Chapter 6

Chapter 006 — Soul-Entrancing Demon Mirror (1)

“Ah, seriously! Why the hell did you go around saying things like that to our friends?”

“What in tarnation are ya talkin’ about?! I always speak all nice and gentle, calm as can be!”

“So speaking ‘nice and gentle’ means spreading rumors that I’m cheating on my wife with another woman behind her back? What, do you have some dirty intentions toward my wife?”

“But yer the one who punched me right in my perfectly good mouth, ya damn bastard!”

“Please, both of you, keep it down. There are other people here too.”

On one side of the Violent Crimes Division, Detective Park was sweating bullets as he tried to calm down the two middle-aged men arguing loudly.

Anyone could see what kind of case this was.

A trivial argument had started over something stupid, and eventually fists had started flying.

Just from hearing those few lines, my brilliant brain had already figured out the whole case.

First, some old classmates from Jeolla Province had gone out drinking together.

Probably with their wives as well.

The man who got punched had apparently been interested in the wife of the man who punched him.

So during the gathering, he had spread malicious rumors among their classmates that the other guy was cheating.

The husband had heard about the rumor from someone else and punched him.

Sooner or later, the two of them would reconcile and go home.

If they refused to settle, they would have to come back to the police station several more times, go through questioning, fill out paperwork, and deal with all kinds of annoying procedures.

That could affect their jobs or businesses.

And that would be the end of the case.

Detective Park, the youngest detective in the Violent Crimes Division, was basically the department’s leftover-disposal officer.

He handled all these petty, annoying cases.

The only reason Detective Park had become the department’s trash collector was because he was the youngest.

Of course, it would probably never happen, but what if no new rookie ever joined the Violent Crimes Division?

Then Detective Park would spend his entire career dealing with petty, irritating cases like these until retirement.

When I thought about it that way, Detective Park—who had joined one year after me and freed me from being the youngest—was one of my greatest treasures.

“Detective Park, there’s nothing I can really help you with, so eat this and cheer up.”

I had spent a massive 6,000 won at a nearby convenience store to buy him a ginseng drink.

It was even labeled Emperor Ginseng, the king among drinks supposedly made by grinding up whole ginseng roots.

“I’m not drinking this... Actually, I’ll buy you an entire box of these, so please help me with some work, Senior.”

Seeing Detective Park actually talk back to me like that, he must have been under a lot of stress.

“Really? Then pork belly and three bottles of soju. Deal?”

“Fine...”

Unlike usual, he agreed without resisting.

It looked like I really did need to help him.

“One of the suspects for this case... No, technically, she’s just a witness. She’ll be coming here soon. Please finish the statement with her for me. It’s nothing serious. Her alibi has already been completely confirmed, so you just need her to check the statement and put her fingerprint on it.”

Detective Park handed me a case file.

I assumed it would be another boring, insignificant case.

I opened the file he gave me and slowly read through it.

Hmm... Just as I thought, it’s nothing serious—

Wait, no it isn’t!

Once I read the statement, I realized the case wasn’t simple at all.

The case Detective Park had handed me concerned a widow whose husband had recently died in an accident.

It wasn’t common for a wife to be investigated by the police after her husband died.

Sometimes, a wife might be investigated if there was a huge life insurance policy under the husband’s name.

But this woman’s case had nothing to do with life insurance.

Her husband had been a construction-site supervisor.

He had fallen from the tenth floor of an apartment building under construction and died.

Normally, an accident like that would be investigated by the organization responsible for workplace safety.

The reason this woman had been questioned by the police was because the man who had just died...

was her third dead husband.

Her first husband had been hit by a bus at an intersection.

Her second husband had fallen down the stairs of an apartment building and died.

And now her third husband had died from a fall.

Ah, my head hurts.

Three bottles of soju and some pork belly aren't nearly enough payment for this...

How could I even describe how cheated I felt?

Trying to avoid a garbage truck only to get killed by a shit truck?

Giving someone a small measure and getting a huge one back?

Getting greedy like Nolbu and having your kimbap burst open at the side?

None of those sayings really fit, but anyway, I definitely felt like I was getting screwed here.

Detective Park was right about one thing.

The female witness had a perfect alibi.

At the time her husband fell to his death, she claimed she had been shopping at a large supermarket and presented the receipt issued by the store.

The CCTV footage showing her paying for her purchases had also been checked.

There was no doubt.

She had nothing to do with the incident.

Normally, that would have been enough to close the case.

Still...

Having three husbands all die in accidents within ten years was strange no matter how I looked at it.

And in every single case, the woman had possessed a perfect alibi.

“Excuse me, which one of you is Detective Park?”

A woman entered the Violent Crimes Division.

She looked to be in her late thirties and wore a blue dress.

“Ah! You’re here. I’m Detective Park Junyoung, the officer in charge of your case. However, Detective Kang Hyunwoo here will be conducting the interview in my place today.”

Detective Park introduced me.

The woman lightly bowed her head in greeting.

“Oh my, it must’ve been tiring coming all the way here. Please, have a seat.”

I gestured toward the chair across from my desk.

“Would you like some coffee?”

“No. Please just finish this quickly. I’m tired for several reasons.”

Her expression wasn’t gloomy.

She didn’t exactly look exhausted either.

It was simply... dry.

“I see. Understood. Then I’ll finish this as quickly as possible.”

I turned on my computer and opened the related files.

