The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 162

163. Meeting Chief Ma

Even after closing the case of the serial killer, Lighter Man, the Violent Crimes Unit continued its investigation to find Chief Ma, the man suspected of killing him.

Shin Hae-soo didn’t even know Chief Ma’s real name. Working with limited information gleaned from the Lighter Man case, he tried to track Chief Ma’s whereabouts.

However, the investigation was proving frustratingly slow.

“How are we ever going to catch this guy?” Oh Geng grumbled. “Are we going to have our first unsolved case since the Violent Crimes Unit was established?”

Team Leader Kwak responded, “Don’t jinx it. There are criminals who don’t get caught *immediately*, but there’s no criminal who can’t be caught *eventually*.”

For once, the youngest member gave a thumbs up to the team leader’s serious words.

“Wow… Team Leader, that was awesome. You sounded like a real cop.”

“Is that musclehead trying to mess with me right now?”

“Ah, no, you sounded like a true police officer! I mean it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, where did Dol-gyeok [Hae-soo’s nickname, meaning ‘charge’] go again?”

“He went out while talking on the phone, I think.”

“He’s always running off on his own.”

“That’s why he’s the ace.”

“I guess so.”

* * *

At the same time, Shin Hae-soo was speeding along on his motorcycle.

He had just received a call from Jung Young-soo that Chief Ma’s burner phone location had been identified.

Hae-soo was certain of Chief Ma’s guilt because he knew the full context of the situation, but as far as the current case was concerned, there was no concrete evidence linking Chief Ma to the murder in the video. The suspect and Chief Ma were just of similar build.

So, he couldn’t make an emergency arrest based on that alone, and he couldn’t risk Ha-ru getting involved, so Hae-soo left without informing his team members.

Vroom!

Fortunately, the location wasn’t far from the Gangjin Police Station.

He arrived at a run-down market in less than 20 minutes.

These days, many traditional markets were dying out as large supermarkets gained popularity.

Hae-soo parked his motorcycle at the entrance of the market and scanned the area from the center point of the location.

He didn’t have high hopes of finding him, as 20 minutes had already passed.

‘Huh?!’

Then, at the far end of the market, he spotted the back of a large man turning a corner.

He was wearing a long coat, but his broad shoulders and height of over 190cm [approximately 6’3″] were unmistakable.

Hae-soo quickly ran towards him.

Thump, thump, thump

‘He’s gone?’

It hadn’t been more than a few seconds, but the man had disappeared. There were three possible paths he could have taken. Hae-soo looked around again, checking the location of CCTV cameras.

Chief Ma had disappeared like a ghost in the hospital park before. He must be habitually aware of CCTV cameras and security systems.

Hae-soo looked at the sky and thought about Chief Ma’s likely behavior pattern. A place without CCTV and with few people…

‘It’s the left.’

It’s a 33% chance, but Hae-soo ran that way with conviction. He turned the corner and saw the large figure he had seen earlier.

Hae-soo’s heart pounded, and he felt a surge of impatience.

“Chief Ma!”

The man didn’t stop, even when called. If he were an innocent person, he would have turned around, even if only to glance back.

Convinced, Hae-soo pounced on him, grabbed his arm, and twisted it behind his back.

However, in that instant, Chief Ma skillfully broke free and pushed Hae-soo’s chest with his palm.

Thud, thump-!

Hae-soo was pushed back three steps before stopping, failing to subdue him.

Only then did Hae-soo and Chief Ma properly face each other.

Then, as if paper burning to ashes, the surrounding scenery dissolved, and a new scene unfolded.

Hae-soo was in an elevator, and the doors slowly opened.

A man filling the elevator door stood in front of him. He made eye contact with the man wearing a black hat and a layered hood.

A chill ran down his spine. He saw the glint in the eyes of a predator sizing up its prey.

‘Should I kill him? Or not.’

