The Play Mirror (3)
Song Ju-a slipped her smartphone out beneath her seat and fired off an urgent message.
EXCLUSIVE SCOOP. Ryu Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han are performing together at a small theater in Hyehwa-dong. This is supposedly the first performance. The play is called Mirror. Will dig for more after the show ends and send additional details.
Meanwhile, Director Lee — who had come in to work even on the weekend — felt his phone buzz and pulled it out.
A message from Song Ju-a.
"…What the hell is this? A small theater in Hyehwa-dong?"
The message was so out of left field that he couldn't quite grasp it, but Song Ju-a wasn't the kind of reporter who sent nonsense. Working with the limited information he had, he sketched out a basic framework for the article.
Director Lee tilted his head even as he typed it.
"These two are doing a small-theater production?"
Spotlights blazed down hard over Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han's heads.
"Detective. Do I really need to play along with your little detective game? Once the storm warning lifts, the police will be here. They can check fingerprints or whatever else they want then. If you point at someone with your deductions, does that make them the killer?"
At Jin Yu-han's words, Kim Se-yeong jabbed a finger at him.
"Excuse me! This man is a detective! Whether it's a suspect's statement or anything else, he needs to take it down so it'll help with the investigation later!"
Yeon-woo let out a short laugh.
"If you're going to be uncooperative, so be it. Then let's all gather in the lobby and wait until the police arrive. With a murderer hiding among us, we ought to keep watch over one another so no one else gets killed, don't you think?"
At that, Ha Jae-hun, who had been clutching the communications equipment in the corner, approached with a rigid face.
"Uh, Detective. I just got word that the waves are getting worse and they can't launch any boats. The coast guard will need at least another day to get here."
The people gathered in the lobby erupted in fierce protest.
"What? So you're saying there's definitely a killer in here and we have to sleep in the same space? I can't do that!"
"Exactly! Except for mealtimes, we all stay in our own cabins and don't come out — and Detective Ryu Yeon-woo can keep watch in the hallway! We'll cooperate with the investigation as much as we can!"
"Agreed! Anyone who comes out without permission is confessing they're the killer!"
Jin Yu-han shook his head hard.
"I object! Staying in the same space is safer!"
"You be quiet! Do you not realize who's under the most suspicion right now?"
With everyone except Jin Yu-han insisting on the plan, Yeon-woo had no choice but to nod.
"Very well. Everyone, please return to your rooms."
At Ryu Yeon-woo's words, Jin Yu-han opened his mouth as if to say more — then caught the cold stares of the others and shut it again.
Bathed in that fierce light, Ryu Yeon-woo already seemed to have become an untouchable sanctuary among the people.
Jin Yu-han turned away with a look of pure dissatisfaction.
All the actors filed into their respective rooms, and Woo Seong-sik busily began changing back into the murdered captain's costume.
In the meantime, Yeon-woo opened the door to Room 2, where Kim Jun-su was waiting.
"Mr. Kim Jun-su?"
"Ah, yes. Detective."
Yeon-woo glanced once at Kim Jun-su's white sneakers, then continued.
"You've been provisionally cleared from my list of primary suspects. That being the case — would you be willing to assist me during the investigation?"
Kim Jun-su let out a sigh of relief and nodded vigorously.
"Yes! Of course! I'm completely innocent."
Then every light went out except the one trained on Yeon-woo.
"Good. First, the critical point: the murder weapon is nowhere to be found in the captain's quarters. Judging by the depth and width of the wound, it appears to be a kitchen knife. And looking under the captain's fingernails, he seems to have clawed hard at the killer during the struggle. Somewhere on the perpetrator's body, there will be scratch marks from those nails."
Kim Jun-su nodded, repeating Yeon-woo's words back.
"Murder weapon: kitchen knife. Scratch wounds from fingernails."
It was a device to make sure the audience understood once more and stayed locked into the play.
"Hmm. The fisherman might have brought his own knife, wouldn't he?"
"Yes, that's right. He probably has one."
The door to fisherman Kim Ju-hyeong's room opened, and a light fell upon him.
Suspicion that he was the killer had deepened.
"I'm certain of it. Yesterday, when I went into the dining area to check if there was any beer in the fridge, I saw the fisherman loitering near the kitchen."
The light on the fisherman grew stronger, and Yeon-woo continued.
"In one corner of the dining room, there was a passenger with a hood pulled up. I couldn't make out the face, but from the build, it's definitely the man in Room 5."
"Th-then those two are the most suspicious suspects."
As tension-building sound effects swelled, Yeon-woo approached Room 5 — and a hard spotlight slammed down over Jin Yu-han's head in the darkness.
Eek—!
A faint scream burst from the audience seats.
Inside his room, Jin Yu-han stood pressed right up against Yeon-woo, a pistol in his hand, listening to the sounds outside.
The audience all understood there was an invisible door between them — but the image of Ryu Yeon-woo looking as if he could take a bullet from Jin Yu-han at any second set hearts pounding.
Then the tension-building effects cut off. Yeon-woo turned around, and the light on Jin Yu-han went dark.
"Let's investigate the fisherman first."
"Yes, Detective."
After that, Yeon-woo searched the fisherman's room but found nothing of note.
"Hmm. The fisherman does have a knife, but…"
"It's too small, Detective. More like a fruit knife."
Hearing Kim Jun-su, Yeon-woo nodded.
Then he went to the door of Jin Yu-han's room.
Bang bang bang—.
"Guest in Room 5. I need to search your room. Please cooperate."
"Why should I submit to a search? I can't trust anyone. Wait until the police arrive."
Kim Jun-su flared up beside him.
"Hey! The detective is the police — what are you talking about!?"
Yeon-woo soothed him.
"It's fine. Nothing we can do."
