You Are Defended - Chapter 578



Only Noblemtl

Episode 578

“I’ll keep checking So-eun’s location and run to Ribbon Medical Center for now.”

Since the call was on speakerphone, Taeshik quickly changed lanes to hear our conversation.

Kang Min-jae also heard the conversation between me and Dae-cheol and shared the new facts he learned in the group message room.

“Minwoo hyung, have you checked Soeun’s location right now? Yes, she seems to be heading towards Ribbon Medical Center. Daecheol decided to keep following Soeun in case she takes a different route in the middle, and we’re going to just go to Ribbon Medical Center first.”

And I immediately called Heo Min-woo, who had to respond immediately to the changing situation, and quickly briefed him.

Fortunately, the evening road heading to Miseong, Gyeonggi-do was clear, so Taesik pressed harder on the accelerator.

“If the National Intelligence Service leaves for Ribbon Medical Center by motorcycle now, how long will it take? Right now, So-eun seems to be around Daesu-dong. The National Intelligence Service will probably arrive at Ribbon before So-eun.”

In response to my question, Jeong-hyeok, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned to me and said.

“If the NIS boss were at the karaoke bar right now, that’s what he would do.”

“That kid is definitely at the karaoke bar.”

Taesik intervened.

“The National Intelligence Service’s brother’s karaoke bar is closer than So-eun’s, so if you take a motorcycle, you’ll get there about 15 minutes earlier.”

Jeong-hyeok answered after checking the map on his cell phone.

“Tell the National Intelligence Service to take their equipment and head to the vinyl house in front of Ribbon Medical Center.”

“Attorney, you think So-eun is going to get surgery right now? Not at Okashima Hospital, but at Ribbon.”

Kang Min-jae asked me while scanning the overflowing messenger conversations with his eyes.

“I’m not calling the NIS because I’m sure. I’m calling them just in case. Besides, if you’re having surgery at Ribbon Medical Center, there are a few things that make sense.”

“It’s been a while since Onodera and his mother left Kyoto, but they weren’t found near Okashima Hospital.”

“that’s right.”

It’s not that I didn’t trust Kirihara, but if Onodera and his mother hadn’t been seen near Okashima Hospital until today, I would have assumed there was a hole in her surveillance network.

But if you have the surgery at Ribbon Medical Center, it’s a different story.

“And I also don’t understand why Lim Hyeon-il didn’t buy a ticket to Japan.”

“… … to have surgery in Korea.”

I nodded my head heavily once.

“But it’s too early to assume that this is a signal for surgery. It’s possible that So-eun is staying at Ribbon Medical Center to undergo various tests before going to Japan.”

“That’s true, but since Im Hyeon-il hasn’t gone to Japan yet and So-eun has moved, isn’t it more likely that the surgery will be done in Korea? I’m not sure if the surgery will be today, but… … .”

If I hadn’t had insurance at Ribbon Medical Center, I would have been in big trouble.

I called the employee who was monitoring Lim Hyeon-il.

My judgment may also change depending on where the surgeon, Lim Hyeon-il, is now.

─Yes, sir.

“Where is Lim Hyeon-il?”

─It seems that he is still in the hospital. Im Hyeon-il has not been found coming out.

Is Lim Hyeon-il still in the hospital?

I was asleep.

My mind was filled with thoughts about Lim Hyeon-il, whom I had put aside for a moment to focus on So-eun’s whereabouts.

A GPS tracker has been attached to Lim Hyeon-il’s car, and several people are following his movements.

I admit that it was the best that individual employees could do to conduct the stalking, but I can’t say for sure that it was flawless.

“What time did Lim Hyeon-il leave home for the hospital?”

─Around 8 a.m.

“What has arrived?”

─It’s 9 o’clock in the morning.

“And you’re saying you’ve never been outside until now?”

─Yes, that’s right.

“Usually, if Lim Hyeon-il comes to work around that time, what time does he get off work?”

─Well, around dinnertime. But today is Sunday, so I don’t usually go to work. But I think I’ve been called out on weekends quite a few times. When I go to work on weekends, I park really quickly and run to the hospital. If I go in like that, there’s no telling when I’ll come out.

“Did you jump in today too?”

─Yes.

“So you decided that you were called in urgently today?”

─Yes. If you don’t show up by midnight, I was planning to contact your lawyer separately. It’s rare for a surgery to take that long…

Today seemed like one of the many days when I was called away in a hurry, and it’s understandable that I wouldn’t have thought it strange if I had just rushed in as usual to prove it.

Up until now, Lim Hyeon-il has driven his own car to and from work and to various appointments, so it has been easy to track his movements.

