I carefully approached a woman who looked to be in her late-thirties. "Hello, I'm Nathan McNeill. May I inquire as to who you are?" I gave a dazzling grin. She smiled back automatically. "I'm Lee Eun. Can I help you?" she asked.
"Yes. Do you know an employee with the name Han Hwa Young?"
"Han Hwa Young? Why yes. I trained her when she started last year. Why?" she narrowed her eyes.
I broadened my smile. "It's nothing serious. We're friends, you see. A few days ago she told me that she was worried about something."
"Which is?"
"Well, she thinks the auction house is haunted," I said watching her reaction. She sighed.
"I see. From an outsider's personal perspective it does look haunted, but let me tell you right now that it's not." She peered keenly at me.
"There's a plausible explanation for all the specific incidents." I blinked in mild surprise. "Really? Would you please tell me?"
"Sure. Let's find a seat," she beckoned. We sat peacefully in one of the resting areas, and she promptly began.
"For the last three years, we had many accidents one after the other. Women would get terribly hurt, men would end up in the local hospital, valuable stuff would go missing, and we would inadvertently find sensitive data erased.
It was as if someone was deliberately sabotaging the business. There was an urgent investigation, but nothing came up. Everyone was deemed innocent." She looked very upset so I gently stroked her back for comfort. She probably welcomed it since she wasn't stopping me. She continued her story.
"However, we did detect visible traces of critical evidence that a human, not a paranormal entity, was behind this. The scratches and visible bruises on the women in the bathroom, and desks, were caused by hidden razor blades.
The men, who were especially injured dreadfully, were either tripped on the stairs or when they worked individually. They typically triggered an unusual mechanism that shattered a handful of bones."
"How did they manage that? Couldn't they see any wires or rope?" I scoffed.
"Fishing and piano wire was used. Unless you look very closely, it's practically invisible. Some decided to use the elevator, but it got stuck despite having been maintenanced two days earlier.
It was hectic. Fishing wire was used to steal the items.
They pulled it painstakingly slowly to the basement. They hid it behind old debris and timber. The items were damaged so we couldn't put it up for sale, so we donated it to antique stores and the museum."
"Okay. That's reasonable. So, haven't you told any of this to Hwa Young?"
"She was informed of this. I don't understand why she told you that the place is haunted," she answered concernedly. Darn that girl. She completely wasted my time and energy.
"Does Hwa Young typically have any mental health troubles? She looked very anxious for the last few days," I questioned cautiously. Eun stared thoughtfully at the ground.
"I haven't heard that she had any. But many witnessed her talking to herself. Most people talk to themselves as a means of motivation, but she seemed to be a bit aggressive."
"Okay. Does she tend to lie?"
"She's young and barely out of college. Naturally she would throw out a lie or two," Eun snapped. Annoyed, I bid her farewell. I didn't really care what was going on with Hwa Young. And since it was a human that was causing all this mess, it was no longer a job that required my services.
So I proceeded to Hwa Young. "Did you finally make some progress?" she demanded.
"Yeah. Lee Eun clarified everything so it's a waste of my time. She told me she explained it to you from the start." I slammed my tag on the desk of the bewildered girl.
"To tell such a bold-faced lie. I can't understand your reasoning behind it, but you caused me a lot of trouble."
She made choking noises before jumping up in anger. "I wasn't lying! She's the one who's lying! It's a ghost that's causing this. It's you not doing a proper job that's the problem," she shouted. People stopped and stared. I flashed a smile at them.
"It's nothing. Don't worry about us," I assured them. I snatched her arm and dragged her somewhere private where we could talk.
I immediately thought of the janitor's room. Choi was slouching on a chair when I burst in, dragging a protesting Hwa Young.
He conveniently ignored us, thank goodness. "See here," I said bitingly as I promptly released her. "I scoured the entire building for a terrible ghost, but I couldn't uncover anything. I even checked if there was a spirit hanging around you, but I came up with nothing.
Eun's convincing testimony is more credible than yours," I merely expressed to her. Her chest heaved. Choi gave a snicker and muttered fiercely, "Occult." Yeah, yeah.
"The convincing reason I can think of is merely that either everything is inevitably in your foolish head, or you just crave attention. And guess what? That just cost you five million won worth of attention," I bluntly told her.
She gasped. "Pardon? You can't do this. You haven't done as requested. I won't pay you!"
"Then I will take you by force to court. Don't you recall your little signature on the contract?" I mocked. The contract was allegedly created by granddad in case of something like this.
Most clients don't bother to read, though. Which helps us Otherworld Investigators when there's a problem. Like now.
"Girlie, just pay the amount. I don't know what contract you signed, but what I gather is that you asked him for a job under false pretences," he intervened.
"It's no wonder he's furious. Well, I think what he does is kind of fishy. But that's none of my business. It's better than being taken to court, where you will lose a lot more than five million won." Her eyes teared up.
"Why is everyone against me?" she whispered. "Fine. I'll pay you for nothing. But I can't pay you at once."
"It's fine. I can settle for a six-months recompense," I said, fully satisfied. Hwa Young rushed out, but I intentionally disregarded her. She was acting childish, and I didn't like children. Choi asked for a proper explanation, which I gave voluntarily.
"Can you at least finish the polishing on the third floor, Mr. Investigator?" he whined. What a headache. So I courteously agreed to his request, and went to the third floor.