The Clue

Disclaimer : I'm a huge KPop fan and you will come across names and photographs of KPop idols in most of my stories. They are my muse and inspiration in so many ways. The incidents and characters are fictional and have no resemblance to any K pop idol in any manner.

Detective Jeon's usual cool demeanour and handsome face was marred by a frown, as he drove to the hospital to see the body. He was dressed in his trademark 'black ninja' ensemble of black jeans, black tee, black leather jacket, chunky black boots and a black baseball cap. Honestly he looked more like a college student than a detective! Literally dressed to kill! And since the present demands, a black mask that he pulled up as he parked his black Fortuner. He took off his sunglasses and pushed back his hair as he entered the hospital. Unidentified male. Found dead on the beach by some fishermen. Police found no wallet, no means to identify him. So far, they are clueless! What's new! According to the post mortem report, the young man in his early 30s, died of asphyxiation and was probably thrown into the water to make it look like he drowned. Body was bloated beyond recognition. No injuries or wounds. Wedding ring is missing because the mark is visible. Sand found in his fingernails and toenails.

"Good looking bloke. Even in this state you could see he was handsome and his physique showed he worked out regularly. In fact, if you look at his back, he looks like a swimmer. Which means he definitely didn't drown! He was killed somewhere else first." Detective Jeon knew this wasn't much to start with. He called for a digital sketch of the deceased. The dead man looked so familiar but Jeon couldn't place him. Maybe the sketch would help! Dead men tell no tales but this one sure does! The young Detective was both respected and feared because he was a genius! A book loving nerd, a computer geek and extremely cool headed and mature for his age! He had solved every such case with an intelligence and professionalism that made people look at him with awe! In his spare time he sings, dances, paints and even cooks. Needless to say the entire female population( single and married)in the HQ had a crush on him! Obviously the men envied him! Detective Jeon was on his way to the beach where the body was found. Looking for clues on the sandy beach was useless but he still wanted to explore the area around. No tyre marks or footprints were found. He walked away towards the rocks at a distance and picked up a random plastic bag( probably the wind blew it here!). He was about to junk it in the dustbin, but changed his mind and bagged it in a ziplock bag( he always carries those!). After hours of searching, nothing was found. Except that plastic bag. Jeon's gut feeling said the plastic bag was important. He drove back to the HQ and went to see the Forensic expert Kim. Handing him the plastic bag Jeon said," I feel this is important. Please check this out for me." Detective Jeon walked back to his car, lost in thought. He sat in the car and drove off to meet his friend who owns a bar. He needed a drink and some man-to-man talk. Some distraction, so that his sharp mind can start afresh! Seeing his friend Jin made him smile, no matter what! For the next 2 hours, Jin made Jeon forget about the case completely! As soon as Jeon reached home, he fell on the bed and fell asleep. The insistent ringing of the phone woke Jeon as he fumbled around and finally found his phone. It was the Forensic expert Kim's deep voice saying,"Detective Jeon, it's a goldmine!" Jeon sat up, alert and curious. " What do you mean?" "Come here ASAP. I want you to be the first one to know." Kim hung up on a curious Jeon, who was driving to the HQ within 15 minutes. He had shaved, showered, changed and gulped down his coffee in record time! He parked his car and ran towards the Forensic Lab. The Forensic expert handed him a full report and said," The plastic bag was a gold mine, Jeon. It had traces of saliva which match with that of the deceased. And it had fingerprints, which don't belong to him. The fingerprints report will be here soon." Detective Jeon said quietly," The fingerprints are definitely of the killer who probably tried to kill the deceased by tying the plastic bag around his face. That's the only theory I have right now! Thank you! I'll get going . I need to see the sketch now. Let's hear about the fingerprint report at the meeting." When the Detective reached his desk, he saw the sketch and stopped dead in his tracks. The deceased was finally identified. 33 year old Ravi Gupta, the firebrand journalist, who was feared by all political parties and loved by the masses. This is huge! The news of his death might lead to violence by his admirers! Most people would want to kill him but his popularity wouldn't make it so easy; or so he thought! But here he was, lying cold and dead.... Jeon was still thinking when the Chief walked in and gave him a worried look. "You do know what we are dealing with...Is there a way to break the news and avoid the chaos? Jeon, this could get ugly. Be careful. I stopped them from going to the media with the news." " I was just thinking about that Sir! Let's not publish any news about Ravi Gupta's death for now. Please give me some time to think...." Jeon said as Chief nodded in agreement. With a worried look at Jeon,Chief left. Chief called for an emergency meeting of all department heads and gave them strict instructions not to make anything about this investigation public until further orders. There was no family to be informed,so the matter was being investigated in total secrecy.

