Nine Puzzles: Episodes 7-9 » Dramabeans Korean drama recaps
Nine Puzzles: Episodes 7-9
by starrygazer
As our hero and heroine find a snippet of a clue to the puzzle piece killer’s identity, they are still one step behind every time they think they are getting close. In a dangerous game of cat and mouse will they be able to lure the killer out and stop the murders, or will the killer complete this deadly puzzle?
EPISODES 7-9
At their new base camp (i.e. Han-saem’s home) our crime-fighting duo discuss their four victims and the links between them. The only link they’ve managed to uncover so far ties together three of the victims, but not Yi-na’s uncle Dong-hoon.
Strangely, and suspiciously, the luxury apartment owned by whisky bar owner Lee Mi-young was originally owned by CEO and most recent victim Do Yoon-soo. Yoon-soo had transferred the ownership rights to Mi-young’s boyfriend, Kang Chi-mok and all of these deed transfers happened in the span of three months. Han-saem believes that the real link is the district where the apartment building is located. The area was part of Uncle Dong-hoon’s police jurisdiction which means that he could have theoretically covered up crimes related to the building.
But Yi-na and Han-saem agree that they need to keep digging — because right now they still have more questions than answers. After all, what crime was committed by the victims? And if the other victims got a luxury apartment, what compensation did Uncle Dong-hoon receive? Though the puzzle pieces link all of the victims as well, why did the killings restart ten years after the first murder in the chain?
Han-saem sets off to gain insight into Uncle Dong-hoon from someone who had worked directly with him, Commander Tae. Dong-hoon was an exceptional police officer and the youngest ever superintendent. But his career ended in disgrace after he was cut loose to appease public sentiment due to a notorious serial murder case. The case had dominated the media at the time, and the police were heavily criticized for not realizing they were chasing a serial killer until after five women had been killed.
At the police archives, Yi-na and Han-saem dig deeper into cases that could have been swept under the rug by Uncle Dong-hoon. While they search, Yi-na takes in the new information about her uncle; she had always assumed he resigned to raise her after her parents’ accident. She works as she muses out loud: what sort of case a well-respected, model police officer would have covered up? Han-saem is in no mood to console and he asks her if she, as Lieutenant Yi-na, can face uncomfortable truths about her uncle and bring the truth to light. She seems noncommittal but asserts that she can put her feelings aside for the case.
Their search pays off when they discover an old civil defamation case filed by the brother of one of the women killed in Uncle Dong-hoon’s last case. As they drive to meet the victim’s brother, Han-saem shares a detail about the Puzzle Piece Killer case he’d been holding back: a missing handkerchief taken from one of the recent crime scenes. He assures her that since only he, San, and Captain Yang know about the handkerchief it can help them ferret out if the killer or an accomplice is on the force. Yi-na turns the question he’d asked her back on him: Can he, as Lieutenant Han-saem, face the truth if it turns out that San or Captain Yang is the murderer? The question shakes him, but he says he knows how to do his job.
The brother is surprised to see the police asking questions about his sister’s case after all these years, but he answers all their questions. He filed the defamation case because he couldn’t stand by while some sleazy reporter made up lies about his sister. The reporter painted her as a “karaoke girl” (in other words, a sex worker) who had been out late at night “working” when she was killed, but she’d just been a young woman out having fun with friends on her birthday. Though he never got justice since the police buried the case, “the bastard” died not long after anyway. But the brother doesn’t mean Uncle Dong-hoon, he means the reporter, LEE GANG-HYUN (Baek Hyun-jin) whose death was rule a suicide. So instead of gaining more info on Uncle Dong-hoon, they’ve just discovered a new potential victim.
Han-saem calls in a favour to get his hands on the old case file and at first glance the scene does look like a suicide. But! They see a puzzle piece in one of the crime scene photos — and I just got chills. Reporter Lee’s murder took place 8 months before Uncle Dong-hoon’s death. Yi-na can’t believe she didn’t even consider that her uncle wasn’t the first victim.
Our dynamic duo split up with Yi-na going to the evidence locker to retrieve the puzzle piece. Han-saem meets the detective who had been in charge of the reporter’s “suicide.” No longer with the force, he tells Han-saem that the death seemed strange at the time — puzzle piece included. But the reporter’s family opposed an autopsy, so there wasn’t much he could do. The ex-detective also tells Han-saem that he should ask Captain Yang about it, as Captain Yang had actually done all the footwork for the case.
