The Ultimate Inspector, Kang Ji-hyeok - Chapter 96



Only Noblemtl

Again, two conflicting opinions arose.

The judge frowned as he reviewed the evidence again.

I asked the witness.

“Witness. What color was the shirt the victim was wearing that day?”

“It’s yellow. It’s the child’s favorite color.”

“I see. If it’s a yellow southern, it would be easy to find if it floats on the sea.”

“But if it floats far out to sea, you won’t be able to find it.”

“Is that so?”

I pressed the remote control I was holding and played the next piece of evidence.

“So I did an experiment. In the same place as the incident.”

The people shown in the video were investigator Kim Ji-cheol and police officer Kim Gyeong-rye.

It was a midnight scene.

The video had the time stamped on it.

– This is the area where the victim fell into the water, and a broken bottle of liquor was found at this point.

Detective Kim Ji-cheol threw a light garment over him.

Police officer Kim Kyeong-rye said.

– If you throw it here, it will eventually get pushed and flow to the beach over there. I lived here for several years.

– It’s noisy, so throw it far away.

– Really? Why don’t you believe me?

Detective Kim Ji-cheol and Patrolman Kim Gyeong-rye threw ten light clothes into the sea.

Here and there, ten white clothes floated on the sea.

“It’s around midnight. I’m the investigator who was sent in for a fair experiment and the first person to discover the body, Police Officer Kim Kyung-rye.”

I fast-forwarded the video.

I explained it briefly while wrapping it up.

“You even did that kind of experiment?”

“Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok is a real monster.”

“But Officer Kim Kyung-rye. She’s so cute.”

Everyone in the audience was watching the experiment with interest.

“I threw ten pieces of clothing into the sea. Over there, Officer Kim Gyeong-rye is from here and patrols the sea every morning, picking up trash.”

The judge was looking at the video with an interested face.

But the witness and the defense attorney had completely different expressions.

“So I waited until morning. I filmed it without stopping even once to ensure the accuracy of the footage.”

At around 6 a.m., investigator Kim Ji-cheol and police officer Kim Gyeong-rye were seen walking along the beach again.

– Look at that. It all washes up on the beach. I have a hard time picking up all the trash that washes up every morning······.

Ji-cheol asked about Police Officer Kim Gyeong-rye’s nagging.

– So you didn’t find anything on the beach that day?

– How many times do I have to say this? I mean, I go around from there to here, starting at five o’clock, picking up trash. Look over there. That thing.

When the camera panned to where he was pointing, there were seven white clothes scattered on the beach.

I turned my head and said to the judge.

“As you may have guessed, the remaining stone was lying on the rock.”

The footage showed three pieces of clothing hanging on a rock.

The lawyer said, pointing to the video with his finger.

“So, isn’t it quite possible that the drowning victim is on that rock?”

I nodded and told everyone the results of the experiment that they were curious about.

“Yes. As the lawyer said, that was also confirmed by this experiment. Two more experiments were conducted, but the results were similar. In one case, six white clothes were found hanging on a rock, and the rest were recovered from the beach. In the last case, five pieces were recovered from the beach and the other from the rock.”

Whoosh.

I turned my head and spoke to the witness.

“If you look at the currents in that sea, anything light that a human can throw, like clothes, will all wash up on the beach. So, if things were normal, that southern one should have been found on the beach too. Or on the rocks.”

I paused for a moment and asked her a short question.

“Ms. Eom Ja-hyeon, do you have something to hide?”

For a moment, Eom Ja-hyeon’s eyes wavered.

Beep.

I brought up the screen of a drum full of black ash on the evidence screen.

“During the search and seizure, the police contacted me and asked if I should seize the freshly burned ash in the drum as well.”

chuck.

I took out the transparent plastic bag that had been wrapped in a bundle. It was full of black clumps of ash.

It was vinyl airlifted from the United States.

“So, here are the ashes I received. At first, I didn’t know why they were found there, but now I know.”

The lawyer approached me in confusion.

