Chapter 143
It rained heavily.
Not many came to the clinic because of the rain.
Suhyuk was feeling the rain drops at the entrance of the clinic.
Then Choi came out and offered him some coffee.
“Thanks.”
Sweeping up her hair, she asked him worriedly,
“The wind is blowing very hard.”
Suhyuk nodded his head.
The weather forecast was that a typhoon would pa.s.s beyond the island the day after tomorrow.
“It’s almost lunch hour. I think I have to wake him up,” said Choi.
She then headed into the office where Dr. s.h.i.+n was taking a nap.
After lunch they spent some drowsy times in the afternoon.
Even as the office hour was at an end, not many visited the clinic.
Only five came for check-ups today; a big contrast compared with yesterday.
“Nice job everyone!”
The door was closed with Choi’s message like that.
Suhyuk put on a raincoat, going down into the village.
He was heading for the supermarket there.
Just in case of a power outage caused by the typhoon, he wanted to buy some candles.
Everytime he moved his footsteps, he heard the strange noises of the strong wind.
He walked for about 10 minutes.
Arriving at the supermarket, he brushed off his raincoat with his hand before opening the door.
“Wow! You came here, doctor!”
A woman in her early 40s greeted him gladly.
“h.e.l.lo.”
“What a strong wind! You had better stay home on a day like this. A man was hurt by a flying signboard in the past.”
Suhyuk looked for candles first, and then ramen and eggs.
He wanted to watch TV over ramen on a day like this.
“Also, take this too.”
The woman gave him some canned tuna.
With a smile she said, “You can make soup with that.”
“Thanks.”
“Take care. If you need anything, please let me know anytime.”
Suhyuk went out, and put on the cap attached to the raincoat.
The wind kept blowing hard.
***
Though it was already a dark night, it grew even darker quickly.
Suhyuk boiled ramen with an egg, and sat before a TV set.
It smelled savory thanks to the egg.
Though it was quite windy due to a typhoon outside, the floor was warm because of its inbuilt heating system.
The sliding door was shaking hard, which meant the wind was becoming stronger.
As the night went on, Suhyuk fell asleep before he knew it.
How much time pa.s.sed by?
At the severe shaking of the door, Suhyuk opened his eyes.
It was still dark outside.
“Is the doctor inside?”
He was the village foreman.
“h.e.l.lo, sir. What brought you here at this time?”
At that moment he recalled what the supermarket woman had told him.
The foreman said in a trembling voice,
“I’m sorry to come at this early hour, but are you available right now?’
Suhyuk put on some clothes and followed him.
The rain did not yet stop, and thunderous roars in the sky were heard here and there.
Braving through the stormy rain, they soon arrived at the green door of a house.
There were many people gathered there.
“Who the h.e.l.l did this to her?”
“Poor Heryong! Boohoo! What should I do? Heryong!”
With a hardened face Suhyuk went inside.
When he was about to enter the porch, he found a familiar smell tickling his nose.
It was the smell of blood.
Two policemen in the living room gnashed their teeth.
“Son of b.i.t.c.h! How did he…”
“I’ll get you by all means!”
It was almost one year since they came to this island.
Still, a homicide accident like this happened on this narrow island.
They felt that they were completely ignored.
Still they had to report it to the police.
Then Suhyuk approached, with his feet wrapped in a vinyl bag.
The murdered woman was in her late 20s.
The pool of blood around her had already dried.
“Who are you?”
At the policeman’s asking, the foreman said, “He’s the new doctor.”
The reason he did not seek Dr. s.h.i.+n was because he had already heard rumors about Suhyuk’s reputation.
A doctor who received an award even in the United States.
“Still this is the scene of the crime. You should not come into this area before the detectives get here first.”
“Then, do you want me sit idle here just looking on?”
The policemen knitted their brows.
Then Suhyuk went out, and came back in no time.
He was wearing surgical gloves.
“May I check her briefly?”
