Last Stop: Pyongyang

Terrifying prospects

Now Tak entered the comfortably furnished study, which was located in the basement of the house and had access to the back garden due to its hillside location. In summer, Sang-wan was able to enjoy a beautiful view of the flowers and trees; however, at this time of year dusk kicked in early. He turned around in his desk chair and looked questioningly at his son.

Tak stopped in the doorway. "Dad, we need to talk. I know you’re very busy, but this can't wait." Alarmed by the look on his son's face, Sang-wan invited him in. Tak sat down and briefly summarized the events on the day of the attack.

Sang-wan gasped in shock, but immediately calmed down again. He was glad that Tak had acted so prudently - he hadn't taken any risks and hidden his identity. "Wearing the mask was a good decision. Those three are dangerous. We know that since their attempt to assault Yu-ja. They’d better not know that it was you who foiled their attack."

"But someone has to stop them," Tak said in an agitated manner. "We can't just stand by and watch! First Yu-ja, then Daniel and Philip... who's going to be next? Mom? Viola, who definitely can't defend herself, as small and delicate as she is? Not even Daniel was able to fend those wannabe-killers off!" Tak jumped up from his chair in anger. He was completely beside himself.

Min-ju, who had been startled by the noise, entered the room. She had just returned from the hairdresser and was now wearing her shoulder-length hair in soft glossy waves. She, too, was glad to have left North Korea behind so many years ago. In her birth country, one could only choose from a limited number of prescribed – admittedly, rather unflattering – hairstyles. For married women, the choice was even smaller. She never wanted look like that again!

Frowningly, she scrutinized her husband and her son. Sang-wan, who had not heard his wife approach, sighed. Despite his sharp senses, she often managed to surprise him. Even Sang-wan's fine hearing failed to catch Min-jus almost soundless moves.

In the first years of their marriage, Sang-wan had kept lots of secrets from Min-ju, but now they were long past that stage. He had to be honest with her. He owed her that much.

Sang-wan explained the situation in short, concise sentences while Tak listened in silence. Min-ju threw her hands up in the air. "And there we go again! It’s always those three! What are we going to do now?" Min-ju shouted. She was extremely upset. "Are we supposed to let this go? Again? We have to call the police! It can't be that..."

"That's completely out of the question," Sang-wan interrupted her flow of speech. "Police, and then what? Do we have to admit that we lied about Yu-ja back then? Will they believe us? You think it's so easy!" He scratched his head helplessly.

Angrily, Min-ju turned around and left the room. As she walked through the door, she rolled her eyes in annoyance. What did one thing have to do with the other?

"You, always," she hissed angrily. First, this criminal trio had attacked Yu-ja, then Tak had gotten into a fight with them - also through no fault of his own. They couldn't just let these brutes get away with it!

Sang-wan groaned, sure to have some more unpleasant arguments with Min-ju in the future. He turned back to his son. "For now, don't tell anyone. We have carefully consider how we're going to proceed."

Tak shrugged and started moving. Feeling uneasy, he left the room and climbed the stairs to keep his mother company. Secretly, he was convinced that she was right. Things couldn't go on like this!

***

Yu-ja returned home late that evening. She was mentally preparing for a lecture, but to her great surprise her arrival went unnoticed. She quickly ran upstairs and sneaked into her room with relief.

Her family was busy. The three of them were sitting in Sang-wan's study and staring at one of the two large screens standing on the desk. Sang-wan had just hacked into the surveillance camera in Frederik's parents' house.

A gaudy entrance hall lay before them. Not exactly the ideal location... Sang-wan pressed a few buttons, and the picture changed. Now they had a clear view of a room that must have been the living room. Frederik and his father, Dr. Bernhard Greifer, were sitting on a large dark leather sofa, talking. In the background, a bookshelf took up the entire wall. The sound was a bit blurry, which Sang-wan fixed by adjusting the settings.

“You were really lucky,” said Dr. Greifer, as he put his almost empty wine glass back on the wooden table. “You were too careless. Remember – piles of wood, hedges or trees are no protection from being discovered. You should have buried her.”

The Chos looked at each other worriedly. What was Frederik’s dad talking about?

Dr. Greifer continued. “Carola Braun was notorious. She changed boyfriends so often that there are a number of possible perpetrators. The police don’t even know where to start looking. Luckily, the long delay in finding her and the rain have rendered many traces useless. And for the future – stay away from such sluts.”

