The Ultimate Inspector, Kang Ji-hyeok - Chapter 69



Only Noblemtl

I confirmed it based on the report.

It was to make it easier for Hajin to talk.

“Is it because your mother ran away when you were young and your father is an alcoholic?”

“Because not only was he an alcoholic, but we also found several reports that Mr. Ji In-hu had suffered from domestic violence since childhood.”

“There was no mention in the report of you being subjected to violence as a child?”

Hajin paused for a moment.

I thought about whether I should tell the follow-up story, then carefully brought it up.

“I think the detective in charge left that out. He must have thought that if he got caught up in personal family matters, he could misdirect the initial investigation.”

Hajin made a slightly chic expression. I knew very well why he made that expression.

“Did someone tell you to leave? Who had a hand in this investigation?”

“How do you know that the inspector is burning his hands? That’s the language of detectives······.”

“Ah. I think I heard it from Hyejin······.”

First, Hajin’s question was passed over briefly and then asked again.

“Does this mean that there is a higher-up who has a hand in this incident?”

Hajin closed his mouth.

I know very well that you are a tight-lipped person.

Because in that respect, I liked the guy.

“Hajin-ah. I’m your senior, so I’ll let you speak. You’re a detective and I’m a prosecutor, but don’t you think the same way about criminals?”

From the moment I first met him until the moment I died, Hajin was a guy who believed that criminals should be properly punished.

I know better than anyone else.

Haven’t we been together several times while drunk and talking?

“What do you think, Inspector?”

“Criminals will receive the maximum sentence they can receive. That is the promise of this society.”

“Isn’t that the last consideration we can give to the innocent victims?”

Nod.

Hajin was no different from the person I knew.

No, he was that kind of detective from the beginning.

Hajin opened his mouth seriously.

“I was on the same team when the initial investigation was underway. Lee Hyun-joo and Ji In-hoo said they got to know each other through a suicide club, but Lee Hyun-joo did not know the nickname Ji In-hoo used on the club website.”

I took a sip of the bitter coffee while listening to his words.

The cells in my head flowed rapidly.

“I submitted the report first. I said that Ms. Lee Hyun-joo was the winner and that we would conduct a separate investigation into her.”

“Then, I was suddenly kicked out. From that investigation team······.”

“How about that?”

“···It’s a common story. The kind you see in dramas and movies.”

Sigh.

At my words, Hajin smiled bitterly.

He took a sip of the coffee in front of him and nodded.

“Yes, that’s a common story. It’s something that is used as a cover story when trying to hide something.”

Bam.

I told him, tapping my fingers on the table.

“Okay. Stop talking. I won’t listen to you anymore. As a detective, you’re not being ripped off by the prosecutor, are you?”

“Let’s leave it at that. I just told you a typical story from a movie.”

“I heard that too.”

There was silence for a moment.

Hajin drank the rest of her coffee in one sip and stood up.

“Inspector, I’ll be going now. I have a guy I need to catch today.”

“The guy I need to catch?”

“Yes. He’s a hacker. He came into our police station and collected personal information of criminals.”

At those words, memories of the past flashed through my mind like lightning.

My memory suddenly kicked in.

“That hacker guy. I heard from another inspector that he was a dark storm among hackers?”

“Do you know the Dark Black Storm?”

“I don’t know exactly, but I heard that guy often shows up at the Burnt PC Room near Seoul National University Station.”

Hajin’s dark face brightened.

It’s the same as before.

His face lit up when he learned a crucial clue to the culprit.

“Thank you, Inspector. From now on, I will lie in wait at the Seoul National University Station Burning PC Room.”

“You better watch out. I heard he learned boxing. If he’s been training for a long time, he’ll definitely start with a left straight.”

Hajin turned around, repeatedly saying thank you.

“Kim Ha-jin. See you later.”

“Please buy me a glass of soju next time we meet, Inspector.”

“That’s good. I’ll buy you some soy sauce pig’s feet.”

Stop.

Hajin stopped as he was about to leave.

‘Oh no. Did I overreact by saying that I like soy sauce pig’s feet? I thought he said he didn’t tell anyone······.’

He turned his head and looked at me quietly, then smiled with the corners of his lips raised.

“I’m looking forward to it. I know a good place that serves soy sauce pig’s feet.”

“Okay. Then, I definitely want you to arrest that Dark Black Storm guy.”

Hajin ran out in a hurry.

I was sincere.

At least I was hoping the Dark Black Storm would be caught.

He was a hacker who had been active since his late teens.

At first, he hacked into online game servers and made small amounts of game money.

Then, they started hacking into the criminal information in the police station here and there.

It was around that time that we became aware of the guy.

Eventually, the guy commits the astonishing act of extracting information from the Blue House and handing it over to China.

The Chinese side denied that such a thing ever happened, but our government expressed strong regret.

After that, China implemented the THAAD retaliation, and as a result, our Korean economy regressed for two years.

What started out as a small money-making hack turned into an international issue, and the guy who was being chased by the FBI ended up hiding in Russia while hacking the world’s best coin, ‘Kitty Coin’.

“Because of that son of a bitch, there are problems between us and China and Russia.”

In the process, there was an incident where two of our police officers lost their lives to the Russian mafia.

It was our team and Busan’s intelligence investigation team that caught the guy.

I also learned about his left-handed straight outboxing style while arresting him.

It was also at that time that I obtained information about the Burnt PC Room.

“When I was young, I practically lived in a PC room, and in 2015, I took over and completely fortified it.”

This was a fact that was discovered during his interrogation.

During the process of handing over to the intelligence investigation team, the Russian mafia pounced.

