The Ultimate Inspector, Kang Ji-hyeok - Chapter 52



Only Noblemtl

Episode 52

Sehee closed his eyes for a moment.

I held out both hands, grabbed the cafe latte, and drank it.

‘Yes, Sehee. You have to be strong like that. You’re doing well.’

After calming down like that, Se-hee started talking to me, the prosecutor.

“The CEO wanted to renew my contract. I said no because the conditions were too bad, and he cursed at me, saying I would never be able to set foot in the entertainment industry again······.”

“So you slapped Yoon Seok-ju twice in the hallway.”

“I wanted to hit him more, but I held back because I thought my nose would bleed if I did.”

My nose felt itchy.

Because he knew better than anyone how spicy Se-hee’s hands were.

“Just hit me on the back like you usually do. Why did you have to hit me on the cheek······.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“no.”

I took a sip of the iced Americano in front of me.

My girlfriend and I had different tastes throughout our relationship. She only drank cafe lattes, and I only drank iced Americano.

At that time, I felt like I was walking on parallel lines.

“Do you remember the fountain pen that the CEO carried around with great care?”

“I know. Someone gave it to me as a gift last year, and I always carried it around with me, saying it was worth over a million won, with all the fancy gold and jewels.”

“But after this incident, the fountain pen disappeared.”

“You think I took it? Hey, Kang Ji-hyeok. I’m not that kind of woman.”

He knows it well too.

I also know very well that I am not the kind of woman who would take someone else’s treasure, even if it was worth over 10 billion won.

If I had to buy the same thing, I would have bought it, I would never do that.

“Okay. When was the last time you saw that fountain pen?”

“On the night of the incident, I got a call asking me to sign a contract. He signed it himself and handed it to me.”

“Did you meet that night?”

“Yes. I went there at 11. I met him after work because he had revised the contract and told me to come back after work.”

“You came to sign the contract at 11 o’clock at night?”

“Yes. But the contract terms were the same, so I got angry and didn’t sign, so I put down my fountain pen and left. That’s the last time I remember seeing a fountain pen.”

“Is it true that you came to the president’s office late at night on the day of the incident?”

“Kang Ji-hyeok. Are you suspecting me of being a criminal like the police? You were talking about the fountain pen.”

Sehee said, even the hand holding the cafe latte trembling.

I continued asking questions with a cool expression, as if I didn’t care.

“What time was it when you left the president’s office?”

Sehee glared at me for a moment, then started answering as if he had given up.

“···It must have been around 11:20. It was 12 o’clock when I got back home in a taxi. That must have been around that time.”

“Are you taking a taxi? Where is your road manager, Kim Sae-han?”

“The boss told me to come alone, so I went alone.”

She’s a woman worthy of that.

Sehee’s characteristics are fearlessness and strong self-esteem.

Just like in my old club, I was willing to sacrifice myself for my friends.

Sigh.

I showed her a photo of the blood-filled incident.

“······!!”

She staggered when she saw the picture.

The whites of his eyes appeared, and he collapsed on the table while still sitting.

“Ms. Lee Se-hee?”

I got up and tried to shake her, but she fell and didn’t move.

Meanwhile, my breathing became rougher.

“Wake up, Lee Se-hee!”

I shouted at the investigators outside.

“Call an ambulance! Quickly!”

That’s how the first interrogation ended.

She was put into an ambulance and taken to the hospital.

“Detective Kim Hye-jin. Please accompany the suspect to the hospital and notify the police. Please.”

“Understood, Inspector.”

Hyejin followed the paramedics with a serious expression and headed to the hospital with Sehee.

“I found out after I got married. She has a condition where she collapses at the sight of blood.”

The term “fear of bleakness” is not officially used in the medical field.

However, it is defined as a ‘blood-injection-wound type’ phobia under ‘specific phobia’.

This is because in clinical settings, blood phobia is often accompanied by needle phobia.

“I want to have a child.”

When we were a married couple, there was a time when I asked Se-hee to have a child with me.

