The C Toxin's
Drops and Puzzles
Beverly Hills Seoul Apartment. Block E
April 22, 2016
11.00 KST
Three police cars, one ambulance, two CSI cars have just arrived in the parking lot of the apartment lobby, where Eric Sohn was found dead. Their arrival so attracted the attention of people in the neighborhood and around the apartment complex. How not, the siren sound of the vehicle had been heard for five minutes, maybe when the vehicle was still at a radius of hundreds of meters from the apartment.
Mark became the first person to get out of the front-parked police car. Wendy and Dean got out of the second car. Na Yuta and Joy, as captains and DVD members get off the car behind him. They immediately gathered to the spot where Mark was standing right in front of the entrance of the apartment lobby. Before long, Jeffrey and Brian were seen getting out of his car with a large suitcase filled with equipment
CSI. Not only that, about eight other police officers who came to guard around the apartment. It is certain, in a few moments the journalist will arrive, accompanied by noise from people who are curious about what is happening in the apartment.
“Good, if all is ready, we will go directly to TKP.” lead Mark in that short briefing.
“According to the procedure, Wendy as medical examiner, check the victim first, after that, CSI is welcome to secure and document the evidence.” explained Mark who replied nod by Wendy
and Jeffrey.
“Yuta and Joy, you will work with Wendy to find out if the victim's death was a result of poisoning or drug overdose.”
“Inside, SWAT has sterilized TKP. Previously, NISA members were there.”
After the brief briefing was over, they finally made a quick walk towards TKP. Outside the building, several journalists' cars began arriving. Some even tried to break into the apartment with a handy cam in his hand despite being blocked by police in charge of security.
Upon arrival at the apartment unit owned by Eric Sohn, their arrival was welcomed by Hwang Renjun, the SWAT captain who guarded the CTF at that time. It looks like a police line is installed starting from the elevator area to the entrance of the apartment unit.
“Report! Someone was found dead at 9 am, no search and inspection of TKP!” has been carried out said Renjun to Mark.
“Didn't NISA members find it? How could they know? What were they doing here?” ask Mark in a row and full of probes. He thought about how NISA knew the identity and location of Eric Sohn. What are their interests?
“Sorry, Me and the team just came to TKP at 09.30 am after the change of officers.” replied Renjun.
“Change officer? Can such a procedure be done? You said the man was found dead at nine in the morning, and you changed jobs half an hour later? Who was the previous team captain?” scour Dean with a slightly raised tone. Unlike Mark, Dean is always frontal in expressing his opinion, as now. Meanwhile, Renjun could only be silent in his place.
“Dean, calm yourself.” said Wendy behind him while lowering Dean's arm that has been racked waist.
“Do you know who NISA members are coming here?” mark continued later, still in his cold tone.
“I don't know his full name, but they call one of them ‘JB’.” said Renjun with a pretty convincing look in the eyes of Mark.
“Who is JB?” ask Jeffrey
“Lim Jae Beom.” Answer Mark. Although his tone sounded flat, everyone around him could see Mark's expression smiling wryly, barely even forming a smirk on his tyrannical face.
“Wendy, Yuta, Joy, you can enter now.” Mark's command distracts three people who were standing behind him. I don't know since when they've been wearing coveralls, googles, and gloves. The three then enter the TKP according to Mark's instructions.
Wendy walked quickly to where Eric Sohn's body was found. The man was in a wooden chair, with his head lowered, and both of his hands leaned against the shoulders of the chair. Wendy placed her luggage on the clean floor, then placed her gloved finger against Eric Sohn's neck and wrist. Wendy didn't feel any movement there. After that, Wendy took her stethoscope to hear the voice from inside the man's body by attaching it to the chest area, diaphragm, to the stomach. He didn't hear anything. Then he switched to the face area. His eyes and mouth were tightly closed. Then quickly Wendy took out the LED penlight from the pocket of the coverall she was wearing. He shone a light on the man's left eye slowly, starting from the tip to the eyeball. The man's left pupil did not show any wrinkling in response to the light being shone into his eyes. Wendy then did the same thing to the man's right eye, and the result was the same, no response.
