The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 117

Winter (4)

“Ah, the camera is a bit…”

I had a hunch, and as expected, the informant refused to be filmed, just as Seo Jun Choi had said.

However, since there was a possibility of it being broadcast, PD [Production Director] Jae Hoon Song tried to persuade him one more time.

“But if this is going to be used on air, we need footage. If you want, we can send it out with full-body mosaic processing so no one will know.”

“No. I have something like camera phobia… If you film, let’s just say the informant interview never happened.”

The informant knew that if he said this, they wouldn’t ask for filming anymore.

PD Jae Hoon Song reluctantly nodded and carefully asked.

“Then, is recording okay?”

“Yes. But when the recording is released to the public, please use a voice actor instead of distorting my voice.”

This was the first time an informant had tried to keep their identity so thoroughly private.

PD Jae Hoon Song had only heard about such cases from his seniors.

He also had a hunch that this wasn’t a simple tip-off, but a conspiracy to slander Seo Jun Choi.

“I understand.”

PD Jae Hoon Song sat down with the informant in a completely enclosed cafe.

Of course, the writer next to him was wearing the emerald necklace that Prosecutor Seo Jun Choi had given him.

He tried to start the conversation as naturally as possible without being too obvious.

“You said you had information about Prosecutor Seo Jun Choi?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The informant nodded and adjusted his glasses.

It seemed like he was wearing glasses for the first time, and there was an air of discomfort about him.

PD Jae Hoon Song had a hunch right away.

‘Did he wear them to disguise his face?’

In fact, there were quite a few informants who had disguised themselves for interviews.

Of course, even if the informant in front of him took off his glasses, it wasn’t a face he recognized.

It was an unfamiliar person who had nothing to do with the Viper [Kang Joong-sik, a corrupt prosecutor] or his close associates that Seo Jun Choi had shown him.

“Chief Prosecutor Seo Jun Choi received about 10 billion won [approximately $7.5 million USD] worth of money and valuables from Joo-Ok Group.”

“Not just cash, but valuables?”

“I’m not sure if he only received money or if it included goods, but it’s certain that the total value is close to 10 billion won.”

The moment he said that, PD Jae Hoon Song could sense something strange.

A different atmosphere from previous informants.

Typical informants try to fit the situation to explain as accurately as possible within their knowledge, but this man is sticking to only one fact, just like when he called.

The fact that Seo Jun Choi received 10 billion won in bribes.

An attitude of trying to convey only that.

In other words, he was different from the typical informants who actively contacted them first.

He, who had been running PD X-File for several years, could sense it immediately.

‘This man isn’t a real informant, but someone else is using him to deliver the story.’

There was a high probability that Chief Kang Joong-sik, the Viper, was behind it.

As soon as he thought that, PD Jae Hoon Song didn’t feel good either.

If he hadn’t known this, it meant that Chief Kang Joong-sik, the Viper, was trying to use him to do useless work.

Even after investigating for a long time, he wouldn’t be able to broadcast it in the end.

Knowing that, he couldn’t feel good about the Viper.

However, the informant, unaware of this, continued to speak nonchalantly.

“Prosecutor Seo Jun Choi received 10 billion won when he moved from the Inspection Department to the Special Investigation Department…”

After that, it was a constant repetition.

They met to hear how the bribe was delivered, but he couldn’t explain it and was just repeating what he had said on the phone.

After an hour, PD Jae Hoon Song couldn’t stand the frustration and asked directly.

“You don’t know the process or procedure of how he received the 10 billion won bribe, do you?”

“Ah, that’s…”

The informant was dragging on again.

He definitely didn’t know.

However, they couldn’t treat the informant carelessly.

“We can’t easily get involved in such sensitive topics unless we have solid information. If we investigate based on hearsay, we often end up having legal problems.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes. So, even if we do some investigation on our side first, if we don’t get any additional information that’s worth broadcasting, it will end up being cut off in the middle due to lack of information.”

At that, the informant pretended to be disappointed and replied.

“Then there’s nothing I can do.”

He had even reported on a very sensitive topic first, but he was giving up so easily.

At this moment, PD Jae Hoon Song became convinced of his intuition.

‘He approached me to leak it to Seo Jun Choi.’

Nevertheless, he acted with a calm expression and finished the interview.

“Yes. Then we’ll investigate the report on our side first…”

***

“It wasn’t the person who matched the picture you showed me.”

“Yes, it’s true. It’s a face I’ve never seen before either.”

A very large build, a sports cut that hadn’t been maintained afterwards.

Not particularly burly, but the faint tattoo visible at the end of his neck made it clear that he was not an ordinary person.

Moreover, the video taken through the emerald necklace confirmed the intuition that PD Jae Hoon Song had felt.

Viper Kang Joong-sik.

It was certain that he had sent the person.

“Since the report came in, I have to report it to the higher-ups, but I don’t think the CP [Chief Producer] will tell me to proceed either. The content is too poor.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Please keep that in mind, and I’ll let you know if there are any special circumstances.”

“I understand.”

After PD Jae Hoon Song left, I sat alone in the officetel [a small apartment often used as an office] and thought slowly.

