Reciting complaints about 37 times each to the chief with a bald head and his partner on vacation, Jude carried a brief containing a case file and a bag of everyday items. There are large billboards where departures and arrivals displayed constantly, airport speakers with friendly voices, and people who are busy carrying suitcases. Even though it was evening time, the machine-smelling airport was still busy. Jude, who was looking at the scene with despair-I’m really at the airport right now!- moved his feet with a long sigh.
Passing the ticket to a female employee standing near the boarding gate, Jude sighed one more time. His shoulders drooped on their own while inwardly saying, I wasn’t this nervous when I took the police exam.
“-Welcome… …Are you feeling uncomfortable?”
“Yes, but I can’t go back, so you don’t have to worry.”
Tim, when you get back from vacation, I’ll give you a lot of trouble. Jude, who was groaning and walking on the floor, paused and hesitated at the door of the plane for the last time. Are you sure this is okay? -He tilted his head while making a face, and it was not until he was looked at by the person behind him that he turned forward with a sigh full of self-pity. He was not happy with the blue seats that were laid down, leaving the aisle.
G1, G2, G3…….. G14, G16, G18……..
G19.
It was a window seat. If the kid sitting next to me whines to open the window to look outside, I’ll show him the police badge. The plane hasn’t even fly yet, and the ground seemed to be shaking already. Sitting down, Jude first lowered the window cover on his right.
The second hand sound of the watch, which was loosely wrapped around his wrist, sounded strangely in his ears. As he leaned his head against the seat with his eyes closed and arms folded, he felt someone sitting next to him. Fortunately, he/she didn’t seem to be a child when he heard the silent squeaking sound. Yes, he thought it was a relief.
Until he hears that quiet voice.
“Are you sleeping?”
From the hastily turned head, there must have been a windy sound.
“………Ah.”
“Long time no see.”
This bored calm smile, the still voice that rings in the ear. Jude, who was stunned at the face that made his mind numb at the same time, turned and pounded his head as if something were messing up his head. A groan of murmurs came out.
“……I should have gotten a doctor’s opinion. How nerve-wrecking I must be……useless…”
“It’s useless. Sadly.”
“So you want me to take this as a reality now? No way, it’s crazy, crazy.”
“Why, can’t I take a plane?”
When the voice of laughter was heard again, Jude opened his closed eyes and spat it out violently into the face of the person who told him that all of the world’s common sense was missing.
“Does that make sense? Anyway, get off, and I’ll cuff you.”
The young man, whose pale blue-gray eyes were covered with blue lenses, smiled naively and courteously.
“-Do you think I’ll get off?”
“Do you think you’ll be able to resist getting off if I tell the security guard?”
“Will the security guard believe you?”
“How could they not believe me if I showed them my police badge? Come on, get off quickly.”
“Do you have a police badge?”
The face of Jude, who put his hand in his pocket while saying “Of course…”, crumpled without mercy the next moment. In the cluttered pocket with the house keys and receipts, the familiar touch was nonexistent. Alvin chuckled a little.
“When did you take it out?”
“As soon as I see it. I’ll give it to you later.”
“You don’t think I can arrest you without having a police badge? Don’t you know your face is all over the country?”
“That’s why I’m wearing lenses, glasses, and dye my hair. People shudder at the killer’s story, but they don’t always have the idea that someone like him will hang around. You know, I’m very insensitive about that. Few people believe that people around them are full of intent to attack them except the mentally ill. That’s why Mrs. Rice was able to accept me working.”
“……Oh, yes.”
“And if I call security now, I can make him think you’re more dangerous than I am. Would you like to experiment? It’s a small skill, but it’s surprisingly useful. How do you think the guard got me out of jail alone?”
The voice was mellow. Jude, who was looking at Alvin with a lump in his throat, soon turned his head with a small voice. Every single cell of his body was filled with irritation. The space between his eyes narrowed by itself.
“What’s wrong?”
“………never mind.”
At that time, there was an in-flight broadcast that said it would leave soon. The insincere voice of wishing for a pleasant flight, the terrible content of taking off soon, and the uncomfortable instruction to wear a seat belt. When Jude reluctantly held his seat belt in his hand, his fingertips trembled like a drug addict somehow. The belt kept going off the track, clinking. A sudden agitation in his nerve made him craves for cigarette.
When he clicked his tongue, suddenly a pale white hand grabbed the belt instead of Jude. Click, Jude crouched unconsciously in the seat belt that was fastened so easily. There was a sigh when he touched the belt once and leaned back.