“He is dead.” Wendy told Yuta and Joy in front of him who had been waiting for confirmation from the medical examiner.
“Alright, We will check if he is using illegal drugs or not.”
“Good. I will take this body to the forensic laboratory.”, Wendy said. He then walks out to report the death of Eric Sohn to Mark and the others.
“She has died.” Wendy said as soon as she reached the door of the apartment unit.
“You will take him to Itaewon Forensic Laboratory, and meet with doctor Lee Taeyong. Jeffrey, call Dr Lee now.” Mark's orders to Wendy and Jeffrey. Jeffrey immediately grabbed his phone and called Taeyong.
“Ambulance officers are heading here.” Dean said without waiting for Mark's instructions. Right after that, two people came carrying a gurney and body bag.
Wendy swiftly along with two officers immediately evacuated the body of Eric Sohn. Fifteen minutes later, they were accompanied by Mark out of the apartment through the elevator with a corpse in the orange bag.
“I'll take him, then call you if I've spoken to doctor Lee.” Wendy told Mark in the parking lot of the apartment lobby, after the two officers put the body of Eric Sohn into the ambulance.
Mark nodded, then noticed Wendy who was removing the coverall, googles, and gloves. Just then Mark saw Wendy's trembling right hand, her face pale, and sweat pouring down her temple. Mark then glanced at his watch which showed it at 13:26. He said something, Wendy patted his shoulder slowly then nimbly placed himself in the passenger seat beside the corpse. Mark then closed the back door of the ambulance.
After confirming the ambulance had left the apartment area, Mark returned to the 18th floor to continue the investigation process. Arriving there, he saw Yuta holding a NIK Drug Test in the form of a pouch with three ampoules of different chemical reagents. Joy in front of him seemed to put a few milligrams of white powder into the pouch carefully.
“I think this is enough. I will open the ampoule now.” Yuta said while making sure the white powder will be moistened by chemical reagents after the ampoule is opened.
“What are you testing?” mark asked suddenly, making Joy immediately look at him, while Yuta was not distracted at all.
“We found some medicines on his bedside nightstand.” Joy replied as she pointed towards the wooden little nightstand.
“According to you guys, what kind of drugs is it if he uses them?”
“From its physical features, possible opiates. We therefore use the NIK Drug Test A, to detect whether this is morphine, codeine, or heroin.” Joy replied.
“This is not opiates or illegal drugs. I've opened all three ampoules, and there's not a single indicator that fits our expectations.” said Yuta after several times changing the direction of his vision to see the color change as a result of the reaction between the white powder and the reagent from inside the ampoule.
“Did you guys find any other medicines?” ask Mark again.
“No, only two types from the top of the nightstand, both negative.” replied Yuta
Mark nodded in understanding, then he approached Brian who was photographing the dining table where Eric Sohn was found dead. Mark watched the dinner table closely. He saw a spaghetti plate and two glasses of wine still sitting there.
“Someone has come last night, and dinner with him” Inner Mark draws his conclusion. For some reason this time he was so convinced in one thought, that someone had come, and had dinner there before Eric Sohn died.
Before long, his eyes sparkled, even he plucked his finger hard enough, so Jeffrey who was checking the fingerprints on the chair turned to him. “She died after dinner!” mark continued with his inner monologue. He almost screamed. How not? Eric Sohn's death is like the incident of mass death at the school, died after eating. That is, they are related.
Mark then continued his activity of observing everything about the dining table in front of him. Appropriately
before Jeffrey was about to secure the spaghetti and the wine, Mark stopped him.
“Wait. Did you see anything strange about this food and drink layout?” ask Mark to Jeffrey. Jeffrey looked at the table filled with food. Everything seemed normal in his eyes, but not in Mark's eyes.
