The Ultimate Inspector, Kang Ji-hyeok - Chapter 75



Only Noblemtl

Public opinion was divided.

[The prosecution’s coercive investigation. Is this okay?]

[Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok. Did you only focus on popularity?]

There was a theory that he committed suicide due to coercive investigation by our prosecution.

[A brutal planned murder case that ended in a suspicious suicide]

[Isn’t the defendant who committed murder by pretending to commit suicide also being murdered by pretending to commit suicide?]

Conversely, the accounts of reporters who were in the courtroom were subtly different.

They went through that trial with reasonable doubt.

But with the defendant dead, the case has become legally meaningless as all parties have disappeared.

“This case is closed as there is no reason to maintain the prosecution due to the death of the suspect.”

“Understood, Inspector.”

Hyuna started writing the case closure report.

The two investigators looked regretful.

Wisdom resented coldly.

“It’s obvious that that son of a bitch killed my brother… Why aren’t you investigating?”

“It rained so much that day. You saw it yourself, so you know. How can you find evidence there?”

“Ugh. I’m so pissed! This damn world is just too much!”

Ji-hye screamed at Ji-cheol’s words trying to calm her down and ran outside.

It will probably take an hour to walk in.

Because the only way Jihye relieves stress is by walking.

“Phew.”

I let out a long sigh.

Suicide of victims during trials is not uncommon.

Because of the corruption that was revealed during the trial, or because of secondary damage. This is especially true for celebrities and victims of sexual assault.

‘The defendant committed suicide while the second trial was still pending? No, that’s impossible.’

Lee Han-soo, who was requested as a witness for the second trial, must have killed her in some way.

Whether it was commissioned or done directly.

“The case is closed, but please tell the police that you will attend the autopsy.”

“Would you like to participate in the autopsy?”

“yes.”

Hyuna looked at me with a puzzled expression.

It was something that could happen.

This is the first time I have seen a prosecutor who went as far as to participate in an autopsy in a case that had already been closed without any reason to maintain the indictment.

“Honestly, this is the second time I’ve seen the prosecutor who’s going to do the autopsy.”

“Who else is going?”

“You are the strongest inspector. But it was only once.”

Sigh.

I thought so too.

The strongest prosecutor is naturally someone who has the passion to do so.

“Isn’t that the high school girl murder case? The case where a girl was sexually assaulted by her teacher at school and then committed suicide on the rooftop.”

“Do you know that?”

“Yes, I know. At that time, we eventually found the drug in the body of the female student who committed suicide, and we found that it matched the psychiatric medication that the teacher had been carrying around, right?”

“You are amazing, Inspector Kang.”

“I studied the case study a bit. At that time, I chose the strongest prosecutor as my mentor.”

“That makes sense. You two are very similar in some ways.”

Hyuna spoke happily and then contacted the autopsy room.

“There’s an autopsy scheduled for this afternoon. I’ve registered, so you can attend.”

As expected, one thing is clean.

Ji-cheol frowned and asked cautiously.

“Are we going together?”

“You don’t want to go? An autopsy is a chance to learn a lot. It’s not something that just anyone can do. Surprisingly, there’s no definition of an autopsy in Korean law.”

South Korea is the world leader in DNA testing, but autopsies themselves are not yet legally required. They are simply considered part of the investigation.

“That’s true, but······. I’m a bit shy.”

“···Ji-cheol.”

“Yes, sir.”

“If you’re going to be an investigator next to a prosecutor, it’s okay to be stupid, but it’s not okay to be weak. Do you know what I mean?”

“Yes, sir.”

Ji-cheol answered with an anxious face.

He skipped lunch too.

“Please buy me a cafe latte. I’ll skip lunch.”

“You look very different from what you are used to.”

Hyejin said teasingly.

Normally they would have been bickering, but today, Ji-cheol lowered his head and spoke in a crawling voice.

“I can’t even see a frog dissected······.”

I decided that I absolutely had to go to the autopsy room with him.

As it turned out, there was one glass wall that had to be broken in order to continue working with Ji-cheol.

* * *

On the way to the autopsy room, I was looking at the information on the phone that Hyuna had sent me.

The name of the autopsy and the address of the National Forensic Service autopsy room were written there.

