The Ultimate Inspector, Kang Ji-hyeok - Chapter 59



Only Noblemtl

Episode 59

【 A whirlpool of conspiracy, with a black tattoo in it 】

Lee Myeong-cheol came into our office.

Ji-cheol greeted the bread he bought with a happy face.

Well, in such a busy office, delicious bread is the best gift.

He turned his head and looked at me.

Gratitude was evident in his eyes.

“It’s been a while, Inspector.”

“You became a detective right after you were discharged from the military?”

He said he became interested in the international criminal system, which he learned about by chance while in the military.

I applied to Southeast Asia because it seemed the easiest, and I have been working as a detective in charge of Southeast Asia for the past two years.

“I went to Thailand with my parents a few times when I was young, and somehow it felt like coming home.”

“Hometown?”

“Yes. I think I lived in Thailand in my past life.”

In the past, I would have dismissed it as ridiculous, but I thought it might be possible.

‘I’ve experienced that kind of regression. Maybe that guy’s fate was headed towards Southeast Asia.’

I asked him as he sat on the sofa.

“You’re from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?”

“Yes, we are actually part of an international law treaty organization, so we are a different organization from the general police.”

Although his fate changed, his fascination with Southeast Asia remained the same.

‘Is this some kind of inescapable fate?’

widely.

I placed three circled maps of Thailand on the table.

“This is the place called the Friendship Bridge, connecting Vientiane, Laos and Nong Khai, Thailand.”

It was said to be a bridge across the Mekong River that was built with free aid from Australia in 1994.

“Do you know anything about these three red circles in Nong Khai area?”

“wait a minute.”

He looked at the map carefully.

“This is fascinating, Inspector.”

The voice changed.

And then look around.

“Don’t worry. There’s no camera or anything.”

“Well, it’s not like this is an interrogation room······.”

“therefore.”

He took a notebook out of his pocket and looked at it, comparing it to the map I handed him.

“How did you know about this place?”

“This time, I inspected the key areas that appeared to be the attempted murder case at Gunja Station that I was in charge of.”

He thought for a moment and then opened his mouth seriously.

“Among the cases we investigated, there was a case of missing Koreans. Sixteen Koreans who went on vacation to Laos went missing over the past three years.”

“A Korean who went to Laos to play has gone missing?”

“According to an investigation by an international organization, there are sixteen Koreans, but if you include locals and Chinese tourists, the number is around seventy-nine.”

widely.

As he told the story, he took a picture of three red circles drawn in the Nong Khai area.

“The area where they went missing is strangely within these three circles, that is······.”

I drew three circles into a triangle with the ballpoint pen next to me, and then added a few black lines.

“We currently call this area the Devil’s Triangle. So, the people who went missing here are not coming back. It’s like they’ve completely disappeared.”

“If the locals had kidnapped them, they would have demanded ransom or something?”

“That’s strange. No one has ever asked for that. Southeast Asia is a country with a lot of crime. But in most kidnapping cases, you can get released with about $30,000.”

He bit his lower lip lightly.

I was nervous.

That was also a characteristic of witnesses who told important stories.

“But if you completely disappeared without asking for that amount······.”

“It’s probably human trafficking or organ trafficking, right?”

He raised his head and looked at me with sharp eyes.

“You were different even when you were a military prosecutor, and you seem to be even more different now that you’re out in society.”

“Just answer me. That kind of talk is a waste of time.”

Shh.

He smiled.

“I may not be able to repay everything I owe you, Inspector, but I will try to repay a little bit.”

“The editorial is long, so the main text must be short, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. That’s what we concluded. We believe that there is a lot of organ trafficking going on in China, Japan, and Korea. But why······.”

He drew a larger circle around the Mekong River, one that contained all three red circles.

“This is where the Mekong Triangle comes into play. This is where all the evil incidents in Northeast Asia, including drug trafficking, start.”

“All the investigative agencies in the world know about it, but they can’t do anything about it?”

