The Flower Shop Murder

The Missing Piece

Korean National Police Headquarters

Trying to figure out what they missed, Inspector Helena Kim spent most of the night looking at all the files Sandy Lee had sent them about Angelo Park.

Why was he even important? Why would anyone waste a bullet on someone as insignificant as him? What is she missing?

“You should go home, Helena.” Diana said, concern etched on her face, “You’re not going to figure out anything tonight.”

Sending a placating smile, Helena replied, “It’s still worth trying. You go ahead, Diana. Good night.”

There were no lights left on the whole floor except for that sole warm lit bulb above Helena. She wants to solve this mystery, she needed answers.

On the corner of her desk was the file of the victim, Sandy Lee. Helena sighed, they have been hitting a wall everywhere. There were no clues, no evidence, not a single lead that can point them to a suspect.

This was frustrating.

Closing Angelo Park’s file, Helena’s focus shifted to Sandy Lee’s file in front of her. She scanned through every document on the file, hoping that there must be something she had missed.

At this point, Helena had probably memorized everything available on this folder. At the back of the folder is a photo of the victim, he was smiling in the photo with his arms around two women. One wore a toga, and the other’s smile was too bright and wide.

It was Gale Jung’s graduation from University. It was the last family event that Sandy Lee attended.

Helena could only let out a sigh as she placed the picture back in the folder before closing it again. She took out Angelo Park’s file instead.

So far, she hasn’t learned anything new from re-reading the dead man’s file for the hundredth time already. The only information she’s sure of is that Angelo Park has been serving the Moon crime family since he was 17. He was in and out of juvie as a teenager until he finally settled to being the mob’s errand boy.

But what’s an errand boy to the mob? What do they even ask them to do?

She needed information about the mob. For Helena, she had no idea how the group operates adding to the weight of her frustrations further. This had left her with so many questions but Helena has no one to ask them to.

Wait.

Maybe, she does.

Except Helena’s uncertain if that person would be willing to talk.

Groaning, she leaned her head on the table and, covering her face with her hands. Maybe Diana was right. It was time to go home.

Seoul, Aster’s Apartment

On the other side of the city, at that exact hour, Aster was in her living room, settled down on a chair as she sips brandy from her glass.

It was close to eleven in the evening and to no surprise, Aster was not sleepy yet. Her thoughts would not leave her alone.

She had nothing to do everyday except think of what happened to Sandy, she felt like she was close to losing her mind. Gale isn’t home, Aster has no idea where she is but she’s not going to call her like a worried sister. Aster knew that Gale is more than capable of taking care of herself.

The flower shop still hasn’t reopened, but she needs to open it soon. Aster must do something else to occupy her time.

She let out a sigh, leaning back on her chair before closing her eyes.

Her thoughts kept replaying the call from this morning. Angelo Park.

How did he even get her number? No one has her phone number. No one should, except Sandy, and Gale.

The gunshots she heard on the other line were also clear. She knew he’s dead. Still, his last message weighed on her mind.

He’s tying up loose ends.

Who’s he? Her dad? Her brother? Sandy’s dad? Who is he?

Deciding to sleep off her frustration, she gulped down her liquor when the door opens and her little sister comes in. Aster could see the exhaustion on Gale’s face, bags under her eyes were becoming prominent.

Gale is tired, Aster quietly observed her sister who took off her jacket, and keeping her firearm inside a book on the bookshelf near the door.

“Late Night?”

“Yeah” Gale paused, “Unnie, Angelo Park was found at the back of an abandoned building in Euljiro. It was an execution.”

This doesn’t surprise Aster one bit since she did hear the gunshots earlier on the phone call, “Do you have any idea who did it?”

“No but they are not from our house or the Lee house either”

Aster raised her eyebrows in question, “How are you so sure?”

“I’m not.” Gale answered, “But, what I know is that if this was our errand boy and if we did the execution, no was going to find the body.”

“You’re right.” Aster nodded while she started contemplating why anyone would want to kill Angelo. He has been loyal to her family for a very long time already, and in that time, she’s sure he’s accumulated quite a lot of information and experience on how the Moon crime family operates. Angelo Park would have been extremely foolish to try and use that information. Doing so will get him killed.

But well, he’s dead now. So, maybe he did use that information.

Suddenly, Aster remembers something that her sister said. Her gaze turned to Gale, “The other night, you said that you found out about something back home, what was it?”

“Oh, that? Your dad shut down all of Hyunwoo Lee’s gambling houses, they had a falling out. Then he brokered a new deal with the Chinese triads. He’s solidifying the drug cartel’s pipeline from China to South Korea.”

Aster frowned, “He brokered that deal a few years ago, too. It didn’t pan out.”