Frederik’s father didn’t seem shocked at all and even offered his son advice on how to cover up his crime.

“But Dad, it’s not my fault. Before I realized what was going on, Armin had her throat squeezed.”

“Luckily, that’s over now,” Dr. Greifer interrupted his son in a determined manner. He seemed extremely satisfied.

The Chos were frozen to the spot. They stared at each other in pure horror. These meaningless, completely emotionless justifications in the face of a cold-blooded murder! A chill ran down their spines. These people had no conscience!

So, the three of them had indeed struck before! The fact that Dr. Greifer covered up such a serious crime committed by his son - and even seemed to approve of it - was outrageous.

The Chos' low opinion of lawyers worsened significantly at this moment. Back in Korea, they had thought very little of this profession, which was due to various incidents in the North - where the courts always decided on the regime’s behalf. In North Korea, justice only existed on paper.

But here, things were different! Or at least, they ought to be... the Chos were in for a shock when they realized that such cold-blooded crimes could be swept under the carpet also in their new homeland.

Tak gaped at the screen. „This must stop. Let’s go to the police.“ However, Sang-wan disagreed. "Tak. We can't rush things."

Min-ju leaned forward quickly and looked past Tak. She glared angrily at her husband. "Tak is right. Our hesitation could cost more lives. You've seen for yourself what a psychopath this guy is. He even smiled when he talked about the murder!”

Great. Now, Min-ju was on Tak’s side! An uncomfortable silence spread through the room.

“I have an idea,” Tak suddenly burst out. “We’ll write an anonymous letter on the computer, accusing Frederik of being responsible for Carola’s death and the attack on Daniel and Philip. The police will have to do something, right?”

“It’s worth a try,” Min-ju encouraged him, anticipating Sang-wan’s objections. She fetched a box of disposable gloves and held it out to Tak. “Because of the fingerprints. When you touch the paper,” she added, as she was met with blank looks. “Man, you guys are real pros,” Tak muttered, shaking his head.

He started typing. In the anonymous letter, Tak claimed to have witnessed the attack on the Nguyen brothers, and printed it out. The last sentence consisted of Frederik’s quote in bold: Before I realized what was going on, Armin had squeezed her throat.

***

Tak took the printout to the police that night. He made sure that he was not caught on any surveillance camera and put the letter in the mailbox. If nothing happened, he would hang copies of it in public places.

This proved unnecessary. The local police forwarded the letter to headquarters immediately. Since Commissioner Nöckler, as the father of one of the accused, was not allowed to investigate this case, colleagues from other stations were called in. The Chos felt relieved about this development. Finally, there was some progress!

The evidence confirmed the suspicion - Armin Nöckler and Markus Friedmann had had s*x with Carola before her death. Existing sperm traces, which could be identified using a DNA test, clearly proved this.

Surprisingly, the accused boys managed to get out of the affair. Together with Dr. Greifer, who represented all three, they released a statement in which they admitted to the s****l i*********e, but insisted that it had been consensual. Carola was still alive and in good spirits when she said goodbye to them. When asked why they had not made their statement sooner, Dr. Greifer claimed that his clients had been intimidated and feared public prejudice. Within a few days, they managed to get off the hook.

The attack on Daniel and Philip could not be proven against them either. None of the brothers had recognized the attackers, and there were no viable traces of DNA, so the boys claimed to have been wrongly accused here, too.

Nevertheless, there was a lot of friction behind the facade. Armin, who was not happy that Frederik had pinned Carola's murder on him, loudly confronted him at his parents' villa. "Why are you telling such bullshit? You know very well that you strangled her!" he shouted indignantly, still standing in front of the massive door. Frederik hadn't invited him in.

With coldness in his voice, he pointed out to Armin that the evidence had since been destroyed and that it was his word against Frederik's.

"Just be careful," Frederik threatened. "My father will cause you so much trouble that you're going to prison voluntarily!"

Smugly, he turned away and left Armin standing there. Frederik knew exactly why he didn't leave any evidence behind. He always used condoms. Whose fault was it that these two idiots were so stupid? Certainly not his.

Armin felt as if his throat had been choked. Trembling and on wobbly legs, he left the Greifers' villa via the large stone staircase. Belatedly, he realized what he had gotten himself into...