Moo Chi and Sang had collected all the CCTV around Ba Reum's neighbourhood and were currently going through all of them one by one. So far, they had found nothing, zilch, nada.
They had gotten the public CCTV that was sponsored by the government, but they had also asked the local police to see if any the neighbours had any personal cameras or dash cams which were running at that time in the night in the hopes that they would find anything that the CCTV missed.
Moo Chi sighed out loud and threw another drive in the box that they had already been through. That pile was considerably smaller than the pile of USB drives that they still had to go through.
But it was getting frustrating, not because of the many data they had to sift through, but because of how much of these camera's hadn't been working correctly.
They had even got a camera, which showed how Ba Reum was coming home and right afterwards it had broken down, just static. It was starting to feel like this was not coincidental. But no one but the police team and the local security company had been handling these flash drives.
"Another one that broke down". Sang said, discarding the flash drive that he had just been looking at.
"Another one? Seriously what's up with that?"
"It's probably low funding because the neighbourhood isn't well off." Sang said, "the current government doesn't want to invest any money in these things. My dad would do better." He muttered the last bit.
Moo Chi ignored his explanations.
"Government, right. Is it me, or is it getting suspicious? There should be a limit to how many cameras' fail and especially at what time they fail at."
Sang looked up at Moo Chi and leaned in closer.
"I've noticed it as well,' Sang whispered, "this is already the third victim and so far, we have found nothing yet on these cameras. I think we might have someone sabotaging this."
Moo Chi was thinking. Was someone internally sabotaging this case? He suddenly remembered Ba Reum saying that there had been some pages missing from the medical files.
"I have to go check something out." He said, grabbed his coat and left Sang.
"Hey, and the CCTV?" he said indignantly.
"You can continue with it on your own." Moo Chi shouted back, not even turning back to look at detective sang who was staring at the place where Moo Chi was left with a look of horror on his face.
Chi Kook had been horrified when he had been informed about what happened to Ba Reum and his mother.
When he heard that both of them were alive, some of that horror receded a bit but only a bit.
Ba Reum was in the safe zone, but his mother was currently still in the operating theatre. The doctors had informed him that it would take some time and that they weren't sure about the outcome.
Ba Reum had been a bit incoherent. Apparently, the head injury combined with the recent trauma affected his short-term memory and he kept on falling asleep, but every so often one of the nurses woke him up to ask him some questions.
It seemed that his memory had been clearing up bit by bit and by the end he stayed awake.
Chi Kook tried to talk to Ba Reum, but he knew his friend was worried. He and his mother had always been extreme close. They didn't have any family except each other after his grandparents died a couple of years back.
A nurse entered the room.
"Mister Jung?" she said. Ba Reum and Chi Kook looked up at her.
"They have just finished operating on your mother. She is currently alive, but the trauma was great and she's currently in a coma."
"What? For how long." Ba Reum asked, his hands holding the blankets as if the were a lifeline.
"We don't know yet. The doctor will come explain shortly." She left at that.
Chi Kook had seen the way Ba Reum's face had changed when they told him the news. First the relieve that she was still alive, and then the devastation. He did not know how his friend would react to losing his parent in this way.
He could not imagine that it would end well. Better that someone stay with him for now, because if his mother took a turn for the worse, perhaps Ba Reum would follow her.
An hour later Chi Kook looked at his watch.
He had to leave to work in a couple of hours time, but at least it was reasonably late enough to call someone else.
He called Dong Koo to switch Ba Reum-sitting shift with him, but he had to go to work himself. He had an important meeting, which he couldn't miss.
"I'm sorry, I'll try to make it as short as possible. I can come after."
"It's not a problem, I'll call someone else." Chi Kook said.
He hung up the conversation and stared at his phone doubtfully.
Ba Reum didn't have that many friends he realised. Just him, Dong Koo and Bong Yi.
He stared at the phone again, not knowing anyone else he called Bong Yi. He knew she was probably not in the mood to be called, but leaving Ba Reum alone now didn't seem to be like a good idea.
Besides seeing current circumstances, she wouldn't hesitate to help them, even with her current worries. One of their neighbours has probably already informed her about what happened he guessed.
He had tried to call her, but he was immediately transferred to voicemail.
Chi Kook frowned, why voicemail.
Oh, perhaps she is trying to call Ba Reum, but his phone is still in his home, so he can't answer it. That must be it.
He looked at the clock again, he would have to leave Ba Reum alone then. He would make sure that the nurses would go check from time to time.
If he leaves now, it was possible to quickly check up on Bong Yi and not be late for his shift.
Ba Reum nodded when Chi Kook said that he had to leave for work.
He told him not to worry, but Chi Kook had always been the nicer one of the trio, concerned about all his friends all the time.
Ba Reum was feeling a bit better now, physically at least. He was still a bit lightheaded and dizzy and the light still hurt his eyes, but he could think again.
He was thinking about his mother's case now. He had previously thought that the fertility expert had been the connection, but he knew his mother and knew that she didn't go to that doctor.
She was barren though; he knew that much. So that's probably the connection. It was why they stole the womb from the body.
He looked around his room, quickly growing tired and bored of waiting. He slipped out of his room and went to the room his mother was lying in.
