{"id":6780,"date":"2026-09-06T21:29:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T21:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=6780"},"modified":"2026-09-06T21:29:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T21:29:46","slug":"part-9-we-returned-to-seoul-with-three-copies-of-the-evidence-but-someone-had-already-emptied-the-building-where-sofia-was-supposed-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=6780","title":{"rendered":"PART 9 \u2013 We Returned to Seoul With Three Copies of the Evidence, but Someone Had Already Emptied the Building Where Sofia Was Supposed to Be"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The flight back to Seoul felt shorter because none of us slept. Maria Luisa spent most of it studying photographs of the list we had dug from beneath the mango tree. Elena kept Sofia\u2019s latest picture open on her phone until the screen dimmed, then touched it awake again. I watched both women and pretended to rest. Every hour or so, Maria Luisa glanced at me to see whether my eyes were closed. Every time she caught me awake, she frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou need sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo do you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m younger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat only means you have less experience being tired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She gave up arguing.<\/p>\n<p>We had divided the evidence before leaving the Philippines. One encrypted copy remained with the lawyer in Manila. Another had been transferred to an investigator in Korea whom Kang Jun trusted enough to recommend and distrusted enough not to control. The physical memory cards traveled separately from us. Maria Luisa insisted that if anyone stopped us, searched us, or took our phones, the archive would survive.<\/p>\n<p>Elena disliked that plan for one reason.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat if they hurt Sofia because we copied it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa answered without softening the truth. \u201cThen giving them the original would never have saved her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elena looked toward the airplane window.<\/p>\n<p>I reached across the aisle and touched her wrist.<\/p>\n<p>She did not pull away.<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun met us at a private apartment rather than the office we had visited before. He had changed vehicles twice on his way there. I knew because he told us, apparently expecting this to reassure me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt does not,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat would?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA quiet life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI cannot provide that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou already proved that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa intervened before we could continue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe building.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun spread a printed map across the dining table.<\/p>\n<p>The address Sofia had recorded belonged to a private recovery facility on the outskirts of Seoul. Officially, it provided discreet post-operative care to wealthy clients. Unofficially, according to Kang Jun, several floors had once been used for people whose presence needed to remain undocumented.<\/p>\n<p>Elena stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople like my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople like Maria Luisa?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never sent you there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is a very narrow defense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The way he accepted her accusation told me he had stopped trying to make himself innocent.<\/p>\n<p>That was useful.<\/p>\n<p>Innocent men defend themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Guilty men who have finally decided to help sometimes become practical.<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun pointed to the map.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe building has two entrances, underground parking, and a service road here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa studied it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow many people?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecurity?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrivate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPolice connections?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elena\u2019s voice tightened. \u201cSo what do we do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do not enter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa looked at Kang Jun.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why are we here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause the investigator is watching the building.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince when?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince you sent the address.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>That hesitation told me enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey moved her,\u201d Maria Luisa said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou would have said otherwise immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He folded his hands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe building appears nearly empty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elena stood so quickly her chair scraped backward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have no evidence Sofia was ever there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer list named it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen she was there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elena hit the table with her palm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStop saying possibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun went silent.<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa moved beside Elena.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey may have moved her after sending the photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause we found the archive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOr because they knew we found the house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa looked at Kang Jun.<\/p>\n<p>He understood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a leak.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody spoke for several seconds.<\/p>\n<p>The evidence had passed through very few hands.<\/p>\n<p>Us.<\/p>\n<p>The Manila lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>The Korean investigator.<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun.<\/p>\n<p>If the people holding Sofia knew what we had found, someone had either followed us more successfully than we realized or someone receiving information was passing it onward.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Kang Jun.<\/p>\n<p>He noticed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou suspect me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI suspect everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is sensible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI especially suspect men who say things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A faint smile touched his mouth.<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa was not amused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho knew the building address?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou sent it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho did you tell?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe investigator.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnyone else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo either you leaked it or he did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOr your communications were compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa checked her phone instinctively.<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAssume every device you used after returning to Korea is unsafe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why are we talking beside three phones?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause they are in a shielded case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He pointed toward a metal container near the door.