The Ultimate Inspector, Kang Ji-hyeok - Chapter 79



Only Noblemtl

The next morning, Hyuna suddenly woke me up from my sleep.

Hyuna handed me coffee while I was half-asleep after spending the whole night searching for evidence and finally falling asleep.

“There’s news you should see.”

“What news should I see?”

“This is the missing person news from yesterday. Don’t be surprised and watch it, Inspector.”

The news showed a burning car on the Han River. They said it was footage that came into the broadcasting station early yesterday morning.

– At around 4 a.m. this morning, our broadcasting station received footage of a car burning along the Han River. We reported it to the police and dispatched them with reporters. It is known that Oh Hyun-nam―

[Is it suicide of an isolated youth? Social murder?]

News channels broadcast a story about a man who committed suicide by setting fire to his car near the Han River.

“Hyejin! Contact the police and find out where the department is.”

“all right.”

While Hyejin went out into the hallway to make a phone call, I immediately called the chief prosecutor.

“Chief Prosecutor. I am Kang Ji-hyeok.”

– Yeah. Why did you call me so early in the morning? I thought you’d get in trouble for something trivial.

“Are you watching the news?”

– Kang Ji-hyeok, that’s not like you. Stop making a fuss and talk. I’m watching you from the car on your way to work at the prosecutor’s office.

I paused for a moment.

I realized that I was anxious because it was a friend who had contacted me after a long time.

Calmly, and calmly.

Because I’m a prosecutor.

That’s how it should be handled.

“I would like to take charge of that case.”

– I saw on the news that this was already reported as a suicide. Why do you insist on taking on that case?

“Chief Prosecutor, please.”

He didn’t explain why. He just said firmly that he was asking for it.

Chief Prosecutor Lee Cheol-jung stopped talking as if thinking about something.

– Do I really have to take on this? It would be a burden to take on this case when the suspect’s suicide case is still in turmoil······.

“Are you worried about me?”

– Yeah. We don’t want to lose our Western District Attorney’s ace over something like this.

“If that’s the reason, then I’ll take it. No, I have to take it, Chief Inspector.”

The sigh was so loud that I could hear it over the phone.

Chief Prosecutor Lee Cheol-jung spoke naturally as if nothing had happened.

– Let’s do that. Instead, we’ll check the jurisdiction and proceed with our district prosecutor’s office’s work.

It didn’t stop there.

I absolutely have to do this.

The insight within me was speaking.

There is no such thing as coincidence in this world.

Everything is either inevitable or fate disguised as coincidence.

“Even if it’s not our district prosecutor’s office’s business, I was the first to find out about it, so I will definitely bring the case.”

– Okay, let’s do that. I’ll give you as much strength as I can… Of course, if you want, the prosecutor general will help you too, so there won’t be a problem.

“I would rather get help from the chief prosecutor than from the prosecutor general.”

Master Craftsman… no, Chief Prosecutor Lee Cheol-jung would probably have been moved by these words.

Even though I pretend to be strong and dignified on the outside, only I know that I am weak to praise.

– Hmm. There’s no reason for a busy prosecutor general to get involved in something like this. Okay. I’ll take responsibility. Let’s go ahead, Kang Ji-hyuk.

“Thank you. Jang… no, Chief Prosecutor.”

So the story ended with me being assigned the case.

Hyejin just returned to the office.

“Thank goodness, our local police station has been assigned this case.”

“We’ll take over this from now on. Everyone, focus on the case.”

“All right.”

I looked at Hyuna and said.

“Prepare the report right away. Including the Oh Hyeon-nam case file that I organized yesterday.”

“Yes, sir.”

Huruk.

Only then did I take a sip of the coffee Hyuna handed me.

My mind suddenly opened.

I looked at Hyuna and asked.

“Is this a double shot?”

“No. Triple, shall we say?”

A sudden missing person report turned into a murder case.

He took another sip of coffee and spoke to Kim Ji-cheol.

“Detective Kim. Start the engine right now. We’ll go to the scene right away.”

“Huh? You mean the crime scene?”

“Yeah. First, the scene of the incident. Then, we’ll go straight to the fruit tree.”

“All right.”

I started the morning in a hurry.

