The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 11

The Big Picture (4)

-He had just entered his house. The person Assistant Chief Prosecutor Jo Won-hyung met at the officetel [a building with individual units used as offices and residences] has been confirmed as Chief Prosecutor Lim Seong-jin.

“Good work. Keep watching, just in case. Don’t lose him, even during shift changes.”

-Understood.

I hung up after receiving the report from the police tailing Jo Won-hyung.

To both be absent on the first summons date and then secretly meet to talk.

If they had met all day, I would have assumed it was a strategy meeting, but that wasn’t the case.

If they met and parted in less than an hour, the answer is obvious.

It must have been to give or receive instructions.

If my guess is correct, those instructions are probably what will drive Jo Won-hyung to his death.

With the media slowly tightening the noose, they would be feeling a sense of crisis.

We are also under enough pressure from the public that we couldn’t postpone it any further.

Perhaps the third time will be the final summons.

Considering the article I saw in the text message, the date of Jo Won-hyung’s death is around the final summons date.

Just in case, I had the police tail him in advance.

The main purpose is to prevent any unforeseen accidents.

Then, I plan to appear in a crisis situation and persuade him.

Above all, people feel the helping hand more strongly when a crisis is right in front of them.

Now is the time to watch Jo Won-hyung’s movements and wait.

***

The final summons date arrived.

There had been no special reports from the police tailing Assistant Chief Prosecutor Jo Won-hyung, and only Lim Seong-jin responded to the final summons.

However, what’s ominous is that there is no sign of Assistant Chief Prosecutor Jo Won-hyung.

He’s still said to be at home, so just in case, I sent someone disguised as a delivery driver, but he says he’s at home having dinner with his family.

The summons time is approaching. If he doesn’t come, an arrest warrant will be issued.

Now, I need to start moving so that things go as I saw in the text message.

“What are you so worried about?”

At that moment, Assistant Chief Prosecutor Park Seung-soo approached and put his hand on my shoulder.

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

“Is it because of Assistant Chief Prosecutor Jo Won-hyung?”

“Yes. Lim Seong-jin came much earlier than the summons time, but I’m still concerned that he hasn’t shown up.”

“He’ll either come on his own or be dragged in. Don’t worry.”

I wouldn’t be worried if it would lead to such a simple outcome.

“Anyway, why don’t you talk to Lim Seong-jin? That bastard seems to have something to rely on.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Seeing him trying to back out in this exposed situation, the only explanation is that Jo Won-hyung will show up and take all the responsibility.”

He shrugged and continued.

“Well, it’s the scenario we expected, but I don’t like Lim Seong-jin’s expression. He talks like he’s won. No matter how much Jo Won-hyung takes responsibility, Lim Seong-jin can’t avoid being hit, but he’s too confident.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

“Okay.”

***

“I don’t know anything about it. When I looked into it, it seems Assistant Chief Prosecutor Jo Won-hyung led a lot of things.”

Lim Seong-jin twisted his lips slyly.

He wasn’t intimidated even in the investigation room. No, he seemed rather relaxed.

It was as if he had the upper hand.

Appearing on the final summons date, he began to pass everything on to Jo Won-hyung as expected.

Lim Seong-jin consistently cooperated with the investigation, and the other prosecutors who had postponed their attendance until today also agreed that it was Jo Won-hyung’s order.

This has been confirmed.

Jo Won-hyung will attempt suicide today.

Perhaps Lim Seong-jin ordered him to take everything.

Whether he took advantage of Jo Won-hyung’s weaknesses and threatened him, or promised his family a huge sum of money.

If he was trying to take responsibility out of loyalty, he wouldn’t have postponed it until today, the final summons date.

Chief Prosecutor Lim Seong-jin nonchalantly opened his mouth first.

“I heard Assistant Chief Prosecutor Jo Won-hyung didn’t attend. Could it be that he ran away because he had too many sins?”

“That can’t be. He must have been instructed to do so. For example, from his direct superior.”

“I never gave such instructions… Assistant Chief Prosecutor Jo Won-hyung, he even violated the work system.”

A sly smile hung on Lim Seong-jin’s lips.

Just looking at that expression, it’s certain. Jo Won-hyung has decided to take responsibility.

You can’t have this much leeway if you’re going to buy people off with money.

There must have been a number of threats I didn’t grasp.

He glanced at the double-glazed window.

“No one’s watching or recording, are they?”

“Of course not. I’m not from the inspection department, so why would I leave evidence?”

Only then did Lim Seong-jin lean forward and glare at me viciously.

“You told me to kill properly if I was going to kill, right?”

He still seems to think he’s in control.

“I told you I have no intention of killing you.”

I smiled and added.

“Not yet, anyway.”

His brow furrowed.

“You know, if you thought I’d fall this easily, you’re mistaken…”

Before he could finish, his phone vibrated.

The caller was the police officer tailing Jo Won-hyung.

“Ah, it’s an urgent call.”

I raised my eyebrows at Lim Seong-jin, who was sending me a sharp look, and left the interrogation room to answer the phone.

“What happened?”

-He just left the house and got into the car. We’re following him, but he immediately got on the Jayu Road as soon as he started. I’ll keep reporting as we track him.

If it’s Jayu Road, then it’s Ilsan!

Considering that the place where Jo Won-hyung’s body was found in the text message was a motel in Ilsan, it seems he has made up his mind.

“I’ll follow right away, so report immediately whenever there’s anything unusual.”

-Understood.

As soon as I received the report from him, I headed to Assistant Chief Prosecutor Park Seung-soo, who was waiting.

“Assistant Chief Prosecutor, Jo Won-hyung is heading to another location. I’m going to go there.”

He couldn’t hide his surprised expression.

“Prosecutor Choi, did you put a tail on Jo Won-hyung?”