Of course, now that I think about it, I think it was fortunate that I didn’t have children.

“I’m sorry, Jihyuk. There’s a secret I’ve kept from you until now. Actually, I have a strange mental illness.”

That’s how I found out she had the symptoms.

So I gave up on having children in my marriage with her.

After she was taken to the hospital, she looked out the window and muttered.

“I understand now that I see it in person, Sehee.”

Through this investigation, we have clearly identified the reason why we were unable to have children when we were a couple.

“Now that the important stuff is over, how about we try some magic? Something like making a disappeared weapon come back.”

* * *

I received information about a witness from Cheonjegu. This witness is at the center of the incident.

Her name is Yeo Jin-ju.

It was his real name, not his stage name.

“He started out as a trainee. He quit being an idol and started a life as an actor.”

I thought about it for a long time while looking at her profile.

It was already a situation where I had called her.

“Ms. Yeo Jin-ju has arrived.”

“The appointment was supposed to be at 2 o’clock?”

“That’s right. You’re 30 minutes early.”

Officer Lee Hyeon-a guided her into the interrogation room.

After leaving her alone for a while, I look at her through the magic mirror.

Yeo Jin-ju looked around, then looked at the magic mirror and touched her hair.

He was short and looked much younger.

Her small height of 158 cm, which was considered cute and attractive during her days as an idol trainee, may be her fatal weakness.

Even with the short skirt, the various accessories were what stood out the most.

Sparkling earrings.

A big necklace.

A ring on each finger.

Secretary Lee Hyeon-a tilted her head next to me, holding her coffee.

“You came so flashily? Even if you’re not a suspect, you usually come dressed plainly… just like you, Yuni.”

“It’s also a witness statement, and I guess there will be another meeting after it’s over.”

“That’s right. There are so many weird celebrities······.”

“I brought coffee too, so the secretary can drink the rest.”

“That sounds good.”

I went inside, holding the coffee she brought in one hand.

Druk.

I sat down in front of her, deliberately making loud noises on my chair.

Witness Yeo Jin-ju was not shaken at all.

‘Don’t even ordinary criminals feel uneasy when the chair makes a loud noise?’

I put my coffee on the table and said a quick hello.

“This is Kang Ji-hyeok, prosecutor of the Western District Prosecutors’ Office. Thank you for coming early.”

“It’s okay. Oh, and I read the article well. It said he was a demon prosecutor who dealt with cases coolly.”

She smiled faintly.

The piercing on her lip sparkled.

“I guess you like piercings?”

“Yes. It’s nice. It’s shiny.”

Maybe that’s why she looked a little younger than 28-year-old women.

Witness Yeo Jin-ju entered the company at the age of eighteen and was a trainee for over ten years without any special activities.

All that was on his profile was that he had recently started appearing as a supporting actor in a drama starring Se-hee.

Perhaps because of his good training, some articles have said that he is receiving a lot of love calls from good dramas and movies for his good acting skills.

“I heard that your testimony helped us identify the killer. I am so grateful for all the help.”

“Haha. No matter how much he curses, you can’t kill him by stabbing him in the neck just because you’re angry.”

“Excuse me, but tell me again. What did you witness?”

“No, it’s okay. If I can catch the culprit, I’ll do it a hundred, a thousand times.”

Yeo Jin-ju opened her big eyes and said it was okay.

“That day, I was practicing my acting in the practice room, and I went to see the CEO with my script because I had something I wanted to ask him.”

“What time was it?”

“I don’t know the exact time, but I think it was around 12 o’clock.”

“okay.”

Yeo Jin-ju continued the story.

He told the story in a realistic way, mixing in gestures.

He said that when he looked out the window, he saw someone inside and that the two seemed to be arguing, and then suddenly the woman stabbed the boss in the neck with something she was holding in her hand.

“What did you stab in the neck with?”

“What I saw was something sharp at the front… After stabbing him, he pulled it out right away. Then I think he threw it on the floor.”

Bam.