“National Forensic Service, 2nd floor, room 203, the autopsy doctor is Dr. Noh Moo-cheol······.”

I muttered as I looked out the window. It was ironic that the weather was so sunny, as if it had never rained before.

“I can trust Dr. Noh Moo-chul. He doesn’t do sloppy autopsies.”

“Do you know him?”

“We met a lot a long time ago.”

I said that and asked Ji-cheol.

“Excuse me, if there’s a place that sells fresh fruit juice, please stop by.”

“Fresh fruit juice?”

“You have to buy it. I think you’ll like it if you buy some grapefruit.”

“···I always feel this way, but don’t you think you’re too experienced for your age? To be honest, I don’t think you’ve ever participated in an autopsy······.”

Ji-cheol asked curiously.

What he said was true.

I have never participated in an autopsy since becoming a prosecutor.

However, during my time as a detective, I participated in all the autopsies, and Dr. Noh Moo-chul was in half of them.

Dr. Roh Moo-chul loved grapefruit juice very much, and that was a secret between him and me.

I was dying to hear him talk about the good things about grapefruit juice.

Thanks to that, I was brainwashed and would drink grapefruit juice countless times throughout my days as a detective whenever I got tired of coffee.

But the reason I liked him wasn’t because of the grapefruit juice.

“When you meet the eyes of a dead person, you see the deep, black universe. In that universe, all the stories of the world are hidden.”

There are detectives who dislike Dr. Roh Moo-chul, calling him a dreamer, but I liked him.

“After the autopsy, there was a person who covered the eyes with his hands. He closed his eyes and said his own prayer. It was nice to see that.”

Ji-cheol looked even more puzzled by my words.

“I heard from Hyun-ah earlier that you quit being a doctor and started working as an autopsy two years ago······.”

“How do you know that? That’s a trade secret as an ace prosecutor. Don’t try to find out everything.”

“You’re doing business together and it’s a secret? Wow, inspector. Isn’t that too much? Please tell me. Okay?”

When Ji-cheol was about to ask about the secret, he grabbed his shoulder and said.

“Ji-cheol! Over there, over there! It’s the place that sells fresh fruit juice.”

“Ugh. Inspector. What should I do if you grab my shoulder like that?”

Squeak.

Fortunately, the road was empty of cars and people, so the car twisted once and then found its way back to its original location.

Thanks to that, Ji-cheol no longer asked difficult questions.

‘Sorry, Ji-cheol. If you keep asking me that question, I don’t know what to say.’

Ji-cheol took pride in his driving.

That’s why he was completely upset with me for shaking his car and stopping it dangerously the whole time.

Thanks to that, I headed to the National Institute of Scientific Investigation while quietly listening to music.

“Detective Kim. Your playlist is really good. I like it.”

“···It’s my first time hearing such praise.”

Ji-cheol smiled, his mood slightly lifted.

* * *

National Institute of Scientific Research.

[Autopsy in charge, Room 201, 2nd floor: Noh Moo-cheol]

[15:00: Lee Hyun-ah suicide autopsy]

Standing in front of the door.

The old autopsy doctor I knew was a typical professor in his fifties, wearing black horn-rimmed glasses and a baggy suit.

‘What kind of person is Dr. Noh Mu-cheol now?’

Squeak.

I opened the door as carefully as I could and went in.

Ji-cheol whispered in surprise.

“Inspector. If you just go in like that······.”

“Dr. Noh doesn’t like to knock. He might get startled and drop something.”

The first thing that caught my eye was Lee Hyun-joo’s body covered in a white cloth.

The cleaned corpse seemed to glow.

Dr. Roh Moo-chul was very thorough in his preparation.

Dr. Noh Moo-chul, wearing a white shirt and a doctor’s gown, with a cloak on both arms.

He had a young, intelligent-looking face and wore rimless glasses.

He looked at us with sharp eyes behind his glasses.

‘It’s completely different from before. What on earth happened that made a person change so much after so many years?’

I spoke quietly into the microphone in front of the transparent glass.

“Dr. Noh. I am from the Western District Prosecutor’s Office······.”

“I know. Ace Kang Ji-hyeok, the prosecutor and investigator?”

His voice was the same.

It’s a heavy, yet refreshing voice.

