My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 289

“There’s a world of difference between the second son being incompetent and the first son being incompetent.”

“Ah, I guess that’s true.”

It’s generally accepted that the second son just needs to not be completely useless because there’s the first son. On the other hand, if the first son is incompetent, he gets a lot more criticism compared to the second son.

“But it becomes a problem if such a guy is greedy.”

When someone is greedier than their abilities allow, they try to fill that void. And if that manifests as a desire for dominance, they’re likely to try to resolve it with those weaker than them or those who don’t pose a threat.

“Well, I don’t know about that, but he certainly doesn’t have a good reputation.”

Lee Ji-yeon nodded as if she knew.

“Does he have a history of committing sexual offenses?”

“Isn’t it in the records?”

“It’s not there. Looks like he covered it up with money.”

No one suddenly wakes up one day and thinks, ‘I’m going to kidnap a woman and lock her up from today.’ Sex crimes generally follow a process of gradually increasing intensity.

It starts with sexual harassment, then sexual assault, and then rape. Of course, this is a general theory, but even if we don’t consider such general cases, no one starts with such an extreme act as kidnapping from the beginning.

“I don’t know either. We don’t know him personally, and we’ve only heard rumors about him.”

Park Do-joon nodded at Lee Ji-yeon’s words. In that case, there’s a limit to the information they can access.

“Well, he is from a holding company, after all.”

Moreover, N River Holdings is a holding company [a company created to control other companies by holding their stock]. They don’t directly contact other people but hold shares and siphon off the money. Therefore, the possibility of them contacting other people is not very high.

If they were directly running a company, they would have close relationships with each other, but holding companies only make decisions and take profits without direct management, so there’s not much need to have direct relationships.

“I roughly understand the situation, but how do we catch him?”

Lee Ji-soo asked worriedly. Looking at the current situation, there’s a high possibility that he’s the culprit. The problem is that just because we’ve identified him through profiling doesn’t mean we can investigate him.

Basically, the court requires physical evidence or witnesses.

“Shouldn’t we check his address first? If he’s kidnapping and imprisoning people, he probably has property under his name, right?”

“It’s probably not under his name.”

“Huh?”

Lee Ji-yeon was surprised by Park Do-joon’s words.

“Not under his name? What do you mean, Detective Park?”

“It’s probably a house under someone else’s name. A place that’s not easily accessible.”

Park Do-joon said, stroking his chin.

“It’s likely an abandoned villa site. Someone has to reside there, so the gang will take turns managing it.”

“Managing…? Ah, that’s right. I didn’t think of that.”

Lee Ji-soo was taken aback. She had heard about the kidnapping and sexual slavery case from Park Do-joon, but there was so little data that there wasn’t enough material to make a proper deduction.

“The commonality of these existing sex slave cases is that they are self-owned and that people are placed in locations where continuous management is possible.”

Of course. The act of imprisoning people, including providing the most basic needs of eating and drinking, requires a lot of labor. If someone is not given food after being imprisoned, they cannot survive.

“So, someone will stay there to manage it. And the guys who stay there to manage it won’t be losing out either.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re with the women 24 hours a day. They can enjoy them as much as they want.”

“Ugh!”

Lee Ji-yeon looked like she was going to throw up at those words.

“From the beginning, these guys don’t see the victims as people. They only see them as objects for sexual gratification. So, if we analyze the lifestyle patterns of the people around them, we can easily determine their location.”

That’s what Park Do-joon thought.

But the situation began to flow in an unexpected direction.

“You crazy bastard.”

Jo Tae-woo, the CEO of N River Holdings, trembled as he looked at his son writhing in front of him.

“You kidnapped women and locked them up? Are you even human?”

“Huh, who cares if those bitches disappear?”

Jo Kang-hwa sneered even while bleeding. And looking at Jo Kang-hwa, Jo Tae-woo clenched his fist tightly.

“This crazy bastard, still…!”

“They’re just runaway prostitutes anyway. I’m just enjoying what they’re going to enjoy anyway…”

Thud!

Jo Tae-woo, unable to bear it any longer, swung his fist again, but Jo Kang-hwa blocked it this time.

“Why, are you going to snitch to the cops?”

“You, you…!”

“Should I go wild for once? Huh?”

Jo Kang-hwa said mockingly, and Jo Tae-woo was speechless as he looked at his son.

‘How did it come to this?’

He knew he was incompetent and terrible, but he didn’t know he would be this broken.

“Honey, calm down. Okay? Please.”

His wife was stopping Jo Tae-woo.

“Calm down? You want me to calm down? You want me to calm down about this!”

When he received a call from the club’s owner, he thought he was talking nonsense. The club owner acted like he was cooperating with the police, but what was important to him was money, not justice.

So, he secretly contacted Jo Tae-woo and sold the information to him at a high price. And Jo Tae-woo was stunned when he found out.

“How many are there?”

“Why? Are you going to go and enjoy them? Well, it would be nice for Dad to taste some plump young meat too.”

Looking at Jo Kang-hwa, who was sneering, Jo Tae-woo gritted his teeth. A monster he could no longer see as his son.