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou put my phone in a box?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have grandchildren of friends who may call.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheresa.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am merely establishing boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa rubbed her forehead.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time since leaving home, exhaustion showed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to know whether Sofia was moved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere may be another way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He produced a folder.<\/p>\n<p>Inside were records from the facility: suppliers, employees, physicians, transport companies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne nurse worked there for eleven years. She left three months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan we find her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI already did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was Kang Jun\u2019s most useful quality.<\/p>\n<p>He anticipated questions because he had spent decades anticipating threats.<\/p>\n<p>The nurse lived forty minutes away.<\/p>\n<p>Her name was Ji-yeon.<\/p>\n<p>She refused to meet Kang Jun.<\/p>\n<p>That interested Maria Luisa immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe knows who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd she\u2019s afraid of you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShould she be?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun considered the question longer than I liked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce, perhaps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa\u2019s eyes hardened.<\/p>\n<p>He added, \u201cNot now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We arranged for Elena and Maria Luisa to meet Ji-yeon at a caf\u00e9. I insisted on sitting two tables away.<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa objected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t speak Korean.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI speak faces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not a language.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt has worked for sixty-five years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ji-yeon arrived wearing a beige coat and carrying no handbag. She looked ordinary enough that I would never have noticed her on a street.<\/p>\n<p>Then Maria Luisa introduced herself.<\/p>\n<p>Ji-yeon stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Her face changed.<\/p>\n<p>She knew the name.<\/p>\n<p>That alone justified the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>They spoke mostly in Korean at first. I watched Maria Luisa\u2019s posture. Calm. Controlled. Elena leaned forward, waiting for translations.<\/p>\n<p>After several minutes, Maria Luisa switched to English for Elena.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe remembers Sofia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elena\u2019s hands tightened around her cup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ji-yeon understood the word.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Elena closed her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa translated.<\/p>\n<p>Ji-yeon answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSix months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Too long.<\/p>\n<p>Elena asked, \u201cWas she hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The nurse looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n<p>That was another answer before the translation came.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was brought in several times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ji-yeon spoke quietly.<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa\u2019s face went still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExhaustion. Dehydration. Once a concussion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elena covered her mouth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho did it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ji-yeon shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe doesn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho brought Sofia there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This time the nurse hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>Then she gave a name.<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa repeated it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChairman Park.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun\u2019s reaction when we told him was immediate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We were back at the apartment.<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa stood across from him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone in that circle knows him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas he in the photograph Elena brought to the restaurant?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun looked at the image.<\/p>\n<p>The silver-haired man behind him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elena\u2019s breath caught.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou told us you didn\u2019t know his name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut Kang Jun did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elena turned on him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou saw that photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot before now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou had Sofia\u2019s file.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew Chairman Park was connected to her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew he appeared in records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew more than you told us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room became dangerous in a quiet way.<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa stepped between them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun did not pretend to misunderstand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Park is not merely part of the network.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is he?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the people who built it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That changed the scale of everything.<\/p>\n<p>Chairman Park was not a recruiter or client who had exploited a convenient system.<\/p>\n<p>He had helped create the structure that found vulnerable women, disguised private arrangements as legitimate employment, enforced silence through contracts, and moved money through respectable companies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Sofia copied his records,\u201d Maria Luisa said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy hasn\u2019t he simply destroyed them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he doesn\u2019t know where every copy is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knows we have one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe suspects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why is Sofia still alive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun looked at Elena.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause she is the only person he believes can identify all the copies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elena whispered, \u201cShe\u2019s leverage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa walked to the window.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need Park.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou need Sofia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPark leads to Sofia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPark is protected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo were you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That landed.<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun accepted it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was never protected at his level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen tell us what reaches him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did.<\/p>\n<p>Money.<\/p>\n<p>Reputation.<\/p>\n<p>Political relationships.<\/p>\n<p>Business partners.<\/p>\n<p>Family.