At that time, Hajin and I were shot in the arm and shoulder, and the intelligence investigation team was hit by a major accident in which a car exploded, killing two and seriously injuring three people.

This incident caused the police chief to resign, and the South Korean police lost the trust of the people.

The guy who entered Russia could no longer be caught.

It was one of the major incidents that tarnished the reputation of the South Korean police.

That was the ‘Dark Black Storm Incident’ that shook South Korea before I died.

“We have to catch him now. Otherwise, he’ll become the top predator on the dark web. I bet my honor as a detective on this, Hajin.”

He must have been so elusive that he completely deleted his personal information, so we couldn’t even know his name.

‘He was truly a genius hacker that I had only heard about. That guy······.’

* * *

After meeting Hajin, I gained a stronger motivation.

Hajin will solve the hacker guy nicely and I will solve this case with the hint he gave me for the first time in my life.

I immediately contacted the special prosecutor, Choi Kang-han.

The special forces were currently wrapping up the organ trafficking case I had been investigating.

Naturally, figures from the political and business world were involved.

Wouldn’t a person sell his soul to the devil if he could buy a new life with money?

The Republic of Korea was turned upside down, with more political and business figures being summoned and arrested by the prosecution than in the previous Yeonggwang Construction scandal.

– Did you know that the ranking of South Korea’s conglomerates changed because of the evidence you provided?

“For dirty stagnant water to drain out, new water must come in. In the end, isn’t it better in the long run?”

– You’re saying exactly the same thing as President Choi Hye-seong.

“It is impossible to purify rotten water. You have to fill it with clean water and then purify it.”

– That’s something that Chief Choi Hye-seong always says. But why did someone who was supposed to be part of our special forces call me?

I decided to go to the special forces after this gate was cleared, as I thought it would be too surreal to go to the special forces in my second year.

For that reason he welcomed me warmly.

“Inspector. I know you’re busy, but I have a favor to ask.”

– If it’s Ji-hyeok’s request, I have to grant it unconditionally. Tell me.

“We need an order to reorganize the investigation team within the police.”

– That must be an internal police document······.”

“Yes. It’s an internal police document. But it’s necessary to solve this case.”

– The case you’re in charge of right now is an assisted suicide case, right? Why do you need internal police documents······.

“It is absolutely necessary. We have recognized that there is something more to it than assisted suicide.”

The special unit knew what kind of case I was handling. Not only the special unit, but also the various district prosecutors’ offices and the central district prosecutors’ office were concerned.

Because I was already called ‘Ace’ within the prosecution organization.

[Is it okay for an awl to stick out from the prosecution organization?]

Sometimes, among the prosecutors who dislike me, there were stories leaked through reporters that the investigation was excessive and that it was a method that ignored human rights.

But even amid their petty jealousies, public opinion turned toward me.

– Okay. If we give it to you directly, it will be embarrassing for us, so we will treat it as if it had leaked out and give it to you through Hyejin.

It was a story about Hajin leaking documents about obstruction of investigation from high-ranking officials through Hyejin Kim, a former police officer.

It was exactly the same as the special forces method I already knew.

“All right.”

So the deal was done.

From now on, the investigation into assisted suicide cases will be conducted anew.

The police investigation report, which was prepared due to the obstruction of investigation by the higher-ups, is not objective and will be destroyed immediately.

* * *

The names were written on the whiteboard in our office.

4pm.

We decided to hold a briefing in our office about the case that we decided to reinvestigate.

In front of him sat the investigator and Chief Prosecutor Lee Cheol-jung.

It was unusual for the chief prosecutor to come to his personal office when it wasn’t even a spy case, although it was natural for the investigator to do so.

“There is no need for the Chief Prosecutor to come to the beginning of the investigation. I will report to you.”

“I came to pick you up because I have a place to take you today. You should leave immediately after the briefing is over.”

‘I see. Today is that day.’

Today was Sehee’s birthday.

It was the day we decided to have dinner together for the first time in a long time.

“Then, I will briefly brief you on the gas murder case that was decided through reinvestigation.”

[After acquaintance: 28 years old. Civil servant: deceased]

[Lee Hyun-joo: 32 years old. Private business. Not deceased]

I wrote down the names of the two and inserted a word in between.

[Suicide Club]

“These two met at a suicide club and agreed to commit suicide. They moved into the forest using gas and propofol. They attempted suicide in a car, but Ms. Lee Hyun-joo testified that she survived.”

[Suicide Club, ID unknown]

I wrote my question next to it in red.

“According to the testimony of Detective Kim Ha-jin, who was initially assigned to the investigation, Lee Hyeon-ju, who survived, did not know Ji In-hu’s ID.”

widely.

I said, hitting the whiteboard with the red marker I was holding.

“That is, this incident broke the first condition of being a suicide case. The two of them didn’t know each other at all before, and they got to know each other through a club, but they don’t know each other’s IDs?”

At those words, Chief Prosecutor Lee Cheol-jung asked seriously.

“But why did they leave that important detail out of the police report?”

“That’s why it was decided to reinvestigate from the beginning.”

I posted an internal police order on the whiteboard.

“The police higher-ups found this fact strange, so they removed detective Kim Ha-jin from the investigation and reorganized the team. In the process, this fact was omitted from the report.”

“Hmm. That’s strange. Why would the police higher-ups care about a suicide case like this?”

“Chief Prosecutor. I’m not concerned about the suicide case. Rather, I think it’s related to this case.”

I wrote with a red marker next to Lee Hyun-joo’s name with a serious face.

[Motive for murder: ??]

“The motive is the key to this case. If we can find out why he killed his friend and disguised it as suicide, we will be able to solve the mystery.”