The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 17

Kim Eun-mi bowed deeply and quickly returned to her seat, watching them with a half-hidden face.

The Dongbu branch manager led Shin Hae-soo and Chief Gu into the VVIP consultation room.

‘What the heck…’

Eun-mi’s eyes widened as if they would pop out. A colleague who had eaten with her overheard her and rushed over, making a fuss.

“What is it? Eun-mi, did you reel in a big one?”

Eun-mi blankly shook her head.

“I don’t know, I don’t know. Why did I do that? Damn it.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Soon after, the two came out of the consultation room, and the branch manager bowed to them even more obsequiously than when he greeted them, seeing them off.

“…I will definitely manage it well. Thank you for coming all the way here.”

Eun-mi’s eyes sparkled as she watched him leave.

‘I can’t give up like this.’

She immediately sent a text message to Hae-soo.

[It was nice to see you in an unexpected place. Let’s grab a meal sometime. My treat this time.]

‘Tell me nicely when you can.’

Contrary to her inner thoughts, her body was honestly anxious, and she bit her nails. Then, in less than five minutes, a phone call came.

-This is Police Officer Shin Hae-soo. Who is this?

Eun-mi’s brow furrowed at the unexpected question.

“Oh, come on. Are you kidding me?”

-Ah, it’s Kim Eun-mi. I’m sorry. I deleted the contact information that day, so I couldn’t recognize you.

“…Excuse me? Deleted?”

-Yes, I tend not to keep unnecessary numbers in my contacts.

“Unnecessary numbers…”

-Did you send the message to the wrong person?

“Ah… yes.”

-I thought so. Then, I hope you meet a good man. Goodbye.

Click.

Eun-mi blankly stared at the disconnected phone. She couldn’t bring herself to suggest a meal after hearing the words ‘unnecessary number.’ She let out a hollow laugh.

“Ha, ha, haha, seriously… You’re so sharp, just like a cop! So sharp!”

***

Shin Hae-soo, after parting with Chief Gu, bought back the motorcycle he had sold previously. Fortunately, the investigation compensation came through, so the financial hit wasn’t too bad.

He rode the motorcycle to his old hometown, Songwon City.

“…This is Police Officer Shin Hae-soo who called. Can I see the case file now?”

The reason Hae-soo visited his hometown was none other than to stop by the Songwon Police Station.

It was the place that handled his father’s case.

“Ah, yes, it’s been a while. But this… someone else has already reviewed it.”

“Excuse me? Who looked at it?”

Who would have looked into a case that was neatly concluded as a suicide without a shred of doubt, after 12 years?

“I knew it, so I wrote it down. I was wondering if you wouldn’t come, but here it is.”

“Thank you. Inspector Park Young-cheol.”

Not the police officer in charge of the case, and a name he was hearing for the first time.

Hae-soo reviewed the case file once more and immediately contacted Park Young-cheol’s phone number.

-Yes, this is Park Young-cheol.

A slow voice, weary from life.

“This is Shin Hae-soo.”

-Ah… I knew you’d contact me someday, and it’s now.

He seemed to know Hae-soo.

*

Park Young-cheol called Hae-soo to the place where he worked. He was working at a rural police substation.

A middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and an impression that his stubbornness would have been quite strong, though it had faded with time.

He handed Hae-soo a cup of instant coffee and carefully examined his face.

“That’s right, you have Jung-seok hyung’s [older brother/close male friend] face.”

“Did you know my father?”

“We were on the same team.”

Hae-soo slightly narrowed his brow. He had met all the people who were on the same team as his father.

“I’ve never met you.”

“That’s right, the incident happened not long after I left the team.”

“Ah…”

“People who were close to Jung-seok hyung all know that he would never commit suicide. But everyone gave up, so I started digging from then on.”

Park Young-cheol was also a police officer at the time of the incident. He must have found more than Hae-soo.

“Did you find anything?”

Young-cheol took a sip of coffee, turned his head, and made eye contact with Hae-soo.

“Do you, do you really think your father was murdered?”

Hae-soo nodded without a moment’s hesitation.

“Yes.”

At that answer, Young-cheol finished his coffee in one gulp, crumpled the paper cup, and asked.

“What are the basics of identifying a suspect?”

“Finding the motive.”

“Did your father’s suicide have a suspect?”

Hae-soo suddenly thought of the man he had encountered in the elevator. But there is no evidence.

“No.”

“Then what’s next?”

“Finding evidence.”

“There was no evidence either.”

“Next, we investigate the victim to identify the suspect.”

This is not a method that applies to random assaults.

At Hae-soo’s answer, Young-cheol nodded, walked to his car, took a paper bag out of the car, and handed it to Hae-soo.

“Look into your father’s life. This is the case your father was in charge of at the time and the data I personally investigated.”

Hae-soo jumped up and accepted it preciously. No matter how close they were, it is not easy to dig into a case that has already been closed for more than ten years.

“Thank you. Really, thank you.”

Young-cheol waved his hand and lit a cigarette. Hae-soo quickly took out a lighter and lit it for him.

“No need to thank me, I’m not telling you everything. It’s homework. Dig into that data and bring me the suspicious things you find. If you can’t find what I know, it’s useless even if I tell you.”

“I understand. I will never forget this favor. I’ll contact you.”

Hae-soo bowed deeply to him.

***

Shin Hae-soo took the data he received from Park Young-cheol home and stayed up all night with it.