It was a matter of seconds because the news channels called it suicide.

This was because the investigation could proceed normally only if it was proven to be not suicide within at least one day.

On the way to the scene, Ji-cheol asked me cautiously.

“If the victim’s family does not consent, we can immediately cremate the body as it is suicide, Prosecutor.”

I didn’t answer and just stared blankly out the window. The water of the Han River looked unusually blue and deep today.

“Inspector?”

When I didn’t answer, Ji-cheol called me again.

“Don’t call me that, and don’t worry about it.”

“Yes? I’m sorry to keep calling you, but how are you going to prevent the victim’s family from ending it by suicide?”

Instead of answering, I took out my phone and put it on speaker phone.

Tutu.

As soon as the bell rang, Gilnam answered the phone as if he had been waiting for it.

“I’m sorry, Gilnam. I was already looking for a suspect who seemed to be targeting Hyunnam last night, and then this happened.”

A heavy voice came over the phone.

– Our Hyunnam. Was he in a lot of pain? How hot and painful would it have been for him to commit suicide by setting fire to his own car? Jihyeok. Ugh. Did he blame me?

“No. That won’t happen, Gilnam. If your brother didn’t commit suicide, I’m definitely going to catch the culprit.”

Gilnam just kept making sounds of swallowing the sadness in his chest without answering.

“Trust me. So, don’t treat it as suicide, Gilnam. It would be too unfair if Hyunnam committed suicide.”

– ···Okay. Thank you for worrying about our Hyunnam. We absolutely do not think it was suicide. So please catch the culprit. And please punish him.

“Okay, I promise.”

– But it’s fortunate for our Hyun-nam. Ji-hyeok, who always keeps his promises, is stepping up for us like this. Ugh.

“I’m sorry, Gilnam.”

He kept saying he was sorry.

Gilnam said it was okay and that he would hang up first since he was busy.

Tutu.

It must have been hard, but he hung up first.

There was silence in the car for a moment.

“Is the victim your friend’s younger sibling?”

“Yeah. My friend’s younger sibling. We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

“Ah. Yes. I’m sorry, Inspector.”

“Why are you sorry? It’s the criminal who should be sorry.”

Ji-cheol carefully played classical music. It was an unusual choice, but it made him feel better.

“You can see it over there. The crime scene.”

Ji-cheol said quietly.

I turned my head and saw police cars and police lines gathered around the river on the other side.

“I don’t know who the culprit is, but he’s a bold kid. Even though it was dawn, he would have seen cars going on Gangbyeonbuk-ro······.”

“Could it be on purpose? The little bastard is doing it so that he can stand out.”

Talk.

I answered, tapping the car window with my finger.

“Ji-cheol.”

“yes?”

“Have I ever complimented you?”

“I don’t think so, Inspector.”

“Then I’ll do it for the first time today. That was a good approach, Detective Kim.”

Ji-cheol didn’t look visibly happy, perhaps because he knew that the victim was my friend’s younger sibling, but his straightened shoulders told me that he was in a good mood.

I muttered as I watched the scene of the incident approaching.

“I don’t know why he wants attention, but that might explain why he set fire to the car.”

* * *

“Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok. Hello. I am detective Na Gook-hyeon, in charge of this case. The burnt body was recovered from the National Forensic Service 30 minutes ago.”

“It’s been a while, detective.”

“Long time no see? Do you know me, Inspector?”

“···I guess I felt familiar with it because I felt like I’d seen it somewhere. Sorry.”

“No. I guess it’s because I have a rather common face. Haha.”

He reached out his hand to me, who was embarrassed, with a hearty laugh.

“Isn’t that an uncommon face?”

“Hmm. Everyone said it reminded them of a detective they’ve seen in a lot of movies.”

“Bring those guys here for spreading rumors and fear. I will interrogate them myself.”

“You’re going to reject it, right? Haha.”

When I was a detective, I had a special relationship with Na Gook-hyun.

One case involved bribery. The investigation involved the team leader of the team that Na Gook-hyun was a part of receiving 2 million won in bribes every month from a local room salon in exchange for turning a blind eye to underage workers.

“I don’t know, Gookhyun.”

“Are you saying that?”

