Doctor Demon

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hi guys! A new privilege system will start from 1st August for this book. Under it, there will be 25 chapters of privilege for the readers and has been set up as such:

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Minki led Jina towards the dormitory where the children slept. Jina already received Jiwoon's text about Wonho but she could not reveal to the police that Wonho was dead based on the words of a ghost. She needed concrete proof or a testimony from a living witness i.e. Haeji.

She quickly passed by the other children who were playing out in the yard as she moved from one building to the next. The ghost walked ahead of her, invisible to everyone. He stepped on to the kitchen corridor and went straight until he stopped in front of a closet. 

"This is it," he said, pointing at the closet. "This is where I hid with Haeji that night. And Wonho bro was here…"

He pointed at a spot a few inches away from the closet.

"The masked guy killed him and put him on this wall," Minki went on and pointed at a spot directly perpendicular to the closet. Jina stooped down and wore her gloves as she examined the wall. 

It had been wiped clean after the murder and she had little hope for DNA evidence. Even if there was any left, it could no longer be used in court because weeks had passed by since the murder and the DNA would be contaminated by then.

"If only we can find the file!" she sighed. 

"The matron might have it!" Minki exclaimed. Jina thought for a while.

"I doubt it," she finally said. "But we'll still have to search. Unfortunately, I can't do that without a proper warrant but…"

She peered at Minki. "You can," she said. "You're invisible to her. So you can go and see if the file is there."

"Right!" Minki realized. "I can go and check!"

"Meet me back at the medical booth once you're done," she whispered. "You know how to disapparate now?"

Minki nodded. Jina had explained to him some of the perks of being a ghost such as disapparating from one place to another and also that ghosts can touch solid material at will. He disappeared in thin air, hopefully off to find the file.

Jina turned her attention to the closet. It was an old, dusty closet which was probably used for supplies. She slowly opened it. 

The closet was spacious enough to hide two small children and was mostly empty except for some old paint materials. Other than that, it was not of much use either. Time was of essence in a murder case, especially the first three days after the murder when DNA evidence was untainted. 

Unfortunately, Wonho's murder had very little clues left and the only way to even catch the killer was to find the body first. 

"Damn it," she cursed under her breath and closed the door. She turned around only to be startled by the figure of a small girl who was also staring at the closet. Jina immediately recognized her.

"Haeji?" she whispered. The little girl looked at her, recognizing the pretty woman from Hobin's office.

"Are you alright?" Jina asked in a kind tone. "Do you need something?"

The girl shook her head and resumed staring at the closet. Jina glanced back at it and then at Haeji. There was no doubt that Haeji was remembering the painful memories of that night and was still deeply affected. 

Should I try asking her about Minki? Jina wondered. She was thinking hard when Haeji stepped forward to open the closet door and climbed into it, closing the door behind her. Jina was surprised but decided to follow suit.

She opened the door and climbed inside as well. Once the door was closed, Jina faced the little girl, who was still scared by the events of the night Wonho was murdered.

"Haeji," Jina began. "Do you hide here often?"

The girl shook her head. 

"Are you playing hide and seek with a friend?" Jina asked. The girl shook her head again.

"Oh my!" Jina feigned a gasp. "If you're not playing, then why are you hiding?"

The girl did not answer but looked down at her fingers. Jina thought for a bit and then decided to take a different approach.

"When I was really young, I had a friend named Casper," she recalled. "He was as old as my grandpa and looked really scary. People were really afraid of him! They used to think he was really bad because of his looks. But in reality, he was really a sweet old man. He did not speak at all."

Haeji's eyes widened in surprise at that. 

"He could not speak, sadly," Jina reminisced. "But even without words, he had very expressive eyes. He would stay by my side and protect me from all harm. He was my first friend and doted on me. As my friend, he would do anything for me."

Jina smiled at the little girl and asked, "Would you do anything for your friend?" 

The little girl slowly nodded, her chubby face now a little more determined. Jina took out Minki's photo from her pocket. It was the one Hobin gave her.

"Haeji...is he your friend?" she asked. Haeji looked at the photo and was feeling emotional. Tears welled up in her eyes and she silently sobbing.

"Haeji, are you hiding in the closet from bad people?" Jina whispered. The little girl suddenly lunged forward and hugged her tightly as if very scared. Jina felt her shaking and patted the girl in assurance.

"Do they have him?" Jina gently pressed. "Don't be afraid. I won't let anyone hurt you."

Haeji was about to open up to her when the closet door burst open.

"Oh my!" Matron Kim yelped. "Doctor Belle? What are you doing here?"

As soon as Haeji heard the matron's voice, she froze in fear. Jina felt her go still, knowing fully well that the girl was scared of the matron.

"Nothing!" Jina lied, stuffing the picture smoothly back into her pocket. "Doctor Hobin told me that there was a girl here, Haeji, whom he was treating. He asked me to look for her and I found her in here. I was just coaxing her to come out and meet him. That's it."

The matron nodded and adopted a fake smile to address Haeji.

"Haeji, the kind doctor wants to treat you," she said in a disgustingly sweet voice which was making Jina sick. "Come out…"

She reached out her hand but Haeji was unwilling to go. 

"I'll take her to Doctor Hobin myself," Jina said in a cool tone. "Come on, Haeji."

She gently pulled Haeji out of the closet, shielding her from the matron. Kim was unabashed and to Jina's dismay, followed to the medical booth.

Hobin looked up when Jina entered the booth with Haeji and the matron. It was obvious the matron was following Haeji around to keep an eye on her. 

"Haeji was about to open up," Jina muttered, sitting next to Hobin. "But the matron interrupted."

He did not look at her but peered at the matron who was haughtily looking at the duo.

It was a pesky situation indeed. The matron would not leave them alone with Haeji at all, breathing down their necks as they tried to talk to the little girl. Jina watched from the corner of her eye as Minki re-appeared. The ghost shook his head in dismay, indicating that he did not find the files.

I just hope Wonho was smart enough to keep a copy of that file somewhere, Jina hoped in her head.

She shared a glance with Hobin and nodded. They would have to rethink a strategy to get Haeji alone and make her talk to them. 

Finally, at 5 PM, they were done for the day. Since the program was a week long, they would be returning the next day as well to check up on the other children.

"Thank you so much, doctors," Namgoong said as he escorted them out of the premises. "The children are really pleased to have you here with us."

"Not at all!" Jina exclaimed. "We're happy to help as well."

"We'll see you tomorrow," Hobin said with a bow. They got into Jina's car and sped off. Siwan, who was still parked outside, followed their vehicle until it stopped at the hospital. He got out of his car and entered the backseat of Jina's car.

"We couldn't talk to that girl," Hobin said.

"And the crime scene has been wiped," Jina sighed.

"Guess we'll have to try again tomorrow," Siwan shrugged. 

"We'll need to distract the matron," Hobin muttered. Then an idea struck him.

"What's your brother doing tomorrow?" he asked Jina.

"Which one?" she frowned.

"The one who's an idol," he replied. "Tell him to drop everything and volunteer at the orphanage for tomorrow. We'll also need that girl...Soobin, right?"

"You want my brother and the witness to this case at the crime scene?" Jina frowned. "That's a little risky…"

"We'll have to take the risk if we wanna find out what happened to Wonho and Minki," Hobin pointed out. 

"I'll have to meet up with my team tomorrow," Jina nodded. "To synchronize our findings.This case is more complicated than I thought."

If only we can find Wonho's body, she added in her thoughts.