Last Stop: Pyongyang

Long wait

Christmas and New Year’s Eve had gone by, and things had finally calmed down. In the last few weeks, the Nguyens, who apparently felt obliged to host Daniel's in-laws, kept inviting the Chos over. Sang-wan and Min-ju were fine with Yu-ja's choice, even though she could have taken more time. But things were as they were.

There had been no more suspicious incidents. And how could there have been? The three criminals are on a skiing holiday with their parents, Sang-wan thought, not without bitterness. He had feverishly considered what else he could do and was very disappointed that the charges against them had been dropped.

Now he was sitting in his favorite armchair in the living room and tried to relax. One more day, and the month of January would be over. How quickly time passed...

His mood turned to horror as he listened to the radio. The remains of a young woman had been found in the forest, just one and a half kilometers away! Animals had carried away body parts, which were noticed by hikers, so a large-scale search was started. In the end, a corpse was discovered between rocks. The local news concluded with the information that the woman had, in all likelihood, been lying in the forest for several months.

Sang-wan immediately suspected Frederik, Armin and Markus. Were they responsible for this crime, too? Min-ju was right - something had to happen.

He hurried to his study to hack into the Greifers' surveillance camera again. A flickering image of the entrance hall appeared on Sang-wan's monitor. This time, he didn't have to switch to the living room to witness a visibly excited conversation between Frederik and his parents.

"Are you going to tell us why we had to cut our vacation short? We missed the evening at the cabin!" Jessica Greifer hissed angrily. As always, she was wearing excessive make-up and designer’s clothes, as well as jewelry that looked as expensive as tasteless. She was extremely skinny and constantly ran her hands through her thin, platinum blonde hair. Sang-wan was amazed at her ability not to scratch her scalp, given her overly long glittery gel nails. It briefly occurred to him that these pointed fingernails would probably be considered t*****e instruments in his home country.

His attention went back to the maliciously grinning Frederik. His arrogant expression didn't match his meek tone at all. "The body they found... that's Amelie. It was an... accident."

Bernhard, unmoved up to that point, gaped at his son. He obviously needed a few seconds to process his words. Then, he approached Frederik and grabbed him roughly by the arm. His face took on an unhealthy color, and the vein on his temple was so prominent that even Sang-wan could see it on screen.

"What are you saying? First Carola, and now another one? You also claimed her death was an accident! Are there any more surprises???"

Frederik's father seemed close to freaking out. His angry face spoke volumes. As in the last conversation Sang-wan had overheard, Dr. Greifer showed no sympathy for any of the dead women.

Frederik's mother put her hand to her forehead. She seemed close to fainting. Sang-wan, who had firmly assumed that she would condemn her son's actions, was quickly taught differently. "Oh no… what if someone finds out? How people will look at us! Our future gets ruined because of two sluts!" she moaned, waving her arms wildly in the air.

Her husband gave her an angry look. As if she was any better! Annoyed, he remembered that Jessica had deliberately slept with fellow students from wealthy, influential families during her studies in order to get ahead. It had been clear early on that she would not be able to graduate. It had been a close call for him, too, but his family was well-connected, so he was at an advantage.

He had gotten her pregnant just because he was so drunk once! Bernhard Greifer exhaled and turned around. He left his wife and son standing in the hall and retreated to his study. Sang-wan was disappointed to see that there was no camera in this room.

As if in slow motion, Sang-wan leaned back in his swivel chair. He felt paralyzed with horror. The shock shot through his bones. These were conditions like in North Korea!

Frederik, Armin and Markus were serial killers! Sang-wan had initially doubted Tak's theory of the perpetrators... but he was wrong. His son, however, had immediately assessed the situation correctly.

He watched in disbelief as Jessica dressed her son down in a hysterical manner. It was all about herself - she didn't seem to be wasting any thought on Frederik’s victims.

Sang-wan held his breath. When had he become so anxious and overcautious? Now, he had a feeling that he had hesitated far too long. There was certainly a lot at stake for the Chos, but would North Korean agents find them here? Unlikely. Especially since Sang-wan and his family were considered dead in their homeland.

If they had gone to the police right after the attack on Yu-ja, Amelie and Carola might still be alive. On the other hand, the three culprits would hardly have been arrested for the attempted attack, especially since they were so badly injured themselves. In a worst case scenario, Yu-ja would have gotten into trouble. Nevertheless, Sang-wan couldn’t help blaming himself.

What should he do? He didn't want to bother his son. After the winter break, Tak was sitting exam after exam. Their medical studies required full commitment from Tak and Daniel.

Together with Min-ju, who had come down to him with a cup of coffee, Sang-wan discussed what to do next. They decided to send the surveillance camera recordings from the Greifers' house to the police. If that wasn't sufficient evidence!

Sang-wan hacked into Frederik's cell phone. It was about time, Min-ju thought. Her husband had relied on the assumption that no one was stupid enough to save such incriminating recordings on their cell phone for too long.

He had been completely wrong. When did he get so bad at judging people? In that respect, both Tak and Min-ju were now way ahead of him, as he grudgingly admitted.

Even for hardened agents, the contents were shocking! Numerous photos and videos of Amelie, alive and tied up, while Armin was r****g her in a place that looked like some hole in the ground. The terrible wounds inflicted on her with a knife by a man whose head and upper body were not in the picture made Sang-wan shudder.

With utter disgust, he remembered his time in North Korea, where he had to witness a prisoner’s t*****e many years ago. The cold, dirty room. The loud screams. The man's painfully distorted face. Sang-wan would never forget any of it.

Reluctantly, he saved the files and prepared them for transmission via an internet portal that allowed the sender to remain anonymous. Sang-wan double-checked that back-tracing was impossible and sent the records off.

***

The police officer who was checking the inbox dropped his sausage roll on the keyboard in shock. He immediately played the sequence again and quickly turned to his colleagues. "Come over here! Look at this!"

Now everything happened very quickly. Armin Nöckler was in custody within the next hours. His father was immediately given leave.

At home, Sebastian sat down on Armin's bed. He sighed. Suddenly, all the tears he had held back for so many years broke free.

Since his wife Amanda had died in a climbing accident five years ago, he had gradually lost control over his life. His relationship with his daughter Fanny had always been distant. After her mother's death, things got worse. She was now living her own life in Nuremberg and rarely visited. At Christmas, she had only stopped by briefly with her boyfriend, on the way to his family in Erfurt.

And Armin... Sebastian had been so happy to have his son around him! Apparently, that was the wrong approach. He wished he had listened to his parents and sent Armin to them. They loved their grandchildren more than anything, but were also strict enough.

Now, it was too late. Armin had become a malicious, cold-hearted egoist who hurt and... killed others? Sebastian sobbed harder. Why had he, a police officer, only understood the seriousness of the situation when Armin got arrested?

Perhaps everything would have turned out differently if he hadn't been so selfish! After Amanda's death, he was so deeply lost in his grief that he hardly noticed what was going on around him.

Things were different with Frederik. In his usual cold-blooded manner, Bernhard Greifer stated that the recordings from his villa were taken out of context and, because of their illegal nature, could not be used in court anyway. Frederik, who had certainly been instructed accordingly by his father, claimed that he was only boasting, in an attempt to shock his parents, but had nothing to do with the actual crime. He claimed that Armin told him about the killing, but Frederik did not take his friend seriously – otherwise, his son would of course have made a statement right away, confirmed Dr. Greifer.

In addition, all incriminating material had disappeared from Frederik's cell phone, so a corresponding check came up with nothing.

The Chos, who could not imagine that anyone believed such nonsense - especially since the dead woman was indeed identified as Amelie - were quickly taught differently.