“Why are you bringing out that evidence now? I can’t accept this.”

I handed the vinyl to the lawyer and said,

“Just touch it. Who would have thought that was evidence? At first, I thought it was just ashes.”

“No. No matter what… this is…”

He looked at the vinyl, fiddling with it.

I took out a handkerchief, grabbed it, snatched the plastic wrap away, turned my head, and looked at Detective Kim Ji-cheol.

It was a play that had already been promised.

“Yes, inspector. I’ll go.”

Detective Kim Ji-cheol approached through the crowd.

“Huh? The guy from the video earlier?”

“What a shame. I wanted to see Police Officer Kim Gyeong-rye······.”

I approached him through the chattering audience and handed him the ashes in a plastic bag and said:

“Run to the National Forensic Service right away and have them examine it. They probably burned the clothes. Maybe they’ll even find out that there was alcohol on it if they’re lucky. And if they find even a piece of a broken liquor bottle, that’s bingo. Be sure to check and call me.”

A commotion.

The audience was the first to stir.

Then the judge’s eyes wavered.

I whispered to Ji-cheol, who carefully took the plastic bag containing the ashes with a handkerchief.

“Don’t forget. Be sure to check the fingerprints on the vinyl. Do you remember? What I said yesterday.”

“Yes, sir. Of course.”

Ji-cheol carefully wrapped the plastic in a handkerchief and ran outside.

I turned my head and looked at the judge and said seriously.

“Your Honor, if those ashes aren’t clothes, I won’t submit them as evidence. They’re irrelevant. Is that okay?”

“This is ridiculous. How can something like this happen all of a sudden, Your Honor!”

The lawyer whined to the judge with a face that was almost tearful.

Judge Ha Soo-jin closed her eyes and thought for a moment.

“As the prosecutor said, I had it without knowing what it was, but it could either be important evidence in the trial or it could be meaningless, so if it turns out to be valuable as evidence, I will accept it.”

The lawyer answered quietly with a deadpan face.

“all right.”

The judge declared a recess with a tired look on his face.

It wasn’t just because I was tired.

I guess they were thinking of buying me time to go to the National Institute of Scientific Investigation and get it checked out.

“We will recess for 40 minutes. The trial will begin in 40 minutes.”

Thump thump.

So the trial was adjourned.

“Your Honor, thank you for your wise decision.”

As I bowed my head and greeted her, Judge Ha Soo-jin smiled at me and left.

“You’re deceiving me, lawyer.”

“why?”

He answered briefly, as if he was angry.

Since there was an age difference and the trial was delayed for the lawyer, I decided to let it go as it was natural.

“Thanks to you, I learned a lot.”

“That’s funny. How cheeky of a young kid.”

He rolled his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows.

“You look really angry. You two are both doing your own thing, so don’t be so angry.”

He spoke informally to me and turned around.

“That’s what a prosecutor is······.”

He spoke rudely and carefully led Um Ja-hyeon out of the courtroom.

“Because people like you are lawyers.”

* * *

〈Kang Ji-hyeok. What do you want to achieve from this trial? It’s not revenge or anything.〉

The guide, who had been silent during the break, finally spoke to me.

“Justice through law.”

I answered simply.

〈Is this the realization of justice?〉

“Revenge is the justice I dream of, but right now I am working on realizing universal justice for the future. Of course, my position will change depending on the results.”

“I know you made a deal with the Attorney General. A huge deal.”

“That’s not all. At least we can’t just let those who commit crimes go.”

〈Guys? Isn’t that the infamous serial killer named Um Ja-hyeon who is on trial? He will eventually be sentenced to life imprisonment in 2020······.〉

“I’ll make it even better. For everyone.”

〈As expected, Kang Ji-hyeok is interesting. He always exceeds expectations.〉

After that, the guide didn’t speak to me again.

‘You too, prepare to be used for my revenge. My future investigator.’

I looked out the window for a moment.

Lots of people coming and going.

