YM778.TV Chapter 55 - Burnt Pride
AUTHOR\'S NOTE:
Firstly, a little bit of caution. The description of this particular case might be too much to handle so please read with care.
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Rachel\'s body was being examined by Kyuhyun in the lab while Jina\'s team had gathered the initial information from the family and neighbors. They were still waiting for the guest list and Kyuhyun had told them that he could provide the autopsy results within a week but he already gave them the actual cause of death: acid burn.
The team was now gathered in the briefing room where Hobin was waiting for them. He had prepared a slide show in order to explain to the team what sort of killer they needed to look for. Even Taejoon was joining them this time because he was keeping an eye on the investigation since it dealt with a rich family.
Once everyone settled down, Hobin began.
"Victim name is Song Rachel," he said. "She was eighteen years old and a budding socialite. She was one of the students at the prestigious Dalton High School and a senior who was quite popular. Her peers called her spoiled because she had narcissistic tendencies. She was extremely proud of her looks and even modeled on several magazines-"
"Get to the point!" Taejoon barked. "We don\'t have all day!"
"I don\'t like interruptions," Hobin said, unabashed. "If you\'re bored, you can leave."
Everyone snickered and Taejoon gaped at the brat who just shot him down. Jina, in an attempt to diffuse the tension, spoke up.
"Based on my experience with her, she was also quite rude to others," she said. "I\'m sure she had rubbed many people the wrong way. Is that what you\'re also saying?"
"Yes," Hobin nodded. He clicked on the slide and showed everyone the body. Taejoon was totally horrified at the state and wanted to vomit. Rarely had he seen such atrocity and this was just monstrous.
"As you can see, the first thing the killer did was rip off her hair," Hobin explained. "Which means, he or she was tearing off her pride. Rachel was a part time model for shampoo brands. This is one of the ways to \'destroy\' her."
"Secondly, her nails were also ripped off," he continued. "From her credit card history, it was clear that she had manicured her nails the day before she went missing. Another attack on her pride on her looks. However, he did not rip off her pedicured toenails. Which means he was targeting her fingernails only. Maybe she hurt this person and this is related to her nails. She might have attacked the killer in the past. Look into any assault she might have been involved in recently."
"Thirdly, her whole body had been bitten by dogs," he stated, pointing at the marks. "But she wasn\'t raped. The killer stripped her naked and bit her all over to stain her with canine marks. It was a sadistic way to see his intended victim being tortured in front of him. Maybe he even got a sexual kick from it. This indicates that the unsub might have had a sexual history with her or at least fantasized about her at some point in time. He used trained dogs to play out that fantasy, to put her at his mercy."
"However, he was smart. He knew that if he raped her, there would be DNA evidence and he could not risk that. Moreover, by doing this, he was also ruining her pure image by making her attacked by dogs. When people would see these marks, they would naturally assume she was probably raped and hence in their eyes, she was no longer \'pure\'. It\'s like a sadistic pun on the saying, \'All men are dogs\' and Rachel attracted these \'dogs\'. That was the killer\'s third revenge on her. Strip off her dignity."
"Finally, when he was done staining her body, he poured highly concentrated acid on her to destroy the last remnants of her pride. The face she was so sure of. The face which was the envy of many was reduced to melted skin and bones."
There was a long silence at his words as everyone tried to absorb the facts.
"The killer did not simply want to kill her," Jina said, standing up. "He wanted to destroy her. This...this was a crime of passion. He harbored a lot of hate for her."
"The killer was also gloating," Hobin added. "There\'s a reason why he did this crime inside Rachel\'s very own home. It was to show off his mightiness. The mansion Rachel lived in is the best in the country. It\'s the epitome of elegance and pride. Rachel was the princess of the ivory tower, unharmed and untouched. The killer wanted to send a message."
He put his hands on the table, looking at everyone.
"His message is loud and clear," Hobin said. "Look at me. I touched you. I entered your home and touched you. I reached you. Me."
There was an uncomfortable silence at those words. Even Taejoon was speechless.
"The killer knew very well that the mansion is soundproof and had planned this for days," Jina continued from there. "And given how big the place is, it was easy for him to sneak around, unnoticed. Moreover, he left behind the acid and rope in an attempt to boast of his achievement. In his eyes, by killing Rachel, he had done something very great and wanted to show it off through the tokens he left behind."
"But how did he manage to clean off the crime scene?" Jaebum asked. "Even with soundproof walls, someone must have seen the killer. It should take hours to clean up the scene."
Hobin pointed at Woohee and asked, "What did you find out about the family?"
"They\'re social elites," she said at once. "The father is mostly at work while the mother is either at kitty parties or shopping. She even went abroad several times a month, unaware of the things happening in her house. Also, there are over a hundred staff members and most keep changing every week. They are working in the garden or in the kitchens. One maid told me that the house is so big that she did not visit every room. And no one ever went to the cellar except for a cleaning staff who cleaned it once a month. That\'s how Rachel was found."
"Bingo!" Hobin said. "The house is too big. We looked up Rachel\'s social media and saw that she put up statuses about sneaking her boyfriend into the mansion several times and no one even knew. If the killer was well acquainted with the family, then he\'ll know that they\'re very distant and hence, was aware that the family members barely checked in on one another. The staff were mostly busy and did not care about their employers much either. This was premeditated murder. The murderer scanned the mansion first and decided that the basement was perfect. No one went there anyway."
"The killer snuck in the acid and dog to the basement on the night of the party. Once he had the crime scene set, all he had to do was wait for the party and lure Rachel into the basement. It was a party and no one would hear her screams. Once there, he tortured and killed her before burying her in it. The reason he didn\'t bury her properly is because he wanted her to be found. He knew it would take days or even weeks for someone to find the body. It was another way for him to gloat that the daughter the Song\'s were looking for was buried beneath their feet all along. Everyone was searching for her outside but no one looked in their own home. It was the killer\'s little victory."
"He\'s a psycho!" Jiwoon winced. "A cold blooded psycho. I bet it\'s the dad! He was so aloof!"
"He was at the party that night and hence, has an alibi," Jina sighed. "Kyuhyun said that Rachel died around three weeks ago, probably on the same night as the party."
"Could have hired someone to do it," Chanmi suggested.
"Perhaps," Hobin said. "But professional killers won\'t go this far. They\'ll simply kill and leave. Why torture the girl like this?"
There was no answer to that. They were all wondering how someone could kill another person off in such a manner.
"Whoever killed her had a major grudge against her," Jina said. "Find anyone who might harbor ill feelings towards Rachel and bring them in. "Question everyone and if needed, get search warrants issued for the school and the Song mansion. Track everyone related to Rachel but throw that bloody killer behind the bar!"
"Yes!" Her team declared and sprinted off. Taejoon also grudgingly walked away, a little impressed by the youths who had taken charge of the case. Once everyone was gone, Hobin turned to Jina.
"Did you see any lingering spirits at that place?" he asked.
"Shockingly, no," she admitted. This was something which bugged her for a while. Rachel\'s spirit was nowhere around that mansion. Did she move on? Jina wondered. But it seems unlikely…
"Let\'s go and find that killer," Hobin suggested. "It\'s the only thing we can do."
Jina nodded. "Let\'s get that monster!" she declared.