Triumph. The detective seemed much more assured in his conduct now at the sudden revelation, and the victims were equally as pleased. He acted as if the verdict was already decided from a few black and white pieces of text on his screen.

Daniel turned away from his computer, his swivel chair sending him a little farther than he planned. His hands grabbed the corner of his desk to steady himself.

“Here’s what I think happened,” he announced.

Nora wasn’t amused. She stayed completely rigid except for a small shift in her expression. She was holding onto an air of confidence, and Daniel felt it was his mission to rip that smugness out of her hands.

“You received a… job request? Is that what it’s called?” the detective started.

“A tip.” Nora wasn’t the type to let a man talk uncorrected.

“That’s right. You received a tip about a senate candidate staying at a nearby penthouse and decided that it would be a good idea to scope the place out. You stuck around the building for a little bit and watched him come home.”

[It’s early evening. Nora, dressed in her all-black attire, a baseball cap tucked on top of her short hair and deep over her eyes, hides herself behind a lamppost across the street from the congressman’s residence, a camera in her hands. She waits to strike. A black car stops in front of the building, and a somewhat- tired politician exits. After saying a word to the driver, he makes his way inside, nodding to a huddle of elderly women passing by. Nora watched all of this with expectant eyes.]

“After a few minutes, another person arrives,” Daniel grabbed a pen and rolled it across his desk, a small distraction, “Someone you recognize, perhaps? A person you’ve seen lurking around Mr. Kim? After he enters the building and doesn’t come back out in a professional amount of time, you conclude that there’s some juicy story to uncover, so you make your way into the building. You somehow get past the door guard and the key-pass system. I’ll leave that process up to your imagination.”

[Mitchell An arrives in his own chauffeured vehicle and promptly enters the building carrying a bundle of files. Time passes. He’s still in there. Eventually, Nora approaches one of the women near the door who recognizes her and casually brings her past the guard without much thought. Nora reaches the elevator with the key-pass system but is able to get to the penthouse without any authorization required. A flaw in the security? No matter. She’s on her way to the top floor.]

“You get to the top floor and wait again, but no one exits the room. Your opportunities are dwindling. According to your file,” his fingers tap the mouse, opening some pages on his computer monitor, “you’ve changed news companies frequently. Once every two months, at least. I’m going to assume that at this point in your current job you’re desperate for some news, so when nothing was coming to you, you decide to create something for yourself.”

Nora finally moved. She straightened up in her chair. Everyone noticed it, but what really held their attention was the growing glare in her eyes. Her mouth tightened into an ugly scowl, and her eyebrows gradually lowered. It looked like she was tasting something sour but was too stubborn to spit it out.

It seemed that Daniel was the only one who didn’t notice the chill in the air. He continued.

“You took the fire extinguisher from its spot and triggered the fire alarm. When your targets didn’t come out, you tried the door. Maybe you assumed that they weren’t in. You decide to break into the house. They wouldn’t hear you over the alarm, and if there really wasn’t anyone inside then you’d be free to lurk and find some information before they returned.”

[Nora hesitates, but when she decides to do something she follows through. She grabs the fire extinguisher and slams it into the glass case of the fire alarm before recklessly reaching in and pulling the tab. The alarms blare. She tuns back to her hiding place, a small alcove tucked behind a large planter near the elevator and waits with bated breath. Still nothing. When no one exits, she stealthily sneaks up to the door and puts her ear to it, hoping to hear some movement, but it’s hard to listen to against the alarm. Thinking she’s safe, Nora reels the extinguisher again and smashes it on the door, first at the handle, then the electronic passcode. After three hard hits she slowly enters the penthouse, extinguisher still in hand.]

“You enter, and when you’re discovered you book it. Meeting face-to-face was never a part of your plan. You’re able to blend in with the crows on your way down, and you stick around to take some pictures. You might not have gotten what you wanted, but you don’t want to walk away without something, and a headline about a mysterious break-in at a congressman’s penthouse is just enough to keep you floating in your mediocre job.”

