That afternoon, Taehyung sat on the dark russet sofa as he once again facetimed his partner. Due to the lack of sleep in the past few days, dark circles had appeared on his face, slowly fading out the perfect details that once outlined him. From the other end, Jennie pushed a strand of her silky hair back, speaking, "I got in contact with Sanya's manager. When I asked for details, she replied that nothing unusual happened. After shooting an episode, Sanya just went out for a late-night drive. It's in her routine to drive alone at night on Tuesdays and Thursdays." 

Yawning, before straightening his posture up, Taehyung responded, "This isn't a normal car accident. Someone is definitely behind it because they knew Sanya could bring a potential clue for us. Also, the fact that these late-night drives were in her routine cleared my doubts. Someone must have done their research on her. They must have noticed that the only time she is alone is when she goes on a long drive. The perfect time to harm her."

"I believe so too. I tried asking her manager if Sanya told her anything about this case but she told me that Sanya refused to speak anything about our meetings and the investigation," Jennie told, fiddling with a file she had in her hand. 

The male nodded, taking in the information, and then stated, "Well it's clear to me that everything that happened to Sanya and Lisa, is all related to their university time. We have to focus on every bit we can find out about what happened during their last year in college."

Jennie was about to reply when her phone buzzed loudly. Picking it up, her eyebrows crinkled as she stared at her phone's screen with her mouth open. She spoke in an uneasy tone, "These Jeons are messaging me again. They are asking if Sanya told us something before she slipped into coma that could get her in danger."

"That is a very suspicious thing to ask. Especially the fact that they weren't on the best terms with her. I swear to God, these people are very weird. Must keep an eye on them," Taehyung said, chugging a glass of warm water down his throat. Before more words could be spoken, someone knocked on Taehyung's door outside. Hanging up immediately, the male opened the door, only to find Mr Anchalia standing there, in a classic grey jumpsuit, with his short permed hair and black shoes. 

The Thai native walked inside, greeting, "Good Morning. I hope you are doing okay. You probably had a jet lag coming from South Korea to Thailand and immediately you had to go for the operation. If you want to, we can have this conversation later."

Offering a seat to the elder man, Taehyung declined the suggestion, "It's fine. I will hibernate after I solve this case." Mr Anchalia laughed as Taehyung continued, "Jokes apart, any new information about Charyan?"

Taking his phone out from his pants' pocket, Mr Anchalia readout, "Well we did a deep check on him. Got some more background information. His mother died one year after his birth due to a high diabetic level. Some sources say his father abused him while some say he may have even tried making an incest relation with him. He was bullied during his school days for not having a mom and for being a cobbler's kid. Rough childhood leading into trauma, I believe."

"His childhood is definitely a major part which helped in developing his psychotic disorder. Anything else you know?" Taehyung asked, leaning forward as he typed something on his laptop. 

"His father really didn't care about him facing many problems in life, with even the simplest things. Later, around ninth grade, Charyan was admitted to a psychiatric ward for a few days when the school counsellor reported him for having some serious mental issue. According to the report from the psychiatric ward, Charyan was seeing illusions of his mother but there were times where he mentioned that he would see blood on the floor and ropes around his body. This is maybe because of the abuse and trauma he faced at some point of his life," Mr Anchalia narrated, heaving a sigh. 

Taehyung poked his inner cheek with the tip of his tongue, "How come Charyan escaped the psychiatric ward then?"

Mr Anchalia shook his head, "He didn't. His father dragged him out of the ward and made the excuse that he would take him to a better ward in the capital city of Bangkok. But as you may have guessed, after that there are no records of him getting any kind of therapy. The school counselling sector said there are no more notes about Charyan's condition after he was admitted to the ward."

Taehyung blinked his eyes, his chest feeling heavy after hearing such stuff that made him feel uncomfortable somewhere, "As the saying goes— Every child deserves a parent, but not everyone deserves to be a parent. Only if he had got even little support from that son of a bitch who happened to be his father."

Letting the comment pass, Mr Anchalia continued, "After his mom's death, the main source of money was gone. Charyan's father took many loans and after not paying any instalments he was chased and often beaten by loan sharks. Charyan and his father had a massive fight the day he left his house. After he left his house, he was arrested for multiple charges. Drink and drive, Disorderly Intoxication, Disorderly Conduct, assault and so on. For all these charges, his defence was always eighty per cent severe mental health issue and twenty per cent people provoking him."

"That's a lot of information to digest, but is there anything that can help us link things to the case?" Taehyung asked. It was only two in the afternoon, but the conversation brought a wave of sleepiness along with it. Not to say that it was boring, but Taehyung just didn't understand how that can be a major help in the case he was currently handling. 

Mr Anchalia nodded, "Due to the psychotic disorder and the stress he was going through he started having really intense illusions. These illusions and hallucinations made it quite messy for him to really understand his surroundings. This is why it was very easy to get him under influence. This shows that maybe someone who I believe is the killer got him under their influence by providing him something. Then used him to send these messages to Lisa, remind her of her possible terrifying past actions and when the time came killed Charyan."

Taehyung whispered, "That's indeed possible." 

"I don't doubt it. It is said that somebody picked up Charyan in a car every time he got out of jail. Some policemen have observed that it was always a Mercedes, but all the CCTV footages that possibly had the car's number plate or the driver's face are not present."

Smashing a hand on the wooden coffee table, the Korean native almost shouted, "I wanna kill myself. What the fuck is even happening now? If this pace is maintained, we will never catch the killer. I am gonna give up, seriously."

Mr Anchalia walked up to him, offering the detective a glass of water, "Calm down Mr Kim we need to be patient. Even if they are ahead of us they will eventually do a mistake. That's what we need to focus on. I need to make a call now, please excuse me."

As the elder man left the room, Taehyung looked at his phone with eyes that spoke desperation. At this moment, he really wanted to talk to Jennie, even if the talk was about the dumbest topic. But apparently, she was busy in another nation, handling the Manobans. 

***

Jennie Kim walked into the grand dining room of the Manoban mansion, which was like any other room, filled with beautiful ornaments, lavish furniture and tons of paintings that were probably made by French artists. The aroma of the delicious Austrian Apfelstrudel floated in the air. Aside from their personalities, the Manobans surely had everything that was admirable. 

One of the maids pulled a chair for Jennie to sit on. The female detective examined each face carefully before slipping into ease. Aran, just like always was giving her a glare that had a challenging and threatening aura to it. His fiancee, Jisoo, on the contrary, looked nervous as she hesitated to make eye contact and was continuously fidgeting her fingers. Her soon-to-be father in law, David looked calm but Jennie could tell he was acting. And his wife, Ireshi was...smiling widely at her, not a creepy one, but a welcoming one. 

"Ms Kim, thank you so much for taking out some time and joining us. It's a pleasure to have you here," Ireshi spoke first in a tone as sweet as candy. The sudden change of behaviour weirded Jennie out, hesitating to accept the handshake that the woman was offering. 

Keeping his teacup on the table which produced a 'clank' sound, David asked, "Ms Kim, thank you for seeing us today. May I ask why is Mr Kim not here?" 

Jennie was about to respond when Aran interrupted roughly, "His presence doesn't matter. Cut the crap and come to the damn point about why we called you here." 

a/n: haha, im sure yall forgot this book existed but I wanted to update before New Year comes. My exams are just going on, going on and going on. At this point, I see my books' faces more than my parents. But either way, CITC is back from the long hiatus. And only a few chapters remains to find out who is the killer