"Move aside," one of the police warned. "We're here to arrest a criminal. If you don't comply, we'll be forced to arrest you as well."
The guards put down their weapons and were forced to comply. Jina did not bother to spare them a glance and entered the mansion. She strutted along the marble pavement which led to the mansion in front of her.
"Wow, that is one beautiful mansion," she heard one of the rookies say. "Ma'am, you really think people living in this palace could be murderers."
"Beautiful?" Jina scoffed. "Seems like a cheap glasshouse to me. People who live behind these buildings made of brick and mortar are the worst of the lots. You'll be surprised to know how cruel they can be."
The rookie policemen looked at her in awe. Their senior officer just called this mansion cheap? Did she not see mansions much in her life?
"For Detective Hwang, all mansions will look cheap," another policeman muttered to the rookie. "She used to live in the largest one in the country until she moved out to become a cop."
"Eh? Are you serious?" the rookie cop gasped. "She's an heiress?"
"Sort of but she loves being a detective," the other cop whispered.
But Jina was not thinking of all that. For a brief moment, the image of a pale and smiling eight year old flashed in front of her eyes. The same boy who was killed by his father, the top doctor in the country and lived in a mansion much larger than this. If someone had the guts to carry out that horrific crime and stain his mansion walls with the blood of an innocent, then these people were nothing compared to that.
Unbeknownst to everyone except Jina, an invisible pale figure was standing next to her, gazing at the mansion. The man was in his eighties and hunchbacked. His hair was snowy white and his eyes moist. Only Jina could see the sad old man who had subjected an innocent woman to a lifetime of misery.
Jina sighed and muttered, "It's too late for regrets. Your grandson is hopeless."
"He always was but I never thought he'd be this cruel," the old man lamented. "Please show him the right path."
The man bowed to her, letting go of all his pride and dignity. The once mighty head of the Choi family had reduced to begging and pleading in the afterlife. Jina sighed and entered the mansion with her team.
All the guests were partying hard when the policemen swarmed into the mansion. Insik and Youngmi were shocked to see the cops who had brazenly walked into their party.
"What is the meaning of this?" Insik demanded. "Who are you?"
Jina held up her badge. "Detective Hwang Jina," she introduced herself.
Before Insik could retort, Jina turned to the scared guests. She recognized many of them as celebrities and VIP's who were acquainted with her father and his businesses. Some of them might have recognized her but she did not have time to deal with them.
"What the hell are you all looking at?" she barked. "Engagement is cancelled. Go home!"
The policemen were driving the guests away from the mansion until only the Choi's and Ji's remained. Insik was fuming while Youngmi clutched her mother's wrist.
"I'll have you fired!" Insik threatened. "I've got connections to the top!"
The policemen behind Jina fidgeted. The poor guy did not know that Jina's connections went higher. She simply did not use them.
"I don't care," she stated. She motioned her team to come forward.
"Arrest these two," she said, pointing at Insik and Youngmi.
"What?" Youngmi shrieked. "Why me?"
Her parents were also protesting while Insik's mother, Mrs. Choi was outraged.
"You cheap cop!" Mrs. Choi shouted. "How dare you arrest the heir to the Choi family?"
"Let our precious daughter go!" the Ji's yelled but Jina did not care. Law was the law.
"Also, go ahead and search for Ji Eunhae," Jina ordered her team, ignoring the silly families behind her. She handed a document to one of the rookies. "Give this to her. Also I've got the search warrant. Find her now!"
The rookie cop nodded and along with his partner, went ahead to search the house while a couple of cops handcuffed Insik and Youngmi.
"On what charges are you arresting us?" Insik demanded.
"We're innocent!" Youngmi begged. Jina stared at them incredulously before pointing at Insik.
"Article 10, section 4, clause number 8 of the constitution of Country K," Jina stated. "Polygamy is banned under all purpose and practices. No man or woman entering under a legal marriage under article 10, section 1, clause 1, are allowed to enter into a legally binding marriage agreement, written or verbal, with another party as long as their spouse is alive. This engagement is a verbal marriage agreement violating Article 10."
Before Insik could go on, Jina overruled him. "Article 15, section 8, clause 10. No spouse under any circumstances is allowed to inflict abuse or torture on their husband or wife. This includes mental and physical abuse. Trying to have your pregnant wife's fetus aborted falls under this clause. We have your signed agreement from the hospital. The doctors fessed up after being threatened with jail time. They also gave us more interesting data…"
She turned to Youngmi who visibly gulped. "Article 50, section 1," Jina stated. "Murder of another human being is punishable by law. This includes first degree murder with motive and opportunity under sub-section 4 of the said law. In your case, you violated this law by murdering Choi Minshik, the previous head of the Choi family and also bribed doctors to hide the cause."
Insik was shocked to hear this. Youngmi was sweating, her forehead and back visibly glistening. But Jina was not done. She took out the original medical reports.
"We took the doctors into our custody," she revealed. "According to Mr. Choi's lawyer had, The elder Choi had secretly requested that if he died under any circumstances, the police must be informed. We were told to keep an eye on the activities in this house and even had the permission to exhume the body. He had written a full permission letter for us before he died which is why we didn't need to approach the family at all. It was as if he was expecting to be killed and he was correct."
