My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 100

‘So, we should consider Seo Ju-ran dead for now. But when? And why?’

Park Do-joon lay on his bed in his studio apartment and sighed.

Without knowing when, where, or how she died, he couldn’t just follow her around aimlessly. But he couldn’t just leave her to die either. The only evidence was the image of Seo Ju-ran that came to mind.

‘She’s dead. Okay, when did she die? Seo Ju-ran… hmm, recently. She’ll probably die soon.’

The reason Park Do-joon thought so was simple. Seo Ju-ran usually wore horn-rimmed glasses. The reason she wore those unflattering glasses was because she had accidentally broken her old ones.

Originally, Seo Ju-ran wore glasses. He remembered her coming to work with rimless glasses at first.

But at some point, she was wearing cheap black horn-rimmed glasses. She said she had broken her glasses while sleeping in the reporters’ waiting room.

‘If the on-site reporting was over and she had gone back, she would have been wearing proper glasses.’

The reason she was wearing such flimsy glasses was because she didn’t have much money and, as an on-site reporter, it was difficult to leave to get new glasses.

So, she bought the cheapest ones from a small nearby glasses shop.

‘Plus, her outfit was recent too.’

He didn’t see her wearing the exact clothes today, but based on the weather, it was recent.

“What is it? Why did they kill her? Rape? No. If that were the case, her face wouldn’t be bleeding.”

Her face was bleeding. But her face wasn’t swollen. So, he had to assume they attacked her head.

Her head was cracked, and then blood naturally flowed down.

‘And… the location where she was found.’

Of course, he didn’t remember the exact location. But one thing he remembered from the scene was the grass on her clothes. That meant the murder took place outdoors.

“And the fact that they attacked her head means it was likely a very sudden attack.”

The head is surprisingly not an easy place to attack. Because people instinctively try to protect their heads.

When someone is surprised, they cover their head first. That’s because they know, at an instinctive level, that the head is a critical area. So, attacking the head usually means one of two things: either they were determined to kill the person, or they killed them in a sudden situation.

Of course, it could be the former. But generally, the latter is more common.

Because if they were determined to kill the other person, they would prepare a weapon in advance. And that weapon is usually a knife.

“Ugh, I guess I should go ask her tomorrow.”

Park Do-joon frowned as he spoke.

***

The next day, Park Do-joon went to see Seo Ju-ran. Seo Ju-ran was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, eating blankly in the police station cafeteria.

Park Do-joon sat down in front of her, and Seo Ju-ran was startled by his sudden appearance.

“Profiler Park?”

“Call me Detective Park.”

At Park Do-joon’s words, Seo Ju-ran looked at him with a strange expression.

“Perhaps…”

“I have no romantic feelings for Seo Ju-ran. How about you wash up first before saying something like that?”

“Wow, how cruel! Do you have to crush a budding sprout with facts like that?”

“Why don’t you at least do laundry?”

“I live alone, so there’s no one to do my laundry for me.”

There’s no one to wash and hang them up, so she doesn’t have any clothes to change into.

“Seo Ju-ran.”

“Yes?”

“What have you been up to lately?”

“Uh…? The question is…”

“I’m asking, excluding the romantic part.”

“I’m always here.”

“Is that so?”

Park Do-joon quietly closed his eyes at those words.

‘Well, she’s been here for over a month already.’

There’s no reason for her to encounter a major incident outside. She didn’t have time for that.

‘Then that incident is an internal problem.’

The problem is that in such cases, the murderer is very likely to be a police officer. A police officer committed murder, and accidentally?

That must mean there’s a cover-up.

“Seo Ju-ran.”

“Yes?”

“Are you digging into a police corruption case?”

“Cough, cough.”

Seo Ju-ran, who was eating, suddenly started coughing at that moment. Park Do-joon poured her a glass of water.

“Drink it and talk, drink it.”

After drinking it, Seo Ju-ran looked at Park Do-joon with shaky eyes. And Park Do-joon lowered his voice to her.

“I’m on your side. That’s why I’m asking. I can see you’re playing a dangerous game.”

“How did you…?”

“I’m a profiler.”

“……”

“I’m not telling you not to investigate. But you know the other party is dangerous, right? It’s not something a powerless rookie on-site reporter can handle.”

“……”

“Let’s talk quietly; let’s get out of the police station.”

Park Do-joon said that and handed her his business card.

“Call me. I’m saying this for your safety.”

***

About three hours after Park Do-joon left, Seo Ju-ran called. The fact that she didn’t call right away showed how much she was 고민 (agonizing) [agonizing; worrying].

The two headed to a high-end coffee shop that other police officers didn’t frequent. This coffee shop, with its strong feminine atmosphere, usually had many female customers, so police officers didn’t come often. First of all, the coffee was twice as expensive as other places, so police officers on meager salaries had no reason to come.

“How did you know?”

“Because I’m a profiler. I could tell you were digging into a dangerous case.”