“Detective…”
“Why.”
“Do you have flight phobia?”
“If I say no, will you believe me?”
It’s not the worst yet when you can say it’s the worst, but for Jude it wasn’t considered to be anything more than the worst. They’re “on the plane,” and there’s “the guy” next to him, and he knows “the fact.”
When the heavy body of the plane began to move for takeoff, Jude breathed in and grasped the armrest tightly.
“…………If I ask them to get off now, won’t they drop me off…….. It was the wrong choice as expected…..what would happen if I begged them to get off……no, first, to the chief…”
Muttering like a weak seizure, another hand climbed over the hand that held the armrest so hard that the white joint stood out and held it lightly. Jude gave a small laugh.
“…… I’m more nervous.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not OK…..!”
Guuuuuuu! As soon as he felt the acceleration just before takeoff, Jude snapped Alvin’s hand that held on his hand. Screaming “Fuck!”, at the speed of light, the dark blonde detective regretted his actions to the bone. It’s been 7 years, so maybe I won’t see death this time? Now it’s more vivid! Jude, who was groaning with his teeth clenched, closed his eyes when the airplane began to rise. With his left hand on the armrest, he clenched his hand on a slender and solid hand as if to crush it, and at that moment another hand reached out and patted his shoulders.
“It’s all right.”
“…….Ngh……. not okay……..”
“It’s okay. It doesn’t fall off or anything.”
“………I feel queasy……”
“There’s a bag, so go ahead. Breathe first. It’s okay.”
He wanted to vomit from the gentle patting on the back, but he don’t know what will happen if he do that. Jude managed to control his stomach and exhale slowly. The short, barely breathing out, only became a little more comfortable when the plane stopped rising altitude and began to go on a steady track. He could hear Alvin’s thin smile as he leaned against the chair and breathed a long sigh.
“Dear Detective, my hands hurt.”
Only then did he realize that he was holding Alvin’s hand tightly and let it go, and he could see that the stewardess coming out over there turned a strange look away. “I think they’ve misunderstood something,” said Alvin, with a low laugh.
“I didn’t know you’d have something like this.”
“I didn’t know until I got on the plane.”
“Oh, window, window!”
Suddenly, a child snapped in beside Jude, who was complaining in an excited voice. It was an 11-year-old boy sitting next to Alvin, who stunned Jude by lifting the window cover that Jude had put down tightly. As he turned his head in such a hurry that his neck almost cracked, Alvin’s sweet-sounding- voice rang.
“I closed it because I’m tired and sleeping, so could you close it again? That’s how you’re a good kid.”
“Wow, that’s mean!”
In a childish voice, Alvin’s eyes narrowed and laughed. Jude, who looked at the smile with a little expressionless face, tapped the child on the back in an insincere manner.
“Now, go back, go back. Where’s your mother?”
As he tried to return the child, whose mouth was pouting, to his seat, a voice that began to become husky came from the very back seat.
“Hey, El! If you make trouble, I’ll tell mom.”
What soon came into sight was a young man with a dark brown hair. He was athletic, big, and quite muscular, but he still had a boyish look on his face. Maybe he’s the child’s older brother, the child soon returned to his seat in a sullen mood. Following his brother, he bowed politely.
“Sorry, my brother is still young.”
“No, it’s okay…… I’ll go to the bathroom.”
Jude, who answered with a slightly bluish face, stood up with his clumsy head. Ignoring the children’s voices– “Come on, El, play with your brother. Do you want to play circus?” “Uh-huh! I want to, want to!” as Alvin stepped out of the hallway, he held his arm lightly, as if he was asking if he was okay, but he pulled it dryly and headed for the bathroom. He struggled not to see the scenery seen by the surrounding windows – the clouds spread out under the dark night sky.
When asked by the stewardess, “Are you okay?” who was surprised by his pale complexion, “I’m okay. It’s fine”. Jude barely managed to answer and get to the bathroom and went inside. The peculiar smell of the plane’s toilet stimulated his stomach.
Even if I wanted to vomit, the tickling didn’t come out of my throat.
Jude only turned on the water on the sink to wet his face, and shook his head with a long sigh.
I felt as if my intestines were struggling to get out of my body all at once.
Rattling! Maybe it met some goddamn turbulence, the plane tilted once. At that moment, he flopped down on the floor, and Jude curled up, covering his head. His body trembled at will.