A swaying cityscape.

People laughing.

Those who mourn.

Everyone was walking around the world outside the window.

It was a beautiful world completely different from this court.

“The legal system that sustains the world is that if you commit a crime, you receive an appropriate punishment, right?”

Huruk.

Wash your brain again with iced Americano.

Beep.

My phone rang to let me know that the trial was about to begin.

‘Let’s go. Let’s tie up some motherfuckers.’

* * *

“Witness, please return to the defendant’s seat.”

Judge Ha Soo-jin ordered Um Ja-hyeon to return.

I looked at her for a moment.

Perhaps because he had taken a short break, his expression was definitely more stable than before.

The cheating lawyer was the same.

‘You dare say you’ve regained your composure? Yes. I’ll take off your mask soon.’

“Prosecutors, is there any other evidence?”

And so Judge Ha Soo-jin declared the game start.

Beep.

I uploaded another video.

It was a video taken from above the rock.

“It’s not written in the investigation report, but when I went to the scene myself, the rock was bigger than I thought. It’s about 8.7 square meters in area.”

“It’s about the size of two mid-sized cars.”

“That’s right, your honor. And the height of that rock is 1.8m. And the sea near that rock moves between 1.2m and 1.4m. Unlike the West Sea, the East Sea doesn’t have a large tidal range.”

Beep.

Police officer Kim Gyeong-rye also appeared in the video.

Now, the audience was cheering that it was cute.

“Quiet. Be still.”

The courtroom became quiet again as the judge gave his warning.

A video of Police Officer Kim Gyeong-rye speaking has been released.

– As you can see, this rock is completely dry. It hasn’t rained since the incident.

– Since this is the East Sea, there will be almost no difference in tidal range.

– That’s right. That’s rare. So when I was young, I would come up and sleep when I was tired.

I paused the video and looked at the judge.

Judge Ha Soo-jin had clear judgment.

“I see. It’s impossible for a drowned body to float all the way to the center of the rock like that?”

“Yes, your honor.”

I looked at the lawyer and said.

“As I mentioned earlier, it is impossible for someone who drowned to float and then be washed up. This is because the sea water itself cannot rise to the surface of the sea.”

The lawyer bit his lip and said nothing.

The judge asked me with an interested face.

“Is that the end of the video evidence?”

“No. I will continue watching the video.”

Then came the scene where I kicked Ji-cheol out of the rock.

with a plop!

The gallery stirred again as he fell, creating a huge splash.

“Oh my. Detective Kim Ji-cheol is missing.”

“Poor thing.”

“Isn’t Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok going too far?”

The scene of Ji-cheol barely holding onto a rock and crawling up was shown, and the scene of him crawling slowly and lying down in the center was also shown.

“I’m sorry, but I conducted the experiment without telling the investigator anything. If I told him, it would lose credibility, so I did it suddenly.”

The video continued.

– Inspector. Your fingers, knees, and forearms were all scraped up from crawling up here.

There was a scene where Ji-cheol was showing his annoyance with a cold face.

– Did you hit your head on the floor?

– Yes. There is sand on the floor. It’s not that hard.

– Lie down and dry. The rocks are dry, so your wet clothes will dry quickly.

The video ended there.

And the judge’s gaze never wavered again.

Now it seemed to have become certain.

“Good job, Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok. Defense, do you have any objections here?”

The deceived lawyer stepped forward and tilted his head.

“Even if this video is true, doesn’t that mean the victim got drunk, jumped into the water, hit the back of his head on a rock right before drowning, woke up, crawled out on his own, and eventually died? Thanks to the prosecutors’ experiments, the case is finally concluded.”

He paused for a moment and then spoke firmly.

“Your Honor, there is no evidence anywhere that the victim was murdered.”

I said, staring at the lawyer in disbelief.

“Did you first tell me that you were going to write a novel? A Deceitful Attorney?”

“···That’s what I said. I said.”

“I don’t know who wrote the novel. You still don’t understand the situation?”