But it is difficult to say that he knows every move.

What if Lim Hyeon-il doesn’t move in his own vehicle?

There must be other passageways in the large hospital that we don’t know about. What if we went that way?

“Is Lim Hyeon-il not at the hospital right now?”

As I hung up the phone, Kang Min-jae, who was busy sharing the situation with others, asked.

“No, they say it’s a hospital called Ushin Hospital, but there’s something bothering me.”

I scrolled down through my Messenger conversation list and checked the message I had received from Ribbon Medical Center Surveillance Join Form this afternoon.

[Black Benz 5359 arrived at 11:31 AM]

[Black Benz 5359 left at 2:02 PM]

Black Benz 5359.

This is a vehicle that has been coming and going periodically since we started monitoring Ribbon Medical Center until recently.

He came to the Ribbon Medical Center at least once a week, stayed for a couple of hours, and then disappeared.

We thought he would be the one supervising the process of preparing for the opening of Ribbon Medical Center.

In that case, there was a high probability that it was a hospital staff member, so I searched the parking lot of the Seoul Woosin Hospital just in case.

As a result, it was discovered that vehicle 5359 was owned by the director of the Keynote Surgery Department at Seoul Ushin Hospital.

Until we received information that So-eun was heading to Ribbon Medical Center today, the appearance of 5359 could not be interpreted as a signal for the start of any incident.

Because it was a routine movement.

“I’m talking about the 5359 Benz.”

“Is this the keynote speaker?”

“The car entered the Ribbon at 11:30 this morning and left at 2:00 p.m.”

“Yes. Were you there for about two hours like usual?”

“huh.”

“But?”

“Im Hyeon-il arrived at Woosin Hospital at 9 o’clock, and he hasn’t come out yet. But you can get from Woosin Hospital to Ribbon Medical Center in an hour on Sunday mornings.”

“Then, does that mean that Lim Hyeon-il might have gone to the hospital in the morning and headed to Ribbon with Director Kijo?”

“We can’t rule out the possibility.”

And if that’s true… … .

“If Lim Hyeon-il has been riding 5359 to and from Ribbon, the probability of him having surgery there is also very high.”

“Then, is Onodera’s grandson also here at Ribbon now?”

“I don’t know. It depends on when your surgery date is. It could be today.”

“Right now, today? But, if you look at liver transplant donors, they are admitted to the hospital the day before, take medication, and undergo various tests, right?”

“Isn’t the reason for hospitalizing the patient in advance because of the liver donor’s condition? The liver donor has to live after the surgery. I don’t know if it’s possible to move the donor to the hospital and have the surgery right away, but it doesn’t seem like it would be impossible.”

“That’s right. From those kids’ perspective, So-eun would die if they gave her her heart anyway, so it doesn’t matter what her condition is… … .”

In the wiretapping file that Kim Mi-ja gave, they definitely said that they would have the surgery at Okashima Hospital.

But suddenly, Ribbon Medical Center.

A lot of thoughts crossed my mind, but I decided not to worry about why they changed their plans right now.

“How far is it to Ribbon Medical Center?”

Instead of Taesik, who was concentrating on driving, Jeonghyeok answered my question.

“62 minutes left.”

“When do you think So-eun will arrive at Ribbon Medical Center?”

“Daecheol said there were about 45 minutes left.”

Since the plan was prepared primarily to deal with cases where surgery is performed at Okayama Hospital, some modifications to the plan are unavoidable.

I rolled up my sleeves a little and checked my wristwatch.

45 minutes is not enough time.

But at least until So-eun enters Ribbon Medical Center, it seems like we have a handle on how to best deal with it.

“What should we do? This is different from the original plan. Preventing So-eun from leaving the country at the airport and preventing her from entering Ribbon Medical Center will be perceived differently in court.”

Kang Min-jae is right.

Although they both appear to be the same act, they are open to different interpretations because they both seek to block the execution of plans they had already established.

Of course, the path through which we learned of their original plans was through wiretapping, so it is not admissible as evidence.

However, there is no problem because the wiretapping files were intended to be legally recorded files from the beginning.

So let’s assume we use this as evidence.

If So-eun is blocked from going to the departure lounge, there is no problem as this is consistent with the long-term trading plan of Woo-shin and Onodera that can be confirmed in the wiretapping content that will be revealed later.

Because it will be interpreted as a move to make their plans a reality.

In other words, it meets the requirements for attempted crime.

But if you stop it before you get to the Ribbon Medical Center, that’s a different matter.

Of course, it would look very suspicious if they moved to an illegal medical facility in a vehicle disguised as a delivery truck.