His thoughts were laid bare, as if Hae-soo could read them clearly.

Hae-soo was paralyzed with fear, unable to move a single finger….

“What is it?”

Then, Chief Ma’s voice echoed from the deep underground.

As he heard the voice, the elevator scene disappeared again, and the run-down market reappeared around Chief Ma.

The fear that had gripped high school student Hae-soo when he encountered him 15 years ago also subsided.

With this, Hae-soo was completely convinced. This man was the one who disguised his father’s murder as a suicide.

“You are….”

Hae-soo paused. In fact, there was no solid basis for putting him on the suspect list, other than their similar appearance.

Still, Chief Ma was such a mysterious figure that Hae-soo wanted to apprehend him and find evidence. No, he was going to use the pretext of searching for murder evidence to find out about him and the Chilseong Society [Seven Stars Society, likely a criminal organization].

“You are suspected of murder. Please come with me.”

“I’m a suspect… What if I don’t want to go?”

Chief Ma’s expression was surprisingly relaxed.

Instead of answering, Hae-soo took out handcuffs. It had been a long time since he had used handcuffs instead of cable ties. He hadn’t taken them out in years, except when he used them as improvised knuckles.

However, those thick arms would easily tear through cable ties.

Hancuffs wouldn’t make much of a difference, but Hae-soo wanted to clearly express his intention to take him away by force.

Chief Ma looked at the handcuffs, raised one corner of his mouth in a slight smirk, and then turned to leave.

“Let’s go.”

Fortunately, Chief Ma followed willingly. Hae-soo positioned him diagonally one step ahead and led him out of the market, then opened his hand. His palm was covered in sweat.

He was extremely nervous just facing him. Had he ever been this nervous recently?

Chief Ma was at least in his 40s according to Hae-soo’s calculations. But now, instead of looking old, he felt like he was facing a very seasoned and ferocious tiger.

* * *

Creak, squeak-

The door to the Violent Crimes Unit headquarters opened, and Hae-soo brought Chief Ma inside.

He had contacted them in advance, so Ha-ru was not present.

Chief Ma, whose physique was imposing, being taller than Hae-soo and the youngest member combined, entered, and the officers unconsciously tensed up and stood up to greet him.

“Hae, Hae-soo?”

“Wow… our Dol-gyeok, causing trouble again…”

“Hmm….”

The officers couldn’t help but be surprised when Hae-soo suddenly grabbed a person with the same build as the suspect in the CCTV footage without any solid clues.

The youngest member unconsciously shrank back from the beast-like energy that Chief Ma exuded.

They tried to hide their emotions and demanded an explanation from Hae-soo.

Hae-soo put Chief Ma in the interrogation room and briefly explained the situation to them.

“…So I just brought him in.”

“Hmm….”

“That’s a dangerous method….”

Currently, there were no concrete clues or physical evidence, and Chief Ma had only been apprehended because he resembled a silhouette and build taken from a distance.

The plan was to catch him first and then find evidence.

But Hae-soo was resolute.

Hae-soo’s real purpose was to find out his identity or the organization he was connected to.

After finishing the explanation, Hae-soo went directly into the interrogation room and faced Chief Ma.

Then, he showed him a scene from the CCTV footage on his laptop and explained.

“You are here as a suspect in the murder case.”

Chief Ma stared at the screen for a moment, then shook his head firmly.

“It’s not me.”

“Please cooperate with the investigation, and if you are innocent, you will be released soon. What is your name?”

“Kim Seok-pil.”

Hae-soo stopped typing immediately. He hadn’t expected his real name to be revealed so easily, but he frowned slightly without realizing it because it wasn’t Ma.

“Where do you live now….”

“Seongsa-dong, Cheonan-si….”

Unlike a typical interrogation, Hae-soo asked him many trivial questions.

When he checked, the person named Kim Seok-pil matched the description and had the same face.

Unlike the other guys from the company, his fingerprints were intact.