[Nora sneaks in successfully, and her guard slips for a moment. At the sudden arrival of the congressman and his secretary she freezes, alarmed, and drops the fire extinguisher. The sudden encounter upsets her nerves, and before she realizes it, she’s out the door, sprinting into the emergency stairwell and descending three steps at a time. She catches up to a grumbling, urgent crowd in no time, and squeezes into a small niche in between people’s arms until she’s well protected by a wall of residents. She makes it outside, pushes herself back to her hiding spot across the street, and with jittery hands takes as many photos as she can.

The victims soon exit the building, bewildered, but they’re swept away by a gaggle of concerned and starstruck onlookers, and the matter is put to rest until the fire department shows up not five minutes later, followed by a police car. Out comes Officer Gu, his rookie partner Officer Yoon, and a freshly transferred and gruntled Detective Moon.]

“You wait until the all clear is given. You want to join the crowd and head back inside, but you hesitate. By that time, the police had discovered the break-in and were going through the crime scene. You hesitate too long, because you were still there when we got back to the lobby.”

[Nora watches as the crowd returns to their homes and takes a step to follow them, but she just as quickly steps back into her hiding spot. She goes through the pictures on her camera and seems dissatisfied with them. Before she can take any countermeasures, a group exits the elevator. Nora can see them through the glass doors of the entrance.

A moment is framed: the congressman, his secretary, two officers, and a detective arrive in the lobby with an array of different stories on their faces. Seeing an opportunity, Nora strikes and takes a picture. Her final picture. The detective suddenly turns, their eyes meet, and that’s all it takes for Nora to know that she’s in trouble. She secures the camera and runs just as Detective Moon sprints towards her.]

“So?” the detective rolled his neck, stretching, “How close did I get?”

The others weren’t sure they wanted to hear an answer. Nora looked absolutely livid. At some point during his spiel she had shifted her attention to a small spot on the wall just above his head and simply glared holes into that. The air was tense, and Daniel skimmed over it, as if he had nothing to do with it. Officer Gu tried to intervene, unable to take in the density of it all.

“Well, what you said makes sense,” he started nervously, “but I don’t think Nora’s the type of girl to do something so…”

Daniel smacked his hand against the desk. Again. Nora wondered if he’d break it at this rate.

“Do you think before you speak? If she wasn’t the type of girl to do something like that, then we wouldn’t be here.”

Still, Officer Gu wasn’t convinced, “I’m just saying—”

“What you’re saying,” Daniel interrupted, “is biased and considered a conflict of interest in a court of law.”

Gu wasn’t sure how to argue to that. The detective continued.

“Go ahead and stick around if you want to play favorites, but what you’re ‘just saying’ is an insult to the people who deserve justice for this girls’ stupid decisions!”

That shut the officer up. Gu tried to salvage himself by reaching a comforting arm to Nora, but he dropped it and kicked his chair back to his desk nearby, leaving the conversation completely. The congressman looked satisfied with the detective’s conduct and tried to take over. He turned to the girl at his side with an air of magnanimous snoot.

“I understand wanting to get ahead in your work, but to think that you’d put people in danger like that. It’s no wonder you couldn’t keep a job for long.”

The snide comment made Nora turn her glare to him, and he shut his mouth. He shouldn’t have said that.

“Where’s your proof?” she asked.

“What?” Kim coughed.

“Your evidence. The evidence that states clearly and legibly that I did all of those things.” Nora turned to Daniel, “I can talk about the court of law too. You falsifying a testimony to fit this guy’s fantasy isn’t very moral of you, my detective.”

Daniel squinted, “What does a gossip rag reporter know about morality?”

“Enough to be disappointed in your obvious lack of it.”

Congressman Kim sputtered, “F-Fantasy??”

Mitchell did his best to calm his boss down. He placed a hand on Kim’s arm, and it was jerked off immediately, as if it burned. Aside from being pissed, Nora was unbothered. The politician had leaped up out of his seat and towered over her, steaming, and she rose to meet him. The sudden movement toppled him back to his seat and he cried out in alarm. Daniel stood from his own chair, but the height difference made the move underwhelming; Nora had a three-inch advantage, and she wasn’t wearing heels.