“F*ck. Hey. Detective Kang. You said you didn’t know Gookhyun.”

In the end, only the team leader was stripped of his clothes because of the incident, and the detectives, including Na Gook-hyun, were transferred to Gangwon-do.

Was it two years later?

Na Gook-hyun, who had gone to Gangwon-do, was transferred to the police station next to ours.

That’s how he came to me.

Over a glass of soju, he told me that he also knew that his wife was sick and the team leader had taken care of the hospital bills.

“I regret it a lot, Detective Kang.”

“I know. The arrest rate in Gangwon-do was quite high, and they worked hard. There were rumors going around the neighborhood······.”

“So please don’t hate our team leader too much. He may have been a corrupt detective, but he was a good person.”

“If we only consider the good things in life, how can we catch criminals? That’s all we can say.”

“Yes, Detective Kang.”

“The punishment for that crime was already paid to the team leader, so that’s the end of it. The law of double jeopardy. You know that, I’m a detective.”

He swallowed the soju with a bitter expression on his face without answering.

And then he closed his eyes and said:

“Yes. I will become a better detective. I will do so to atone for the sins I have committed.”

I thought he was a nice guy.

Even if he had just pretended not to know, I wouldn’t have been able to say anything, but he came to me in person and admitted his mistake.

“I know it’s not easy to be honest like this, even though it may seem easy. I’ll do well as a detective. Trust me.”

“Thank you for trusting me, Detective Kang.”

In my memory, that Na Gook-hyun was standing in front of me now.

Detective Na, who was directing the scene, asked me.

“What are you thinking about, Inspector?”

“Old memories.”

The burning car had been completely extinguished by firefighters.

The car was so blackened by the water that it was difficult to see inside.

“How would you know whose body it was in this situation?”

“that is······.”

The detective in charge showed me the resident registration card in the evidence envelope.

It was so clean that the name Oh Hyeon-nam and the picture were clearly visible.

I didn’t even understand that.

“This was lying on the ground near the burned car over there.”

“On the floor? It wasn’t in my wallet. It’s just this resident registration card on the floor?”

“Yes. I also found that strange. I didn’t find my wallet. My resident registration card was stuck in the ground. It was as if he was asking me to identify him.”

Detective Na squatted down and placed the sharp edge on the ground, explaining that the resident registration card was stuck there at the time.

“So the reporters knew who the burnt body was and immediately reported the news?”

“That’s right. Wouldn’t a resident registration card be enough as evidence?”

Amazingly, every detail of this incident came together.

I started asking questions about the parts I had doubts about.

“Did you find out about the person who sent the video to the broadcasting station?”

“Yes. We checked that first, but it’s strange.”

Detective Na took out his cell phone and held up a video in front of us.

It was a video of a man wearing black clothes and a helmet pulled down low entering a broadcasting station carrying something in a paper bag.

The leather jacket he was wearing had a large eagle design printed on the back.

“Let’s start with this. This is footage from a CCTV near the broadcasting station. This is the paper bag that this man is holding. Inside it is a video of flames shooting out of a car.”

“That’s the tip-off video that they keep showing on the news channels.”

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t specified. The reporters just assumed that it was a video that someone had sent as a quick service and played it.”

“In the meantime, did that eagle man disappear?”

“The Black Eagle Man… That’s right. That man is gone.”

“This evidence video must be handed over to our side as evidence.”

“Of course. I have to hand over all the evidence along with the report to the prosecutor in charge of the case.”

Detective Na Gook-hyun’s wife must have needed surgery at this time.

Clearly, the report said that he had been sick since he was discovered in a cancer screening 7 years ago······.

“Did you say Na Gook-hyun?”

“yes.”

“I have a program that I run. It’s a program that donates up to 50 million won to patients in need of surgery from the families of police officers or prosecutors.”

Detective Na Gook-hyun’s eyes shook greatly.

“Please let the detectives around you know. And I’ll be in charge of that program for two months······.”

chuck.

I gave him my business card.

Detective Na took the business card and put it in his pocket with trembling hands.

“Let me know if you need anything and let me know. It’s a bit of a ask, but please look around.”

“Of course. I will look into it. Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok.”

This is why having a lot of money is good.