The Ultimate Inspector, Kang Ji-hyeok - Chapter 102



Only Noblemtl

Mad Dog Prosecutor Oh Cheon-su said.

“Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok seems to be the goddess of luck. The opportunity to catch the criminal at the scene has finally arrived.”

The strongest inspector said, squinting his eyes.

“Should we just go in and attack him? It’ll be over if we catch him on the spot. We can get there in 15 minutes, so let’s attack him right away, Inspector Seo.”

I kept watching the CCTV screen.

The driver following him was holding a bottle of wine.

Insights swirled in my head.

Then, prosecutor Seo Tae-in asked me.

“What do you think, Kang Ji-hyeok? What do you think?”

“Let’s go out now. Prosecutor Na Su-hyeon and I will head to the parking lot, and at the same time, Prosecutor Choi Kang-han and Prosecutor Oh Hyeon-su, please go into the Karahan Auction Company and search and seize it. In particular, please raid the warehouse without fail.”

“You want me to issue warrants for both locations within 15 minutes, right?”

“Yes. Please let us have them done at the same time as we arrive.”

Prosecutor Seo Tae-in seemed troubled.

I spoke to him coldly.

“Aren’t you the Central Investigation Department above the law? Please obtain a search and seizure warrant while we’re at it.”

“Okay, let’s do that. But if we fail to secure evidence, you cover it all up?”

I nodded.

“It’s a call. But what if I’m right?”

“At least I won’t touch you. You can investigate as you wish at the Central Investigation Department.”

“That’s a call too.”

“Then, run out quickly!”

So the four prosecutors left the Central District Prosecutors’ Office and headed to their respective locations.

* * *

Representative Gu Seong-jin’s house.

Ding dong.

As the bell rang, a voice came out.

He was a member of the National Assembly.

-Who are you?

“This is Prosecutor Na Su-hyeon of the Central District Prosecutors’ Office.”

– Prosecutor Na Su-hyeon? Why did you come all the way to my house?

His voice had one tone.

A mechanical tone.

But there were thorns in the words.

Na Su-hyeon turned her head and whispered to me.

“What should I say?”

I stepped forward and said.

“I have confirmed that two boxes of apples have been brought into the house. Please open the door and I will leave after checking the boxes.”

– Illegal acquisition of footage won’t be accepted as evidence, so what on earth did you see?

Prosecutor Na Su-hyeon looked at me with a bewildered face.

I smiled and said one more thing.

“Should we call the reporters and hold a press conference in front of the house of the three-term congressman suspected of bribery, and then formally come and get the warrant?”

– Who is speaking now? You should start by stating your name.

“You go first. Then I’ll do it too.”

There was a moment of silence, and then the door opened.

Rattling.

It was as if the door opened in front of the inmates released from Cheongsong Prison.

– Please come in and give your names to each other. Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok.

“I don’t think it’s necessary, Representative Gu Seong-jin.”

Thud thud.

The time passing through the open door and into the small garden felt long.

I remembered everything in my head like a photograph.

Everything, including where each item is.

Squeak.

The door opened in front of the actual house, past the garden.

Rep. Koo Seong-jin was standing with the driver we saw in the video earlier.

“That’s prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok. And the person next to him is prosecutor Na Su-hyeon, who had the highest indictment rate in the country?”

This time, Prosecutor Na Su-hyeon took a step forward.

“It’s a shame about Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok. He hasn’t been a prosecutor for very long, so he’s still rough around the edges······.”

“No, no. I’m only a third-term congressman. I’m still not very good at being a congressman, so even the boxes of apples get caught by the Central Investigation Department guys.”

I scratched my head and stepped forward.

“So why were you carrying around over 1.2 billion won so visibly, Congressman?”

“Kang Ji-hyeok. Can you handle it? I know you’re capable, but it’s not something you can handle.”

“I’ll take responsibility for it. If I’m wrong, I’ll be in trouble, sir.”

I felt relieved when I saw the wine in the driver’s hand.

It was the thing I was taking out of the car earlier.

I remember exactly.

I said as I stepped forward.

“Could you please bring out the two boxes of apples you moved from the car so we can go in and check them?”

