The Ultimate Inspector, Kang Ji-hyeok - Chapter 53



Only Noblemtl

Episode 53

– How did the Sehee case progress?

The call came later than expected.

“The trial is imminent. Sehee has been named as a suspect.”

– Are you really pointing out Se-hee? Do you think that kid killed the president?

“···I can’t talk about the trial. I think you know better than me that making a phone call like this has legal implications.”

It was a call from Prosecutor Lee Cheol-jung.

The reason he hasn’t been able to return to work even after being appointed as the Chief Prosecutor of the Western District is because of his daughter Se-hee’s case.

It had to be dealt with as quickly as possible.

So, we had no choice but to proceed with Se-hee as the defendant.

* * *

[Will the nominee for the Western District Prosecutor, Lee Cheol-jung, be stranded due to the issue of his daughter?]

[Depending on the results of the first trial, Lee Cheol-joong, the chief prosecutor of the Western District Prosecutors’ Office, may be stripped of his clothes······]

[West District Prosecutor’s Office Ace Kang Ji-hyeok. Will he aim his knife at Lee Cheol-jung?]

An unusually quick trial was set amid sensational headlines.

The opposing lawyer is Cheon Je-gu.

He decided to defend Se-hee.

Secretary Lee Hyeon-a spoke to me with a regretful face.

“Prosecutor Kang. The victim of the Bongcheon-dong grandmother fraud case has withdrawn her complaint.”

“You said it was going to be taken over by a civil court?”

“Yes. All the grandmothers say that they don’t want to send suspects to prison as long as they get money.”

In the case of the Bongcheon-dong grandmother’s fraud, when her cousin’s bank account containing 2 billion won was frozen, she dropped the lawsuit, thinking she could get her losses back.

“What a pity. It would have been much easier if you had been punished under criminal law before going to civil law······. You’re giving up the possibility of receiving a large settlement amount in addition to damages.”

“They say those two conmen treated the grandmothers well instead of their children.”

That’s the world.

The reason why these scammers continue to exist in this world is because they exploit the human mind.

“There’s nothing we can do. If the victims themselves withdraw their lawsuit······.”

In this way, the ‘Bongcheon-dong grandmother fraud case’ was transferred to a civil trial.

Now the lawyers will be fighting among themselves over how much more money they can get.

This case was also handed over to attorney Cheon Je-gu.

If it were Cheon Je-gu, he would get as much money as possible from Grandma. At least he would make sure that she wouldn’t be hurt emotionally.

Maybe it was a blessing.

Proving fraud in court is the most difficult fight for a prosecutor.

For example, proving “intentional bankruptcy fraud” where someone gives someone inside information about a company as a favor and asks them to invest, but then goes bankrupt with their personal investment before the company goes public is 100 times harder than a murder case.

Even in cases like Ponzi schemes, the legal situation was so complicated that there was no law at the time.

Rather, from a business perspective, I was grateful that the grandmothers withdrew their fraud charges.

The sentence itself is so light that it was not until 2023 that the Supreme Court finally confirmed a 7 billion won Ponzi fraud case with a sentence of only 5 years in prison.

“Should we just focus on the trial for the murder of the Zeus & Venus president?”

“So that’s how it ended up like that?”

While preparing for the trial, I thought about Se-hee.

The survey found that the entertainment industry was as scary a place as a drug ring.

When I think about what she must have been through in that scary world, I feel a little sorry for her.

‘It must have been hard for Se-hee, who lived innocently in a world where people were smiling on the outside but trying to tear each other down and drag each other down.’

The more I dug into it, the scarier it became.

I thought I knew how broken and twisted the mind of a trainee who hasn’t debuted in over 10 years must be.

“As a long-time friend and as her ex-husband, I have to save her from this trial, right?”

We’ll be gathering and examining evidence overnight.

I pictured the situation in my head and went to the scene several times to check.

I reviewed the testimony and studied the facial expressions of the witnesses giving their testimony.