He sat by her in a chair and held her hand and just sat with her. The hours passed by and the beeping of the monitor made him fall asleep.
"There you are." A voice sounded and he startled awake, nearly falling out of the chair. Moo Chi was standing there with a worried look on his face.
"The nurses are out looking for you."
Ba Reum looked at his watch.
"I didn't mean to stay out so long." Ba Reum rubbed over his face.
"I'll go back to my room." He said.
He got up out of the chair and stretched, slightly wobbling due to residual dizziness.
Moo Chi was watching him and followed him back to his own room.
He had come to the hospital for another copy of the medical files of the previous murder victims as well as the medical files of Ba Reum's mother. If it was true what Ba Reum said about those missing files, he might just find the clue he'd need in these files.
When he had arrived there, a nurse had been asking for the patient in room B45. Moo Chi quickly realised it was Ba Reum and checked his mother's room first, and that's where he found Ba Reum.
They reached Ba Reum's room and they had to endure the nurse scolding Ba Reum for leaving without warning anyone.
"Those nurses were worried about you. Apparently, you already once suffered a head injury before, and they were scared that you collapsed somewhere."
"They told you about my injury?"
"Yeah, but only because they were worried and they know I'm the detective on this case."
"Ah" Ba Reum said, getting back in his bed. Moo Chi almost tried to help put the blankets right, but a glare from Ba Reum made him step back.
"So, how did it happen? I mean the first injury."
"I got hit by a car when I 12 years old. It was really critical for a while, I even was in a coma for a couple of days. I still have a scar from it." Ba Reum said, rubbing the small ridge that was still there.
"Wow. Did the driver ever get punished?" Ba Reum shook his head, thinking about how he declined having his mother prosecuted for the accident.
"Typical. This country doesn't punish criminals hard enough. Some of these drivers think that they own the road. That person should have been severely punished." Moo Chi said passionately.
"No, she shouldn't be punished!" Ba Reum almost shouted, clearly feeling angry.
Moo Chi pulled back startled. He hadn't expected this reaction.
"I'm sorry. I just hear a lot of reckless drivers don't get punished."
Ba Reum grunted in reply.
"Well, if you believe in karma, she might be punished in anther way." Moo Chi tried again, not really knowing what was wrong with his first statement.
"I'm tired now." Ba Reum said and went to lie down with his back to Moo Chi, and ignored him. Moo Chi knew when he was being dismissed and left his young co-worker alone, when he left he heard the whisper.
"She shouldn't be punished."
Chi Kook was knocking on Bong Yi's door, like he had been doing for the past 5 minutes when a disgruntled Bong Yi finally opened the door.
Her hair was one big mess and she was rubbing her hand in it, squinting at Chi Kook.
"Wha, why are you here so early." She said, and burped slightly holding her hand in front of her mouth, a little bit green looking.
"I just wanted to check up on you." Chi Kook said "We tried to call you yesterday night after what happened to Ba Reum, but you didn't pick up the phone."
"What happened to Ba Reum?" Bong Yi asked, yawning.
"Right, you don't know yet." Chi Kook looked away, thinking about how to tell this. He would have thought someone from the neighbours would already have spoken with Bong Yi.
"Yesterday night when Ba Reum returned home, someone tried to kill his mother. Ba Reum was injured as well."
Bong Yi was suddenly very awake.
"What, how, why?" she couldn't find which question to ask first. Chi Kook looked at his watch and guided Bong Yi inside. He would just call his work and tell them he can't make it today.
"And how are you doing." Dr. Sung Yo Han asked his wayward patient. He had been in earlier, but his patient had been nowhere to be found, he had flagged a nurse to search his patient and to warn him when they had located him and had gone further with his rounds.
Luckily, they had found him before his shift finished.
"I'm fine. A bit of a headache." The doctor looked in his eyes and took his heart rate.
"That's to be expected. You can go home now, just don't do anything strenuous. If you have any vomiting are fainting, come back in."
"Yea." Ba Reum looked at the doctor, "what was your name again?"
"Dr. Sung Yo Han."
"Ah, thank you". The doctor nodded and went away.
Ba Reum thought that the doctor had looked familiar and he was right.
He had gotten a bit older, but it was the one that Chi Kook had helped when he was being beaten up for being the Head Hunter's son. It seemed that he was doing fine right now. Good. No one should be punished on account of whom their parents where.
Ba Reum was glad for the all clear to go home. He dressed and passed one more time in his mother's room.
"Don't worry, I'll find out who did this."
Ba Reum entered his house, the bloodstain was still visible on the floor. He went to the sofa and sat down, looking up at the ceiling. He sometimes wondered if his mother took care of him because she thought she had to, a sort of self-inflicted punishment after she hit him with her car.
Perhaps Moo Chi was right and it was a sort of Karma, punishing his mother by making her look after him.
He sighed. His mother had always told him that she never taken him out of guilt. It perhaps had motivated her to stay at his side in the hospital, but she had always said that she felt connected to him.
His head started to pound again. He put his head in his hands and looked down. Then he blinked. He saw something lying underneath the sofa, barely visible, stuck and splattered with blood.
He pried it out and looked at him, it was a badge of a nearby high school.