The Ultimate Inspector, Kang Ji-hyeok - Chapter 76



Only Noblemtl

【 Demons who try to control humans 】

“Is that needle on your arm a trace of drugs?”

“No. Those red bruises are caused by the injection into the artery, causing it to swell. It’s definitely not drugs.”

Noh Mu-cheol shook his head.

He placed a document in front of me.

“This is the blood test data from right after the incident, and there are no traces of drugs at all. Let’s take a look at everything first and then talk.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Noh Mu-cheol checked every nook and cranny.

Something was strange.

It certainly looked surprisingly intact for a body that fell from the 20th floor.

“Isn’t it strange?”

Noh Mu-cheol asked first.

I nodded.

“There are fewer broken bones than I thought.”

“Did you ever get into a fight after drinking when you were young?”

“there is.”

I’ve fought countless times in my past lives.

Drinking and fighting is inevitable in the world of men.

“You get hurt less when you’re drunk than under normal circumstances.”

“So, you fell while already unconscious or dead?”

“It was raining there too, so the water on the ground might have acted as a cushion to some extent.”

Noh Moo-chul picked up a huge chainsaw to open the corpse’s chest.

I turned my head and gave Ji-cheol’s attention, whose face had turned pale.

“Turn your head away. If you look directly at it, you might vomit.”

“no.”

Ji-cheol seemed to be watching with his eyes wide open.

‘Yes. Because it is a moment that you must overcome in order to survive in this world. Mark this moment, Ji-cheol.’

Even though the blood had already coagulated, red blood splattered here and there.

When the chest was opened, blackened lungs were visible.

“This is terrible. It’s completely ruined.”

“If it has turned this black, isn’t it because the lungs have been deprived of oxygen?”

“You know what I mean. Hmm… But the cause of death was a fractured skull, so the lungs themselves should be red. The ribs are cracked, not broken… Even though it rained, there’s no sign of water accumulating in the lungs.”

“Does that mean my lungs stopped working before I hit the floor?”

“It’s a bit ambiguous. Medically speaking, the heart and lungs may have stopped due to the impact the moment he hit the ground. He fell from such a high place.”

Creak.

Noh Moo-cheol lifted the ribs and examined the blood vessels, including the heart and arteries.

I also went closer and checked the blood vessels, heart, and other organs.

As expected, it was as expected.

“This shows the organs’ condition where the blood vessels are hardening and the oxygen supply is cut off.”

“It looks like that. It’s evidence of sudden onset of shortness of breath and chest pain, and to this extent, motor and sensory nerves would have been paralyzed······.”

Kuk.

I pressed my fingers against her skin.

The skin that had been pressed like a sponge once did not return.

“The skin is necrotic due to lack of oxygen… He must have been close to death before he even fell.”

Nod.

Noh Mu-cheol nodded and took pictures.

“Please send me the evidence photos separately.”

“Huh? Wasn’t this case already closed with the perpetrator’s death?”

“That’s right. I also handled the final processing myself.”

“But why necessarily?”

widely.

I took off my gloves and dissecting glasses and placed them on the table.

Then he turned his head and looked at Noh Mu-cheol seriously and said.

“Because he is my suspect. And even if he is the perpetrator, isn’t he saying with his whole body that it wasn’t suicide but murder?”

Noh Moo-cheol closed his mouth.

It was a difficult question to answer.

“I know. As a coroner, you should just convey the facts. What do you think? What is this body telling you?”

Noh Mu-cheol turned off the microphone.

He leaned against the wall and bowed his head.

I opened my mouth with difficulty.

“He’s begging for help. There’s a brutal guy who stabbed you in the artery with an empty syringe, caused an air embolism, knocked you unconscious, and then dropped you from the 20th floor. Please save me······.”

Ji-cheol looked at us both alternately with surprised eyes.

I smiled at Noh Mu-cheol.

“I can’t help you right now… but I’ll figure it out someday. So, Mr. Forensic Scientist, please leave behind thorough evidence. I will definitely convict you.”

Noh Mu-cheol started the autopsy again and took pictures.