The back of the whiteboard had already turned to the front.

The incident briefing board, filled with photos and text, pointed to one culprit.

‘This case is going to be interesting, isn’t it?’

* * *

And then the trial day came.

This incident was also interesting to reporters.

I walked into the crowd of reporters who had gathered like clouds.

“Are you confident about today’s trial? Isn’t your opponent the daughter of the Western District Prosecutor and popular actress Yuni?”

“Anyone who commits a crime will be punished. That’s the court.”

Clang.

At those words, a flash went off.

He entered the courthouse, avoiding the long microphone.

“You’re super popular.”

“Oh. Attorney Cheon Je-gu?”

The two met in the courtroom hallway.

“You put strength into your hair and lost weight?”

“But since our client is a celebrity······.”

Again, again, again.

Sehee walked down the hallway in style.

No, it was just the calm hair and black suit, but did that seem like that to me?

“Inspector, are you prepared?”

“Yes. As always.”

“Are you feeling a bit shaky? Like always.”

She glared at me briefly and then entered the courtroom.

Clang.

That scene was also captured in its entirety in photographs by reporters.

If those outside the courtroom were social affairs reporters, then in the hallway were entertainment reporters, which was different······.

[Uni, the clothes she wore to court alone were worth 20 million won]

[Uni’s black suit sold out like hotcakes]

[Black Luxury Gloves Sold Out Notice!]

Sehee was a walking billboard.

The courtroom was filled with entertainment reporters, social affairs reporters, and general audience members.

I heard that they were going to select 200 people on a first-come, first-served basis.

“Your Honor. I ask that you please make sure that the law is in your favor today.”

The first witness to appear, Yeo Jin-ju, greeted me.

Then the courtroom became quiet and the judge entered.

“Stand up. The judge is coming out.”

The judge came out and began the trial.

Judge Park Jin-su.

He was a man with a high reputation as a neutral judge.

Most of the judges had a strong tendency to apply sentencing standards.

He was a progressive and gentle judge.

Before appearing in court, it is essential to study about the judge.

It was fortunate for me.

If the judge had been too old-fashioned, I really wouldn’t have known where today’s trial would have gone.

“Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok. Attorney Cheon Je-gu. Please take care of us today.”

He even greeted us gently when he called us both.

The judge opened the courtroom by smoothing his neatly combed hair.

“Then, the prosecution side, please explain the outline of the case.”

“All right.”

I stood up, turned to the audience, and spoke.

“This incident is the murder of the president of an entertainment agency that occurred between midnight and 2 a.m. on February 7th. During the contract renewal process, the celebrity who was under the agency held a grudge and took advantage of the victim’s presence in the president’s office to kill him with a fountain pen.”

That concludes the overall explanation.

If possible, I tried to exclude provocative imagination and describe the event itself.

“Okay. Then, let’s start with the prosecution and present the evidence.”

The trial has begun.

The murder case involving my longtime friend and former wife Se-hee will be settled here in court.

* * *

“If you look at this CCTV, you can see the scene of the victim being slapped in the hallway.”

A video streamed from a large screen presenting the evidence.

“It wasn’t recorded on CCTV, but according to the suspect’s testimony, he slapped her in the face because he was angry about the terms of the contract.”

I looked at Sehee and spoke clearly and concisely.

“A quick temper appears to be the suspect’s basic nature.”

Suddenly.

At those words, Cheon Je-gu stood up.

“I object. The prosecution is now making groundless claims.”

The judge looked at me and asked.

“Where does the term ‘irritable personality’ come from?”

“The suspect, Lee Se-hee, has been an acquaintance of mine since elementary school.”

Male.

Male.

The audience members looked surprised and began to share various stories.

I continued my story without paying any attention to that.

“I know better than anyone else that a person has a quick temper. I have experienced it a lot.”

“That is the prosecutor’s personal opinion. I beg you to leave out any prejudicial comments, Your Honor.”

Cheon Je-gu raised an objection once again.

The judge answered with a knowing smile.