Then the lights blacked out, and Kim Jun-su's voice came over the PA.
Mealtime. All crew and passengers, please gather in the dining room. Everyone must come out without exception. For safety reasons, personal belongings may not be brought.
The audience, with no time to catch their breath under the relentless plot, could only blink as they stared at the stage.
And they began whispering to the people beside them, each spinning their own theories.
"Who's the killer? Jin Yu-han after all?"
"Why does he have a gun?"
Most of them found Jin Yu-han suspicious, but other characters drew doubt as well.
"I think Kim Jun-su is shady. Didn't he get cleared off the suspect list way too fast? Just over one pair of shoes."
"By that logic, the crewman who took a bribe to let that passenger aboard is even more suspicious."
"Ah, was his name Ha Jae-hun?"
The blackout had been deliberately set long to give the audience time to theorize among themselves.
When the main lights came back up, the passengers were gathered in the center.
"Everyone, hands up. No one brought any personal belongings, correct?"
"Let's all keep a close eye on each other."
They eyed one another with mutual suspicion, but the actors ultimately fixed Jin Yu-han with looks of distrust.
And that Jin Yu-han was glaring at Yeon-woo.
Yeon-woo ignored the stare and opened his mouth.
"While you were all confined to your cabins, I conducted some investigation with Mr. Kim Jun-su's help. We searched everywhere except Room 5, but the kitchen knife believed to be the murder weapon was not found."
Jin Yu-han shot back immediately.
"You can destroy the evidence anytime by just throwing the weapon overboard, can't you?"
At Jin Yu-han's words, the others all glared and each threw out a jab.
"Sounds like that's what he did."
"If he's so clean, why won't he open up his own room? Tsk tsk."
Whether they said it or not, Yeon-woo pressed on.
"And the victim's stab wound was a form that drove deep from above to below. In other words, the killer is likely someone taller and stronger than the victim."
"You said the estimated time of the crime was dawn, right? Then if they stabbed him while he was lying down asleep, height wouldn't matter at all. Even if it was a small-framed female crew member…"
Jin Yu-han stopped mid-sentence and looked around.
"Why isn't that female crew member here?"
At that, the other passengers scanned their surroundings too.
"Huh? Why isn't Se-yeong noona here?"
"She was definitely here just a minute ago."
The audience, their attention seized by the presence of Ryu Yeon-woo and Jin Yu-han delivering their lines, hadn't noticed Kim Se-yeong's disappearance either.
"Damn it!"
With a look of pure disaster, Jin Yu-han spun and sprinted toward his cabin.
In that moment, as Jin Yu-han raced across and Ryu Yeon-woo stood center stage, Kim Se-yeong burst out between them.
"Th-this is bad! I found this in the Room 5 guest's cabin, Detective!"
In Kim Se-yeong's hand was a revolver.
She held it up by the tip of the barrel with her fingers, as if even touching it terrified her.
The audience swallowed hard at the breakneck turn of the plot.
Jin Yu-han opened his mouth.
"Stop! I—"
Then Ryu Yeon-woo's and Jin Yu-han's eyes collided in midair — and without either waiting for the other, both lunged toward Kim Se-yeong at once.
Kyaaah—.
With Kim Se-yeong's scream, the stage went black.
Bang—!
And immediately, a flash burst from center stage as a single gunshot filled the entire theater.
Startled audience members jerked in their seats.
"Wh-what?"
"Someone shot? Who shot who?"
And the audience could not make sense of what had just unfolded.
Then what about the killer, and what even is the beginning-middle-end of this story…?
Over the murmuring crowd, the main lights came halfway back up, casting the stage in a dim glow.
The fisherman and the gangster passenger were gripping Jin Yu-han by both arms, and Jin Yu-han's head hung limp toward the floor.
And in front of him, Ryu Yeon-woo lay sprawled where he had slid backward, the revolver aimed at Jin Yu-han.
Of the two who had lunged at the same time, Ryu Yeon-woo had grabbed the gun first — and in the moment the fisherman and the gangster seized Jin Yu-han, the shot had gone off.
"Oh no. Wh-what do we do?"
"The d-detective was trying to protect us!"
Ryu Yeon-woo looked from the gun in his own hand to Jin Yu-han's corpse before him, then to the passengers staring at it all — and staggered where he stood.
"H-hey, Detective!"
The passengers rushed over and supported him.
The most powerful spotlight in the house locked onto Ryu Yeon-woo.
And his bewildered expression was delivered, intact, to every seat in the house.
"Oh, Detective. There's blood from your face all the way down your body… Please go inside and wash up first."
"This isn't your fault, Detective. You were only trying to protect us…!"
Supported by the others, Ryu Yeon-woo trudged into Room 4.
And the people left standing before Jin Yu-han's corpse began to speak.
"This all happened because you, Kim Se-yeong, went and searched the killer's room."
"What are you talking about! You were the ones who egged me on, saying we needed to know what the killer was hiding!"
"If Jae-hun hyung hadn't illegally taken extra money to let that passenger aboard in the first place, none of this would have happened, right?"
"What did you just say, you bastard? So it's my fault?"
As the crew started fighting among themselves, fisherman Kim Ju-hyeong stepped in to mediate.
"Everyone is involved in this. All of you, stop fighting."
Beside him, gangster passenger Woo Seong-sik roughly raked a hand through his hair.
"Ah, shit. I'm on probation — they told me if I get mixed up in one more case, this time I'm rotting in prison for a long stretch."
Even if Jin Yu-han was the killer, the fisherman and the gangster who had been holding him from both sides when Ryu Yeon-woo fired felt as if they had helped kill him — and their mouths were dry as sand.
Then Ha Jae-hun's eyes darted as he spoke.
"…But the fact that this killer was on the ship — only we know that, right?"