How long has it been since I was this scared?
Why am I here?
Please let me down! I’m suffocating to death!
Why am I so afraid of airplanes.
Help me. Superman. Powerpuff Girl if not.
The rooftop of the skyscraper is fine for me.
Did something happen when I was young?
Do I know? I don’t even remember.
The airplane toilet is too narrow.
Damn, my legs aren’t working.
“………friggin’………..”
Countless thoughts passed through his mind. When he bit his lips to control the heart thumping in his body, the door he leaned onto delivered a thud and a soft echo.
“There’s someone.”
When he answered softly in a slightly cracked voice, a low voice leaked through the door.
“It’s me, open the door.”
“Is it urgent? Go somewhere else.”
“I’m worried, open the door. It was shaking earlier, are you all right?”
He was very irritated at the moment. He haven’t screamed and yelled since childhood even when his memory is blurry, but the unstoppable curtness burst out of his throat.
“So noisy! What are you worried about, you think I don’t know you? Are you enjoying this situation? I’m not having any fun, shut up and go sit down, because I don’t need it!”
There was no answer. In rare cases, Jude was in a really ‘stable’ state. Fear, anger and Alvin’s voice that blends them like water balloon that would pop if poked with a needle.
It wasn’t that I didn’t think I would be killed by that guy outside the door as soon as I got off the plane, but I couldn’t afford to think about it deeply.
He got up while grinding his teeth to recover; barely sitting on the lid of the toilet, and the bathroom door clicked to the “In Use” sign. As soon as he looked at the doorknob in doubt, it turned to the sign of “Open” with a weak iron sound. As he stared blankly, the door opened and a neat shirt-clad man came in.
“Hey, we’re really misunderstood by flight attendants.”
“Are you having fun?”
From Alvin’s face, the laughter was drastically lost. Jude looked at the face unfamiliarly, and Alvin took a step closer to Jude in the narrow bathroom.
“Yes, it’s fun. I’ve never seen you unwind like this. It’s the first time you’ve ever been so angry.”
“……do you like me to be angry? Are you a pervert?”
“How many times have you been so angry, as far as you can remember?”
“Do you ever remember getting angry?”
“Don’t ask questions. Just tell me what comes to your mind.”
“Oh, yeah. It’s the 461st. All right.”
With a – I can’t help it- like smile, Alvin put his hand slightly on Jude’s shoulder. As soon as the hand was about to be struck dry, again the plane tilted, and Jude swallowed the scream and squeezed the hand he was trying to strike. Dup-Dup-Dup, the heart rate, which had barely calmed down, rumbled like a small drum. As he closed his lips tightly to ease the shock, a cool hand pulled his head lightly. The smooth texture of the shirt touched the nervous cheek.
“Why did you get so scared? The plane.”
“……I, I don’t know…”
“Do you have any bad memories?”
“I told you I didn’t know.”
When the piercing voice popped out, Alvin’s low voice rang right above his head.
“Detective, don’t you remember when you were a kid?”
“Why again?”
“When I ask if you remember or not, you usually say yes or no. If you say ‘I don’t know,’ it means you don’t remember not that you don’t know, right?”
“I don’t remember, so I don’t know. Do you think phobia needs a good reason? I don’t know because I don’t have any particular memories about that.”
“It must be terrible.”
“Don’t talk to me as if you understand it. You don’t care if other people suffer or not. Don’t talk sincerely about something good, I’m not flying high enough to play with that kind of joke right now.”
Despite his annoyed tone, Alvin tittered a little and touched Jude’s hair. It was as if he was touching a marble sculpture from the museum.
“This was also a promise, but I’m glad I got on this flight. I can’t believe I’ve heard so much from you detective. But don’t get me wrong, I care about your troubles.”
“Why–“
“Don’t ask me, I don’t know everything. I’m just a different person. After all, you can’t escape from what made you human. I’m strangely on my nerves… …what should I say? Are you lonely when you are alone, too?”
“Do you have a fear of flying, too? You’re talking crazy all of a sudden.”
“Oh, I did it at first, but sometimes I’m really apathetic, Detective. It’s natural to be lonely when you’re alone, right? Drawing the appearance of a home that they will return to without even realizing it is what people usually do. And, rarely, at the same time -the appearance of such a home is my biggest stimulus. Because it is unfamiliar, something I could never feel, something I couldn’t taste even in my family, whom others said was harmonious. Is it a sense of belonging or a sense of unity? It’s from you detective that all of those things come off. It’s the best stimulation and comfort for me.”