Hae-soo had already looked into the cases that his father, Shin Jung-seok, was in charge of at the time of the accident.

However, this data had much more detailed information. In addition, the personal activities of his father, Shin Jung-seok, were also investigated.

Hae-soo thought there was a hint here and looked at everything with suspicion.

He needs to check if there is even a trivial reason to kill his father.

“Hoo…”

However, all of them are cases that have been properly resolved with the real culprit caught. Just as Hae-soo was rubbing his tired eyes, he found something strange.

“Suicide?”

Assemblyman [Member of the National Assembly] Lee Seong-jin’s murder case, the real culprit surrendered with evidence as the investigation narrowed. The motive was that he felt anger whenever he saw the rich.

But according to this data, it was initially reported as a suicide. This is information that was not in the original data.

Looking at Shin Jung-seok’s activities, he was personally investigating Assemblyman Lee Seong-jin even after the case was closed.

“Definitely strange…”

Hae-soo first investigated Kang Seok-gu, the real culprit in the Lee Seong-jin murder case. There were no deposit records at the time, and his only family was a foreign wife who had run away due to frequent violence.

He wanted to find out his route and alibi, but of course, the video records from that time are not available.

It seems that the answer will come out only after meeting him. Whether he is the real culprit or whether he was asked by someone.

As soon as morning dawned, he got on his motorcycle and pulled the accelerator.

[Hyosung Prison]

This is where Kang Seok-gu is imprisoned. Hae-soo applied for a visit.

“Shin Hae-soo?”

“Yes.”

“Inmate visit denied.”

“Ah…”

It was expected. Hae-soo put in 300,000 won [Korean currency, roughly $250 USD] as a deposit and applied for a visit again. Only then was he able to see Kang Seok-gu’s face.

A man with a fierce impression, pushing his long hair back.

“I don’t recognize your face?”

He swaggered in, sat on a chair, and asked.

“What’s the matter, quietly buying off someone who’s living quietly with money? Reporter? Police? Bereaved family?”

“Lee Seong-jin, you didn’t kill him.”

“Ha, what nonsense are you talking about? You spent 300,000 won to ask that?”

The denial is strong. As if he has to be the real culprit.

“I wouldn’t have bought you off with money when I don’t know how many years you’ll rot, and you don’t have a family, but you’ve been caught with a weakness…”

Hae-soo stared intently into his eyes. He has the eyes of a murderer. Detectives who have dealt with most murderers can recognize it. So they easily believed him when he confessed to being the real culprit.

“You killed someone else.”

“What, is this crazy bastard? Guard! Guard! My visit is over!”

“Not just one person.”

“What a terrible, look at those eyes, what is he, a shaman? Guard!”

Soon a guard came in, and Kang Seok-gu raised his middle finger at Hae-soo.

“I heard your bullshit well, and I won’t see you again. Get lost, I’ll enjoy the 300,000 won.”

“Okay, see you again.”

Kang Seok-gu has two years left before his release.

Hae-soo finished his visit with him and organized the information.

There are questionable aspects to the death of Assemblyman Lee Seong-jin and Kang Seok-gu’s confession. Shin Jung-seok is likely to have committed suicide while investigating Lee Seong-jin’s case.

If we set up the hypothesis that Kang Seok-gu is not the real culprit, what is the value of him taking the blame for the assemblyman’s murder and confessing?

He had the eyes of someone who had killed someone. The person who made him confess probably knows about his murder, and if they threatened him with it and made him confess to the Lee Seong-jin murder case, which has a shorter sentence, it makes sense.

‘The guy hiding behind… the guy who made Kang Seok-gu confess is likely to have killed my father.’

Hae-soo’s eyes sparkled with life.

Until now, there was nothing but a hunch that the man he met in the elevator had killed him.

But after 12 years, he meets someone who has the same thoughts, and suspicions that it may be a murder are emerging one by one.

His heart was beating fast. It’s as if the extinguished passion is reviving.

***

More precious than ever, the vacation is over, and it’s the day of return.

Shin Hae-soo rubbed his reddened eyes and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Seeing that, Officer Lim asked.

“Officer Shin, you look tired. Shall I drive?”

“No. It’s almost over now.”

At those words, Officer Lim looked at her cell phone. It’s 1 AM, time to change shifts. Her complexion brightened a little.

“That’s right. I should have switched you earlier.”

“It’s okay.”

While talking, they arrived at the parking lot, and Hae-soo entered the police station with Officer Lim.

It was past 1 AM, and the shift workers were already waiting.

Hae-soo was about to go up the stairs to the second floor to change into his uniform. Then, his cell phone rang.

[Detective Oh Kang-seok, Violent Crimes Unit 1]

A phone call past 1 AM, Hae-soo felt like he knew the reason why. He immediately pressed the call button.

“This is Police Officer Shin Hae-soo.”

-Officer Shin, this is Oh Kang-seok. I confirmed that your shift is over, but I’m calling you despite my rudeness. We’re going to catch the head of the Hook Gang because his location popped up, and there’s a rumor that he’s a monster. Can you come with us?

The road to catching the boss of ruthless gangsters, a job that is incomparably more dangerous than a gang fight between gangsters, a type of case where police officer deaths almost always occur even with guns. There’s no reason to hesitate.

“Where is it?”

Hae-soo answered without hesitating for 0.1 seconds. His body was already turning around and going back down the stairs.

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