Han-saem is just about ready for his signature move; to flip his lid (a.k.a. remove his hat and get angry), when he meets Captain Yang and asks him outright why he pretended he had never seen a puzzle piece before. Captain Yang sidesteps the question and turns it back onto Yi-na again. He informs Han-saem that Yi-na knew Reporter Lee’s son and that on the day of Reporter Lee’s death, she was in a study session – in the apartment directly above Reporter Lee’s. Her alibi for the time of death was unclear, just like eight months later when her uncle was killed.
At base camp, Han-saem starts in on Yi-na about her alibi the night Reporter Lee died. She explains she ditched the study session and hung out on the roof to kill time because her uncle wouldn’t have been happy she skipped studying. They argue about who is truly trustworthy and why Captain Yang held back all of this information from Han-saem until now. Yi-na advises Han-saem to decide who he is going to trust and storms out. (And I can’t blame her, I’d be pissed too.)
On her own, Yi-na keeps investigating and goes to Jeju Island to visit the last person the Reporter Lee spoke to before his death, OH CHEOL-JIN (Hwang Jung-min).
The interesting thing about Cheol-jin is that he knew Yi-na and her family. He used to send gifts on holidays and her birthday, which is why she recognized his name on Reporter Lee’s call logs. We don’t know the nature of the relationship, but the mood goes from friendly to chilling when Yi-na mentions Reporter’s Lee name.
We don’t see their whole conversation, but from the snippets we do see, Cheol-jin tells Yi-na that the connection between the victims must be that luxury apartment building, and the killer will be coming for him too because he built it. (I’m getting that sinking feeling again…) Cheol-jin asks if Yi-na lives there now and her confusion clues him into the fact that Uncle Dong-hoon must not have told Yi-na much about her parents.
Cheol-jin’s premonition turns into reality when he’s found dead on his boat. Unlike the other murders, an immediate arrest is made – Yi-na. While we know she’s innocent, she refuses to say a word to the police. Obviously Han-saem goes to try and sort things out. But Han-saem’s boss, Chief Hyun (who was close with Uncle Dong-hoon) and Captain Yang arrive too, as does Dr. Lee and her colleague doctor HWANG IN-CHAN (Roh Jae-won). The two doctors just happened to be in Jeju for a seminar. (Great timing…)
To everyone’s mounting frustration, Yi-na refuses to give them any answers. But when she’s alone with Dr. Lee, she hands over a puzzle piece with the request that Dr. Lee give it to Han-saem. When Han-saem goes back to demand answers, she finally gives him her alibi, which is quickly confirmed, and she’s released from custody.
Yi-na explains that on the way back to her hotel after meeting Cheol-jin, a courier had knocked on her taxi window and handed her another puzzle piece. She had circled back to the dock to find Cheol-jin already dead. Instead of reporting it right away, she set herself up to be arrested for murder in order to throw a spanner in the works for the killer and to see who would come find her when she was in custody.
Back in Seoul, Yi-na questions both Dr. Lee and Dr. Hwang separately and we learn for the first time that her original doctor was Dr. Hwang, not Dr. Lee. She only began seeing Dr. Lee because she didn’t like Dr. Hwang lol. However, out of her four Jeju visitors, Yi-na sees the Captain Yang has having the most circumstantial evidence against him. Aw, you can tell Yi-na trusts Han-saem fully seeing that she doesn’t include him in her suspect/visitor count.
In the face of overwhelming evidence, a task force is formed for the Puzzle Piece Killer, with Commander Tae in the lead. Yi-na briefs the task force and emphasizes that there are three murders left before the puzzle is complete, so they need to find out who the next target is quickly.
Han-saem is struggling with the idea that his boss and mentor could potentially be a serial killer and the more he tries to find evidence to exonerate Captain Yang, the more circumstantial evidence mounts up. In fact, Captain Yang was even in the neighborhood on the night of Uncle Dong-hoon’s murder but never mentioned it. He lied about knowing Mi-young and he didn’t follow up on the link between Chi-mok and Yoon-soo. He lied about seeing the first puzzle piece at Reporter Lee’s murder scene.
What’s more, San agrees to be hypnotised and remembers Captain Yang picking up the handkerchief at Yoon-soo’s crime scene. As if that weren’t enough, Captain Yang was also on Jeju Island when Cheol-jin was killed.
