My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 150

“Moreover, the crime scenes are suspicious, too.”

“Why is that?”

“A rarely used basement, an abandoned factory area… Do you know what these have in common?”

“What is it?”

“They are locations that will eventually be discovered. It’s a completely different approach from how criminals generally try to hide murder cases.”

“Huh? Not that they need an indoor space?”

“Maybe. But if the real culprit is a devil worshiper, would they just leave it like that?”

“Oh? Ah! You’re right, aren’t they? There’s no reason for them to just leave it like that.”

“Exactly. There’s no reason to plaster magic circles and devil worship symbols all over the place like that.”

The mistake the other detectives made was the stereotype that criminals want to hide their crimes at all costs.

“Besides, that place isn’t even theirs. Of course, it’s not a space they can continue to use.”

If they were devil worshipers, they would either clean it up to avoid getting caught or offer sacrifices in a space where no one else would ever have access.

“But they didn’t do that. That means they wanted it to be discovered. But if an ID card was found in such a place, and yet there’s no cell phone, what does that mean?”

“It means they lured the victims with the cell phone.”

“Right. But if they lured someone from their surroundings, there’s a possibility they could be identified.”

In serial killings, especially when the murders occur in the same way, the first thing the police do is look for connections between the cases.

Naturally, people are also considered as points of contact. Because murder is committed by people.

“So, if they need to lure people in a different way, what’s a way to randomly lure two men?”

“That’s random chatting, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Many people engage in random chatting for fun, but there are also many who do it for ‘one-night stands’ or momentary pleasure.

If you search the app store right now, there are more than one or two random chat apps.

“In the case of such apps, tracking is difficult.”

There must be at least 100 such random chat apps, and you can’t request warrants for all of them.

Moreover, if they used a different app, even identification is impossible.

“But the bereaved family can quickly find out the situation.”

Although there’s no warrant, if the bereaved family requests cooperation through a lawyer, companies often provide some convenience.

Especially in the case of murder victims, if they don’t cooperate in catching the perpetrator, the media will have a field day. And if they’re not careful, they might even create the image of protecting the murderer, so they tend to provide app download history unless there’s a special problem.

It includes personal information, but it doesn’t show call history or message history.

“That’s right. They do provide it.”

“So, what’s the last app they received?”

“It’s an app called ‘Happy Solo.’ Both of them downloaded that app.”

“That’s a typical random chat app.”

Park Do-joon stroked his chin and said.

“It’s probably not a very secure app. Well, it’s not difficult to get a burner phone under a woman’s name.”

You can easily find burner phones under women’s names online with a little searching. Even if not, there are also sites that issue temporary phone numbers, so you can get a number through those sites.

“But that itself is difficult to pinpoint.”

You can know the history of downloading the app, but it’s impossible to see the contents.

In the first place, that’s not managed by the phone company. It’s managed by the company that developed and sells the app.

“Don’t worry. The company that manages it is obvious.”

Park Do-joon smiled.

***

“Is it true that a serial killer is using this app?”

The name of a reporter sometimes takes precedence over the law. Especially when hiding informants behind the excuse of a tip, the title of reporter is convenient.

“Yes?”

Of course, reporters are the natural enemies of small businesses. Bad reporters extort money by exploiting the weaknesses of companies.

Naturally, small businesses are very conscious of reporters in that regard.

Especially small chat companies that essentially mediate socially criticized activities such as affairs or one-night stands can’t help but be conscious.

“What are you talking about? We don’t know anything about that.”

A small internet company with only four employees, including the president. The reporter’s words were like a bolt from the blue.

“You don’t know? I heard that a serial killer is disguising as a woman here and luring male victims. Didn’t the police say anything?”

“No, is that true?”

Of course, they don’t know. Hundreds or thousands of chats occur every day. Of course, most of them are meaningless chatter, but in any case, the company can’t afford to manage such chats.

“A serial killer, no way……”

The only incident that came to the president’s mind at that moment was the story of the devil worshipers who recently dismembered people and offered them as sacrifices.

“The police have confirmed that the two victims were meeting women through this app. And they also confirmed information that someone was trying to meet through this app. Do you have any official statement about this situation?”

“O-Official?”

“As a reporter, I have to write the company’s official position.”

At those words, the president felt dizzy. If that happened, he would be ruined. What crazy person would use a chat app where there’s a devil worshiper who lures men and commits serial killings?

Of course, the news would hide the name, but the rumors would spread in an instant.

“No, it’s a misunderstanding! It’s really a misunderstanding!”

