"What is that?" Aubrey asked, his face still slightly pale as he watched Jack use forceps to extract a thin black thread from the victim's inner eye corner and place it under the magnifying lamp for a closer look.
The third victim had been dead for less than four hours. Although her face bore the same horrific mutilations as the previous victims, the freshness of the wounds made the overall visual impact somewhat easier to stomach.
Clay, on the other hand, was completely unfazed this time. Even Aubrey, who had been visibly disturbed before, now focused intently on observing the forensic process.
"It's absorbable suture thread—size 7/0," the Korean female forensic examiner leaned in to examine it through the magnifier. She sounded certain.
"Like the kind used in cosmetic surgery?" Jack asked, accepting a glass slide from Clay and carefully placing the suture fragment onto it.
The forensic examiner nodded. Despite her face being partially obscured by a mask, her eyes reflected deep confusion.
"Yes. It's as if she underwent an extreme cosmetic procedure."
She hesitated before continuing.
"The earlier two bodies had severe decomposition, which may have led me to some misjudgments."
"What do you mean?" Clay, eager to learn, pressed for an answer.
"For example, her jawline," Jack muttered as realization clicked.
"This victim's mandibular trauma wasn't caused by pliers or brute force. The bone incision looks deliberate, almost like an attempted T-shaped osteotomy."
"...Come again?" Aubrey frowned. "Speak human language, please."
"A T-shaped osteotomy is a jaw surgery," Jack explained.
"It involves cutting out a section of the chin bone, then using titanium screws to push the jaw inward, creating a sharper, V-line effect."
Jack traced a V-shape with his fingers along his own jawline.
"It's more invasive than a simple mandibular contouring but makes the face look smaller and more youthful."
He then gestured toward the victim's nose.
"There are also signs of rhinoplasty.
Both nostrils have incision marks, and her nasal septum cartilage was partially shaved down."
The forensic examiner studied the victim's eyelids, nodding.
"The inner corners were cut and stitched—a classic epicanthoplasty."
She traced the edges of the victim's eyelids with gloved fingers.
"A portion of her upper eyelid skin was removed.
I'm not sure if it was just a blepharoplasty, or if the killer was attempting a full double-eyelid surgery.
But one thing is certain—this victim already had naturally large, double-lidded eyes.
Just like her nose, she didn't need any of these procedures."
Clay's brows furrowed.
"But we didn't find sutures on the first two victims, right? Could they have decomposed along with the bodies?"
Jack shook his head.
"Even absorbable sutures don't degrade that quickly in a corpse.
This is a new addition.
It means—the killer is evolving."
—
Leaving the morgue, the three agents found Ma Sido waiting outside—munching on a deep-fried stick of dough.
He held a paper bag in his other hand.
"Eat up. It's hard as hell to find breakfast places in Korea.
Most coffee shops don't open till 9 or 10 AM."
Despite his rough demeanor, the warm gesture wasn't lost on them.
The team had been awake for hours, and hunger was setting in.
Even Aubrey—who had been a bit squeamish inside the morgue—snatched a fried dough stick and wolfed it down without hesitation.
As they ate, Ma Sido pulled out a city map and spread it on the hood of his car.
"Alright," he began, pointing at Itaewon's narrow streets.
"The first victim's body—Barbara Walker—was dumped here."
He marked an X in a small alley west of Itaewon's main street.
Jack tapped the next location on the map.
"And Jessica Townsend's body?"
"Here," Ma Sido confirmed, marking another X.
"Only two alleys away from the first one."
Then, he marked the third crime scene in Itaewon's southeastern area, forming a triangle.
"This is where Elsa Bäckvist's body was found.
Two streets away from Jessica, and three from Barbara."
Clay blinked.
"Wait—you're saying all three bodies were dumped within four blocks of each other?"
Jack's expression tightened.
If Reid were here, he'd be giddy—this was one of the easiest geographic profiles he'd ever seen.
Even with basic mapping, their suspect's comfort zone covered less than 1 square kilometer.
"Our killer probably lives or works within this area."
But Ma Sido, as a native, understood Itaewon far better than any of them.
He scratched the back of his head, looking troubled.
"That's gonna be a nightmare to investigate.
This is Itaewon's busiest district—full of foreigners.
You guys find anything at the morgue?"
Jack nodded, explaining their latest theory.
"If we factor in that Seoul is the plastic surgery capital of the world, then cosmetic surgery is part of the culture here.
Given the skill required for these procedures, we believe our killer is Korean—and likely works in the aesthetic medical field."
Ma Sido frowned deeply, crossing his arms.
"That still doesn't narrow it down much.
Itaewon alone has tons of illegal beauty clinics."
"But," he added, "at least it's a starting point.
Can you narrow it down further with your geographic profiling?"
Jack smirked, pulling out his phone.
"I'll give it a shot."
—
"Yes," Hannah confirmed over the phone.
"Alice and I checked the victims' credit card records.
Barbara Walker bought flowers at a shop called 'Red Petal' twice a week.
Jessica Townsend got her nails done at a salon called 'Shiny Nails' once a week.
And Elsa Bäckvist worked nearby—she passed the same street every day."
Jack pinned a spot on the map—right at the center of all three crime scenes.
"Then we've got our hot zone."
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