“Yes. Digging into this would require a full-scale war between nations… no, even more than that. There’s no way that’s possible.”

I looked into his eyes and asked him seriously. No, I said it with the future in mind.

“That’s your dream. To sort out this triangle.”

Shudder.

At those words, Lee Myeong-cheol’s eyebrows gathered in the middle.

“How did you know?”

“With the intuition of a prosecutor from the Republic of Korea.”

“That’s scary. Do you know all the cases you’ve solved so far just by looking at their eyes?”

“That’s not it. If that’s the case, then instead of being a prosecutor, you should open a detective agency. And change your name to Ji-hyuk Holmes, the famous detective.”

Sigh.

He let out a hollow laugh as if his mind was at ease. Only then did he take a sip of the coffee in front of him.

“Thanks to you, the mystery was solved. Thank you, Lee Myeong-cheol.”

He responded to my words with a happy face.

I guess that’s what he wanted to hear.

“I’ll find out. What happened in this circle area? Inspector. Use me like a knife.”

Only then did I show him another photo, pointing to each one with my fingers.

There were two pictures of tattoos.

“Is this tattoo also related to the missing person’s case?”

He looked at me in surprise.

As expected, my insight was correct.

“The organ trafficking organization we suspect is a Chinese organization called Sun······.”

“I guess it’s written as ‘Sunyang’ in English.”

“Do you know that?”

In the future, the organization will be caught for massive organ trafficking with the cooperation of detectives from Incheon, Busan, China and Japan.

However, by the time the organization was completely destroyed, the heads that had been living off human organs for over ten years had already leisurely escaped.

They used international students and Southeast Asians throughout this incident to cut off the tail.

In the end, the incident that the three Northeast Asian countries worked together to catch ended up being covered up for political reasons of promoting the development of Southeast Asia.

Lee Myeong-cheol said with a serious face.

“It’s a secret, but the members of that organization get this flower pattern tattooed on them. It’s a tattoo that never comes off. There’s bound to be a tattoo of this somewhere on the members’ bodies.”

He said so and looked at the photo again.

“I never thought I would see this tattoo in a South Korean prosecutor’s office. This is a top secret even for us.”

“If you investigate in such a secretive manner and try to cover it up in one fell swoop, you’ll definitely get harmed. The bigger the case, the bigger the blowout. So that the people in charge don’t die in vain.”

“but······.”

“Lee Myung-chul. Listen carefully. No matter how powerful you think you are, the evil cartel is deeply rooted. You have to destroy it at the same time to solve the problem.”

“Well, wasn’t that the case of the indigenous Japanese pirates planted in Japan that you solved, Prosecutor?”

Lee Myeong-cheol spoke to me as if he had made up his mind about something.

“I will formally testify to everything I have said so far. If you wish, I can put this whole story into writing······.”

chuck.

I gave a thumbs up.

“You don’t have to do that. I’ve heard it all already.”

I took out the camera and recorder that I had hidden among the documents.

“It’s all recorded and taped, so I plan on using it as evidence in court. Of course, I’ll mosaic your face.”

Lee Myeong-cheol shook his head as if he had been hit once.

“Who is the prosecutor? He’s Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok, who shook up the military court, which is known for its strictness, and destroyed a Chinese smuggling organization and a huge cartel in his first year of office······. I got hit hard.”

I just smiled and looked at him.

‘Detective Lee Myeong-cheol. Your body floating down the Mekong River is not the future I have in mind.’

“I hope that when you rise to a higher position, we can cooperate more closely. Don’t worry about the Japanese prosecutors, I have them under my thumb.”

“Yes, sir.”

He stood up and held out his hand.

It was a large, lumpy hand.

A hand with a particularly thick index finger.

It was evidence of having shot a lot of guns.

He was the best expert in the country with guns and weapons ever since he started working at a detective agency.

When I shared soju with him and got a little drunk, he would say this.

“Detective. Do you know why I want to be a detective?”