At Suhyuk’s asking the policemen nodded reluctantly.
Suhyuk bent his knees to check her.
Her pale face was reflected in his eyes. She looked pure and good-hearted.
How could anybody kill her…
Controlling a fit of anger, he looked at the wounds that led to her murder.
Stabbing wounds in the neck and side.
When he opened it slightly, sticky blood came out.
It seemed that the direct cause of her death was excessive bleeding from a damaged carotid in the neck.
He heard the crying of the family members of the victim.
But he was not agitated because of that.
After checking the victim for a while, he stood up and talked to the policemen,
“As you can see, the direct cause of her death seems to be excessive bleeding from a damaged carotid in the neck.”
“How about the time of her death?” asked one policeman.
“I think she died about three hours ago. By the way, did you take a picture of her?”
Stunned by his asking, they began taking pictures of her body and the surroundings with their cell phones.
Suhyuk looked carefully at the footprints of the suspect from the porch to the living room.
The footprints left by the suspect were clear, but a little bit strange.
Suhyuk knitted his brows.
Though the right footprint was clear, the left one was not.
It was as if the suspect’s achilles tendon was damaged.
If the suspect was a handicapped person, that footprint in question was quite understandable.
Then the policeman, taking the pictures, came up to him.
“Don’t you think it’s strange?”
At Suhyuk’s asking, he nodded his head.
“This is the first time I witnessed a homicide accident since I was a.s.signed here.”
Suhyuk explained to them about the footprints.
As he said, the murder suspect seemed to have a disability.
A man with a limp leg.
“Without you I might have missed it, doctor.”
Suhyuk looked at the living room.
Here and there on the wall were marks of the victim’s palms.
Despite heavy bleeding she was struggling to maintain her balance.
Everywhere there were bloodstains splattered.
Suhyuk did not touch anything, and took pictures with a cell phone Dr. s.h.i.+n gave him for contact.
Click, click.
Then something caught his eyes.
Three cards of poker.
Despite blood being splattered on the TV, the cards were very clean.
Heart Q, Clover 3, Diamond 2.
They were arranged from the left side.
Looking at the cards quietly, he took a picture.
Then a policeman took a phone call.
Some additional detectives were supposed to come over in cooperation with the Maritime Police. They were braving their way through the typhoon.
Overhearing the policeman talking, Suhyuk looked at the victim lying on the floor, murmuring,
“Detectives will identify the suspect by all means.”
Suhyuk then moved to the porch.
Shaking his head, Suhyuk then went out of the house.
The parents of the victim, who looked to be over 60 years old, were crying at the top of their voices.
—–
Back home Suhyuk turned on the switch.
The light did not come.
He lit a candle, which was shaking like a ghost in the room.
Lying on the bed, he carefully looked at his cellphone.
And he scrolled through the pictures one by one.
Candles s.h.i.+mmered in his eyes, but he was staring at one picture in particular.
It was none other than the three cards.
Heart Q, Clover 3 Diamond 2.
Suddenly he stood up.
Heart Q was 12 o’clock, Clover 3 referring to the minute, and Diamond also referring to the minute.
12:32 am.
It was similar to the time the victim was murdered.
Coming out the house, he put on a raincoat and ran.
He had to tell them about it.
Whether the cards were some sort of message or not, that seemed to be a clue that the suspect left behind.
He ran toward the victim’s house in about 10 minutes.
When he was entering an ally, he saw a man walking toward him from the opposite side.
He was wearing a raincoat, the kind of pied one that could be used in the army.
Pulling his hat over his eyes, only his lips were seen in the dark.
He and the man pa.s.sed each other.
Then Suhyuk stopped suddenly.
Why had he been looking at the victim’s house for such a long time?
Turning back, Suhyuk called him.
“h.e.l.lo there!”
The man then stopped momentarily.
Then he moved again.
When Suhyuk called him again, the man quickened his walking.
Suhyuk chased after him.