All that remained was to confirm the contents of the statement, print everything out, and have the woman stamp each page with her fingerprint.

Then the case would be closed.

“Your name is Heo Nayoung. Born in 1984. Your deceased husband was Kim Jinmo. I already know the general details of the incident, and your alibi has been clearly confirmed, so there doesn’t seem to be anything unusual.”

The woman merely listened with a calm expression.

How should I put it?

Judging purely from her appearance, she didn’t look like the type of person who would commit a crime.

She was pretty, but not seductive.

Her clothes were modest as well.

Usually, in movies, a woman involved in something like this would be portrayed as some kind of femme fatale—sexy, venomous, and dangerous-looking.

But this woman couldn’t have been further from that image.

This is annoying. Should I just close the case like this? It’s not like she killed them for life insurance money or anything...

No matter how much I thought about it, she simply didn’t look like some vicious criminal who would murder three different men and disguise their deaths as accidents.

She hadn’t gained any financial benefit from the deaths of those three men either.

Then three men entered the Violent Crimes Division.

They walked slowly with strangely vacant expressions.

The moment I saw them, I remembered the vengeful spirits from the recent serial murder case.

As expected, none of the other detectives seemed to notice the three men entering.

I activated the Ghost Eye on one of them.

Information about the spirit appeared before my eyes.

[Spirit Type: Vengeful Spirit]

[Evil Spirit Type: Undetermined]

[Evil Spirit Rank: Undetermined]

[Hybrid Status: Undetermined]

It definitely seemed like I was receiving more information after leveling up.

But this was slightly different from before.

The middle-aged man I had encountered previously had also been a vengeful spirit, but most of his other categories had said Not Applicable.

This time, most of them said Undetermined.

Arang, what does this mean?

No matter how many times I called her, Arang didn’t answer.

Is it mealtime? Well, I guess it would be strange if she watched me twenty-four hours a day.

I couldn’t just stand around waiting for Arang.

Besides, I had a bad feeling.

Three men had died.

And three vengeful spirits had followed this woman here.

There was definitely something strange about this.

“Hey, you three. Who killed you?”

—Th... this... woman.

All three of them pointed toward the woman sitting in front of me.

I had suspected it, but apparently my instincts hadn’t been wrong.

“Detective, who exactly are you talking to?”

The woman looked at me as if I were some kind of lunatic.

Well, of course she did.

I had suddenly stared into empty space and asked someone who had killed them.

More importantly, what the hell is going on here?

All three vengeful spirits claimed that this woman had killed them.

Yet this woman had possessed a perfect alibi every single time.

Damn it, this is annoying.

It’s not like I’m filming some detective drama.

My irritation level rapidly shot upward as I suddenly felt like I was being forced to compete with guys like Sherlock Holmes or Detective Kim X-il.

—I'm sorry, Inhwang-nim. I stepped away for a moment.

That was when Arang appeared.

Why? Did you go to the bathroom or something?

Unfortunately for her, Arang had appeared while I was already in a bad mood.

—...Am I not even allowed to go to the bathroom?

Thinking about it, that had been a little harsh.

Sorry. I've been stressed all day, so understand. You know what I'm normally like. Anyway, I have something I want to ask.

—What is it?

She still didn’t sound like her anger had completely disappeared.

The Ghost Eye status window says they’re Vengeful Spirits, but their Evil Spirit Type and Rank are listed as Undetermined. What does that mean? Last time, it said Not Applicable.

—That's because there's a possibility those vengeful spirits could turn into evil spirits.

Why?

—Their souls were murdered, so they're currently vengeful spirits. But if they committed serious sins while they were alive, they can become evil spirits. If that happens, you must capture them without mercy so they cannot harm humans in the living world.

I see. Thanks.

Arang’s answer helped me understand the case a little better.

Every case needed a motive.

Psychopath or not, there was no such thing as a crime without any motive at all.

This woman hadn’t killed those three men for money.

Then there was only one thing left.

Revenge.

“Heo Nayoung-ssi. How did you meet your deceased husbands?”

“What do you mean?”

She must have thought the interview was already practically over.

Confusion appeared on the woman’s previously emotionless face.

“I mean, were you coworkers before getting married? Did you meet through matchmaking? I’m simply asking how you came to marry them.”

“I refuse to speak with someone as rude as you.”

It seemed this woman had already gone through several police investigations because of her previous husbands’ deaths.

In truth, my question had absolutely nothing to do with the current case.

If she exercised her right to remain silent, we would have no choice but to close the case as it was.

Should I use the newly acquired Soul-Entrancing Demon Mirror and give her a little tour of hell?

But she looked too pitiful for that.

“Excuse me, but I need to use the bathroom for a moment. Please wait here.”

I asked for her understanding and stood up.

Then I looked toward the three vengeful spirits.

“You three. Come with me for a second.”

I opened my palm and showed them the Death Spirit Supreme Token.

I had only been testing something, but fortunately, the moment the vengeful spirits saw the Death Spirit Supreme Token, they visibly flinched and obeyed me.

If even the underworld messengers were supposed to obey it, then miscellaneous spirits should obey too.

Apparently, my assumption had been right.

I stepped into an empty hallway with the three vengeful spirits.

Then I asked,

“What did you bastards do to that woman?”

At my question, the vengeful spirits began trembling.

So these bastards really did do something.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at them.

But the vengeful spirits merely lowered their heads and continued trembling.

Not one of them answered.