According to the documents, he was an office worker working for a small trading company.

“…If you’re not the culprit, you must be frustrated, but you’re quite calm.”

“As the detective said, I’ll be released if I’m innocent.”

Chief Ma did not call a lawyer and actively cooperated with the investigation.

Of course, he denied the murder. While he was interrogating, Team Leader Kwak opened the door to the interrogation room and took Hae-soo out.

“What’s going on?”

“Damn it, Kim Seok-pil’s alibi has been proven. He had a company dinner with his colleagues at that time, and it was caught on CCTV.”

Team Leader Kwak shared the screen he had just received on the radio with Hae-soo. It was a scene of a person with a head sticking out more than others entering a pub.

Hae-soo frowned as he watched it.

“Let’s hide this for a moment.”

“Huh?”

“Please hold him for a little longer. Just a few more hours.”

“Hmm….”

Since there was a lack of physical evidence, a search warrant for his house was not issued.

However, he couldn’t miss this opportunity, so he secretly gave Ha-ru a special mission.

The mission was to cover her face and break into Chief Ma’s house to install a bug [listening device].

Hae-soo went back into the interrogation room and faced him again.

If they moved from above or if the law firm lawyers were all mobilized, he would be able to catch the tail of the Chilseong Society, but there was no such movement at all.

Chief Ma, who was watching Hae-soo’s expression, asked calmly.

“Has my innocence been proven?”

Hae-soo stared into his eyes and shook his head slightly.

“Not yet, please wait a little longer.”

“Yes, I will.”

About an hour later, Hae-soo received a text message from Ha-ru that the installation was complete.

Hae-soo went outside and came back in as if he had heard new news and released him.

On the way to see Chief Ma off, Hae-soo hid his bitter expression and said.

“I’m very sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Chief Ma stood still and looked at Hae-soo. Hae-soo realized that his eyes were completely different from before. The mask was off.

This man was not Kim Seok-pil, a trading company employee, but Chief Ma, the devil instructor of the assassination squad.

The corner of his mouth curled up bitterly.

“Shin Hae-soo, let’s meet again.”

He finished those words and moved on. Soon after, as if waiting, a taxi stopped in front of the police station and took him away.

Hae-soo did not forget to memorize the taxi’s number.

* * *

When he entered the headquarters, the officers scolded Hae-soo instead.

“Oh, Dol-gyeok, even if the appearance is similar, how can you just grab anyone?”

“I know, but it’s not common to see such a big guy, I understand Hae-soo’s feelings.”

“That’s right. And that person, he was kind of scary.”

The youngest member recalled the time he faced Chief Ma and stroked his arms with both hands.

At the sight, Oh Geng slapped his arm with his palm.

“Were you scared? Were you scared? Gross, you’re so big.”

“That person was really huge.”

“You and Kim Seok-pil are similar, but where did Officer Ha suddenly go?”

Squeak

As Oh Geng looked for Ha-ru, the door opened and she appeared.

“I’m here.”

“I asked her to do something.”

* * *

A few days later.

In the meantime, no other sounds were heard from the bug. It was just the conversation of an ordinary office worker who worked at a trading company and lived alone.

And finally, what was coming, came.

The Gangjin Police Chief visited the Violent Crimes Unit.

“Close this case.”

“Chief? Don’t you trust the Violent Crimes Unit?”

“It’s not that, you know it well. The victim is a serial killer, and the possibility of a secondary victim is low, so the decision has been made that it is a waste of talent for the capable Violent Crimes Unit to be in charge. There’s no progress at all, is there?”

Hae-soo narrowed his eyes and approached the chief. The chief was startled by his menacing appearance and took a step back.

“Is this the Commissioner’s decision?”

The Violent Crimes Unit is under the Commissioner, even though it is in Gangjin Police Station. The chief could not close the case without the Commissioner’s permission.

The chief nodded.

“Yes.”