“It’s not a misunderstanding. According to police informants, they’re thinking of formally requesting chat logs through the court, aren’t they?”

At those words, the president’s heart sank. If that happened, he wouldn’t be able to hide it no matter how hard he tried.

“Is that true?”

“It’s true. I’m a reporter. Don’t you think I have an informant inside the police station?”

“Th-That……”

The president wondered how to solve this problem. Originally, he shouldn’t give the chat logs. But if he doesn’t cooperate, he’s dead.

He hasn’t even recovered half of the invested money, and now murderers are running rampant through his app.

“Please……! No, it can’t be. We’ll be ruined!”

“No, even if you’re ruined…… How can the law do anything about that?”

If the police ask for chat records, it’s obvious that they won’t give them, or rather, they can’t give them.

Even if that’s not the case, requesting data through the court is a natural process. Except for one case.

“We’ll give you everything you ask for.”

“You’ll give it?”

“Yes, please tell that informant that we’ll give them everything they want.”

It’s not a large company, and a small company with only four employees can’t possibly win against the court, can they?

Personal information protection? Of course, it would be a problem if the other party was alive.

But right now, the only person alive is the serial killer, isn’t it?

Protecting such a guy’s personal information will only result in his own ruin.

It was a better choice to voluntarily hand over the data and then hide his name.

At least that way, there’s no chance of it being reported in the media.

“You’re really going to give it voluntarily?”

“Yes, that kind of thing…… Uh, is that…… illegal?”

“Well, it might violate the Personal Information Protection Act?”

Kim Geun-chan hesitated for a moment and then shook his head.

“But anyway, the police are doing the investigation. Moreover, there’s also the fact that we have to stop the serial killer. So, well, wouldn’t there be room for leniency in this case?”

“Right?”

“Um, I understand. I’ll pass it on. But I don’t know if they’ve applied yet or not.”

“Please do it as soon as possible.”

The president’s lips were parched.

***

“As expected.”

The company provided the chat logs without hesitation. It turned out that the two men had been talking to the same person just before they died.

“The other detectives didn’t even think about the chatting side, how did you know?”

Park Do-joon scratched his head at those words.

“It’s just that everyone thinks the killer is a devil worshiper, so they didn’t think of it.”

They probably assumed that the devil worshiper was in the majority and kidnapped them through threats.

But if it’s not a majority, they definitely need a way to safely lure the other person out.

“There are more than a few people who try to flirt with you if you approach them online pretending to be a woman.”

And in most cases, it’s true that women receive preferential treatment from most people for the sole reason that they are women.

Even in court rulings, it’s true that women receive much lighter sentences for the same crime.

“Depending on the situation, the best way to approach a man, especially a completely anonymous man, is to emphasize that you are a woman.”

The problem is that we don’t know if the culprit is male or female. Of course, there’s a high probability that it’s a male, but still.

“In that case, the best way would be to appeal as a woman in a random chat.”

“That’s right.”

Park Do-joon suspected it from the fact that there was no cell phone.

“And circumstantially, it seems that was right.”

Park Do-joon was convinced as he looked at the chat logs.

The content itself was simple.

A promise between a woman and a man to have a drink.

“But you said the other person is likely to be a man?”

“If you’re ambushing, it’s not difficult to subdue the other person.”

Surprisingly, there are many things that can be used to subdue people. Pepper spray is also sold a lot online for self-defense purposes, but if you’re going to use it for crime, there’s nothing you can’t use.

“And in the first place, the goal isn’t to subdue the other person. It’s common sense that subduing someone is more difficult than killing them.”

“That’s true.”

It’s natural to resist if someone tries to subdue you.

But if that’s not the case, it’s not difficult to kill someone by spraying pepper spray and then stabbing them once.

“And according to these chat logs, fortunately, we can know which area the culprit lives in.”

In the case of random chat apps that presuppose such meetings, they also match people from the surrounding area.

There’s no way a person living in Seoul and a person in Busan can meet if they match them.

“Both of them accessed the app from Yongsan.”

We don’t know why the two people accessed the app from the Yongsan area. The first victim’s company is nearby, so that’s fine, but the second victim is a sole proprietor.

“Then is the perpetrator from Yongsan?”

“Probably.”

They were probably waiting for a victim to approach them while connecting and looking for opportunities.

Just like a spider waits for prey to come to its web.

“And there’s always a spider in the middle of the web.”

Park Do-joon smiled involuntarily at the thought that he had finally caught the tail.

A Profiler’s Calling