“Why, are you going to say that I’m similar to you?”
“Well, if you were exactly like me, I wouldn’t have had any reason to be interested. It’s similar, but you’ve got something else. You have more barren parts of yourself than others, but you try to hide it with a fertile soil layer. You wanted to cover it up to appear stronger than others… …but it won’t be perfect. Detective, isn’t your partner surprised sometimes? You have seen so much gruesome death, how can you be so calm?”
“Tim is squeamish, he’s not strong. How can you compare my naive Tim to this mature member of society?”
Alvin said, “Oh, you’re relaxed now. Will we have to meet turbulence once more for you to be honest again?”- laughing low, someone knocked on the bathroom door with a slightly faster tempo. An angry voice struck in the ear.
“Passenger, would you please come out? Sir?”
It was the dull, dry voice of the stewardess. When the sober Jude got up and opened the bathroom door, she glanced at Alvin and Jude with a slightly subtle glance and recited quickly.
“You can’t do this on the plane, sir. After you land and get off……”
“No, it’s not like that. Well, wait. Well, I’m not good at flying. So…”
“I followed him because I was worried. He went into the bathroom with a pale face. There’s also turbulence earlier. I’m sorry if I made you misunderstand. Let’s go back to our seats.”
I could see why there were no credible reports.
Oh my god, who on earth would confirm a serial killer and dial 911 when a neat person speaks with such a face, voice, tone and smile? It was clear that he would be accused of defamation. As he clicked his tongue inside, the stewardess stared blankly at Alvin for a moment and hurriedly turned her gaze a little.
“Oh, well, there are other guests, so please be aware of that, and if you have any inconvenience, please let me know right away.”
“I will. Thank you for your concern.”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
As Alvin smiled and answered, a stewardess collapsed and screamed in front of the toilet over there. The screams that pierced the brain like an awl drew all eyes to it. The stewardess, who sat down, raised her finger, shaking, uncaring at her disheveled clothes. Intermittent groans came through the other hand-closed mouth, as if to stop her from throwing up. With the bulging eyes pointing to something horrible in the bathroom, Jude was the first to move his foot among the frozen people to approach the toilet.
Inside the cubicle, there was a small bag. Inside them are white-cold arms, strangely twisted legs, and an unevenly cut neck. Will it look like this if you force the broken marionette into it? The moment he checked the dead person’s face, Jude turned his head and looked back.
The kid next to me who was begging me to open the window.
No way.
The serial killer’s eyes were smiling thinly, making it hard to understand the meaning.
“-Give me the police badge.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m not in the mood for a joke, give it to me.”
As he reached out his hand as if he had climbed to the top of the mountain called annoyance, the delicate-looking young man smiled. As he twirled his hand on the armrest, a dark-colored police badge appeared. Giving it to Jude in a neat move, Alvin laughed again at the goofy-faced Jude.
“You asked for it, why are you surprised?”
“No, I didn’t expect you to give it.”
“You know it’s not me.”
An uncouth fellow. Yup, tongue-tied , Jude turned his head. The first time he saw the child’s body, he looked back at Alvin, but he already realized that the chances were very slim. This young man sitting next to Jude doesn’t kill people in such an obscure way. If necessary, he would have finished with a sharp blow, and if by interest, he would have put his life out with a full exercise of experimentation. The dismembered body with a dislocated joint was obviously terrible, but it was a sloppy job that did not apply to him.
Crucially, the child’s body was imbued with an emotional expedient as if it was an unnecessary pile of junk. It was not just a ‘dead’ body, it was a ‘murdered’ body. There was no immediate way to know whether the reason was hatred or regret or embarrassment.
“Who, who are you?”
The stewardess standing by the scene asked Jude who strode up, with a small voice. Showing the police badge he had just received, Jude spoke a little blasé.
“This is the New York Police. I’m going to investigate.”
“Oh, hey, are you a cop? Please…”
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! Oh, my God! El!”
As the stewardess took a deep breath and stepped back like a person who had dived into the deep sea, a desperate scream rang tearing up the air inside the plane. All eyes were drawn to one place.
The red-haired woman standing over there, looking into the bathroom, squatted in her seat. It was the brother of the dead child, whom Jude had seen a little while ago, who hurriedly helped her from behind. The young man with brown curly hair, trembled his lips at the sight that unfolded in front of him, biting his pale lips as if he could barely hold back a scream.
