfriend, Beomsoo, was also seen loitering around this neighborhood according to the neighbors,” she went on. “Dahoon is talking to the traffic police for the CCTV footage. But how do you know it was the daughter?”

“Her belongings are gone,” he pointed at the room. “If someone was kidnapped, I highly doubt that they would get the time to pack up everything. Also, there are half-burnt cheques in the bin. I think the girl had gone to the nearest bank to take out money by forging her parents’ signatures.”

Just then, Woohee entered the room. “The family car is gone,” she informed them. “It’s an RUV, numbered ‘WA-5164’. The killer might have stolen it. If they used it, then they might have crossed the city lines by now.”

Hobin and Jina looked at each other. If they cross the city lines, it could take days to look for them.

“I’ll dispatch my team to go there,” Jina said. “Woohee, tell Jiwoon to take the team and check all the banks. Ask them if any teenager arrived there with a check made in Cho Sungil’s name.”

“Got it boss,” Woohee said and went off to relay the information.

“We need to find her boyfriend,” Hobin said. “If he’s a drug dealer, then the neighborhood punks might know him.”

“I’ll go and ask them,” she said warily.

“I’ll go with you,” he said. Jina was about to refuse him but the guy ignored her and walked past.

He is so infuriating! She fumed inwardly.

She turned around and saw the ghosts were also staring at them. But with the bratty doctor close by, she could not talk to them. Jina headed for the Rover which was parked outside the house. She got into the driver’s seat and to her slight annoyance, Hobin got into the seat next to her.

“Go to the school,” he instructed. “The teenage drug addicts probably hang around there, bunking their classes.”

“I know,” Jina sighed and revved up the engine. Pulling out of the parking space she drove towards the school. It was only a few blocks south of the house. Even though it was class time, there were a few students who were loitering in a dark corner outside the school.

“Let’s ask them,” Jina muttered. Parking at a safe distance, she put her badge away. If they saw her badge, they would be scared.

“Wait,” Hobin told her. She paused, giving him a quizzical look. To her surprise, he leaned closer to her.

“What the hell-”

He held her scrunchie and pulled it off. Jina drew a sharp breath, painfully aware that they were leaning too close in that small space.

Hobin’s dark eyes met her brown ones and for a few seconds, they were locked into each other’s gazes. She could almost smell a faint musky vanilla scent emitting from him, momentarily making her dazed. There was something familiar about that scent but she could not pinpoint where she might have encountered it.

Hobin was also slightly taken aback by the large doe-like eyes which were gazing into his eyes. If they had met under other circumstances, he would have found her beautiful. She had a natural allure which would make men gravitate towards her. He was leaning in so close, that he could almost count her eyelashes. Her peachy skin looked smooth and soft. A crazy urge to pinch her cheek popped in his mind and Hobin was flabbergasted.

His mind was tugging at him as if trying to remind him of a thing he had forgotten. It felt like he had left behind a very important part of himself and seeing this woman was raising those thoughts in his head.

Jina was about to tell him off but Hobin put his hands on her head and before she could say anything, he messed up her hair.

“Hey!” she snapped at him but he completely ignored her and made a mess out of her long hair.

“Don’t fix it,” he ordered. “And rub your eyes hard to make your eyes red. We need to look like druggies. Otherwise, they won’t talk.”

Jina groaned and did as he said. As much as she was annoyed at him, he was right. If they pretended to be druggies, the students would blab. Hobin did the same to his hair and eyes. He took off his jacket and untucked his shirt. Jina always wore her shirts untucked and since she was in civilian clothes, blending in with drug addicts should not be a problem for her.

“Let’s go,” Hobin said. They got out of the car and walked towards the students. Upon seeing the adults, they were on alert.

“Who the hell are you?” A burly teenager demanded.

“I ‘eard I can find me some cocaine ‘ere,” Jina said in a heavy accent. The teenagers peered at them with suspicion.

“He looks like a foreigner,” a skinny boy accused, pointing at Hobin.

” ‘e is mute,” Jina lied. Hobin nodded and made some gestures in sign language.

“What the hell is he saying?” the burly kid demanded.

” ‘e wans the goo’ stuff,” Jina replied, perfectly reading Hobin’s sign language. ” ‘eroine or crys’al.”

He was somewhat impressed by the detective’s ability to read sign language. He rarely ran into cops who could decipher it.

“Our usual drug dealer has disappeared!” the skinny guy growled. “He promised us meth and even took money. But he didn’t show up.”

“Shit!” Jina cursed. “We nee’ the drugs! Ugh!”

She was scratching her arms like a mad woman, pacing back and forth while Hobin shook his head, pretending to be dismayed.

“I can’ take another secon’ withou’ the meth!” Jina claimed in a crazed mode. She messed up her hair more in an attempt to be more authentic.

“Well I heard he’s shacked up with his girlfriend at an apartment in G-Road,” the burly boy said. “Behind the park. It’s a grey building. I went there once to pick up the drugs. He lives on the fourth floor”

” ‘Eally?” Jina exclaimed, looking happy. ” ‘E has the meth?

“Meth, cocaine, heroine,” the skinny boy said. “Everything. If you see him, bring our money too! We can’t go coz the damn school will throw us out if we don’t return to class within five minutes.”

“Bu’ wha’ if ‘is folks catch us?” she asked.

“His parents live abroad,” the skinny boy replied. “They don’t know anything. It’s just him and sometimes his girlfriend there, snorting drugs and drinking.”

“Gotcha,” Jina winked. Hobin also nodded at them, looking grateful before following Jina back to the car. She quickly started the engine and without a word, sped off.

“We might find the two idiots there,” Hobin predicted. “They were too obvious and sloppy. Wouldn’t have lasted even two days on their own but we should be careful. Call for backup.”

From the memories he saw from the dog, he deduced that they were not very smart. In fact, he was sure that despite the brutality of the crime, the girl carried it out on a whim without proper planning.

“Already asked for backup, but those kids did not plan this murder properly,” Jina stated. “You’re right. It was a sloppy murder.”

Hobin raised his eyebrows at her. Usually, the police disagreed with his theories because they think the more the barbaric the murder, the more dangerous the criminals were. Most do not understand that barbaric murders were mostly a crime of passion which are not always planned properly, even sloppy at times.

But this detective did not outright reject his theory. She actually accepted it. Was she reading his mind?

“If she had planned it well, she wouldn’t have made it so barbaric,” Jina went on. “She wanted to take out her anger on her parents.”

“Now that she killed her parents, she no longer knows what to do,” Hobin finished for her. “The boyfriend made the plan, no doubt.”

“And this is gonna create trouble in paradise,” Jina added. “We might be wrong. Who knows? They might actually turn out to be smart.”

“You think so?” Hobin snorted.

“Nah.”

…..

“They really are stupid,” Jina and Hobin said in unison. They were standing in front of a five-storied grey building. A RUV was parked right outside the gate.

On the number plate, a clear set of numbers were written. WA-5164.