Miho the Killer
Chapter 45: Interview

Chapter 45: Interview

Gangnam Police Station was about 30 30-minute walk away from my work. A little far to walk in high heels, but fortunately, I wasn’t wearing them today.

I excused myself from work to leave a little earlier, at 5:45, giving the perfectly reasonable explanation that I had my bag stolen the week before and the police called me to come see them for it. Mr. Hong was being a good wingman, theatrically telling me in loud voices to not worry about it and leave early, so I left the office leaving behind a round of ’Don’t worry about it, Ms. Han’ and ’See you tomorrow’ and ’good luck’.

It was the last, last days of summer yet the evening was still warm, so I sweat a little more than I would have liked on my way, the fabric of my shirt sticking to my hot and moist back in a manner that wasn’t entirely pleasant.

I passed by Combos Coffee shop on the way and grabbed myself a big ice-Americano. I took out a few ice cubes to chew on them as I walked and sipped on the bitter coldness the rest of the way.

"I’m here to see Detective Choi Hakguen."

I asked the female receptionist officer who seemed friendly enough.

I did double-check that this wasn’t McDonald’s on the way in though.

"May I ask what you are here for, Ma’am?"

"Oh, I just received a call in the morning. He told me to come ask for him."

"Right, let me ring him quickly. May I have your name, please?"

"It’s Han Sohee."

"Thank you."

After she dialed a few digits on the phone and had a short conversation telling him that Ms. Han Sohee was here to see him, he nodded her head a few times and said.

"I will accompany you to the place. Please follow me."

It’s not that I had any experience of how things worked in police stations, but this surprised me a little. In any government offices, I visited for whatever annoying administrative things I needed to sort out, I have never been guided and accompanied to a place before. It was usually a ’go down the hallway, turn left, take the lift and it’s third-floor’ type of thing. The fact that the receptionist was escorting me made me feel uncomfortable.

But it’s OK. Because I was innocent.

Where the receptionist led me to though wasn’t Detective Choi or anyone’s desk, but a room with a small table and two chairs. It looked exactly like those interrogation rooms I saw on TV shows, except that it did not have any side of the wall with big one-sided mirrors and neither was there a microphone on the table.

So OK. This is an interview. Not an interrogation.

Just an interview.

I waited alone in the room for Detective Choi to turn up, but he didn’t.

I waited for five minutes.

Then ten minutes.

Then fifteen minutes.

With each passing minute, I was starting to get more and more nervous.

And I realized that was exactly what Detective Choi wanted.

I was certainly under suspicion here.

After about seventeen minutes of waiting, a man who must have been Detective Choi finally turned up with a thick folder in one arm. He did not wear a uniform. He wore a loose-fitting dark gray suit that seemed rather crumbled and looked very tired and unwashed with stubble on his chin. I got the impression that he hadn’t slept well, or possibly not even been back home for a few days.

"Sorry to make you wait, Ms. Han."

"No problem, Sir. It’s fine. You must be so busy."

"Phew, yes. There are so many things happening out there."

Don’t be too friendly. Don’t overact. Just sip on your coffee.

I told myself.

"Right."

Without saying anything further, Choi sat on the chair opposite me, opened his folder, flicked through a few pages, closed it again, and put his elbows on the table.

"So Ms. Han. How are you?"

"I’m fine. And you?"

"Very busy here. It’s been hectic."

"I see."

"Do you remember this number?"

Choi caught me completely off guard by pulling out a small piece of paper from his shirt pocket, which had a phone number on it. I clasped my hands under the table hoping that he wouldn’t notice, or at least not read anything from this small physical reaction.

I would make a terrible poker player.

"I’m sorry. I really don’t remember phone numbers. It’s all just saved in the contact list these days, isn’t it? Haha."

Was there nervousness in my voice?

But I really didn’t know this number. It looked vaguely familiar, but I was indeed speaking the truth.

"Indeed."

Choi grinned and nodded his head in agreement, then leaned slightly back on his chair.

"Do you know a man named Shin Do Hyun?"

That hit me like a sledgehammer.