The most attractive part of Noh Moo-chul is probably his voice.

“Thank you for your kind words. But could you please open this window?”

“The window?”

He approached and carefully opened the window beneath the glass.

It was just the right size to fit a large delivery box.

This was the door used when the autopsy doctor would sometimes bring out the organs on a plate to show that someone was involved in a crime.

“This is a gift, Doctor.”

“Hoo. Isn’t this fresh fruit juice?”

“Prepared with grapefruit.”

Twinkle.

The word ’emotion’ was written in the eye behind the rimless glasses.

I was even happier because his face, which could not lie, was still the same.

“Grapefruit juice? How did you know? I really like it.”

“I didn’t know. I’m surprised. I like grapefruit juice too.”

Ji-cheol opened his triangle eyes and looked at me.

‘Winning someone’s favor with grapefruit juice? Jackpot.’

It seemed to say that.

I told the story that I had heard so many times from Dr. Noh Moo-chul that it became a pain in the ass.

“Grapefruit is rich in vitamin C, which has a strong antioxidant effect, which strengthens the immune system, and it is also rich in dietary fiber, which helps reduce hunger even when working on tasks that tend to make you feel tired.”

Dr. Roh Moo-chul had a small smile on his face while holding grapefruit juice in his hand.

‘Nice. Success.’

I said, scratching my head.

“That’s right! It also helps a lot with blood pressure control. So I thought Dr. Noh, the autopsy specialist, would like it.”

“Did you say Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok? As rumored, he’s a great young prosecutor that we’ve rarely seen these days.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

Noh Moo-cheol raised another finger and spoke to me.

“There’s one more thing. Grapefruit is low in calories and helps with dieting. If you need to manage your weight, you should definitely try it.”

Nod.

I nodded seriously.

“I see. I’m learning something.”

Shh.

Dr. Noh sipped grapefruit juice and gave a thumbs up.

Then he pushed the entire window aside and spoke to us.

“I really like it. Inspector Kang. Come over here. We’ll do the autopsy together.”

“Thank you. It’s an honor, Doctor.”

The ‘Operation to Make Roh Moo-chul’s Autopsy My Side’ was successful.

If I wanted to please him, I had to do it in one go.

Otherwise, he was someone who needed quite a bit of time.

I knew that I was the type of person who either liked someone the first time or would open my heart after about five years.

“The current time is 15:04. I am Dr. Roh Moo-chul. I will now begin the autopsy of Lee Hyun-joo.”

With the camera still on, he carefully removed the white cloth from his face.

I like this kind of subtlety too.

Usually, coroners remove the cloth in one go, exposing the entire body of a woman.

Oddly enough, I hated that.

I could understand the coroner’s intention of not seeing the body as anything more or less than a corpse, but I also hated it.

But Dr. Roh Moo-chul was not like that.

He carefully performed the autopsy while talking to the corpse in front of him.

“I’m sorry. From now on, I will find out what story you were hiding before you died.”

Gulp.

My mouth started watering without me realizing it.

Shiver shiver.

Ji-cheol, who was touching my shoulder, was shaking all over.

Dr. Noh Mu-cheol, who was examining the face one by one starting from the eyes, showed me the back of the head where the head was broken.

“Huh? The back of your head is broken. You said it was 20 stories high?”

“Yes.”

“hmm······.”

Noh Moo-cheol looked at him with squinted eyes.

I think I know why.

First, I told him what I thought.

“Usually, if it’s over 10 stories high, you instinctively cover your face with both arms, so it’s normal for your forehead, face, chest, and arm bones to break, right, Doctor?”

Noh Mu-cheol looked into my eyes in amazement while wearing his mask.

“Did you study a bit?”

“Yes. Someone I know told me.”

“That guy is a very good forensic scientist.”

“Yes. Thanks to that, I have some common sense in forensics.”

The person who told me that was none other than Dr. Roh Moo-chul. Every time I did an autopsy, he told me a lot of things.

“Right. Then let’s take a look at the arm to confirm?”

He carefully pushed the white cloth aside and raised both arms.

Wiggle.

Noh Mu-cheol’s eyebrows shook for a moment.

“Could this be?”

I could see a dozen small holes, and the surrounding area was a blue, bruised arm!