“Let them go right now! And go and turn yourself in. This is the last thing I can do for you. I’ll get you a lawyer.”

Of course, that lawyer wouldn’t be a skilled lawyer. Jo Tae-woo was the CEO of a company, not a monster.

‘This kind of guy shouldn’t be in society.’

Even if he was his own son. As he thought that and drew a firm line, it was none other than his wife who opposed it.

“Honey, what are you saying! Then our son will never get out of prison for the rest of his life!”

“He shouldn’t get out! A criminal who kidnapped people, did he think he would live in the sunlight!”

“That can’t happen! What did our Kang-hwa do wrong…!”

“What did he do wrong? You’re saying that while knowing what he did!”

He kidnapped women, locked them up, and made them sex slaves. He locked them in the basement with his gang and raped them constantly.

“Is that something a human would do!”

It was something Jo Tae-woo could never accept.

“Son? Son? This bastard isn’t human! He’s a monster!”

Jo Tae-woo was overwhelmed with unbearable anger. Of course, he knew he was rotten from a young age.

But because he had a second son. Because the second son was diligently trying to take over the company, he didn’t care if the first son lived roughly.

But spending money like water and committing crimes were different matters.

“Still, it can’t be! Just… let the kids go… and cover it up, okay?”

“Do you think that’s possible?”

Looking at the situation, the kidnapped women already knew their faces and names. But what would happen if they were released? Would they just say thank you, say goodbye, and forget about it? No. They would definitely report it, and an investigation would begin.

“There’s only one way. Go and release them and turn yourself in.”

That was the best way to mitigate the repercussions of this crime, so Jo Tae-woo drew a firm line.

“That can’t happen! My son’s life is at stake!”

“Is only our son’s life a life?”

Jo Tae-woo could be sure as he looked at Jo Kang-hwa, who had rebellious eyes despite his words, that he would never turn himself in or release the kids.

‘Then.’

There’s only one way.

This is not a case that can be covered up. The police are already on the scent and following. So, he has to detonate it before that happens.

“I’m going to report it.”

“Yo, honey…?”

“If you don’t turn yourself in, I have to report it. I don’t want to raise a monster.”

Jo Tae-woo said that and turned his body. He was about to pick up his phone and call the police.

But the next moment, something unexpected happened.

“Cough…!”

Jo Tae-woo turned his head. And he looked at the person who was stabbing him in the back.

“Wh, why…”

“I, I can never send my son to prison!”

Screaming in a near-scream, his wife stabbed the knife even deeper, and Jo Tae-woo fell forward.

The knife stabbed his lungs, and he was suffocating, but his wife had no interest in the dying Jo Tae-woo.

“Hurry… run away, hurry.”

“Mom?”

“Run away right now. Run away overseas. The police are already investigating, right? Take all those friends and go overseas. Hurry!”

“But what about Dad?!”

Jo Kang-hwa was stunned.

It was true that he had animosity towards his father. But he had no intention of killing his father. Of course, he didn’t kill him, but he didn’t think his mother would kill his father.

“Ah…”

Only then did his mother, who had come to her senses, realize what she had done and sat down.

“Mom?”

“Oh, how… honey? Honey?”

But Jo Tae-woo’s breath had already stopped. And when the situation reached that point, she had only one thing left.

“Go overseas right now.”

“Huh?”

“Go overseas right now. Run away overseas. The police are already investigating, right? Take all those friends and go overseas. Hurry!”

She took out a card from her wallet with her bloody hands and handed it over.

“The password is 1234. Take all the cash you have and go overseas. Hurry!”

At those words, Jo Kang-hwa stared blankly at his dead father. Then he turned his body, went out of the house, and picked up the phone.

“It’s me. Gather the kids. Right now. The cops are on us. Let’s take refuge overseas for a while.”

Leaving his father, who was coldly cooling down, he hurried to Incheon International Airport.

“Yes?”

Park Do-joon couldn’t help but doubt his ears.

“Jo Kang-hwa has left the country, and so has his gang.”

“No, where did it leak from? Wasn’t it a secret investigation?”

Wasn’t it Park Do-joon’s team that moved secretly for fear that this situation would happen?

But now that this situation is suddenly happening?

“I don’t know either. I don’t know where it leaked from. It seems to be from the club side.”

“Club… Ugh, those damn bastards…”

It was certainly difficult to expect conscience from that side, so Park Do-joon couldn’t help but frown.

“It’s going to be difficult to get a warrant now, right?”

The fact that they went overseas is true, but that’s not evidence of a crime. In the first place, it’s not particularly strange for children from wealthy families to go overseas, and recently, there have been many cases of sending them overseas for treatment or confinement as AIDS is spreading among chaebols [large family-controlled industrial conglomerates], so there’s no choice.

“The stranger thing is that Jo Tae-woo is also missing.”

“Yes? Jo Tae-woo? Are you talking about Jo Kang-hwa’s father?”

“Yeah, how would I know about the departure fact? I didn’t even request a departure notice from that side.”

Profiler by trade