“Sit back down,” Daniel ordered her.

“I won’t. I’m not going to let some new guy like you talk around me like I don’t know what my rights are.”

“I get it, so sit down.”

They glared at each other. Officer Gu, the busybody, rolled back in on his wheeled chair from behind his desk and pulled Nora back into her seat. It seemed as if he had been sitting next to her for a reason. He didn’t leave again, and Daniel didn’t ask him to.

Seeing that the argument had deescalated, Daniel fell back into his seat.

“If that’s not correct, the would you please give us your version of what happened?”

It almost worked. Nora opened her mouth to refute his ridiculousness, but before any noise could come out she shut it just as quickly. Officer Gu’s arm was hooked into her own, and she grabbed onto it with her other hand as if it was a lifeline. It anchored her to her sanity. Officer Gu said the next sentence for her.

“She’s going to remain silent.”

The detective scoffed.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s what she usually does. She knows not to incriminate herself, so she won’t say anything unless you have proof.”

Daniel’s patience was running thin, and it was getting late. He rubbed his hands over his tired eyes.

“One last question for the night, then,” he said, “The memory card. Where is it?”

Nota remained silent.

“Look, you hand that over and it’ll show me where you’ve been. If I’m wrong, then you’ve got yourself an alibi. Right?”

The congressman frowned, “But couldn’t she have deleted those pictures?”

Daniel shook his head and tapped a knuckle onto his desk, “Nah. If I were her, I’d keep everything. It’d be a waste to get rid of it all if she had the chance to use them. So? It wouldn’t hurt to submit that as evidence.”

Nora didn’t say anything.

“Unless,” Daniel paused, “You have a reason to hide it? If you took pictures of things you’re not willing to share with the police, then that’s the same thing as you claiming guilt. Am I correct?”

At this statement, Kim’s eyes bulged. He straightened himself, but his hands roamed his frame, as if trying to catch hold of something. He struggled to remain calm at the sudden development.

“Then- then you’re saying that there’s no reason to hide anything unless she’s guilty?” he turned to Nora, trying his best to push the words out of his stomach, “You better listen to him, girl. He’s got you in a corner. Confess everything you’ve done. Hand those photos over to me immediately!”

Mitchell raised an eyebrow, but beside that his posture didn’t change. The reveal of pictures hadn’t alarmed him in the slightest.

One moment passed. Two. Three.

Nora finally announced, “I’m not giving you anything without a warrant.”

She didn’t bite the bait. Daniel growled.

“You’re aware that I can keep you in custody?”

“48 hours is no big deal,” she shrugged.

“I’ll find the evidence. I’m quite good at it.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

“And if you just told me what happened or give me what I need, then we could all go home on time.”

The detective didn’t realize he was inching closer until the front half of his body was already over his desk.

Nora turned to her good friend Officer Gu.

“Warm up my spot in the holding cell, won’t you?” she smiled, “And grab my blanket from the cupboard?”

“Nora…” Officer Gu warned.

Nora jumped to her feet and turned to the detective. He looked beyond exhausted. The congressman and his secretary silently stared from the sidelines, unsure of how to address Nora’s devil-may-care behavior. How careless could she be? What kind of woman could hold herself so confidently like this, with the treatment she was receiving? She was willing to walk into the holding cell by herself?

They were surprised she hadn’t cracked.

This wasn’t her first rodeo, of course. She was too brazen, too smug, and too smart to admit when she was wrong. And whether she was in the wrong or not was too complicated to tell. It didn’t matter what the detective had said. They really couldn’t do much to her without the evidence to prove it.

“So?” Nora blinked, “Should I wish you luck in your work, or do you not need it?”

One second. Two. Three. Then, after vaulting a heavy sigh her way, the detective let his hands smack one final time against his desk.

“Lock her up.”