Seonghwah slipped on his white lab coat on a black t shirt that said 'Volatility is priority' and walked towards the big, black van laden with forensic equipment which would take to the crime scene for the first investigation of this case under his leadership.
He started to feel both nervous and excited as he reached the crime scene. As written in the case file he had received, this was the two hundred and seventy-sixth abduction by the criminal or gang behind all of this. On reaching, he saw that many of his subordinates had already reached there before time and were looking around the crime scene. When the van finally stopped, he immediately noticed a very sharp smell of paint and sulphur coming from a nearby wall. 'The wall is the crime scene?', he thought after noticing the yellow tape surrounding the wall that said, "CRIME SCENE - DO NOT ENTER". He quickly walked towards the wall and went under the tape to discover the source of the peculiar smell. The strange symbol that no cryptographer had been able to decode in the six years that had lapsed since the first reported case.
The symbol, like all the others before it; was made with white spray paint, but Seonghwah had a feeling that something was different about this one. He stared at the symbol for a few minutes before he spotted it. This copy of the symbol had crimson splotches in it.
"No ordinary criminal would go to such an extent just to spread suspense, or even fear", Seonghwah thought to himself."But, this is no ordinary criminal either. This guy has committed more 200 kidnappings"
He thought again for a few seconds again.
And then it dawned on him.
***
"Has anyone noticed that this symbol, unlike the others; has crimson splotches in it?", Seonghwah asked his subordinates. Some said yes, some said no; but Seonghwah was sure that he was on to something big.
"Quick, someone bring me a sample of this graffiti. I'll be in the van!", said Seonghwah, rushing towards the forensic van.
After a while, a subordinate brought him a sample of the paint and Seonghwah quickly put it under his compound microscope.
"IT'S BLOOD", he exclaimed.
***
There is only one kind of microorganism which cannot be seen even under a compound microscope like the one Seonghwah was using.
A VIRUS.
Seonghwah didn't see the virus embedded discreetly in the paint particles. After seeing the blood cells present in the paint, he inhaled deeply to calm himself and the virus went into his body through the pores in his mask. Even though he had uncovered a big surprise in the symbol, Seonghwah didn't know that there was one more surprise hidden inside the paint.
***
A media van was parking itself just behind the forensic van, the driver was a newbie and he accidentally bumped a little into the forensic van. This was what triggered the revelation of the third clue.
***
The vials, test tubes et cetera; present in the van shook from the impact of the vans bumping into each other and suddenly, the paint in the petri dish that Seonghwah was examining exploded along with the dish. A great amount of poisonous, purple fumes erupted from the explosion and started to choke Seonghwah. He burst out of the van, clutching his throat and coughing loudly.
Once his coughing had died down he regained his composure and asked for a spray can of starch. A subordinate ran and retrieved a yellow spray can from the smoking van. Seonghwah took the can from him and jogged towards the symbol on the wall.He sprayed it all over the symbol and waited for a few moments, and then Seonghwah gasped.
The symbol had turned from a bright white to a deep purple.
"Oh no", said Seonghwah; eyes wide with astonishment."What happened sir?" Asked a subordinate."This piece of graffiti right here, contains a lot of traces of nitrogen tri-iodide"