Chapter 206 - Rescue (4): Spilling the Beans

Meanwhile, Mirae and KJ were in the mansion, waiting for Eli and Hyun Jung's mission to start. There was a laptop in front of them which would download all the information from Sergeant Deokwha's computer as soon as Eli puts in the microchip. 

"Any minute now," Mirae muttered, checking her watch. KJ was impatient. He got up from the couch and paced back and forth. Suddenly the laptop lit up. 

"She has done it!" Mirae exclaimed. KJ quickly leaned forward as the laptop began to download the information. 

"How long will this take?" he asked as millions of data started to transfer into the laptop. 

"Four minutes," she said. They began to count the seconds as the data transfer went on. 

After a long and torturous wait, the transfer was finally complete. Mirae quickly scanned through the folders but there were a lot of them. Case files dated to almost thirty years ago along with many doc.u.ments unrelated to the Cartel. 

"How will we find anything here?" KJ asked, bewildered by the sheer amount of files. 

"Simple," Mirae said. "All I need is his email correspondences along with bank details and phone records. That won't take long. Once we connect the unusual links, we'll cross check them with the data. Funny what you can do with technology nowadays." 

She smirked proudly before returning to work her magic on the screen. Typing in complex codes, she cracked open the password to Deokwha's email and bank details. She ran a series of tests on the information, looking for familiar names or transactions. 

The process took several minutes and KJ's patience was wearing thin as he waited on the couch. Finally, Mirae called him. 

"Eureka!" she shouted. "Found something." 

"What is it?" KJ demanded as he leaned over to see. 

"This," she pointed out. It was a bank transaction which dated all the way to 1993.

"He got money from this account which is traced all the way to Zurich, Switzerland," she explained. "Corresponding to this time, Deokwha was working on a case related to a small time actress who died under mysterious circ.u.mstances. Allegedly, she had links with the Cartel. After the money was transferred, the case was closed." 

"Fast forward to 1995 and there's a similar case where a drug racket case was discovered. Again, after the money was transferred, the case was shut down. The account was again from Zurich. There are several cases like this." 

"Did he receive any money during the time Goo Soo Bin went missing?" KJ asked. 

"Yes!" Mirae said. She opened an email from Eli which contained all the details of Goo Soo Bin's disappearance. "He received two hundred thousand dollars when Goo Soo Bin disappeared. After that, the case was closed." 

"What about his emails?" 

"There's nothing so far," she said. "I doubted he would have anything in there but I had to check anyway."

KJ leaned backwards, crossing his legs. "Let's get him," he said. 

…. 

Deokwha left the office quite late that day. He was very pale as his bout of diarrhoea made him feel weak. He checked his cup, the coffee jar and water kettle for possible contaminations. 

He suspected Hyun Jung may have put something in his food but the guy was with the Chief all day working on some homicide cases. 

But he found nothing. None of the food or drinks he had that day were contaminated. It baffled him as to how he got so sick. 

He even checked his files and laptop for any signs of breaking in. But everything was fine. His files were protected and nothing was out of the ordinary. Was it really a case of bad donuts? 

"Sergeant!" 

A car slowed down and pulled up in front of him. The windowsill lowered to reveal Captain Kim. 

"You don't look so good," the Captain commented. "How will you get home?" 

"I'll take the subway, sir," Deokwha said but his stomach was still in hell. 

"Let me drop you off home," Captain Kim offered. "It'll be quicker." 

"Thank you Captain," Deokwha said gratefully. He got into the car. 

"How are things going with the Madam Hong case?" Kim asked. "Found any leads on Ash Park's involvement?" 

"No sir," Deokwha shook his head. "I highly doubt he was actually involved. There is simply no evidence nor any credible witnesses. The words of Kwon Jiwon, his wife and Detective Lee are not enough. They may also be working against him based on personal prejudice." 

"What about the client list which was released to the media?" Kim frowned. 