I didn’t know Shin’s name was Dohyun, but it could only be Shin. I didn’t have any friends whose surname was Shin. I was being naive thinking that they wouldn’t check my call records just because I lost my phone. I did everything as Shin told me, but here we were - they already went through my records and found that I had been calling Shin every day recently.

"Yes."

"How do you know him?"

This was getting tricky. Shin didn’t prepare me for this. He should have, that silly old man. How was I supposed to answer this?

But then I remembered what I had been telling myself the whole day.

Just speak the truth. I am innocent.

"He is my friend’s uncle."

"Oh? Which friend?"

Do I speak Miho’s name here?

This was a really tough one. But I just had to. Any lying here would be debunked easily. But then again, I remembered that Miho’s surname was ’Jin’ at least on the ID she uses.

"Jin Miho."

"Right."

He wrote down the name on a small notebook, underlining it twice.

I would have been royally screwed if he asked any further questions like how I knew Miho, but thankfully he didn’t.

"How do you know Mr. Kwon Do Joon?"

"My friend introduced him to me for a blind date recently."

"Which friend?"

"Er, she’s my friend from university."

"What is her name?"

"Kim Suyoung."

"Right."

He wrote down Suyoung’s name and underlined it twice again.

Perhaps being too cooperative would make me appear weird too. I should probably say something.

"May I ask what this is all for?"

"Did you also have a friend called Kim Minji?"

I felt a pang in my heart, but there was also a growing sense of dread that really started to pull me down with unbearable weight.

"Yes."

"I’m sorry to hear that. Something horrible happened to her, right?"

"Yes..."

"You were actually here before on the night she had... the unfortunate incident, right?"

"That’s right. I was interviewed as a witness. I was having dinner with her after all."

"That is very unfortunate. It must have been a horrible sight."

Tears swelled up in my eyes. I wasn’t acting.

"Please, take your time."

I let a few tear drops run down my cheeks, wiped them off with the back of my hand, and spoke.

"I’m fine now."

"Right. Do you know Mr. Park Heesu?"

Choi was relentless. I finally saw where this was going.

"Are you talking about President Park from Riwoo Corp.?"

"Yes, the one where you used to work in."

"Of course, I know him. I was-"

"Also there when he had an unfortunate incident."

By now I was one hundred percent sure that Choi could hear my heart beat like it was about to explode.

I just sat there saying nothing, trying to calm down as much as possible so I did not give any telling signs. But if Choi already figured out this much, it might be just a matter of time before he-

"Senior Shin?!!"

Suddenly the door creaked open and Shin walked into the interview room, all smiles, looking happy. He was accompanied by another man who was similar to his age, also not in uniform but you could tell he was a police whichever way you looked at him.

"Alright, young man! How have you been?"

Shin walked over to Choi, and as Choi got up to greet his ’senior’, the old man gave him a big hug.

"What... what are you doing here, Senior Shin?"

Then the man who came in with Shin spoke.

"Ah, the reports you submitted this morning, Detective Choi. I saw Shin’s name on it and decided to give him a call."

"Oh wow... I saw the name and thought of you Senior Shin... but I totally didn’t make the connection... I thought it was just someone with the same name" Choi shook his head.

"So, have you been treating Ms. Han here kindly?"

Shin asked with a cheeky smile.

"Ye-, yes. With utmost respect, of course. How do you know her?"

"She’s my niece’s friend. It’s a long story, but my niece has been unwell and Ms. Han has been nice enough to take care of her."

"I see." Choi nodded.

"So, may I steal Ms. Han away from you now? We were planning to go visit my niece again this evening."

Choi looked at me, looked at Shin, and looked at the other policeman next to Shin - who now seemed to be Choi’s boss, and shrugged.

"Sure, Senior Shin. There were a few things I wanted to check but, erm, I suppose that’s enough for today."

"Thanks, Detective Choi." Shin winked.

"Oh please, you don’t have to be so formal with me, Senior. Haha."

Suddenly the mood in the room was all light-hearted and friendly.

And only I sat there like a clueless idiot.