The morning air was crisp and cool when Dae-hyun pulled up to the Yongsan station at five forty-five. The sky was just beginning to lighten, pink streaks spreading across the horizon above the city buildings. He parked his sedan near the entrance and waited.
Min-jun arrived first at five fifty-five, a paper cup of coffee already in his hand. He nodded at Dae-hyun through the windshield and leaned against the hood of the car, sipping his drink in silence. Shi-eok came next at six on the dot, moving quietly despite his size, and took a position near the station doors. Soo-ah came running up at six-oh-three, slightly out of breath, her notebook clutched to her chest.
"Sorry, sorry," she panted. "The subway was delayed and then I—"
"Relax," Min-jun said. "Captain's not a clock watcher."
Dae-hyun said nothing, which Min-jun seemed to take as confirmation.
Jin-young stumbled out of a taxi at six-ten, his hair somehow already defying gravity and his laptop bag slung over one shoulder. He was muttering something about having to rewrite code he'd left running overnight. Hae-rin arrived at six-fifteen in her own car, calm and composed as always, a travel mug in her hand.
Yoon Seo-ah came last at six-eighteen. She walked toward them without hurry but without hesitation, her uniform immaculate, her face composed. She stopped at the edge of the group and waited.
Dae-hyun looked at each of them in turn, then nodded. "Everyone in."
They piled into his SUV, a fit better than any of them had expected. Jin-young's elbow was pressed against the window. "This is cozy."
"Don't complain," Min-jun said from the front. "The captain's paying for the gas."
Dae-hyun pulled away from the station without comment, steering through the early morning streets toward Gangnam. The city was waking up around them—shopkeepers raising their shutters, delivery trucks making their rounds, and office workers heading to early shifts. By the time they reached the jewelry store district, the sun had fully risen.
The store sat on a corner, its windows still dark, its metal security grate pulled down and locked. A uniformed officer stood outside, and he straightened when Dae-hyun's car pulled up.
Dae-hyun got out and approached him. "I am Captain Kang. Where is the owner?"
"He's inside, sir. Been here since six." The officer gestured. "I'll unlock the grate."
They waited while he worked the lock, the metal rattling as it rose. Behind the glass, they could see the store interior—display cases empty, a few scattered items still on the floor where they'd fallen during the robbery, everything covered in a thin layer of dust.
The owner met them at the door, a middle-aged man with tired eyes and a nervous smile. "Captain. Thank you for coming. I hope—I hope you can find something. The insurance has been... difficult."
Dae-hyun nodded. "We'll do our best. Please wait outside."
The owner hesitated, then nodded and stepped back.
Dae-hyun pushed the door open and stood at the threshold, his eyes sweeping the interior. Behind him, his team waited.
"Go," he said. "Look at everything. Touch nothing without gloves."
They filed past him into the store. Min-jun moved to the main display cases, peering through the glass at the empty velvet cushions where jewelry had once rested. Jin-young pulled out his phone and started photographing everything, his eyes scanning for security cameras, alarm systems, and anything technological. Shi-eok examined the floor near the entrance, where the thieves had apparently broken in. Hae-rin stood in the center of the room, turning slowly, taking in the layout. Yoon Seo-ah moved along the walls, her eyes following the lines of the shelves and cases.
Soo-ah stayed near Min-jun, watching him work. After a few minutes, she glanced back at the door, where Dae-hyun still stood motionless, his eyes moving slowly across the scene.
She leaned closer to Min-jun. "Why is the captain just standing there?"
Min-jun followed her gaze, then smiled slightly. "That's his way. He notices everything from the doorway. The big picture first. The way light falls, the way shadows sit, the way the space flows. He'll stand there until he's seen everything there is to see from that spot. Then he'll move."
Soo-ah watched Dae-hyun with new respect. "Nothing gets past him?"
"Nothing." Min-jun turned back to the display case. "I've worked with him before, years ago. He missed exactly one thing in the three months we were partnered. And he still talks about it."
They worked through the morning, the sun climbing higher and casting shifting shadows across the store floor. By noon, they had gone through every inch of the space. They had photographed, measured, and catalogued. They had compared every detail to the original case files. They had found nothing new.
Jin-young sat down on the floor, frustrated. "It's all the same. Exactly the same as the reports. There's nothing here."
Min-jun straightened, his back cracking. "He's right. I've been through this place three times now. The original investigators didn't miss anything."
Soo-ah looked at her notes, then at the store, then back at her notes. "Maybe they really did find everything."
Hae-rin shook her head slowly. "There's always something. The question is whether we're seeing it."
Dae-hyun finally moved.
He walked into the store slowly, his eyes still scanning, but now he was among them. He passed the main display cases without stopping. He glanced at the broken lock on the back door without comment. He stood where the thieves had stood, turned where they had turned, and moved where they had moved.
Then he stopped at a corner of the store near the back, where a small decorative table sat against the wall. On it rested a single item—a porcelain vase that had somehow survived the robbery untouched.
Dae-hyun bent down and looked beneath the table.
"What are you thinking?" Min-jun asked, coming closer.
Dae-hyun straightened. "The vase. It's not in any of the crime scene photos."
Soo-ah flipped through her notes, then through the case file photos. Her eyes widened. "He's right. It's not there. But the original report mentions it—the owner confirmed it was always there. So why isn't it in the photos?"
Jin-young scrambled up and looked at the vase. "Maybe the photographer just missed it?"
"No." Dae-hyun moved to the main entrance, looking back at the store. "The photographer stood here. Standard procedure—document the scene from the entrance first. From this angle, the vase is clearly visible. It should be in at least one photo." He paused. "Unless someone removed those photos from the file."
Min-jun's eyes sharpened. "Someone tampered with the evidence?"
"Someone wanted this vase forgotten." Dae-hyun turned to Jin-young. "I need you to find someone. A suspect."
Jin-young pulled out his phone. "Who?"
"Park Jae-won. About forty-five now. Specializes in jewelry store robberies. Works with a small crew, always military style—quick in, quick out, no unnecessary violence." Dae-hyun's voice was flat, certain. "I caught him nine years ago. This is his MO. The way they entered, the way they moved, the way they knew exactly where to go. It has to be him, and also he leaves something precious in a corner like that vase."
Jin-young's fingers flew across his phone. He accessed databases, cross-referenced names, and pulled up records. For a long moment, he was silent.
Then he looked up.
"Captain," he said slowly. "Park Jae-won is in jail. He has been for the last nine years. Maximum security facility in Daejeon. No parole, no early release, no nothing."
The store fell silent.
Min-jun frowned. "Then who—"
"Someone who learned from him," Hae-rin said quietly. "Someone he trained. Someone who knows his methods because they studied them."
Dae-hyun's jaw tightened. "Or someone who wants us to think it's him. Someone who's been inside that maximum security facility." He looked at Jin-young. "I need visitor logs. Phone records. Everything connecting Park Jae-won to the outside world for the last six months."
Jin-young nodded, already typing. "On it."
Soo-ah looked at the vase, then at Dae-hyun. "Captain, what about the vase? Should we—"
"Leave it. For now." Dae-hyun moved toward the door. "We have what we came for. A hole in the evidence and a new direction." He stopped at the threshold and looked back at them. "Good work, all of you."
It was the closest thing to praise they'd heard from him.
As they filed out of the store, Soo-ah glanced back at the vase one last time. It sat there innocently, a small porcelain thing that had just changed everything.