"Err… About that," Deokwha hesitated. "Those are names of very influential people, sir. Messing with them can bring us a lot of trouble. Don't you think that we should stop investigating? They won't admit it anyway." 

Captain Kim drove on. The road was unusually packed with traffic so he had to take a shortcut through the marketplace. 

"But the case is bringing in a lot of media attention," Kim said warily. "The commissioner is getting on my nerves. I just don't know what to do. With Ziko on the loose and talks about the actual mastermind being someone else. All of it is overwhelming. And add the interference of Abyss in all this. Teppei being missing also created new hurdles."

"Sir, maybe Abyss has Teppei?" Deokwha suggested eagerly. He hoped to throw the police off track and make them trail Abyss. If they find Teppei with Abyss, they will have no other option but to make Abyss come out in the limelight. Moreover, it will become easier for Cartel to find and kill Teppei. 

"They probably do," Kim sighed as he took a turn. He suddenly frowned. 

"There seems to be something up ahead," he said. The road was blocked by an ambulance. The driver of the ambulance was signaling for them to stop.

Kim lowered the window. "What happened?" he asked. 

"Sir, our ambulance has broken down!" the driver exclaimed. "There's an emergency patient in there. She's been in an accident and is pregnant!" 

"Deokwha, go and check," Kim ordered. 

Deokwha nodded and hurried towards the ambulance. He opened the door. But it was empty. 

"Sir, this is empty-" he was saying turning back but a sudden blow to his head rendered him unconscious. 

…. 

Deokwha opened his eyes. His vision was hazy as he tried to see where he was. The part where he was hit, throbbed badly. He tried to open his hands but to his surprise, he could not move. His whole body was paralyzed. 

The place he was at was very dark. It was a prison cell but not a police station. It was dreary and damp. He could faintly smell seaweeds and the stench of fish. Was he near the river? 

The sounds of heavy boots approached his cell. 

"Who is there?" he screamed out. Where am I? He thought wildly. What's going on? 

A familiar figure stopped in front of his cell. 

"Captain Kim!"

He let out a sigh of relief. "Sir, what's going on?" he asked frantically. "I can't move! Where are we?" 

Kim did not say anything at first. 

"N2, is the drug supposed to work like this?" Kim asked aloud. To Deokwha's surprise, the driver of the ambulance stepped out of the shadows.

"Of course it is Riggs!" he snapped. "We need him to talk."

"Are you sure he won't be able to move?" 

"He's completely paralyzed for life," N2 said. 

Those words made Deokwha's blood go cold. "F-for l-life?" he stuttered. 

"Yes," Kim replied. Or rather, Riggs. "You've been taking bribes from the Cartel and marked many cases as unsolved. As a police officer, you broke your vows. This is merely a small price to pay." 

"C-captain please let me go," Deokwha begged. He tried to move his limbs but failed. "Let me go!" he screamed. "Please!" 

"Where is Goo Soo Bin?" Riggs asked. "Don't try to lie. We know you took bribes to close his case. You were in contact with Ziko for years and received money from an account in Switzerland. We tracked that account. It was handled by Madam Lim earlier and is now under an anonymous person. Who is it?"

Deokwha gulped. "I don't know," he admitted. "It now belongs to whoever took over Madam Lim's business." 

Riggs and N2 looked at each other. Ash Park. 

"Where is Goo Soo Bin?" 

"He's at an abandoned facility right outside of Seoul," Deokwha whimpered. "Detective Eli was looking after that case. She even went to the facility but never went inside since I didn't give her a search warrant!" 

Riggs stared at him coldly for a while. 

"Sedate him," he ordered N2. "Make sure he doesn't escape." 

"Alright," N2 smirked. Deokwha stared in horror at the sinister smile on the doctor's face. 

Riggs stepped outside to call Mirae. She picked on the first ring. 

"News?" she asked. 

"Madam, he spilled the beans," he informed her. "Goo Soo Bin is locked in that building Detective Eli was investigating."