“The deal that killed my dad and your mom, right?” Gale clarified.

“Yeah, my brother said that deal was shady. Dad backed out of it so the triads open fired at them.”

Gale was too young at that time to grasp everything, and Aster was away at University when it happened. Jake is the eldest son of Maximus Moon. He’s never been the smart type of mobster that was why their dad decided to make Aster his right hand instead of her older brother.

It was a good decision at the time. Her brother wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed but what Jake lacked in intelligence and wit, he made up with brute force. He was always on edge back then. Aster being the right hand did not help their relationship either. Aster and Jake drifted further away from each other.

Gale suggested, “What if somebody else brokered it? Not your dad.”

“What do you mean?”

The younger girl then went behind the kitchen counter and grabbing a glass while she poured herself some brandy as well. Gale drank it while walking towards the living room couch, “Jake is now the head of the family. Your dad retired last month.”

Now this was a surprise. Not just the fact that their dad is retiring, but the fact that Jake was made head. He was the least qualified among all of her dad’s men. But of course, things might have changed in the five years she was away.

“Could he be the one tying loose ends?” Aster questioned.

Gale shrugged, “Maybe, I don’t know. But I am sure that your brother is not that smart to plan out a sophisticated hit on Sandy or getting invisible cleaners to deal with Angelo Park. I don’t even understand why a gopher would be part of a loose end hitlist.”

“Maybe Jake was hiding something from the family. Maybe, Sandy knew about it. Maybe Angelo knew too much.” Aster offered.

“Well, I actually suspected the triads first before Jake. Hyunwoo Lee owed them a lot of money when your dad shut down the gambling houses” Gale said, before taking another sip from her brandy. “I thought maybe they killed Sandy to send a message. But the timing of Jake being named the new head of the family before all this happened was too much of a coincidence.”

“Yeah. But then again, my brother is not this smart.”

“Maybe he grew brains when we left or maybe he has someone telling him what to do?”

Aster paced back and forth in their kitchen, “Something doesn’t fit. I don’t feel right about this. Jake couldn’t do this. And what is this deal about the errand boy!?”

Gale replied, “As you said, maybe he knew too much?”

Aster groaned, “I need to figure this out. Go to sleep. I’ll be in the study.”

Gale hummed an answer, “Okay, good night.”

Seoul, The Flower Shop

Aster didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, but she doesn’t feel tired at all. She was in pure adrenaline. Her mind was at the works as Aster sought for answers. Her body started to go back to her usual routine of waking up early to go to the flower shop. And since she’s awake, she might as well go to the flower shop and maybe clean things up.

As usual, Gale tagged along.

The first thing they do once they’re at the shop was to take the police tape off and began clearing up the mess that accumulated in the past week. They washed the windows, swept the pavement, Aster even replanted new flowers on the plant box.

It took them a while to make everything shiny and new on the outside and once that was done, they moved to clean the inside of the flower shop.

They were busy cleaning when the door chime sounded off. And without looking up from scrubbing the floor, Aster yelled over to the customer, “We’re still closed. Come back in two weeks, please.”

“I’m not here for flowers.”

When Aster heard the voice, she immediately recognized it. It was the pretty investigator who’s handling Sandy’s case. She stood up, turning around to face the investigator, “Hello, inspector. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Just passing by” was what the inspector replied.

Neither of them smiled, their eyes were locked into each other. They were in a battle of stares trying to intimidate the other until Gale’s shouts from their small office broke this trance that they were in.

“STUPID COPS MESSING UP MY FILING SYSTEM! What kind of idiots take out the files from the folders and not put them back? Were they not taught organizing skills at whatever school they studied at? f*****g idiots!”

Aster raised her eyes to the ceiling and pursed her lips, “She stressed.” As if that was enough to explain her little sister’s angry yelling.

Inspector Helena Kim nodded with understanding, “Sounds like it.” A smile perked in her lips, “But for the record, it was the forensics team who did that. Not the cops.”

Aster knew it was meant to be a joke to lighten up the tension but Aster could only focus on the inspector’s smile. Inspector Helena was prettier when she smiled.

A genuine smirk plastered on Aster’s face, “I’ll let her know. Don’t worry.”

“THE f*****g ASSHOLES BROKE MY SHIBA FIGURINE! I WILL f*****g SHOOT THEIR ASS!”

The yelling was much louder now and Aster could only groan, and sigh before shifting her gaze back to the pretty girl, “Give me a moment, inspector. I need to check on the dead Shiba figurine.”

A nod and an amused smile was all that the pretty police officer gave Aster as the embarrassed shop owner entered the office and closes the door gently, probably scolding her younger sister.