The Forensic expert enlightened everyone at the meeting with his latest discovery. The fingerprints belonged to a young woman rumoured to be Ravi Gupta's present girlfriend Leela, daughter of media mogul Vijendra Singh and also his heir apparent. Jeon, alongwith a lady cop, set off to meet the young woman. He had so many questions but he knew it would be difficult to get any answers. Leela Singh was known to be a tough and ruthless businesswoman who had only one aim in life - to be at the top! She could do anything to get there. The building was impressive. Jeon walked in with the plainclothes policewoman into the lift and went up to Leela Singh's office. The security let them in without fuss but they had to wait while the Secretary informed Leela about Detective Jeon. As Jeon entered the office, he saw Leela talking on the phone. She hung up and said," Good morning. Please sit down. I'm curious Detective. What is this visit about?" Jeon wasn't impressed with her calm and composed behaviour because his watchful eyes didn't miss her trembling fingers. She looked nervous. Jeon leisurely sat back, looking at her, assessing her, which made her uncomfortable. "Miss Singh, your boyfriend was found dead at the beach and your fingerprints have been found at the crime scene. You are under arrest." He said as the lady cop handcuffed Leela. "I will not say a word till my lawyer is here." That's all Leela said as she was taken away to the police station. At the police station, Jeon and his colleague Jennifer sat across Leela in the interrogation room as the Chief and rest of the cops watched them on the huge screen in the adjoining room. Jennifer started questioning Leela," How did you meet Ravi Gupta? " Leela: "We met 6 months back when I had an interview with his channel." Jennifer: " How was your relationship? " Leela: " It's been just 6 months and we were still trying to know each other better. We were serious about each other." Jennifer: When did you last meet him? Leela: A week back. Jeon interrupted,"No,2 days back. You killed him and then dumped his body on the beach. I want to know why?" Leela glared at him but remained silent. Jennifer: "Is this true, Leela Singh?" Leela: "I will not talk till my lawyer is here." Jeon: "We have evidence." Leela: "Call my lawyer. You can't force me to say anything. I know my rights. You are trying to scare me but I'm not scared of you." Jennifer:"Please answer the question. We have proof that you were the last person who saw him alive and that was 2 days back. " Leela:"(sigh) Well, I did meet him but not at the beach. We were meeting after a long time and wanted to spend some time together. But he was only interested in talking about his latest expose' on the clandestine arms deal. I was getting upset because he was just not interested in talking about 'us'...." Jennifer:"Go on." Leela:" He got a call and immediately left. He didn't tell me where he was going. That's the last I saw him." Jeon:" Leela Singh, you are lying. You killed him in cold blood and tried to make it look like he drowned." Leela: "You keep accusing me of killing Ravi and keep talking about evidence! Which evidence? Show me that evidence! I want to see what proof you have which makes you so confident that I killed my boyfriend!" Jeon:"All in good time. Be patient." Jennifer:"Leela Singh, please continue." Leela:" Continue with what? I already told you everything!" Jeon and Jennifer noticed Leela losing her cool now and knew it's a matter of time before she breaks down completely. Jeon:" I will tell you what happened. You both met as you planned and his lack of attention really bothered you. Finally in your anger, you killed him. You got scared and dumped him on the beach so no one would suspect he was killed!" Leela:"Detective, there were no wounds or injuries to prove murder. How can you accuse me then?" Jennifer looked at Jeon, who smirked and asked," Leela Singh, how do YOU know that there were no injuries or wounds on the body? The report isn't official yet!"

Leela's face contorted with anger and frustration as she screamed," I know because I killed him! I even disposed off that polythene bag! What proof do you have? You are all lying! Just like he lied to me!" Jennifer:" Leela Singh, I arrest you for the murder of Ravi Gupta." Leela:"At least tell me what evidence you have now that I have already confessed." Jeon:" Using a polythene bag was a smart move, Leela Singh. If only you had disposed it off properly and I hadn't found it, things would be different! No one pays attention to a random polythene bag lying on the beach. Even if he does, it would be dumped in a bin immediately. But, I didn't do that because my gut instinct told me it could be 'the clue', the missing piece of the puzzle in front of me. It was an almost perfect murder, almost!" Leela:" Then why did you make me talk so much? Wasn't that proof enough?" Jeon:"It was incriminating enough but we wanted to hear from your own mouth. Makes the case stronger! But I still want to know exactly what happened, why and how. Please enlighten us!" Leela:" Ravi and I decided to meet. He came over to my place. I have already told you how upset I was. He wanted to break off because he had met someone else and he was texting her in front of me. I just lost it! I saw the polythene bag on the table next to me and standing behind him, covered his head with it. I kept holding it tight and he was not able to breathe. When he stopped moving I came to my senses. In my anger I had killed the person I loved.... Then I went to the beach, buried the plastic bag behind some rocks far from where his body was.... If I hadn't panicked I would have disposed off that stupid plastic bag in the dustbin at home! You wouldn't have found it! And I wouldn't be here.... " Jeon:" You are a scary woman, Leela Singh." Chief walked in and congratulated Jeon and Jennifer. Leela Singh was to be presented before the Court tomorrow morning. Her lawyer had reached too late. News headlines next morning: "Detective Jeon finds 'the clue' and solves the mystery of an almost perfect murder once again ". "Leela Singh arrested for Ravi Gupta's murder." Jeon picked up the phone and heard Jin's boisterous voice," Let's celebrate buddy!" "Exactly the person I need to see today!" Jeon said to Jin with a smile and hung up.