You’d better hear the story a while later, after they come to their senses
. Making a light decision, Jude stepped into the bathroom with his head lightly raised. The red fishy smell flashed through him.
“……let’s get it over with, kid. I’m not feeling very well right now. I’m not mentally relaxed enough to drag the case out for a long time.”
Muttering so quietly that no one outside could hear, Jude looked back and forth at the body. From the deep cut in the neck, the dark red blood was overflowing. Given that the cross-section that was cut several times is not so clean, did he use a letter knife, not a sharp knife? No, the faint ink mark on the neck might have been a fountain pen. Jude, who was looking carefully at the cross-section, soon tilted his head. What is this strange feeling of incompatibility felt in this section. What’s strange about a dead body with a cut throat?
The fishy smell wasn’t as bad as I thought. If he had died of a decapitation, as Mrs.Zegens did, the blood should have filled the whole plane with that disgusting smell, probably enough to wet the bathroom floor. But the bleeding was only wetting the surface of the bag, and when I looked inside, I could not see any severe bleeding. In short, there was too little blood.
“……then, how did you die……”
There is no autopsy, so he has to look at it on his own. Jude grumbled quietly and pulled out the small body in the bag with careful hand movements.
It was literally like a broken doll. A white light fell on the body that had become so pale and turned bluish. Where the joint was broken, necrosis and bruising traces remained.
But it’s not fatal enough to lose your life. You could have passed out in pain.
Jude, who was lightly sweeping through the skin, looked carefully at the area around the cut neck and the depth of the cut. It was much darker and severe enough to look black than the bruise in the broken joint.
Raising his head sharply, Jude looked at the wide open mouth of the child. There were bruises all over his mouth. Moreover, seeing the burst here and there, did he get beaten or pressed as hard as he could? The cracked lips were purple.
“……the cause of death is …”
Rattling! As he put his head still on the bathroom wall and combined the situation, the small space shook and hit his head a little. Jude, who was sitting on the floor in a flash while catching his breath, violently rant inside his head about the situation – even getting on the plane is annoying, so why did this incident have to happen? Murder on an airplane? Where is it common occurrence? -He tried to calm the goosebumps running down his backbone.
The smell of blood that he normally smelled casually suddenly irritated his stomach.
I don’t remember throwing up at the scene, but something seemed to stir my brain.
After barely opening the bathroom door, Jude sat down. The sound of a red-haired woman crying from the front and the pouring gaze of people were burdensome, but the first thing to do was to take a breath. As he breathed out loud like a pregnant woman, he could hear a soft voice next to him.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“Lies.”
“Don’t ask me while knowing, it’s annoying.”
When he heard his voice buried in the woman’s crying, Alvin laughed quietly. With one long sigh, Jude rose from his seat and sat down beside the woman. The teary eyes of the woman, who was gasping for breath, blankly turned to Jude.
His skill in dealing with bereaved families is not very sophisticated. Desperately feeling the absence of the partner who was not beside him, Jude scratched the back of his head a little uncomfortable.
“Fi-First of all, I’m from NYPD. Are you the mother of the deceased child?”
“….yes,………. Ro, I’m Rosalyn Travis…….”
“Yes, Mrs. Travis. Is this trip, with your family?”
“Well, my husband passed away a year ago…..and I was on my way to my relative’s house with my children….. Roy and El are all here……. Oh my God, I can’t…….. God……! What a terrible thing to happen!”
“Ah-Ma-Ma’am, please calm down first…..”
“Does it make sense to calm down now?”
Abrupt, huffy voices came out. Brown-haired Roy glanced at Jude, holding back tears.
“He’s only 11 years old. Who the hell did this? Who is it!”
His face was flushed, and Roy got up from his seat and shouted as if he would grab Jude by the collar. With such a strong physique, is he playing for a football team at school? When Jude was seen sighing while turning his head in a bit of embarrassment, Roy breathed harshly and clenched his teeth.
“You’re just saying that one little boy is dead, like one of the many cases you’ve been dealing with! Is it annoying? Is it bothersome? You were sighing?”
“Roy, stop…”
“Isn’t mom upset? El……he’s dead….!”
“Stop it!”
A jarring, nervous voice broke the air with tears in it. In a moment of real anger on the woman’s face, Jude narrowed down his eyebrow to a small extent. Staring at Jude’s green eyes, Roy chewed on his lips a few times and sat down again. After touching his chin for a moment, Jude turned to the darkened face of the woman.