Inspector Kim roamed her eyes around the small shop. Everything looks much nicer now that the owners have cleaned up. The display racks are still empty but a few things were already put up behind the counter.

Business permits, photos of when the shop opened up and diplomas on the wall.

She smiled at seeing them, they must be very proud of their accomplishments. She already knows that Sandy graduated from a foreign school. He earned his degree in Agriculture with a minor in Horticulture at Cornell University in New York. Gale graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Psychology. So, that leaves Aster.

Her eyes finally rest on Aster’s diploma and is surprised that not only does she have one, but two diplomas under her belt. And her courses are pretty surprising as well.

“Is there a problem, inspector?” Aster inquired as she came out of the little office, pulling her pouting little sister along with her.

“Oh no.” Inspector Kim shook her head . “Nothing at all. Did you solve the murder of the Shiba figurine?”

“Yeah.” Gale snorted “Which is more than what the KNP is doing for my brother’s murder.”

Inspector Kim was taken by surprise. The younger girl definitely had a sharp tongue. Aster didn’t reprimand her sister and just shrugged. The air around them slowly started getting awkward. Just in time luckily, Inspector Diana came in with four cups of coffee in her hand.

“Little help with the coffee?”

The senior inspector hurries to the door and helps Inspector An with er items by taking two of the coffee cups, “Sorry.”

She offered them to Aster and Gale to which the younger sister just rolls her eyes but takes the coffee none the less.

Gale asked sarcastically, “So, what are you doing here? Don’t have enough criminals to question?”

“Gale” Aster raised her tone. Gale just rolled her eyes again before turning away to grab a chair to sit down.

Aster pointed out, “Gale. Aren’t you going to offer chairs to our guests?”

“Huh?” Gale scrunched her eyebrows in annoyance, “Who said they’re guests?”

Aster shook her head and smiled at the officers. She can still act civilized around them but Gale hates them more than she does. The other policewoman, Inspector Ahn, is staring at Gale. Of course, Aster noticed this but doesn’t say a word.

“So how can I help you, inspectors?”

“We just wanted to ask you a few questions.” Inspector Helena answered.

Gale scoffed loudly and rolled her eyes at them again, “I knew you didn’t have enough criminals to question.”

Her sister looks at her, amused written in her eyes as she watches her little sister acting like a brat. Aster said, “Ask away. While she’s still docile.”

Clearly referring to her annoyed brat of a sister. Inspector Kim takes a sip of her coffee first and then points to the diplomas on the wall, “Criminal psychology and a master’s in forensic science. Wow. Were you planning to be a cop?”

Aster shrugged, “If I wasn’t the daughter of a known criminal mastermind, maybe.”

Inspector Helena followed back, “Okay, since you mentioned your criminal father figure, I wanted to ask you about that.”

Another scoff was heard from the back of the room.

“Go ahead.”

“The other day, we found 6 dead men at Jumong’s Palace. Do you know the place? It’s frequented by known gangsters and a lot of other shady people.”

Aster shrugs and sips her coffee, “Nope, never heard of it.”

Helena insisted, “Are you sure? Because we can place you at the crime scene minutes before the time of their death.”

“Hmm. Really? Based on what? Your illegal surveillance of me and my sister?”Aster did not waste time pretending that she doesn’t know about them being followed around. She looked the inspector dead in the eyes, waiting for her to react.

“The surveillance was warranted” was what Inspector Helena answered back.

Aster scoffs and shakes her head, “On what grounds? What probable cause could you have to follow me and my sister around?”

“You’re the daughter of a mob boss.”

The anger was quick. Blood shot up to Aster’s head and she let her anger get the best of her.

“Just because my dad is a criminal doesn’t automatically make me one!” She shot back, “I’m done answering your questions inspector! Leave.”

But the inspector did not budge. She remained grounded, staring back at the angry eyes of Aster, “We’re not done asking.”

In an instant, Gale has her guns out. Two pistols, one for each hand. She aimed at the police officers steadily, waiting for Aster to say something.

“Either you and your partner leave while you still can, or you’re leaving in a body bag. Your choice” Aster warned

The threat was heard, but either Inspector Kim has a death wish or she’s brave. Either way, it would be stupid to continue and piss off the other two women in the room.

“Are you threatening a police officer?”

“Did I stutter? Or are you deaf?”

Without flinching or missing a beat, Aster just as bravely called the officer’s bluff. Her words were quiet and deadly.

“I can arrest you right now. You do know that, right?” Helena said.

Gale moved her fingers on the trigger and pulls down the hammers on the pistol, ready to shoot if given the order.

“You might want to arrest me now, while you’re still alive.”