“No. Is there anything strange?”
“You see this.” Mark pointed to a black plate containing spaghetti with a tomato sauce topping that seemed to have not eaten.
“Will you be able to eat well if the distance between you and the food is almost fifty centimeters? And in front of you, no plates, bowls, even spoons and forks at all?” Mark explained his opinion. Jeffrey seemed to be thinking hard.
“What is this?” mark almost muttered when he saw a very thin square-shaped spot with a blunt angle in the area between the spaghetti plate and the seat. The blunt square patches give rise to a darker contrast of color than the color of the table made of wood. Mark then took out a hand magnifier from his coat pocket. He pointed it at the blunt angular square spot, and found a wood-like contour that absorbed the water on its surface. Mark bowed his head, then frowned. He thought hard to find the origin of the blunt square spot.
He had not found an answer to the origin of the square spot on the table, his attention had been distracted by a drop of dark yellow liquid just below where he stood. He then crouched down, and caught the same drops along the dining table area to the back door of the apartment unit.
“Please all stop your activities!” mark exclaimed, leaving Jeffrey, Brian, Joy, and Yuta speechless and looking at him with a questioning expression. Mark does not respond, but eventually the four people understand that Mark found something, and their movements can damage the object he was targeting.
Mark stood up, and stepped along with the droplets that seemed to indicate the direction of the road. The droplets have a neat pattern, and Mark believes the series of droplets of dark yellow liquid is formed naturally, in the sense that it is not arranged in such a way by humans. His physical instincts are dominant today, making him see distance between objects as an important indicator.
His steps came to a halt along with the end of the series of dark yellow droplets. The droplets ended right in front of the back door. Mark looked around, and he only found a doormat with an unsymmetrical position.
“Someone has stopped this droplet series. Did he not have time to eliminate the evidence?” inmost
“Jeffrey, can you identify this liquid?” mark asked as he crouched down and stared fixedly at the drop. Jeffrey then walked quickly closer to him.
“From his physical features, obviously this is not blood, semen, or saliva.” Jeffrey replied after looking closely
that dark yellow drip.
“Give me dome magnifier?” ask Mark. He was sure his hand magnifier could not help him see the details of the texture and surface of the droplets. He needed a more powerful magnifying device.
“This.” Brian gave the round object to Mark. Mark meticulously observed the surface of the droplet.
“Do you guys not think this is like food? Look, the surface is shiny.” said Yuta who was earlier
it turns out to be observing another droplet on the right side where Mark is. He even shone on the droplets with his cell phone flashlight.
“True, this droplet is greasy, and I saw something like a fiber inside the droplet.” said Mark distracting the four people around him. Looks like he is still setting the point of view of the dome magnifier.
“Give me a needle or something.” the word is quick.
After Brian gave a fairly small needle to him, Mark ‘ stabbed’ the droplet slowly until the liquid inside now widened out to a few millimeters. Mark then lifted something like a thread from inside the droplet which he believed to be a fiber. After observing enough of the object, his gaze turned to the other components in the droplets that had spilled it. He put a needle on
small flakes of bright red. Mark thought hard, then sighed deeply, before he realized that it was a flake of chili skin.
“It's food.” Final Mark. He then took out a small notebook from inside his coat pocket. He noted his findings that he would consider clue and should be solved tonight as well. “Two wine glasses. Unnatural food layout. Food droplets form the series.” Mark wrote in the book. He then turned to his four colleagues who had previously worked.
“Jeffrey, Brian, what did you guys find?”
“I've collected fingerprints. I found it on the chair, and the dining table” replied Jeffrey.
“I also found four phones and one laptop. But everything is locked. I will contact the Digital Forensics team for that.” he continued while showing some phones and laptops in plastic
clip on living room table.
“I found some awkwardness from inside the main room. First is the condition of the room as if it has been randomly random.” said Brian while showing some documentation on camera.
