Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

Chapter 105: 11:59 (22)

"Why did you call me here?" Junwan asked the Warden. The Warden, who went by the name Choi, grumbled.

"There's this inmate who asked for you," the Warden groaned. "He's been begging us for the past two days to meet you."

"Why?" Junwan frowned. "Who is this guy?"

"His name is Lan Dongwook," the Warden said. "He's in for the murder of his wife."

"And what does that have to do with me?"

"He claims that he didn't do it," the Warden grinned. "Just like the rest of the assholes locked up here. He probably wants you to hear a sob story in the hopes to make you help him."

Junwan was not so sure. Why would he help a complete stranger? It made no sense. I'll just talk to him and leave, he decided.

The Warden led him to a dark room which looked like an interrogation room with a desk and pair of chairs. He motioned Junwan to sit at one of the chairs.

"I'll get him," the Warden announced. Junwan nodded and sat down on a chair. The place was lit by a dim lamp hanging over his head and there was no other furniture in it. He tapped his fingers on the desk in order to make some sound in the deafening silence which was making him agitated. After a few minutes, the door opened and the Warden came in with a few guards followed by a young man in his mid twenties.

The boy was wearing the grey prison garb and his hands were locked with handcuffs. 

"Sit there," the Warden ordered him. The boy did not speak but sat down as he was told.

"The guards will watch over him," the Warden said. "We can't leave him alone. The son of a bitch tried to kill himself last week."

He pointed at the boy's bandaged wrist. The boy shuddered and pulled his sleeves to hide the scars but Junwan caught a glimpse of them anyway. 

"I'd like to hear what he has to say," Junwan said curtly. The Warden glared at him for a while before leaving the room. The guards stayed near the door, standing straight with stony expressions on their faces.

Junwan turned to the boy. He was scrawny and his glasses were too big for him as they kept on slipping off. The boy looked traumatized as if he was going to go insane in there.

"What do you want?" Junwan demanded. The boy winced a little, unsure of what to say.

"I-I was told to talk to you," he finally began. "By a man who visited me a couple of days ago."

Junwan resisted the urge to roll his eyes but glared at the boy. The latter was cowering a little under the older man's gaze but he had to muster his courage and talk.

"I didn't kill my wife," he went on. "I swear! It wasn't me!"

"You fingerprints were all over the murder weapon," Junwan told him. "The Warden showed me your file. All the evidence point at you! And you're claiming innocence?"

"I am innocent!" Dongwook insisted. "It wasn't me! It was him!"

"Now you're cooking up a story about a non-existent person," Junwan sighed. "The CCTV footage showed that only you were present when your wife was killed. No one entered your house nor did anyone come out."

He leaned over to face the boy. "Dongwook, are you really going to lie more?" he accused.

"I didn't know what I was doing!"

Dongwook's eyes were brimming with tears as he recalled that night. "My wife...I loved her very much! We were high school sweethearts and I would never kill her. We were about to have a baby as well! I had no reason to kill her!"

"And yet you did," Junwan stated. 

"It wasn't me! It was the white orb!"

Junwan frowned but the boy was determined to make him listen. "Kid, I don't have time for this," he said getting up from his chair. "You're either deranged or a liar."

"Is that what you told Hwang Junho as well?" the boy demanded. The mention of Hwang Junho made Junwan freeze.

"He's the one who told me to contact you," the boy revealed. "He came here two days ago. He was the only one who believed me and told me to reveal all this to you!"

"What did you tell Hwang Junho and what did he want?" Junwan asked. "Tell me everything."

The boy took a deep breath and began to narrate his tale.

"Last month, I had just returned from work," he recounted. "My wife, Sunmi, was pregnant so she took time off from work. That night, I stopped at a Chinese joint to buy food for her. She really loved Chinese so I thought I'd get her some."

"She was delighted to see her favorite dishes. We had a good meal and soon went to sleep."

"Then what happened?" Junwan asked.

"I woke up in the middle of the night," he whispered. "There was a strange noise coming from the living room. My wife was sound asleep and I didn't want to disturb her. So I went to investigate"

Junwan held his breath, anticipating what the boy would say next.

"In the living room, I heard scratching noises," Dongwook whispered. "I looked around but there was nothing. I thought the noises were coming from the food boxes we had left on the table. I looked into it and there was nothing."

"Suddenly I heard a sound," he continued. "Someone whispered in my ears."

"There was another person?" Junwan frowned.

"That's the thing!" Dongwook pointed out. "There was no one. And yet, I heard someone whispering something in my ears. Something like 'turn around'."

"On an instinct, I turned around and suddenly, I blacked out. The only thing I remember before losing consciousness was a dim white light rushing towards me! It was for a brief second but it was there. And it moved into me."

White light? Junwan straightened up. Hwang Junho was also chasing a white light after killing his wife!

"I woke up a few days later," Dongwook said. "And to my horror, I was standing over my wife's corpse, holding the bloodied knife. There was also a faint smell of sulphur in the air which was awful..."

He trailed off, unable to say anything more. Junwan waited for him to collect his thoughts. The boy was shivering in fright as he recalled the torturous interrogations and the trial which found him guilty for a crime he did not even remember committing.

"I tried to tell them of the white orb," he insisted. "But no one believed me! And then a few days ago, Hwang Junho came to look for me. He heard my side and told me to contact you. Apparently, you handled a similar case in your past and that you can help me! That must mean there are other people out there who became victims to that orb's enchantment!"

"Hwang Junho is a criminal himself," Junwan revealed. "I doubt anything he does will help you in the slightest."

He kept a poker face but his mind was troubled. Hwang Junho came to look for this boy. How did he know about the white orb this boy had seen? And why did he take the risk to come to a prison only to meet a stranger?

Something was not right. 

The boy's hopes were dashed by Junwan's words. He did not have much of it but the remnants were now gone. No one could help him.

"Finish your sentence," Junwan suggested. "And live a good life once you're out of here."

He got up to leave and was almost at the exit when Dongwook spoke up. "My life was over the moment that white orb killed my wife," he said in a sad tone. "I'm just a walking corpse now."

Junwan did not know whether to sympathize with the boy or scoff at his claims. But his tale was disturbing him. Should he look into this mysterious white orb which kept on propping up?

It was time to find out.