It looks like it’s the end of the road for Captain Yang, but before Han-saem can make any sort of move, Captain Yang seeks him out at the police station. Captain Yang’s ears must have been burning, because he pulls the handkerchief out of his pocket in front of everyone and confesses to being the Puzzle Piece Murderer. Huh? (That was weird and I didn’t believe a word of it.)
And another odd thing is that Captain Yang refuses to say anything unless he can hold a press conference.
When Yi-na speaks to Captain Yang himself, she throws out a question. “What were you thinking as you stood behind me?” The look in his eyes tells her Captain Yang has no idea what she’s talking about.
The task force is torn over whether to believe Captain Yang is their culprit. Han-saem can’t seem to make sense of it all, even the confession feels off. (I agree with Han-saem that it feels more like an act of self-harm than an actual confession.) Yi-na conducts her own investigation and agrees with Han-saem that he isn’t the killer. Captain Yang has spent years helping kids from the orphanage he grew up in. He even gave up his apartment to some of the kids that aged out of the system. With his selfless nature, he just doesn’t match the killer’s profile.
Yi-na thinks Captain Yang is likely trying to protect someone, so she and Han-saem visit the orphanage to find out more. They run into a dead end when the orphanage head refuses to tell them anything of substance but they leave with a list of children that Captain Yang supported financially.
It’s time to make a move. To throw him off balance, the decision is made to release Captain Yang from custody. After all, he has solid alibis for two of the murders anyway. Now that Captain Yang is free, San is tasked with tailing him.
Yi-na also makes her move, approaching Dr. Hwang for a ride and to question him. As always, she is fearless. (You wouldn’t catch me getting in a car with someone I suspected of being a serial killer.) She wants to know how he came to be her doctor in the first place and drops breadcrumbs about how he had once had a patient who had lived in an orphanage.
Though Captain Yang knows he has a tail on him, he proceeds to some reed fields where there are two men hunting. Former chief prosecutor, KWON SANG-BUM (Park Sung-woong) and Mayor Kim Mo-il. Sang-bum is hoping to get some zoning restrictions lifted so that he can develop the land they’re hunting on, and the mayor seems inclined to help.
San follows Captain Yang through the reeds, and he’s promptly knocked out by the captain. He doesn’t want to hurt San though, he’s trying to stop the next murder (and he grabs San’s service pistol). Captain Yang spots a rifle in the reeds, aimed squarely at the two men.
He runs towards the men screaming at them to get down, and he gets shot by Sang-bum for his efforts. When Han-saem finally arrives on the scene, he hears gunshots and makes his way to their source. He discovers Captain Yang with a nasty bullet wound and Sang-bum is also hurt.
As Captain Yang lays dying, his first question is whether the victim is alive. He tells Han-saem he tried to stop the killing, and that he’s sorry. This all started because of something he did. He continues that Mi-young, Chi-mok and Yoon-soo were all scum of the earth — it’s not the poor kid’s fault. With his dying breath, he utters “Shindonga Seo-jin.”
Poor Han-saem is devastated by Captain Yang’s death, but he continues working and stands guard at the hospital to protect the former chief prosecutor as he clings to life.
Things seem quiet until the police station is upturned by a major leak to the press. Orchestrated by Yi-na, the aim was to give the killer the mic they’d been craving. After all, Captain Yang must have wanted to call a press conference for a reason. Everything about the Puzzle Piece Killer is out in the open now. While the news is broadcasting, Yi-na calls Han-saem to tell him that she received another puzzle piece.
Han-saem can’t figure out what that means – the victim is still alive after all. But then the hospital monitor starts to go wild and the former chief prosecutor flatlines out of nowhere. The puzzle piece killer is scarily methodical when it comes to his kills.
In our penultimate week, Yi-na makes a comment to Han-saem that I think is very succinct: when it comes to this killer, he (assuming he’s a man) can see them clearly, but he’s keeping them under the mist. The killer is still leading them around and only showing them what he wants them to see, so I see more risks being taken by our duo in the final week in order to smoke the killer out.
There is so much going on, and so many people seem suspicious that it is difficult to get a read on who the killer could be, other than someone Captain Yang was protecting. But Captain Yang was the type of person to protect and advocate for everyone. His sympathies were always placed with victims in his cases — so this doesn’t really narrow it down. I didn’t initially think I would enjoy the way these episodes have been blocked out and released, but for me, it has just added to the anticipation.
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