The Legendary Detective Catches All the Criminals - Chapter 115



Only Noblemtl

◈Episode 115◈

Sam Baek Go Gae

The police rushed to Kim Tae-woo’s house.

It is an expensive single-family home with a beautiful garden.

They brought in metal detectors and even police dogs to search every part of the house.

Kim Tae-woo’s eldest son, Kim Seon-woo, received an urgent call and rushed over.

He looks dumbfounded at the sight of the large police force.

“What is going on?”

Kim Seon-woo asked Team Leader Choi Jang-soo, who was in the garden.

“Are you Mr. Kim Tae-woo’s son?”

“But?”

“I am the longest-serving team leader in the unsolved crimes unit. Are you curious as to why the police suddenly showed up?”

“Yes, why are you making such a fuss?”

“It has to do with my father’s case.”

Kim Seon-woo asked in surprise.

“The case of my father where the culprit hasn’t been caught yet?”

“Yes.”

“Have you found the culprit?”

“We are currently investigating and catching a strong suspect. That’s why the police are here.”

“We are the victims. If you want to investigate, you have to search and seize the homes of potential suspects.”

The longest-running team leader scratched his head and answered.

“If we’re going to prove the prime suspect guilty, we need to find evidence here. The definitive proof that he killed my father.”

“What crazy person would hide evidence in the victim’s house?”

“Listen to me calmly. I told your mother and wife that it was a courtesy call. But I will tell you the truth as best I can. The man who killed your father is a serial killer.”

“What, what did you say? My father was killed by a serial killer?”

“Yes, he hid the murder evidence in this house. That’s what our police are looking for.”

Kim Seon-woo had a hard time accepting it.

“The culprit who killed my father hid the evidence in my house? Along with the evidence of other people’s murders.”

“That’s right. We did a major renovation on our house seven years ago.”

“Yes. My father passed away, and my mother was very sad. She would cry just looking at places or objects that held memories. We seriously considered moving, but we ended up doing a major remodel.”

“We are assuming that at that time, they came in disguised as workers and hid them.”

“You crazy kid······.”

Team leader Choi Jang-su showed a photo from his cell phone.

“Do you know this person?”

Kim Seon-woo stared intently at Park Mu-jin’s photo and answered.

“No, I don’t know… Is this guy the serial killer who killed my father?”

“Yes. We have to dig through the house to find evidence. If we find something suspicious, it may be damaged. We will compensate you as much as possible.”

“Don’t worry about it and search. You can destroy the whole house. But just make sure you find evidence that the crazy murderer killed your father.”

* * *

Cheongsong Special Prison Investigation Headquarters Investigation Office.

Park Moo-jin, who had bitten his tongue, was sitting on a chair receiving treatment.

Kim Han-gyeol approached, examined the wound, and asked.

“Can you talk?”

“······.”

Park Moo-jin shook his head without answering.

“Are you using your head? Is this how you avoid being questioned?”

“That’s not it······ Ugh.”

Soon, Park Mu-jin closed his mouth as if in pain.

Kim Han-gyeol said with a sad expression.

“You don’t have to try so hard. Detective Shin knows everything without you saying anything. And our conditions still remain the same. Nod your head if you get Detective Shin’s questions right, and shake your head if you get them wrong. Okay?”

Park Moo-jin nodded slowly.

Shin Dae-seong looked at Park Mu-jin with a leisurely smile.

“If I had to define you in one word, I would say you are a ‘human garbage’ that cannot even be separated. I wish I could just burn you and get rid of you… Unfortunately, the death penalty is practically gone in our country. Do you feel sorry for the 38 people you killed?”

“I didn’t kill him, so I have nothing to feel sorry about. Ugh… And please stop with the personal insults.”

“Isn’t that funny? I called you human trash to be as forgiving as possible.”

-Dori dori.

Park Moo-jin shook his head with a blank expression.

“You won’t admit guilt until evidence is presented. Why would a guy like that hide souvenirs in the house of the father he killed?”

“!”

-Dori dori dori!

“Don’t be so surprised. I’ll just sit here and wait for news that I found the souvenir. Kim Tae-woo’s eldest son has become quite a person. He doesn’t mind destroying the house. He asked me to find evidence that he killed his father.”

“······.”

Shin Dae-seong continued speaking after watching Park Mu-jin’s reaction.

