Midday Guest Chapter 18

The fallen pad hit the small dining table once, then Detective Yoon Kyungho’s foot, before falling to the floor.

The cover flew open, and the memo papers and photos tucked into the inner pocket spilled out and rolled across the ground all at once. The glass cup, which he had moved his foot toward to cushion the pad’s impact only to end up kicking it, also snapped in half and rolled across the floor.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, the cup…”

The outer edges of Detective Yoon Kyungho’s eyebrows drooped downward. Yiwon stepped toward him and said.

“Just leave it. I can clean it up after putting on some gloves.”

“I’m sorry. I should have been more careful.”

Detective Yoon picked up the glass shards, and Yiwon picked up the photos and memo papers. The insights gained while conducting the investigation and the photos of the scene were stacked on top of each other in Yiwon’s hands without any specific order.

“…Oh.”

Yiwon then clutched a photo taken of the mill’s interior and stared at it for a long time. It felt as if something was different from usual. Yiwon’s gaze was fixed on the shelf.

“Detective, about this photo. Is this one taken recently?”

“That’s correct, but why do you ask?”

“There’s something strange.”

“Pardon?”

“The sesame oil placed on the shelf here.”

Both Detective Kwon Changil and Detective Yoon Kyungho rushed over to Yiwon. Yiwon turned the photo toward them and continued speaking.

“The owner of the mill uses transparent bottle caps for domestic oil and red bottle caps for Chinese oil. And he always displays them separately. He always placed the domestic ones on the top shelf and the Chinese ones on the bottom shelf.”

“… .”

“But now they are all mixed together. I know this place well because I’ve been coming here often for errands since middle school. In all the time I’ve been visiting the mill, I’ve never seen him arrange them mixed together like this.”

Detective Kwon Changil’s eyes widened. After flipping through the stacked photos repeatedly and comparing them meticulously, he thrust them toward Detective Yoon Kyungho.

“We need to contact the funeral hall first. Tell them not to proceed with the cremation. And fill out the autopsy application.”

“I’ll also re-verify the visitor list from scratch.”

“Right. Secure the CCTV and let’s see if there are any witnesses.”

The two men, who were pouring out words at an incredible speed, suddenly looked back at Yiwon with expressions that said, Oh, wait.

“Thank you so much for your cooperation. I think the point you just mentioned could be an important clue. We might need to ask you more questions at the station later; would you be willing to speak with us then as well?”

“Yes, I will do that.”

The wide-smiling Detective Kwon Changil requested a handshake from Yiwon and said.

“Thank you. Since it seems we need to proceed with an investigation into outsiders as well, we’d like to ask for the guest ledger too.”

“…The guest ledger?”

Detective Kwon Changil nodded with a friendly smile. His eyes were smiling, but Yiwon could read the gaze of a real detective contained within them.

“Yes, if it’s alright, I’d like to receive it right now.”

“… .”

“I’m sorry for making a sudden request. This is an important matter, so I’d like to ask for your cooperation… Would that be difficult?”

In the end, Yiwon was only released after handing over both the list of recent visitors recorded on the reservation site and the list of people who had booked rooms with cash.

After that day, Yiwon lost sleep for several days. It was because he was tormented by the burden of having handed over a guest ledger that included Cha Seokjoo to Detective Kwon Changil.

He sighed while looking out the window at the pouring rain. He kept thinking of Oh Taesik, who had warned him by pointing to his mouth while dragging away the thug.

The thought that he had gotten caught up in a headache-inducing situation by saying something unnecessary wouldn’t fade.

Even so, he couldn’t have handed over a list that omitted Cha Seokjoo to the detective. If it were discovered that the guest ledger had been manipulated, it was obvious that it would blow up into a much larger problem.

Should he tell Cha Seokjoo? That while he was away, the police had taken the guest ledger. If he just said that much, wouldn’t the man find a way to prepare? Then he could set up a plan with his staff…

Suddenly, Yiwon felt something was wrong and cut off his thoughts.

It was true that he was grateful to Cha Seokjoo for paying a month’s lodging fee and helping him through a crisis, but that was where it should end. Whether Cha Seokjoo was the culprit or not, this wasn’t something he should be so anxious about.

“… .”

After sitting still for a while to organize his thoughts, Yiwon stood up.

Yiwon took out and wore the neatest clothes he owned. It was a crisp white T-shirt he hadn’t worn even once and black long trousers. Picking out a long umbrella that would withstand the wind and rain without a problem, he boarded the village bus.