“By any chance, do you have any idea? Whether a strange person kept looking, or a person with a particular grudge got on this plane…”
The red-haired lady closed her eyes and shook her head.
“No, there’s no one like that. If I had, I would have known before anyone else. I’m sensitive to the way people look at children. How on earth, how on earth is that good boy….!”
Jude glanced at the woman, who was biting her lips, and folding her arms together. With a short condolence, Jude rose from his seat and returned to his original seat.
It was dubious.
Lowering his head with a slightly dull face, the blonde detective irked his hair.
I didn’t think my 'sense” as a detective was particularly outstanding, but the conversation with the bereaved family, which I just finished, smelled unusual.
Unusual?
Why?
Tears, screams, were just like usual.
What was the first thing you heard when you first met the bereaved family?
What was the first thing Tim says to calm them down when he meets the bereaved, especially the mothers?
-Just calm down for now.
This is what I said.
-The investigation is still underway. Let’s find out more about the details……..
I didn’t say this. What do mothers usually shout before this word comes out?
“It’s not that interesting. Although it is a little bit complicated.”
The moment a low voice rang beside him, Jude paused what he was thinking and turned to Alvin. Like watching a really boring movie, Alvin was quietly holding hands with a face that didn’t come up with much expression.
“What, do you get it?”
“Murder inevitably involves understanding people’s emotions. I’m sure you’ve got the hang of it.”
“……is it that simple?”
“I think so. The cause is probably minor. It could have been an accident.”
“Does the body in the bag look like an accident?”
“Ahhaha, you can say that it’s not an accident in the pure sense of the word, but rather an accident of the mind. It’s not really anything. It’s not that elaborate. You just felt something was wrong, didn’t you?”
“……..I forgot because you talked to me.”
“The smell of murder didn’t go away so easily, Detective. Whether they’re talking out of their minds or with their bodies, they had a faint smell of it, and I could still smell it, and I was a little bit curious about it, but it turns out it’s not a big deal. When I think about it, it’s too obvious.”
“It’s a big deal.”
“Do you want me to tell you? I’m not very interested in ‘solving’ the case.”
“Good. What am I, Clarice Starling? Asking you about the case. Be quiet, I’ll think about it.”
With a clear laugh in one ear, Jude was again lost in thought. The first thing the mothers of the dead victim shout out as soon as they see the police, it’s….
-Who!
A fire broke out in his head. The voices – which he has heard dozens of times – but not so seriously – echoed noisily.
-Who did this! Who! Who is it!
Yes, because I’m a detective. Since I’m a detective, that’s what I hear first. When the detective first visited them, the bereaved family showed strong sadness and anger at the same time. Usually to the police, especially right after the incident, the question of the culprit was at least on average, even if they didn’t show anger. But there was no such thing this time.
It was just a sad remark about a dead child. There were neither fierce questions about the situation nor urging Jude to quickly resolve it. Rather, Roy was the one who got angry. He looked rather normal now. The mother who got mad at him with all her heart, it was much weirder if it was not weird.
Especially the face, the pensive face which she wears from the start till the end. It wasn’t just a sense of loss. It was as if she saw a ghost’s sudden appearance in her comfy blanket in the middle of the night, her face was all hazy with fear.
There was something invisible. And Jude, who was wondering how to dig out information, rose lightly from his seat and approached the mother and Roy, who were still crying. After a brief conflict over which side to interrogate first, Jude headed for the mother.
“Ma’am, can I talk to you for a moment?”
“……Ah…… Am I not supposed to talk about this here?”
“It could be a little sensitive question.”
“Oh, I see. But where did you…”
Looking back at the stewardess, she hurriedly said that there was one first-class room empty. Under her guidance, Jude went into the room with the woman – and never forgetting to marvel at the sheer entrails of the plane – He told the stewardess to go to work and then sat down.
“What, the story…”
“I’ll be blunt. Tell me how you’ve been.”
“What? How’s it going…..”
“Simple. Financial status, family problems. It’s a procedural thing, so you don’t have to be nervous.”
“That…….”
As if hesitating for a moment, the lady gathered her hands tightly together and put them on her lap. Several times her lips trembled feebly. The fingertips, which were delicately manicured, also tapered a little.
