After a moment's hesitation, Kim Hyeok selected the copy of the first audio cassette he'd received. He loaded it in the tape recorder. His finger pressed the button marked Play. Tape hiss rose in his ears like the phantom ocean caught in a conch shell. An anonymous official identified the tape as a duplicate before reciting the case number and other details.
Then a louder hiss sizzled through the headphones, signaling the start of the dubbed portion of the tape.
Baek Eunhye's voice faded in. She'd stepped out of the bathroom, fresh from her morning shower, and the killer had grabbed her from behind. He must have told her not to scream for help, that the first sound she made above a whisper would mean death. Kim Hyeok could picture the young pregnant woman standing just outside the bathroom doorway in her blue terry-cloth towel, drawing shallow scared breaths as the Reaper hissed in her ear and held the knife—if it was a knife—close to her throat.