“why?”

“I want to shoot legally. I want to shoot a bullet through the middle of the forehead of a bad guy who is outside the law.”

So, of course, in the international criminal world where guns can be used legally, he would have become an incredibly capable person.

‘You must never kill him. Lee Myung-cheol is a good sword that should be used to cut through hard things. I need him for my revenge.’

He intended to use it thoroughly.

Since I gave him a new life, I thought we could help each other.

I spoke firmly to Myeongcheol.

“Don’t forget the promise you made to use my sword. We will meet soon.”

Now everything is ready.

We’re starting a legal counterattack now!

Kuk.

I put a red marker on the name written on the whiteboard, Jincheol Choi.

“You’re lost. How dare you try to fool a prosecutor in South Korea?”

* * *

The next morning, I received a call from the strongest prosecutor.

“When is the announcement?”

– Today at 11 o’clock. I have requested a press conference at the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office.

“thank you.”

– But, is that okay? Chief Prosecutor Lee Cheol-jung will be angry, right?

“Is the special prosecution department only concerned about the chief prosecutor of the Western District?”

The strongest prosecutor paused for a moment.

– Okay. The announcement on this case will be made by Special Investigation Unit Chief Prosecutor Nam Jun-mo.

“Yes? Not Prosecutor Choi?”

– Don’t act surprised. You actually knew, right? That Chief Prosecutor Nam Joon-mo would bite you right?

“I thought you were going to tell Prosecutor Choi to come forward and that you would back him up.”

– See. You knew that. But I’ll be the prosecutor in charge of the case. Don’t worry and report as you go.

“Yes! I will continue to send reports to Secretary Lee Hyeon-ah and give you a verbal report as well. Prosecutor Choi.”

So the counterattack was about to begin with the special forces.

Wheein.

Of course my phone rang.

[Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok. Come to my room now.]

Prosecutor Lee Cheol-jung.

He called me when he became the Western District Attorney.

As I was quietly staring at my phone, Hyuna came up to me and handed me a fairly large thermos.

“Please come up with some hot yuzu tea. Chief Prosecutor Lee Cheol-jung has had a cold since yesterday.”

“I survived thanks to you, sir.”

* * *

I went into the prosecutor’s office and sat on the sofa facing Prosecutor Lee Cheol-jung.

Slurp.

I followed the citron tea I brought with me.

[Western District Prosecutor Lee Cheol-jung]

On his desk was a clear, gold-framed plaque that I had sent him.

That was a perfect fit for the taste of the craftsman who likes gold-rimmed glasses… no, Prosecutor Lee Cheol-jung.

“How did you know in advance and send the nameplate?”

“All the prosecutors in the Western District Attorney’s Office would have known. I’m the youngest······.”

“Was it because I was the youngest?”

chuck.

I placed a cup of yuzu tea in front of him.

“Don’t just look at the reputation. You’re crazy.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Prosecutor.”

“How did you know you had a cold?”

I stared at him blankly.

Sigh.

The chief prosecutor said with a smile.

“This is Secretary Lee Hyeon-ah’s work. This citron tea.”

“Yes.”

“You succeeded with just one eye for people.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It calms me down when I’m angry.”

As he said that, this time the chief prosecutor himself poured the citron tea.

“This is too much to drink alone.”

“Thank you, Chief Inspector.”

Phew.

He took out a cigarette and lit it.

Unlike my father who was a heavy smoker, I didn’t smoke much in the past, but I did smoke a pack every now and then.

“Thank you for the Se-hee incident, Ji-hyeok.”

“If you are talking about Sehee’s father, I think I am also fortunate, father.”

He looked at me sharply and said.

Ever since I was little, I’ve been terrified by that expression more than once.

“Kang Ji-hyeok. From now on, I will ask the Western District Prosecutor. Why did you transfer that case to the Special Investigation Unit? Without my permission.”

As his nickname suggests, he had a tiger-like expression.