“Why are they so different when they’re the same kids? Is it because they graduated from high school and studied abroad? That can’t be right······ Because they didn’t receive love from their father? That’s ridiculous, too. Not all people who grew up with a single mother are like you. I became a detective who arrested you even though my parents weren’t around. It’s not a problem with the environment, it’s a problem with you.”

“······.”

-Jiing? Jiing-.

Kim Han-gyeol picked up the cell phone that was on vibrate.

“Yes, Team Leader Choi. Is the search going well?”

-There’s a little problem.

“What is the problem?”

-I heard that they re-laid the living room floor when they remodeled 7 years ago. If you dig into this, it’ll be a huge job. It’ll take a lot of time.

“Okay, please stay on hold. I’ll put you on speakerphone.”

Kim Han-gyeol said to Shin Dae-seong.

“Please check the living room floor for any memorabilia. I hear the construction is going to be very large.”

Shin Dae-seong nodded and asked Park Mu-jin.

“Did you hear that? You buried a souvenir on the living room floor?”

······.

Park Mu-jin didn’t say anything in response,

Shin Dae-seong snickered and spoke into his cell phone.

“Team Leader Choi, I didn’t bury the souvenir on the living room floor. Look for another place.”

-Thank you, Detective Shin.

Kim Han-gyeol looked at Park Mu-jin and asked.

“Didn’t you get goosebumps just now? Whatever you’re thinking, Detective Shin knows it all.”

Park Moo-jin just glared at Kim Han-gyeol without saying anything. It was a situation where the sister-in-law who stopped him was more annoying than the mother-in-law who hit him.

“If I were you, I would feel utter despair. How can you defeat a detective who knows all your thoughts?”

-Zeeing- Zeeing-.

Kim Han-gyeol answered the phone again.

“You just called, right?”

-I need a hint.

“What hint?”

-We don’t know exactly what the police are looking for. If we knew the size and characteristics of the souvenir, the investigation would be much easier.

Kim Han-gyeol said to Shin Dae-seong.

“I need a hint. There isn’t much information about the souvenir.”

“Okay. From now on, keep your phone on speakerphone.”

Then Shin Dae-seong asked Park Mu-jin.

“Do you know the game called ‘20 Questions’? It doesn’t matter if you don’t. Just answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the questions I ask. If that’s too much trouble, you can just keep your mouth shut and stay still. First question, how big are the souvenirs? You must have safely wrapped and buried 38 of them, right?”

“······.”

“What? Didn’t you just bury the souvenir in one place? If that’s the case, twenty questions won’t be enough.”

“······.”

“Don’t be too happy about it. You’re the one who’s tired. Second question, did you divide the victims’ memorabilia into two and bury them?”

* * *

An expensive single-family home with a beautiful garden.

The detectives from the unsolved crimes unit ate kimbap and focused on the voice on the cell phone.

– One hundred and thirteenth question. First, the location of the souvenirs buried in the garden is on the left side of an imaginary line drawn from the entrance door to the front door. Assuming that the rectangle is divided into nine parts, is it the location corresponding to number 2? If not, one hundred and fourteenth question. First, the location of the souvenirs buried in the garden is on the left side of an imaginary line drawn from the entrance door to the front door. Assuming that the rectangle is divided into nine parts, is it the location corresponding to number 3······.

The longest-running team leader said while drinking water.

“A person with a brain like mine would have given up. I would have stuttered and not even remembered all the questions.”

Detective Seo Min-ju responded.

“Park Mu-jin, you’re amazing for listening to the end. I could have given up at this point.”

“Let’s summarize the information we’ve gathered so far. First of all, there are no souvenirs hidden in the living room.”

“It’s the living room floor, to be exact.”

“The souvenirs were hidden in five parts, the first one buried in the garden was roughly the size of a 007 bag, and the exact location was······.”

-If you draw an imaginary line from the entrance door to the front door, and divide the rectangle into nine parts, is that the location number 6? I finally found the correct location.

Team leader Choi Jang-su suddenly put down his kimbap and stood up.

He immediately shouted at the police officers who were investigating the garden.

“All units, concentrate on area 6! Hurry!”

The police began to dig up the previously designated Zone 6.

Shin Dae-seong’s twenty questions continued.

-One hundred and seventeenth question, how deep is the souvenir buried in the garden? Is it deep by your standards? One hundred and eighteenth question, is it over a meter? It’s buried very deep.

