Officer Dahoon was typing fast on his laptop while Jiwoon watched over him. The rest of the team were huddled together, staring at the complicated numbers on Dahoon’s screen.
“What the hell is he doing?” Jaebum muttered.
“He’s trying to track down that blog post,” Chanmi replied.
“Shhh!” Jiwoon hushed them. “Don’t disturb him.”
Dahoon paid no attention to them and kept on searching through the thousands of data which popped up. He had tracked down the blog’s user database and was now searching for the IP address of the original post.
“Username PH11993, right?” he asked Jaebum.
“Yes,” Jaebum said, referring to a copy of the post. “He accused the Smiling Sun of stealing money from donors.”
“Can you really find the IP address?” Woohee frowned. Dahoon pressed ‘enter’ and clapped his hands together.
“Done!” he announced. “Found the guy.”
“Who is it?” Jiwoon demanded.
“The person who made the post is a man named Ma Wonho,” he revealed. “He used to live downtown in a rented apartment. And also…”
He turned the screen for the others to read Wonho’s biography.
“He worked for a corporation,” he went on. “After he turned 18, he applied for an internship at the corporation which sponsored him during his time at the orphanage.”
“Orphanage?” Jiwoon frowned. “Don’t tell me…”
“He was a student of the Smiling Sun orphanage,” Jaebum muttered.
Jiwoon finished reading the biography. “Okay,” she nodded. “Woohee and Jaebum will go to Wonho’s apartment. Ask him about the post. Meanwhile, Chanmi and I will go to Wonho’s office to look up their donation history with the orphanage. Dahoon, stay here and keep digging up on this orphanage. Look into their past donation history, media coverage. Anything you can find.”
“Where’s Detective Hwang?” Chanmi frowned.
“Jina is going undercover at the orphanage,” Jiwoon informed them. “She’ll be collecting information on their activities. The children there won’t be open to cops so she’s taking that guy, Doctor Ohm, with her. Apparently one of the kids there is his patient so it’s easy for him to gain access there.”
“The crazy doc is on this case?” Jaebum groaned. “He’s nuts!”
“A smart nut, unfortunately,” Jiwoon sighed. “Let’s go!”
All of them set out for their tasks. Jiwoon sent a picture of Wonho’s biography to Jina.
….
Jina took a deep breath as she stood in front of the orphanage. It was located in the suburbs of the city and built on a small piece of land. The two storeyed building was painted pastel pink with a small playground in front of it. Around fifty to sixty children were playing there while a couple of volunteers watched over them.
The children were of various ages, some in their teens while others were much younger. One of the volunteers was feeding a baby which seemed only a couple of days old.
Hobin stood next to her at the entrance. He was keeping an eye out for Namgoong who was supposed to meet them. Jina was wearing an earpiece which was connected to Siwan’s phone. The latter had taken time off to help her out. His car was parked only a few meters away from the orphanage, staying within the range of the earpiece.
Unbeknownst to the two men, Jina also brought Minki with her. The little kid was going to help her navigate her way around the orphanage.
“Here he comes,” Hobin muttered. Namgoong was descending down the front stairs. He was followed by a slim woman in her forties. Her hair was tied in a bun and she had a friendly demeanor but Minki froze upon seeing her.
“That’s the matron!” he whispered at Jina. She did not betray her anger but kept an impassive expression.
“Thank you so much, Doctor Ohm, for agreeing to treat our children for free!” Namgoong said, shaking Hobin’s hand. He turned to Jina and slightly frowned.
“And this is…”
“This is the pediatrician at our hospital,” Hobin replied. “Doctor Belle Tinker. She’s the best in our field.”
A nerve twitched on Jina’s head but she maintained a smile.
“Thank you for inviting me,” she said with a bow.
“This is the matron of the orphanage, Miss Kim Minji,” Namgoong said, introducing the matron. “She’s been with us for over a decade.”
“We’ve already set up a small booth for the two of you,” Minji said with a seemingly warm smile. “The children are a little hesitant but we’ve explained to them that the kind doctors were treating them for free. Some of them have been suffering from coughs and frequent fevers so perhaps Doctor Belle can treat them.”
Uh oh, Jina thought.
“Stay calm,” Siwan’s voice echoed in her ear. “When you’ll treat them, put me on speaker and I’ll tell you what to do. Also, tell your observations out loud so that I can hear them.”
“Let’s go in,” Hobin told the others.
Namgoong led them to an empty classroom where a couple of booths had been set up for them. Hobin put his equipment on one booth while Jina kept her ones on the other stand.
“We’re very excited to have you two!” Namgoong exclaimed. “Some of the children are here already. I’ll bring them in.”
Namgoong and Minji went out to usher in the children. Within seconds many children entered the classroom, queuing up in lines for their checkups. Jina, in particular, was ambushed by many kids who were chattering and chirping for attention. She did not mind because she adored children. Most of the kids were her sister’s age so it was easy for her to handle them.
“Where does it hurt?” she cooed at a little girl who was complaining of muscle pain.
“My right hand!” the little girl mumbled.
“Ask her if she was hit by something recently,” Siwan spoke through the earpiece.
“Were you hit by something on that spot?” Jina asked the girl.
“A basketball hit me when I was playing in the yard with my dollie!” the girl claimed.
“She probably has a sore muscle due to untreated injury,” Siwan explained. “Prescribe her the painkiller named…”
His instructions helped Jina to work well with the children. For serious cases, he told her to refer them to the hospital instead of prescribing anything. Meanwhile, Hobin had set up a series of mini games for the children to play so that he can analyse them.
“Pretty colors!” one child exclaimed at the prism Hobin was holding in front of her.
“What color do you see here?” he asked.
“Blue!” one girl chirped.
“Red!” another boy claimed.
“I see yellow!”
Hobin noted them all down.
“If you see red,” he smiled. “You’re very feisty. If you see blue, you’re calm and quiet. As for the ones who see yellow, you guys love to be happy all the time. Am I right?”
“Yes!” the children cheered. One of the kids looked at Jina’s name tag.
“The pretty sis’ name is like the fairy Tinkerbell!” she claimed, pointing at Jina. The latter smiled at the child while inwardly cursing Hobin. The culprit in question was stifling his laughter.
“Kids, why don’t you all go to him for now?” she told her ‘patients’. “Pretty sis needs to rest for a while.”
“Will you come back sis?” one boy asked.
“Can you heal my stomach ache, sis?” another child asked.
“Sis, my tooth hurts!”
The children were crowding around her, complaining of their problems. Jina was in a fix, her heart not able to refuse them when Hobin spoke up.
“Who wants candies?” he declared. Instantly, the children hopped over to him, jumping up and down for candies. He nodded at Jina, knowing fully well that she was going to investigate the area.
She nodded back and quietly left the room. Walking towards a desolate area, she turned around to face Minki who had been waiting for aher all this time.
“Take me to the closet,” she instructed him. “Now.”