<\/p>\n<p>At the last word, Maria Luisa looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFamily?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun immediately regretted saying it.<\/p>\n<p>I saw that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is irrelevant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why mention it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I was listing vulnerabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho is his family?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun closed the folder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaria Luisa.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stared at her for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>Then said, \u201cHis son.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe left Korea years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted nothing to do with his father\u2019s businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cName?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>That was when I understood there was another piece.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKang Jun,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>He looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have spent too many years deciding which truths other people are allowed to know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His jaw tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are doing it again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa did not look away from him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cName.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finally he answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPark Min-jae.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elena shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa did.<\/p>\n<p>I saw it immediately.<\/p>\n<p>She gripped the back of a chair.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun lowered his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa looked almost sick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYears ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Korea?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe attended events.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked at Kang Jun.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou told me he was a junior executive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the time, he was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou never told me Park was his father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Min-jae know what was happening?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa laughed once without humor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone never knows.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She walked away from the table.<\/p>\n<p>I followed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened with him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing romantic, if that\u2019s what you\u2019re asking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not a defense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is my most reliable one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her expression softened slightly.<\/p>\n<p>Then she said, \u201cMin-jae was kind to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The words sounded almost painful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe treated me like I was actually in the room. Not decoration. Not an employee whose role changed depending on who was watching.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun answered from behind us.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he discovered part of what his father was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you knew that too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is he?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCanada.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan we contact him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI haven\u2019t spoken to him in years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFind him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaria Luisa\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFind him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That night, we finally visited the industrial building.<\/p>\n<p>Not inside.<\/p>\n<p>Across the road.<\/p>\n<p>The Korean investigator\u2014whose trustworthiness remained uncertain\u2014had placed cameras near both entrances.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing.<\/p>\n<p>No Sofia.<\/p>\n<p>No Chairman Park.<\/p>\n<p>No unusual traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Then, shortly after midnight, a delivery truck entered the underground garage.<\/p>\n<p>The investigator enlarged the license plate.<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun recognized the company.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMedical transport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone is there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot necessarily Sofia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe check.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun blocked the door.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMove.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKang Jun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI spent twelve years allowing you to walk into rooms because a document said you were required to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice remained quiet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will not help you walk into this one simply because fear tells you the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa stopped.<\/p>\n<p>It was perhaps the most useful apology he had ever given.<\/p>\n<p>We waited.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-three minutes later, the truck emerged.<\/p>\n<p>The investigator followed.<\/p>\n<p>Not us.<\/p>\n<p>The truck drove across Seoul and stopped at a private residence behind high walls.<\/p>\n<p>The investigator sent one photograph.<\/p>\n<p>A gate.<\/p>\n<p>A security camera.<\/p>\n<p>A bronze plaque.<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa enlarged the image.<\/p>\n<p>Kang Jun went pale.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did not answer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d she repeated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat house belongs to Park.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elena stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen Sofia is there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She glared at him.<\/p>\n<p>He corrected himself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a strong chance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For once, that was enough.<\/p>\n<p>Then another photograph arrived.<\/p>\n<p>A woman was being helped from the back of the truck.<\/p>\n<p>Her face was partly hidden.<\/p>\n<p>Elena leaned so close to the screen that her hair touched it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSofia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa enlarged the photograph.<\/p>\n<p>The image blurred.<\/p>\n<p>But Elena did not need clarity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe way she holds her left shoulder.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen she was fourteen, she fell from a bicycle. She has held it like that when she\u2019s tired ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her voice broke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maria Luisa stared at the photograph.<\/p>\n<p>We had found Sofia.<\/p>\n<p>And for the first time since this began, the people holding her did not know that we knew exactly where she was.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=6781\">Click Here to continue read next: PART10: Sofia Was Behind Chairman Park\u2019s Walls, but the First Person Willing to Help Us Enter Was the Son Who Had Abandoned Him<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The flight back to Seoul felt shorter because none of us slept. Maria Luisa spent most of it studying photographs of the list we had dug from beneath the mango &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6780"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6796,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6780\/revisions\/6796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}