The Dahlias (7)

Gayoon pushed forward a paper to Shawn. The latter was still handcuffed and in despair as he picked up the paper to read it. She noted his every expression with intense scrutiny.

The man was undoubtedly scared that his secrets would be revealed. He was trying his best to hide his crime but the whole thing was so amateurish that Gayoon wanted to laugh at his lack of brains.

"This is…" he said.

"Confession paper," Gayoon stated. "You can either save us both the trouble by confessing or we can try the hard way."

"But I'm innocent!" Shawn repeated. "I didn't kill him!"

"Him?" Gayoon smirked. She leaned forward. "How do you know the skeleton belongs to a man?"

Shawn gulped. His forehead was beaded with sweat and he looked nervous. It was a little too easy for Gayoon. She did not really expect a smart criminal but she at least hoped that the guy would not give himself away so easily. 

"The man seemed to be fitting the description of your former partner, Kim Joon," she stated. It was not completely true but she wanted to catch him offguard.

"Kim Joon ran away!" Shawn said at once. "He stole money from so many people-"

"And as his partner, you didn't know?" Gayoon shot at him. She stood up, her hands on either side of the table. Under the white light, Shawn only saw a beautiful yet deadly face. She was not there to kid around and was going to find out the truth no matter what. 

"Did you or did you not know about Kim Joon's scams?" she demanded.

"I didn't!" he exclaimed but Gayoon had enough with his lies. She brought out a file and slammed it on the table. 

"This file is a record of all the scams Kim Joon had carried out," she stated. "It includes all the contracts and transaction records of the different companies owned by Kim Joon. But these are shadow firms which were registered under him and you were listed as the co-founder. The agreements may not have your name but you signed the property papers related to those buildings. Do you deny it?"

"I-I was framed!" he lied. "Kim Joon...he lied to me! He told me these were lucrative deals and took my signature-"

"There are probably fifty companies in there," Gayoon countered. "Are you telling me that after seeing how there was no revenue after a few deals which went bust, you didn't suspect your partner at all? That you actually let him con you repeatedly? Are you really that stupid?"

She was coming down hard on him, mercilessly grilling the man to confess. 

"Kim Joon disappeared six months ago," she said. "And we found that six hours footage for January 26th was missing from the CCTV camera in your villa. May I ask why?"

"The camera broke down!" He claimed. "I swear! I had it repaired too. You can ask the man who repaired the camera!"

"We will," Gayoon promised. "If we find any discrepancy in your story, we'll not spare you!"

Lee Shawn was now perspiring. He could not see his way out of this. Just then, Gayoon's phone rang up. It was Jaein.

Feeling irritated, Gayoon picked up the phone. "What is it?" she asked. "I'm interrogating the suspect-"

"The body isn't Kim Joon's!" Jaein informed her.

Gayoon froze. "What?" she hissed. "Are you sure?"

"It's not Kim Joon's," Jaein repeated. "It belongs to someone else. But we can't identify the DNA. It's not on the public database at all!"

Every citizen was required to give their DNA sample to the public database once they turned eighteen and obtained a national ID card. It was the law and without an ID, people would not be qualified for jobs nor businesses. If the skeleton had no DNA matches then it only meant the corpse belonged to someone who was from abroad or registered as a citizen of another country. 

Gayoon wanted to curse out loud but kept a poker face. If she said it out loud, the man in front of her might get away based on a technicality. But if the skeleton did not belong to Kim Joon, then whose was it? Did Lee Shawn kill someone else? Or was someone really trying to frame him?

She needed more time to deduce the case but if Shawn found out that the body was not Kim Joon's, then his lawyer will pull the strings to free him. Once he was freed, he might run away. Gayoon must keep him there until they figure out whose body it was. 

"Officer, I didn't kill anyone!" Shawn pleaded. "It wasn't me! I swear!"

"The Forensic team said that it would take them two more days to identify the corpse," Gayoon lied. "Until then, you'll be locked up in here."

A brief glimpse of relief passed through his eyes. If the police got any clues, then he would be locked up in prison forever and he was not going to let that happen. 

"I want my lawyer!" he demanded.

"Call whomever you want," Gayoon shrugged. "You'll be here until we ID the corpse. Understood? Or…"

She glared at him with her fiery eyes. "You can confess right now and I'll try to reduce your time in prison," she offered. "You're going to be charged with murder and fraud. Surely that's almost thirty years in jail, right? But if you confess, I can have the sentence reduced."

It was the easiest way. If he confessed then it did not matter whose body it was. His confession would make her job easier and she could proceed to press the charges.

"No," Shawn said stubbornly. "I won't sign this!"

"Suit yourself," Gayoon said, turning to leave the room. She paused and turned around. 

"If I were you, I'd be very worried about what the corpse will reveal," she said. "If it turns out to be Kim Joon's then you're facing three decade in jail."

With that, she left the room, not looking back at the man who was now fearing for his life.