Fortunately, the back seat was empty, so he sat there. The air conditioner was running, but it wasn’t doing much. Perhaps the holder for adjusting the air vent had fallen out somewhere, because humid air was surging out in gulps.

He passed through several stops while traversing the winding mountain roads. Rainwater flowed down the windows in streaks. Yiwon, who had been sitting vacantly, saw the changing landscape and hurriedly pressed the stop bell. Before he knew it, he was in front of the police station.

It was a day with fierce wind and rain. The rain wasn’t falling from above but was driving sideways, to the point where holding an umbrella was almost meaningless. Yiwon wedged his umbrella between his shoulder and chin and pulled out his phone.

[Detective Kwon Changil]

[This is Detective Kwon Changil. I’d like to see you at the station. Please contact me.]

Yiwon, having opened the message box, immediately pressed the call button. Even before the connection tone finished, Detective Kwon Changil answered the phone. He was already waiting in the lobby.

“Thank you for coming all this way in the rain. Oh dear, you’re all soaked.”

“It suddenly got worse as I arrived.”

“The weather is like that these days. Would you like to use this?”

Detective Kwon Changil held out a whole box of tissues. That sight was somehow funny, so Yiwon accepted the tissue case with a faint smile. He pulled out a tissue and wiped the rainwater streaming down his forehead.

“Thank you.”

“It’s really raining disgustingly much. I’d like to see some sunshine now.”

Detective Kwon Changil guided Yiwon to Investigation Team 1 of the Investigation Division. It seemed several teams were sharing one large office, and Team 1 was located at the very back.

While walking down the corridor, a loud noise came from the holding cell. Curses were pouring out, and screams as well. Although they were blocked by iron bars, Yiwon flinched in his spot, startled by the sudden, massive volume of a voice that felt as if it were being dumped on him.

He saw a familiar face.

Where had he seen him? As he quietly traced back his memory, he remembered. It was one of the employees who had occupied the passenger seat when Kim Sunwoo was driving the black Carnival.

It was then. Detective Kwon Changil stepped forward, guiding Yiwon to the hallway furthest from the holding cell.

“Walk this way. Ah, that bastard has really been at it since earlier…”

If it came down to temperament, Detective Kwon Changil was a match for anyone. Detective Kwon moved toward the holding cell, and Yiwon discreetly headed toward Investigation Team 1. Detective Kwon appeared not long after holding two cups of warm instant coffee mix.

“Please, sit.”

“Yes.”

He wondered if they would go to an interrogation room, but fortunately, he ended up sitting across from Detective Kwon at his desk in the open space. Even though the surroundings were noisy, this felt much less tense and more comfortable.

Detective Kwon Changil’s table was a mess with all sorts of documents. In just one spot, a clean area that looked like a hole had been cleared, he set down the box of tissues and sat down. The iron chair creaked on this rainy day, emitting the smell of rust.

“Do you drink coffee mix? I wonder if people your age don’t drink it.”

“I’d eat it if it’s there. Thank you.”

The paper cup that entered his two hands was just the right amount of warm. While he took a sip of the bittersweet coffee mix, Detective Kwon shook his mouse to wake up the desktop. After the sound of a few clicks, the typing began.

“When was the last time you visited the mill?”

“It was a week ago, around seven in the morning. I requested a bottle of sesame oil. There was Chinese and domestic, and I purchased the domestic one.”

“Purchased the domestic one. Could you tell me once more how the sesame oil was placed in the mill?”

“The sesame oil bottles were placed in a line on the shelf. The domestic ones on top, and the Chinese ones on the bottom.”

Detective Kwon Changil leaned his body toward the monitor and entered the details. Since he had already said it once before, it was at the level of just transcribing the content. It reached the point where Yiwon wondered if they had called him out just to ask such a question.

After clacking away for a while, he asked the next question.

“And since then, did you ever visit the mill?”

“I haven’t entered the mill, but I have passed by it.”

“When was that?”

“Five days ago in the afternoon. Around the time it was a bit past noon… I passed by on my way back from the bathhouse, and that was when I witnessed the scene of the incident. It happened to overlap with the time the police car and ambulance were racing over, so I was able to see the mill before it was hidden by the barricades.”

“You must have bathed for quite a long time. There’s a significant gap until the time of the incident.”

“Ah, I ran into a village friend at the bathhouse. After coming out, I had dinner with that friend at a restaurant. I forgot to mention that.”

“Then to summarize… you went to the bathhouse after noon, finished bathing and ate with a friend, and then witnessed the scene of the incident on your way home. Is that correct?”

“That’s correct.”