“Okay. Go back and wait. I’ll do everything I can to leave evidence. And Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Let’s have a drink of soju later. I’ll come to your office.”

“That’s fine. I’ll wait. I’ll be in the office 24 hours a day, so come by anytime.”

I bowed my head and greeted Ji-cheol.

Today was a perfect day just because I had the best forensic scientist in the country, Roh Moo-chul, on my side.

As expected, she did not commit suicide.

The car from the National Forensic Service made its way through the traffic jam and arrived at the Western District Prosecutors’ Office.

All the way here, I went over the incident in my head again.

“Put me in front of the Western District Prosecutor’s Office.”

“All right.”

Squeak.

The car stopped in front of the Western District Prosecutor’s Office.

I got out of the car and tapped the window with my finger.

Ji-cheol rolled down the car window.

“Do you have any instructions?”

“Detective Kim. Take out the SD card inside the CCTV that was installed last time······.”

Sigh.

I gave him the new SD card I had in my arms.

“Please change my card with this. Can I ask you to do this once a week?”

“Understood, Inspector.”

Ji-cheol put the SD card I gave him in his pocket and started driving. The car soon left the police station.

By the time he completely disappeared,

“Please. That’s my hidden card and the ultimate weapon to destroy Lee Han-soo.”

I whispered to myself.

Because you must never forget.

* * *

After that, I wasn’t demoted, but I didn’t get any major cases.

It was a trial that wasn’t a trial.

Chief Prosecutor Lee Cheol-joong allowed participation in the morning meeting, but excluded the right to speak.

“Kang Ji-hyeok has no say for the time being. And all the cases that other prosecutors have piled up are to be passed on to Kang Ji-hyeok.”

Everyone was looking at me.

Most of the looks were pitiful, but there were also a few faces that looked pleased.

It was the moment when my friends and enemies were divided.

‘It’s easy to remember enemies just by their gaze. Rather, it’s important to find enemies like this.’

Anyone with those eyes will definitely betray me.

Rather, I was grateful.

Because you reveal yourself so blatantly.

“Kang Ji-hyeok. I won’t assign you any new cases. Solve all the cases that your seniors have abandoned.”

That means you have no say.

It was an unspoken promise to do whatever was ordered.

After the meeting, I returned to the office.

“A bunch of paperwork will be arriving soon, Inspector.”

“Please organize it well.”

I told HyunA and HyeJin.

Hyuna smiled and nodded, and Hyejin smiled and saluted slightly.

“Old story. Toothbrush madecassoside!”

“Foot.”

Hyuna burst into laughter at Hyejin’s prank. I grumbled, tapping my fingers on the table.

“Even though I’m not an old man, I can’t believe I’m telling old man jokes…”

“Don’t just think about it and follow along, Inspector.”

“I will never follow that.”

Sigh.

Hyuna handed me the freshly brewed coffee.

A cold feeling passed through my fingertips.

“We’ll handle all the unsolved cases in the Western District Prosecutors’ Office, right?”

“Of course. I’m the ace here.”

“As expected, it’s Prosecutor Kang.”

From that day on, I lived buried in case files in boxes that filled my office.

“A case where a healthy man in his 30s beat a thief in his 60s to death after he entered his house······. I guess Prosecutor Kim Ho-cheol didn’t want to do this, so he passed.”

Review the incident report and evidence.

Hyejin came behind me and watched with me.

Hyejin asked me slyly.

“This is self-defense. The actual reason he died was because he fell and hit his head, causing a concussion. Isn’t that right?”

As a detective, you can see it that way.

In fact, we often have similar things happen throughout our work.

However, because of the job requirements of a detective, Hyejin may become confused.

“It is not self-defense.”

“No? How can you be sure?”

“The robber threatened me with a cutting board that was inside the house, and I fought him to stop him, but that doesn’t fall under the category of self-defense.”

Click.

I showed Hyejin a picture of the cutting board that had fallen on the floor.

“If you look at the cutting board, there isn’t a single drop of blood on it, it’s just dripping onto the floor.”

“But?”