“I don’t want to be prejudiced, but it’s good for the defense attorney to know that the suspect’s usual personality has already been revealed through several investigations to have an impact on the case.”

I looked at him and bowed my head.

I was convinced that Judge Park Jin-su was a progressive judge who studied diligently based on the latest overseas data.

I knew it, but it was important to be confident.

‘Okay. I can do this trial properly.’

Attorney Cheon Je-gu came in during the gap.

“As you can see in Evidence No. 3, the president’s office on the 9th floor of the building was located in a public hallway, and upon visiting several times at the same time, it was located at the end of a hallway where numerous trainees could pass.”

The third piece of evidence presented by Cheon Je-gu was a drawing of the 9th floor hallway and a CCTV photo showing the time zone.

That was also evidence I provided.

“Hmm. I see.”

“And if you look at Evidence No. 10, you can see that there are many complaints about the CEO among the company’s trainees, especially the fact that he speaks harshly and that the conditions get worse every time they renew their contracts, so you can see that many people, not just Lee Se-hee, hold grudges.”

These were interview materials for trainees prepared by Cheon Je-gu.

The judge nodded while looking at the materials and asked me.

“Okay, inspector. But why wasn’t the hallway CCTV working at that time? If only we had that footage, the trial would be easy······.”

“I also feel sorry. I checked and they announced the CCTV malfunction through the building speaker at 6pm that night. Unfortunately, the CCTV did not work that night.”

widely.

I stabbed again, hitting the papers in my hand.

“However, if you look at the suspect Lee Se-hee’s interrogation data, you can see that she met the president alone after 11 p.m. that night.”

Beep.

A portion of the interrogation footage appeared on the screen.

There was a part of the testimony that after 11 p.m., he went alone to check the contract with the president.

Cheonjegu rose again.

“Your Honor. As I testified, it is true that Ms. Lee Se-hee had a private meeting with the president at 11 p.m. However, she left the place around 11:30 p.m. and went home afterwards.”

The judge looked serious as if he was thinking about something.

He must be having a lot of worries.

We have to sneak in during this gap.

“Now that we have heard the claims from both sides regarding the incident, I would like to request that Yeo Jin-ju, a witness to this incident, be called as a witness.”

At that moment, Sehee’s eyes wavered.

Due to the timing, it was clearly not the name ‘Yeo Jin-ju’ but the word ‘witness’.

“I admit it. Witness, please come to the stand.”

Yeo Jin-ju walked out confidently as if she had been waiting.

I sat down after taking the witness oath.

She still looked stunning in her short skirt and flashy accessories.

“Witness Yeo Jin-ju is the only witness to this incident. She is also a trainee at this company.”

Explain about the witness,

Sigh.

I covered her with the lap blanket I had brought with me in advance.

It was also an action intended to show that the prosecution considers the witness important.

I think everyone in the audience, including the judges, felt that way.

This implies that ‘the witness is on the prosecution’s side.’

“Ms. Yeo Jin-ju. Why were you there that night?”

“I went to talk to the boss about the new script.”

“No, witness. The witness must have gone to talk about the renewal of the contract.”

Beep.

The documents for contract renewal piled up on the desk were turned out as evidence.

The document with the words ‘Yeo Jin-ju Renewal of Contract’ written on it was at the top.

Underneath it was Sehee’s contract renewal.

“The document discovered on the president’s desk at the scene of the incident is the contract renewal document for Ms. Yeo Jin-ju.”

Beep.

The document was enlarged and appeared in the screenshot.

“It was a terrible contract. In fact, it was a contract where the company was supposed to receive 50% of the money that would be paid to Yeo Jin-ju in the future.”

The witness, Yeo Jin-ju, squinted her eyes for a moment, then quickly returned them.

‘You’re an actor, aren’t you? You changed your expression for a moment······.’

“Actually, I went there because of the contract renewal. But there, I personally witnessed Lee Se-hee stabbing the CEO with a fountain pen.”