“I’m ashamed… …but after my husband’s death, it’s very difficult financially. My salary is tight enough to pay for my children’s education… …and the reason I’m going to my relative’s house for a while is because I’ve sold my house I’ve been living in. Until I found a cheaper house, I had to stay there… …because I was in a hurry to pay for my expenses.”
“I see. Your husband…”
“He died in an accident a year ago. It was a car accident. The children cried a lot.”
“Ah, so are El and Roy both children born from the deceased husband?”
“…….that…”
When the question was asked in a passing by manner, she was speechless. Several times looking on the ground, she blinked. The long eyelashes flinched as if wary.
“That’s……why, do you ask?”
“No, I just don’t think they look like, brothers.”
“……Roy is……my first child. I married at an immature age. It was very imprudent…… I divorced my husband and remarried. My ex-husband was married once, so he already had El. But he died a year ago……and now it’s just hopeless.”
“Yes. So, were Roy and El getting along well? If they were a half-brother, it wouldn’t be easy to get close to.”
When she was asked again insensitively, the woman’s eyes jerked. The amber eyes were trembling dangerously.
“No way… do you suspect Roy? That did he did that to El?”
“I didn’t really say that.”
“That’s ridiculous. Oh, that’s ridiculous…… he’s such a nice kid……”
“You aren’t angry?”
The woman, like a dauntless woman, laughed a few times. But Jude’s quiet gaze did not fall from her face, and soon the laughter disappeared from her face. The thin shivering chin twitched as if it were about to burst into tears.
“No way, no way………”
“In fact, if you think about it a little, you can see it quickly in this situation. Even if it’s a plane with few passengers, it’s not easy to lure a child without anyone around knowing. The only people who can kill a child silently are the people and families that are incredibly close. And I’m going to ask Roy, you know, he might have asked him to go in his bag as a joke and suffocated him. I’ll call Roy later, so I’ll ask him then.”
“What, say…”
“Oh, guess what? I’m sure there was a sign of that, but El’s neck was broken off the joint, and by your strength, that’s too much for you, unless you’re a very well-built sportsman.”
“Oh, Detective…..”
“You can’t usually do that with normal force if you want to tear it up like that with something that’s not sharp. There’s only one person that comes to mind. Would it be more certain if we compare the size of Roy’s feet with the bruise on the neck?”
“Detective…… what the hell are you talking about……”
The woman’s breath quickened and almost ran out of breath. As he was worried about whether he should have brought some heart medicine, Jude added insincerely in his mind.
“I thought it was weird when you didn’t ask me who the killer was. You made a mistake. Bereaved families ask that first to the detective. The next time you’re in this situation, you’ll have to refer to it…… ah, you can’t do it anymore.”
“I….. I’m…….”
“Did you ask him? To Roy? Why, did you have insurance?”
“No way, I killed El!”
A shrill voice rang in the room. The woman, whose face was flushed red, stared at Jude with shallow breath and soon shook her head with a dejected face. Tears fell on the floor of the room. In front of Jude, who looked with a dull eye, the lady flung down on her knees. In the cry that burst like an animal, the words were interspersed in pieces.
“I didn’t know….. so far……… to kill……. that Roy…….!”
“You were with Roy, too, what happened?”
“I just needed money……………. I just… …I was so tired………. just a little bit of hurt……….a little bit of hurt… a little bit… a little bit of money….!”
“Is it insurance?”
“I’m sorry….! Sorry, sorry, sorry, honey….! I was really going to do that, like an accident, like a little…! But Roy…! But then…! Roy… no way…..ridiculous…..! Someone …….this is a dream!”
I could see why Alvin said it was simple and boring. Money, simple reason, hatred for the half-brother. Those two things got tangled together, creating a seemingly bizarre incident. Not enough to satisfy Alvin’s interest, in a way, a cliché.
When Jude got out of his seat, saying, “Now I’m going to call Roy,” the room door opened. And what appeared was a brown-haired young man. Glancing through his mother sitting on her knees on the floor, who was crying like crazy, Roy headed for Jude with a strangely calm face. The voice that was throwing out hostile words to Jude earlier, was low. A little nervous about the change, Jude straightened out.
“You must have heard.”
“……Well, first of all, I’d like you to put your hands behind your back.”
“…….You know, I didn’t really mean to do that either. Like I was really asked to do, I was going to push his head slightly on the bathroom wall. I was going to do that……. When El went into the bag as usual, something suddenly seemed to explode.”
“Yes, say that to the counselor later. First, turn your hands behind your back.”