The longest-serving team leader shouted again.

“Dig really, really deep! You’ll definitely find something the size of a 007 suitcase.”

Detectives from the special task force for unsolved crimes also joined in, carrying shovels.

Dig, dig, and dig again.

This is when you dig down more than 1 meter from the ground.

-Boom!

Detective Bang Jin-woo stopped digging and shouted.

“There is something!”

Team leader Choi Jang-soo answered in a tense voice.

“Handle it carefully, it might break.”

“All right.”

Detective Bang Jin-woo put down the shovel and started digging the ground with his hands.

Soon, the outline of the buried object was revealed. It was a wooden box the size of a 007 suitcase.

-Ugh.

Detective Bang Jin-woo carefully took it out and lifted it upward.

The scientific investigation team leader who had been waiting received the box in question.

“It’s quite heavy?”

He immediately moved the box for inspection, and the longest-serving team leader followed with an anxious expression.

“Careful, careful, careful······.”

“You’re crazy, Team Leader Choi.”

“If this goes wrong, I really should resign. Please treat me gently like a newborn baby.”

“Don’t worry.”

The scientific investigation team leader put the box down on the table he had prepared in advance.

“Is there a chance that there is something dangerous?”

Detective Seo Min-ju answered.

“There will be no such thing.”

“Okay, then I guess I can open it right away······.”

The scientific investigation team leader slowly opened the box lid with his hand, and the detectives from the unsolved cases unit watched with tense minds.

When the box was finally opened, the detectives from the Cold Case Unit simultaneously tilted their heads.

“What the heck are those?”

Seo Min-ju answered Choi Jang-su’s monologue.

“It seems like there’s a whole bunch of stuff. An old pair of sneakers, a black baseball cap, those are glasses, that’s a fountain pen······.”

“Could these be the victims’ belongings? Detective Seo.”

“Well······ We’ll have to wait for the National Forensic Service’s inspection to know for sure.”

It’s time for the scientific investigators to take out the items in the box one by one.

“Just a moment!”

The landlord, Kim Seon-woo, approached.

The longest-running team leader stopped him and asked.

“Why are you doing that?”

“That fountain pen over there. It’s exactly the same one my sister and I gave to my father as a gift.”

Team leader Choi Jang-su asked, pointing to the fountain pen on the table.

“Is this what you mean?”

“That’s right, my father always carried that fountain pen with him.”

“Did it disappear when you were murdered?”

“I don’t know about that. My father passed away, so I didn’t have time to worry about fountain pens.”

“Is there anything special about the fountain pen?”

“I had my father’s English initials engraved on it.”

The scientific investigation team leader immediately grabbed the fountain pen and checked it.

“It says K······T······W.”

“Yes, that’s right······ It’s something my sister and I gave to my father as a gift.”

Detective Seo Min-ju said with a surprised look.

“So, those are the victims’ belongings?”

The longest-serving team leader nodded and asked the scientific investigation team leader.

“How many points in total?”

“11 points including the fountain pen.”

“Please hurry up and conduct a National Forensic Service inspection. Please send the photos to Director Park as well. Assemblyman Lee Yoon-cheol is there. I will ask him to check if my son’s belongings are there.”

* * *

Cheongsong Special Prison Investigation Headquarters.

A heavy silence fell.

Kim Han-gyeol printed out the photos sent from the scene on a large scale.

Eleven items of the victim’s belongings were found at the scene.

Kim Han-gyeol handed the photo to Rep. Lee Yoon-cheol.

“Take a look and let me know if you see anything familiar.”

“Thank you······.”

Rep. Lee Yoon-cheol took a deep breath and slowly flipped through the photos.

His personal secretary was also looking at the photos.

The moment Rep. Lee Yoon-cheol’s hands stopped, the attendant’s voice also began to tremble.

“Your Majesty······.”

“Do you recognize it?”

“Yes, it was the baseball cap that Dongwook liked to wear.”

Kim Han-gyeol said with a serious expression.

“Thank you for your cooperation. The National Institute of Scientific Investigation will provide accurate test results.”

“Thank you to the detectives from the Unsolved Cases Unit for their hard work. How many people’s belongings were found?”

“Eleven out of 38 have been found. There are still 27 more to find.”

“Please be sure to find the rest.”

“Don’t worry. Detective Shin is now in a position to easily overcome even the ‘Three Hundred Passes’.”