My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 107

“I don’t think she’d park illegally around here.”

“Right. It’s a pain in the neck if it gets towed.”

It would be fortunate if they just put a ticket on it, but if it gets towed, Wang Su-jin has no way to get the car back.

“People tend to obey the law when they have something to hide.”

So, the possibility of her parking illegally around here isn’t very high. Especially since a *daepocha* [unregistered car] might be reported as stolen, she wouldn’t risk getting caught while checking the number to remove the ticket.

“Aren’t you going over there?”

Park Do-joon looked around and then turned his head, passing by a parking lot a bit further away. The team leader, puzzled, asked.

“I don’t think she’d use a card.”

“Card? Oh, right.”

The team leader, who belatedly saw the banner above, clicked his tongue. The banner read ‘Card Payment Only.’

“She can’t use a card right now.”

“Plus, they’re using an unmanned surveillance system.”

If she wants to avoid cameras, she wouldn’t go to a place like that.

“So, a likely place would be?”

“A manned one.”

Park Do-joon said, walking around various parking lots for a while. Eventually, he found the parking lot he had in mind: an old-fashioned parking lot with a small office at the entrance and a parking area inside.

A place where it’s not automated, and a person manually writes down the entry and exit times to calculate the fee.

‘It’s not easy to track in a place like this.’

Because there’s a person, they usually don’t install CCTV inside, and payments are made in cash.

“Excuse me.”

“Leave a ticket.”

The old man inside said indifferently as Park Do-joon approached.

‘This is it.’

Usually, the people who run these places are elderly people working as a side job or for low wages.

There’s nothing particularly difficult; they just sit and control the entrance and exit of the parking lot.

Naturally, they don’t pay much attention to the customers using the parking lot.

“I’m a police officer.”

“Police?”

“I’m here looking for someone.”

Time-wise, she’s likely already left this five-day market. Because of the time it took them to come here from Seoul.

“I don’t know anything about that.”

The old man glanced through the small window and shook his head.

“I’m looking for a woman who came early in the morning, in her 50s.”

The report was made around 9:30 AM. So, if she was here at that time, it means she came even earlier.

“In the morning?”

“Yes, she probably looked quite upset when she left.”

It’s practically impossible to identify someone with just their age without knowing what they were wearing. Since many women in their 50s or older visit these five-day markets, it’s not easy to find someone based on age alone.

‘But if she received such a call in the morning, she wouldn’t be in a good mood.’

If she gets caught by the police, her life is over. Even though she’s running away after committing fraud, she must know that the person she messed with is a judge or prosecutor, and she’ll probably get the maximum sentence if caught.

“She’s quite thin and seems easily agitated.”

Park Do-joon slipped a ten-thousand-won bill inside and said. The old man, after taking it, said as if he remembered something.

“Ah, that crazy woman?”

“Crazy woman?”

“She was screaming so loudly.”

Early in the morning when there weren’t many people. The old man had dozed off for a moment, and usually, if someone comes to pick up their car, they just quietly wake him up, but this woman was screaming and yelling from the morning.

“I couldn’t find the key quickly because I wasn’t fully awake, and she started cursing at me.”

In these places, it’s common to park the car and leave the keys. Because there’s no barrier, someone could just come in and drive away without anyone knowing. But she got upset because he couldn’t find the keys easily.

“Could this be the woman?”

Park Do-joon subtly took out a photo. If he showed the photo from the beginning, he’d almost certainly get the response that they don’t know. But if he helps them recall a bit first and then hands over the photo, it’s easier for them to recognize the person.

That’s why Park Do-joon prompted the memory before showing the photo.

“That’s her. That crazy woman.”

“Do you happen to know the car number?”

“Wait, I think I wrote down the ticket number here.”

He rummaged around and finally took something out.

“Here it is. The number is ‘12가3456.’ [12ga3456]”

“Thank you.”

Park Do-joon took it and smiled.

***

“That was fast. We were wasting our time.”

Kim Geun-woo was endlessly watching the parking lot’s CCTV, looking for people who had entered and exited, and clicked his tongue when he heard that Park Do-joon had found her first.

“Well, isn’t predicting how a criminal will move what a profiler does?”

“I guess so.”

Kim Geun-woo nodded. Having not worked with a profiler much before, Kim Geun-woo could definitely feel that a profiler was surprisingly helpful in investigations while watching Park Do-joon.

“12가3456… If we find the number, we can figure it out, but the problem is we don’t know where she went.”

Of course, they could search through the CCTV, but the problem is that there aren’t many CCTVs in these rural areas.

“Don’t worry. We can narrow it down.”

“How so?”

“In the end, humans tend to have psychologically preferred hiding places.”

Park Do-joon said confidently, and Kim Geun-woo showed interest in those words.