Instead of answering, I bowed my head.

“I’ll go now.”

I went straight down from the floor where the prosecutor’s office interrogation room was located and headed to the car parked in the parking lot.

Jo Won-hyung, no matter how much you want to die, I can’t let you do that.

***

“It’s this motel.”

“You definitely saw him go in, right?”

“Yes. I even confirmed him paying with his card. His car is also parked in the back parking lot.”

“He was holding something in his hand, right?”

As if wondering how I knew, the undercover police officer widened his eyes and replied.

“Yes. He went in with a black plastic bag. It was put in the trunk of the car in advance, so I didn’t check the contents.”

It’s probably a tool for suicide.

Since the cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning, it would be tape to block the gaps in the doors and windows, briquettes [small blocks of compressed coal dust or charcoal used for fuel], and a brazier [a portable heater consisting of a pan or stand for holding lighted coals].

“How long has it been since he went in?”

“It’s been exactly one hour.”

One hour.

He must have finished preparing his mind to some extent while driving along Jayu Road.

Considering the time to work with tape and prepare the environment for suicide after arriving, it’s just right.

He would have lit the briquettes by now, but there wouldn’t be enough time to lose consciousness yet.

“Let’s go in right now. Did you check the room number?”

“No. I couldn’t confirm that far.”

“It’s okay. Let’s go in right away.”

As I entered the motel entrance, the owner in the small window scanned us.

“No women coming?”

To be seen as homosexuals.

As I frowned and let out a deep sigh, the police officer who followed showed his ID and said.

“We’re police officers. There’s a man who came alone an hour ago wearing glasses and a suit, which room did he go into?”

The owner opened his eyes wide and bowed his head.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I misunderstood.”

“It’s okay, just tell us the room number and give us the master key.”

“What’s going on?”

“We have something to investigate.”

“Still, we can’t just give it out without a warrant, we could have problems too…”

He’s quite stubborn.

Frustrated, I stepped forward.

“Someone’s trying to commit suicide inside. If rumors spread that someone died here, it’ll be hard for you to do business too.”

Only then did the owner hurriedly take out the master key.

“Fo, follow me. It’s room 304.”

Whether he was afraid of someone dying, the owner left the elevator and hurriedly went up the stairs.

And when he put the card key on room 304 and pulled the door, as expected, there was tape on the door frame.

“I’ll pull it.”

The police officer next to me kicked the wall and pulled the doorknob, and only then did the tape fall off and the door opened.

Leaving the owner behind, I went inside with the police officer, and a heavy atmosphere and a stuffy coal smell were felt.

As expected, the coal brazier on the floor and the burning briquettes caught my eye.

“Oh, how… Cough!”

Assistant Chief Prosecutor Jo Won-hyung, who was lying on the bed, coughed and looked at us with hazy eyes, probably having already inhaled quite a bit of carbon monoxide.

As expected, there wasn’t enough time to lose consciousness yet.

Best timing.

I covered my mouth with a handkerchief and opened the window first.

“Let’s move to another place and talk.”

I instructed the police officer who was opening the ventilation fan in the bathroom.

“Please move the Assistant Chief Prosecutor to the next room.”

“Understood.”

The police officer carried Jo Won-hyung, who was not fully conscious, on his back to the next room, and while I waited for him to come to his senses, I began to examine the room.

The internet article I saw in the text message clearly stated that he was found dead with a suicide note.

He must have left the suicide note somewhere in this room.

After looking around the room, I could easily find the suicide note.

He deliberately placed it on the table so that it would be easy to find and even put an ashtray on it to prevent it from flying away.

As if to prove his troubled mind, the ashtray contained more than ten cigarette butts.

Ten in an hour, which means he was chain-smoking from the moment he came in until just before lighting the briquettes.

It’s becoming clear that he chose death because of blackmail, not money.

When I took out the suicide note from under the ashtray and scanned it, as expected, it contained the same content as I saw in the text message, stating that he was taking all the responsibility and questioning the targeted investigation.

This is Lim Seong-jin’s hidden card.

An operation to shift all the blame to Jo Won-hyung while trying to turn the media’s target to us with the single word ‘targeted investigation’.

No sooner had I finished reading the suicide note than my phone rang.

The caller was Assistant Chief Prosecutor Park Seung-soo.

“Yes, this is Choi Seo-joon.”

-Jo Won-hyung’s family just called from home saying they found a suicide note! What’s going on? You said you were going to find him!

An excited voice.

He must be quite flustered.

“I stopped him. I found him trying to commit suicide in a motel. He’s regaining consciousness now. I also found the suicide note.”

-Haaa.

I could hear Park Seung-soo taking a breath of relief.

He was well aware that if Jo Won-hyung died, the current situation would be a mess.

-It only says he’s sorry to his family and to live well, what’s the content there? Take a picture and send it to me.”

“It says he’s taking responsibility for this incident. I’ll take a picture and send it to you.”

-Okay. Was Jo Won-hyung taken away by 119 [Korean emergency services number]?

“No. He’s in the next room. I think I need to negotiate for a while.”

-Negotiate? What negotiation?

“I’m going to check if he talked to Lim Seong-jin regarding this case. If it goes well, I’ll try to get him to come over to our side.”

-Haa, can you take responsibility and bring him?

“Yes. Just postpone the issuance of the arrest warrant. If you take care of the attendance issue, I’ll finish the conversation and take him directly to the district prosecutors’ office.”

-Okay. I’ll take care of the warrant somehow, so come in within 3 hours.”

“Understood.”

After sending the contents of the suicide note to him, I carefully examined the room one more time and headed straight to the next room where Jo Won-hyung was.

I have to deal with Jo Won-hyung, who was on the verge of death.

He, who is in the grip of the fear of death, will be in the optimal state for negotiation.