So even if it was different from what was recorded in the wiretapping, if they claimed that they had changed their plans, the public would believe us.

However, it is difficult to obtain a meaningful judgment in court.

Because there is no mention of Ribbon Medical Center in the wiretapping content.

In such cases, we must obtain evidence through investigation that they really did attempt to perform the surgery at Ribbon Medical Center.

Otherwise, it will be settled under the preliminary and conspiracy crime line.

The level of punishment is relatively light, and you may not even be prosecuted.

All that can be confirmed through the wiretapping is a simple disclosure of a plan, and this does not correspond to an external preparatory act, which is one of the requirements for the crime of preparation or conspiracy.

If the investigation uncovers specific preparatory acts, it may be possible to indict, but there is also a high possibility that the defendant will be found not guilty in court due to insufficient evidence.

Even if a guilty verdict is reached, the accomplice is not subject to punishment.

A loophole is created through which most of the key players can escape.

“I’m also against stopping them before they get to Ribbon Medical Center. It’s complicated if you just say they took the wrong path and didn’t mean to go to Ribbon Medical Center.”

“Yes. Then, we’ll have to search and seize the people in the truck and the Ribbon Medical Center to prove that it’s a lie, but it’ll take time to get a warrant. Wooshin will destroy the evidence in the meantime. I also think it would be right to raid So-eun after she enters the Ribbon Medical Center.”

“If they’re going to raid today, the police should raid Ribbon Medical Center by surprise. That way, they can immediately determine that Ribbon Medical Center is an illegal medical facility and use that as an excuse to conduct an internal search.”

“But if it’s right to have the surgery at Okayama Hospital. If the reason So-eun is going to Ribbon Medical Center now is simply to get tested before transferring her to Okayama Hospital, then that’s a problem in its own right. If the police come and there’s no sign of surgery at all… … .”

Unless it can be proven that the visit to Ribbon Medical Center was part of an organ trafficking scheme, Ribbon Medical Center will be punished as an unlicensed medical facility.

The only additional action that can be taken is to attempt to apply the preliminary and conspiracy charges based on the wiretapping content as mentioned above, but isn’t this unlikely to succeed?

It is also becoming difficult to anticipate what will happen next.

In this process, Wooshin will retrace the steps of how we came to know about the long-term trading plan.

In the process, the watchtower we erected will be discovered and collapse.

This is your only chance to properly punish them, and if you miss it, it’s over.

“There are still 45 minutes until So-eun arrives at Ribbon Medical Center… … No, time has passed, so there is about 40 minutes. I think we need to figure out the situation as specifically as possible during those 40 minutes. First, is there any way to check if it is right to have the surgery at Ribbon Medical Center, and if so, when it is scheduled to be done?”

“What time is it now?”

“It’s half past eight.”

It’s half past eight.

“Today, Ms. Kim Mi-ja will be leaving for the United States on the 8:40 flight.”

“The departure time is 40 minutes, right? That means the plane leaves in 10 minutes.”

“Yes. So he must already be on the plane.”

Even if Satoshi Oda came to the airport to see Kim Mija off, he would have gone to the departure lounge alone.

And the flight departs at 8:40, so it’s 8:30, so boarding should be over by then.

Even if Kim Mi-ja calls Oda Satoshi and asks him about it now, and even if Oda Satoshi feels uneasy about it, there’s nothing he can do.

Even if he is a five-term congressman, there is no way he can stop an airplane that is about to take off.

It’s the same even if the Prime Minister steps forward.

Oh, if we suddenly make Kim Mi-ja a wanted criminal and contact the airport police within a few minutes to delay the flight departure and then arrest her, it might be possible.

But Kim Mi-ja is already a famous person known throughout Japan as Oda Satoshi’s wife, so would it be possible to take such action simply because she felt something was wrong?

People who think of such a small amount of fame as their life.

“That’s right. Right now, it wouldn’t be a problem if Ms. Kim Mi-ja were to openly ask Satoshi Oda about the surgery date.”

Until now, I couldn’t ask Kim Mi-ja to confirm the surgery date even if I wanted to.

Because those words would have put pressure on her and made her do something that was likely to be a failure.

But now her safety is guaranteed.

“You didn’t turn your phone off already, did you?”

These days, there are still times when flight attendants walk around the cabin just before takeoff to check and, if they find a passenger with their cell phone on, ask them to turn it off.

There were many phones with airplane mode, but perhaps because it wasn’t properly advertised, I remember receiving a request for it on a flight to Switzerland.

It’s now 10 minutes before takeoff, so it may have already been turned off as Kang Min-jae said.

“I hope not.”

I muttered as I called Kim Mi-ja.