“Both is this.” Brian shows an F4-sized paper inside a plastic clip. Mark grabbed the paper in the plastic, then frowned when he found a row of Russian characters on the paper. On the lower right side, there is a signature on behalf of Prof. Eric Sohn's.
“I found this paper next to the closet, and it's clear here it's a trail of men's shoes. Also you see the top right side, this paper is separate from the group.” continued Brian while pointing to the middle of the paper which is brown. Mark then touched it, and felt a rough texture like sand from there. He looked at the right corner of the paper. Right, the paper was separated from his group.
“At first we did not find drugs, but it turns out there are a quarter of bottles of sleeping pills.” this time
Joy, he showed me a white bottle used as the sleeping pill storage.
Mark nodded, then wrote down the findings of his colleagues along with previous findings in the same notebook.
“Where's Kim Dean?” his question when he realized his junior was not in the CTP since he returned from delivering the body.
“She looks for eyewitnesses and conducts investigations outside the apartment unit.” Answer Jeffrey.
“Good. Have you checked the whole room?”
“I think I've” replied Jeffrey.
“Alright, then we suffice. We're gonna have a meeting tomorrow night. Prepare reports and analysis
you're each.”
Itaewon Forensic Laboratory
April 22, 2016
15.00 KST
“Can I meet with dr. Lee Taeyong now? I've been waiting since an hour ago.” asked Wendy a little frustrated to a lab technician. He had arrived at the lab an hour ago, but after he confirmed that Eric Sohn's body was placed in the morgue, he had not met with Dr. Lee seemed to be really busy today.
“Please wait another ten minutes, he is on his way from Myungsei Hospital.” Answer the lab technician who from his identity card Wendy knew was named Na Jaemin.
“Alright.” said Wendy resigned. The technician looked down politely at Wendy, then left her.
“Are you Wendy Son?” ask someone a few minutes later when Wendy starts massaging the trunk of her nose. His head started to turn.
“Ya, right.” Wendy immediately stood up after seeing the man in a light blue shirt rolled up to the black material's sleeves and pants.
“Include, I'm dr. Lee Taeyong.” Taeyong reached out his hand which was greeted by Wendy.
“I heard you were the medical examiner of Eric Sohn's death case this morning?” tanya Taeyong, while sitting in the waiting room chair. He put some of his luggage in the chair next to his canoe. Wendy was a little awkward but came to occupy herself at her place of origin. Indeed, the doctor is known for his character that is not too formal.
“I've never heard of you. Where are you from?” continued.
“I just got back to Korea. Previously I worked in America.”
“Befit.” Taeyong said with a friendly smile.
“Can you explain how the condition of the corpse when in TKP, and on the way here?” tanya Taeyong opened her professional topic with Wendy.
“He is dead, with sitting position, arms supine, eyes and mouth closed. There is no pupil reflex, and his body is already stretched stiff.” Said Wendy explained her findings in the CTF.
“How long is the journey from TKP to the laboratory?”
“Fatty five minutes.”
“Did the ambulance officer at that time carry out the procedure to minimize the damage to the body?”
“Yes, they carry it out.” replied Wendy. Taeyong nodded in understanding.
“Good. I will coordinate with Mark and his team for analysis.” he said while tidying up his luggage again.
“I'll hand it to you, dr. Lee.”
“Of course. Thank you for your help. I heard you suddenly became a medical examiner because there was nothing to contact. I appreciate you for that.” Taeyong this time stood up and smiled kindly at Wendy.
“Ah, thanks. Then I'll say goodbye first.” Wendy immediately got up and tidied up the brown leather sling bag on her right shoulder.
“Please”
“Oh! as Wendy.” took a step, Taeyong called him back. He hurriedly handed Wendy a paper bag of sandwiches and milk. Wendy who was confused plus her head that was getting sick just stayed where she was.
“Mark asked me to give this to you.”
“She said you haven't eaten and never had breakfast.”