She held up the reports for everyone to see. The papers stated there was a high amount of arsenic in the old man's body.
"Miss Ji Youngmi had paid one of your servants to put in arsenic in his food to kill him slowly," Jina stated. "If I'm not wrong, Mr. Choi's last physician was hired by Ms. Ji, right?"
"Yes…"
Insik and his mother were flabbergasted while Youngmi was crying. Her innocent eyes were full of tears in an attempt to appeal to everyone.
"I didn't…" she begged. "These are all lies!"
"And according to the doctor, you're not pregnant either," Jina said. "You lied about your pregnancy and also framed your sister for stabbing you. As a criminal, you're really sloppy because there was a CCTV camera at the site which you thought was abandoned."
Now Youngmi was panicking. How the hell did she miss out on this?
"Moreover, we also came across this really interesting gossip that the real wife of Choi Insik had an affair many years ago," the detective stated. "I did some digging and managed to get the CCTV footage of that day. Turns out, the woman kissing the other guy was Ms. Youngmi in a brown wig. You are really a sloppy criminal. And you…"
She turned to the shocked and hurt Insik who was wallowing in guilt.
"You might be a high profile tycoon but you're as dumb as those useless male leads in CEO romance novels!" she scowled. "The owner of a tech company fell for this stupid scam and mistreated his wife? What is this, a crappy fanfic written by a kid?"
"I didn't know!" Insik protested but Jina rolled her eyes. A thirty something year old did not know that his wife was being set up in one of the dumbest scams she had ever seen. Even a kid knew better.
"Detective Hwang!"
The rookie cops had returned, carrying Eunhae who was very weak. The lack of food and proper care had deprived her of energy.
"Eunhae!" Insik cried and ran towards his beloved wife. Upon hearing his voice, Eunhae opened her eyes, gazing at his beautiful face which was now full of love for her.
"I'm so sorry…" Insik sobbed. "It's all my fault. I'll take care of you and our child! I'll be a good father. I promise! I love you!"
"Insik…" Eunhae weakly smiled at him. How long had it been since she heard those words? She yearned years for him to say that.
Insik was hopeful as he gazed at his wife, whose smile was starting to fade. Without a warning, she spat at him.
"You rotten scoundrel!" she cursed. "You really thought I'd let you go for this? I'll make sure you burn in hell for what you did to me!"
How much I love this plot twist, Jina smirked. The other cops were also snickering at the mighty tycoon who was now covered with his wife's spit. The document Jina had sent to her was a will left by the old Choi for her.
"I own all your properties and fortune now!" Eunhae revealed. "If you were good to me all these years, I'd have given this back to you. But you...you treated me like crap and went into that witch's arms! Now you think I'm gonna let you go for all your abuse?"
Insik's mother fell to her knees and begged at Eunhae. "Please spare him!" she pleaded. "It was a mistake-"
But Eunhae turned to the cops and said, "This woman also slapped and humiliated me! She stood by while I was being dragged to be locked up and wished death for my child! That's a crime too. Arrest her as well! In fact, arrest my parents as well. They let this trash of a human being torture me for years! Put this entire family in jail for the rest of their lives!"
"No, honey we're innocent!" her parents yelped but the cops swooped down on all the family members. One of the cops had recorded all of Eunhae's testimony on a document and had her sign it. Without any hesitation, she signed and stamped the paper, deciding their fates.
The culprits had to be dragged out. They begged and screamed but it was of no use. The ones who used to inflict pain on others now got a taste of their own medicine.
Eunhae watched them being thrown into the police van. Her heart wrenched for them and she wanted to take back her case. She was about to do it but Jina held her shoulder.
"Don't be merciful," she advised. "If they could discard you once, they'd do it again. This is real life, not a romance novel. People like him will remain scum. You've got a long life ahead of you. You'll find someone to love again."
"What do you do about this wretched heart which only wants him?" Eunhae whispered.
Jina stared at her for a while. "You're lucky," she finally said. "Even if he's a scum, there will be a day when you'll see him again. Some people are not as lucky as you."
Eunhae did not understand the detective's words but clasped her hand.
"Thank you," she said. "For everything."
"Don't thank me," Jina said. "Thank your grandfather-in-law. Pray that he can finally move on."
Eunhae frowned but Jina did not elaborate. The Detective left the mansion and headed for her car which was parked outside. She got into the car and turned to the pale ghost which sat there.
"Your granddaughter-in-law is safe," she informed him. "It's time for you to move on."
The old man gave her a feeble smile. "Thank you," he said gratefully. "For keeping your promise to this old man."
Jina smiled and flashed him a thumbs up. "Gramps, you should be proud of yourself for having the courage to do the right thing and send your family to jail! Not everyone can make that decision. Even in death!"
The old man flashed her a thumbs up and began to fade. Now that his work was done, he could move on to the next life. Jina watched as he disappeared from sight, leaving nothing behind.
Will he meet Shinho up there? Jina wondered. She sat in the car, reminiscing about the friends who left her behind. Were they happy? Did they manage to get a second chance to come back to life via reincarnation? Who knows.
"Let's go Hwang Jina," she sighed. "Off to solve more cases!"