“I hated him…. I just hated him. I’m my mother’s son….but why does she has to take responsibility for him even after he’s dead…….and why he’s sticking like a parasite when she’s already struggling with money?”
“Sorry, I’m not curious at all. So turn your hands behind your back….!”
Rattling! It’s the first-class cabin, but why doesn’t the vibration feel change!- as soon as the plane tilted a little, Jude flopped down to his seat. No, before he could even collapse, his badly trained hand grabbed his arm and turned back. Biting his teeth with a small groan – the vibration of the plane and the pain in the arm paralyzed his senses at the same time – something like a sharp needle tip reached his neck.
As he looked down on the ice cold tip of the metal ballpoint pen, which gave off a dull glow, it was exactly facing the carotid artery. The trembling woman’s voice sounded thin.
“Ro, Roy……..? Roy, what are you doing…….”
“If you take me like this, my mom won’t be okay. She tried to hurt El for the insurance money, so she’s going to live her life in jail for my brother. Right, Detective?”
“……yes, I guess…”
“If I kill you now and say I did everything, that’s fine too. It’s good when someone who knows disappears. I did it for mom, so she doesn’t have to be punished. So….I’m sorry, Detective.”
Whether it was a strength strengthened by exercise, Roy’s hands, holding both of his hands, did not budge. As soon as the woman swallowed a scream and a ballpoint pen with thin dried blood flashed, a mournful scream rang almost at the same time as the door of the room opened.
Huck! Jude looked back in a hurry as the grip on his hand disappeared from behind his back. The heavy blow to the back of the head caused Roy to slowly collapse with unfocused eyes. As soon as his knees touched the ground, the face, which had been hidden behind him, was revealed.
It was a lightly smiling face.
“I don’t have a hobby of preventing this kind of thing from happening, but if he goes too far, I’m in trouble too.”
“Uh…….you…..”
“Argh! Roy! Royyy!”
The woman, who was lying on the ground, stood up like a gale and ran next to her fallen son. Alvin Jones quietly handed him over to the woman who rushed to Roy, who was scrambling off the ground several times.
“I just hit him. I didn’t kill him, so don’t worry.”
“What is this…….! Roy, Roy, Roy…….! Why the hell, why would you……! Why on earth would you… …why El, why….! It’s because of me, it’s because of me….!”
“Well, was that the story? It’s a little different than I thought. No, I guess it’s the same.”
“What are you talking about?”
Alvin smiled at Jude with the face of a person who found a bit of fun in a fresh, uninteresting movie. Again, looking at Alvin with a curious face, turning his eyes to the gaunt, tearful face, Alvin spat calmly.
“-Really, didn’t you know this would happen?”
“…….Eh……. Wh…….What?”
“If you wanted to hurt him a little, you wouldn’t have asked this son here. So you really didn’t have a reason to do that? You really didn’t know the darkness in this young man?”
“That, the hell, what, say…”
“So, ma’am–“
Alvin smiled a little deeper, and continued to talk leisurely.
“Did you really not expect El to die?”
“What….. that……… you……..”
“At the bottom of your heart, didn’t you know everything? You know that you weren’t very fond of El, that you really loved Roy, that El was cumbersome in order to raise Roy better.”
“I, I don’t know, I don’t know….”
“I’m disappointed. I thought you knew about it. Well, that’s fine.”
As if he had really lost interest, Alvin erased his smile and turned around. Coming to Jude’s side, who was just handcuffing Roy, Alvin put his hand lightly on the shoulder.
“Didn’t you get hurt?”
“……Ah. Rather, how did you know?”
“From the moment Roy jumped out of his seat, he had a bad look on his face, and I came here because there was an announcement that the plane was going into turbulence, and I was curious about the ending.”
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“Yeah. Thanks–“
“You’re not going to do it, are you? I understand.”
Alvin, smiled so clearly. Clicking his tongue displeased, Jude still pulled Roy up. Struggling to bear the weight of this burly man, Jude turned to the woman.
Her spirit seemed to have slipped out. Sitting in her seat like an empty shell, she was only repeating “I….I….I…..” like a broken doll. She won’t be able to smile again. A feeling of certainty made the corner of his stomach uncomfortable. In the end, the stewardess’ announcement from the speaker was overlapped over her voice, which eventually burst into screaming tears.
– This flight will soon arrive at its destination, Miami. Passengers, please sit down and fasten your seat belts.