“That means the cutting board fell to the floor during the fight.”

Hyejin looks at me with an expression that says she still doesn’t know.

“The thief dropped the chopping board during the fight and tried to run away. The homeowner hit the thief with the clothes drying rack in the living room as he tried to turn around and leave.”

Click.

I showed Hyejin a picture of the broken clothes drying rack. There was also a broken flower pot in the picture.

“The thief’s leg got caught on the drying rack and he fell down, then he hit his head on a flower pot in the living room and died.”

Hyejin looked at the photo and thought deeply. She also seemed to think that something was strange.

“Did you study criminal law while taking the police civil service exam?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Articles 20 through 24 of the Criminal Act stipulate that legitimate acts, self-defense, emergency evacuation, self-rescue acts, and victim consent are grounds for excluding illegality.”

‘Reasons for excluding illegality’ refers to special reasons that can be recognized as having the elements of a crime but not actually being illegal.

That is, it means that although it formally meets the conditions of a crime or illegal act, it is not practically recognized as a crime or illegal act.

I finished explaining this incident by closing the folder by clicking on it with the mouse.

“It refers to an excessive ‘defense act’ that protects against unjustified infringement by others and goes beyond the extent of its appropriateness, that is, the extent of excessive defense.”

“I remember studying.”

Hyejin answered with a dumbfounded expression, and I continued my story.

“The act of hitting a thief who has already turned around and is running away with an iron bar goes beyond the scope of self-defense and falls under the category of excessive self-defense.”

Hyejin answered with an annoyed face.

“No matter what, this is too much.”

“We are lawyers who work according to the law. In the end, landlord Park Jin-man can have his sentence reduced or exempted depending on the circumstances if his defensive actions exceed the level under Article 21, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act, so he will probably end up with a suspended sentence of about two years.”

The case was prosecuted as is.

Although it was an unfortunate incident, we created and submitted evidence and a case report that was as favorable to suspect Park Jin-man as possible.

By the time I was sorting out the cases that were not prosecuted, it was time to leave work.

Ring ring ring.

The office phone rang, Hyuna answered the phone, looked at me, and spoke.

“Yes, Chief Prosecutor. Are you ordering everyone in our office to leave work today? Understood. I will relay this to Prosecutor Kang.”

She hung up the phone and smiled.

It was an expression that said, ‘You know what I mean, even if I don’t say it, right?’

I said, scratching my head.

“Everyone, please leave work. I will leave work right away, too.”

After a long time, I left work on time and left the prosecutor’s office, but for some reason, I had a strange feeling.

“Ah. But what do you do?”

Cold city wind.

As the sharp screech of a passing car’s wheels brushed my ears, I thought of him.

“I think I need a glass of soju.”

* * *

An alley in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam.

In that narrow street surrounding a large cathedral, the laughter of office workers having company dinners and the smoke from cigarettes dispersing from the alley were still present.

‘It’s still the same. It was like this here before.’

‘Rest in the rain.’

When I was a detective, this was the place where I would bring my team leader’s card when I solved a case.

It’s a place that sells beef, and it’s cheaper than Seocho-dong, and the meat isn’t that great, but back when I was a detective and only ate pork, it was a place I would only come to once every few months.

“here!”

I raised my hand to greet Hajin.

Hajin looked better than expected.

The short hair slicked back went well with the black leather jacket.

“Whenever I see you, does that leather jacket match?”

“Are we like old friends?”

“···Ah. It feels familiar. Maybe we were friends in a past life.”

“It’s an honor. I was friends with Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok in a past life. Wow.”

“From now on, we can just be friends.”

“What about friends? Like older brothers. You don’t become friends with your high school seniors, right?”

I was surprised for a moment.

It was something I always said when I was a detective and got a little tipsy.

“Ah. Seriously, I really like Hajin so much? But Inma! I’m your senior in high school. So aren’t we friends?”

“Okay, then. I don’t want to be Detective Kang’s friend either.”

While I was thinking about those days, Hajin put her arm around my shoulder and said.

“Are you thinking of your lover? Come in. I’m hungry.”