“Someone I know sent this to me. What should I do? I really need to see that apple.”

I walked towards him.

“Then may I go in and check, sir?”

“That won’t work? I’ll bring it to you, so wait.”

I turned my head and looked at the driver and said.

“The congressman himself?”

“Of course. I’m not like the average congressman who bullies drivers and stuff.”

“Would you be so kind? Then I’ll wait.”

He went into the house as if nothing had happened.

I just stared at the driver.

‘I’m sure of it. It was him······.’

Sigh.

Prosecutor Na Su-hyeon grabbed my arm.

I turned my head to him.

“What are you doing to the congressman? But you still have to keep a proper line.”

“You’re protecting it, aren’t you?”

I drew a line on the floor with my shoe.

The garden floor is made of grass, so lines are drawn.

“I am holding this line.”

“I heard about it, but you really······.”

“He’s a cool guy, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, Inma. He’s a cool guy.”

Prosecutor Na Su-hyeon smiled pleasantly. I smiled back.

thud.

At that time, I placed down the two boxes of apples that Assemblyman Gu Seong-jin had brought.

Bam.

He said, kicking the box of apples.

“Is this what you saw on the CCTV secretly installed in the parking lot?”

Yes, that was the box.

Of course, there may have been time to take out all the money that was inside.

But that won’t be the case.

Because what was inside there must have been an ‘apple’ from the beginning.

I already knew from the beginning that there was something round and bulging on both sides.

So, what’s in that box of apples is just ‘apples’.

“Then let me check.”

Prosecutor Na Su-hyeon quickly opened the box and said.

I walked up to the driver and pretended to snatch the wine with my hand.

“Huh? This is―”

The surprised driver quickly tried to pull his arm back, but I had already grabbed his elbow.

There is no way out.

Hold on.

When I pressed hard under his elbow with my thumb, a strong electricity ran through his arm, and he squinted and dropped his wine.

At that moment, Rep. Guseong Jin shouted in surprise.

“Hey! If you miss that-”

chin.

I caught the falling wine with my other hand and snatched it.

The upgraded quick feet were quite useful.

“I, inspector. I have secured the evidence.”

“What? In the apple box······.”

He squatted down and looked at me with surprised eyes as he rummaged through the box of apples.

“There’s only an apple there. Leave it alone. The evidence I was trying to secure was this wine······.”

Only then did I look at Assemblyman Koo Seong-jin, who was furrowing his eyebrows, and say:

“Actually, it was wine from the beginning, Inspector.”

Rep. Gu Seong-jin opened his mouth with a forced smile.

“Give it back. It’s just wine.”

“Just a little. This wine is worth about 1.2 billion won?”

I extended my hand to Prosecutor Na Su-hyeon, who was squatting.

“Get up. If you keep touching the apples, they’ll get covered in pesticides.”

“Yeah, that’s right. It smells like pesticide.”

Swish.

Prosecutor Na Su-hyeon stood up, holding my hand.

I looked at the wine and spoke quietly.

“Is it worth the 1947 Chateau Cheval Blanc? It’s an antique that was once sold at auction for $305,000······.”

“This wine costs 350 million won? Is that true, Kang Ji-hyuk?”

“It’s probably more expensive now. If it were to go up for auction again, it would easily fetch four times the price it was worth back then.”

“Are you able to fill your stomach there easily?”

Sigh.

I looked at Rep. Koo Seong-jin and asked.

“Isn’t this stinking antique worth that much, sir?”

“Did you say Kang Ji-hyeok? Stop joking around and give it to me. I bought it today to quietly grill some beef and have a drink.”

“Is that so? Then should I take this and exchange it for a decent wine that costs about a million won? There’s a wine shop nearby that I know well… I’ll order delivery from there. Just a moment.”

I picked up my phone and called Prosecutor Seo Tae-in. He answered the phone as if he had been waiting for it.

“This is Kang Ji-hyeok.”

– Have you secured the evidence?

“Yes. I have the evidence, so please send it all here.”

– Okay. The search warrant has already been issued. I’ll send them over there now.