“Wow, other profilers didn’t know at all.”

“Let’s just say I’m a bit special.”

“Well, just looking at the rumors I’ve heard, you are different.”

Seo Ju-ran seemed to be 고민 (agonizing) [agonizing; worrying] at Park Do-joon’s words. Park Do-joon subtly spoke to her, who was maintaining silence. He spoke as if Park Do-joon knew about the case, but he actually didn’t know the case.

But even so, it wasn’t like there was no way.

“How did you find out about that case? Everyone else seems to be completely clueless.”

“Oh, well… I’m just good at remembering people’s faces.”

“You’re good at remembering people’s faces?”

“Yes. I tend to remember people I’ve seen almost immediately. That’s why I recognized Detective Park before, too.”

“Well, I understand.”

When she first spoke to him, Park Do-joon and she had almost no contact. But she knew Park Do-joon was a profiler and spoke to him.

The fact that she recognized him and spoke to him even though they had never talked before meant she remembered Park Do-joon.

“So, when I was bored, I would look at wanted posters and memorize faces.”

“And then?”

“And then one of the wanted criminals went into the police station.”

“Hmm…”

Park Do-joon rubbed his chin at those words.

‘Even if she’s an on-site reporter, she wouldn’t be able to access the internal network… so it’s someone outside.’

Warrants are usually divided into two types. One is an internal warrant that only police officers can see within the police department.

And an external warrant that publicizes faces with posters, etc. Dozens of warrants are issued every day, but they can’t all be made public.

First of all, people don’t see them all, and there are human rights issues. So, the criminals who are put on external posters are those that the police consider to be dangerous, likely to flee, and have been on the run for a long time, among other things.

‘And the most common ones are usually three.’

First, murder. Guys who killed someone and ran away, and guys who are likely to commit another murder.

‘Those guys aren’t it. A murderer wouldn’t come to the police station.’

Second, robbery.

‘Robbers are the same. Those guys have no reason to come to the police.’

Murder and robbery are dangerous. So, some of their faces are put on wanted posters.

‘And there’s no benefit for the police either.’

Park Do-joon said, thinking about the possibility of corruption. Logically, a person with a warrant out for their arrest, especially someone whose face is on a poster, wouldn’t come to report something, claiming they were wronged.

Perhaps they came to get some information related to their investigation from the police.

‘In reality, police officers don’t know all the faces of all the wanted criminals.’

That’s realistically impossible. Moreover, a space like a police station, where people wouldn’t logically think a wanted criminal would enter, is even more likely to make people complacent.

And surprisingly, police corruption is quite serious. In some police stations, wanted criminals even hung out with the police officers there, calling them brothers, drinking together, and so on.

Of course, the police officers knew he was a wanted criminal. Of course, instead of arresting him, the police officers were able to fill their pockets.

‘And that kind of information is a give and take.’

Murderers or robbers are too busy running away, so they don’t need investigation information or anything. Of course, if it’s a simple fraud, that fraudster will also be busy running away.

‘But if it’s not a simple fraud.’

A large fraud that would even risk murder. And the audacity to get information and run away.

‘Audacious fraud, huh…’

That means the damages are large, and in such cases, they may be put on wanted posters.

If it’s that type of fraudster, there’s only one person Park Do-joon knows of on the wanted posters who is suspicious.

“Is it Wang Su-jin?”

“I see you know. Yes. That’s right, Wang Su-jin.”

Seo Ju-ran nodded, acknowledging that Park Do-joon was right.

‘Wang Su-jin, huh…’

Damages of 18.9 billion won. On the run for 4 years. Committed a massive investment fraud in Seoul and disappeared.

And hasn’t shown his face once in the past 4 years.

‘Did he not show it, or did he take measures to not be revealed?’

If you can get investigation information from inside the police, escaping is easy.

‘Moreover, as time passes, the case fades.’

Cases pile up every day, and old cases are gradually forgotten. Even a massive case of 18.9 billion won is bound to fade in 4 years, and it probably just passed as unresolved.

‘And then that’s the end.’

The victims may feel like they’re going to die from injustice, but in reality, fraud is often the case. Moreover, fraud is weakly punished in Korea, so it’s not a high priority for personnel evaluations.

Even if the damages are 18.9 billion won, if you use a lawyer well, you can get a suspended sentence, and at worst, the current situation is that there’s a very high possibility of a sentence of 2 years or less.

‘And fraudsters have something to give to the police.’

Other murderers or robbers have nothing to offer the police. But fraudsters have something to give.

That’s a fat pocket, that is, money.

“What happened after that?”

“After that, he went into the economic team. After that, I couldn’t follow because I was too 눈치 (aware of others) [aware of others’ feelings and reactions].”

The economic team. So, a department that specializes in investigating fraud. In the end, as Park Do-joon expected, it was the police who were protecting the fraudster Wang Su-jin.

‘This case is going to get complicated.’

Park Do-joon couldn’t help but frown.