“Tell me about it.”

“First, Wang Su-jin’s residence isn’t likely to be a monthly rental or a lease. Wang Su-jin has moved her accommodations several times.”

Twice, she suddenly ran away without even packing her belongings properly.

“And that kind of experience becomes a habit.”

She’s likely to avoid having a fixed residence and stay for short periods, trying not to keep belongings there if possible.

“She’ll probably secure a location with a monthly contract or something similar.”

That way, the loss will be minimal even if she runs away.

“On top of that, there’s the issue of eating and living.”

“Eating and living?”

“Yes, she can’t eat out every day. Of course, it’s not impossible since she has money, but from the standpoint of someone on the run, she wouldn’t want to go outside if possible.”

“Hmm…”

“Plus, she came to the market today. That’s important.”

“Why is that?”

“There’s no reason for her to come here to sightsee.”

Someone being tracked has no reason to go sightseeing. Psychologically, someone being chased tends to avoid crowded places.

“She probably came to buy side dishes, things she can cook herself.”

“And?”

“That means she has cooking utensils, and considering that, she’s likely hiding in a space with basic cooking utensils, that is, a *pension* [Korean-style guesthouse]. The owner of the *pension* wouldn’t refuse cash payments.”

“Oh!”

From the *pension* owner’s perspective, there’s no reason to refuse if they pay in cash because they can avoid paying taxes, and from Wang Su-jin’s perspective, it’s easy to live and escape there since basic cooking utensils are provided.

“Moreover, most *pensions* are located in secluded areas.”

That means there are no CCTVs around to monitor vehicle movement.

“There will be more options when escaping.”

“That’s right.”

In the city center, once identified, they can track movement by searching through the CCTV sequence, but in other cases, even if they slip into a small side street, the police can’t track them.

“Plus, there are many agricultural roads in these rural areas.”

Most of those places don’t have CCTV, and there’s no problem with vehicles traveling there, so it’s almost impossible to pinpoint the real direction of escape.

“A *pension*…”

“And it’s not difficult to call the *pensions* in this area and check the confirmed car number.”

The conditions are a woman in her 50s staying alone, or having a car number, and paying in cash.

How many people would meet those three conditions?

“We should look into it.”

Kim Geun-woo nodded at Park Do-joon’s words.

***

Finding someone with those characteristics through phone calls wasn’t difficult. In most cases, they didn’t know the car number, but it was rare for a woman in her 50s to stay for a long period alone.

Sure enough, they were told that there was such a person at an old *pension* a bit further away, and when they went there, they could confirm the car.

“Can we go in and catch her now?”

“We can’t do that.”

Park Do-joon shook his head. Of course, they can go and catch her. But then they can’t definitively implicate the chief of police.

“I’ll make her crawl out on her own, so wait.”

Park Do-joon smiled and picked up his phone.

“Team leader, it’s me. I found her. Yes, you can report it.”

After hanging up the phone, less than 20 minutes later, a woman was seen rushing out in a hurry. She went to her car and started speeding away.

But the entrance was already blocked by the police and prosecutors.

As soon as she started the engine, the entrance was blocked by another vehicle, and police investigators, including Park Do-joon, approached her.

“Don’t move! Police!”

Wang Su-jin desperately tried to escape, but the surroundings were already completely surrounded by police.

“Raise your hands and slowly get out of the car.”

Wang Su-jin didn’t move, but when the police approached and smashed the window, she screamed.

“Aaaah! I’ll get out. I’ll get out!”

Wang Su-jin was dragged out of the car against her will. Park Do-joon approached her, searched her pockets, and took out her phone.

And the call history written there:

-Chief of Police.

Looking at the recent call history, Park Do-joon smiled.

“Bingo.”

***

“Let go! Won’t you let go? Do you know who I am! I’m the chief of police! The police chief!”

The police chief was dragged out, shouting at the top of his lungs, and camera flashes were bursting around him. As expected, it was the chief of police who had been passing on the investigation details.

He had received 1 billion won from Wang Su-jin and, in return, had been leaking information related to the investigation.

It wasn’t the police but the prosecutors who came to arrest him directly, and reporters gleefully swarmed around him. And the faces of the detectives watching the scene were heavy with complicated feelings. The team leader, watching the scene, approached Park Do-joon and said.

“You know things won’t be good for you, right?”

“I know.”

“Hang in there.”

“Don’t worry. I’m more mentally strong than you think.”

Park Do-joon said confidently to the team leader’s words, and only the voice of the chief of police being dragged away continued to echo everywhere.

“Let go! Let me go! How could I end up like this? I’m the chief of police! The Seoul police chief!”

But no one was listening to him. Only the sound of camera flashes filled the surroundings.

My Calling is Profiler