“When you come in here, there seems to be a secret place in the garden, and you must tell them that all the wine in the cellar must be confiscated.”

– Wine? A secret place in the garden? Is that true?

“Yes. The congressman who said he lives in a 50 million won apartment has a house with a garden in Gangnam. Even if that’s true, there are a lot of antiques buried in the basement of that garden. It looks like a wine bottle······.”

Rep. Gu Seong-jin, whose face was red, looked at the driver.

Thud thud.

The driver approached me.

I gave the wine I had to Prosecutor Na Su-hyeon.

“Take this and run away.”

“escape?”

“I think the driver needs some wine. I’m your inspector. If the wine breaks while running away, you’ll lose at least 350 million.”

“Oh, I see.”

I showed the approaching driver the large bandage on my neck.

And he limped.

“I was attacked a while ago and was stabbed in the neck and thigh. If you touch me here, I’ll blame you for hurting the prosecutor. Are you okay, Mr. Park Jin-hae?”

Stop.

Driver Park Jin-hae stopped.

He seemed surprised that I knew his name.

“Mr. Park Jin-hae. You’re currently working as a driver due to a number of complicated issues, but you’re not that kind of person, are you?”

In the future I lived in······.

That is, back when I was a detective.

At that time, the driver, a five-term lawmaker and a leading politician of the ruling party, made a declaration of conscience while in possession of a USB containing a record of more than ten years of crimes.

The five-term congressman treated him like a servant under the pretext of treating his child with leukemia.

However, he did not keep his promise to send the child to the United States for surgery, and the child ended up dying from the flu.

A few days later, the commotion ended when the driver, Park Jin-hae, committed suicide by lighting a flash grenade in his compact car along with a USB.

A will was discovered, but it was not accepted because the handwriting was different.

Of course, the incident was concluded with Koo Seong-jin, who was a five-term lawmaker and a leading politician of the ruling party at the time, quitting politics and stepping down from the front lines.

“I know your son has leukemia. So I understand why you would be willing to give up your life in place of Assemblyman Gu Seong-jin!”

Pause.

The driver hesitated.

“Rep. Gu Seong-jin has absolutely no intention of saving your son. If he goes to Japan and gets surgery, he can live for more than 10 years. But he won’t do it.”

Driver Park Jin-hae responded by squinting his eyes.

“I have a foundation that I run. So, it’s a foundation that takes care of sick children of important witnesses in cases, or police officers, or something like that.”

The foundation continued to operate after the Nak-Hyeon criminal case.

Since we were constantly earning money, running the foundation wasn’t difficult.

“I will take responsibility for the child, so please spare my life. I am a prosecutor, so I may not be able to cure leukemia, but I am confident that I can somehow put that congressman’s son in jail.”

Thud thud.

He walked over and took out a dagger from his bosom.

“If you give me the USB containing your criminal activities, I will make sure that you are punished according to the law and isolate you from society.”

Flutter.

I took a white handkerchief out of my bosom and waved it, saying:

“I surrender. Throw that sword towards the secret staircase in the garden. Then I won’t hold you accountable.”

Finally, driver Park Jin-hae stopped walking. He stood in front of me and spoke in a trembling voice.

“How did you know all that?”

“I’m pretty smart.”

Phalang.

He waved the white handkerchief again.

“Join me. Then I will save your son and help you stand before him as a proud father.”

Pfft!

The sword flew and stuck in the ground next to the large Haetae statue.

There was a bulge in the garden, and the dirt was a mess of grass, as if it had been covered recently.

“The place where the knife was stuck is a secret staircase?”

Nod.

He nodded.

Just then the door broke open and the police rushed in.

“Everyone stop in place!”

Police officers and investigators came up to the garden to search and seize.

I shouted at them, holding up the search and seizure warrant I had received.

“Assemblyman Koo Seong-jin. As of now, our Central District Prosecutors’ Office will search and seize this place. Do you know what that means? And search the basement stairs from where the knife was stuck!”

Gulp.

Rep. Koo Seong-jin swallowed.

I spoke to him quietly.

“You know everything, right? You’re a fucking lawbreaker. You’re now X.”