I said, tapping my index finger on the table with a look of incomprehension.

“Based on my investigation, it seems to be a fountain pen. The fountain pen used as a murder weapon disappeared from the crime scene. I searched all around the sofa where the murder occurred, but it seems to be gone.”

“A fountain pen? Yes, I think so. It was a black fountain pen with a gold sheen that the boss had.”

“Was the president’s office bright?”

“No. It was late at night and only the table lamp was on. But I could still see everything.”

“I see. I saw that stand too. It looked pretty bright.”

“Yes. The boss always works at night with the table lamp on.”

“I guess you don’t like bright things?”

“I guess so.”

I muttered with a regretful face as I placed the report on the table.

“If only we had that weapon, it would have been easy to catch Lee Se-hee, the prime suspect······. The problem is, we haven’t found the weapon.”

For a moment, her eyes sparkled.

It was full of sparkle, but it was especially like that.

“By the way, how’s the contract renewal going? According to the testimony of other office workers, it should be done soon.”

“Haha. I was just talking about that with the boss.”

“okay.”

I turned off the recording and recording functions.

And then he stood up from his seat.

I informed her that the reference investigation was complete.

“There’s nothing different from the report. Still, it’s good to have confirmed once again that the fountain pen is a weapon.”

She bowed her head in greeting to me.

I held out my hand.

“Would you like to shake hands? You’re about to become a star······.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Oh, right. Gloves.”

I put on vinyl gloves and put my hand out.

“We meet with many witnesses, so we cannot directly touch them for legal reasons. Please understand.”

“It’s okay. Since you’re the inspector······. I’ll take care of this.”

“No, just leave it. The cleaners will clean it up for you.”

I shook her hand and sent her away.

After that, I carefully took off the vinyl gloves.

Dalgrak.

A large diamond ring appeared, hanging from a plastic glove.

It was taken from her fingers.

“Long time no see? Stealing someone else’s ring······.”

I picked up the coffee she was drinking with my gloved hands.

It was a disposable, clear plastic cup.

Beep.

I pressed the button.

“Please call investigator Kim Hye-jin. We need to go to the National Forensic Service and secure fingerprints and DNA immediately.”

– All right.

Until now, we could hear the voice of Lee Hyun-ah, who had been recording and filming our interrogation.

Detective Kim Hye-jin took the item I gave her to the National Forensic Service.

“But, why this ring?”

“Please check if there are any blood stains on the ring.”

“All right.”

Before leaving work, I gave instructions to Secretary Lee Hyeon-a.

“I have the evidence for the grandmother’s fraud case, so please issue a warrant. But before that, please give me my cousin’s bank account first.”

“All right.”

The scam against the grandmother eventually ended with a large sum of money being found in the bank account of the scammer’s cousin.

“Why are you taking so long?”

“I want to return the money to the victims. If I had just arrested them, they would have used the money.”

That’s how the huge scam targeting the grandmothers ended.

* * *

8pm.

Is now enough time?

“Well then, shall we try using magic now?”

He picked up his cell phone and called investigator Kim Ji-cheol.

– Yes, inspector. This is Kim Ji-cheol.

“Please go back to the crime scene of the Zeus & Venus President murder case. I think the weapon will be there.

– Fortunately, it’s right nearby. But, wasn’t this incident a case without a weapon?

“Check. First, look for the place furthest from the sofa where the president died. Just in case, look around the table and the stand. You’ll find a fountain pen. A black fountain pen with gold hardware.”

Ji-cheol said he understood and hung up the phone.

I waited by the window as the sunset set in.

whiz.

First, I got a call from Hyejin.

[Fingerprints and DNA have been registered. I’m leaving work.]

“As expected, you are thorough.”

Wheein.

Another message came in.

[Awesome! There was a fountain pen under the stand.]

The attached photo was of a fountain pen.

The pointed front was stained with red blood.

“The weapon returned to us as if by magic?”

As I muttered like that, I looked at the profile of the witness, Yeo Jin-ju.