First of all, the cell phone that called Song Jae Hoon was the problem.

When I called again a day after the interview, all I heard was a message saying that the number had been disconnected.

It wasn’t a burner phone, but there was enough reason to suspect it.

The interview filmed with the emerald necklace didn’t use any Gyeongsang-do dialect at all.

However, if he used someone who wasn’t a prosecutor or investigator, someone from the prosecution, it was natural that I wouldn’t know.

I still don’t know the Viper’s exact intentions, but it was certain that he was trying to leak it to my ears.

Otherwise, this situation itself would have been difficult to create.

If I could find the connection between the informant and the Viper, I could deal with it with peace of mind, but I still had to wait.

I don’t know how much the Viper has investigated my weaknesses.

***

Thursday, January 28th.

Just before leaving work, Yoon Seol-ha came into the office with a knock.

“Chief, I have something to tell you for a moment.”

A very bright expression.

I seemed to know why, so I asked slyly.

“Did you find out who the informant is?”

She replied with a surprised face.

“Now you can tell just by looking at my expression?”

“Of course. We’ve been working together for years.”

“At this rate, you’ll be able to guess what I had for lunch later.”

“Shall we guess what you had for lunch today? Kimchi stew, right?”

She chuckled and said.

“You had lunch with me today, Chief.”

Yoon Seol-ha handed me a personal information sheet with a smile.

A man named Jo Dong-pil.

“As you said, Chief, this guy is the informant who called Song PD, and when I looked at the picture, it seemed certain.”

“Yes, it is.”

While I was quickly scanning the personal information sheet, Yoon Seol-ha continued.

“If there’s anything special, this guy was a member of the Fire Octopus gang that the Viper arrested when he was in the Masan District Prosecutors’ Office.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. About 10 years ago, when I was in Masan, I cracked down on the Fire Octopus gang, and he was arrested at that time and released a while ago. Now he seems to be doing errands or running an errand center.”

“If it’s an errand center, he’s just doing what the Viper told him to do, so it’s very suitable for what he does.”

Yoon Seol-ha smiled brightly and nodded.

“When you think about it that way, it does seem that way.”

Viper, you cheeky bastard.

To collude with and use the gangster he had arrested.

Tsk tsk.

He’s the one who’s disgracing the prosecutors.

“How should we proceed?”

At Yoon Seol-ha’s question, I leaned back in my chair and shrugged.

“Don’t do anything.”

“Is it okay to do that?”

“Yes. The Viper is looking for prey by watching my movements. There’s no need to play along.”

I twisted the corners of my mouth and continued.

“Just watch him struggle in his own trap.”

***

January 31st.

It was the deadline that High Prosecutor Park Jae-pil had set.

He had tried to get information from Seo Jun Choi by leaking information to PD X-File and even hiring private informants, but in the end, he couldn’t find it.

‘Didn’t the information get to Seo Jun Choi?’

He couldn’t even know that.

He was frustrated to death.

Among the money and valuables that Seo Jun Choi received, he had found a clue to 1 billion won in cash.

It’s a basic fact that if you receive black money, you split it into at least ten places to manage it. So, the 1 billion won he had traced must be one of them, so Seo Jun Choi must have received at least 10 billion won.

However, he had only found a clue and had not confirmed the details.

He needed more specific information to find more, but he didn’t have the ability to find it.

Even if he had known the exact date, he could have narrowed down the scope of the investigation, but Seo Jun Choi had hidden it in multiple layers to prevent anyone from revealing his weaknesses, so he couldn’t solve it within the time set by the High Prosecutor.

However, after today, Chief Kang Joong-sik will be out of favor with High Prosecutor Park Jae-pil, whether he brings down Seo Jun Choi or not.

From his point of view, he had no choice but to struggle.

‘Damn it!’

Chief Kang Joong-sik, the Viper, bit his lip and clenched his fist.

‘Whether it’s kill or cure, I have no choice but to face it.’

He had to do it first.

If it breaks out in the media, the time will be extended by a few days, and he doesn’t know what effect it will have if it overlaps with the Lunar New Year holiday.

In the end, he picked up his cell phone and called a reporter from True Media.

-Yes, hello?

“Reporter Kim, let’s break the story I told you about last time.”

Reporter Kim Min-gun on the other side of the phone replied in a voice full of excitement.

-Oh, did you find something?

“No, let’s break it first. Let’s think about it after that.”

Chief Kang Joong-sik, the Viper, added a word in a faint voice.

“Post an article with a nuance that you need tips from those involved.”

-But tips like this don’t come in easily. It’s like cutting off your own flesh…

“That’s why I’m saying let’s post it once.”

From Chief Kang Joong-sik’s point of view, it was a case of crying and eating mustard [doing something unpleasant but necessary], but he had no choice.

If he didn’t do this, he would be smashed by High Prosecutor Park Jae-pil tomorrow.

“Who knows? Maybe someone from the inside will come out after seeing that.”

Chief Kang Joong-sik, the Viper, put his hands together and prayed.

Please, someone give me a tip.

Earnestly.

He wished very earnestly.

And a few days later, his prayers reached the sky.