The room felt wide, dim, and too quiet.
Her head lowered while her hands clasped on the table. Her short brown hair was tied in a messy bun, and a black jumpsuit hugged her slender frame.
She recalled before here, she had been in a casino, her stacks growing round after round, until the fire broke out in the building.
In the blink of an eye, it was chaos as people pushed toward the exits, panicked.
Being among them, she barely escaped with her life. Yet, here she was, treated as a suspect in starting that fire.
She leaned back on the chair. Her fingers moved to her pocket for a cigarette, only to remember she didn't have them in the room.
Her brows furrowed slightly. How long were they going to just watch her?
Then, her ears picked up the sound of footsteps, slow and steady, getting closer.
It didn't take long before the door opened.
A woman with shoulder-length hair, wearing a long leather coat, stepped inside.
She recognized her. The one who had asked her to come in for questioning.
Detective Rochelle Cheng.
Rochelle took a seat and placed a laptop before her, her expression calm.
"Would you want a coffee?" Rochelle asked, eyes still on the screen.
Her gaze lingered on Rochelle for a second "Can… I get your autograph?"
Rochelle's fingers paused over the keyboard. "Do you know why you're here, Reina?"
Reina lowered her gaze. "You think I started the fire."
Her hand moved again toward her pocket. It was empty. "Forget the autograph... do you have a cigarette?"
Rochelle leaned back slightly, her eyes narrowing.
Then she gestured toward the observation mirror.
Not long after, an officer stepped in and placed a cigar on the table.
Reina's fingers moved without hesitation and picked it up with both hands, almost carefully.
"Thank you."
She placed it between her lips.
"You were the last person to meet Chaisai," Rochelle said, her voice evenly cutting through the room. "The owner of that casino, before he was murdered."
Reina froze. The lighter stopped just before the cigar.
But after a brief pause, she lit it.
She inhaled slowly before exhaling and letting the air fill with its stench.
"…Murdered?" she quietly mumbled.
Her gaze unfocused for a moment. But it didn't last long before it returned to Rochelle.
"I didn't kill him."
Rochelle watched her closely. Reina's eyes were so empty that she couldn't even tell whether she was lying or not; the same went for her body.
"From the details, every Friday you would meet with Chaisai. Alone."
"Oh, that…"
Reina exhaled another stream of smoke, her fingers around the cigar. "He liked how I played."
Rochelle's brow arched than ever.
"Poker," Reina added. "He paid me."
Again, there was no change in her. Rochelle took a note on Reina.
"What brought you to Hong Kong?"
Reina glanced at Rochelle between her heavy smoke and easily replied, "Visiting my homeland."
Then, as if something popped into her mind, her eyes widened.
"Right… I almost forgot about it. I think… someone tried to kill me last night. On my way back home…"
Rochelle's gaze sharpened.
"Someone tried to kill you?" Rochelle asked careful. "Who was it?"
Reina opened her mouth but stopped as a faint cough escaped her.
She turned her head slightly, as if to clear her throat, but the cough came again, rougher. The cigar slipped from her fingers.
Rochelle leaned forward. "Are you alright?"
The next cough came harder, forcing her body forward, and a stain splattered onto the desk.
Blood.
Rochelle stood up immediately.
Reina dropped from the chair.
Without hesitation, she rushed toward Reina, glancing at the now pale Reina and the unnatural purple tint on her lips.
Footsteps rushed in from outside as officers flooded the room.
"Detective Cheng?"
Rochelle didn't look away. "Call medical. Now!"
Soon enough, the ambulance arrived outside the police station. Officers and nurses moved quickly, helping Reina in.
Rochelle stepped in with them, her expression tight.
The doors began to close, and Rochelle's gaze shifted.
Just outside the police station, near the parking area, a girl in a school uniform stood still. Her eyes were fixed on the ambulance.
For a brief second, their gazes met, and the girl didn't look away until the doors shut and the sirens came to life.
When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Reina was rushed into the emergency room.
Rochelle remained outside, her expression dark. Her mind replayed Reina's incident over and over.
The door opened, and a female nurse stepped out.
She had dark skin, long curly hair tied in a bun, and wore a mask which left only her amber eyes visible.
Rochelle stopped near the nurse, who seemed foreign. She glanced at the room before looking at the nurse.
"Will she live?" Her voice was emotionless.
The nurse blinked at her, then replied, "We think it's poisoning. We're doing everything we can."
Then the nurse, whose name tag read Natalie, walked away. She took a few steps, then glanced back at Rochelle before looking forward again.
Poisoned?
"Detective Cheng?"
The voice came from behind her, and she immediately turned.
A teenager in a school uniform with bobbed hair and bangs, dark shadows under her eyes. She was the same girl from in front of the police station.
Up close, her expression felt… off. Not matching the faint smile crawling her lips.
The girl stepped forward and pulled out a small notebook. "I'm a big fan of yours. Can I get your autograph? The Case Reaper."
Rochelle's glanced briefly to the notebook, then returned to the girl's face. "You came all the way here for that?"
"No. I came for my sister."
Rochelle's eyes sharpened. "…Reina?"
The girl nodded.
Rochelle looked at her more carefully now. Her gaze dropped to the name tag: Yumi Lau. Even their last names were similar.
But… Reina doesn't have family on record.
Rochelle took the notebook "Why are you my fan?"
"You're like her."
Rochelle's brow shot up more. There was something she didn't understand here.
"Yumi, are you trying to tell me something?"
"Detective Cheng… my sister isn't a criminal."
Then, she added still smiling, "Just not a good person."
Rochelle blinked, "You said I'm like her? Does that make me bad too?"
"You're both out of control."
Rochelle glanced at Yumi for a moment, then smiled and patted Yumi's shoulder. "You'll be seeing a lot of me, Yumi."
With that, she walked away. Bad but not criminal?
Yumi eyes followed Rochelle's back, holding unsigned book, until she disappeared down the hall.
Slowly, the smile on her lips faded.
You can't win. Just help me stop her.